"What do you mean that something is blocking us!?" The captain of Blue-2 angrily shouted at his communications officer. "Our network was designed by the late Doctor Watts! It should be impossible to interfere with, the man was an unparalleled genius!" The captain was normally a calm, reasonable man, patient but firm, and only raising his voice when he had to. But now he was shouting as loud as his lungs and throat could handle in a vain attempt to drown out the sound of a breaching tool being used on the sealed doors protecting everyone on the bridge from the escaped prisoners who had taken over the rest of the ship.

"I mean that something is blocking us!" The chief communications officer snapped back due to mounting stress. "But I can't seem to find where the block is coming from! It's almost as if the system itself is causing the block!" There was an error message on his and everyone else's computer screen.

"What if it is the system? Maybe a virus?" another communication officer suggested. "That would explain where these error messages came from."

The first officer shook their head, "Impossible. Watts developed the code from scratch and it's a national secret, only a select few could have looked at it and none of them have managed to design a virus for it. The only possibility is that it's something external."

"But what could possibly-!"

"Sir! The enemy has almost broken through!" another officer cried as the breaching tool was reaching the end of its task.

"Grrr," The captain pointed at the communications officers trying to figure out the problem with the computers, "Keep working on that no matter what! Everyone else, get ready for combat." He then pulled out his sidearm and took cover behind his seat. It wasn't much but the thing was sturdy enough to stop small arms fire, all the seats and workstations on this ship could be used for cover. Hopefully, those freaks didn't take some of the prototypes we were going to gift to Vale after this festival.

Everyone else followed his example and nervously hid behind whatever cover they could find but truthfully they feared that it wouldn't matter. All they had was small arms and their uniforms while the prisoners had almost certainly managed to raid the armory. With all the Guards and Combat Drones down in Beacon and their computer systems acting irregularly, the most they could hope to accomplish was to hold out long enough for either one of the other ships to notice that something was wrong or that they found a way to send a message… neither one seemed likely.

The doors finally gave away and for a moment there was nothing but smoke, then a figure emerged from the doorway and was promptly shot by a young officer hiding behind his workstation… the shot figure shattered into glass. Before anyone could comprehend what just happened a beam of light flew out from the other side of the door frame and pierced both the workstation and the young man behind it… for a second everyone wondered if they had just imagined that, in the next second one of the officers let out a terrified yell. This wasn't a nightmare and others didn't blame that man for yelling their worst fears had just been confirmed and these enemies were not taking any prisoners. The captain shouted something to try and calm everyone down but it was too late, panicked shots were fired and met with dreadful retaliation before the former prisoners charged in to engage what remained of the crew in melee, the fight was short and decisive.

The last body fell to the ground with a dull thud as Roman casually stepped over it to check the computer right behind the corpse. He pulled out his scroll and pressed a few buttons, "I'm connecting to the ship's network."

"And why would you do that?" Peter asked as walked around admiring his bloody work, he never imagined that it could be so easy to take over an Atlesian battleship even if this was under unique circumstances. A prideful part of himself wanted to imagine he could have accomplished this even without everything that had stacked the deck in his favor but Peter had never let an inconvenient fact get in the way of his ego. Damn, I am awesome! This new gun of mine is awesome!

"Because we're not out of the clear just yet! We still got to hijack the ship and while the virus is helping, it still needs another push. Otherwise, the other ships are soon going to notice something is wrong, and believe me when I say that they won't hesitate to shoot us down."

The Lost Boys were tempted to brush it off, to laugh at Roman's concern but then Neo jumped on top of a workstation and tapped a nearby window with her parasol; There was another Atlas battleship in plain view that seemed weirdly close and in a different window they could see a second battleship that was in the process of rotating to face them. Suddenly the self-satisfied and confident expressions on the Lost Boys' faces disappeared and were replaced with genuine fear. Fear that they were trying their best to hide but their silence and nervous twitching gave them away.

"S-should we be standing here?" Peter asked no one in particular while glancing towards the door. "There should be some planes in the hangars, we can take those."

"We wouldn't make it in time," Rufio said grimly, "We just have to have faith." In what you might ask? I don't know, why are you asking me?

