The Grimm Rider

by Dolphinheart99

Remnant, a mysterious yet dangerous world full of soulless creatures called Grimms. They say Grimms are evil beings that feel no emotions, they're only purpose was to kill. But, what if they're wrong, a girl that can tamed them. Follow her and her friends as they embark on a dangerous journey, meeting new friends and enemies and stopping a great evil that was coming.

16. Saving Lives II

I am so sorry for the late update. I was finishing up some important things for school and I have no more problems since I completed all my assignments. I'm free to write stories now.

So, please enjoy the story.

Melodia Bluebird

English Voice Actress/Singer: Demi Lovato

Korean Voice Actress/Singer: Cho Mi-yeon

Uta Ryuko Izuna/Uri

English Voice Actress/Singer: Becky G

Korean Voice Actress/Singer: Jeon So-yeon

Sirena Constantine

English Voice Actress/Singer: Elizabeth Gillies

Korean Voice Actress/Singer: Madison Beer

Ekko Cantala

English Voice Actress/Singer: Ariana Grande

Korean Voice Actress/Singer: Jaira Burns

---

On the next day of the event, Team WAVE, RWBY, and JNPR were getting ready for the double round. So far, there were many rumors about the Grimm Girl facing two members of Team MUSE. It is going to be an epic fight since they wanted to see more of Voltaria in action. Voltaria wasn't interested in being the center of attention. She prefers to stay out of it. But it appears that the reporters won't let her. Both combatants were ready for battle. Evo has his Musicshocker resting on his shoulder, his expression calm and yet there is a hidden excitement in them. He glances over to Volatria and notices that she carries a very scary looking dagger on hand.

"...Where did you get that?" Evo asked in shock.

Voltaria twirls it around before holding the hilt tightly. "That is classified." She said before looking at the entrance. "Get ready."

Evo nodded as they both stepped in the arena and was greeted by the roaring cheers of the audience. Everyone was at the edge of their seats. Reporters were taking photos of Voltaria, wanting to get good pics for the news articles and media. But they also took pictures of their opponents, Sirena Constantine and Ekko Cantala. Both girls waved at the audience and reporters. Clearly have more experience in the center of the spotlight. Voltaria observes the two girls. Both teenagers with rich family backgrounds. Sirena is the daughter and heir of House Constantine. She has black hair, a dark purple streak and eyes, tan skin, and her attire is black, gold, and dark purple. Her weapons are four large-caliber handguns, two on her hands while the other two were attached to the back of her feet or heels. (It's like Bayonetta's gun, Love is Blue, but it's black with golden and dark purple designs). Ekko Cantala is the fourth child and the youngest of three brothers. Her family owns a big tech company. She has short boy cut blonde hair, green eyes, and fair skin. Her attire has a variation of green and is wearing a newsboy cap that is color green. Her weapon is a DJ turntable that hovers above her with two speakers hovered behind her. And she is standing on a floating stage.

Evo whistles at Ekko's weapon. "Now that's a weapon." He commented quietly.

Voltaria, who didn't look at him, said to him blankly, "Really? You had to compliment her weapon?"

"What? It's cool." Evo defended.

"Hey!" Sirena calls out to them, causing the two students of Beacon to look at her. "You're the Grimm Girl that defeated my cousin, Nathanial, correct?"

Voltaria raises a brow under her mask. "I am, do you have a problem?"

Sirena smirks and places her gun on her shoulder. "Nope, just curious on what you can do." Causing Voltaria to frown at her. The arena has chosen their battlefield. Voltaria and Evo's side is a swamp while Sirena and Ekko's side is a jungle.

"3-2-1, GO!" Oobleck shouted through the speakers.

The four combatants charged, releasing a burst of energy waves from her speakers while Sirena released a rain of bullets. Voltaria and Evo dodged their attacks and quickly attacked them. Evo slams his Musicshocker at Ekko but is blocked by an electric barrier that her weapon is emitting. Evo was surprised by this before being sent flying by the barrier. But before he could crash, Voltaria summons a whip from her sleeve and uses it to catch Evo by the ankle. She brought him back to the ground and let him go, allowing him to land on the ground with ease.

"Thanks." Evo thanked her before turning his guitar into a battle axe.

"No problem. Now, move!" Voltaria dodged an incoming attack along with Evo. Sirena releases another rain of bullets at them. The Grimm Girl and the Snake Faunus dodged all the bullets coming to them as well as avoiding Ekko's sound blast. The crowd cheers on different teams, half cheers for Voltaria and Evo while the other half cheers for Sirena and Ekko. Wade and AJ watched anxiously as their teammates avoided the attacks. Team RWBY and JNPR cheered them on, hoping that they could win. Sirena and Ekko's attacks are proven affected, almost hitting Evo in the process, but Voltaria predicted their every move with ease.

"Let's separate them." Sirena said to Ekko, who agreed.

Ekko created a sound wave, separating both Voltaria and Evo. Sirena attacks Voltaria with her bullets while Evo and Ekko release their waves of sound and electricity, creating beautiful music in the process. Sirena gives chase to Voltaria as she dodges her bullets and blocks them with her dagger. Sirena was impressed by her skills, finding her very interesting. "Hmm...not bad, but can you dodge this!"

Sirena uses her glyph to summon a giant, dark purple, armored warrior. It raises its large axe and strikes at Voltaria. Luckily, she dodged it on time and dashed off. Sirena smirks in amusement and uses her glyphs again to summon armored warriors. Smaller and wielding bows and arrows. Sirena's archers fired their arrows at Voltaria, who evaded them all in an instant.

"Look at her go!" A male reporter said.

"Why isn't she summoning her Grimm?" Asked a female reporter.

"What is she waiting for?" Another male reporter asked.

As the crowd mutters in wonder why Voltaria won't summon her Grimm. Her friends and Glynda know that she's keeping a low profile, considering that their targets are watching her. However, there is no way she is losing this battle. When she and Evo landed on a small patch of land on the swamp, Sirena ordered her giant to attack, and it responded by slamming its giant axe at them. However, they weren't aware that Voltaria's eyes activates her semblance, forming a shadow barrier to protect her and Evo, creating a cloud of smoke when the giant axe slammed on it. Everyone gasped in shock. Trying to see what had happened to the Grimm Girl. The rest of the Team WAVE is worried about their friends along with Team RWBY and JNPR. They thought Sirena and Ekko had one the match, but to their surprise, the screen shows their energy and aura level to be stable and unchanged. Both Sirena and Ekko were confused by this, they could've sworn that the giant warrior finished them off. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a giant black hammer comes out from the smoke and slams onto the giant warrior, sending it flying to the jungle. Sirena and Ekko were shocked by what just happened, but soon became more shocked when they saw something. As the smoke clears, it reveals another giant warrior, wearing a black roman helmet with mask, red hakama pants and armor arm bands. It was shirtless, revealing its muscles and pale skin with red veins around its arms and chest. On both sides of the giant were unknown looking beings. One left side was creepy looking creatures. It has a creepy puppet face of a woman, short shaggy black hair, and hollowed eyes as it is made with wood. The puppet wore a black ragged long dress with long sleeves. And instead of wooden limbs, the puppet has red blades for arms and legs. And on the right side of a giant, is a black hooded figure, not showing its face. But it carries a triple bladed scythe. Everyone was shocked to see this, especially Cinder. They have no idea what those things are or how they come from until Oobleck spotted something in the swamp's water and realized something.

"I don't believe it, folks! It appears Ms. Eclipse has summoned these unknown beings by using glyphs!" Oobleck said, looking at the swamp to see Voltaria was on her hands and knees as a glyphs symbol was seen under the three unknown beings. The audience was in awe and shock to see this, even her friends and Glynda were amazed by this. Voltaria, who wasn't fazed by this, glares at Sirena and Ekko, before ordering the ones that she summoned.

"Get them!"

With that command, the three warrior-looking beings charged at Sirena's summons. The Voltaria's giant swung it might hammer at Sirena's axe wielding giant but was blocked by its axe. However, its axe almost shattered due to the great force it has. The scary puppet lady started spinning around like a saw blade and charged at the archers. The two summoned archers fired their arrows at the puppet but were deflected by the puppet as it spins. And the next thing everyone knew, the puppet destroyed the archers.

"Did you see that?! I don't believe it! Ms. Eclipse's scary puppet took down Sirena's archers!" Port announced through the speakers.

"I didn't know V could do that!" Wade said in shock.

"I know, right?!" Ruby said with a grin, cheering for Voltaria. "Go get 'em, Volty!"

The triple bladed scythe wielder charged at Sirena and Ekko, swinging its mighty axe at them. They quickly dodged, separated from each other. Sirena had to dodge the scythe wilder while Ekko avoided the spinning death trap. Sirena fires multiple rounds on the summoned, but it deflected the bullets with its scythe. Ekko fired sound waves at the spinning blade puppet, but proved ineffective as it slid through, as if it was cutting through the sounds. Ekko changed her moves and used an ice dust to create an energy wave of ice to freeze the spinning puppet. It froze the puppet before it could reach her, much to Ekko's relief. However, it suddenly broke out with incredible force and attacked her again. Ekko quickly dodged it, but only got hit by a giant hammer of Voltaria's giant summon. Ekko fell off the arena, indicating that she is out.

