Yo!

So, we've arrived. Without further ado, I suppose?

Chapter 44

Neo's footsteps echoed on the metallic ground of the temporary Atlesian docking grounds. All around her, men, and women of the Atlesian army roamed about, doing checks of all different sorts in order to make sure that everything would be completely ready come the festival.

Although Neo could see that they had beefed up security quite a bit.

Evidently, Ironwood was less of a fool than he let on.

Where many others could not see the signs of what was to come, it seemed Atlas alone was prepared. Or, perhaps it was that Ironwood's constant paranoia was, for once, paying off?

Neo was not sure there was much of a difference in this particular case. So instead, she continued walking, the boots of the military uniform she was wearing clacking down with every step.

Today was the last day of the Vytal Festival's tournament. Of course, the celebrations would continue long past today, lasting for easily another week or two while the businesses and corporations of Vale did their best to extend their time of higher profits as far into the future as possible.

Today was also the day that Cinder's original attack had been set to take place.

The day when Cinder had said she would bring the entire nation of Vale to heel. When she would announce to the entire world the folly of the Kingdoms, become a woman feared the world over. Become well and truly powerful.

How droll it was for Neo to see that same woman brought so low, made so weak, by a malady of the heart.

It felt good, in a way, to watch her struggle as she had. Neo had been told she held grudges for longer than the average person, and frankly, Neo had never had much trouble agreeing with others when they said such things.

To her, it made little sense why someone would ever forgive another's trespasses.

Cinder Fall and her little goons had stripped away Roman's freedom. They had killed some of his best men in an effort to intimidate him, men who Neo had not exactly cared for, but had grown used to seeing about the places they skulked within and around. Men who had made Roman laugh, and therefore, had earned some modicum of respect.

And they had continuously threatened their lives for over a year.

So yes. Neo held a grudge about that.

She felt that was understandable, but then, she didn't exactly care if someone didn't understand, either.

For now, she had a rather simple task to undertake.

It was not at all difficult to sneak into the surrounding areas of the Atlesian base. It was regulated with far less force than, say, walking straight into Ironwood's personal battleship. All she'd had to do was sneak a keycard off a guard earlier in the day, copy it, and make sure they were… indisposed while Neo imitated them. She could've mimicked the keycard with her semblance full stop, but then, she had long-since learned not to rely on her semblance to such extreme degrees.

After all, an illusionary keycard would get her into the compound when the guard's saw it, for illusions could fool the eyes of men.

Illusions were far less effective on, say, a keycard scanner, which would attempt to lock her out of the prison block on Ironwood's ship.

Thusly, a physical card served her purpose better, even if taking the time to acquire one made things more difficult.

Still, she'd managed it the previous day, while Mercury and Cinder competed in the double's round, and Emerald Sustrai had been off doing whatever it was she was up to nowadays –apparently having a girlfriend, yet another of Cinder's to go soft in Beacon – she had been busy.

It was time for that to pay off.

She nodded towards the guards that were standing at the edges of one of the entrances to Ironwood's ship, and presented her keycard. They checked it, nodded back to her, and opened the door.

Neo smiled.

She made sure she had everything she needed as she made her way into the ship. Hush, of course, was disguised as a briefcase at her side. The keycard made its way back into her wallet – it had belonged to the woman she'd stolen it off of, but who was telling? – and, while she was digging around in her back pocket, she felt around for the last piece of the puzzle.

And it was there, just as she'd known it would be.

She smirked, even as she blended in with the guardsman all around the ship, taking an inconspicuous position that she could hold until the tournament kicked off for the day.

And then it would be time to begin.

/

It was the final day of the tournament.

To Cinder, of course, that fact meant nothing. The day, of course, held significance, but she did not care even remotely about some pesky battle that she had to take place in later today. If she'd cared, she could've won it with an arm tied behind her back.

But…

Far more importantly, today was the last day she would be spending at Beacon Academy.

It ached. When she thought of returning to Evernight, having to put up with Tyrian, and Watts, and yes, even Hazel, she found her heart aching. When her thoughts turned to the empty, cold room that she inhabited there, with its thin sheets, and its brimstone walls, and its wooden door with iron bars set in it… she found herself shaking.

