Screams of agony filled the air as six pyres were burning.

Without further hesitation, Yang went forth, crouching against the wall to avoid being seen. She went through the entrance, moving and hiding behind one tree after another.

What can I use to create a distraction? If those guys are her bodyguards...

The blonde brawler quickly fired a few rounds at Scarlatti, hoping to take out the leader. Or at least severely injure her. However, just as the first huntsman was about to light another pyre, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Scarlatti!"

He immediately dropped his torch, ran over to Scarlatti and projected a grey aura shield to protect his boss. As the torch landed on the ground, the grass caught on fire. The crowd gasped and screamed in terror. The fire started spreading across the lawn, and soon most of the civilians were running for their lives, either running to the wall or running away completely. From afar, Edom, Gliss and Eric Green witnessed the scene unfold.

The truth teller started choking on the smoke from the fire.

Cyrene wanted to cry.

"Apollo!" Cyrene cried out. "No... No! NOOOO!"

A surge of ocean blue light surrounded her and she broke free from the ropes binding her. With burn marks on her arms, she quickly went towards Apollo.

"She's broken her ropes!" Scarlatti exclaimed. "Stop her!"

"Scarlatti, we have a crisis on our hands! Forget the execution! We need to get you out here!" the horse faunus ordered her.

"No! We stay and finish the job!" Scarlatti ordered.

As Cyrene worked to free Apollo, a civilian screamed into a phone, "We have a fire at Prospect Garden! Please, get here immediately!"

"We need to get the civilians out here!" the huntress argued.

The second huntsman groaned and cursed under his breath. "Why couldn't we have just shot the traitors?!"

The other huntsmen and huntress threw their torches onto the pavement, causing them to go out or just be left lop-sided with nothing to burn. Only ten of the stakes were burning, but time was slipping away.

Sirens blared loudly in the distance.

With three of the huntsmen trying to stop the fire with dust crystals and water from canteens, Cyrene worked on freeing the civilians, starting with the little girl. Yang soon threw some water dust crystals onto the burning stakes, activating into liquid and dousing the fires. Then she ran to the leader of team SOLR.

"Thank you, young lady." Surya said.

Yang punched the handcuffs, breaking them. She did the same for Atum while Surya helped Cyrene in freeing the others.

"Is everyone still alive?" Atum asked.

Everyone responded "Yes" in some way, albeit some of them were weak. Soon everyone was free. There were large burns on several of the victim's bodies and/or clothes, including Surya, Apollo, some on Atum, many on the pre-teen girl, a few on the man with one eye and a few on the man with one arm.

Scarlatti saw Yang and gasped. "You! You tried to kill me!" She pointed at the rebels. "Don't let them get away!"

Noah used his sword, laced with fire dust and aimed at the rebels, barely missing their heads.

Cyrene turned to Surya. "What do we do?"

"We get out."

"But what about the fire and the civilians?" Yang asked.

"Team SSEA (Sea) will handle it. We need to escape. Move, now!"

In the background, Santiago was using ice dust in his daggers to create ice walls to contain the fire. Evan used his lance with ice dust on another part of the area as Anastasia threw water onto the fire.

With the other three occupied, the fifteen rebels ran through the right entrance and into the city streets.

"Anastasia, after them!" Scarlatti ordered.

Anastasia groaned but followed them anyway. Yang and the former Scarlatti Trojan Alliance ran to a nearby apartment complex, only to find Edom, Gliss, Eric and some nice civilians from the park all beside them.

"What are you doing here?" Yang asked.

"You were so brave. We want to stop Scarlatti." Gliss answered.

"We saw that this is wrong. Apollo was trying to warn us," a woman told her.

"I know a place where you can hide. Follow me!" Eric exclaimed.

Suddenly the blonde brawler stopped in her tracks. "Wait, my motorcycle! Go on without me, I'll catch up."

Yang ran back, and on her way back, punched Anastasia in the face, knocking her down. Yang got on her motorcycle, on the road and saw the people she had just saved up ahead. She sped up and as she traveled, civilians from the park noticed her.

"Isn't that the girl who injured Mercury?" a man asked.

