A Red Rose in the Blue Wind

by Iron117Prime

Sonic and his friends have come to a new world, one Dr. Eggman hopes to conquer. Meeting new friends? That is to be expected of our heroes. New enemies? Also to be expected. But being caught in a war between two immortals? Not the strangest thing that's happened to them, but definitely something new. (Blood and minor swears)

27. The Best vs Better

Hey everyone, welcome back! Before we begin, I have an announcement to make. I will be taking the next two weeks off from writing, both because of the Holidays, and because I've got some projects going on at home and won't be able to work on any of my stories until it's all done. Just letting you know.

I'm sure many of you have been looking forward to this particular chapter as we're introduced to certain characters, and we have some certain reunions to boot as well. I've especially been looking forward to writing this particular chapter as well, because this is where things start to really deviate from canon and we have quite a few unexpected surprises in store as well.

That being said, let's get started!

The Best vs. Better

The sun was slowly starting to set on the campus of Beacon as a certain pair of Atlesian airships had landed on opposite sides of the large landing pad on the far side of the courtyard, which had attracted the attention of several of the students that were wondering around the area. Teams Sonic and RWBY had arrived just as the ships powered down, with Weiss looking rather excited and Sonic wincing a bit with nervousness.

"Weiss, what is the big deal?!" Ruby questioned as she and her teammates caught up with her. "Who is 'she'?!"

"Winter…" Weiss smiled warmly.

"Your sister?" Yang asked. "Thought she was in Atlas."

"Ironwood probably called in for additional forces against Eggman." Blake assumed.

"I can't wait for you guys to meet her!" Weiss turned to all of them with an excitable expression, one that seemed very similar to one that Ruby would normally wear. "Sonic, you too!" She turned to him specifically. "I've written so many letters to her about you and everyone else!"

Amy and Tails were practically giggling at that while Knuckles smirked in amusement. Seems like Weiss has already become quite the fangirl for Sonic, but the blue Hedgehog himself didn't look all that excited.

"Yeah… but I might not have time for that." He said as he looked towards the second Atlesian airship. "See that ship over there? It belongs to a group of Huntsmen from Atlas that I ran into when we first arrived on Remnant. I think they were called Ace Ops or something…"

"The Ace Operatives?" Weiss looked in surprise.

"Who?" Ruby asked.

"They are only among the best Huntsmen in all of Atlas!" Weiss proclaimed. "Next to my sister, of course. I always hear Winter talking about them. In fact, many people in Atlas even believe them to be the greatest team of Huntsmen in all of Remnant!"

"Oh… that's cool." Yang commented.

"That's all you have to say?!" Weiss questioned.

"Well after seeing all the stuff Sonic and the others can do… everything else just seems kinda… small compared to all of that." Yang put in.

"Compared to breaking the sound barrier or creating an explosion that can level a whole city block, I'd have to agree with Yang." Blake added. "Never seen any professional Huntsmen pull that off."

"Fair point." Weiss accepted before looking towards Sonic. "But why do you seem so nervous about them?"

Amy noticed the guilty smile on Sonic's face, having seen similar expressions in the past. She leaned into him closely with an interrogatory-look. "Sonic, what did you do?"

"They wanted to question me… I challenged them to a race… and kinda... completely blew them outta the water." Sonic winced.

Knuckles, Tails, and Amy were completely unsurprised by that, but all of Team RWBY looked in surprise before Yang broke in open laughter.

"You left an elite Atlesian Huntsmen team in your dust?!" The blonde laughed. "Oh man… that's gotta really hurt their pride!"

"Sonic fighting a team of Pro-Huntsmen?! Ah man, how come I missed something like that?!" Ruby complained.

"It happened literally right before I met you." Sonic told her.

"Hmm, should you really be surprised at this point?" Knuckles asked the students. "This guy just loves to show off."

"And taunt his enemies, as far as I've seen." Blake added with a slight smile herself.

"Well, if Ironwood called them in to help fight Eggman, maybe we could go over and talk things out with them?" Tails offered. "See that there are no hard feelings."

"Yeah, that's probably good idea." Amy agreed. "This way we can probably work better together."

Sonic knew that was probably for the best and was already on-board with it. Best to get something like this out of the way now so it doesn't cause problems later. Though he also noticed the look of disappointment on Weiss' face. She must really want him to meet her older sister.

"Hey, you know me, right? This shouldn't take long." Sonic told the heiress. "Once we smooth things over, you can introduce me to your sis."

Weiss smiled at that. "Thank you, I'd like that."

"Alright, let's get going." Sonic said as he and his friends went towards the Ace Ops ship just as they had begun to step off, leaving Team RWBY to turn around and see Winter had already stepped off her personal ship with a number of Atlesian soldiers and AK units.

"Winter!" Weiss called to her elder sister, running toward her with her friends right behind her, getting the attention of the eldest of the Schnee siblings as she turned around to see them approaching. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" She quickly realized her mannerisms and was even quicker to put on a professional act. "Your presence honors us." She said with a formal bow

Ruby and Yang exchanged glances. This wasn't how they expected a pair of sisters to reunite. Not even starting off with a hug? But given the presence of all the soldiers nearby, they probably need to put on a professional act. Blake got a good look at Winter and was instantly weary of her. Weiss has talked about her talent as a Huntress very often, not to mention her position in the Atlas military. She was confident Weiss didn't tell her about her being a White Fang deserter, but she still kept her guard up to be sure.

"Beacon." Winter observed the general area. "It's been a long time. The air feels… different than in Atlas."

"I mean… it is Fall, so it's probably colder." Ruby said.

"Or warmer since Atlas is stuck in the snow twenty-four-seven." Yang added.

Weiss winced and elbowed both her teammates, Ruby being knocked back slightly and caught off guard while Yang just looked questionably.

"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss asked.

"Classified." Winter answered.

"Let me guess, Eggman?" Yang assumed, which caused Winter to turn towards her with a raised eyebrow and a glare, but Blake was quick to pull her back.

"Yang…"

"What?" She questioned.

"We don't need to poke a hornet's nest with the Atlas military." Blake whispered.

"Well, I mean we're all technically on the same side and probably gonna fight him, so what's the issue?" Yang questioned.

"We also don't wanna cause trouble for Sonic and the others who are trying find out what Ozpin is hiding." Blake whispered as quietly as she could.

Yang understood that much and decided to leave it at that with a single nod. But with that, came a small silence, which Ruby found to be awkward rather quickly and decided to strike up a conversation.

"So… nice to meet you." She offered Winter her hand to shake. "Weiss has been a great part of our team. We couldn't have made it this far without her."

Winter then took a brief moment to look at the girl in front of her. She read the letters that Weiss had written to her about her teammates, notably about her own partner and the leader of said team. She was rather young to be attending one of the main Huntsman academies, even as a first year.

"Ruby Rose, correct?"

"Y-yes ma'am?" Ruby responded, the awkwardness returning even as she kept her hand extended. But Winter gave a small smile as she bowed her head toward her.

"I would like to thank you for expressing an interest in my sister." She said, causing Ruby to smile back as she lowered her hand. "The same for the rest of you as well." Winter addressed Yang and Blake.

"Oh, uh your welcome." Blake nodded back.

"Yeah, she might be a bit of an ice queen on the surface, but she's a softie deep down." Yang casually put an arm on Weiss' shoulder, much to her embarrassment.

At the same time, the Ace Operatives had stepped out of their ship and were addressing some of the soldiers as Team Sonic started to approach them, though Sonic noticed how there was someone else with them. He appeared to be a young man with dark brown skin, light blue eyes, and greenish-black hair. But he also wore the same kind of uniform as the rest of the Ace Ops, and that's what caught Sonic's attention.

'Huh, looks like they got a new member.' He also noticed the dog-like tail on the young man's rear. 'A Faunus? That's a surprise.'

