Big Issues

AN: Welcome back everyone! Got a big, action packed chapter ahead for you all to enjoy so let's get on with the show!

Haven Part Three

Sounds of combat filled Haven and echoed across the campus. Some of the White Fang paused in their duties to listen or look through the windows of the main building as the many fights were going on. One of those was Adam Taurus, who had seen Hazel walk inside a few minutes earlier and he smiled that things were now well underway and he had heard the blast that destroyed the secondary gate. Everything was going according to plan and he couldn't wait to detonate the bombs that were placed around this school.

Humans would be brought down and there were few better places than here and now. With Mistral being among the worst places to find inequality on Remnant, and the only consolation he found was that it was applied to the humans as well. But the treatment of Faunus was still horrible and just on his way here he had passed no fewer than five establishments that had anti-Faunus signs on their doors. He'd take extreme pleasure in ensuring that they would be burnt to the ground if he had the time.

Beep Beep! Beep Beep!

His scroll rang and he answered it readily. "Spino, report."

"Sir! We've breached the gate as planned."

"Good, continue to advance."

"We have a slight problem interfering with our plans."

"What is it?" He was curious as to what could cause a problem for the bulk of his forces in this operation. His intel had ensured him that the gate had only a few guards and they were lax, taking the gate for themselves or destroying it should have been easy, especially with the Grimm attack at the main gate drawing so much attention.

"Some Huntsmen, probably students, have been delaying us. Lost a lot of men thanks to them already."

"What? Some Huntsmen are slowing you down? How many?"

"Seven of them, at last count. But they are retreating."

"Make sure they stop running, permanently."

"Understood, sir."

"Anything else?"

"Yes sir. It looks like a militarized group are attacking us from behind. They're… their Faunus, sir."

Faunus? The only group of Faunus that had any sort of militarization beyond the White Fang are the Guard of Menagerie. But they had been dealt a heavy blow during the attack on the island, even if it ultimately failed. There was no way that they could have the numbers to threaten his troops in the slightest… unless they had volunteers from the civilians.

"I'll be down in a few minutes to deal with them myself."

—-

As more bodies hit the floor and stayed down, for a variety of reasons, the room to fight grew but that could also be partly due to some of the fights moving beyond the confines of the entrance hall.

"Hahaha! Not so tough now, are ya?" Shay taunts as he chases the blonde couple down the corridor. His speed was limited by the size of the mech scraping the ceiling if he let it stay at full height as he moved. The position meant that it couldn't take full strides and corners were a pain as he had to come to a near stop to avoid hitting the walls too much- hitting one of the inside corners had sent the mech spinning into a fall through the wall on the other side.

Of course, his targets had seen that and took the opportunity to attack him as he stood back up.

RATATATATATATATA

The machine gun sent a spray of bullets at the pair to repel them, Denko spinning Raijin to deflect a few while Yang blocked with Ember Celica as she moved behind the larger defense.

"Hahaha! On your knees!" The bullets came to an end as Shay aimed the cannon again. "Or get splattered!"

The couple stared down the barrel as Shay chuckles inside the mech.

"Umm… how many rounds does your canon have?" Denko asks, trying to hide his nerves from having the big barrel pointed at him for a second time.

Shay stopped laughing and blinked in surprise, not expecting such a question. He glances at his control panel where the ammunition reserves are displayed. "I got four more shots. Why?"

"Just figured I'd ask." Denko shrugs, but uses that as a cover for drawing a throwing knife from his pocket and immediately chucked it at the cannon arm. The knife did little damage but it wasn't the cannon that he had aimed for.

"Think you're the hot shit? How about now?!" Yang fires a Fire Dust shell at the now leaking flamethrower component and instinctively flinches as the chemicals erupted and caused more to spray across the floor, walls, and the mech itself.

"You're hot, he's just shit." Denko teases as he blows out a drop that had landed on Yang's right arm.

"Aww, thanks." Yang rewards him with a peck on the cheek.

THUD!

"You're gonna pay for that!" Shay yells as the mech stalks through the flames after detaching the burning arm. The mech was smeared in the flammable fluid that still burned brightly while charring the white paint job.

"Maybe we should give him some time to cool off?" Denko laughs just before the sprinkler system engaged and began to drown out the flames.