The blonde brawler glared at him. "I was framed!"

"That's what they all say!" another man stated.

She soon realized she was being chased by a small angry mob from a glance in the rear-view mirror.

Crap! I gotta lose em!

Slamming on the brakes, she sped up and found her newfound allies. Gliss was now being held by Surya, with her father Edom not too far behind him.

"There you are!" Cyrene exclaimed.

Thankfully I was able to get them off my tail.

"Where's our destination?" she asked.

"The Old Aquarian Public Library." Eric answered.

"Navigate me there. As long as we can get there before Garnet and her forces find us, we should be fine."

Yang briefly stopped her motorcycle so Eric could get on.

"Quickly, to the left!"

As Yang and her unexpected allies fled from the Trojan Alliance, her sister and her friends were trying very hard to avoid them. Traveling at a decent pace, Ruby held onto the reins of the mule pulling their cart.

She looked back and noticed Pyrrha was staring into the wilderness around her. "You okay, Pyrrha?"

"I'm... surprised that the Trojan Alliance hasn't come after us."

"But that's a good thing." Jaune said.

"I know. I just have this... bad feeling that... something bad is going to happen, and soon." Pyrrha confessed. "How far are we from Shion?"

"I think the closest settlement is actually Cornwater." Ren told her. "To answer your question- we should be less than a week away by animal-pulled cart. Also- all this worry isn't exactly good for you. You might attract Grimm."

"I'm aware. Although surprisingly we've had little Grimm encounters while traveling around Sanus and Anima. Well... Unless you count the Battle for Aletheia."

Everyone sat in a moment of silence.

"Can we call it an encounter? We chose to fight them, to save that village from complete destruction." Ren mentioned.

"But the Grimm came because of the conflict between us and the former Scarlatti Alliance. Had the conflict not ended when it did, they would have targeted us."

"Look on the bright side, we won that battle." Jaune began.

But at a cost... Nora thought.

"And with luck, we shouldn't be encountering them anymore."

Out of nowhere, Onyx Thermon appeared before them. Along with a familiar face.

"Freeze! You're under arrest!" the huntress in the black dress spoke.

Nora gave him a frown. "You were saying?"

Jaune internally groaned, Not again...

"You have nowhere to run this time!" Crimson taunted.

Crimson and Onyx got out their weapons, a gravity dust sword and a bow and arrow set. The traitorous aunt leapt forward and swung at Jaune, the latter barely missing her attack, backflipping out of the cart. He quickly retrieved Crocea Mors and got to work. Everyone else got out their weapons and were about to get to work, only for Onyx to throw a smoke bomb, obscuring the entire scene.

"What the Hell?" Nora exclaimed.

"What's happening?" Ruby asked.

Sounds of combat were heard, including groans of pain from Jaune and Ren.

"Let go of me, you traitor!" Jaune yelled.

"Ahh!"

Pretty soon, a cart was heard rolling away.

The camera shifted to Onyx piloting the cart, digging her heels into the mule's sides and forcing it forward. In the back, Jaune and Ren were bound with their arms behind them, locked by handcuffs.

"Damn it, why isn't aura channeling?" Jaune asked.

"Specially designed handcuffs to suppress aura throughout the entire body. Be good little prisoners in your cell, and maybe I'll detach them to let you move your arms."

The dark beauty huntress frowned but didn't look at her partner. "You can't be serious."

"I'm joking, Onyx." Crimson bit back. "Sheesh! You take things too seriously."

Jaune looked dismayed. "I should have just kept my big damn mouth shut..." he groaned.

"Normally I wouldn't say this, but considering our luck, I'd have to agree." Ren responded.

Let's just hope our friends can get us out of this. they both thought.

Back at the battle site, the smoke cleared, leaving Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby stranded.

"Jaune!"

"Ren!"

"Our cart!"

"Crap, they've taken everything, including our men!" Nora exclaimed.

Pyrrha soon saw a note pinned to a tree;

Pyrrha Nikos- If you want to see your friends safely returned, surrender to me at the Felem City Police station down in the village of Atrox. Failure to comply by the end of the day- and your friends are Grimm chow.