While most of the Ace Ops continued to speak to some of the soldiers, Vine noticed Sonic's presence as well as that of his group. "Sir." Vine spoke to Clover and gestured him to look behind, causing Clover to turn around as he and the other Ace Ops looked in surprise to see Sonic, the blue Hedgehog quickly noticed the glare on Harriet's face and was prepared to expect some trouble…

"Uh… Hi… Long time no…" However, the Blue Blur did not expect Elm, the largest of the Ace Ops to quickly rush over to Sonic, grab his hand and shake it rapidly, causing her to lift and shake Sonic mid-air, with an excitable smile, much to the surprise of Tails, Knuckles, and Amy.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to see you again!" She said before letting go, causing Sonic to feel a tad dizzy as Tails grabbed him by the shoulder to straighten him out. "I mean… I know we didn't hit off the first time… but after all the stuff you've done…!" She looked like she was about to squeal like a fangirl.

"Okay Elm, that's enough." Clover told her as he put hand on her shoulder before smiling apologetically towards Sonic. "Sorry about that. She's become quite the fan."

"Eh… yeah." Sonic still blinked in surprise. "Gonna be honest… not the reaction I was expecting."

"I know what happened probably could have gone a bit differently, but we did to agree to your terms, and you beat us fair and square." Clover assured. "Not only that, we've heard a lot about all the good you've done since coming here. Fighting off the Grimm, the White Fang, even the likes of Doctor Merlot and that Eggman-character. I promise, there are no hard feelings. So, why don't we start over?" He offered Sonic his hand to shake with a friendly smile, which caused Sonic to smile back as he accepted it.

"Sure thing. The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." He then gestured to his friends. "These are my pals: Tails, Amy, and Knuckles."

"Hi there." Tails waved.

"Nice to meet you." Amy smiled.

"Hello." Knuckles nodded.

"Yes, we've been briefed on you all." Vine began. "And…" However, he was quickly interrupted as Elm went over to each of them, still fangirling it seems.

"Oh, my goodness… those twin tails of yours are adorable!" She practically gushed as she looked at the surprised Tails. "I can see where you get your nickname." She then went over to Amy. "So you have a hammer, too? Well, so do I?" She took out her personal weapon, Timber, currently in its hammer-mode. "It's also double-barrel, shoulder-mounted rocket launcher!"

"Awesome!" Amy smiled. "I got a friend who's got the same kind of thing, I'd like to introduce you some time."

"That be great." Elm then went over to Knuckles. "And is it true that you held off a Goliath with your bare hands?! No Aura or Semblance at all?! That is incredible!"

"It's no big deal." Knuckles smiled smugly, despite trying to maintain a humble tone.

"Well, you all are now clearly well-acquainted with Elm." Clover then made introductions for his team. "My name is Clover, and I'm the commander of the Ace Ops. This is Harriet, Vine, and our newest recruit, Marrow."

"New recruit, so that's why I didn't see you last time." Sonic noted. "Nice to meet ya."

"Yes, I look forward to working with you." Marrow tried to speak professionally with crossed arms, but Sonic noticed Marrow's tail was wagging, causing him to smirk while Marrow just hid his tail and blushed with embarrassment.

Sonic then went over to Harriet. "Nice to see ya again. No hard feelings, right?"

However, compared to the rest of her team, Harriet didn't seem as optimistic. "Whatever." She looked away.

"Don't mind her. She's still crabby from you leaving her in your dust before." Elm teased, causing Harriet to grumble.

"Sure, no prob." Sonic accepted.

"It has been nice to properly meet all of you, but we have urgent business we need to discuss with General Ironwood." Vine said in a professional manner. "Though I too look forward to working with all of you."

"Until then." Clover gave a friendly salute to Sonic and his friends as the Ace Operatives made their way down the ramp and across the courtyard.

"Well, that went better than expected." Knuckles noted.

"They seem like nice people." Amy added.

"Mending fences has always been one of your strong suits, Sonic." Tails said to his best friend.

"Got that right, buddy." He replied with a grin.

Meanwhile, Weiss continued to speak with her sister. "So, did you watch our match in the tournament?" She asked.

"I did." Winter confirmed. "Though there were times I noted where your technique could use some improvement, notably whatever it was you used to finish off your opponents…"

"You mean the RWBY Dash?" Ruby asked. "Our Team Blast?"

"Team Blast?" Winter questioned.

"I-It's a combination move we started working on." Weiss explained. "And we're still working out the kinks…"

"Only a novice would use an unfinished technique to gain a victory." Winter commented.

"Hey, it worked out though, didn't it?" Yang stepped up. "And, on the field, you're not always gonna have time to 'iron out the details' or whatever, right? If you're able to walk away, it's still a win! And you still learn something!"

"Yang…" Weiss was about stop her, hoping she didn't provoke her sister's ire.

"You make a fair point." Winter replied. "In a desperate situation, even an unfinished move could mean the difference between life and death. Although, it is still somewhat reckless to use an unfinished move like that, so I would encourage you to work it out as quickly as you can."

"Thanks, we'll do just that." Ruby smiled. "Thanks for the advice."

"Maybe we could change the name too…" Blake muttered.

"I thought we all agreed on it!" Ruby stated.

"No, you just picked the name and decided on it right then and there." Yang countered. "I think we can come up with something's that's not so on-the-nose."

"Okay, we'll hold a meeting and put it to a vote, later!" Ruby declared. "But I still thin RWBY Dash is a cool name!"

Winter then addressed her sister directly. "So, aside from the tournament, how have you been?" She asked in a much more friendly manner.

"Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking!" Weiss answered enthusiastically. "I'm actually at the very top ranking of our sparing class! The rest of my studies are going wonderfully too. I even…"

*SMACK!*

"OW!" Weiss felt her head where Winter had just smacked her, a comic bump forming on her head.

"Silence, you boob!" Winter scolded. "I don't recall asking about your, ranking. I asked how you've been." She clarified. "Are you eating properly? Have you taken any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, you've met Ruby, Yang, and Blake." Weiss gestured to her friends.

Ruby snickered as she comically poked the bump on Weiss' head from her sister's smack. "Boob." She teased, while Yang also snickered, and Blake continued to hang in the back and not draw too much attention to herself.

"I'm also working alongside Team JNPR as well." Weiss then went on. "And even…" She happened to glance to her side and noticed how Team Sonic was now waving off the Ace Ops. It seemed like things went pretty smoothly over there, so now seemed a good chance as any for her sister to meet someone she truly admires.

"Sonic! Come over here!" She called to him.

Not the type to waste time, Sonic sped over to Weiss' location, allowing him to meet Winter face-to-face for the first time.

"Hi there, you must be Winter." He offered his hand to shake. "I'm…"

"Sonic the Hedgehog." She began to address. "General Ironwood had already informed of you. That and I have read the letters my sister wrote about you."

"Oh, I see." Sonic said, but right before he could lower his hand, Winter ended up grasping and shaking it with her own.

"You have my thanks for all that you have done for my sister." She said with a slight smile. "She seems to admire you a great deal."

"Oh, you admire me, huh?" Sonic teased towards Weiss, causing her to look away with a slight blush. He then turned to Winter again. "Seriously though, she's cool. You must be proud."

"I am indeed." Winter confirmed, which only caused Weiss' smile to brighten before speaking again. "Now, I have business with the general and Beacon's Headmaster. But, seeing as I am early… why don't you take me to your quarters, Weiss?"

"Really?!" She asked with excitement.

"Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they are up to my personal standards." Winter said as she and her AK escort units followed her off the landing pad, while the remainder of Team RWBY, as well as Sonic stayed behind.

"Of course." Weiss replied. "Wait till you see the bunkbeds. They look really great, and they're very comfortable as well."

"Bunkbeds?" Winter questioned.

"Well… she seems… different." Ruby commented as she stayed with her team, while the rest of Sonic's friends joined them.

"A bit more icy than Weiss and a little more strict than I thought." Yang also commented. "Though not nearly as bratty."

"She's in the military, so of course she has that sort of mannerism." Blake said.

"Eh, I bet underneath it all she's got a real soft spot." Sonic put in. "Actually, she kinda reminds me of a friend that I know."

"You got an ice queen in your world, too?" Yang asked.

"More like a fire princess, and she's actually from a different dimension than mine, but yeah pretty much." Sonic answered.

"We should let Weiss catch up with her sister." Amy said for the group. "Once she's all done, we'll talk with Shadow. I got a message from him earlier regarding our little… spy problem." She whispered that last part, which caused the group to look in seriousness before walking in a separate direction.