"Ooo! Ekko Cantala was out of tune and has been eliminated!" Port announced.

"Ekko!" Sirena called out in concern before glaring at Voltaria's summons. "Okay, now it's personal."

Sirena summons small, multiple Nevermores and Voltaria and Evo. Evo turned his battle axe into his guitar and created a powerful soundwave that sends him and Voltaria flying into the air. Sirena orders her summoned Nevermores to attack them from above, but before they could, the spinning puppet came up and cut all the summoned Nevermores into pieces. Sirena narrows her eyes before quickly dodging an incoming hammer that almost strikes at her. Her axe giant swung its axe at Voltaria's axe giant but was soon thwarted when the spinning puppet came out of nowhere and cut the head of Sirena's giant off from its body, causing it to disappear.

"And the giant has fallen!" Oobleck said at the sportscaster's desk, amazed at what he had seen. "Ms. Eclipse's summons have far more power and stamina! But also, like they have a mind of their own!"

"Impossible." Sirena said in shock. She quickly dodged the giant's hammer and flips in midair, shooting at it. However, she failed to notice that the scythe wielding appeared from behind, holding Voltaria at the hand while her other hand wielded Evo's Musicshocker. Sirena turns around and is too late as Voltaria swings the guitar at her.

"Rock n Roll!" Voltaria shouted and slammed the guitar at Sirena, creating an electric shock and sending Sirena flying through the jungle and crashing to a tree. Both her energy and aura were down, showing that Team MUSE had lost the match.

"AND MATCH! TEAM WAVE IS NOW HEADING TO THE SINGLE ROUND!" Oobleck yelled through the mic, amazed at the fight.

The whole stadium erupted with cheers, Ruby and Nora were the loudest ones as they cheered for Voltaria and Evo. The others also cheered, relieved that they were okay. Glynda was shocked by what she saw, she didn't know Voltaria was capable of summoning. Meanwhile, at the private skybox, Ironwood was watching the whole battle with Ozpin. His eyes narrowed towards Voltaria, finding the girl very suspicious. There was no way she was capable of summoning at such a young age. And he's beginning to have suspicion towards her. Ozpin, on the other hand, finds it interesting to see how Voltaria handles the situation. Taking a sip on his mug, Ozpin watched as Voltaria made her summons disappear. She returns Musicshocker back to Evo, who cheered at their victory. Ozpin is now curious on what hidden talent Voltaria has in store.

---

"That was awesome!" Ruby cheered, walking through the booths and tents of the festival with the others. "You didn't tell me you could do that!"

"You didn't ask." Voltaria answered blankly.

"So...are they your summons or..." Pyrrha trails off, stopping mid-sentence when people pass by.

"No." Voltaria responded through their minds. "They are my other entities."

"How many entities do you have?" Ren asked, communicating through a mind link.

"A lot actually, some are friendly while some...not so much." Voltaria answered before they reached a pizza shop.

"Noted." Yang said with a grin, cutting off the mind link. "By the way, who's competing in the double round?"

"From what Tabitha scouted, you and Weiss will be facing two Atlas students named Neon Katt and Flynt Coal of Team FNKI." Voltaria informs her. "But be warned, they don't like you."

"Why?" Blake asked her in confusion.

"Flynt Coal has a grudge against the Schnee Family after Weiss's father runs his father's Dust shop out of business and Neon Katt...yeah, she's confusing. From what I heard, she's peppy, hyper, and comments on people about their styles, in a negative or positive way." Voltaria explains to them.

"Wow...did not expect that." Yang commented.

"Oh..." Was all Weiss could say.

"Don't get us wrong, Princess." Wraith began. "But your dad is a greedy, selfish, tyrannical, ignorant, pathetic, scum-"

"That's enough, Wraith." Regina ordered him. "Yes, her father is not the kindest man, but you are not like him. You are better than that man."

"Thank you, Regina. That means a lot." Weiss said gratefully.

"By the way, who's in the next round?" Evo asked the group.

"The next match will be Russel Thrush and Sky Lark of Beacon and will face Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil of Atlas Academy." Tabitha informs them.

Ruby gasped happily, after hearing Penny's name, she became excited. "Ah! I can't wait to see Penny in action again!"

"Gotta admit, that girl can pack a punch." Wade commented, remembering the first round that Penny and her Team faced and won with flying colors.

"Yeah! What time will their match start?" Ruby asked excitingly.

"It won't start for another hour." AJ said to them. "We can grab a bite before we head off."

"YEAH!" Nora cheered happily as she was about to rush in the pizza store, someone called out to them.

"Hey!"

They turned around to see Sirena, Ekko, and the rest of team MUSE, Melodia Bluebird and Uta Ryuko Izuna or Uri, standing a few feet from them. Sirena was glaring at Voltaria under her round, dark violet shades. She made her way to the Grimm Girl and everyone, minus Voltaria, tensed. They have a bad feeling about this. They knew very well that House Constantine is known to be very confident and prideful. But the thing they hate most is losing and losing to an opponent five years younger than you is a big no-no. Voltaria stares at her blankly under her mask while Sirena continues glaring at her under her shades. Before anyone could do anything to stop this, Sirena spoke slowly towards Voltaria.

"You...are..." She removes her shades and makes an amused smirk. "...an interesting girl."

"What?" Voltaria spoke in confusion.

"Huh?" Everyone all said in confusion

Sirena smirks at this. "You heard me. You are an interesting girl. You are, by far, the toughest girl I ever face in battle. And you know how to do summoning! I have so many questions to ask you."

"...Right..." Voltaria said with slight awkwardness. "So...you're here to compliment me or...insult me?"

Sirena laughs at her. "Darling, no. I am here to congratulate you."

"For what? Beating you in the match?" Voltaria asked dumbfoundedly.

"Hmmm...that and because you are the youngest huntress I have ever met!" Sirena said happily. "And getting to know you is going to be interesting."

"...Define getting to know me...is it another term for, find out her weakness." Voltaria said blankly.

Sirena laughs at this. "My, my, you are full of surprises."

Melodia smiles at them. "Why don't we all get something to eat first before the match starts, I am dying to try some pizza."

"Same." Uri said in agreement while Ekko nodded her head.

Sirena then grabs Voltaria into a small hug. "I get to sit with Grimmy."

Voltaria looked at Sirena under her mask in annoyance. "You seriously didn't just call me 'Grimmy'?"

Sirena smiles at her in amusement and gently pinches her cheeks. "You're so cute when you act all tough. Come on, let's get something to eat." She said, dragging a confused Voltaria into the store. But not before she mutters out to her friends' minds.

"Help me."

"Be nice, Voltaria." AJ said with a smile, waving at Voltaria as she was dragged into the store.

As they got into the store and ordered their food, the group got to know Team MUSE. They have so much in common. Ekko and Evo were talking to each other, sharing about their favorite music and singers. Uri was talking with them about battle moves and weapons while Sirena talked about the latest fashion and styles with the girls, except for Ruby and Voltaria, who aren't into fashion.

"So, Grimmy?" Sirena began, getting Voltaria's attention. "How can a girl like you end up being the youngest student in Beacon?" She asked Voltaria, curious about why she joined the school.

There was silence, the group wasn't sure if Voltaria would tell her about her past. But to their surprise, she answered. "I was found by Professor Ozpin in a forest. He somehow found me and offered me a chance to be a proper huntress by studying at Beacon Academy."

"And did you accept it in a heartbeat?" Uri asked her curiously.

"Not really, but part of me told me I should go and hone my skills...I never thought I would grow fond of this place...and meet new faces along the way. You could say...I'm trying something new for a change." Voltaria explains to them calmly, earning smiles from her friends.

"You're a strange girl." Sirena commented with a smirk. "I like that."

"...Sure..." Voltaria mutters out.

"The next match, Russel Thrush and Sky Lark of Beacon vs. Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil of Atlas Academy. It will start in five minutes." Oobleck announced.

"We should better get going if we wanna see Penny's match." Evo said, getting up.

"I am looking forward to seeing Ms. Polendina take down Thrush and Lark." Voltaria said.

Sirena smirks at her. "Ooohhh...I like you even more."

"You do realize that I'm twelve, right?" Voltaria reminds her.

"I know, but you're like a little sister that I always wanted." Sirena said with a smirk.

Voltaria stares at her under mask dumbfoundedly. "Aaaaand you're the older sister that I never wish to have." She commented, earning laughs from Team MUSE.

"I have to admit, this girl got spunk." Uri said with a grin.

"You have no idea." AJ said with a smile.

Later, after eating their fill, they went to the Amity Colosseum, where they watched Penny and her partner, Ciel Soleil, face of Russel Thrush and Sky Lark. So far, Penny and Ciel have the upper hand as Russel Thrush and Sky Lark were running towards the mountain area, being bombarded by several explosions all around the area. They took cover as Penny made her ever-present smile and simple arm movements, she summons six floating swords from Floating Array and rears them back before launching them in a ring at Russel, who barely manages to duck behind a rock to protect himself.