"Faith didn't help these guys," Belle responded while using her wings to agitatedly hover in place.

"Shouldn't you be saving your Aura for what's coming?" one of the Twins asked.

"Shut up."

"It was just a-!"

I said. Shut. Up."

"Done!" Roman triumphantly shouted as every monitor on the bridge suddenly stopped flashing the error message and returned to normal. "And now to send the okay signal." Roman then hit a few more buttons and then waited, intellectually speaking he knew that he was waiting for a confirmation of some kind but he didn't know what to look out for.

"Did it work?"

"I think so," one of the Twins said before looking out the window and seeing that the other ships were still there. "I take that back. We are still boned."

Suddenly the intercom sprang to life as they received a transmission from one of the other ships, "Blue-2 Blue-2 come in Blue-2!"

Roman grabbed the intercom, set it to sound only, and took a deep breath as Neo took an ID from the nearby corpse of a communication officer and handed it to him. He took the ID, read what was on it, and gave her a thankful nod before speaking into the microphone, "Hello, this is Sergeant Flyn Greenlake of Blue-2. How can I help you?"

"Your ship went silent, are you alright?"

Neo used her scroll to pull up a manual for the radio system and projected it for Roman to read from, "Everything is fine now. We just had a bit of a problem with the wiring of the… data receivers, a tiny nevermore managed to squeeze inside the ship and got tangled up in the cables. The little bastard died but still managed to do some damage… how about you?"

"Why is there no video feed?"

"That's something we're still trying to fix but we expect it to be taken care of in a few minutes."

"Hmmm… okay then, could you send me your ID?"

"Yeah, just give me a second." Roman covered the microphone and looked towards Neo, what do they mean they say send?"

A stick-thin member of the Lost Boys pointed to a card scanner by the com equipment, "Take the ID and insert it into this slot chip first and with the chip facing upward."

"Thanks… um," Roman realized that he couldn't recall the man's name, That can't be right. I spent weeks with these clowns on this damn ship, I must know his name… then why am I drawing a blank? Whatever, I'll just ask again. "I'm sorry. What's your name again?"

"Don't bother, nobody remembers my name." The stick-thin man walked away to sit at a nearby workstation and started to quietly fiddle with the computer.

Roman glanced at the other Lost Boys who then looked away, They don't know either!? He then wisely decided that this was a mess that he was not going to touch and inserted the ID card before he could change his mind. "Please work, please work!"

A few seconds passed before the intercom came on again, "Okay, sorry about that Flynn. I just needed it to make sure I wasn't making any mistakes. You know how the brass love making sure that we've dotted all our I's and crossed our T's."

"Roman nervously laughed, "I sure do buddy, I'll catch up with you when this mess is done. Okay?"

"As long as you're buying the drinks!" The man chuckled before ending the call.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief especially when they looked through the windows and saw the other battleships were turning away. Though at the same time quickly dawned on them just how close they had come to death and some wondered if this was a foul omen for things to come… That was a feeling that they chose to push down rather than act upon.

Peter walked towards the doors, "Alright boys, it's time for us to get down there and finish this damn job. Have everyone decided who they're gunning for or are you guys just going to let things fall where they will."

Rufio stood next to Peter, "Let's make a game out of this. You all have the list and we all know that some of those people are more important than others, so let's split the cash based on who bags who. Everyone will still get paid even if they catch no one, but some will get paid a bit more." The Lost Boys began to argue how the cash would be split, which target was worth more, and how their worth should be decided. The stick-thin one was the only exception, he was wearing a headset and playing some kind of game on the computer as the others argued and eventually reached an agreement.

As for Roman and Neo, they didn't care, they had their own job to do and it didn't involve hunting people down on the battlefield. What they were about to do was far far far worse and if they wanted any chance of living to old age then they would have to sell their souls to the devil.

"Neo…," Roman's voice shook for a moment but then he steeled himself, It's too late for us. "Neo, upload the second virus and I'll contact Adam to let him know… that it's time to attack."