"Nah, let's strike while the iron's hot." Yang punctuated that with a few shots from her gauntlets, aiming for the heated parts. True to her idea, the heat had weakened the hull and damage was done but not enough to be significant.

The mech rushed forward and swung the remaining arm at the pair, the large blade whistling as it passed over their heads. The arm proved to be deceptively fast and well articulated as it swung again and caught Yang in the back, luckily not with the sharp edge, and slammed her through a wall.

"Haha! Take that Bitch!"

"Bad move." Shay looks up to find that Denko had leapt at him and held his polearm back. A moment later, the blade was stabbed into the open arm socket and alarms began going off in the cockpit.

"Get off!"

Denko hung on as the mech twisted and thrashed, twisting his way out of being smashed into a wall or two and by consequence, dug his blade in deeper and causing more damage.

"Let me show you a neat trick- how to fry an egg." With those words, Denko's armor and vest began to glow with blue lines and sparks leapt from his body as the glow intensified. Shay could only look up in fear as the young man became wreathed in electricity as was the mech. Lights flashed and flickered as the console began to spark and sputter, and even started to burn.

Denko had to stop using his semblance, Dynamo, because the canopy popped off with a puff of smoke and the scrawny blonde man climbed out coughing.

"Oops." The younger blonde gave the other man a kick that sent him crashing to the floor flat on his back but he bounced back to his feet, quite literally.

"Hak-hak! Y-you're gonna pay for that!" Shay threatens as he draws a pistol from his waist. It was no longer the same weapon as before that was held together by wire and hope but a sleek and polished design that resembles the rifles that many of the other bandits now had.

"You're not in any position to make threats." Denko dismisses as he pries his weapon from the mech, keeping an eye on the man.

"And what makes you think that?" The gun hums from the power within, trigger finger twitching.

"Her." He points to the right, making Shay look that way, missing Yang coming from the other side.

"My turn!" She gave him a massive haymaker to the face that sent the man flying to the end of the hallway a short walk away where he bounced off the wall and came right back only to be punched in the gut this time. Shay hit the wall and bounced back to Yang, his aura sputtering, and she stopped him with a clothesline so hard that he flipped before hitting the floor.

Even in his daze, Shay had somehow managed to hold onto his gun and shakily lifted it at the girl who had beaten him down. That action was spotted and Denko sliced the gun in half, nearly taking the man's fingers with it, before Yang kicked him in the gut that sent the bandit into the nearby wall.

The remains of the pistol fell to the floor between the loser and victors but the stability of the Dust inside had been shattered.

"Damn it!" "Ah crap!" The couple shouted as they jumped back and hit the floor as the pistol went off like a firework, the blend of elements within and its limited capacity being the only reason it wasn't more like a grenade.

A few moments of waiting for the light and sound show to die down, the blondes look back and see that Shay is still breathing but now covered with random burns and dirt to go with his bruises. The mech, which was still issuing sparks from its fried circuits and burning wires and other components, finally fell over onto its front with a loud crash and the crunching of the floor beneath it.

"Well… that was a thing." Yang comments as she stands and brushes herself off.

"Yeah, let's get back to the others."

"Think you can help me wash this crud out of my hair then? It's gonna need some serious TLC with all of the smoke and Dust and crap." She flips her ponytail back over her shoulder, noting that the strands were dulled and matted from the fight.

"Better hope we can use other showers or we'll tick off our friends."

—-

"Fire!"

"Oh no!" Jaune ducked down behind his shield as a veritable firing squad let loose on him and the team. Beside him Pyrrha was in the same position and Nora had taken cover behind her while Ren was with their leader. Bullets pounded on the shields and armor, the pair straining to maintain their aura. The new Dust rifles were another matter, every round that hit them threatened to knock them out of position and ate up their aura reserves like Nora at a pancake breakfast.

Then there was a lull in the rain of bullets, not that they stopped but several of the bandits had to reload all at the same time.

"Nora!"

The hammer girl leapt from her relatively safe position and high into the air, drawing attention and a few adjusted their aim to compensate.

But with their attention split, Ren took that opportunity to dash to the side and flank the bandits and redirected their aim from his team even more, though he began to return fire himself.