Wasting no time, Penny does the same thing with another group of blades, homing in on the other CRDL teammate Sky Lark until he uses Feather's Edge to vault over another stone for defense. The two exchange a worried look at the sight of their rocks still pierced with multiple blades, and Penny grins in combat-ready fierceness as she looks to her partner, who simply taps her watch as if hurrying Penny up. Wasting no time, Penny raises her hands like a puppet master and uses the near-invisible strings attached to each hilt to lift the giant rocks up in the air, with the screaming Russel and Sky still hanging on. Bringing her arms down to her sides, the stones come crashing to the ground as well, leaving Penny's opponents in the grass. Her swords come back to her pack as the buzzer rings.

"Now that's a match."

Oobleck's voice was heard over the broadcaster's system. "And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!"

After claiming victory, Penny places a fist in her palm and bows respectfully to her fallen foes, still smiling brightly. "Thank you for a wonderful time."

And with that, the two victors turn to leave the stadium as Russel feebly reaches out, only to get hit in the head by an errant stone. Everyone erupted in cheers, except Voltaria, she was sitting beside Ruby and Sirena, watching the whole scene but she applauded at their performance.

"Now that's a battle." Sirena said, clapping her hands at Penny and Ciel.

"Yeah, but I am curious about Penny." Ekko suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked Ekko.

"Well, back when I was in Atlas, I never saw Penny before until now, as if she appeared out of nowhere." Ekko answered.

"That is weird." Melodia agreed with this.

Knowing that Penny is a robot, Voltaria and Ruby didn't say anything but decided to change the subject. "Ruby, I think you should congratulate Penny for her victory." Voltaria said to Ruby.

Hearing this, Ruby grins and excitedly gets up from her seat. "Yeah! Let's go, Volty!"

And with that, Ruby uses her speed Semblance to run down the stairs, while bringing Voltaria in the process, dodging many spectators and students as she catches up to Penny and Ciel, who were leaving. Grinning, Ruby lets go of Voltaria and spreads her arms, calling out to her android friend.

"Penny!"

Hearing a familiar voice, Penny turns towards the hooded girl, who was waving at her with Voltaria standing beside her. "Ruby!"

Happy to see her friend, Penny lifting up her own arms in the air and charging at her. Not wanting to be involved in this, Voltaria quickly side steps away just in a nick of time as Penny tackles Ruby into a hug that leaves them both on the ground, avoiding the collision in the process. Ruby lets out painful grunts and then groans weakly.

"Why..."

Sighing, Voltaria helps Ruby back on her feet while Penny energetically gets up and gestures to the other girl. "Ruby, Voltaria, this is my teammate."

"Ciel Soleil." The girl bows to them formally.

Ruby raises her hand in greeting. "Hi! I'm Ru-"

Ciel cuts her off. "Ruby Rose. 15. Hails from Patch. Leader of Team RWBY. Status: Questionable." Ciel states out Ruby's info before turning towards Voltaria. "And you are Voltaria Eclipse. 12. Hometown: unknown. Member of Team WAVE. Statues: unknown."

…

Both Ruby and Voltaria were silent for a second, staring at Ciel, before Ruby decided to change the subject. "Sooo...Penny!" She turns back to her friend. "You two were incredible out there! How do you keep control of all those swords? It's so cool!"

Before Penny could answer, Ciel came over to her. "Penny?" She looks at her watch and gestures at it, "I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."

Penny exchanges a look with Ruby before asking Ciel. "Could we have just a minute to talk?"

In response, Ciel checks the time, knowing that it was plenty of time to talk, she takes a step back and nods, at starting the countdown. Voltaria shook her head, knowing Ciel must've been given orders from Ironwood to watch over Penny. Regina commented how well-mannered and orderly Ciel is while Wraith thought of her as an annoying and boring person.

"So is she...your friend or..." Ruby questions Penny about Ciel.

"Well, in a way. She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."

"Oh. So, Weiss." Ruby said, realizing that Ciel is a bit like her teammate.

"No wonder." Voltaria mutters out, ignoring snickers from Wraith.

Penny nodded her head. "Precisely."

Ruby smiles at her and then realizes something as she lowers her voice. "Does she know about...y'know...beep boop bop, does not compute?" Ruby made robot gestures, leaving her arm to hang with a noticeable squeaking sound.

"Really, Ruby?" Voltaria said in her mind, making Ruby smile at her sheepishly.

Penny, realizing what her friend met, quickly shakes her head. "Oh no. General Ironwood doesn't really want anyone to know." She said until she recalled a certain event. "There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off."

~Flashback~

At the Vytal Festival grounds, Ciel and Penny were standing next to a booth. The android was smiling and wearing a large sun hat. Suddenly, the wind picks up the hat and lifts it from her hair, revealing the aforementioned magnet on her skull. Seeing this, Penny quickly shoves the headgear back on before Ciel turns back around or notices it.

~End of Flashback~

"Seriously? You wore a hat to hide that magnet? Voltaria questions Penny blankly, earning laughs from both Ruby and Penny.

After a quick. Penny was still smiling, but soon got serious. "Ruby, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." Penny glances over at Ciel, who was still counting down, before leaning in and whispering to Ruby. "I want to stay at Beacon."

Surprised by this, Ruby was happy for her friend to want to make decisions, but soon looks troubled by the news. "Penny, they'll never let you do that." Ruby informs her, remembering that Ironwood is in charge as he won't allow Penny to transfer.

Penny frowns, knowing it was true, but then grins with mischief. "I know, but I have a plan."

"And how are you going to do that?" Voltaria dared to ask.

But before Penny could reply, Ciel steps back into Penny's side and points to her watch. "It's been precisely one minute, ma'am." She informs the android.

Penny nodded and faced Ruby. "I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby." She said with a small smile before looking at Voltaria. "It was nice seeing you again." And with that, the two Atlesians leave, but Penny turns to give a wave of farewell to Voltaria and Ruby, who does the same.

"I wonder how she's going to transfer at Beacon." Ruby said in wonder.

"Well, if she doesn't have a plan, I am happily there to assist." Wraith said evilly, both girls could feel his devious grin. "I need three garbage bags, a shovel, some disinfectant, some latex gloves, and oregano."

"You are not killing General Ironwood, Wraith." Regina said sternly, earning a raspberry from Wraith. Before they could argue, the announcement for the next round came.

"Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!" Port announced through the speakers.

Ruby suddenly looks really excited as she clasps her hands together, realizing what this means. "Oh my gosh, that's right! It's time for-"

"Yang and Weiss's battle with Neon Katt and Flynt Coal, I know." Voltaria said with a sigh. "Let's get to our seats. I have a feeling that Yang and Weiss will have trouble with Coal and Katt."

After going to their seats, they watch the battle proceed. Yang and Weiss's opponents were not like the rest of Atlas Students, who are serious and military looking types, instead they look like cool types of hunters that make music like Team MUSE. And sure enough, Flynt dislikes Weiss since her father made his father's Dust's Shop run out of business but was lucky enough to get a new job, working as a manager in the BioX company since Ekko's father gave him that job, to support his family. Voltaria knows that Flynt is loyal to the Cantala Family, for they save his dad from being bankrupt. And when the battle begins, both Yang and Weiss have trouble with Flynt and Neon since both combatants are trained in Atlas. The battle was fierce as Flynt uses his trumpet to make a powerful soundwave with Neon skating about. Not long after, Weiss was out after she sacrificed herself to save Yang, which made her angry.

And Port made it clear through the speakers after witnessing Yang's breaking point as she clenched her fists and the ground trembled at her wrath. "Ooh...looks like Yang's angry! And you wouldn't like her when she's...upset."

And with that, Yang lets out a scream of rage, combining with the group of lava bursts from the rocks behind her. Everyone, minus her friends and teammates, was taken back by Yang's sudden rage. Wraith, on the other hand, was delighted to see Yang's rage mode. They find it exciting to watch.

"Oooh! Things are gonna heat up!" Wraith said happily through Voltaria and the others' minds.

Yang punches out several shots at the two opponents, who manage to dodge the blasts. Flynt signals Neon as he blows again and helps Neon rush forward. Yang meets her in the waves of sound, using her shots to keep her from being pushed away as she attempts to get a hit on the girl. Failing that, she leaps out of the noise and blasts the ground where Neon is, then launching herself back to create some space. Her blasts almost get Flynt, who's forced to change the direction of his tune and direct Neon elsewhere, still avoiding the blasts and even rolling on the debris being formed, though with a noticeably shakier stance than usual. She rolls up on a ramp made from the debris into the geyser biome. Yang lands on the ground away from her and runs right at Flynt, rocketing forward even as he uses his Semblance once more to deliver a fourfold attack. Shooting behind her, however, provides the necessary boost to finally get close and clap her hands over the mouth of the trumpet. Less than a second of silence is broken by the musical backfire right in Flynt's face, becoming one person for the final time as he's knocked on his back and the buzzer rings.

"Oh, sour note for Flynt!" Oobleck announced through the speakers.