However, unbeknownst to them, Team Dark was actually closer than they thought for Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were actually standing on top of outer ring that was just before the main entrance, the trio having observed the arrival of the Atlesian Huntsmen.

"So old Ironwood called in some back-up, huh? Can't say I'm surprised." Rouge said.

"We will have to assess whether they will be effective allies in the upcoming battle against Eggman." Omega declared.

"Or potential liabilities." Shadow added.

"You think they might be involved with whatever little conspiracy that Ozy-boy has got going on?" Rouge asked.

"Possibly. And if it's true… then that could make the children liabilities as well." Shadow stated.

"Specifically, Weiss if her sister's in on it." Rouge seemed to get it. "But can we afford to keep an eye on them now? We already have our infiltrator suspects, won't that be a bit too much to juggle all at once?"

"We'll tell Sonic and the others what we've discovered." Shadow said. "They'll monitor Cinder and her associates, while we look into Ozpin's group."

"Divide and conquer. A viable strategy to utilize our resources." Omega agreed.

"Makes sense." Rouge also accepted.

However, Shadow also happened to notice something else. Perched on one of the lampposts below was a black bird with red eyes. The very same one that he had seen since the battle in downtown Vale against Eggman's robots, which had appeared again at Merlot's laboratory, and now he was seeing it once more. Most people would dismiss something like that and wouldn't even notice if it was the same bird or not, but Shadow knew. He knew right away that it was the same bird. But he also noticed the bird looking in a specific direction…

Towards a certain man that walked towards a pair of AK robots on the main path just behind Weiss and Winter, grabbed them both and tore the head off one and kicked it in the direction of the Schnee sisters, as well as the AK robots that served as escorts for them.

"Hey!" He got their attention. "Yeah, I'm talking to you… Ice Queen."

Winter glared at the man as the AKs behind her had their weapons primed. "Halt." She told the robots to keep them from shooting.

"Excuse me." Weiss marched towards the man. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Sssh, sssh." He put his hand to her face. "Not you." He pushed Weiss to the side.

"Hey!"

He glared directly at Winter. "You."

Already this confrontation had drawn the attention of several of the nearby students, as well as Team Dark. Shadow however noticed the black bird he had spotted was now flying away from the scene. He narrowed his eyes in that bird's direction as it flew off before looking down at the scene unfolding below.

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. Guess you're here too." The man said to Winter.

"I am literally standing in front of you." She told him.

He focused his eyes, almost playfully, to make sure she was there. "So, it would seem."

"You realize you just destroyed Atlas military property, correct?" Winter stated.

The man didn't look the least bit apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry… see, I mistook this for some sort of sentient garbage."

"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow." Winter glared.

"'Qrow'?" Rouge wondered. "Haven't we heard that name before?"

"Ruby Rose had mentioned that name multiple times during their training alongside Team JNPR, Yang Xiao Long as well." Omega answered. "He is apparently their uncle, having trained Ruby Rose personally."

Now the scene had Shadow's full and undivided attention. First Winter's sister and now Ruby's uncle and trainer? Something was clearly happening here, and it wasn't this confrontation.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Weiss asked as she rejoined her sister.

"Jeez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you." The man now identified as Qrow said to Winter.

"It's in the title." She replied.

"Well, you know what you really are? A bunch of sellouts." He glared. "Just like your boss."

"I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough." Winter glared back, her anger beginning to boil.

"Oh, I heard too." Qrow replied. "I heard old Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."

"Ozpin?" Weiss looked in surprise at that. She knew that the general and Beacon Headmaster were involved in something behind-the-scenes. Was there some sort of in-fighting going on? That was something Shadow and his team wondered as well as they continued to observe.

"Weiss, it's time for you to go." Winter told her younger sister, gently pushing her to the side.

"But…"

"Listen to Big Sister, Weiss." Qrow said mockingly. "She'll protect you. Just like how Atlas is gonna protect all of us, huh?"

"If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!" She threatened as she drew her weapon, a single-edged curved blade, and pointed it directly at him.

"Alright then…" He pushed his hair back with a challenging smile. "Come take it."

Everyone paid close attention as Winter was the first to make a move. Speeding towards Qrow and lunging her sword at him with a thrust, which he dodged with a swerve of his head, prompting Winter to repeat the same method and Qrow dodged it all with minimal effort and even gave mocking facial expressions, followed by a mocking bow, leading to Winter to deliver a downward slash, which Qrow blocked by the massive sword he had equipped to his back.

While in the same position, Qrow had grabbed the handle of his large blade, Harbinger, and spun himself around to knock Winter's blade back before pointing his weapon at her and taking a combative stance.

Qrow attacked next, swinging his sword at her, blocking and parrying the first strike before flipping backwards as Qrow went on the offensive with his sword-swings. After the sixth flip, Winter was back on her feet and used her sword to block Qrow's next strike as they swung their swords at one another, creating a blur of metal in the middle of the courtyard with a circle of observing students, some were already cheering like they were watching a match at the Vytal Festival.

The rest of Team RWBY and Team Sonic also came in to see what the commotion was about.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sonic asked Weiss.

"Some lunatic started attacking my sister!" She exclaimed.

"Oh no! Who would do such a thing…" However, when Ruby saw who it was that had attacked Winter, her look turned into one of pure joy and excitement. "AH! That's my uncle!" She cheered.

"What?!" Weiss, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, and Blake all questioned at once as they saw the man fighting Winter. That was the same uncle that Ruby and Yang always went on about? The one that trained the youngest sister?

"Come on, kick her ass, Qrow!" Yang cheered, much to everyone's surprise.

"Yeah, kick her butt!" Ruby also cheered.

"I… eh… K-kick his butt, Winter!" Weiss joined in for some reason.

Sonic was still rather surprised himself, looking toward Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. First Ruby and Yang's uncle shows up out of nowhere, now he was attacking Weiss' sister in front of a crowd?

And they weren't the only ones. Mercury of all people just happened to be passing by as he noticed the ongoing scuffle. When he set his eyes on Qrow, a look of worry fell on his face as he quickly made his way from the scene and back toward the main building. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Team Dark as all three of them observed the young man with their own suspicious expressions.

The fight between Qrow and Winter was quickly escalating as they moved with such speeds that they almost seemed like blurs to the untrained eye, clashing metal upon metal with their respective weapons, their styles contradicting one another. While Winter's style was more focused and refined, Qrow's was rough and ragged, but also more experienced. She thrusted her blade as he blocked it with the flat of Harbinger before swinging at her, which she parried before jumping backwards, prompting Qrow to move in pursuit as he swung his larger sword at her, but she limboed under the swing and struck the handle of her weapon to his face. This knocked him back a bit, but he looked back at her with a daring smirk as he raised his blade high. Winter quickly manifested a Glyph underneath her feet and used it to propel herself backwards just as Qrow swung down with enough force to shatter the pathway below, creating a rather large crater, much to the surprise of Team Sonic.

"Okay, this is getting out of control!" Tails stated as they all saw Winter leaping from the pathway and landing behind a lamppost with Qrow in pursuit as he slashed said lamppost with his weapon "Someone's gonna get hurt!"

"Yeah, show's over!" Sonic agreed. As much as he loved a good fight, it wasn't so good if innocent bystanders got swept up in it. He sped in their direction as he saw Shadow doing the same from his position, both Hedgehogs, even from the distance they were at, managed to make eye-contact as they came to the same conclusion.

Qrow and Winter were about to clash their blades again, only for Sonic to dash past them with enough speed to kick up a blue whirlwind and knock them both off balance, allowing Shadow to appear behind Winter and kick her in the side.

"The heck are you two doing?!" Sonic questioned as he delivered a Homing Attack into Qrow's exposed chest and knocked him to the ground. Sonic then landed on the flat of Harbinger with both his feet to keep Qrow from picking it up just as Shadow stood over the downed Winter and had Arondight drawn and brought close to her neck. She gasped as she looked into his glaring red eyes, silently telling her to not even so much as make a move.

"You uh mind?" Qrow asked Sonic in a seemingly polite town. "Kinda in the middle of something here?"