"Agh!" "Damn it!" And other variants were yelled as the ninja aimed for their legs. Not only did the ones with armor have little to none there, but the bandits had weak auras as well. That meant that they didn't hold up long under the pressure he put on them, a few breaking and resulting in wounds to their lower limbs.

Nora came down and swept her hammer around her, aiming low to sweep them off their feet. At least from one target, it sounded like their legs were broken from being hit.

Jaune and Pyrrha refused to stay idle through it all. With the majority of the gunfire taken off of them, they rushed forward and disarmed the bandits by knocking the guns from their hands or cutting through them. Some of those guns being the Dust rifles which began to explode like grenades thanks to the damages.

"That was so cool!" Nora couldn't contain her excitement at the sight of the armored duo walking out with the multicolored explosions behind them.

The bandits… those that survived, didn't think so highly of the sight. At the same time it did a very good job at convincing the others to give up and drop their weapons.

—-

A shadowed figure watched the brawl below them with glee. All they needed to do was to wait for the right time to strike.

—-

Harbinger clashed against a massive fist for what may have been the twentieth time since the fight began. Neither combatant were counting as they were too focused on the fight itself rather than minute details that weren't important.

Hazel still looked to be fairly fresh, only slightly winded, yet he seemed to be eerily calm but determined. His clothes had a few small cuts but little else to show that he was in combat.

Likewise, Qrow was in the same state, just more serious as he tried to find a weakness in the mountain of a man before him. One thing he couldn't deny, beyond the durability of Hazel, was that he was beginning to feel his age catching up. Either that or he was still not fully recovered from his prior injuries. Maybe a combination of both.

The smaller man hopped to the side to dodge a fist that crashed into the floor, leaving the wood cracked. He countered by striking the broad back several times in quick succession before a backhand made him jump away again.

Still, one thing that Qrow noticed was that almost no matter how hard he hit Hazel, the man never seemed to register being hit beyond a grunt and moving slightly from the impacts. Even then it took a strong attack to make him do that much. Either the man couldn't feel pain in some way or he and his aura were simply that durable.

"Not good odds but probably both." He mutters his last thoughts out loud.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing, just figuring out a way to beat you." Qrow shrugs.

"Beat me? You can't even hurt me." Hazel waves his hands to the sides. "I don't feel pain but I will make sure that you do."

"Really? 'Cause I've done a lot of work that hurts me inside and out but I'm still kickin' and trying my best to make this world better as best I can." He raised his sword as he spoke.

"Then what about those who you couldn't help?" Hazel glowered, his hands balled at his sides.

"If you mean the people I couldn't when I was there, then those weigh on me and encourage me to be better so that happens less." Qrow answers, trying to figure out where the man was going with this line of questioning. "As for the people I can't help because I wasn't there… I'm only one person and I'm limited by that. Sure there are others who can help but they are just as limited."

Hazel closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. Seeming to be considering what he was told as he calmed himself.

"Interesting philosophy… but you still will die tonight."

"Hmph, if you are so worried about saving people, why serve the Queen Witch who sends out the Grimm to kill people? How many millions do you think died because of her orders? The innocents in Vale alone last year?" Qrow implored. "How many innocents has she sent you to kill?"

Those questions made Hazel hesitate, visibly wrestling with himself before he fell to anger. "You will not stop me! I've made my vows and I will fulfill them!"

Qrow instantly went into a defensive posture but what Hazel did next surprised him. The big man plunged his hands into his pouches and drew a pair of Dust crystals in each hand, Fire to be specific, and stabbed them into his own arms where the scars are. In moments, veins in the arms glowed red from the element flowing through his system.

"This isn't the way to do things!" Qrow pleads. "Are you really that willing to destroy everything just because of your anger?!"

"History is full of civilizations that have risen and fallen. What's one more in the grand scheme to build a better world?" With those words, his fists became alight with flames, leading to a right punch that sent a fireball flying at the Huntsman.

Qrow leaned to the side to let it pass and hit the wall behind him but had to swipe another away with his broad blade.

The fight renewed in earnest as blade clashed with burning fists.

—-

Metal gauntlets crashed against metal boots as Anya and Mercury fought. A blast of air would send her back on occasion but she'd return the favor with bullets.