Yang slides back from the blast, searching for her remaining opponent as Neon tries avoiding the geyser spouts. She was muttering about never missing a beat multiple times. But at that moment, her front wheels caught on a crack in the ground, losing her balance and causing her to shed a few quick tears.

"...beat?" Neon whimpers out.

Time catches up as she pitches forward, trying to roll up in a ball only to get caught in the blast of a geyser. She's helpless to do anything and gives Yang an opportunity. Smirking, Yang fires off a single shot, and hits her screaming target in an explosion of sparks and smoke, as well as a third buzzing sound. Even though they won, Yang was still enraged until she blinked her eyes back to purple and realized something, her teammate.

"Weiss!" Yang runs back into the fire section and kneels next to her ash-covered Schnee. "Weiss! Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

Weiss gets up and coughs some smoke before weakly responding. "I may not be singing for a while."

Yang looks both worried and relieved until she breaks out into a joking smile, trying to lighten up the mood. "You know, I'm not sure that was the proper form."

Weiss rolls her eyes. "Oh, ha ha-" Weiss suffers another coughing fit.

"WHAT!? We lost? We lost?!" They heard Neon screaming. Both Yang and Weiss's attention are drawn to Faunus, now devoid of color, as she freaks out when she and Flynt lose. "Team FNKI lost? That was... that was..." Instead of crying, she suddenly became overjoyed as her color returned and eyes turned into rainbow sparkles for a moment, cheering out, "... Amazing! Oh my gosh, you guys were super crazy awesome! We should definitely party together sometime, right Flynt?"

Mentioning her teammate, Flynt gets back to his feet, looking at Weiss. "That was a gutsy move, Schnee." He pauses briefly before commenting. "I dig it."

Both Yang and Weiss smile at the good losers and see the rest of their team coming to the injured heiress' side. Along with Team WAVE.

"Good job, you two!" Blake congratulated them.

"Yeah!" Ruby said cheerfully.

"You did very well in battle, Ms. Schnee. Your sister would be very proud." Regina commented, making Weiss smile.

"Thanks, Regina." Weiss said gratefully.

Both teams stayed like that, cradling Weiss in their arms as Team RWBY soaks in the cheers of the crowd. As they did, Voltaria senses Cinder and her team leaving the stadium, knowing that they have plans to make.

"Tabitha, follow them and listen to their plan." She orders her entity.

"As you wish." Tabitha said, before following Cinder and her team.

"Regina, get ready, Pyrrha will be called to Ozpin. And be careful."

"I will."

Regina quickly leaves them and heads towards Pyrrha, who was with her teammates. Pyrrha felt Regina and greeted her warmly but soon stopped when Regina informed her that Ozpin will contact her soon. And sure enough, he did, he wishes Pyrrha to come to his office. Regina made sure to stay by her side as they reached the office. Ozpin, with Qrow in the room, began asking Pyrrha questions about stories of Fairy Tales, and she answers with calmness, listing out the stories like The Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower, and The Story of the Seasons. Pyrrha made sure not to act all suspicious as Ozpin questions her about the Story of the Seasons, which she answered. It didn't take long for them to end the conversation when Glynda and Ironwood came. Soon, the four adults took Pyrrha to a secret floor. Regina memorized everything as the four adults lead a nervous Pyrrha through the big cold hall, talking about the matter in hand before both Pyrrha and Regina hear a humming of electricity. When they reach their destination at the end of the hallway, Pyrrha covers her mouth in shock, a small gasp escaping from it when she and Regina see someone in the glass. A girl, about the same age as Pyrrha was in a large machine with lit screens hooked up to two rectangular pods, one of which is upright to show through the glass window to see a girl dressed in minimal clothing with a burn scar over her left eye and across her face.

"Is that..." Pyrrha whispers in shock through her mind.

"Yes." Regina answered. "The current Fall Maiden. But don't worry, she's still alive."

Ironwood explains how Atlas has been studying Aura for the past few years; how it works, what it's made of, and how it can be used. They've made significant strides and they believe they have found a way to capture it. Until Qrow butts in saying capture it and cram it into something else while gesturing to Pyrrha as she takes a second to realize what that means.

"That's..."

Ironwood cuts her off. "Classified."

"Wrong!" Pyrrha exclaims, catching everyone off guard.

Glynda agrees with Pyrrha while glaring at Ironwood. "The feeling is mutual." Before she switches her gaze back to Pyrrha, trying to put up the act. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ironwood then added, "And these are indeed desperate times. We can't transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

Pyrrha gazes at Amber's pod. "...Her Aura."

Ozpin came to her side. "Her life...would become intertwined with yours. The question is..."

Qrow was the one who butts in again. "What's that going to do to you?"

Pyrrha wasn't sure as she still was processing everything. "You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos." Ozpin said to her. "There's no guarantee this transfer will work. And there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer."

Pyrrha doesn't respond, instead placing her hand on the glass separating the maiden from her potential replacement, seeing her scared expression reflected on the scarred face of the dying girl, before turning away from this expected destiny as Ozpin gives one final warning.

"The assailant that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move. And there's no telling when their next move will be."

"Oh, believe me, we know when." Regina said through Pyrrha and Glynda's mind.

"Can we save her, Regina? Can we save Amber and me from this fate?" Pyrrha whispers into her mind.

"Indeed, now I know her location. I can assure you, Pyrrha, that Amber can be saved, but we must transfer her as soon as we can." Regina informs her.

"Agreed." Both Pyrrha and Glynda said to Regina, agreeing with her plan than Ozpin's or the others.

Regina suddenly felt a message was sent to her by Wraith, saying the next match is going to start soon and rigged the randomizer of the opponents. "Oh...clever."

"Regina? Is there something wrong?" Pyrrha asked Regina.

"It appears that my mistress is going to face one of the assailant's minions. And it's gonna be wonderful." Regina said with a sly smirk on her face.

---

At the Amity Colosseum, the cheering crowds are excited about the one-on-one battle. Their cheers and screams are being drowned out by the announcements from Port over the broadcasting system.

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!"

In the center of the battlefield's stage, Yang was smirking confidently as she stood along with the final fighters. Sun, Penny, Mercury, Pyrrha, and Voltaria, who was at the other end of the line. She was ready to face her opponent, knowing that he could be a problem to her friends and the plan, she has to get rid of him by any means necessary. And thanks to Wraith, who snuck into Mercury's dream realm and found out his nightmare, she has something special for him.

Port was at the announcer's box with his co-host, Oobleck. "Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" He asked Oobleck.

Oobleck nodded his head. "Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!" He explains to everyone quickly.

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Port said proudly.

Oobleck nodded in agreement. "Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!"

The energetic doctor points out to the screens above the stadium as the roulette starts spinning, this time for competitors instead of biomes. And thanks to the Cross Continental Transmit System, everyone around Remnant watched the randomizer. Cinder thought she had the upper hand, but she failed to realize that Wraith had possessed the randomizer and rigged it. Changing Mercury's opponents, to someone that he will lose to. And once it was done, Port announced the opponents on the next round.

"Mercury Black vs...Voltaria Eclipse!" Port announced loudly.

"What?!" Mercury exclaims in shock.

"What?" Cinder whispers out, also shocked by this. She could've sworn that she makes sure that Mercury will face Yang, not the Grimm Girl! Her controller must've miscalculated the match and now Mercury has to face that girl with Grimm.

"Awesome! The Grimm Girl is first!" A reporter cheered, taking pictures.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Another reporter said, taking pictures of Voltaria, who wasn't fazed by this.

"Hehehe, this is gonna be good." Wraith said with a grin.

"Have Regina and Tabitha ready themselves?" Voltaria questions her fighting entity.

"Yup, they're making sure that illusion girl doesn't get in your way." Wraith informs her with a grin.

"And why is that?"

"Let's just say, Reg and T found something that Emmy dearly wishes to meet and see again." Wraith said with a grin in her mind.

Ruby cups her hands to make sure her encouragement is heard from her spot alongside RWBY, JNPR, WAVE, MUSE, and SSSN. "Go get 'im, Volty!"

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" Port announced through the speakers.

As the rest of the lineup does so, Yang and Pyrrha gave encouragement towards Voltaria. Yang did a double thumbs up with a grin while Pyrrha made an ok sign along with a smile. Voltaria nodded at them before noticing Penny gave Voltaria a friendly wave, wishing her luck as well. As they leave, Voltaria starts walking up to Mercury in the middle as the floor around them opens once more, with a ring of spotlights rising up to automatically fix their lights on the remaining two.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me, I have to fight you?" Mercury gestures to Voltaria. "This must be a mistake."

Voltaria simply tilts her head. "Why? Afraid to lose from a helpless little girl?" She mocked Mercury, earning 'Oooooo' from the crowd, all agreeing that was a solid burn. Some even snickered at this, finding it hilarious.

Mercury frowned at her, annoyed and angry by her comment. "Okay, that's it. You're going down!"

"We shall see, Mr. Black." Voltaria said blankly. She then secretly looks up above the bleachers. No one could see Emerald was standing above it, using her semblance to create an illusion. She was not aware that Voltaria wasn't affected by this since her Entities could see through the illusions.

"Ready, everyone?" Voltaria said to her entities through her mind.