"Look, I love a good spar as much as the next guy, but now ain't exactly the time or the place." The blue Hedgehog told him. "How about somewhere else where you're less likely to cause property damage or put someone in the emergency room? That's not exactly a good example to set for your nieces."

Qrow winced at that and, despite lying on his back, looked behind to see, from an upside-down point-of-view, that Ruby and Yang were indeed present, both looking rather concerned over what had just happened. So with reluctance, he held up his hands.

"Fine, I give."

Sonic smiled at that as he stepped to the side, allowing Qrow to stand up and retrieve his weapon. Likewise, Shadow withdrew his sword and stepped away from Winter to allow her to stand as well.

"Thank you, Sonic."

All four of them turned towards the direction of the school where they saw Ozpin and Ironwood approaching the group, while Glynda and the Ace Ops worked to break up the gathered crowd in the street.

"Come on, let's move along people. Nothing to see here." Marrow told all the students as Glynda used her Semblance to fix up the damage caused by the fight.

"What in the world happened here?" Ironwood questioned.

"He started the altercation, sir!" Winter quickly said to the general, standing up straight.

"That's actually not true." Qrow said in a more relaxed tone. "She attacked first."

"Is this true?" The general asked her.

"Technically." Shadow answered for her. "Although, he dismantled one of your machines." He gestured to Qrow. "And then taunted and challenged her to a fight in an open space, which endangered the lives of your students." He told Ozpin. "So, I would say both are equally at fault." Qrow glared at the black Hedgehog right as he turned his gaze towards him. "I expected more from a professional Huntsman."

"Uncle Qrow!" A certain high-pitched squeal interrupted any potential argument as a red blur came directly towards the man, who held up his left arm as he let his youngest niece latch onto it. "Hi. Oh, it's so good to see you! Did you miss me?! Did you miss me!?"

"Nope." Qrow replied with a smirk, popping the p before ruffling Ruby's hair.

"Hey, don't leave me out of this!" Yang came in punched Qrow in his other arm, appearing from the right side, to which he smirked back and lightly punched her in the same spot with both sharing a laugh.

"Qrow." Ozpin got his attention as he looked towards him with a stern expression. "A word. Please."

The man winced slightly. "I think I'm in trouble…" He muttered to his nieces.

"You did kinda tear up our courtyard." Ruby admitted.

"But that was a pretty cool fight." Yang granted.

"Yeah, it was. Catch you two later." Qrow shared a fist-bump with both of them before walking off, following Ozpin.

"Let's go." Ironwood told Winter, who sighed with reluctance as she followed her superior, the Ace Ops and Glynda following not too far behind.

"Once again, thank you, Sonic. Shadow." Ozpin turned around once more to thank the two Hedgehogs.

"No prob." Sonic gave a finger salute while Shadow just nodded.

Once all the adults were gone, Weiss, Blake, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles caught up with the rest of them.

"So that was the famous 'Uncle Qrow' we've heard about?" The red Echidna asked.

"Yep. That was him." Yang confirmed with a smirk.

"And suddenly, both your reckless behaviors make a lot more sense." Weiss commented to both Ruby and Yang.

"You're just mad that he whooped butt." Ruby smirked.

"Really? That's what you're concerned about? Who the better fighter was?" Shadow questioned in a scolding manner, surprising the two sisters.

"Well… Uh…" Ruby didn't expect Shadow's tone.

"Look around you. What do you see?" He asked the pair.

"I see our campus…" Yang replied as if it were obvious.

"I see a crowded courtyard, in which any number of people could have easily been caught in the crossfire." Shadow stated firmly. "You saw what he did to that lamppost?" He gestured to the lamppost that was previously cut in half that Glynda had put back together. "Imagine if that was a person. One of your fellow students. I doubt even Aura could protect them from that."

"O-okay… not one of his finest moments…" Ruby winced, seeing Shadow's point.

"Not only that, but you two also encouraged him!" The black Hedgehog wasn't done yet.

"We didn't encourage…" Yang tried to say.

"You cheered him on during that, telling him to 'kick her rear'! How is that not encouragement?!" Shadow stated.

"I'm not one to always agree with Shadow, but I gotta side with him on this." Knuckles added. "What he did was reckless and irresponsible."

"Exactly!" Weiss went along. "So maybe…"

"You have no ground to stand on." Shadow interrupted the heiress. "And neither does your sister, who gave into his childish taunts and attacked him first when she could have simply ignored him. She too endangered all these students and is just as guilty as he is. And you cheered her on as well."

"I…" Weiss saw what he meant and suddenly felt ashamed for her actions.

"Guys, they're right." Even Blake seemed to agree. "It's one thing to disagree on something, it's another to fight over it."

"And there a lot of people here too." Tails also added. "Someone could have gotten hurt or worse."

"If Sonic or Shadow hadn't stepped in, who knows how bad this could have gotten?" Amy said as well. "Honestly, I would have done the same as them."

"Same here." Knuckles said.

Ruby happened to look towards Sonic, wondering where he stood on this. "They're right." The blue Hedgehog said, cementing it completely. "Like I said, I love a good fight, and I'm something of a thrill-seeker too. But I wouldn't pick a fight in a place this where people could get hurt."

"Okay… we get it." Yang said, looking away. "They messed up, and we did too." Ruby looked down with a feeling of shame. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that they were all right. Qrow and Winter's fight might have looked cool, but what if somebody did get hurt? It wasn't like in Amity Arena where the audience was protected. A stray gunshot or slash from Qrow's weapon could have seriously injured someone. They were lucky that wasn't the case, but what about next time? Well, hopefully Ozpin will at least give Qrow a good talking-to as well, because he really does need it.

---

Ozpin's Office

After parting ways with the Ace Ops, the team having returned to Ironwood's main ship, the Atlesian general and Winter waited in the Beacon Headmaster's office with the latter pacing back and forth impatiently until the elevator door opened, revealing Ozpin, Qrow, and Glynda, with Qrow maintaining his smirk.

"What were you thinking?!" Winter exclaimed.

"If you were one of my men, I'd have you shot!" Ironwood told Qrow.

"If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself." Qrow replied as he took out his flask while Ozpin moved to sit behind his desk.

"While I wouldn't condone his behavior, retaliating the way you did certainly didn't help the situation!" Glynda stated to Winter.

"He was drunk!" She replied.

"He's always drunk!" Glynda responded, all eyes turning to Qrow as he drank from his flask, but just shrugged off their looks.

Ozpin sighed before speaking. "Qrow, you said you had information to share with us."

"Yeah, I got info to share. But why is she here?" He questioned, referring to the glaring Winter. "Seriously, who invited her?"

"Schnee, reconvene with the Ace Ops. We'll discuss this incident back on my ship." Ironwood told his special operative, much to her surprise.

"B-but sir…!" She tried to protest.

"Winter. Leave." He ordered with finality, leaving no room for arguments.

Though she didn't like it, Winter saluted her general. "Yes, sir." She then turned to walk away, but she noticed the condescending smirk from Qrow and glared at him one final time before entering the elevator and leaving the office.

"Well?" Ozpin encouraged Qrow to reveal what he learned.

"Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn." He revealed. "They're the one responsible for Amber's condition."

"What?" Glynda questioned in surprise. "Did you find out how it happened? How they were able to gain the ability to steal the Maiden Power?"

"I tried, but I came up dry." Qrow answered with reluctance. "All I learned was that at one point, they met up with the head honcho of the White Fang in Vale and got them onboard with their scheme."

"We already know that." Ironwood said.

"Oh? Oh you, know! Well, thank goodness I'm risking my life to keep you all informed!" The veteran Huntsman exclaimed.

"Qrow…!" Ironwood didn't like his attitude.

"Communication is a two-way street, pal!" Qrow took out his scroll. "You see this?" He pointed to it. "That's the 'send' button!"

"Our system had been compromised!" Ironwood stated. "Potentially communications too! We couldn't take the risk and compromise you as well!"

"So you were protecting me, is that it?" Qrow questioned skeptically.

"That's enough." Ozpin spoke up. "We are not getting anywhere by arguing like this."

