The scene opened to Pyrrha gearing up in a locker room, putting on her equipment and proceeding down a hallway into the arena, as flashes of her battle with Team CRDL were she was still exiting toward the arena, the scene cut to her running and shifting Miló from rifle to spear form to confront Cardin Winchester. Eventually, she launched her spear at Dove Bronzewing and then knocked Sky Lark to the ground. Cardin unleashed a short column of fire from the red Dust crystal in his mace before he and Sky attempted to double-team Pyrrha.
"Two on one doesn't seem fair... for them." Dante smirked.
Pyrrha threw her shield, which hit Cardin in the face and bounced back to hit Sky as well. She then flipped backward through the air to land on Sky, incapacitating him. Dove and Russel Thrush rushed her together, but she was able to drive them back as Cardin leapt in to smash at her with his mace.
"He's still trying? He needs to just sit down." Bayonetta said, rolling her eyes.
Pyrrha open fired with rifle-form Miló, but Russel covered Cardin, deflecting every shot with his daggers. He and Dove charged at Pyrrha, with Russel leaping into the air and performing a triple somersault; however, the attack was easily deflected. Russel and Dove proceeded to strike at Pyrrha together, demonstrating precision through their ability to avoid hitting one another during the attack. Cardin attempted to capitalize on the distraction, but was unable to keep up with Pyrrha. Russel ducked in under Cardin for a surprise attack, but also proved himself unable to wear her down.
"I don't know where to commend their determination, or if they're just too stupid to give up." Ryu said, observing the slaughterfest.
Dove moved in after Russel was knocked to the ground. After a couple of deflected swipes, he fired on her with his sword, but she was able to bull right through using her shield. Although he was able to avoid her attack, Dove found himself knocked out of the fight by an errant swing from Cardin, who moved in for one final assault. Pyrrha knocked Cardin into the air and then leapt to slam him into the ground.
"Yes! That's my sister!" Kratos cheered proudly.
Glynda approached from behind Cardin who clutches his ribs. "And that's the match." She said.
"Lucky shot." Cardin said, before collapsing.
"Luck?! Hey, dumbass, she took on 4 of you and didn't get hit once while making you look like idiots! Admittedly, that isn't hard, but that's skill, not luck!" Kratos snapped, scaring the other members of the pathetic team.
"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." Glynda praised.
"Thank you, professor." Pyrhha said gratefully.
Glynda tapped her scroll to catalog the events of the match and prepare for the next one. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." She said, looking around at the observing students. "Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?" She asked, to which Blake slammed her book shut and stared wide-eyed at Glynda. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-." She started, before Mercury raised his hand.
"I'll do it." He said.
"Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent." Glynda said.
"Actually, I wanna fight... her." He said, pointing at Pyrrha.
"Me?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Glynda said.
Pyrrha was about to interrupt and oblige, but Kratos stood up. "I'll fight him. I'm the closest thing to fighting her, so you won't leave too disappointed." He said. He didn't know why, but there was something about Mercury that made him suspicious of the silver-haired teen, so if he was trying anything, he'd rather have it happen to him than to Pyrrha.
Mercury growled and was about to decline, but Glynda answered first. "Excellent show, Kratos. Very well, you two get down her and let the match begin.
Mercury struts into the arena, glaring furiously at Kratos, who met it with a stern, hardened glare. He fired a round from his boot at Kratos, who blocked it with his Golden Fleece, absorbing the energy with Dust and flinging it back, shocking Mercury, but he managed to dodge it. He rushed in, but Kratos readied his shield and spear, blocking Mercury's double stomp and shoving him back, causing him to stumble, but he recovered quickly enough to be able to dodge Kratos' powerful wide swings of his spear, even throwing a kick as Kratos lunged forward and stabbed at him with the spear, holding back the blade with his foot
Ruby turned toward Emerald sitting behind her. "Hey, your friend's doing pretty good." She said excitedly. Emerald gave a fake smile and then rolled her eyes as Ruby turned her back.
Kratos pulled back his spear and lunged forward once more, slamming into Mercury with his shield and knocking him down. Mercury unleashes a series of powerful strikes, but Kratos managed to dodge these while switching weapons again, now readying his Cestus. Mercury threw a round kick at Kratos head, but Kratos once again readied the Fleece and absorbed the energy from the kick, shoving outward and knocking Mercury back a second time. The two of them engaged in hand-to-foot combat, but Mercury was still at a clear disadvantage despite his greater speed, Kratos managing to keep up and hit like a Goliath.
Kratos threw a haymaker while Mercury threw a jumping/spinning rear kick, the two powerful metal limbs- I mean metal WEAPON-COVERED limbs connecting and creating a powerful burst of wind, Mercury landed from the kick and looked up just in time for Kratos to slam the other Cestus into him and knock him back. He fired several more rounds at Kratos, who slammed his cestus into the ground and dragged them forward and upward, the combo of ground and air Dust in the weapons creating a shockwave that negated the blasts, but dissipated before it reached Mercury. "This is the end!" Kratos said, switching to his short swords and flinging them at Mercury, stabbing the ground in front of his feet, pulling himself in and slicing towards him.