"Ready!" They all agreed unsure.

Port announced. "Three! Two! One! Fight!"

Mercury charges at Voltaria at full speed, his leg raised for a single blow. But suddenly, Voltaria vanished, forcing Mercury to stop his attack, shock she suddenly disappeared. Everyone was also shocked by this, especially Cinder, who didn't leave the stadium yet. As Mercury searches around, he fails to see Voltaria appearing behind him as she delivers a devastating kick to the back. Mercury lets out a yell of pain as he was about to punch her, but she suddenly vanished again.

"What the-How is she doing this?!" Mercury exclaims, trying to find her.

As he tries to fight, Emerald tries to find Voltaria, so she can hallucinate, but sadly. Due to Voltaria vanishing and reappearing out nowhere, she couldn't focus. When Emerald had her chance after Voltaria revealed herself, she was about to use her semblance until...

"Emerald..."

Emerald froze from her spot as chill came down her spine. She turns around to find no one, thinking it was just the wind, but the ghostly voice of a woman almost brought her to her knees as she called out to Emerald again in a gentle yet haunting voice.

"Emerald..."

"M...M...Mom?" Emerald whispered in disbelief, eyes widened as she looked around, trying to figure out if this was a trick or not. But it couldn't be real, her mother died years ago. She can't be alive...can she?

"I'm here, sweety, just follow my voice." Her mother's ghostly voice called out to her.

Emerald followed the ghosted voice of the deceased mother, leaving her post unnoticed to Cinder or the others. She blindly follows the voice willingly, trying to find her, unaware that she was walking through the empty halls of the stadium.

"Emerald..."

"Mom? Mom? Mom, where are you?!" Emerald called out to her, trying to find her mother, thinking that she was alive. She was not aware that she was trapped on a spell that Regina conjured.

"I'm here, my darling gem, I'm here with you always."

When Emerald reached a dark corner of the hall, she saw a womanly figure, standing on a small patch of light, wearing a white dress with her emerald, green hair flowing. Her red eyes looked towards Emerald as she spread her arms wide. She gave Emerald a warm and gentle smile. Without thinking through, Emerald rushed to her mother's arms and embraced her, tears falling from her eyes.

"Mom...mom..." She cried softly.

"Shh...it's all right, my darling gem, I am here. I am always here." Emerald's mother said gently, both sitting on the ground as the ghost of Emerald's mother gently strokes her hair. "I am so sorry for leaving you, if I was strong enough to defeat those Grimms, you wouldn't have been left alone."

"You gave it your all..." Emerald cried, hugging her mother. "You...you were trying to save me...I should've...I should've fought alongside you!" Emerald cried even harder as she hugged her mother.

"It's all right, my darling gem, you were young. It was my job to protect you. But now I'm here. Nothing is going to keep us apart, never again." Emerald's mother whispers softly, humming a ghostly tune that makes Emerald fall asleep.

That poor thief, she was not aware that she was in a dream world, where her mother was nothing but an illusion that was made by Regina, thinking that her mother came back from the dead. Now, she is trapped within a loop where she cannot escape unless Regina allows it. Speaking of which, both Regina and Tabitha looked at Emerald's sleeping form on the ground, she was curled up to a ball, crying in her sleep as the ghost of her deceased mother was comforting her.

"She wanted to see her mother again." Tabitha said to Regina, looking at Emerald with pity.

"Her mother sacrificed herself to save her daughter from a Grimm attack, that sacrifice scarred Ms. Sustrai for life...it reminds me how our dear mistress lost her mother." Regina said to Tabitha. "But her mother was killed by human bandits, not Grimm."

"They both lost their mothers, but in different ways." Tabitha said sadly.

"Indeed." Regina said as she turned away. "We must go, mistress is done toying with her opponent."

Tabitha nodded and followed Regina through the shadows, leaving a broken-down Emerald in her dream world.

---

Back to the arena, Mercury crashed on his back onto the hard ground with a loud yell. Voltaria yet again knocks him down after appearing out of nowhere. Mercury was getting annoyed. Out of all the opponents, he had to face the Grimm Girl. I mean, seriously! He would rather face off Sun or Penny but her? Absolutely not! Mercury was so angry that he fired from his legs, which Voltaria dodged with ease.

"What's wrong, Black? Getting tired from getting beat by a girl?" Voltaria mocked blankly, avoiding incoming kicks.

"Shut up! And hold still!" He ordered angrily, sweeping his legs in hopes to knock her off.

But again, Voltaria dodged and landed a few feet from him. "If you want to hit me, then please." She made a mocking bow, with one hand on her chest and her arm outstretched. "Do your worst."

Glaring at her and thinking that she was defenseless, Mercury charges at her in full rage, unaware the consequences that will come. Suddenly, with her free hand, Voltaria took out a card and threw it at Mercury. The card collided with Mercury's kick, creating a thick violet smoke that covered the whole arena. The spectators all gasped in shock, wondering what just happened. Ruby tries to find Voltaria through the thick smoke, but couldn't, she was getting worried about her friend.

"Ooh...where is she?!" Ruby asked in fear and worry.

"Is she alright?" Weiss asked in concern.

"I can't see her." Ren said, trying to find Voltaria from the smoke.

"Don't worry, Kid's got this." Wraith assured the worried members.

---

Meanwhile, in the dark, violet, smoke, Mercury was seen wandering around it, trying to find Voltaria to beat her for mocking him. But no matter where he goes, he felt like he was going in circles. He wasn't aware that this smoke was going to be his doom.

"Hey! Where are you?! Come on and fight me!" Mercury yelled out, which returned to an echo. No one from the outside could hear nor see him. He was trapped in this dark void that has no end.

"Disappointing." A voice came.

Mercury froze in fear, shock, and horror. He recognized that voice anywhere. But it was impossible! He killed him years ago! There's no way that he could...

Coming out from the smoke was none other than Marcus Black aka Mercury's father, the man that abused and trained Mercury as an assassin. Mercury backs away from him, his eyes widen in shock as his father glares back at him.

"You call yourself an assassin? More like a brat, a weakling! You're being beaten by someone younger than you! A child no less!"

"SHUT UP!" Mercury yells in anger. "I KILLED YOU ONCE, I CAN DO IT AGAIN!"

"Then try if you can do it again, you worthless brat!" Marcus yelled at him.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Mercury lets out a battle cry and tackles his father. But turned into smoke, disappearing in the process. "What the-"

Mercury was cut off when an invisible force punched him on the face, sending him flying to the ground. He got up and rubbed his sore chin. He tries to find his father to kill him again. But another blow from the invisible force punched him again, knocking him down. Mercury tries to get up, but the invisible force continues to beat him up from all places, making Mercury's vision blurry and felt many painful blows from it. Mercury crashed on his side, coughing out blood in the process.

"Pathetic." Marcus's voice echoed through the smoke. "You can't even block simple punches!"

"Sh-Shut up!" Mercury yelled, spitting blood off his mouth.

Mercury got up to face his father. However, the invisible force didn't allow this as it sent more powerful blows, causing Mercury to yell in pain. The force sends powerful blows on Mercury's face, stomach, chest, arms, and then his legs, forcing him to be on his knees. Mercury panted out, feeling the pain on the blows as he struggled to breathe, coughing from time to time. His face was covered in bruises. The heavy blows he took were so great that it made Mercury struggle to get up.

"Useless as ever." Marcus's voice spoke through the smoke. "You are nothing without me, you need to know your place, boy." Mercury slowly looks up to see his father, glaring at him angrily. "You are my flesh and blood, and you will do as I say."

"No..." Mercury said weakly.

"No matter where you go or run, boy. I'm always watching you." Marcus said with a glare.

Before he could do anything, a powerful blow came at the back of Mercury's head, forcing him to fall unconscious.

Seeing that Mercury couldn't get up, Voltaria appears out of the smoke and the ghost of Marcus Black vanishes into thin air. She looks down at Mercury's broken form, knowing that he had lost to her trick. Satisfied that she has taken down another of Cinder's pawns, Voltaria decides to end the battle.

"Three down, one more to go." Voltaria said blankly before summoning Blood Moon. Her weapon entity opened its eye, releasing a red glow, and made the smoke vanished away.

---

Back at the stadium, the spectators were shocked when they saw the screen that Mercury's aura levels had depleted and was out of the match, but they didn't see how it happened. Everyone began to worry until the smoke suddenly vanished, surprising the audience in the process. Once it was cleared, everyone was shocked to see Mercury lying on the ground, unconscious with no serious injuries. While Voltaria just stood a few feet from him, making everyone believe that she didn't move from her spot. Blood Moon vanished after clearing the smoke, just in time too as the buzzer announced the victor is Voltaria Eclipse.

"My oh my, I don't believe it folks!" Port said from the table. "Voltaria Eclipse took down Mercury Black without us even knowing!"

"Is that even possible?! I'm not even sure either!" Oobleck said, looking at Voltaria in shock. "But the rules are rules, Ms. Eclipse has won the one-on-one match, allowing her to move on to the next round! In which case VOLTARIA ECLIPSE IS THE VICTOR!"

