Peter: Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...

"That Prowler guy, Aaron, I let him hide out at my club for a couple days. Then tonight, a couple freaks in masks show up to kill him. We had to split up to take them on. I had to stalemate my fight, but… I guess they lost theirs."

"It's not your fault," Danny assured him. "Your adversaries were the very enemies we're here to stop."

"Well then… how can I help?" Junior asked.

"You're serious?" Danny questioned.

"These guys show up to my club, tear my men apart and try to murder a client, and…" Junior took a short breath before continuing. "... and a friend. As far as I'm concerned, that makes this my fight too."

"Specialist Castle, your ideologies and callous nature would lead others to believe you are a heartless machine of the military, but if that were true, you wouldn't care what happened to me as you do.

When we met, the general mentioned you volunteered for this post. Why?" Penny asked.

"Doesn't matter," Frank replied, turning around continuing towards the bridge.

"If it doesn't matter, then perhaps you wouldn't mind me asking the general to remove you from the position?" Penny suggested.

Frank stopped and scowled. He slowly glanced over his shoulder to see Penny. "You remind me of my daughter."

"So, who do you have going on to the doubles round?" Peter asked.

"Merc and I are moving ahead," Emerald answered. "What about you guys?"

"Well, as the leader of this team, I've thought long and hard about this decision-" Ruby started to say, but Peter tapped her arm to get her attention before shaking his head.

"So, I picked up on what you were doing with Emerald before," Blake cut in, "You don't like her, do you?"

"I don't trust her, or any of her team. They feel like they have an ulterior motive. And when I met them the first time, my Spider-Sense was kicking up a storm. Since then, I've kept my guard up with them around."

"Now that you mention it…" Pyrrha said, catching Peter's, Blake's and Jaune's attention, "Mercury challenged me to a sparring match a few weeks ago, before the train attack. It felt like a normal fight at first, and he was very skilled, but just when I was gaining the upper hand, he backed out suddenly, saying he obviously didn't stand a chance against my renowned abilities."

"He could've just realized he wasn't as good as you," Jaune suggested.

"Normally I wouldn't doubt that, but… it felt more like he was testing me, if that makes sense," Pyrrha said.

"Testing people, probing for information; seems to me they're trying to find out the strengths and weaknesses of everyone they can," Peter deduced.

"So… how's the tournament going?"

"Coco and Yatsuhashi just lost to Mercury and Emerald this morning," Blake answered. At this, Peter frowned more.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"I don't entirely trust Emerald and Mercury, or the rest of their team. Something's felt off ever since I met them, and Pyrrha felt the same when she fought Mercury in training.

"So you think there is good in them?"

"There might be, but if their goal puts people's lives in danger, that hope isn't the first priority, saving the people they put in danger is," Peter said.

The Defenders of Remnant

Chapter 42: Living Punishment

Junior banged his head on his bartop, shaking the glasses placed there. None were filled. The club was still recovering from the attack that led to the death of Aaron Davis. Guests were slim on some nights to none on most. He wasn't getting as much money rolling in, and while he had enough in a stockpile to keep the club running until he got everything back in top shape, but add that onto hiring more men and continuing a search for any information to help the Defenders, and it would start to stretch a little thin if people didn't come back through.

People were stupid, and impulsive. If they felt like dancing, Junior's was one of the only places to do it, and certainly the most popular without taking all of their Lien. To emphasize, not all their Lien.

Problem was, the hunt for information was not fruitful, to say the least. All of his sources had either come up with nothing or had dropped off the face of the planet. He hadn't spoken to Luke or Danny since the day at the hospital since he had nothing to bring to them. He wouldn't doubt that they'd thought he'd backed out on them. He kept slamming his head down, annoyed and angered at himself now.

"I'd say you've seen better days," Luke said, he and Jessica approaching the bar, "But you still got your ass kicked by a little girl."

Junior raised his head up and smirked a bit as he saw the superpowered couple approach. "Last I heard, so did you," he replied.

"How did you-... nevermind," Luke shook his head.

"We came to see if you have anything for us," Jessica said.

Junior sighed and slightly lowered his head. "No, nothing. All my sources are either blank slates, skipped town, or are dead. Whoever this woman you're looking for is, she doesn't wanna be found. And things are changing even in the underworld parts of the city. Things have gone quiet. Too quiet. Something big's coming, and I think it's coming real soon. I think every criminal does. Everyone's getting out of dodge, except the White Fang. Pretty soon it'll just be them and you, and wherever those faunus are, I can't find 'em. I think they're involved in what's coming."