"We figured out your little aura trick." Mercury leapt in and performed a series of roundhouse kicks at various angles before sweeping the shorter girl off her feet. To her credit, she had blocked all of the kicks until the sweep, easily rolling back to her feet while dodging a stomp. "Getting close to you drains the aura from anyone around."

"Hmph, good for you." Anya dashes in and slashes at his face with one arm while aiming for his guts with the other. His leg rose to take the hit, the pants tearing to reveal metal beneath. At the same time, his arms lifted to smack her blade over his head, leading to him bending back and kicking her in the stomach as he flips back upright.

She scowled at him for the attack and the cocky smirk on his face. "Then if you figured out that much you know that I'll be the last one with any aura in this room, right?"

"Perhaps, but not if I wear yours out faster than you can take it in!" In a flash, he fires a trio of shotgun shells from his boots, the girl barely able to shield herself with her weapons.

The assassin rushed her with a brutal assault of fists and feet with her doing her best to defend but could only stop half of the attacks.

"Talon!" Anya yells, catching the chubby girl's attention just as she finishes dealing with another group of bandits.

With a flick of her thumb, Talon sent an Air Burst into the back of Mercury's head, doing little actual damage but it was enough to shift his attention long enough to pause his sequence of attacks and Anya capitalized on that with an uppercut to his gut.

The assassin stumbled back, his aura being the only thing that kept him from having a large hole in his stomach but the force being focused on a sharp edge certainly amplified the hit.

"Cough- Do you really think that- cough- such a cheap trick would bring me down?"

"Not really but it was worth a shot." Talon replies with a grin before an Air Burst assisted jump took her up to the balcony.

"What the-!" Emerald was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Huntress.

"Hello there!" Was the cheery greeting, even as the pair of scimitar swung at the thief. Emerald was able to raise her sickles in time to block the blades aimed at her neck but only just. "So, you're the one who messes with people's heads making them see things?" She didn't let up on the pressure which contrasted with her light tone.

"Hng- What's it to you?"

"Plenty." Talon suddenly pulled away and spun, letting Emerald stumble forward before slashing at her back with one blade igniting in flames as the other became coated in frost.

The thief was barely able roll out of the way, the attack incinerating a section of the rug and scorching the wood beneath while a trail of ice froze over next to the first slash.

Emerald stood up ready to shoot but by the time she raised her pistols, Talon had her boot in her soft stomach and boosted her kick with an Air Burst that sent the green haired girl smashing through the railing to the floor below.

"Emerald!" Mercury shouts as she hits the floor a few steps away. He didn't have time to worry about her as Talon jumped from the balcony and sent a wave of fire at him. The assassin kicked out and intercepted the flames with his boot, burning his pant leg in the process but the attack was negated. Still, his prosthetic leg smoldered as the remains of the cloth finished burning away.

"Ugh." Emerald rubs her head as she sits up.

"C'mon, get up." Mercury urges as he flicks his eyes between the sisters and stands defensively over her.

"Oh look, Killer has a soft spot." Talon mocks as the Dust imbues her blades again.

The comment made Mercury scowl, though Emerald was now upright and glanced questionably at her usual partner. That didn't stop her from readying Thieves Respite for further combat.

"Let's finish this now." Anya declares before she saw Emerald dash to the side. Odd thing about it was that it was like a badly received video, faded and staticy, and she saw two thieves; the one running to the side and one still standing next to Mercury staring at her.

Talon rushed forward to engage with the assassin, his metal legs largely countering her elementally enhanced swords, even as the other pant leg began to burn away. The reach of the scimitars helped the short girl match his long legs but she didn't have guns in her weapons as he did. He had no problem mixing shotgun shots with his own blasts of air in his kicks, but she was able to counter with her own Air Burst most of the time.

The exchange of attacks was fast and furious but neither agile fighter was gaining an edge in any way. He mixed punches with his kicks and she would kick as she slashed. He would shoot his guns and she'd use her Dust. Jets of air would collide and whip up clouds of dust and splinters from the damaged floors.

Anya dodged as the Emerald that had run to the side slashed at her, noticing that the other was slowly walking her way. Another slash kept her on the back foot, several more kept the pale girl dodging but also guided towards the other thief. The second Emerald slowly raised a sickle high as the first made a scissor attack.