"Atrox? Where is that?" Ruby asked.

"About ten miles away. We'll never get there on foot!" Nora exclaimed.

"Actually, I've got a better idea."

Pyrrha looked at Ruby in concern. "You can't be serious. You could burn out your aura. Ten miles is a long distance." She turned away and started to run. "I'll go alone, they're after me."

Nora and Ruby quickly caught up to the Mistralian champion and they stopped. "We're not letting you face those creeps alone."

Ruby looked at the horizon, the sun slowly descending in the afternoon. "An empty aura gauge is a small price to pay if it means we save our friends. Now take my hands and hold on tight!"

Pyrrha took Ruby's right hand as Nora took her left.

With their hands linked, Ruby rushed forward, a flash of red and pink seen as they all dashed by the land.

Back at the park, the fire department was extinguishing the flames of the grass and all of the plants that were on fire. Three members of team SSEA were there, but Scarlatti was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it. I can't believe how badly this went." Noah nagged.

"Cursed firebird." Santiago complained.

"At least no one innocent got hurt." Evan said, trying to lighten the mood.

"We are lucky that Uriel came back in the nick of time to save Scarlatti, but that does nothing to fix the problem at hand. And where's Anastasia?"

At that moment, she came up to them. "Right here. Are the civilians evacuated?"

"They have been. Unfortunately, a number of civilians in the crowd sided with the blonde menace and the traitors."

"I see. And where's Scarlatti?" Anastasia added.

"She went away with Uriel back to her office. Uriel actually had to take her by force since she was being overly stubborn."

She squinted in apprehension. "You don't... think he's trying to... hurt her, do you?"

"Nonsense, he only wants what's best for her." Noah answered. "After all, she is the head of our government here."

Santiago groaned and ranted, "I told her we should have shot them, but no! She had to be overly dramatic!"

"She's the mayor, she has the right to be as dramatic as she wants." the leader reminded him.

Evan looked at the huntress in concern. "Is something wrong, Ana?"

"Oh, it's nothing major. I didn't even get a chance to use my newly upgraded rake against the blonde rebel."

She held out a rake with plant dust before putting it on her back.

"No matter, our leader needs us." Noah told her. "We must get back to Scarlatti's office at once!"

Noah, Santiago and Evan all ran ahead.

Anastasia looked at the burnt park, blinking her eyes in sorrow before running back to her teammates.

With Eric on the back of Yang's chopper, the two arrived at the business.

"Is this it?" Yang asked.

"This is it. The Old Aquarian Public Library." Eric answered.

The sign on the door read; closed- come back tomorrow, as Eric used his keys to unlock the door. Soon the former Scarlatti Alliance and the awakened citizens arrived at the library.

"Right on time. Now quickly, everyone inside!"

The civilians ran in, followed by the former alliance, and then team SOLR.

The library owner turned to Yang. "Normally I'd ask that you leave your chopper out here, but I don't want to risk it being damaged or stolen. So you can gently bring it in."

Yang looked around one last time for danger. Satisfied that no one had followed them, Yang walked her motorcycle in. Eric closed the door behind them and moved a sofa to barricade it.

After making it through the hall, she gently set it against the wall near the entrance to the children's section.

Edom noted, "Some days it's hard to believe that this is one of the few libraries and places of free speech left in the city."

The crowd had caught up with them and Surya set Gliss down.

"Daddy, you're okay!" Gliss cheered.

He hugged his daughter. "I told you I'd be fine."

Atum looked on in worry, looking at his red, peeling skin on his hands. "Oh dear... So many burn injuries... Is anyone here a doctor?"

"I am," a woman with purple eyes answered. "Dr. Vi at your service. Alright, anyone who has burns, minor or major, get in line."

Eight people, including the other three members of team SOLR, stood before her.

"Oh boy..."

As Dr. V got to work treating the burn victims with aloe vera lotion and sponges of cool water, Cyrene and Yang assisted her.

Half an hour later, everyone stood within the children's section of the library, with the burn victims, with bandages in the affected area, resting on tables or the floor. The librarian called for a meeting on what to do about Scarlatti.