"I forfeit." Mercury said non-chalantly.
Kratos was caught off-guard at this, just barely managing to stop his swing, his sword stopping a mere centimeter away from his neck. Any slight movement to the left from the kicker and Mercury's neck would be right against the blade. "What is the meaning of this?! You're not even going to try?!" Kratos demanded, pulling his blade back.
Mercury simply shrugged at this. "What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." He said, the three other members of team SCRN looking at each other, all agreeing this was suspicious.
"In that case... Kratos Nikos is the victor of the match." Glynda said off-screen.
Emerald smirked. Mercury sneered smugly. Kratos growled in annoyance and disappointment, placing his swords on his back and walking off. The Aura displays for Kratos and Mercury are shown as Mercury's was changed from green to red indicating his loss.
"Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent." Glynda said.
"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury said.
An alarm sounded which jolted Blake who had nodded off. "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." Glynda said off-screen.
"Talk about anti-climactic." Dante said.
"Indeed. He wasn't exactly making you beg for mercy, but he could at least hold his own against you. No reason to suddenly quit like that." Bayonetta added.
"Coward! He didn't deserve to fight a warrior like me, let alone Pyrrha!" Kratos snapped.
Ryu looked to be in thought at this, before answering. "And, maybe it was just me, but did it seem like he was trying to draw out your attacks, as if he was trying to figure out the way you fight... and find your flaws." He said.
"I can't speak for him learning my flaws, but if he was trying to figure me out, the one thing he should figure out is never step up to a Nikos if you aren't on our level." Kratos said, to which the others rolled their eyes.
As everyone left, Mercury stopped beside Emerald glaring at Kratos. "I thought you were supposed to learn in school." He growled.
Outside, SSSN were standing at the entrance as Teams RWBY and SCRN walked past. Sun noticed Blake and ran after her. "Hey, Blake!" Sun called, grabbing Blake by her shoulder. "You uh, doing okay?" He asked.
Blake shut the book she was reading and looked at him. "I'm fine." She said.
Yang looked back and narrowed her eyes a bit, seeing Sun so close to Blake. "Why he touching my girl? What's he doing with my girl?!" She demanded, activating Ember Celica.
"Whoa, there, firecracker! Calm down! I don't see him getting very far!" Bayonetta said, holding her sister back to prevent her from murdering the monkey faunus.
"So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend... ah, sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?" He asked.
"What?" He asked.
"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?" He asked.
"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that." Blake snapped, walking away past her team. Sun snk from his rejection. "You what?" Blake demanded off-screen.
The scene shifted to teams RWBY and SCRN in the former's dorm room. Blake was sitting with her arms crossed. "With two sets of ears, you should've heard it the first time." Bayonetta said.
"We want you to go to the dance." Ruby said again.
"That's ridiculous." Blake snapped.
"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head." Yang said.
"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering." Weiss lectured, counting the facts on her fingers.
"You think I care about grades?" Blake demanded.
"You should if you want to stay in the most prestigious combat school on Remnant and keep being a huntress-in-training, your ONLY means of authority to arrest the White Fang." Ryu countered.
She shrugged and then gestured out the window. People's lives are at stake!" She snapped.
Yang put her hand on Blake's, lowering it. "We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." She said.
"But in the meantime, your life is at stake, too. Lack of sleep is a problem on its own, but with you barely eating, you'll be lucky not to pass out at any given time." Kratos added.
"Besides, thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale." Ruby reminded.
"And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months." Weiss confirmed.
"Don't forget about their missing military tech too." Yang added.
"So we already have all the answers we need to track them down and wreck their whole operation." Dante said.
"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake snapped.
"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!" Ruby added.
"Seriously, I'm amazed you haven't dropped already." Bayonetta added.
"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day." Yang said.
"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it." Weiss said.
"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang said, pumping her fists which caused the bed to bounce Blake. She then snuggled up to her faunus crush. "I'll make the night special just for you." She said.
"Excuse me?" Blake asked.
"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected." Weiss explained.
"There was already a huge Grimm population where they were, but scans have shown the numbers only doubled since Team CFVY left." Dante added.
"So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night." Yang said.
"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready." Weiss explained.
"Even the greatest huntsmen and huntresses of all time needed to stop and take breaks." Ryu added.
"So what do ya think?" Ruby asked.
"I think this is a colossal waste of time." Blake grumbled, walking away from the group and opening the dorm door. "I'll be in the library." She said, walking out of the room.
"Great." Yang said in annoyance.
"You can't help those who don't want it." Bayonetta said.
"But how can we save Vale from a huge, evil plot if we can't save our teammate from herself?" Ruby asked.
"You're asking the wrong person, dear sister." The older dark-haired girl said, hugging her little sister.
"She can't keep going on like this." Weiss said.
"She's only operating on sheer willpower at this point. But that can only get her so far in a state like this." Kratos said.
"That's a little morbid..." Weiss said uncomfortably.
There was a knock at the door and Weiss approached and opened it. Jaune appeared at the door with a guitar. "Weiss!" He sang.