The transport ships that had been sent to Amity to retrieve the students returned to Beacon and landed in the courtyard without issue or at least no mechanical issues. There was a problem but it was with the passengers and worse was that it was a problem that was unavoidable. There was nothing that could be said to these young Huntsmen that could calm them down, they needed to get out as soon as possible to do everything that they could do to help. And Ozpin understood this, he understood those feelings all too well and knew just how to address them. He couldn't stop them from feeling this way and telling them to calm down was frankly stupid given the circumstances… but he could direct their energy. He could point them in the direction of places and people that needed backup, that needed the aid of a brave Huntsman, these young men and women wanted to help any way they could and he'd see to it that they got the chance to do more than they already have done.

Waiting for everyone was a company of Soldiers, twitching but still functioning Knights and Paladins who were being directed by an Atlas captain. Under her order, the troops were moving about the courtyard constructing all manner of defensive structures as a part of a greater plan to win the day. The Grimm would be funneled here and it was here that the defenders would be waiting for them to spring a trap and end the invasion. And helping the soldiers were a group of familiar faces who had also been waiting for the students to arrive

"Welcome back everyone!" Professor Peter Port's booming voice caught the attention of all of the students rushing off of the transports. "I'd congratulate you for your valiant deeds at Amity but that will have to wait until after we repel these beasts." Port wasn't alone, other members of the Faculty were present. Doctor Oobleck, Doctor Gris, Professor Peach, and Forge Master Mulberry were all standing alongside their boisterous colleague.

Glynda Goodwitch was there as well but was standing apart from her co-workers. Her eyes were scanning the returning students as if she was searching for something or someone. Her eyes locked onto Pyrrha and with a tilt of her head, she communicated the desire to talk to the young woman who nodded back.

Meanwhile, the different members of the faculty gave a brief explanation of their plans and asked for volunteers. Gris was looking for anyone who could who had experience in Aid and Rescue, Oobleck, Peach, and Port were going to support the Huntsmen and soldiers on the frontline through indirect support and logistics, and Mulberry was staying here in the courtyard and was asking for anyone with skill with Dust usage or construction to help him prepare the area to become a meat grinder for the Grimm.

"Where do you want to go, Captain?" Nora excitedly asked Jaune.

He didn't answer right away, he was glancing around the landing zone to look at everyone else. Team SSSN was joining Professor Port for what he was promising was going to be a jolly hunt. Penny was going with Oobleck, CFVY with Peach, and as for RWBY they were going to help Mulberry…"I wanna join RWBY in the courtyard, a bit of hard work will help clear my head and it will be fun finding creative ways to use this." He held up his prosthetic hook arm, "Maybe we can use it as a crane."

The two shared a laugh but it was a forced one done for the sake of normalcy, but it worked, it helped remind them that this too would pass, and towards the end, they weren't faking it. When it was done the two shared a brief hug before Nora said, "I like your idea. But we should ask Ren and Pyrrha for their opinion first."

It didn't take too long to find Ren, he was never too far from Nora. To be specific they found him talking to another group of students and was using his scroll to show them a map of Beacon. "If that's the case then you're going to want to go with Professor Peach, she's handling things on the east side."

"Thanks, man and stay safe!" A member of that team said before they all walked away towards Peach with a friendly wave goodbye for Ren.

Ren waved goodbye back and then turned to face Jaune and Nora, his eyes slightly widened in surprise before the briefest of frowns appeared on his face. "Pyrrha isn't with you?"

Nora gave Ren a confused glance, "You thought she was with us?"

"Yes. She told me that she was going to talk to you two about what we should do next, where is she?"

The three of them began to look around, at first they feared that it would be a daunting task due to how many people were there. However, the crowds that would have obscured their friend had thinned out considerably in a short amount of time, people were eager to get back into action, and it wasn't long before they spotted their missing teammate. Pyrrha was off to the side away from everyone else so they wouldn't be able to hear her conversation with Glynda and that was a desire that her team respected… However, they didn't need to hear the conversation to notice that it wasn't a friendly one.

The normally calm and measured Glynda had both frustration and remorse written on her face. She was angry, saddened, and disappointed but it wasn't at Pyrrha, not entirely anyway. As for the young champion, her face was a reflection of Glynda's but unlike her Pyrrha's feelings were directed at the woman in front of her. Eventually, the two backed off, Glynda walked off in the direction of another team while Pyrrha stood there for a moment staring at Glynda before shaking her head and turning around where she spotted her team patiently waiting for her.