And with that, everyone, minus Cinder, erupted with cheers. Amazed and astonished how Voltaria took down Mercury without them even seeing it! Ruby was cheering like crazy for Voltaria, whooping about and hugging Weiss.

"She did it!" Ruby cheered happily. "She did it! She did it! She did it! She did it! She did it! SHE DID IT!"

"Ruby! I can see that!" Weiss scolds her, but smiles, knowing Voltaria took down one of the perpetrators.

"You go, V!" Cheered Wade, waving his hat at her.

"Magnifique!" AJ cheers for Voltaria, clapping her hands.

"YES!" Evo and Blake cheered along with Jaune, Ren, and Nora.

As everyone cheers, Cinder narrows her eyes at Voltaria. She was getting very suspicious about her, wondering what she was hiding and how she defeated Mercury. Soon, Voltaria then bows at the audience as she leaves the arena. But as she did, she saw the medical team coming in, putting Mercury on a stretcher and carrying him to medic bay. A ghostly smile appeared on her face as Voltaria walked away, knowing that the task was almost complete.

---

"You were awesome, Volty!" Ruby cheers, jogging along with her team, Team WAVE, and Team JNPR. "You kicked Mercury's butt!"

"Yeah! That'll show him a thing or two!" Yang said with a grin.

"I am glad that you all enjoy the show, serves him right for his teammates are rigging the game." Voltaria said to them, walking towards their dorms. "And I kind of did the same."

"Hey, but you did the right thing, V." Wade said to his teammate. "After all, you did say that Yang will be framed if you didn't take her place."

"Yeah! And it saved her butt in the process." Nora said happily, walking alongside her.

"Yeah, she did!" Yang said with a grin.

"So...what now?" Ren asked as they continued walking.

"Now..." Voltaria spoke into their minds when some Atlesian Knight-200 were walking through the halls of the dorm. "We're going to save Amber."

Hearing this, Pyrrha looked at her and shared a telepathic link with her. "Really? When are we going to do it?" She asked, wanting to save Amber before Ozpin and Ironwood made her do the transferring of the Fall Maiden Powers.

"Tonight, when everyone's asleep. But we have to be careful." Voltaria said, looking back at the robots. "We will have to get past Ironwood's knights."

"Crap, she's right." Wade said as they headed down the hall. "They announced the curfew hours for the students."

"And would check our rooms in the process." Ren said, knowing that they will have trouble saving Amber.

"Is there a way to fool them without getting noticed?" Blake asked, looking at Voltaria.

Voltaria thinks for a bit and recalls something. "There is a way, but I need some of your blood."

Everyone stopped on their tracks and looked at Voltaria dumbfoundedly. "What?"

Later, in their dorms, Voltaria's entities split up and are the rooms of Voltaria's friends. Tabitha was with Team RWBY, Wraith was with Team JNPR, and Hannibal was with Team WAVE. Regina left to go find Glynda and tell her the plan to sneak Amber out. And in their rooms are four wooden puppets that are strangely the same size as them along with a puppet of a dog, for Zwei.

"What is this?" Wade asked Voltaria, unsure what's going on.

"These puppets are made by my puppet entity." Voltaria began, "She will be watching over the puppets and keeping us in low profile."

"And she made these puppets that would look exactly like us from face, mind, and body with just a drop of our blood?" AJ asked unsure.

"Yup, and we better hurry, we need to get Amber as soon as possible." Voltaria said, taking out her dagger. "Let's begin."

With some hesitation, Team WAVE agrees and draws out some blood from their hands, healing their injuries with tehri aura in the process after putting their blood in their puppets' mouth. What's next shocked them as the puppets got up and formed into them, wearing exactly the same clothes as them. Team RWBY and JNPR did the same thing and were also shocked by this.

"What in the..." Wade cuts himself off when his Doppelganger gives him a smirk.

"Howdy, partner." Puppet Wade greeted him.

"This is so weird...but amazing at the same time." AJ said in awe.

"Wow..." Was all Evo could say.

"That's enough gawking, we have to go." Voltaria said as she turned to the puppets. "You know your mission?"

"Yup, keep those pesky robo-butts off yer trail." Puppet Wade said before saluting. "Ya got it, boss."

"Is it weird that I find my puppet-self kinda cool?" Wade asked, standing beside his teammates.

Voltaria shrugs. "Pretty much." She said before Hannibal teleports them away while the rest of the entities did the same thing after Team RWBY and Team JNPR made their doppelgangers. Just in time too as the door knocks and Puppet Wade opens the door to reveal two Atlesian Knights, checking on them. Puppet Wade made a smile while the rest of the Team WAVE puppets minded their own business, like they were doing nothing.

"Can we help ya, partners?" Puppet Wade asked casually to the Atlesian Knights, tricking them as if they were the real deal.

---

Outside of the school's grounds, Team WAVE, RWBY, and JNPR made it out safely along with Zwei and Glynda Goodwitch, who made her doppelganger puppet thanks to Regina. Their puppet doppelgangers stayed in their dorms and office, making sure there weren't any suspicions for Ozpin and Ironwood.

"You guys made it." AJ said in relief.

"Yeah, thanks to T and Volty's puppets." Yang said with a grin.

"They're not my puppets." Voltaria corrected. "They belong to my puppet entity."

"The one with freakishly scary blades that help you win against Sirena and Ekko?" Nora asked curiously.

"Yes, and her name is Marionette the Puppet Mistress." Voltaria informs them. "Let's go, we have a few hours before midnight."

"Why midnight?" Blake asked Voltaria.

"It's where Blood Moon will perform the healing ritual." Voltaria said before looking at Glynda. "Ready?"

Glynda nodded. "Yes, I believe so. Regina, lead the way."

"Hold on." Regina informs them before she and the other entities teleported to the secret room where Amber was.

Wraith made sure to mess with the cameras, making sure that there was no evidence of them saving Amber. Upon the sight of the girl, everyone, minus Voltaria, Pyrrha, and Glynda, was shocked to see Amber in such a state. Zwei lets out a sad whimper when he sees Amber, feeling sorry for that human. They couldn't imagine what she has been through. It was a good thing that they were here to help. Otherwise, both her and Pyrrha would've died if they tried to transfer the maiden power to her.

"I...I don't believe it." Weiss whispers in shock.

"Is she...is she...still alive?" Jaune asked hesitantly, looking at Amber with wide eyes.

"For now, yes." Glynda said quietly. "We have to do this now, before Ozpin finds out about this."

"Agreed." Voltaria said before looking at the boys. "You four should get ready to catch her. Hannibal will give her energy to keep her stable. While we leave a doppelganger here to take Amber's place."

"Right." The boys said as they took position.

Voltaria activates her Glyphs and summons her puppet entity, Marionette, who brings out another life size puppet. "Thank you, Marionette, we will take it from here." Marionette nodded and handed the life size puppet to Yang before vanishing. "Yang, place the puppet close to Amber. Professor Goodwitch will open the pod." Voltaria instructed.

"Right." Yang said, carrying the puppet to the pod.

"Pyrrha, Weiss, Nora, Ruby, Blake, stay close and help out, just in case something happens." Voltaria ordered.

"We're on it." Pyrrha said.

Voltaria looks at Glynda. "Ready?"

Glynda nodded and went to the controls. She types in the code to release Amber from her stasis. The pod's door opened, releasing cold air and making hissing sounds. Hannibal quickly got into her body and gave the energy she needed to stay stable. Wade, Evo, Ren, and Jaune quickly caught Amber before she could fall and gently placed her down. Yang quickly placed the puppet down and Blake quickly came over, as she made a small cut on Amber's hand (which she silently apologies to the unconscious Amber when doing so) and a drop of blood fell on the puppet's mouth, turning into a perfect replica of Amber. Amber's puppet looks exactly like her and appears somewhat lifeless. Hannibal healed Amber's cut while Pyrrha, Nora, Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss placed Amber's doppelganger into the pod in the right position, allowing Glynda to close it. The puppet had the same heartbeat and stability in Amber's coma state, making everyone believe that she's in a coma.

"We have to leave." Wraith suddenly said, getting everyone's attention. "Someone's coming."

Everyone almost panicked by this, knowing that if they got caught, they would be in big trouble. Luckily, Voltaria and her entities were ready. "Everyone, hold on tight, and keep Amber close." Voltaria said to them.

Doing so, Pyrrha stays close to Amber as everyone went together along with Glynda. Voltaria and her entities quickly teleported them all away from the room, just in time to. Because General Ironwood came down to check on Amber's state, so far, nothing has changed. Making him, Ozpin, and Qrow to believe that Amber was still safe.

---

Meanwhile, at the Emerald Forest. The two hybrid dinosaurs were resting in the forest until their mothers and the rest of the packmates came along with a new human, who looked very weak. Amaryllis and Ripper came over to them, inspecting the new human, before earning gentle pats from Momma Red.

"Ripper, Amaryllis, sorry for the surprise visit, but we need to do something very important." Ruby said to them gently.