Weiss slammed the door in his face. "Oh, come on, open the door! I promise not to sing." He complained, knocking on the door, Weiss sighing before opening it. "I lied! Weiss Schu-nee, will you accompany me, to the dance on... Sunday!?" He sang. (No homo here, but damn, he's a good singer, he'd get me to go with him!)
"Are you done?" She asked.
"Yes?" He said unsurely, shrugging.
"No." She declined, shutting the door in his face. Turning around, she saw the others staring at her. "What?" She demanded.
Ruby and Yang are standing precariously while Team SCRN sat normally. "And that is why they call you the Ice Queen." Yang and Dante said together as Ruby finally collapsed.
"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name." Weiss explained.
"Jaune was interested in you before he even knew your name. He's a dork, but he's a good kid." Dante said.
"But like you said, he's a dork. Besides, I already have a date in mind." She said, looking at Ruby, who seemed to depressed to notice.
"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go." Ruby said.
That night, Pyrrha Jaune and Kratos were sparring at their spot on the roof. Jaune jumped to the left to avoid Kratos swung his left-hand sword down at him, raising his shield and deflecting a horizontal strike from Kratos right-hand sword and using his sword to block the other sword as Kratos swung it again. He then pulled both blades back and swung them low at Jaune's feet, forcing the blonde boy to leap forward, blocking an attack from Pyrrha as she tried to take advantage of his vulnerable state after jumping. Jaune put away his shield as they then engaged in one-on-one combat. Jaune appeared to have gained the upper hand until Pyrrha swept his legs out from under him. She laughed a bit at this. "Well done! Your swordplay's improved immensely." She said, helping Jaune to his feet.
"Your speed and reflexes have also greatly improved." Kratos added.
"I couldn't have done it without you two." He said.
"So, are you ready to move on to Aura?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura for tonight? Might go on a jog or something." Jaune said, to which Kratos rolled his eyes.
"Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now." Pyrrha urged.
"You'll only get so far without aura or your Semblance. You're going to hit a wall soon where you won't be able to improve much more than you have now." Kratos said.
"That's not it. It's just..." He started, hesitating a bit. "It's dumb." He said.
"What is it?" She asked as she approache Jaune and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me." She said.
"And I promise not to make fun of your or hit you if I don't like what you say." Kratos promised.
"It's... Weiss." He admitted.
"Oh." Pyrrha said simply, her face falling slightly, before she put on a small, fake smile. "What about her?" She asked. Kratos growled and glared a bit at Jaune, noticing his sister's sudden sadness.
"I asked her to the dance and she shot me down." He explained, giggling halfheartedly. "Big surprise, right?" He said.
"Well, I believe the saying goes: There's... plenty of fish in the sea." Pyrrha said.
"Exactly, stop trying to catch the one that keeps getting away and look for an easier target." Kratos said, gesturing not-so-subtly to Pyrrha, nodding his eyes and head towards her. He still didn't quite like the idea of Jaune being with Pyrrha, but she clearly only wanted the blonde, so he stuck by her decision as a good brother.
"That's easy for you to say. You've both probably got guys and girls clamoring over each other just to ask you out." He said.
Pyrrha:(chuckles half-heartedly) You'd be surprised.
"No one's asked. Either of us. Not even Pyrrha." Kratos said bluntly, trying to point out the obvious without saying it.
However, Jaune somehow didn't understand and dismissed the thought. "Oh please. If you two don't get dates to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh." He chuckled to himself as he walked away.
"You do and I will lose ALL respect I have for you!" Kratos called after him, before sighing and looking at Pyrrha as she dropped her smile and looksed rather upset. "Although, at this rate, that's more than likely." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a supportive side-hug. He would beat it into Jaune, but that would pretty much ruin the mood, as Pyrrha wanted him to see and discover for himself how she feels about him.
"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos." Emerald said off-screen.
The scene shifted to Cinder in her dorm room, sewing a black dress as she sat on one of the beds. Emerald was sitting on the floor while looking at her Scroll, and Mercury was lying on the ground and reading a comic book.
"Ah, the invincible girl." Cinder said, seeing Pyrrha's image on Emerald's scroll.
Mercury growled a bit at this. "I couldn't get any info on her. Her big brother stepped in and ruined my chance to figure her out." He said.
"Ahh, yes. The so-called Ghost of Mistral." Cinder said, looking at his image when Emerald switched to it (I know I called him the Ghost of Remnant before, but Ghost of Mistral makes more sense, as that's where he's from). "And what do we know about him?" She asked.
Mercury growled again. "Not a lot. Just that he has a lot of weapons. He kept switching to a different weapon before I could get any kind of read or clue about how to deal with him when he's using that one. And he's ridiculously strong, too. You might even have trouble against him." Mercury said.
"Oh, shut up! Cinder can overpower anyone!" Emerald snapped, slapping his shoulder.
"It's not about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking away the power they have." Cinder said. " And we will, in time. Put both Nikos twins on the list." She ordered, Emerald doing so.
"I hate waiting." Mercury said.
"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." Cinder said evilly.