Anya countered both attacks with her gauntlets, only partly surprised that the first Emerald vanished after she noted the lack of contact that was expected. Meanwhile the other Emerald snapped into focus as she looked shocked that her attack had been blocked at all.

"Ah, right… your illusions." Anya's red eyes narrowed into a glare, even as her lips twitched into a smirk. "Looks like my semblance makes yours useless. I absorb aura, remember?"

Emerald backed off and focused again, and immediately to Anya she saw a Beowolf run out from a hallway and leap at her, but it was faded and looked like a bad projection. Meanwhile the real girl faded slightly… until Anya loosened control of her semblance and the illusion vanished and Emerald returned to a solid image.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to do better than that." Anya smirks before she goes on the attack, keeping her Siphon open to weaken the other girl.

—-

"What's with that grin on your face, Doughnut?" Vernal glares at Ruby, though there was no malice behind the expression. That was actually reserved for the bandits that attacked the girls, the people hardened from their lives outside of the protection of the Kingdoms didn't go down easy nor did they stay down for long either. That stubbornness went both ways for the combatants as both sides refused to give up.

"Oh nothing!" Ruby remained somewhat cheerful as she sliced a rifle in half and used Petal Burst to escape the following explosion, landing next to the older girl. "I'm getting to fight with my sister."

That statement made Vernal falter for a moment, but that cost her as she was struck with a heavy mace in the gut that emptied her lungs and sent her to the floor coughing.

"Sorry!" Ruby apologizes as she twists on her heels and slams the woman who had hit Vernal with the backside of her scythe in the chest. The woman was sent tumbling to the floor with a grunt, but she rolled to her feet. "Oh, you're tough."

"Get out of the way, Kid!" The woman swung her mace, countering Ruby's next swing with one of her own.

"Gah!" With the weapons countered, the woman slammed Ruby with her shoulder and sent the much younger girl stumbling and made her glad that she had some padding in addition to her aura.

But the bandit was stopped as twin beams of Fire/Lightning Dust burnt their way into her own shoulder thanks to Vernal. The younger lady bandit leapt from the floor and drove her knee into the woman's face, bloodying her nose and sending her back a few steps before Vernal closed the distance and slashed at her legs. The first ring broke the remains of her aura and the second cut across the bare skin of the limbs and drew blood before kicking her knee. The bandit fell to the floor where her former leader knocked her out with a kick to the face.

"Thanks." Ruby squeaks out.

"Just keep fighting!" Vernal orders, leaping at another former tribemate and drop kicking them. She had learned of Ruby a while ago on the rare occasion that Raven had told her of the estranged family during the times she'd check in on them. So she knows of the sisters and their parentage, the twin brother of the woman she calls mother, the friends they had made at Beacon and how they had been injured during the attack on the academy.

"You got it Sis!" Ruby chirps as she shoots the mace in a man's hand, reducing the wooden shaft to splinters. And apparently the younger girl had learned of Vernal's relation to Raven in the time the leader had been gone.

Still, the name made Vernal pause, looking at the cloaked girl with wide eyes. That phrase was one that she had given up on hearing again years ago, burying her twin had been bad enough and even when Yang had been at the camp, the blonde had been ignorant of their relationship and Vernal had been fine with keeping it that way.

But with the younger girl referring to her in such a way… it made her feel things that she couldn't identify and she was in no position to dwell on such matters.

Vernal took out some frustration on the next pair that attacked her together, blocking their swords and kicking the hand of one man who drew a pistol on her, relieving him of the weapon before redirecting the swords. In a flash, her ringed blades swung out and cut into their arms and torso's several times before she leapt into a twisting roundhouse kick to one man's head that sent him collapsing into the other.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Tater were making a surprisingly good team as her speed and varied abilities combined with his sheer size, strength and durability.

The heiress would dash around and disarm or hinder the bandits near them and the man would follow after with devastating blows that rarely required a second to keep his former allies from attacking again.

"Ah!" Weiss blocked a sword strike with her own but the force sent the bottom heavy girl stumbling backwards. His next slash was blocked by a glyph and the weapon rebounded off of the aura construct, leaving him open to a rapid series of slashes that tore through his aura and leather armor and was followed up by a kick to the chin that knocked him out.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Qrow flew over her head trailing smoke only to be plucked from the air by Tater who deposited him on his feet safely.