However, that didn't seem to calm Qrow down all that much as he spoke. "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones that keep all of Remnant safe from the evils that nobody even knows about!" He walked right over to Ironwood and looked him dead in the eye. "It's why we meet behind closed doors. Why we work in the shadows. So, you tell me, James. When you brought your whole freaking army to Vale, did you think you were being discrete, or did you just not give a damn?!"

Ironwood narrowed his eyes back. "Discrete may no longer be an option." He pulled out his scroll and put it on Ozpin's desk, accessing the files as several holographic recordings of the various battles against Eggman's robotic forces shined to life across the office, notably the battle in downtown Vale. "You have to be aware that we are now facing an even greater threat than just Salem, now."

"Yeah, yeah, a mad scientist who has a bunch of fancy robots." Qrow waved off.

"Qrow, you should not underestimate Doctor Robotnik." Ozpin told him. "His technology is far beyond anything we've seen so far."

"Even some of my greatest engineers can't make heads or tails from most of his tech." Ironwood added. "Not to mention he has his own fleet of ships, and a space station under his command with a massive cannon pointing down!"

"But he hasn't used it. Or rather… she hasn't used it." Qrow said.

"Yet." Ironwood replied. "The point is, we have more than the Grimm to deal with now. What was I supposed to do? Just let this madman march into Vale unopposed?!"

"This egg-guy is just a brothers damn distraction!" Qrow argued. "While you're focused on him, Salem's got one of her own inside Beacon! How long until they find Amber or worse, the Relic underneath this school?!"

"So, we just ignore this maniac?!" Glynda questioned. "I agree that we shouldn't lose sight of Salem either, but we can't just pretend that Eggman isn't there!"

"Isn't that the reason you invited those alien rodents who have experience fighting him?" Qrow responded. "Just let them deal with it, while we stay focused on the real fight."

"Except that Sonic and his friends are slowly becoming aware of said fight." Ozpin told him, causing Qrow to look serious as he let the Beacon Headmaster continue. "Though we have no official confirmation, all signs seem to point that Eggman and Salem are working together. Sonic and the others, having fought Eggman in the past, are now starting to put the pieces together that he is not working alone and there is someone behind even the Grimm. But even more concerning, is that they've also formed genuine friendships and bonds with some of our students, including your nieces, Qrow." That caused him to look even more serious. "Because of that, they too may suspect the same thing as well. In the worst-case scenario, they too can become involved in this conflict, with Ruby in particular being a potential target for Salem."

"Unless you intend to run interference." Ironwood added. "That's one of the reasons I called in Winter, that she can keep her sister away from them if it comes to that."

"Is that what you want me to do, Oz?" Qrow asked him. "You want me to get the blue guy and his pals to back off?"

"Right now, I need you here to help protect our students, and possibly work with Sonic if the situation calls for it." Ozpin answered. "If we don't handle this carefully, we risk making an enemy out of them as well, which could lead to panic and distrust from our students, which we all know Salem will take advantage of."

"Professor, I know I've said this before, but I truly believe we should get Sonic and his friends involved." Glynda spoke up. "You said yourself that they're getting close to finding it out. And we've all seen what they're capable of. Wouldn't having them on our side better aid us in protecting our students and Remnant as a whole?"

"Not if it means having our kids fighting the monsters that we're trying to keep away." Qrow disagreed.

"Is that not why you trained Ruby?" Ironwood argued. "To replace her mother when the time is right?"

That really struck a nerve in Qrow. "Oh, you just had to go there, didn't you?! I trained Ruby so she could defend herself if she had to, not to put her on the front lines of this damn war! And if that blue guy wants that for her…!"

"Enough!" Ozpin slammed his hands on his desk as he stood up, ending all potential arguments as all eyes set on him before he spoke more calmly. "This is a delicate situation, and we cannot afford to act recklessly. Qrow, are you absolutely certain that the infiltrator was the one who attacked Amber?"

"Without a doubt." He confirmed.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ozpin appeared to have come up with a plan. "Then our first priority is finding a candidate for the next Fall Maiden."

"Half a Maiden, technically." Qrow put in. "The infiltrator would still have other half of the power."

"Sir… you know what will happen if we do this, right?" Glynda asked with a feeling of uneasiness.

"I know." Ozpin said with reluctance. "I normally wouldn't put this sort of burden on anyone, but given the circumstances, we may not have much of a choice. And in this scenario, we run a greater chance of keeping the full Fall Maiden power away from Salem until we figure out how exactly she was able to find a method to steal it. Once we have made our choice, we may indeed have to bring Sonic and the others in on this. As for our students that they've befriended… We may have to discuss it with them before coming to an answer in that regard."

"What of Ruby?" Glynda asked and quickly noticed Qrow's glare. "Yes, she has a potential target on her back because of her Silver Eyes. However, as her teacher, I have seen that out of all our students that Sonic and the others have interacted with, she has been the most affected by Sonic. To say she has become attached to him would be an understatement, and that's not a bad thing. She's become much more confident and stronger emotionally. While I wouldn't think of getting her involved in the same conflict that took her mother, we shouldn't overlook the impact he has had on her either."

"Very true." Ozpin admitted. "It will be something we may have to discuss with Sonic personally. But first things first, we need to find our candidate as soon as possible."

"And Eggman?" Ironwood asked.

"Have your forces on standby, James." Ozpin told him. "As much as we've tried to avoid it, war may be on the horizon and we must be ready for it."

Ironwood then collected his scroll from Ozpin's desk to deactivate the holographic screens, but as he did, there was a brief image of a black queen chess piece on the screen, but it vanished in less than a second without him noticing.

Though Qrow didn't like it, he trusted Ozpin's judgement over everyone and everything else. If bringing in the blue rodent and his friends was his call, then he'd support Ozpin's decision. Just as long as it meant that Ruby was kept out of it.

However, Ozpin himself received a message on his own personal scroll and was somewhat surprised by the contents of it. "Oh? Speak of the devil."

"Professor?" Glynda asked.

"It's from Sonic." Ozpin answered. "But it's not related to Eggman or anything else that's going on." He said upon noticing their alarmed expressions.

"Then what is it?" Ironwood questioned.

"A very interesting proposal regarding your special operatives, James." Ozpin responded with a somewhat amused smile.

---

One Hour Later - Amity Arena

"You want to spar against the Ace Ops?!" Ironwood questioned as he, Ozpin, and Glynda had gathered in the floating colosseum, standing just outside the main arena alongside Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, with the Ace Ops themselves also present. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were off to the side, as well, with Ruby holding Zwei in her arms, and Qrow standing relatively near them, with Team Dark also nearby, as well as Winter standing alongside Penny and Pietro Polendina.

"Yep." Sonic himself confirmed. "To be honest, I kinda wanted to be a part of this whole tournament thing too. And yeah, I know it's students-only, but who says you can't have some kind 'exhibition match'." He explained as he turned to Ozpin. "I was gonna suggest the idea of my team against some Pro Huntsmen you might know, or even my team against Team Dark, but then the Ace Ops rolled in and it just seemed to all come together."

"The matches are over today, so there's nobody here at Amity." Tails added, gesturing to the empty seats that were normally filled with countless spectators. The yellow fox also appeared to wear a large metal backpack that was primarily yellow with white metal plating on the sides. "So, people won't know about us not being from Remnant."

"Hmm, that is true." Ozpin considered the idea for a moment. "However, it is not my call to make. The Ace Ops are under James' command, so the decision falls to him."

All eyes set on Ironwood as while the general didn't have any reason to shoot down the suggestion, he also had no reason to permit it either. But then again, having Sonic and his companions in a sparing match against his best team of specialists could be a good way to gauge their strength and see if they can be an effective counter against Sonic and the others if they end up going rogue. Not that he had hoped for such a situation, but with someone as manipulative as Salem pulling the strings, anything could happen.

"Clover, what do you think?" Ironwood asked the leader of the team.

"I've got no problem with it." He shrugged with a smile. "It would be a nice way to see what they can do."

"We may have seen footage of their battles, but experiencing their strength is something else altogether." Vine said in a logical manner. "I would agree with this suggestion."

"I'm in." Elm added. "It could be fun."

"That's the spirit." Sonic smirked.

"But won't it be a bit unfair?" Marrow asked. "There's five of us and four of you."

"I'll tag in." Rouge volunteered as she flew to join Team Sonic's side. "Now it's five against five."