"How much did you hear?" Pyrrha asked neither upset nor anxious, rather she sounded tired.

"We didn't hear anything. Are you alright?" Jaune quickly answered.

Pyrrha nodded, "I'm fine. It's just… it was a topic that I thought was settled. Apparently, Ozpin thought otherwise and Glynda was asking me to reconsider. I disagreed with them." There was a brief pause where nobody knew what to say next, these were becoming uncomfortably common. Pyrrha then broke the silence just for the sake of ending it, "So what did you need?"

Jaune answered, "We wanted to know where you wanted to go. Did you hear what the professors had to say?"

"Yeah, yeah I did… is, is it alright that we just stay back here? I just need a breather from the action, just for a little bit."

Nora smiled, "Well, I guess that settles it. We're helping Mulberry."

Ren gave Nora a confused look, "We were trying to figure out where we were going?"

Nora looked at Ren for a second before the realization hit her "Oh shit, we forgot to ask you! Sorry Renny Bear, I'm a horrible girlfriend!"

"It's fine."

"No, it's not!"

"It really is."

Jaune decided to ignore the two quarreling lovers to check on his partner, "Are sure you're alright?"

Pyrrha gave an exhausted sigh, "No. I'm actually pissed that Oz would press the subject and not even have the decency to do it himself but…," She cast a glance towards Glynda who was now talking to Coco Adel, the conversation seemed to be going well but it was impossible to know for sure. "I do know two things for sure. The first is that they're not going to bother me about this again once this mess is finished. And the second…"

"What's the second?"

"It's a suspicion more than anything but I have a strong feeling that by the time this is done, Ozpin and Glynda will have a lot of explaining to do. But if they don't, I will." Pyrrha began to walk away from Jaune and toward Professor Mulberry without explaining what she meant, leaving Jaune to follow her as Ren and Nora followed him.

And then something horrible happened.

The Atlas Knights and Paladins that had been erratically twitching suddenly went still before shutting down. This drew the attention of the nearby soldiers who had been trying to figure out what was wrong with the machines, they poked, prodded, examined, and one event started to file a report when the machines rebooted on their own and turned their attention onto the nearest group of people, the soldiers.

"Hey look! They're not shaking anymore, we fixed them!" One Soldier said just before a nearby Knight pointed its gun at the young man and shot him dead on the spot. The other Knights soon followed its example and began to open fire on the rest of the soldiers, many died on the spot.

The ones who were left survived thanks to the Professors and Students still present, they moved quickly to destroy the Knights but that made them a target for the Paladins who began to open fire on them.

The chaos that ensued would prove to be a tantalizing lure for the Grimm flying overhead. Soon Nevermores and other species of winged Grimm began to descend on the defenders of the Academy looking to pick off anyone hurt and separated from the others.

Meanwhile, over in CCT Qrow was leading Maria and Tock towards Ozpin's office. He hadn't told why they needed to go there and that lack of information was infuriating the two women. Making the matter worse was that the part of the building they were in now was a long corridor with a long window facing the Beacon's courtyard giving everyone a clear view of the fighting taking place below… fighting that they were doing their damndest not to look at.

However, Maria's ears had grown more sensitive after her fateful encounter with Tock all those months ago. It was partially because of her body trying to make up for the lost eyes with a lot of hello from her Semblance doing its part to make up the difference and thanks to that she could hear something curious. Though it was muffled she like the others could hear the fighting on the other side of the window but now it sounded different. For a minute or so the sound of gunshots sharply decreased and then suddenly went back to normal but… it was different and she wasn't sure why.

"Could someone quickly look out the window and tell me what you see?" Maria asked as her mind ran through many possibilities, some good and many terrible.

"Alright, but I don't know what you-," Qrow looked out the window and saw the Atlas drones fighting the students and even the other Atlas soldiers. "What the!? T-t-this can't be! The machines! They're attacking the people instead of the Grimm!?"

"No…," Maria didn't want to believe it. Even her wildest nightmares couldn't have imagined something like this occurring. How could this have happened?