Understanding this, the two hybrids nodded, wanting to help them. Voltaria told them that Blood Moon will perform the healing ritual, they need to take Amber to a lake, where the water will heal her wounds. Amaryllis and Ripper know where the lake is and take them there. The boys carried Amber's unconscious form there carefully with Pyrrha helping them. Making sure that Amber is all right. Hannibal also made sure to keep her stable, not allowing Amber to lose her life. Once they reached the lake, Voltaria instructed the boys to bring Amber in the water and let her float. They do so but be careful along the way. They gently place Amber's body into the water, letting her float towards the reflection of the moon. Voltaria then summons Blood Moon and lifts him up to the night sky, facing the moon.

"Blood Moon, shine your red light, and heal Amber from her wound and remove the Maiden's Power off from her and retrieve the other that was stolen, so no one of dark hearts shall use it, ever." Voltaria ordered Blood Moon.

And with command, her weapon entity releases a powerful red light. It releases a beam to the sky that forms a giant storm. Red lightning and thunder clashes, everyone stared at the whole thing in shock. Thinking that Blood Moon has more power than any other of her entities. Blood Moon then releases red and black dragon specters and heads towards Amber's body. Some moved around her while the rest disappeared and headed towards the city. They wonder where they are going, but Regina informs them to not interfere. Not long, the invisible dragon specters zoom across the city, not being noticed by the people as they were rushing for cover when a sudden storm came out of nowhere. The dragon specters headed towards Vale's hospital, where Cinder Fall was at the roof of the hospital, glaring at the sudden storm. She was informed by some medical staff that they found Emerald Sustrai unconscious and wouldn't wake up. They worried that she must've collapsed from some stress and must have fallen into this state; they are still doing some tests. And Mercury Black, he was taken in not long after and was being cared for by the medics. He was fine, but he didn't want to talk about the battle he had with Voltaria. Cinder demanded but he, surprisingly, yelled at her to leave. Like he really doesn't want to talk about it. Angered and confused, Cinder needed to find out WHO Voltaria is and what is her goal.

And she's going to do it, with force. However, when Cinder was about to leave, she didn't notice the dragon specters coming to her. And soon as they came, they immediately attack. One forcefully went through her, causing Cinder to yell and almost fall on to her knees. Shocked by the sudden attack, she tried to find out who did it, but couldn't see because the dragon specters are invisible and are attacking Cinder by going through her as well as removing the Maiden Power. One by one, the specters went through Cinder with great force, causing Cinder to scream in pain, but was covered by the loud thunder. Cinder soon falls on her knees and tries to use the maiden power but sadly, the specters come together and charge at her, going through Cinder with great force. This cause her to feel tremendous amounts of pain, as they rip the maiden power off her. The dragon specters carried the maiden power away from Cinder, who was trying to recover from the blow. She tried to summon fire from her hands to release her anger, but nothing came out. To her shock and horror, the maiden power was gone! Quickly getting up, Cinder tries to find out what happened and what caused half of the maiden power to be removed. But she was too late, the dragon specters had taken the power, camouflaging it so Cinder nor anyone could find it. Angered, Cinder releases a scream of anger, but it is blocked by the thunder while dragon specters take half of the maiden's power back to its other half.

As the dragon specters headed towards the Emerald Forest, the other dragon specters began circling above Amber's body, who was emitting a yellow-orange glow. Everyone watched as Blood Moon's dragon specters removed the other half of the maiden's power out of Amber, lifting up as they surrounded the orange ball of energy. Soon, the rest of the dragon specters return with the other half of the power. The Fall Maiden's power became whole again as the specters joined with the others, spinning around with great speed. Blood Moon then releases a white energy towards the water. It wasn't dangerous, it is actually a healing energy, allowing the water to heal Amber from her injuries from head to toe and the burn on her face vanished. After she was healed, the Fall Maiden's power began to manifest itself into another form by the specters. Thunder and lightning came as the power began shrinking before it transformed into a tarot card that had a picture of a tree and field in the autumn season. As it was complete, the storm clouds vanished, Blood Moon finished the ritual, the dragon specters gently carried the card that housed the Fall Maiden power, bringing it towards Voltaria. The Grimm Girl grabs it with her free hand before the specter returns back to Blood Moon.

"It is done." Voltaria said softly.

And with that, everyone turns back to the lake and sees Amber's body returning to life. And because of this, Amber snaps opened her eyes and lets out a loud gasp. She got up from the water and gasped again in shock as she realized that she was in water. Seeing that she is in trouble, Pyrrha quickly dives in the water and saves her before she could drown. Amber was shocked by this and looked at Pyrrha in confusion.

"Wh-Who are you?" Amber asked in alarm.

Pyrrha forms a relieved smile on her face. "I'm a friend."

Before Amber could process everything, something beneath them lifted up from the water, revealing itself as Ripper, who wants to help Pyrrha and Amber to get back to shore. Amber was shocked by Ripper's sudden appearance but was calm down when Pyrrha assures her that he's harmless, most of the time. Ripper swims back to shore where the others help Amber on her feet. Ruby, seeing Amber shivering, did a generous thing as she offered her hooded cloak to Amber, which she graciously accepted. Soon, Wade starts a campfire to help Amber warm up, they all circle around the fire while Amaryllis and Ripper are curled around Ruby, Voltaria, and Amber, trying to help the girl to keep warm. Zwei was also keeping Amber warm while she held him, making her smile at the warmth of the dog. The group explained to Amber what just happened and how she came to be, trying to make sure not to rush her, so she can process everything.

"And that's what happened." Wade finished with a sigh.

Amber, who was shocked to hear this, looks down on to the ground, hugging Zwei tightly. She couldn't believe it. The ones that attacked her took some of the maiden's power and used it for evil. If only she could've been more careful and had time to think, she could have just escaped when she knew the danger. None of this could have happened. Amber was about to break in tears when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Amber saw it was Pyrrha who placed her hand on her shoulder and gave Amber an assuring smile.

"None of this is your fault, Amber." Pyrrha said in assurance. "Your assailants are the ones to blame for abusing the Fall Maiden's power."

"But-" Amber was cut off when Nora got up and was in front of her.

"Yeah! They cheated and it was an unfair fight!" Nora said with a grin. "You gave it your all and show them a thing or two!"

"Uh..." Amber wasn't sure how to respond to this.

Sensing this, Voltaria made gesturing movements to Amaryllis, signaling her to move Nora away. Obeying her mother's command, Amaryllis lifted her head and picked Nora from the back of her dress and placed her next to Ruby. Satisfied, Voltaria looks over to Amber and speaks.

"What Nora is trying to say, Amber, is that you should not feel distraught about what happened. Yes, your attacker used the Fall Maiden's power for evil, but she no longer has it. We do." Voltaria took out the card that housed the Fall Maiden's power. "She and the other two assailants will never find it. For it is safe and far from both human and Faunus's hands."

"You're free from the burden, Amber." Pyrrha said with a smile. "You don't have to carry the weight of this responsibility anymore. You can choose your own fate."

"She's right, Amber." Glynda said, adjusting her glasses. "You will no longer be the Fall Maiden; you can choose who you want to be."

Hearing this, Amber couldn't help but choke a bit, feeling the weight of burden slowly lifted as she no longer had to worry about someone trying to attack her or steal the Fall Maiden's power. Now...now she's free. Free to do anything she wants. Free to be who she is. Free to see the world that she missed out for so long. Suddenly, tears form in her eyes, Amber couldn't help but cry by the sudden freedom that was bestowed upon her. No longer having to fear what will come, she can become the huntress that she could be. Thanks to a kind group of strangers.

"I...I don't know what to say but..." Amber said as she looked at them with teary eyes and a small smile, "...Thank you."

Everyone, minus Voltaria, smiles at her. Wade couldn't help but tip his hat at her. "That's our job, Ma'am." He said to Amber.

"What Wade said," Ruby smiles at Amber. "Just doing our job!"

Amber giggles as it is mixed with Zwei's joyful barks. "You all are special, in more ways than one."

Blake smiles and looks at her friends. "We are all special."

"We sure are!" Nora said happily and cheerfully as she got up with both fists on her hips but within a few seconds she deflated. "Now what?"

"What do you mean?" Amber asked in confusion.

Nora taps her chin as she recalls the event. "Well...we survived through training, school, stopping a Grimm Attack, meeting Volty's ghost friends..."

"Hey!" Wraith yelled at her in annoyance.

"...Meeting giant hybrid dinosaurs that survive the extinction!" Nora gestures to both Amaryllis and Ripper, who look at each other, not sure what to do. "Learning that Votly could see the future!" Voltaria sighs in annoyance as Nora continues while making a battle pose, "Then battle at the Colosseum! Stopping the saboteurs from rigging the game and sneak around to find and save you!" She finished with a grin. "Oh, and we're kinda trying to stop a great destruction of Vale that is coming."

Amber couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief and shock, and couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nora was still grinning while Ren was shaking his head at his partner. "Nora, I think you put her into shock."

Nora covers her mouth in realization. "Oopsie!"

"Wha-no! No, no, no. I'm fine, it's just...it's just I'm surprised you all did it by yourself without Ozpin knowing. Why didn't you all ask for his help?" Amber questions them.