"We knew that much," Jessica sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait for their next move."

"Sorry I couldn't do more. But I'm still free for whatever you guys need," Junior said.

"We appreciate the thought, man. We'll keep you posted," Luke assured the info broker.

"How are you feeling, Jessica?" Junior asked the Alias detective.

"I was feeling better, until I reopened a few of those wounds fighting Yang…" Jessica muttered.

"Not so funny now, is it?" Junior smirked.

"Shut up and give me alcohol," Jessica frowned before sitting at the bar.

"Can do for my favorite raging alcoholic."

"I said shut up or I'll cost you more repair bills."

"Yes ma'am," Junior quickly said, shutting up and pouring her a glass of whiskey.

"I'll just take a club soda or something," Luke said, taking a seat next to his girlfriend.

"An empty barrel for the bulletproof man," Junior remarked before filling a taller glass with fizzy soda and sliding it over to Luke.

"Yeah, yeah. So how's the club holding up?"

"Well enough, I guess. Could be better. Business is starting to roll back in. I'm just hoping nothing else comes barreling through those doors this week. I gave the Malachite sisters the week off for the rest of the tournament and the festival. I guess I'm getting soft thanks to you guys."

"You're welcome," Luke said before sipping his drink. "And don't worry. I'm sure we'll come up with something soon enough."

Peter sat at his desk absent-mindedly, his visions of both the potential future and the mechanized blacksmith woman running through his head. Eventually, his blackened wound pulsed again, usually meaning he was about to see something. He firmly gripped his arm as his veins screamed out in agony, but withstood the pain and closed his eyes, letting whatever clairvoyance demanding his attention take over.

At first, he saw the vision of the red woman aiming a bow and arrow again, ready to fire at a crouched figure that constantly swapped between the silhouetted forms of him and Pyrrha.

Then he saw Vale aflame again, swarms of Grimm flooding the streets and skies as Atlesian airships came crashing down.

Then a new vision appeared, one he'd never seen before. It was three silhouettes staged against the interior of a flaming building. One was a man he couldn't figure out, but the second and third Peter recognized as Yang and Blake. Blake was on the ground, looking up at the male figure wielding a red blade, who took a swing upwards at Yang, who was lunging for him. With one swipe, the man's sword dashed through the air, and as Yang's lunge came downwards, she spun out of control as her right arm slowly detached from the rest of her body, flying away separately, cleaved free.

Before he knew it, he was back at his desk, sweat dripping from his brow. He sighed and wiped his head before rubbing his eyes. This is getting old, he thought. He tapped his scroll to see the time, and stood from his seat and left his dorm, intent on making it on time for the first finals match.

Frank finished drying his hair and wiped the condensation off the mirror in front of him, eyeing his own reflection. He looked tired, more so than he had in a while. His sleep had come less and less, and his age catching up to him wasn't any consolation either. Neither was the purple-reddish bruise under his left eye, gifted from Ironwood in their training session the previous day. Even though Frank had gotten a good few hits in himself, requiring the general to wear a few bandages over the cuts inflicted, he had lost their spar to Ironwood. Clearly, age wasn't everything, as Ironwood out-aged him by a year or two.

Frank debated whether to shave the stubble off his face before shaking his head and exiting his bathroom into his main cabin, where he began to dress himself in his uniform. He had his leggings and a tank top on when a chime came from his cabin door.

"Who is it?" Frank asked.

"It's me," Penny's voice replied from the other side of the door. He sighed and began to throw his jacket over his torso.

"Come in." The cabin door slid open and Penny walked in just as Frank finished buttoning his coat, and was preparing to slide his armored vest over it, the menacing black skull painted on, staring ahead. His back was to her as she began to speak.

"I was hoping you could escort me to the next match of the tournament," Penny said.

"I figured as much. I was gonna come get you," Frank said before securing his vest tightly.

"I would also like to discuss something outside of our mandate."

"That being?"

"About how you mentioned I remind you of your daughter?" Penny said. Frank stopped and sighed.

"I don't wanna talk about this, Penny," Frank said before holstering his twin pistols.