"Whit ur we waiting fur? We git tae gang doon thare 'n' hulp thaim!" Tock started to move towards the staircase on the other end of the corridor.

"Stop!" Qrow nearly shouted though his voice was trembling, "W-we need to follow Ozpin's plan." He was doing his best to avoid looking outside, if he did then he might think about his nieces, and if he did that… This is a distraction. Salem is trying to distract us so she can get the Maiden and maybe even the Relic. I need to trust in Ruby and Yang to pull through, they're strong.

"Bugger that nonsense!" Tock shouted as she spun around to face Qrow with a scowl on full display on her face. "Ye cannae pretend tae hae a' body best interests at hert 'n' then caw a blind yak tae this! Whit's Ozpin's gam?

Qrow grit his teeth as he once again found himself thinking, Seriously Oz, how am I supposed to explain this without telling her something that she shouldn't know!? "I can't tell you but I can assure you that if we needed to be out there then Oz or Glynda or even James would contact us."

"That's nae guid enough!"

Maria clenched her fists and said, "I can't believe that I'm agreeing with her of all people but she's right! Qrow, what the hell are we doing here when Beacon is going to hell right in front of us?"

Qrow was getting frustrated. How could he not given what was unfolding on the other side of the window and these two women were being so obstinate "This attack is a distraction! Salem wants us to go running around looking for her minions, she wants us away from her real target!"

"Real target?!" Maria was looking right at Qrow, she couldn't see his face but could hear a panicked breath escaping his mouth as he realized he said something that he shouldn't have.

As for Tock, she was looking right into his eyes and could see the regret reflecting in them. The regret of having said something that he wished he could take back. "Wha or whit's th' real target? Whit's worth a' o' this death?"

"I-I-I…," A thousand thoughts were running through his mind, some were chastising himself for not keeping better control of his mouth, many were agreeing with her, and others were trying to reassure himself that following Ozpin's orders were for the best. But one thought kept floating back up to the surface of his mind; What do I tell them? As far as Qrow was concerned he currently only had two real options and neither was ideal, if he told them the truth then who knows had they would react. But if he lied to them and they found out and they would eventually find out… But what if I told them a half-truth? Something that will satisfy them for now and give me time to prep them for the rest of the story. Oz won't like it but he'll understand. But Maria and Tock won't like it either… forgiveness can be earned.

"Well? What's the real target?" Maria asked again.

"T-There's a weapon in the basement. The kind of weapon that most people are better off not knowing it exists, the kind of weapon that makes all of this worth for Salem if she can pull it off."

"This Salem wifie haes th' ability tae control Grimm 'n' kin hijack Atlas' tin cans bit wants whit's in yer basement? How come is a weapon lik' that hidden in a Huntsman Academy!? Thare ur kids 'ere!"

"It's because we're a Huntsman Academy. This place is a fortress and it's filled with competent people who genuinely want to help others, who else could be trusted with such a weapon? And now I'm asking you to help me. I know it's frustrating to be inside here while others fight but Salem wants us outside, she wants us distracted, she wants to trick us into running out there so she can slither through back an-!" The words tasted like ash in Qrow's mouth.

The two women mulled it over for a moment and were about to answer when the windows suddenly shattered as bullets flew through them sending the three Huntsmen running for cover.

"Those windows are supposed to be bulletproof!" Qrow shouted as he took his sword Harbinger and changed it to its gun mode to shoot back whenever the opportunity showed itself. But the enemy was nowhere to be seen, Invisibility? No. They would have no reason to use it now, they must have moved somewhere else.

"We need to keep moving," Maria said as she switched her scythes into gun mode though she wasn't sure how helpful they would be. While her Semblance helped her navigate the world, it couldn't completely make up for her lost sight.

"Agreed. Awright bird man, we need tae git awa' fae thae windaes!" Tock was already looking around for a way out but the staircase was across the hallway. There were also a couple of rooms and other hallways along the way but those could quickly turn into death traps for them, Or a death trap for our wannabe sniper if we can get them in there.

"Something is coming!" Maria shouted.