"Thanks for the save." The Huntsman coughs and waves some smoke away from his face, his shirt was a bit scorched on his stomach, as was his already tattered cape. Yet he had maintained a hold on his weapon through all of that.

"Go help him, I'll take care of the rest of the trash." Weiss requests before having to deflect a bullet with her blade, a club coming down at her immediately afterwards. She slid around the clubbing and slashed at his arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. Before he knew it, Weiss thrust her rapier at him and a whirlwind erupted from it, picking the man up and hurling him into the rifleman.

Tater shrugged as he had little else to do, the remains of the Branwen Tribe had few capable or willing to fight anymore and the man with Dust crystals in his arms was the biggest threat around that was currently unoccupied. That and it had been a long time since he even saw someone close to his size and he wanted to really let loose to work out his frustrations from the tribe's betrayal.

"Glad to have you on the right side of things, Rusty." Qrow smiles, making Tater widen his eyes at the use of his real name. But a smile grew on his face as he readied to fight alongside an old friend from his childhood.

Moments later, two juggernauts clashed in a contest of strength that few would be lucky to match. A slash to the back of Hazel's knee made the limb buckle and Rusty used the opportunity to throw the man through a wall.

Hazel rose from the rubble seemingly unscathed besides the dirt all over him, the wood and other flammable materials igniting from the crystals in his arms mere presence. The sprinkler system in the room only kicked on as Hazel stepped back out into the entry hall to continue the fight looking even more angry than before.

—-

Cinder couldn't seem to find an opening in Raven's sword skills. To be quite honest, it was highly frustrating that she was having such problems as she used two swords compared to the other Maiden's single one.

But from an outside perspective, as skilled as Cinder is, Raven is just the better swordswoman. She had decades more experience to refine her skills and had lessons from various masters who taught her many forms and sequences that she had learned to weave together into a single style of her own. While she had spent the majority of the fight thus far on the defensive, she had studied the younger woman and was now ready to flip their roles. There was also a bit of curiosity in Raven as to what Salem saw in Cinder to have her become a Maiden, though after everything that had been going on, Raven wanted to humiliate the younger Maiden as revenge for the trouble her family endured.

In a sudden burst of speed, Raven dashed into Cinder's blind spot. The younger woman twisted to follow but Raven had spun around to the other side and slashed her across the chest, cutting through one of the obsidian swords in the process.

Cinder was thrown back as her aura took the damage but she barely was able to raise her head in time to see the black boot before it contacted her chin. That blow sent the curvy Maiden arching backwards as she flew through the air until she hit the floor.

"Hmph, there's a big difference between our skills, you'll need to have years of training yet to even challenge me, Little Girl." Raven states to the stunned woman. There was no malice in her tone nor pity, just cold truth as she saw it.

Cinder slowly sat up, her head ringing like a bell. But she had heard what was said to her and that fueled her anger. Anger that burned white hot within her. Anger that manifested by taking hold of the nearby sword and throwing it at the woman looking down on her.

Raven hardly seemed surprised by the move, her own blade lashing out and cutting the glass in half and the pieces flew to either side of her. Or they would have if her free hand hadn't snapped out and caught the sharpened edge by the flat and returned it to Cinder.

The shard struck her left bicep and elicited a scream of pain, though that took a slightly different tone as the limb thrashed until the long sleeve that covered it fell back to reveal…

"Your arm… it's Grimm." Raven notes with a hint of disgust. But then she smirked, "Aura can't protect it."

Cinder ripped the shard of glass from her arm and the faint wisps of black smoke faded from the wound. The rest of the near, skeletal looking arm hung to let the sleeve cover it once more.

"You turned yourself into a monster for power." Raven sneered as she watched Cinder stagger to her feet.

"Look who's talking." The younger woman glares as she flexes her Grimm arm and hand to show that she had control over it again.

"I didn't want the power of the Maiden, perhaps that is why I received it from the previous Maiden." Raven shook her head as she refused to allow her regrets overwhelm her again, focusing on the vows she had made instead. "But you, you're so desperate for power that you had to steal it."