Mr. Green lamented, "Scarlatti has gone mad. And as her power grows, so does her madness. Scarlatti needs to be stopped."

"We've created a sanctuary here, but how long before we succumb to fear?" Apollo sat up and wondered. "Will she take away this beautiful place? Or will we find ourselves with the enemy, face to face?"

"No, please!" Gliss pled. "Please don't let her take this away from me! Ever since I moved here, I've been so alone. With my thoughts and my admiration of Pyrrha! These books have comforted me. I love it here, and it's the only place I can truly be me!" She held a book in her hands. "These books are all I have left!"

The little girl sobbed, holding said book to her chest.

Everyone looked on in sorrow, but Yang was the one to say; "She speaks so eloquently for a child."

Edom nodded. "She does. She's an avid reader and likes reading. Whether it's audio books, hardback, paper or even digital. She's read every book in the children's section at least twice. More recently, she's started reading cookbooks."

Atum did a headcount. "Okay, between the former alliance of fourteen members, thirty five civilians and our unexpected savior, there are fifty people here. And still only three members of team SOLR left. Not like it would change..."

Yang squinted. "Where's Orville?"

Surya, sitting with his legs curled, looked at the floor in shame. "It's hard to explain... Long story short, he was killed by one of our former allies. His name is Tyrian Callows, a scorpion tailed faunus with enough strength to take on a huntsman. Maybe even several at once. It took four fighters to defeat him, and the last one defeated him all on her own." The red-gem leader got out a singed photo of Tyrian Callows and showed it to her. "This is his picture."

The blonde brawler tensed up and shook slightly with terror. "That... that's the same man who interrogated me to hunt my little sister! Ruby! Is she okay?!"

"She's safe now." Cyrene confirmed. "She and her friends are on route to Mistral. By now they're probably in Anima. And with friends like team JNPR, she got some good people looking out for her."

Yang breathed out. "That's a relief. I'm sorry to hear about Orville. If I may ask... How did this happen?"

"Apollo, care to explain?"

The living lie detector cleared his throat. "We were once a team of four, but alas, our perfect team is no more. Summoned to hunt and fight at Scarlatti's command, but manipulated skillfully by a false friend's hand. At the time, we thought the scorpion tailed faunus to be a close friend. But he only used us as a means to his own end. He took Ruby Rose as his prize, as we learned Pyrrha was innocent and not to despise. In the chaos of Aletheia's battle, we nearly lost our way. For the best laid plans often go astray.

"Ren, Orville and Nora began their hunt, as Jaune, Atum and Surya went up front. As for Pyrrha and me, guarding five injured victims did we. But Pyrrha was troubled, yes indeed. But upon consultation, formed a plan at rapid speed. The victims were taken to safety, and we thought we could catch a break. But assuming the worst was over was a big mistake. Ren was the first to fall, his strategy wasn't good at all. To poison Nora with his stinger Tyrian did try, but Orville gave himself up for her, even though he would die. Nora faced him, knowing she could not claim victory. But she knew someone else who could face the enemy. Forced to face the scorpion all alone, Pyrrha went forth, fought and the truth to all was known. A difficult victory was finally won. Ruby was saved, but the damage was done. The scorpion took away our teammate and friend, and Orville shall never fight again. Tyrian Callows is his name, for Orville's death he is to blame."

Yang stood in somber silence for a few moments. Eventually, she said, "That's really depressing."

"Yes... it is." Cyrene spoke. "We thought that by now we would have come to terms with it."

"The truth is... the Scarlatti Trojan Alliance... or rather, our resolve as what was once the Scarlatti Alliance... is long gone." the one-eyed man spoke. His face had been burned and was wrapped in bandages in a way that didn't cover his right eye. "We are just remnants of what was, the remains of a lie we all bought and sold."

"We couldn't finish our task of executing Pyrrha when we learned of her innocence, and in the end... What's left of us?" asked the one-armed man. He looked at his missing right arm. "Scarlatti ruined everything, but yet, we have no one to blame... but ourselves."

Yang stood in a moment of silence.

Afterwards, she asked, "Then why don't we just storm into city hall and take her down?"