A figure appeared on the other side of the windows, it was a petite Faunus woman with dragonfly wings that were vibrating so rapidly that it was somehow allowing her to fly. More importantly, was that there was a gun in her hands, a large machine gun of some kind that she was now pointing at them and at Tock specifically.

Their reflexes kicked in and before the bullets started flying, Qrow and Maria were already moving backwards towards Ozpin's office as Tock ran forwards towards the staircase. And as Tock ran the Dragonfly woman turned her gun towards her to try to hit Tock but the recoil of the gun was proving to be too hard for the Dragonfly woman to control. It was so great that the gun forced her backwards and away from the window but she refused to stop shooting despite how she wasn't hitting anything. And eventually, she was forced out of sight by the gun which was a possible explanation for her earlier disappearance

Qrow took advantage of the temporary lull to call out to Tock "Hey, are you okay?!" He shouted from the other end of the corridor once he was sure the Dragonfly woman was gone. She aimed that gun at Tock specifically, why?

"A'm fine! bit how come is thare a Lost Laddie 'ere 'n' whaur did Belle git that gun?"

"A lost laddi- wait, do you mean the Lost Boys?"

"Aye."

Maria was confused, "Hold up, didn't you and Team RWBY arrest those guys? And weren't they supposed to be under Ironwood's watch? And what do they have to do with the rampaging machines?"

"A dinnae ken bit a'm aff tae fin' oot. She's efter me sae ah will kick her bahookie 'n' squeeze her fur info, ye twa heid ower tae Ozpin's. Ah will catch up whin a'm dane!"

"Be careful!" Qrow and Maria ran the rest of the way over to Ozpin's office leaving Tock behind.

Tock watched them for a little bit but quickly refocused her attention on the shattered windows or rather the space behind them. She was waiting for the Dragonfly Faunus to make another appearance, and once she did… well Tock wasn't sure how she was going to handle it but she had the beginnings of a plan I got to lure her inside somehow…

The Dragonfly woman flew into view again, there was an irritated look on her face and she was muttering something to herself. She then spotted Tock and noticed that Qrow and Maria were gone. "Talk about getting lucky! I was worried that your pals would try to get between me and you but it looks like I'll be able to cross your name off of the list after all!"

"Ye'r name wis Tinkerbell, richt? Dae ye mynd telling me aboot that list?" As Tock asked this, she took an opportunity to get a good look at the gun Belle was carrying. It bore a strong resemblance to a Gatling gun but it was scaled down, there was also a clear box where the ammo feed should have been, and inside that box was a large light bluish purplish shard of Dust that Tock didn't recognize.

"T-Tinkerbell!? You know my name you bitch!" She pointed the gun at Tock, "My name is Belle!" and pulled the trigger.

The bullets flew all around Tock as she ran up to the nearest door and ran right through it using her strength to break it down. Everything about that room was a complete blur as she dove for whatever could be used as protection from the bullets that followed her inside and shredded everything that they came into contact with. And despite her best attempts, some of those bullets found their mark and struck her in the back and sides… Her Aura held but she knew that the drain was great enough that using her Semblance was now out of the question, Well this just got a lot harder.

The gunfire ceased, most likely it was because Belle had again lost control of her own flight due to the recoil but it would be only a matter of time before she recovered and was ready to fire again. Tock needed to come up with a plan now, If I remember right, Belle's Semblance is Weightlessness which is what allows her to fly with those wings. I could keep her occupied until she runs out of Aura but who knows how long that will take and how much more damage I'll take. I need to fight back.

Tock looked at her weapons, her cutlass and rapier weren't going to help her in this situation. She also had a pistol that was identical to the one she gave Jaune, it had decent range, it was accurate, and had great stopping power but its rate of fire was abysmal. I'll only get one shot before she retaliates… I need something extra.

Her eyes then glanced around the room, it appeared to be an office of some kind but she couldn't be sure. Everything inside had been torn apart by that damn machine gun; chairs and tables were just splinters, cabinets were reduced to scraps, files were now confetti, and the walls were so utterly ruined that she could see the next office through them… she had everything she needed, it was just a matter of pulling it off.

Belle's voice could be heard just outside the room, "Tock! Are you there? I'm standing here in the open… Tock?"