…Why? Why did she have to face such things? What had she done to…

No. To say such a thing would be ridiculous. To ask why she went through such things was idiotic. Because the world was not fair. Because the world did not reason, or care. The world simply was. In the same way that she had been made an orphaned slave, in the same way that the Madame's stepdaughters had been killed when they were barely older than she was, in the same way that Rhodes, as cowardly as he was, had only tried to do the lawful thing.

In the same way that those people who Cinder attacked, had killed, had not necessarily deserved their fates either.

She could only sigh as she leant backwards against the concrete wall of Amity behind her. She was avoiding having to deal with… anyone by parking herself in the lower foundation of the place, where the designers had been far less concerned with design and far more focused on structural integrity. There were bars and beams everywhere, connecting every little point. Was she technically supposed to be there? No, probably not.

But no one ever came down there, so it didn't particularly matter, did it?

The morning had gone about rather normally, in all honesty. She'd gotten up, done her morning routine, vacated the bathroom before she was tempted to try and lock herself in until she was called by Ozpin, and put on her clothes. She'd felt oddly lighter at the time, though she couldn't really identify why exactly that was the case.

She'd dismissed that as nothing, and then gone about her day.

She'd had breakfast in the cafeteria, talked casually with Pyrrha and her team – most of it was empty discussion about the tournament, but that was one of the few conversations Cinder felt she could participate in that would not leave her a moody wreck – and then headed to the fairgrounds.

There had been nothing to do there. Her teammates had felt otherwise, it seemed. Neo had broken off from all of them almost immediately, heading over to a stand that – as a practical joke by the students who'd set it up, or perhaps just for the genuinely interested – was selling literature of an… adult orientation. It had other things, of course, but Cinder had a feeling she wasn't there for the comic books.

She'd not seen her since, although she had a far more intimate idea as to what she might be getting up to than she would've liked.

Cinder had sighed at the time, even as her mind had flashed back nearly eight months, to when she'd first noticed Neopolitan reading those… raunchy novels on her bed. She'd always thought she was stealing them from somewhere, although, whenever she had asked about where she'd gotten them, Neo had simply put a finger to her lips, as if to say 'it's a secret'.

It was idiotic that such a thing was almost a good memory, was it not? That thinking on that, on Neopolitan of all people reading gratuitous smut was something she would think back on fondly, but…

There was so little that she didn't think back on fondly about from her time at Beacon. When she thought about it… her classes, perhaps, especially whenever they had Grimm Studies with that oaf of a man, Port, she could've gone without. She'd been told by some of CMME's first year associates that he was even worse in their version of the course, and that, in the later years, he apparently actually started to do some teaching.

Which scared Cinder a bit, because if that man rambling on about his legendary escapades with women and Grimm that Cinder knew – from being a servant of the woman who helped to make them – were completely fantastical was considered teaching, then she did not want to know what went on in their classes.

That thought had her breathing out a laugh, then, which quickly faded away, replaced by melancholy once more.

…She knew what she would miss most, of course. That was not even up for debate.

She was… she was going to have to leave Glynda behind.

That thought, whenever she was reminded of it – which happened far too often, despite her attempts to think on anything but – never ceased to rob her of any positive feeling she might've been able to build up within her.

That night she'd spent with her had only made the pain now greater. She had known it would. She had made the decision to have that with her because…

She knew that she would never have the opportunity again. Not with someone who she cared about like that, who cared about her like that. Not with someone who looked at her so tenderly, who accepted all of her flaws, who made her feel like she could, just maybe, be something more than what she had been made to be.

It had been as much of a goodbye as anything else.

…She would see her again tonight. She knew she would. She would be there when Cinder was given the power. She would be there, and Cinder could…

…She couldn't do anything. Couldn't say anything. She couldn't give away the fact that she was going to leave. If she betrayed that somehow, then all of this…

…What if she stayed?

It was a treacherous thought. The kind of thought that someone in the service of another might be allowed to have. The kind of thought that someone who hadn't given everything she was, until she had nothing, was nothing, to the Dread Queen of the Grimm, could have.

But Cinder had. She had been given power by Salem. Been given a second chance by Salem. She had been given everything.

…Without her, what was she?

"You are more than some power. You are more than some role, or some title, or... you are more than what you can provide. You are inherently valuable, and... No. More than that, you are someone who I care about so very, very–

She slammed the back of her left fist into the concrete behind her, grounding herself in the pain, the way that her aura screamed from having to protect the muscles and bones within from being damaged.