"This power is mine!" Cinder's eye burst into flames as she let the Maiden magic manifest. With a burst of flames from her feet, Cinder launched herself like a rocket at the former bandit leader only to miss as Raven slid to the side.

But it seemed that her fellow Maiden wasn't aiming for her at all as she flew up to the balcony. "Lionheart! Open the Vault now!"

The Headmaster jumped in fright from her sudden appearance and the display of her stolen gifts. "Y-y-yes madam!" He nearly stumbled down the stairs and he fumbled in his vest for the large pocket watch as he stood before the statue of a beautiful woman holding up the balcony with golden chains on her wrists and hips.

"No!" Raven yells as she activates her own powers and unleashes a gust of wind that blew Leonardo away, the timepiece falling to the floor.

—-

Emerald hated it when her semblance didn't work. Anya's ability to absorb aura rendered her illusions useless and so she had to rely on her martial skills. Not that they were lacking but the vampiric Huntress refused to let up on the pressure.

Then a gout of flames appeared between the two of them.

"Emerald! We need distractions!" Cinder orders before having to face off with Raven once again.

Emerald knew what to do, glad that she had been bought a few moments to do it. She took in a deep breath and yelled so all could hear her. "Ante up!"

Most of the fights paused at the sudden yell, confused at what was said. But that came at a cost as a blur fell from the ceiling and landed among Team JNPR. In a burst of motion as soon as it made contact with the floor, all four warriors were sent flying.

Just as quickly, the assaulter dashed over and kicked Weiss and Ruby before tackling Vernal, though she was able to kick him off as she hit the floor.

"Hello kiddies! Did ya miss me?!" Tyrian announces as he throws off the brown cloak he had been using to blend into the ceiling.

"You!" Ruby rolls to her feet and points at the scorpion man.

"Oh no." Jaune groans.

"I'm afraid so." Ren glances around, noting that all of the bandits were now out of commission, one way or another, around them.

"We have some unfinished business, don't we?" Tyrian grins wildly. His Queen's Servants deployed on his arms as his new tail waved behind him, the silvery metal gleaming in the light with purple highlights along the sides of the segments.

"No, not him!" Raven gasps as she spots the crazed Faunus leering at the children.

Cinder backed off a short distance but altered her swords into a spear before hurling it with all of the force she could muster. Raven flew to the side to avoid the weapon but tracked it after seeing the smile on Cinder's face. She almost wished she hadn't as Ruby had her back turned since she was focused on Tyrian and was clearly the true target.

"Ruby!" Raven shouts her warning but there was nothing she could do in time before blood was spilt onto the floorboards.

—-

"Is this all of them?" Oscar asks as he pulls one last wire on a bomb at the base of the tower.

"Technically, almost." His friend grins knowingly. "I managed to move a few that will surprise whoever tries to set them off."

"Wh-what? I thought we were disarming them?"

"And we did. That's not to say that the ones who put them here shouldn't be punished, huh?"

"I… I guess."

"Good, let's see what's going on inside." He ruffled the boy's hair as he walked towards a side door. Somehow, it was unlocked and they walked in to find a scorched mech sitting in the middle of a hallway. A hallway that was partially burnt and flooded with more damage than they could see that left a trail down to a corner and beyond.

"Um… I think things have gotten out of hand here." Oscar states in his surprise.

His friend looked over a blonde man who had obviously seen better days given his injuries and the large scorch mark right next to him. "Hmmm… He'll live but I doubt that he was supposed to be here."

The sounds of combat could be heard echoing through the corridors. Sounds that drew both of them to follow out of curiosity.

—-

"Ruby! No!" Yang had arrived back in the main hall with Denko just in time to see the searing spear thrown at her sister, unable to do anything but yell out in warning.

Blood splattered across the red cloak and the floor as the silver eyed girl stood in shock with eyes wide. Most of the combat seemed to pause with Mercury having a smirk of satisfaction while Tyrian's face nearly seemed to split from his grin.

Cinder looked far too pleased with herself while Emerald was faintly sickened by the sight. Leonardo sat up into the sight of the blood spilling onto the floor and while he wasn't too concerned about the bandits who had been beaten or killed so far, he had just watched a young woman be run through by a spear.

Weiss fell to her knees before slumping over, her face pale as she fainted from the shock.