"What about them?" Harriet gestured her head towards Teams RWBY and JNPR. "Isn't this supposed to be a private thing?"

"Ruby and everyone else there already know about us, we've worked together more than once." Amy replied.

"And since we're in your arena, we'll opt by your rules." Knuckles said.

"Even though you don't have Aura?" Marrow asked.

"For us, you'll win if you either knock us all unconscious or out of the ring." The red Echidna clarified.

"So, what do you say, Clove?" Sonic offered his hand to shake. "A fun little spar? Maybe mend some more fences?"

Clover could tell that Sonic was specifically referring to Harriet and respected his intent. While he trusted that Harriet would have no issues working alongside Sonic and the others, especially if Ironwood ordered it, he could tell that she was still holding something of a grudge since their first encounter. She was always the proudest of their team. This could be a way for her to vent, as well as establish a good dynamic with their newfound allies.

"Sure, let's do it." Clover accepted Sonic's hand before turning to his general. "With your permission of course, James."

"I'll allow it." Ironwood nodded.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Sonic smirked.

As Team Sonic, along with the addition of Rouge, gathered with the Ace Ops onto the field, with Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood following right behind them, everyone else made it to the observing seats to watch the match.

"Oh man, this is gonna be so cool!" Ruby shook in her seat with Zwei barking as he sat in her lap. "Team Sonic against some top tier Huntsmen! Who do you guys think is gonna win?"

"Well, obviously it's gonna be Sonic! The dude can break the sound barrier whenever he wants, Tails has got a supercomputer for a brain, Knuckles can tank explosions to the face without flinching..."

"And my fellow Hammer Harpy is a master of smashing stuff!" Nora put in.

"Still though, the Ace Ops are supposed to be the best Huntsmen in all of Atlas, maybe all of Remnant." Blake commented. "We shouldn't underestimate them."

"Don't let em hear ya say that." Qrow happened to sit a few seats away from Ruby and everyone else, but still close enough to hold a conversation.

"Oh, Uncle Qrow! I didn't introduce you to my friends!" Ruby began. "You know Yang and I are on the same team, and you kinda met Weiss when you… attacked her sister…" She winced at that part.

"Like I said, she attacked first." Qrow put in.

"Well… this is Blake." Ruby gestured to black-haired teammate. "Together, we're Team RWBY!"

"Hello." Blake nodded, while Qrow just waved in acknowledgment.

"And this is Team JNPR!" Ruby gestured to the other team nearby. "Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren! We've been working together with them since Day One, so we're all practically one big eight-person team now!"

"Hi there." Jaune waved.

"Hello." Ren nodded.

"Sup!" Nora grinned.

"Nice to meet you." Pyrrha smiled. "Ruby has spoken quite highly of you."

"Glad to hear it." Qrow smirked. He then noticed Zwei barking at him happily. This prompted Ruby to grab her beloved dog and speed toward her uncle.

"Awe, Zwei missed you. Didn't you, boy?" She gushed as she held up Zwei to Qrow's face as the dog proceeded to lick him, causing Qrow to chuckle. "Yes, you did! Yes, you did!"

"Okay, okay, I missed him too. Now put him away, I don't want dog slobber on my face." He said in a laugh, prompting Ruby to rejoin her team and other friends. Though she also noticed that Weiss wasn't with them, but one look towards the other end of the row, she saw that Weiss was sitting next to her sister alongside Penny and Professor Polendina. That was fine. Weiss was allowed to spend time with her sister. But Ruby also caught Penny's attention as the android girl waved to her, prompting Ruby to wave back with a smile.

"Don't blink, or you might miss it." Weiss told Winter. "You really don't know speed until you see Sonic in action."

"I have seen the reports, including recordings of many of his fights, so I'm aware that he is rather fast." Winter said.

"Well seeing said speed in person is a completely different story. Trust me on that." Weiss said.

"I can attest to that." Penny added. "His speed is simply unparalleled. The only thing that I can see rivaling his ability is that of his companion, Shadow."

"I have seen what they are capable of as well, and I know of the feats of Clover and his team." Pietro added. "This will certainly be an exciting match."

"Then I'll now see this astonishing speed with my own two eyes." Winter said as she began to observe this.

Weiss was beaming with excitement. Her beloved sister seeing Sonic in action was making her rather giddy to say the least, but she did her best to keep her cool.

Although there was one who didn't seem as excited for the upcoming match. Shadow, alongside Omega, stood just outside one of the surrounding entrance tunnels near the set of stairs that led down to the seats where everyone else was currently sitting.

"Omega, keep your sensors active. Let me know if we get any unwanted spectators." The black Hedgehog instructed.

"Affirmative." Omega confirmed, already having his sensors tuned to the Semblance of Neopolitan. Such an ability could allow her and the other possible infiltrators a chance to slip in without anyone else noticing. But not Omega.

Shadow then directed his attention towards Qrow, who seemed to casually sit at his seat with his feet kicked up on the seat in front of him as he watched what was unfolding in the arena. He hadn't forgotten the encounter between Qrow and Winter in the courtyard and what was said between them. Qrow seemed to be involved with Ozpin in some way. Did that mean he too was involved in the conspiracy?

Qrow then happened to crane his head around as he felt someone's gaze and soon locked eyes with Shadow. Their opposing red eyes met one another as the two observed each other for a brief moment before Qrow glared and turned back to the match, while Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly before turning back to the arena himself.

Team Sonic, and Rouge, stood on the opposing side to the Ace Ops while Ozpin, Ironwood, and Glynda stood in the middle.

"As this is an unofficial match, I will be acting as the referee." Ozpin began. "But the same rules still apply. The members of the Ace Ops will be eliminated from the match if they are knocked out of the arena, or their Aura level drops low enough. Likewise, Sonic and his companions will be eliminated if they are also knocked out of the ring, or they are knocked unconscious. Though there is the option for a single combatant to forfeit if they chose. And I'm certain that this doesn't need to be said, but please refrain from using any overly dangerous or potentially fatal techniques. Do you all find these terms to be acceptable?"

"Cool with me." Sonic smiled.

"We accept your terms, Professor." Clover nodded.

"Very well then." Ozpin then turned to Glynda, who nodded. Using her personal scroll, she activated the arena's special features to change the environment just like any other tournament match.

Much like the official matches, holo-screens were projected as the symbols were chosen by lottery. Half of them had a symbol of a snowflake, while the other half had a symbol of a tree and a hill. The environment behind the Ace Ops was changed into that of a snowy tundra, while that behind Team Sonic became that of a hilly area with a multitude trees nearby.

"Huh, homefield advantage." Marrow commented, referring to the tundra environment.

"Won't guarantee you a win though, rookie." Rouge teased.

As Ozpin, Ironwood, and Glynda made their way from the arena, all ten combatants drew their respective weapons as they faced one another, with Harriet glaring directly at Sonic.

"You might have taken down robots and Grimm, but now you're against the best Huntsmen team in all of Remnant." She told the blue Hedgehog.

"I've never been one to back down from a challenge." Sonic gave a challenging smirk in response. "So, bring it on."

Once they were outside the ring, Ozpin made the call. "Begin!"

Immediately Sonic zoomed passed Harriet, prompting her to activate her own Semblance as electricity shot out from her eyes and she sprinted after Sonic. Elm brought out Timber as Knuckles charged at her, pulling back his fist as she brought her hammer down, both attacks colliding. Vine activated his own Semblance to outstretch energetic appendages from his arms towards Amy, which she quickly batted away with the Piko-Piko. Rouge then flew towards Marrow and tried to deliver a kick, which he blocked with his own boomerang-shaped weapon, Fetch.

As the others spread out, Tails appeared to be facing Clover as he had his own weapon, King Fisher, out. Clover then threw the cable towards Tails, which he flew away to avoid as he flew around Clover who reeled in his line to throw it towards Tails and appeared to hook onto his leg, but the young Fox performed a Homing Attack, using the line in his favor to close in on Clover, but the leader of the Ace Ops was quick to counter using the pole of his weapon to block the attack, with Tails flipping and landing behind the man.

"You're pretty quick, kid." Clover complemented. "But that alone will only get you so far."