"I normally don't like to pry, but… you seem to concern yourself greatly with my situation and well being, enough so for your conditions of joining the military to solely concern me. I haven't asked before, but now I request to know why," Penny said, crossing her arms with a small frown on her face. "If I remind you so much of your own family, why haven't you gone to see them?" Frank didn't answer immediately, and instead threw his rifle holster over his shoulder before sliding the rifle itself in. He tightened the belt of the holster before Penny spoke up again. "Specialist Castle-"

"Because they're dead," Frank snapped, catching Penny off guard. "They're dead a world away. Nothing to see but tombstones and bad memories."

"Oh… I… I'm so sorry…" Penny looked away awkwardly, the tone of the situation clear even with her social ineptitude. No words immediately came to mind. She didn't know how to tackle this kind of subject matter without crossing a social line, not that she understood where social lines fell regardless.

"You didn't need to know that," Frank said, his back still to the android girl. "Now are you done? Can we go to that match of yours?"

"Specialist Castle-"

"Let's go, Penny," Frank cut her off before moving past her and starting for the door.

"Specialist Castle-"

"I said let's go."

"Frank." Frank stopped just short of the door. Penny never called him by his first name. Specialist Castle. Specialist Castle. Not once had his first name left her mouth. It caught him off guard. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"What?" He asked in an icy tone.

"You have a lifetime of loss and sorrow on your shoulders and you don't say a word. So this is an order, Frank Castle: say something. Anything, if it means you take some of that weight off your conscience."

"Like you would know anything about that," Frank said before reaching for the switch that opened the metal door in front of him.

"You're right. I don't know what it's like to lose a family," Penny said. Frank's hand stopped just short of the door switch. "I don't know what it's like to build a life for myself. I don't know you."

"Trust me, kid, you really don't want to."

"I think I do," Penny said. "I believe I should know more about the man who has taken it upon himself to volunteer himself for a permanent guardian position."

"You're just a kid. You wouldn't understand," Frank said.

"Am I a kid? Or am I… what was it you said before? 'Not a person, but a lab experiment?'"

"I wasn't calling you that," Frank replied.

"No, you were just calling my friend that. If he's not a person, then I'm not a person. At least he is flesh and blood. I'm just made of metal and wiring. Tell me, what makes me a person but not Ben?"

"Metal or not, you're still more human than me, kid," Frank said, never facing Penny this entire time.

"I… don't understand."

"It's better you don't. It's also better you don't go chasing the need to be a real living girl," Frank said coldly.

"Why would you say something like that?" Penny shuddered.

"Because being alive ain't all sunshines and rainbows, kid."

"What about my friends? If I don't grow old, and they do, they'll eventually die and I won't age a day. What kind of existence is that?"

Frank finally turned around. "The kind that'll really teach you to make the most of your time with them. Trust me, Penny, you don't want to take the time you have with loved ones for granted. Because you never know when their time will end."

"I do care for those close to me. But how long would it take for me to grow as cold and distant as you are?" Penny frowned. "For someone who apparently volunteered from the good of their heart, I rarely see you express emotion."

"You don't wanna see the kind of emotion I express," Frank replied.

"How am I supposed to trust someone who hides everything about themselves?" Penny questioned. "You know everything about my life and creation, but all I know about you is your codename: the Punisher. And now I know about your family, for which I am so sorry. But you are hiding so much from me. If you want to continue to be my guardian, I demand to know why it is personal for you."

"Or what?" Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Or your position as such will be terminated, and Ciel will replace you for the remainder of the Vytal Festival. If you truly want this position, I believe you will do anything to keep it, including answering my question."

Frank sighed before walking back into the larger part of the room and sitting down on his bed. "You're really not gonna let this go? Fine. Back home, I was in the military too. I left before my youngest was born, my son. My daughter was only three. I spent years in hell before coming back home to my wife and two kids. I thought I was finally able to rest, to at the very least have a break from bloodshed. But little did I know I was about to trade one war for another." Penny quietly took a seat next to Frank. "I got home in the morning. Wife was at home taking care of Frank Jr., my daughter Lisa was at school. The look on her face when she got home…" Frank chuckled a bit and shook his head. Penny kept listening intently. "That little girl grabbed onto my shoulders and refused to let go. I swear, it was like a vice grip. She was crying, then I started crying. I was holding my baby girl in my arms again, looking like some kinda rubber faced clown. I couldn't do anything else, I was dead tired. So I just held her.