But she couldn't think about such things. She simply couldn't. If she did, she might forget about what happened to those who abandoned Salem. She might forget about what would happen if the Grimm inside of Cinder, that tiny scarab-like thing that Salem had inserted into her, were to suddenly turn against her; ripping, and tearing within her flesh without worry or concern for her life.

…

She was shaking like a leaf.

Cinder felt pathetic. Incredibly so.

But it was as she was caught in her own head, thinking such horrible, dreadful things, that she spotted a hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. Such a thing shouldn't have mattered – it was the Vytal Festival, there were people all around the stadium, and someone getting lost and wandering into a restricted area was hardly noteworthy.

Or at least, if that person wasn't wearing all black, didn't have a hood drawn up, didn't have a suspiciously full-looking backpack slung along their shoulder, and wasn't constantly looking around as if worried they would be spotted.

But this individual was doing all of those things.

Cinder's brow creased, even as she ran her hands down her body, changing the color of her outfit from its normal blue jeans and beige blazer to a fully charcoal color to better blend in with the low light. She lacked the materials to do much at all other than that, but she could, at least, try and blend in with the low light of the lower sections of the arena.

Black was easy. Black was the color of burns, and ash, and the remnants of flame. Black was what she was.

It was dark as she stalked whoever this was deeper and deeper into the bowels of Amity. They passed some of the more obvious sections that Cinder had thought they might go towards. They ignored, for one, going towards any of the other exits that would take them back up. If they were a petty thief trying to escape a mark, then that would be the best plan.

They also avoided the things like the announcers box, or the entrances towards the central battlefield itself, which meant they weren't someone trying to get on T.V., or go streaking across the field, or even to sabotage one of the fighters.

No. This person ignored all of that entirely. They instead took an arduous route, climbing up some of the steel beams in the lower support section in order to…

Cinder had no idea what it was this person wanted, but it wasn't very hard to imagine that it wasn't good.

She followed along at a slightly more sedated pace, making sure above all else that she was not spotted. Luckily, infiltration was a skill she was fairly well practiced in. As much as she reviled Tyrian, he had at least been worth something when Salem had forced him to make her as stealthy as he.

Not like Tyrian ever used such things intelligently. No, he would use his mastery of stealth to sneak up behind someone, and then…

He'd announce his presence so he could have a fun fight.

He was an idiot, plain and simple.

Momentary distraction thanks to Tyrian's foolishness aside, she had caught up to whoever this was within no time, due to them having stopped. They were kneeling in a small, concrete corridor, without much room to maneuver. Honestly, it wasn't exactly the kind of venue that Cinder would want to fight someone in…

But it would have to do.

Still, she wanted to see exactly what it was this person was doing before she went and interrupted it. If they were going to go and do something especially incriminating, then she wasn't going to stop them.

So she sat and she waited, and watched as the figure began to unpack things from the pack along his back. She hadn't expected to see what looked to her admittedly untrained eyes as a bomb, but…

Well, that changed the nature of what she was doing by quite a bit.

Whatever it was this person was doing, she wasn't going to allow him to blow up a part of the arena. Not when her own enforcers and allies were above.

…Was that truly the reason she stepped in? Was the only reason a selfish one? Did she have nothing other than that?

No. Cinder had a feeling that even if she hadn't had anyone above, she'd have stopped this, regardless.

Hah… she was losing herself, wasn't she?

Or was she gaining something else?

The man – and she figured out rather quickly that the mysterious figure was a man when he loudly swore as he saw her – dodged backwards from out of her first attack, but it had been slow, far too much so for an active fighter. She catalogued him as a noncombatant, or, at least, not hunter trained.

The fight, if it could be called that, lasted approximately five seconds. Cinder kicked the man across the jaw, and felt as his jawbone broke against the contact. No aura, as well.

He really was a civilian, wasn't he?

A terrorist nonetheless, however, if his plans to plant a bomb on Amity were to come to fruition. She debated simply executing the man here and now, and sparing herself the trouble, but she figured that a student likely wouldn't resort to such methods, and she had no desire to have the Maiden's power denied to her.

Not when it was all going to be over so soon.