"Oh, trust me, I got plenty of tricks up my sleeve." Tails grinned. "Wanna see?" He grabbed the straps of his backpack and pulled on them, causing the device to activate as a jet booster activated below, with a pair of jet-shaped wings popping out of the back. Using this, as well as his own natural ability to fly, Tails sped directly at Clover faster than he could anticipate and struck him in the stomach to knock him down.

Everyone in the audience, particularly Teams RWBY and JNPR, looked in surprise as they saw that, even Ozpin, Ironwood, Glynda, Qrow, and Winter were somewhat surprised themselves while Penny shared a smile with Pietro.

Clover was certainly surprised himself, but an impressed smile formed on his face as he once again held King Fisher. Quickly flicking the clover-shaped pendant on his uniform, he sent out the fishing cable towards Tails, but the flying fox easily outpaced that on his jetpack and zoomed directly for Clover, where he did something truly unexpected.

Right before he closed the gap, Tails extended his arms towards the jet-wings, grabbed a pair of handles on the bottom and pressed a button that caused the wings to detach, just as a blue light formed around them like an energy aura. He then slashed the right detached wing like a sword at Clover, which he blocked with the rod of his King Fisher, but Clover tried to punch Tails in response, only for the young Fox to maneuver under and around on his jet-pack, which allowed him to hover just barely off the ground and slice at Clover's side to knock him down.

"Hold on… is that… Tails' weapon?!" Jaune looked in surprise.

"It's a jetpack… and dual energy swords?!" Ruby exclaimed before a wide smile formed on her face. "Oh, that is so cool!"

But that wasn't even the end of it. Tails pressed a button on the handle of the left wing he was holding, causing a Dust round to pop out of his pack, which he caught as he brought the energy blade-wings close together as Clover recovered. The Dust round cracked open to reveal a ball of fire before it quickly expanded and was caught in a brief surge of energy in-between the energy aura of the wing-blades. This caused the fireball to condense before blasting into a beam of flames straight at Clover, which he just barely avoided by jumping and flipping to the right as he threw out the line on King Fisher to hook Tails' right arm and wing-blade before Clover pulled, causing the Tails' right arm to be pulled away, but Tails countered by performing a Spin Dash to close the distance and spin himself free of the cable, where he locked weapons with Clover.

"He's even capable of utilizing Dust with it…" Weiss looked in amazement.

"Yes. In fact, that energy aura around his wing blades is made from Hard Light Dust." Penny reported. "He's even capable of fine tuning that to increase their cutting power. The strongest setting can be sharp enough to cut through solid steel with the right amount of force. Though now he's likely using it at its blunt setting to avoid serious injury."

"I never even thought of utilizing Hard Light Dust like that." Pietro added. "In fact, combining that method with other forms of Dust even increases their power and potency, allowing for better control and even long-ranged attacks."

"Professor… Did you help him to build that?" Winter asked him in surprise.

"Yes, Penny and I both." Pietro answered with a smile. "That little fox has quite the creative head on his shoulders. He'd probably make even Arthur jealous if he was still with us."

"He even took some inspiration from my own weapon, as well as yours, Weiss." Penny said, speaking towards the youngest of the Schnee sisters, much to her surprise. "In addition, not only does the jetpack provide with him additional speed, but its utilization of Gravity Dust can allow him more lateral maneuverability in the air."

"He calls this little piece of marvel… Hurricane Gamma." Pietro revealed.

"Hurricane Gamma…" Weiss looked in awe as she saw Tails utilize this impressive piece of equipment in his battle with Clover.

"The Gamma portion of the name, he claims to have been named after a friend." Penny added.

At the same time, Sonic sped into the tundra environment with Harriet speeding after him and quickly closing the gap to try and throw a punch with Fast Knuckle, but Sonic not only limboed under the strike, he quickly flipped to spin his legs around and kick away Harriet's arm before jumping to get some distance, which Harriet quickly closed again with her own speed as Sonic zoomed away to quickly draw Caliburn and dash at her, swinging his sword, which Harriet blocked by crossing her arms, but as Sonic dashed past her, he quickly delivered a Homing Attack from behind to knock her head first into a pile of snow with her lower-body sticking out.

However, that pile of snow exploded in a flurry of electricity as Harriet glared at Sonic, who took a sword-stance as he made a gesture with his hand to bring it on, spurring Harriet's ire even more as she dashed straight at him, with Sonic running right next to her as they zoomed all across the frozen area. From there, she tried to punch and strike at him, which he blocked with his sword as he rapidly sliced at her, which she also blocked with her armored gauntlets. A dual dash of blue wind and yellow electricity zoomed back and forth repeatedly as the two speedsters kept going at one another.

Meanwhile, Amy sped directly towards Vine and tried to swing her Piko-Piko at him, but he used his Semblance to stretch upward from his legs onto a tree branch from the hilly area. Once he was at that distance, he tried to outstretch his Aura hands toward her, but she was quick to bat them away with her hammer before moving to the base of the tree and striking it with her hammer, delivering enough force to cause the tree to begin toppling over, though Vine was able to leap off the branch before it fell over.

Once he landed on the ground and behind Amy, Vine outstretched his arms and was successfully able to grab her as he tried to pull her in close. However, Amy performed her own Spin Dash to break her way free from his Aura hands, much to Vine's own surprise before she brought her hammer to his side, but he was quick to act and generate a strong Aura around his right arm to act as a shield and soften the blow, though the force did push him back somewhat.

"Impressive." Vine complemented. "You can certainly hold your own in a fight."

"Thank you. Lots of experience." Amy smiled before she re-engaged to dash at him and brought her hammer up to swing it directly downward on Vine, which he caught with his Aura hands.

At the same time, Rouge flew all around Marrow as she performed quick hit-and-run attacks with her heels, but Marrow was quick to block most of her attacks before swinging Fetch at one kick to throw her off before she drew Purple Hearts while in mid-air and threw her dual boomerang weapons just as Marrow threw his own similar weapon to intercept them, both weapons colliding in mid-air and falling to the ground.

But before Rouge could fly and require her weapon, Marrow pointed his finger at her. "Stay!" This caused Rouge to freeze in mid-air, unable to so much as move or even fall with her wings no longer flapping.

Thinking he had her, Marrow slowly walked to try and gain his weapon, all while keeping his finger pointed at her. However, before he would even take a step, he heard a beeping noise behind him and slowly craned his head to reveal a heart-shaped bomb on the ground behind him. It then exploded to knock him forward, causing him to drop his arm and release his Semblance.

The now-freed Rouge quickly flew in to regather Purple Hearts and combined the two so that it took it's broad-sword mode, the blade shaped like a bat's wing as she tried to bring it down on Marrow, but he rolled out of the way and was quick to collect Fetch, which he used to block against her next swing.

"So, you literally freeze people in their tracks." Rouge commented with a seemingly impressed smile. "Not bad… You got some skills."

"R-Really…?" He tried to shake his head and get back in the game. "I mean… of course, I do. I did train hard to get here."

"So, you have." Rouge complemented before breaking off her stalemate with him and flew above and over him towards the hilly forested area. "Think you can still catch me though? Give it your best shot, handsome." She winked, causing Marrow to blush before he ran after her.

Meanwhile, Knuckles, who was more in the middle of the arena, jumped backwards to avoid the hammer strike from Elm before she converted Timber into its rocker-launcher mode and fired her dual rockets at Knuckles, but he actually threw out a punch at the rockets, causing them to explode.

"Hey, she's got the same weapon I do!" Nora pointed out.

"So, it seems." Ren nodded.

"You're not at all concerned your red friend just got blown up?" Qrow asked in surprise.

"Wait for it…" Yang smirked while Blake had a knowing smile herself.

The smoke soon cleared to reveal Knuckles wasn't even the least bit damaged, much to Elm's and even Qrow's surprise. The red Echidna dusted his shoulder briefly before drawing Galantine and rushing at her. Elm converted Timber into its hammer mode and tried to swing at Knuckles which he blocked using the right blade of Galantine before throwing a punch with his left fist toward her stomach. Though he did land successfully, she hadn't budged an inch from her spot. That's when Knuckles glanced down to notice patches of Aura at her feet were connecting to the ground.