"Before I left I would read her stories every night. So that night, I went to go tuck her in and she asked, 'Can you read for me tonight, daddy?'. I could barely keep my eyes open, so I said, 'Nah, daddy's too tired. I'll…. I'll read to you tomorrow night'." Frank stopped and looked down. He curled his lip slightly before returning to trying to keep a straight face. "I should've read her that book. I should've read her that damn book. That's all I could think about as I was holding her body in my arms the next damn day, I should've… I should've read her that damn book."

"What happened?" Penny gently asked, her own emotions shaking from Frank's story

"We, uh… we were out in the park, enjoying the day and that kinda shit. We sat down for a little while, try and give our feet a break, when we got caught in the middle of a gang war. Crooks from three different mobs started shooting at each other right there in that park, and we were caught right in the middle. I'm the only one that got out."

"I'm so sorry…" Penny quivered.

"I never got to see my daughter grow up, to do things she wanted to do. I saw what your dad and Ironwood were trying to do with you, keep you cut off and alone from everyone else. No friends, no social gatherings, no dates, classmates, any of that basic shit every human needs that pops up in every Lifetime TV movie. Just like my daughter, you were having your choices taken away from you. That's why my condition to work for Ironwood was not only to watch over you, but give you basic privileges every real girl… shit, every real human needs."

"You wanted to give me the chances your daughter didn't…"

"Yeah, I guess so," Frank said. "But you need to be careful too. Being alive isn't a privilege for everyone, Penny. Depending who you ask, life isn't a gift. It's a Punishment."

Suddenly, Penny's arms wrapped around Frank's torso and squeezed, catching Frank off guard. "Being hurt… doesn't make you a bad person. If your daughter was still here, she'd still love you for who you are. Your life isn't a punishment, it's a chance to try again. They'd be proud to see you now…"

Frank might not have agreed with half of what she said, but this girl seemed to really care about his well-being, and the way she hugged him… it brought memories back that threatened to show too much of his emotion. He didn't say anything, but sighed and gently placed a hand on her head. He slightly ruffled her hair. Penny finally pulled away and gave Frank a warm smile.

"Shall we go now?" She asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The cheers and roars of Amity Arena had become routine to get used to at this point. Didn't mean it didn't literally stun Peter as the extreme volume hit him on the way in. Still, he adjusted and soon found his friends in their seats. Closest to him was RWBY, going down the order minus Yang, then Ben, and the line ended with Penny. He assumed JNPR (minus Pyrrha) and Cardin had found other seats. He came in on the row behind them and jumped over the backs of their seats, landing swiftly into an empty chair next to Ruby.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked her.

"Not yet. But Yang's up first!" Ruby cheerfully replied while pointing to one of the massive screens around the curve of Amity's roof. Peter followed her gaze to read the combatants.

Mercury Black vs Yang Xiao Long.

That didn't sit well with Peter. He still didn't trust Mercury or his team, but there was nothing he could do about it. He frowned a bit, but didn't dwell on it. This was the final set of matches, the one-on-one finals of the tournament. If Yang won, she would claim victory for not just her team, but score one for the kingdom of Vale. Pyrrha was the only other student from Beacon to reach the finals, Peter knew, and while he assumed the other qualifiers had been out on the field with Yang and Mercury, they had since cleared out to make way for the battle. Yang and Mercury stood opposite each-other in the ring. Peter would just have to watch.

"Break a leg, sis!" Ruby called out to her sister, not that she would hear Ruby over the thousands of other spectators in the arena.

The center platform Yang and Mercury stood upon raised up from the rest of the battlefield, meaning changing biomes would not factor into the fight. A larger ring of metal with spotlights also raised high up, above the two fighters as the spotlights came to life, illuminating the central platform further.

"You better not go easy on me," Yang said to her opponent, wearing a confident smile and placing her hand on her hip.

Mercury scoffed and smirked. "You wish." He raised his hands up and entered a combat stance. Yang mirrored him, preparing herself for the battle. The two gradually inched towards each other as Port began counting down over the PA system.

"3… 2… 1…" The two got close enough and briefly tapped their hands together, that and Port's exclamation of "Fight!" kicked off the match. The two quickly backed away and Yang pulled her right fist back to throw an instant haymaker. Mercury leapt up, spun, and met the strike with the sole of his right boot, stalemating them. Mercury kicked off, putting some distance between them, before quickly rushing the huntress again. Yang flipped over him and fired Ember Celica , narrowly missing Mercury's narrow figure. Mercury closed distance again, and Yang went for close distance strikes, all of which Mercury blocked.