That thought distracted her for a moment. For a solitary instance of time. And in that moment, she heard the man beneath her heel shuffle around. She looked down, ready to knock him unconscious, or otherwise deal with him–

The man – no, the faunus, she could see it in the way his teeth were elongated into sharpened fangs – smiled at her, before, with a single motion, he flicked the top off the switch in his hand, revealing a red button.

"For the White Fang!"

Her already frayed nerves felt like they broke.

Cinder had a moment, however brief, to realize what the man was about to do. She funneled her aura to her back, placed both her arms in front of her face, and grit her teeth.

The bomb behind her gave a small beep.

And then the entire world went white.

A moment of weightlessness was quickly followed by agony stretching across her entire body. Her ears rang, and she imagined that would be the case for at least the next minute or so. She did her best to try and reorient herself, to try and grasp some of what had happened as she coughed up a lung, attempting to clear the sulphury smoke from out of her chest.

She forced her eyes to open, to take in her surroundings. Her vision spun terribly, and she nearly vomited the meagre meal she'd been able to scarf down past her nerves before arriving at Amity. Her hearing was coming back, just a little. She could just make out…

There was a barely recognizable sound of shouting, of people screaming and braying as the explosion that Cinder had just been struck by was noticed. Surely, people would be coming down here, and they would see…

Cinder looked up, then, and quickly wished she hadn't. The remnants of the Faunus who'd triggered that bomb…

She swallowed down on the bile in her throat, and decided not to describe such a thing at all. She had killed before, but all of them had been quick. Clean. Painless.

And she supposed that this had been, for the faunus strewn about the walls around her. He likely hadn't felt a thing.

That thought didn't really help.

She knew, however, that she would need to wait here. It would be better to explain what had happened, that a –Rogue? With Adam? Betraying her? Attack? What's happening? Why now? Why today? She had told him not to! Specifically warned him– White Fang agent had been attempting to set an explosive charge, and then, when caught, had chosen to detonate it and himself instead of being captured.

Of course, Cinder had been under the assumption, then, that it was just a single man. Just one insurgent agent, meant to make a mark on the festival, to make sure that the White Fang's name wasn't forgotten.

And then Cinder heard the second explosion, and another round of screams. Then she heard a third explosion, more yelling, more terrified screeching. A fourth soon followed, and then a fifth, and then a sixth.

Cinder was running before she knew what was happening. Her mind whirled, trying to conjure into being something, some explanation. This… how was this even possible!? This shouldn't have been–

And Cinder's eyes went as wide as saucers, even as her legs somehow carried her faster, quicker back towards the main levels of the arena. The screaming and braying and yelling only grew louder as she took the stairs up two or three at a time, panting for breath by the time she reached the top, and looked out onto Amity.

She saw the remnants of the devastation first. The multiple holes that had been carved into the bleachers of Amity. She herself had survived the agent's bomb through aura, and knowing it was coming to activate said aura to direct it towards the source of the attack.

Many of the civilians in the stands had no such luck.

Her mind was still whirling as the monitors above them flickered back to life, and, on the screen, something appeared.

The symbol of the White Fang.

And then a voice rang out, nasally and annoying at any other time, and yet, in this moment, it was enough to inspire fear in the people of Amity.

And fear… that was the last thing they needed.

"For too long, the people of Remnant have looked down upon the Faunus. Have seen us as lesser. As tools to be used. No longer. Today, the White Fang strikes a blow against humanity itself. We will remind everyone that it was us who won the revolution! That it is we who are superior! Remember this as your lives are forfeit. Remember this as you die!"

In terms of speeches, it really could've used work. It wasn't particularly inciting, or damning, or really relative to what had been happening in the arena at all. It would've been easy to not even realize that it was Adam Taurus who was speaking, and perhaps that was the point, to remain at least somewhat anonymous, but Cinder had never thought of Adam as subtle, quite literally never.

It didn't matter. Not now. Not with the fear already reverberating throughout all of Amity Colosseum. Not with the faint sound of bullheads whirring in the distance, and then…

A roar that chilled to the bone. A growl that had one shaking in their boots.

The Grimm.

And it was then that Cinder understood.

She had assumed Adam Taurus would, when disallowed her support, not utilize any of the means she'd left him with to continue onwards with the attack. It had made far too much sense for him to simply keep all of the things she had given him, to bolster his forces elsewhere, or even sell the many resources she'd provided.