Suddenly, Regina came and spoke, clearly not happy about Ozpin helping. "As if we should trust that man with this information." She said in a clearly disapproving tone that could be heard from everyone. "Ozpin only trusted himself with the whole truth, he didn't bother telling everyone that our enemy is an immortal human with magic that caused the first humans' extinctions a hundred thousand years ago! And hiding the fact that the three assailants are here and doesn't even know who they are because he is too clueless to notice!"

There was a dead silence from the group. Amber was shocked by this sudden information while the rest, minus Voltaria, were kind of freaked out by Regina's sudden outburst. Clearly stating that maybe she has some kind of grudge against Ozpin many years ago during the Age of Gods. But they dared not ask about it, if they did, they would not survive her wrath.

Ruby, who cleared her throat, and dared asked. "But...what if we...you know, try to convince him to tell the truth to the people? I mean, I know it might cause panic and people might not believe, but still. Everyone needs to know."

"I understand your admiration to help, Ruby, but even if we tried to convince Ozpin to bring out the truth, he'll just brush it away." Regina said to her.

"But we have to try at least." Blake said to Regina, wanting to help both humans and Faunus alike from a terrible fate. "We just need to get him, General Ironwood, and Qrow to listen to us and make them understand."

"I can handle them." Wraith suddenly appeared beside them, with a wide grin on his face. "We'll need rope for Ozpin, titanium chains for Ironwood...a cage for Qrow!"

Everyone, minus Voltaria, stared at Wraith's grinning form. The teenagers and Amber stared at him with a mix of confusion, disturbance, and doubt. Glynda, on the other hand, shares the same look as Regina and Voltaria, annoyed at Wraith's plan. It's always kidnapped and murder for him. Not caring for the well-being of the person. Weiss was the one that broke the cold silence.

"...See, what scares me is that you have all those things, don't you?" Weiss questions Wraith.

The warrior entity responded with a mischievous smile and nod, causing Weiss to give Wraith a dumbfounded look. Voltaria sighs and shook her head. "We can discuss some other time. Right now, we need to find a place for Amber to rest and it can't be Vale."

Realizing what she meant, everyone agrees that Amber can't go to the city. Ozpin, Ironwood, and Qrow would be suspicious, and would also cause the assailant to find out what really happened, and kill her, thinking that she might have the Fall Maiden power, but in truth she doesn't.

"We need to find a safe place for her." Glynda said to the students.

Luckily, Voltaria knows a place for Amber to live in peace. "I know where we can hide Amber."

---

Later, at the forest that leads to Mineral Town, Voltaria's entities teleported them and the hybrids there. Amber was now wearing clothes (Yang's boots, Blake's shorts, Nora's shirt, Weiss's bell-sleeved bolero, AJ's fashionable belt, and Pyrrha's gloves) which she got from Wraith, who happens to steal from the girls' stuff, much to their annoyance, but allowed it to slide since Amber needed clothes. But still annoyed at how Wraith got to their stuff in the first place. Team WAVE recognized where the entities had taken them and was surprised by the first choice they had.

"Hey, this is the forest near Mineral Town." Evo said, recognizing the area.

"Yes, I contacted a friend of mine to meet us here." Voltaria said to them.

Wade looked at her in surprise. "Wait, you have a friend?"

Voltaria nodded her head. "Yes, he will be arriving shortly."

"When?" Jaune asked the girl.

Voltaria looks at him. "Right now."

Confused, Jaune turned around and saw Kurama, the half Fox Faunus/Grimm, standing behind him. Jaune screamed and fell from behind. The others did battle poses, ready to attack, but stopped by Hannibal, growling at them to back off. Everyone was confused until Kurama bowed towards Voltaria respectfully.

"Welcome back, Mistress." He greeted the girl.

"Mistress?" Everyone asked in confusion and shocked as they realized that Kurama was referring to Voltaria.

"V? How do you know this guy?" Wade asked Voltaria, eyeing Kurama.

"I'll explain everything but first, I would like you all to meet Kurama. Kurama, meet my friends." Voltaria gestures to her team, Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Glynda, and Amber.

Kurama bows at them respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. My mistress has mentioned you all so fondly." He said to the group.

Nora came up to him. "Really?! What does she talk about us? Or me!? Did she say something nice? Or fun! Tough! Strong!" Nora babbles a lot of questions while Kurama stares at her calmly.

"In due time, but all she did say is...that you are all interesting and unique." Kurama said as he looked at Ruby. "And I thank Ms. Rose for helping my Mistress to get out from her empty shell."

Ruby stutters and giddily replies with a smile, "Hehehe...no problem there Kurama...sir."

Glynda looked at Kurama curiously. "So...he's going to take care of Amber?" She asked Voltaria.

"He's simply going to protect her in secret while Amber lives in the Mineral Town." Voltaria said calmly. "I sent a private message to Mr. Peterson, you know, the old man that helped us during our mission."

"Wait, how did you get his number?" Evo asked her curiously.

"I have my ways." Voltaria answered blankly before looking at Amber. "Kurama will assist you on heading to the town. I believe Mr. Peterson is waiting at the entrance of the town. There, you will live a safe life. Far from Ozpin, Ironwood, and the threats that will harm you. You'll no longer have to worry about anything now."

Glynda nodded in agreement before she took out a spare Scroll. "Here, use this Scroll if you want to contact any of us." She instructed her, who accepted it.

Amber smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you, everyone. For everything."

"You're welcome, Amber." Ruby said happily.

"You deserve this after what you have been through." AJ said with a smile.

"AJ's right." Pyrrha agrees with a smile, happy that Amber won't suffer the consequences.

"You should go now." Wade said with a smile. "You don't want Mr. Peterson to wait."

Amber nodded again. "Good idea."

Voltaria looks at Kurama. "Keep her safe, Kurama. Do not let anything bad happen to her."

Kurama bowed at her. "Yes, Mistress." He said to her respectfully as he turned towards Amber. "Come, Ms. Amber, your new home awaits."

Smiling, Amber nods again and looks at Kurama happily. "Yeah, that sounds nice. Thanks again everyone, I won't forget you." Amber said as she hugged each one of the members.

"Anytime, Amber." Yang said, hugging Amber.

"Don't mention it." Ruby said happily, hugging Amber as well.

Amaryllis and Ripper also joined in the goodbye hug, even though they just met her. They already took a liking to Amber and accepted her in their pack. Zwei jumps in Amber's arms, giving her goodbye licks, making her laugh in the process. "I'll miss you too, Zwei." Amber said before putting him down. "You all are wonderful people, I'm sure you'll be great huntsmen and huntresses when you all graduate."

"Thanks, Amber, now enjoy your new life." Blake said, smiling at her.

"Yes, I will." Amber said as she went with Kurama while waving at them. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" Nora, Ruby, and Jaune said unison.

"See ya!" Yang waved.

"Call us anytime!" AJ said to Amber

"Take care!" Pyrrha said with a wave.

"Stay safe!" Evo said with a smile.

"You be careful, ya hear?" Wade said with a grin.

"Goodbye." Ren said with a wave.

All the teams, minus Voltaria and Glynda (who both just waved at her), said their farewells from the now free girl. Kurama leads Amber through the forest and towards the village. Amber happily follows him, feeling free from the burden that was placed on her. As they disappeared, the three teams and Glynda were relieved to see Amber all right.

"So, what's the next plan?" Yang asked her friends.

"Next, we will face the culprit and expose her for everything." Voltaria said seriously.

Nora grins and takes out her hammer, Magnhild, and lets out a loud and craze laugh. "YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!" She yelled and let out a battle cry.

"I meant quietly and unnoticed." Voltaria interjected, ceasing Nora from her battle cry, and looked at her in disappointment and whines. "Anyways, we should head back, we don't know how long our puppets will take our place."

"Good point." Ruby said with a nod before looking at Amaryllis and Ripper. "Ama, Rippy, you guys should stay here. I have a feeling that someone might go to the Emerald Forest to find out about the sudden coming and disappearance of a storm." She suggested the hybrids.

Amaryllis and Ripper wanted to disagree. The Emerald Forest is their territory, they couldn't just leave it. But humans might go there and find out about the event. And they did want to help keep Amber safe from danger. Plus, they wanted to explore this new area. So, they nodded in agreement and stayed in their new territory. But they have to find another cave to sleep in. Ruby smiles and hugs their massive heads.

"I know you guys will understand! And don't worry, Kurama will keep you guys' company when he gets back." Ruby said to them.

"Speaking of which, we should go." Blake informs them. "Tomorrow's match will come soon, and we have to be ready."

Yang punched her fist with her hand. "Yeah! And I'm pumped!"

"Let's just hope we can handle the perpetrators before they could cause any more problems." Weiss said, going over to the group.

"Oh, don't worry." Tabitha assures them. "We can assure you all they won't cause any more problems."

And with that, the entities took the teams and Glynda back to the school grounds, making sure that the Atlesian Knights were not around, so they could take the puppet doppelgangers away. Like the teens, Zwei, and Glynda haven't left at all.

And no one suspected a thing.

Yet.

---

I hope you guys like the story, if you have any ideas on the chapter comment or PM me. Thank you all and Merry Christmas.