Yang fired again as Mercury kicked off her torso, pushing them apart again. Mercury flipped off to land on his feet again. Yang used the distance to unleash round after round towards Mercury, who swiftly dodged them around the curve of the platform until he came back onto Yang. he leapt up and brought down his leg for a downward kick that Yang blocked by bringing her arms together above her. Mercury jumped off her again. Yang fired another miss as Mercury crouched down and flipped backwards, kicking up to connect the tip of his boot with Yang's jaw. Yang flew back and landed on one knee with an angered grimace. She used her gauntlets to blast herself forward and get back in close. She threw a series of punches at Mercury while firing her weapons at the same time, powering them up even more. Mercury still blocked them and started to push Yang further back again with kick attacks, then struck the back of her left knee, bringing her down. Yang then called on her semblance before punching and firing into the ground, sending a shockwave that Mercury acrobatically avoided. Before mercury even came back to the ground, he was kicking out at her. Yang grabbed his ankle and forced it back to the ground, breaking the stone of the platform and kicking up shards and pebbles.

The trade off continued as such for a few more moments, kicks, punches and blasts trading off from one another. Mercury's acrobatics seemed to match Yang's raw strength. This wouldn't last forever, though. One a sideways kick, Yang struck back against it, putting Mercury off balance long enough for Yang to deliver an uppercut to his jaw, which took him off the ground, then blasted his stomach with a Dust round, putting him flat on his stomach and putting his feet out from under him. He groaned and looked up to see Yang already firing more Dust rounds. He continuously backflipped out of each blast zone until he was forced off the edge of the floating platform. He quickly straightened himself out before firing Dust from the barrels in the soles of his boots to boost himself back onto the platform, landing right in front of Yang.

Another punch-kick-shoot tradeoff commenced, enrapturing the audience, but worrying Peter a fair bit. He'd seen Mercury fight, and it seemed like Mercury had done better in one-on-one battles than teaming up with his partners. Even in the fight against Coco and Yatsu, he and Emerald had split up. He'd used Yatsu's size and strength against him. And while Yang wasn't nearly as big as Yatsu, the same plan could apply here. So why wasn't he doing it? He seemed to just be playing defensively and evasively. Not a bad plan at all, especially in comparison with Yang being a far more aggressive fighter, but…. Something just didn't feel right, like Mercury wasn't really trying this time around.

Mercury leapt up and kicked Yang away from him before firing a bright white flare round from his boot. Yang rolled out of the way of the projectile. Mercury quickly began to spin around on one foot and rapidly filled the surrounding area with the projectiles, sending them in a cyclonic spin around the arena. Yang rushed in quickly to close-quarters and threw a strike that Mercury swiftly avoided before quickly breaking her guard with a flurry of foot strikes. This left her open enough for Mercury to send her up into the air, leap up with her, then overhead kick her back down onto the ground flat. He landed on the ground on one knee as the entire tornado of silver projectiles began coming down from the sky, each and every one detonating upon impact with the floored Yang. Mercury stood up and smirked before wiping himself off. He seemed to be making to leave the platform when a bright reddish-yellow flash of energy erupted behind him, and Yang stood tall with glowing locks and bright red eyes. Mercury stopped and turned to face her.

Yang pounded her fists together and closed the distance between them in a single bound. Mercury blocked the strike itself, but still was sent skidding backwards from the pure force of it. Yang instantly got close again, and even though Mercury kept his guard up, Yang broke through it and quickly began to connect every hit. Right and left slugs made more powerful by both her semblance and her constantly firing gauntlets. After almost a dozen painful punches, Yang threw one last strike that blew all the air from Mercury's lungs and sent him flying. Mercury's aura shattered before he even hit the ground. He let out painful groans and held his stomach as the screens displayed his annihilated aura and declared Yang the victor.

"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port announced, almost getting lost in the insane cheering and applause from the crowd. It had certainly been the flashiest fight of the tournament.

But that's exactly the problem, Peter though. He was playing evasively the entirety of the match, and could outmaneuver Yang for at least a time even with her Semblance. So why is it he seemed to just want to tank the hits once Yang was powered up? Did he want to lose?