But he'd sought to keep and use them for their original purpose…

The multiple forgeries and bribes they'd had Torchwick make to get the White Fang into the stadium, the bullheads they'd procured to make sure that the Grimm would be ferried onto the structure itself, even the blueprints to how to achieve such a plan that had been left to him had been hers. For an idea could not be taken back. Adam had long since known her entire plan of attack, exactly how she would maneuver on the day. Of course, Cinder had left out that she would be leaving him and his White Fang behind, but that had hardly mattered to her.

Still, the plan she'd left him with was solid. Built upon contingency after contingency.

It was as flawless as she'd been able to make it.

Hell, even the method for which Adam had used to hack the monitor could likely be traced back to her. For the entire reason they'd been left so open, their security so easily pried apart, had been the virus that still lurked within them.

For it could not be removed. It did not function in such a way. It left weaknesses, flaws, that could be abused, but would, likely, eventually be patched back up.

Watts knew where they were. Neo had been meant to carry Cinder's black scroll up there in order to change the allegiances of Atlas' little toy robots, but–

It was at that moment that Cinder keyed into something she'd been feeling the entire day. Something that had been hanging about the back of her mind, unspoken, unheard, for too long. Her hand reached towards her back pocket, towards where the black scroll that had been given to her by Salem, the key that could activate the Queen's virus, was supposed to be.

She pulled from out of her pocket a light metal sheet, around the same dimensions as a scroll would be, around the same weight.

And on it was drawn a smiling face, with one eye winking at her.

Cinder understood already what had happened, then.

She'd been careless. Not expected to be stabbed in the back…

And as the Grimm warning sirens began to blare, as the monitors showed that the panic level had already made it to eight, and continued to rise…

She realized what she'd done.

The Vytal Festival was under attack.

And it was all Cinder's fault.

/

Neopolitan smiled as the cell holding Roman opened up, and the man stepped out, cracking his neck as she held out Melodic Cudgel for him to take.

"Man, tiny ass jail cell gave me such a crick in the neck." Roman whined, and she rolled her eyes even as he looked down at her with some small puzzlement. "So uh… what exactly are we doing right now?"

Neo feigned not knowing what he was talking about, raising both of her eyebrows in a mockery of cuteness.

"I mean... it seemed like something was up last time, no? When you suddenly tried to bail me out of getting arrested? It just seemed like an awful lot of effort to put on for an act."

She shook her head, smiling for the man as she shrugged her shoulders.

"So… we just… stick to the plan? As normal?"

Neo nodded her head, before turning around, and skipping past the brutalized Atlesian Knights that she'd destroyed on her way in.

Roman shivered.

"Man, Neo, you are one cold SOB." He sighed. "Alright. Fine. But once we finish our end of the bargain I want us to get the hell out of here. Let's make for the bridge. Did Cinder give you the scroll?"

Neo gave a wide, Cheshire smile at that as she reached into her back pocket, and brought out the black scroll that Cinder always carried with her.

She'd always been so attentive with it. Always so careful. And yet… Cinder had slipped up.

She'd been so horribly out of it that morning. So negligent. So distracted. It had barely taken any effort at all to slip the device from her pants pocket while she was changing outfits, and to replace it with a simple piece of aluminum.

She'd measured both. They were the same dimensions, the same overall weight, and, just as Neo had suspected…

Would feel so similar that Cinder wouldn't even bother to check.

Even if she had, Neo would have simply used her semblance to make her think she still had it.

But, well, she hadn't even needed to do such a thing.

Because Cinder was compromised, well and truly.

Roman took the black scroll from her gingerly, staring down at it as he rotated it idly.

"Well, alright. Let's get to work."

Oh, Neo understood very well that Cinder no longer wanted this part of the plan done. She'd long since been far too… affected to allow violence of this scale. The moment that she'd canceled the Breach, Neo had known.

She wouldn't be able to do it. She wouldn't be able to make this attack happen.

And Neo would have been fine with that. Except for one simple thing.

The attack was the only way that she and Roman were getting out unscathed.

After all, in Cinder's eyes, this might have once been something bigger, more important, but to Neo and Roman, this had only ever been one thing.

The chance to survive until tomorrow.

Although, realistically, she could probably run away with Roman right now, and get away without being followed. She doubted anyone would take the time to track them down with Adam Taurus going insane outside.