Tock could hear the sound of cracking glass, someone was in the corridor taking slow careful steps, it was most likely Belle. Did she come inside? I thought she was just going to hover outside, why would she come inside?

"Tock? I'm going to be disappointed if this is all that it took to kill you! Tock? I don't have time to waste on you, I got other names to cross out!" She opened fire to try and flush Tock out and she succeeded in a way.

Bullets flew right over Tock's head as she crawled on her belly towards the broken remains of the wall separating this room from the one right behind it. As she did, she grabbed a few pieces of scrap metal that might have once been a cabinet. Once she reached the remains of the wall she waited until the barrage ended before crawling over it and into the room, she then looked for the door and started to crawl towards it.

"Tock? What are you planning?" Belle cautiously walked towards the room but didn't step inside. Instead, she used her wings to lift herself up and peek through the destroyed wall, she didn't see Tock but she did see the next room over. More importantly, is that she saw the door to that room close and quickly realized that Tock had gone through it and was now in the hallway on the opposite side of the building. "I knew you were still alive you bitch!"

Belle lowered herself to the floor and began firing, she wasn't aiming at anything specifically, she couldn't even see Tock but she could try and cover as much ground as possible. So she swept the gun from one side to another and back again while doing her best to keep the recoil from knocking her over. Damn, my petite body! I should have picked a smaller gun. Despite her increasing discomfort, she refused to take her finger off of the trigger and kept firing until the wall was all but nonexistent, "Tock! Are ya done? Is there enough of you left for me to get pa-!?"

A gunshot rang out and a bullet struck Belle in the side of her head, her Aura held but it wasn't going to last much longer. "What the!?" She pulled the trigger as she turned to point the gun at whoever attacked her but then a piece of metal hit her arm as she turned, it didn't hurt her. However, it did cause her to reflexively flinch when she felt the sharp metal touch her skin, by itself, that wouldn't have mattered but when combined with the recoil of the gun it made her lose balance for just a moment. Belle was forced to let go of the trigger just to keep herself from falling over and as she did, looked at who was attacking her.

It was Tock and she was running right towards her with a pistol in one hand, a piece of shredded metal in the other, and an absolutely feral stare.

"How!? Belle screamed as she tried to pull up her gun to shoot Tock but the crocodilian Huntress was faster with hers. Belle narrowly avoided the bullet by sidestepping and as she did she noticed an open door behind Tock and it all clicked together, She ran through the busted walls to get to the corridor on the other side of the building. Then she ran down the corridor before going through the rooms to get back into this corridor! Damn it!

Tock threw the last piece of scrap metal to keep Belle on the defensive and it worked. The dragonfly Faunus used the gun to shield her face and as she did, Tock used her Aura to empower her legs granting her a burst of speed. And she then used that speed to tackle Belle to the floor.

Tock then pulled the gun out of Belle's hands and then punched the woman still laying on the floor, "Whit urr ye planning? Howfur did ye escape? Whit list?

"Pick a question bitch!" Belle began to consider her options, I got enough Aura for five seconds of flight. I can get through the broken windows and try to get into a lower floor but then what?

"Whit list?" Tock was standing over Belle and pointing her pistol at her.

"We were given a list of targets to take out, you're on it."

"Ah figured that oot whin ye singled me oot. Wha else is oan that list?"

"I didn't memorize it but it's on my scroll."

The two women stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, Tock needed that list and she didn't trust Belle not to try and pull something off. An easy solution would be to kill Belle, Tock had her on the floor with a pistol pointed right at her, all she had to do was pull the trigger once to Break the Aura and a second pull to land the killing blow. But if she did that then she wouldn't be able to question Belle, the list on its own could only tell her so much… killing Belle was out of the question as was knocking her out, she needed to be awake."

"Gimme yer scroll, slowly. 'N' if ye huv a go anythin' funny, ah will break yer Aura 'n' toss ye oot th' windae."

Belle had been threatened before, it was a common occurrence in her line of work and she had gotten good at seeing through bluffs; This wasn't a bluff. There was a look in Tock's eyes that went beyond the feral stare that she had just a minute or so ago, her eyes had a cold intensity that seemed to grow by the second as if it was being fueled by something because it was. It's fear, anger, and frustration at herself and everyone around her… holy shit, she loves that wanna-be pirate?! That would have been hilarious if she wasn't pointing that gun at me, but that's not important. What's important is getting out of this and maybe getting that gun back.