"Weiss?" Ruby squeaks out, her own face turning pale and making the blood splatter on her skin stand out even more.

The glass spear was stuck deep into the hardwood floor next to the cloaked girl, the blood on it steaming slightly from the heat of the weapon.

"Weiss!" Jaune shouts as he runs to the fallen girl and drops to his knees to apply pressure to her soft waist where the spear had entered and exited her body. His hands soon became covered in her blood. "No! Stay with us!"

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren quickly moved to position themselves between the fallen girl and Tyrian as Ruby stayed rooted in shock.

She had heard the warnings and the whistle of the flying spear. She turned to see the sharp glass coming her way. Then… Weiss was there, her aura shattering under the force and a hole was ripped through her.

And her world seemed to come to a stop as she watched her best friend fall and her clothes already beginning to be stained by her blood.

Emotions overwhelmed her mind and body until everything seemed to go white. "WEISS!"

All combat came to a stop as the room was flooded with bright white light stemming from Ruby. Everyone was forced to close and shield their eyes as it became too much, worse than looking at the sun.

That light came to a sudden end as Ruby was struck by one of Emerald's chained sickles, the blunt side, and was knocked out.

Cinder fell from the air with a scream of pain, her entire left side seemed to be alight with silvery flames that died as soon as she hit the unforgiving ground. There, wisps of white smoke trailed from her left arm as it thrashed in agony, the woman attached to it racked with pain and let her yells out freely.

A black and red swirling portal opened up near Raven and Taiyang came running out. "Get to Ruby!" She orders and he didn't hesitate for a moment going to his daughter.

"Ah! There's an act that was unexpected." Tyrian cackles as he spots the blonde man coming his way. Then he moved to intercept the father with his blades ready to cause more pain in service for his Goddess.

"Out of my way!" Tai shouts as he adds a burst of speed that the scorpion wasn't expecting and gave the lankier man a left hook that forced him out of his path.

Tyrian hit the floor and rolled to his knees. Slowly he rubbed his jaw as he followed the man with his eyes. "Now that was a punch."

"Ruby!" Tai slid next to his youngest daughter and looked her over as she lay with Nora holding her head off the floor.

"Dad! How is she?" Yang arrived a moment later. "There was a flash of light and…"

"Silver Eyes." The father solemnly says as he gives Ruby a quick check and finds that she was mostly okay, just unconscious. A glance at his eldest revealed that she was more dirty than hurt.

"Her eyes?"

"Hehehehe! Now, isn't this touching?" Tyrian mocks the family. "One little piggy has stopped squealing for good and one little piggy is taking a nap. Oh, how She will love to have 'Little Red' brought before her."

Yang stood protectively between the madman and her sister, next to Pyrrha who defended Jaune and Weiss from him. "You aren't touching my sister!"

"Back down Yang."

"Wha-what? But Dad?!" Yang looked at her father in shock at his words, at least until she saw his expression. That was a face she never wanted to have directed at her and it still chilled her to the bone.

"He's mine." Taiyang Xiao Long rose to his full height and faced the Faunus, his face promising pain to anyone in his way and he had his sights locked on the nearest threat to his family.

"Oh? Do you think you'll do any better than Branwen over there? Even with the brats' help he nearly kicked the bucket, should have too."

"Thanks for reminding me to kill you a second time." Taiyang mutters as he stalks forward, his hands drifting back to the tonfa stored behind his waist.

AN: So... who say Tyrian coming back so soon?

Yeah... kinda leaving things on a big cliffhanger here. I did want to add the fight with Tai and Tyrian here but it was already running long enough and I wanted to knock this chapter out, so you'll have to settle to read it next time. As for Adam going down to meet the Menagerie Militia... That's probably not going to be pleasant for anyone. Then again, Adam will have an army with him there that has already breached Mistrals defenses.

And things aren't looking too good with Weiss and Ruby. The latter is knocked out and the former is bleeding out fast with medical care unlikely to be anywhere nearby. The only consolation is that Cinder was left in as much pain as she dealt to Weiss.

Still, conclusions will have to wait until next time and I'm really trying to get through these so I can have a special Halloween chapter ready for this year. Plus, if I'm lucky I may get a birthday chapter in January.

Reviews are welcome as always!