But, well…

Perhaps she was vindictive. Petty. Or just plain evil.

But Neopolitan operated by a single, rather simple rule.

One did not touch the things that she cared about.

And Roman was at the top of that list.

Cinder… she'd broken Neo's one rule. Further still, her and her little goons had outed her identity, made her known to a bunch of children.

And more than any other excuse Neo tried to make, at the end of the day, it was actually quite simple.

Cinder had fucked with her one too many times.

And she was going to pay for that.

/

Glynda had but a single thought as the announcement on the monitor ended, and the sirens began to go off inside the arena.

I need to get to Cinder!

It was a base instinct. Something she knew not even the origin of. It screamed to her in a way nothing ever had before – no, no that wasn't true. When her teammates had been on the other side of the tunnel of Mt. Glenn… when the order had been given to bomb the tunnels, to prevent any Grimm from making it into Vale…

When she'd rushed there that day, to try and see if they'd made it back… she'd felt this feeling then, too.

She made to stand, but before she could get too far, a hand grabbed onto her arm. Idly, she noted the way that James was already shouting out orders somewhere from off to her left, and that many of the dignitaries in the box with them seemed panicked. She imagined the smell of urine likely had something to do with them.

Still, she turned her head, and looked Ozpin in the eye.

"You're off to retrieve Cinder, correct?"

"Yes." She did not lie. To do such would waste time.

"Good." Ozpin nodded once as he took up his cane, and, with an effortless grace, went from looking the wise old man to the battle-ready master. "Once you've retrieved her, bring her to the vault! We will transfer the power to her immediately."

Glynda's eyes widened. "But–"

"This attack can only mean one thing, Glynda, and you know that." Ozpin's tone did not allow room for argument. "Who else but an agent of Salem could have concocted such a plot? Could have executed such a scheme!?"

Glynda… she… she knew he was right.

And so, despite the way she felt sickness rising in her throat, despite the way she wanted nothing more than to make sure that Cinder would be safe, above all else…

She nodded her head.

"Alright, headmaster… I'll go and get her now."

And Glynda Goodwitch ran to find the woman she was only just now realizing she loved.

/

Mercury couldn't really help the way that he gazed, wide-eyed, up at the sky above them. Amity eclipsed a good portion of it, the edges rising a few hundred meters, but one could still easily see through the shield dome at the top.

One could easily see the Grimm that hovered above them in the gradually darkening sky. Could easily see as Nevermore began to divebomb the shield, bringing its strength lower and lower. As Atlas' Knights began to rain down from a battleship overhead, dropping into the arena, beginning to fire up at the invading Grimm.

And the only thought that really occurred to him then was that this wasn't supposed to happen. This… all of this…

…He had no idea what to do.

Mercury was used to that feeling, of course. His entire life, he'd been a follower. Someone who went along with the orders of another. He rarely made decisions for himself, and he knew that in this case, he didn't have the luxury of doing so. Right now, he needed to get into contact with Cinder. Mercury hadn't seen her yet, and had expected to only once the single round finals had well and truly kicked off.

Still, Cinder still had a scroll.

So he reached down towards his own scroll, brought it out, and reached towards the call button next to Cinder's name…

And in that moment, a blade found its way to Mercury's throat.

His eyes widened, even as he turned, and saw Blake Belladonna standing there beside him, Gambol Shroud extended to rest just beneath his chin.

Her eyes were dead. Her posture rigid.

He couldn't find the words.

"…Blake, I–"

"Just don't, Mercury."." She stated simply. "You're coming with me. I'm taking you to Headmaster Ozpin. And you can… you can explain what it is that's happening here to him."

"What makes you think that I–"

"Don't–" Blake nearly screamed at him, such was the obvious fury, the obvious rage behind her eyes. "Don't… make this harder than it has to be. Please." She stressed. "I don't want to have to kill you."

…That statement alone brought a smile to Mercury's face. He didn't know why, really. Although he supposed, when he thought about it, there was a good myriad of reasons. Because the fact that Blake cared about him was something of note, wasn't it? That she was genuinely broken up about having to threaten him… it was touching, just a bit.

But also…

"I'm sorry, Blake." He said as he turned his head ever so slightly, using that motion to disguise the movement of his left leg. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Yeah…" Blake spoke quietly, almost inaudible over the chaos all around them. "I had a feeling."