"Easier said than done." Surya began. "She has a ten year veteran team of huntsmen as her guards. Three male, one female. They are known as team SSEA (Sea) of Beacon Academy, graduated in the summer of 69 AGW. The leader is Noah Sable. He's the one wearing a black tie. Born to a poor family of carpenters, Noah comes from this very city, and was able to convince his entire team to come here. How, I'm not really sure, but he is said to be persuasive in his speech. The other two men are Santiago Urdin and Evan Eachann, wearing blue and brown ties respectively. Respectively, they hail from Vale City and what was once the village of Sumire. Both of them came from middle-class merchants, and from what I can tell, both of their families now live here after the Fall of Beacon and the Grimm attack on Sumire, having successfully fled from danger. The only real difference between them, aside from looks and origin stories, is that Evan is a horse-tailed faunus while Santiago is a human.

"And finally we have our huntress; a woman named Anastasia Chrysanthe. She comes from a family of florists from Zephyros, a large village in Mistral. Anastasia seems to be the kindest of them, but still seems to take orders from that red-haired dictator despite her obvious tormented expressions."

"So Scarlatti is well protected."

The red-gem leader nodded. "Exactly. If we want her, we must get through her defense guards and her bodyguards. Unfortunately, the odds are slim. There's thirty ordinary yet well-trained guards in the main building, versus eleven decent fighters. Four veteran huntsmen against three rookies. We are outnumbered and outmatched. Even if we were to wage war on Scarlatti, I fear our efforts would be futile. Not to mention our burn injuries will take time to heal. For me and my remaining teammates with aura, it'll be anywhere from five to seven days. For everyone else, somewhere between two to four weeks. Either way, we don't have much time before Scarlatti and her posse find us."

Yang was annoyed with him. "So you're just going to give up?"

"If we had Orville with us, we might have had a chance. But the truth is, we don't. We may not have ever had a chance to begin with. Not to mention... I've already failed once. How can I face failure again?"

The blonde brawler looked at the civilian crowd. She saw them all; Edom trying to console Gliss and Eric standing sadly with his books. To the one armed man looking down and the one-eyed man looked at her with his one pleading eye. Civilians all looked at each other, and one woman softly cried as she held a picture of Pyrrha Nikos.

She breathed in and spoke with resolve, "I know I'm no huntress, and I can't replace your friend, but perhaps I could aid you? At least temporarily, to free this city?"

"You'd really be willing to do that?" Surya questioned. "But are you even prepared?"

"Probably not, but it's what heroes do. I've heard enough about her to know that she is dangerous and needs to be stopped."

"She's right." Atum spoke. "Scarlatti said in her campaign that she would make the city great again, to bring long-needed safety and security. But has it really gotten any better? The city may not have been attacked by Grimm during her four years in office while Eric Green faced seven during his twenty years in office, but that's because the city has had such good huntsmen and huntresses in the last five years. Not only that, but all the disaster that had befallen the village of Aletheia is technically her fault. Had she not sent us after Pyrrha and her friends, Orville and everyone else who died would still be here. And if she remains in power, what's to stop her from doing another manhunt? And even if the second group doesn't find her, this conflict could bring Grimm to other villages, causing even more senseless bloodshed. We have to stop her, if not for this city, but for the sake of others."

Surya blinked in shock. "He's right."

"Wow. That's one of the most insightful statements I've heard all day." Eric remarked.

"So we're in then?" Edom asked.

Cyrene nodded with a smirk. "Definitely."

Author's Notes:

-I bet you're probably surprised that no one died yet. Well, hold your horses. This conflict between Yang and the Trojan Alliance in Aquarian is not going to be resolved in one chapter. This is only the beginning.

-With the end of this chapter, we're less than ten chapters away from the end of V4. There is a chance that I may put this fanfic on hiatus to thoroughly plan out v5.

-In unrelated news, I have recently graduated from college. What this means for the future of my writing- well, hopefully I'll still be able to continue writing the stories I love. And who knows? Perhaps I can apply my skills in other ways.

I believe that's all, apologies for being gone for a month and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

That is all.