"Okay, I'm going to give you my scroll. Don't. Shoot. Me." Belle slowly sat up. "My Scroll is in my back pocket. I'm reaching for it now." Her hands moved behind her back and pulled out the scroll that she held in front of Tock waiting for her to take it.

Tock grabbed the scroll, "A'richt, ye'r aff tae come wi' me intae th' Ozzie's affice 'n' then ye'r aff tae hae a conversation wi' me 'n' mah mates. Git up."

Belle watched as Tock took a few steps backward to give her the space to stand up, there was a part other that wanted to stay on the floor just to spite Tock but she resisted that urge and stood up. She then watched as Tock walked behind her and then felt the barrel of Tock's pistol poking into her back. Without needing to be told, she started to walk forward as her eyes darted around looking for anything that she could use, The gun? No, I'd never reach it before this bitch shoots me. Can I kick some glass into her face? No, I'm not in a good position to do that. What if I pretended to slip on some glass? Then I could grab a big enough piece to-!

*SCREEEEEEECH*

Tock and Belle looked toward what made that noise and saw Grimm fly dangerously close to the broken windows. It was as large as a family van and had the wings, head, and talons of an eagle and the body of a large predatory cat. The beast was called a Griffon and it had been drawn in the negativity that it could sense from the two women, more importantly, it was looping around and heading right towards the building.

"Awa' an' bile yer heid!" Tock turned her pistol towards the approaching Grimm and fired off a shot that hit it in the head but failed to break through the boney armor protecting the skull. "Braw, yi'll waant tae mak' hings difficult? Then dinnae complain wi' whit happens neist!" Tock put away her pistol and drew her swords to face the creature head-on.

Meanwhile, Belle saw her chance and ran right for the window, she leaped out, spread her wings, activated her Aura, began to glide, and then was completely blindsided by a second Griffon who came from below. It took her a moment to realize what happened, another moment to notice the gaping maw coming towards her, the next moment was filled with a panicked scream and a futile struggle to get free, and in the next moment… she was gone.

As for Tock, the Griffon she was facing tried to dive-bomb her but thanks to its earlier screech, she was able to get out of the way in time. Meanwhile, the Griffon smashed into the wall and broke through it. The beast was deadly when it had the space to move, but a wrecked file room soon proved to be inhospitable to the monster. The ceiling over its head meant that it couldn't fly and the remains of desks and file cabinets were easy to maneuver around when you weren't the size of a van, staying inside would be a death sentence and so the Griffon began to thrash.

Tock took a step towards the monster but then remembered how Belle dropped her gun earlier. It only took a moment to find the firearm still on the floor, she sheathed her swords and picked it up. She didn't have much experience with machine guns like this but then again neither did Belle and she was able to use the gun just fine. After a second or so she was able to find the trigger and when she did so turned her attention back to the Griffon inside.

The Griffon had finally managed to reorient itself out of the office and was emerging with a bloody desire… that was soon ended when a storm of bullets struck its neck and severed its head.

Tock then turned around to look outside the window and saw the second Griffon, for a moment she considered letting it go as a way to thank it for taking care of Belle. But the possibility that it could kill someone else was impossible to ignore, so she took aim and shot it down.

"Howfur did someone lik' Belle git her hauns oan something lik' this? 'N' th' list... A'm needin' tae blether tae Qrow aboot this." There was a growing pit in her stomach as she walked down the corridor towards Ozpin's office, "Everything aboot this is sae wrong."

Had she looked out the window, she would have seen drop ships approaching the Academy. Drop ships that did not belong to Atlas...

Author's Notes: It's really hard to find space to insert some comedy when the event is as tragic as the Fall of Beacon. But hopefully, the next couple of chapters will be a little more accommodating.

Also, I wonder if anyone has figured out the kind of people who are on the list Belle was talking about. The only hint I'll give is that Tock isn't high on that list but Qrow and Maria aren't on the list at all.