And Mercury's leg gave off a single click.

Blake reacted.

The world exploded.

/

"HIYAH!"

Ruby Rose slashed straight through an Ursa, which had been ferried up and into Amity by the White Fang. Off in the distance, Emerald could still hear the roars of others, angry snarls, and even more terrified screams because of them.

At her side, Ruby Rose shook with rage.

"How could they… how could they…!?"

Emerald could barely keep moving, let alone answer her.

This… they hadn't done this, right?

They'd said they wouldn't. Cinder had said they… what was happening!?

Emerald hadn't realized how good that had felt, the fact that this wasn't going to happen, until it suddenly did.

Because now she just felt sick.

She had a moment to be caught off guard by a boarbatusk before Penny came blitzing in, slicing the creature in twain with two of her magnetic blades.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded her head, still lacking the energy to really talk. To do anything other than filter out of Amity with everyone else. Along the sidelines, Emerald watched as multiple Atlesian Knights escorted civilians towards the escape shuttles. Already, multiple had launched, although Emerald had to force herself to look away as one was drawn down by a pack of griffons, literally ripping the craft out of the sky.

And then one of the Atlesian Knights that had been fighting the Grimm, preventing their advance, simply… stopped.

And it turned towards a crowd of people behind it, a mix of students, and huntsman, and civilians alike.

It's visor glowed red.

And it opened fire.

Emerald's heart caught in her throat as, all around the arena, more and more of those same knights began to do the same.

This… this was…

It was the Queen's virus. It was Cinder's virus.

But… she hadn't… they weren't supposed to…

Ruby sprang into action, cutting three machines in half in the blink of an eye. Immediately, she moved to the wounded, trying to offer any help she could. Emerald would have too, but…

She was looking at Penny, whose body was shaking.

"Penny? Are you okay?"

Penny shook her head, although the motion was horrible stunted. "S-Something is wrong! There is a problem with–"

Suddenly, Penny's voice became far more modulated, far more robotic. "There is a flaw in the internal logic of my servos. There is a flaw in the internal logic of my calculations unit. There is a flaw in–"

And then her head turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees, staring straight at Emerald with eyes a crimson red.

Emerald didn't think she'd ever felt the emotion coursing through her chest in her entire life. This… this primal fear that wracked her.

Not for herself, but…

"PENNY!" She shouted, trying to reach out to the girl who she'd… who she'd grown to…

One of Penny's blades nearly managed to slice off two of her fingers, although her instincts were just fast enough to pull her hand away from it. That blade had come from Penny's back, joining the two she'd had out already.

Seven more joined that one, and then, suddenly, in the middle of Amity Colosseum, Emerald's girlfriend was pointing ten blades right at her, holding her hand up in front of her as if issuing them controls.

But before they could lash out again, Penny shook, and let out a horrible, aching scream. It was a sound that Emerald immediately catalogued as never wanting to hear again. It was… there was such pain, such suffering in there, that–

"P-P-Please, E-Em!"

Penny's eyes flashed from green to red and back. She… she was fighting. She was fighting so hard.

"I am not… my father did not… I-I have not been up-up-up-upgraded to resiiiiiiiist– You have to get away from– internal diagnostic unit has failed. Attempting to reboot. Internal morality system has failed. Attempting to reboot. Internal combat systems set to overdrive. Inter– GAH!"

And then, Penny's left eye was red again, and this time, Emerald couldn't help but imagine it as permanent.

Her right eye, still green, was hanging on by a thread. There was so little left there.

"P-Pleeeeeee-ease!" Penny barely managed to choke out between the whirring of her joints, her servos. "R-Run!"

And then, with a single horrible crack of the neck, Penny's right eye went red, and, without hesitation, her blades and her body rocketed towards her.

End Chapter 44

So we obviously don't know if the Queen's virus would affect Penny in the show, given she's dead at the time, but I'm going to say that she is in this fic for the sake of juicier drama.

Anyways, as you might've guessed, shit is officially getting real now. I'm super excited to bring you all the next four or five chapters, which will be wrapping up a good deal of the current character arcs. As to whether or not the story is ending soon...

Well, you'll just have to keep guessing, won't you?

See you all next week!