Yang let out a breath and furious fiery glow that formed from her semblance faded away. She calmed herself down and let her muscles relax a little bit from the fight before grinning wide and throwing her fist into the air in victory. The platform lowered back down to the rest of the arena, and Oobleck announced, "Yang Xiao Long wins!"

Still, Peter clapped for her and smiled, glad his friend won, but he still wondered, to what end?

"Yeah, you did it, sis!" Ruby cheered.

"Way to go, Yang!" Blake echoed the sentiment, even standing from her seat.

Yang looked over at Mercury, who was forcing himself onto one knee, slowly trying to get up. "Better luck next time," Yang said before turning away and starting for the exit.

"There's not gonna be a next time, Blondie," She heard Mercury growl. She turned around and saw Mercury leaping for her again, leg out to connect another kick. She frowned before striking him at the knee and firing Ember Celica, blasting right through his joint without his aura to protect him. He seemed to collapse and hold his knee in pain, and the crowd's cheers quickly changed. At first to sounds of shock and surprise, then to boo's and yells.

Peter quickly shot out of his seat. Even he was surprised by what he'd just seen.

"Agh!" Mercury cried out. "My leg.. My leg!"

"That's what you get you little-!" Yang replied, but quickly she was surrounded by Atlesian Knights and Atlas officers. The soldiers formed a circle around her and aimed their firearms at her, as if ready to contain her.

"Yang Xiao Long! Stand down!" One of them commanded.

"What? Why?" Yang asked in an almost frightened confusion. She didn't know what was going on. Hadn't they seen Mercury attempt to attack her out of turn?

"Mercury!" Emerald called out as she burst into the arena and kneeled next to him, putting one arm around him and placing the other in his closest shoulder.

"Why'd she do that?!" Mercury cried in pain. "Why'd she attack me?"

Yang couldn't have been more confused. She glanced up at one of the large screens atop Amity's rim, where a replay of the scene was running. Except it wasn't as she could've sworn it happened. On the screen, Yang was walking away from Mercury, then suddenly snapped back around and blasted a hole right through his knee, causing the young man to crumple up onto the ground.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. That wasn't what happened! Was it…?

Ben looked over at all of his friends. Each Huntress had a horrified look on her face. He looked then over at Peter on the end. He was stood up, gripping the metal handrail in front of him while looking down at the scene with an unreadable expression on his face. It could've been confusion, horror, fear and anger all at once, or none of those things. Ben couldn't believe it either. What had Yang done? He looked to his other side at Penny, who shared his own worried expression. She turned to look at him as well, and just like the rest of them, had no words to say.

Ben turned back around and saw that Peter was gone, and the handrail he'd been gripping onto had been completely destroyed, crushed and bent out of shape, the glass below it completely shattered. He then felt Penny grip his sleeve, and he glanced back over to see her covering her mouth and closing her eyes. She had settled on feeling afraid, and she needed an anchor. He gently placed his hand on hers, then looked back down at Yang.

EMT's quickly rushed onto the scene and loaded Mercury onto a stretcher before carrying him out of the arena, with Emerald tagging along.

"You don't understand, he attacked me, I swear!" Yang exclaimed.

"Stow it!" One of the officers commanded. "You've already caused enough of a scene." Yang looked down at the ground, feeling as if the whole world was against her.

"I'm sorry, but you've left us with no choice," Ironwood said. He stood in Team RWBY's dorm, with all four girls and Peter present. Outside the door stood two Atlesian Knights at the ready.

"But he attacked me!" Yang insisted.

"Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise," Ironwood countered.

"But Yang would never do that!" Weiss defended her teammate.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. Yang just sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware you would never lash out the way you did, under normal circumstances," Ironwood said. "What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than a result of stress and adrenaline. When you're on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there, even after the fight has passed."

"But I wasn't-!" Yang started.

"That's enough!" Ironwood boomed. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that… you're disqualified." The huntresses all looked down dejectedly, not another word to be said. Peter hadn't even spoken this entire time. With a painful silence hanging in the air, Ironwood turned and left the dorm, closing the door behind him.

"You guys believe me… right?" Yang asked her friends.

"Duh!" Her sister replied.

"You're hotheaded, but not ruthless," Weiss said.

Yang's gaze turned to Blake. "Blake?" She asked.

Blake looked up, and after a moment of hesitation, nodded. "I do believe you."

Pain spiked in the back of Peter's skull at Blake's words, and suddenly a thought crossed his mind, as if somehow he knew that Blake wasn't supposed to say that, that something was… wrong with her instantaneous agreement of trust in her teammate. It was like something had changed, but how could it change if it hadn't happened yet? Could it be related to the visions he's been having?

"Pete?" Pete broke from his thoughts and looked up at the Huntresses staring at him. He sighed.

"I believe you too. And not only do I believe you, I think something's up," Peter said. "Something about the fight was.. Off to me. I didn't trust Mercury or any of his team to begin with. I think whatever's going on, they're involved behind it."

"How?" Blake asked.

"Think about it. They tried to probe us for information about who you were sending into matches, each of their fights have been against opponents they can easily counter, like Mercury against Yatsuhashi. And then there was your fight with him, Yang. He played evasive the entire time until you triggered your semblance, then basically gave you free shots."

"That… did seem weird," Yang agreed. "I mean, I'm faster with my semblance, especially after something like that, but looking back on it, he could've moved more."

"I think he took the fall on purpose," Peter said.

"Then how do you explain what Yang saw? I mean, he still got shot in the knee," Weiss said.

"He did take the hit still, but I've seen people dedicated to worse," Peter replied. "I'm still figuring things out. I tried to catch Mercury on his way out, but the bullhead had left before I caught up to him."

"So that's where you went after the fight," Ruby said.

"I'll keep looking. I promise, Yang, I'll prove to them you're innocent."

"It doesn't matter now," Yang said. "I'm already disqualified."

"But if Peter's right, they could be up to more than just framing you," Blake said. "They could already be working to do something worse."

"I think I'm gonna rest up," Yang said.

"We'll get out of your hair," Blake said. All three of her teammates and Peter stood up from their seats on the beds.

"Yang, is it ok if I talk to you alone before you do?" Peter asked.

"Actually, Pete, I think I just wanna be alone for now," Yang said.

"Oh.. a-alright. Just give us a call when you wake up, alright?" Yang nodded in response, and the other four all filed out the door, closing it shut behind them.

"This is a mess…" Weiss sighed while shaking her head.

"She doing okay?" Jaune asked, standing in the open doorway of his team's own dorm right across the way. Behind him was the rest of Team JNPR, each sharing a concerned look.

"She's doing the best she can," Blake answered.

"If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask," Ren said.

"Alright then, if that's the case, Pyrrha?" Ruby said, gaining the prodigy's specific attention.

"Hm?"

"Be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?" Ruby smiled.

"It's what Yang would want," Weiss added.

"I'll… do my best!' Pyrrha responded, putting on a smile.

"I'll be sure to watch tonight in case you're picked!" Ruby said.

"Sorry, btu I think I've had enough fighting for one year," Blake said.

"Ditto," Weiss agreed with a nod. "Coffee?"

"Tea," Blake smiled. The two of them left down the hall and out of sight, with Ruby in tow. Jaune turned to see Peter still standing there, looking as if deep in thought. He hadn't said a word the whole time.

"Peter? You alright?" Jaune asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah… yeah, I'm fine. How are things? We haven't really hung out since the tournament got underway besides that lunch," Peter said.

"Yeah, we're fine, mostly," Jaune answered.

"What's the 'mostly' in that?" Peter asked.

"Well," Jaune said, "Pyrrha's been kinda… off, since yesterday. She's been quiet, a bit distant. She stops smiling and has this really weird look on her face when she thinks I'm not looking." Peter looked past his blonde friend to see Pyrrha looking down at the floor, seeming almost as dejected as Yang had. She looked up though when Ren and Nora started bothering her about preparing for her battle.

"Yeah, I know that look…" Peter said.

"Mind translating for me? You seem like the expert."

"Expert, yeah," Peter anxiously chuckled a bit. "It means be there for her, even if she thinks she doesn't want you to be. I can tell you guys have got something real special. So remind her of that. Be who she needs you to be."

"Spoken like a real hero," Jaune chuckled.

"You should go be one. Who knows how much Ren and Nora she can take before she drops out of the fight for insanity."

"Fair enough," Jaune smiled. "See you round, Pete." Jaune closed the door and turned on his teammates before putting some space between them and Pyrrah. "Hey, how about we all get some fresh air?" He turned to look at Pyrrha, who at first had that same downer face she'd been wearing, but it lightened a bit to one of relief, with some confusion thrown in. Jaune just gave her a friendly, confident smile.