Thinking she had him distracted, Elm delivered a headbut to knock Knuckles back, but he landed on his feet and saw Elm charging at him, but Knuckles also saw that those same patches on her feet were now gone. As she brought her hammer down to him, the red Echidna lifted his left Galantine blade to block the hammer-strike with just one arm.

"Well, aren't you the strong one?" Knuckles commented with a smile.

"Me? You punched two rockets and aren't even scratched!" Elm said excitably as she pulled her hammer back. "You're amazing!"

"Thanks. So, let's keep this going. I'm honestly having a good time here. It's been a while since I could cut loose a little." Knuckles maintained his smile.

"Same for me. Let's go." Elm smiled back as they collided their weapons again with enough force to unleash a shockwave all around them.

At the same time, Sonic's race-fight against Harriet had ventured from the tundra environment to that of the hilly forest where the two speedsters sped up and down the hills and all around the trees with Harriet going on the attack to punch him any chance she got, but Sonic dodged and blocked any and all strikes that came his way. The two ended up circling a single tree, but this gave Harriet an idea as she purposely slowed down and outstretched her leg to successfully trip Sonic up, causing him to stumble towards a hill, with Harriet attempting to press the advantage as she sped a punch towards him.

But Sonic quickly recovered and sped up to the top of the hill, Harriet's strike barely missing him as he boosted with enough speed that when he reached the top of the hill, he flew straight up before delivering a vertical homing attack that Harriet tried to speed away from, but the resulting shockwave that was made upon Sonic hitting the ground had knocked her off her feet and caused her to stumble and slam into the same tree she was previously circling, though she was quick to get up and face him again.

"I can do this all day." Sonic maintained his smirk. "What about you?"

"What do you think?" She replied as she sped after him once again.

As the two left, Marrow had ran in pursuit of Rouge into that very same area and having lost sight of her as he was surrounded by trees on one side and a hill on the other. He looked around but didn't pick up any sight of her.

"Come on… where are you…?" He muttered. But he saw one of Rouge's purple hearts flying towards him from directly in front, which he batted away with Fetch. Another one came at his side, which he also batted away. He saw both on the ground and smirked. "Come on… show yourself…" He also kept his ears up to hear any possible bombs nearby, but it all seemed silent. That is until something was about to come down at him from behind.

Once again, Marrow pointed his finger at what he thought was Rouge. "Stay!" However, the target he froze wasn't Rouge at all. It was just a tree branch that had been thrown in his direction, much to his shock.

The real Rouge then flew in from behind as she tried to deliver a double-kick, but Marrow quickly dropped his Semblance and brought up Fetch to catch her attack. But she locked her heels in with his weapon. As they were locked against one another, he looked with a glare while she just smirked…

Right before kissing him on the cheek.

This caused Marrow's face to turn red as his eyes widened like circles, his tail wagging rapidly. Rouge then used this to grab Marrow by the shoulders and flew him straight towards the edge of the arena, where she just threw him out, causing him to land outside as the buzzer sounded, signaling Marrow's elimination.

"Marrow Amin has been eliminated by ring out!" Ozpin announced, causing several in Team RWBY and JNPR to cheer and/or clap, while Weiss simply shook her head, unamused but not surprised. Ironwood looked with a serious expression, as did Winter, while Qrow didn't seem all that impressed, though he did find the way Rouge eliminated Marrow to be somewhat amusing as he chuckled.

"Damn it…" Marrow cursed as he felt pretty humiliated by that while Rouge dusted her hands and just flew back to the match.

The rest of the Ace Ops heard of their teammate's elimination and while they were briefly surprised by that, they went back to their respective fights, particularly with Harriet as she continued to speed after Sonic.

"Rookie…" She growled as she tried to close the distance at him, but Sonic dropped his speed to move behind her before dashing forward to speed and slash at her with Caliburn and knock her off her heels as they were back towards the center of the ring. That's also when Sonic noticed Tails in his battle against Clover.

Despite the maneuverability of Tails' Hurricane Gamma, Clover was capable of holding his own as he used the pole of King Fisher to block a wing-blade strike from Tails before the leader of the Ace Ops kicked Tails back to knock him up into the air, but Tails quickly re-attached the wing-blades to the pack on his back to activate his jet-mode as he sped around Clover with incredible speeds, the veteran Huntsman extending the line of King Fisher as he spun it over his head.

'He's good with that fishing rod of his… Big would definitely be jealous, or maybe he wouldn't since he's so nice all the time.' Tails thought. 'But he can't catch me at this speed.'

However, Clover once again, flicked the clover-pendant on his uniform and casted out the line, which was successfully able to hook and tangle around Tails' ankle, much to his surprise.

"What…?"

Clover used that same momentum that his young foe had built up to toss and throw him away, hoping to send him out of the arena.

"Tails…!" Ruby stood up from her seat in surprise, while the rest of her friends, including Penny, were looking with concern.

However, a blue blur sped up towards a snowy hill and kicked it up to high speeds to propel himself straight into the air, catching Tails before he could make it out of the ring.

"Sonic!" Tails looked stunned.

"Need a hand, buddy?" Sonic grinned as they fell, landing just near the edge of the ring.

"Sorry, he threw me for a bit of a loop." Tails said.

"No worries." Sonic assured, but he quickly noticed Harriet speeding toward them. "Up for a tag-team?"

"You know it, partner." Tails smiled as they clasped their hands together. Just before Harriet could close the distance, Sonic sped away with Tails, both gunning straight for Clover as Tails activated Hurricane Gamma's hover mode and spun around rapidly to fling Sonic at Clover, who had drawn Caliburn just as Clover used the pole of King Fisher to block the strike, but Sonic used the momentum and position of their weapons to smoothly slide over and land behind Clover and trip him up with rapid swings of his legs. At the same time, Harriet tried to dash in and pull back a punch, which she had primed for Sonic, only for Tails to block the strike by crossing the wing-blades of Hurricane Gamma, the Hard Light Dust energy taking most of the blow before Tails threw them out to knock Harriet back.

Sonic and Tails got back-to-back with each other as the latter faced Harriet while Sonic faced the recovering Clover. Both Ace Ops members locked eyes and nodded, while the pair of sworn brothers smirked towards one another.

Meanwhile, Amy was unable to close the distance between herself and Vine as he swung his Aura arms at her, though she parried all the attacks with her Piko-Piko, whenever she tried to close the gap, he just used his Aura feet to leap into the trees, which he had currently done now.

"Long distance fighter, huh?" He heard a whisper from behind and was caught off guard as Rouge had emerged from the tree he was on, wrapping her arm around his throat and pulling him out more towards the open area before throwing him to the ground. "More like a support unit than an open combatant."

"Indeed, but I'm still capable of holding my own in a fight." Vine said as he extended the Aura around his hands to form a pair of elongated claws.

"But how's your observation skills?" Rouge pointed behind him. He only just noticed one of her heart-shaped bombs was on his back, which then activated and unleashed a small concussive blast to knock him towards her, where she performed a handstand and a double-kick to his face. "Heads up, Pinky!"

Amy then dashed behind Vine to smack her hammer into his back and towards Rouge, who then grabbed him by the shoulders and flew him straight up before spinning around to throw him back towards the ground, where Amy leapt up and struck her hammer into him as he fell, causing him to flop on the ground before the buzzer sounded.

"Vine Zeki is eliminated by Aura level!" Ozpin announced, causing the students to cheer and clap once more as Rouge landed beside Amy.

"Thanks for the assist." The pink Hedgehog nodded.

"Any time." She maintained her smirk.

Meanwhile, Knuckles had found himself pushed back towards the frozen tundra area as Elm went on the offensive, swinging her hammer at him, but Knuckles blocked it with the right Galantine blade before swinging his left axe-blade at her, which she blocked with the pole of her weapon, before throwing him down. Though when she tried to rush him again, Knuckles had jumped up into the air and pulled back his right fist, the Galantine blade pointing outward. He then noticed how she used her Semblance to once again root herself to the ground, which caused him to smile.

As he fell, rather than strike her, Knuckles spun his body, both Galantine blades pointing downward to drill into the frozen ground in front of Elm, much to her surprise. She looked down the hole that he had made in confusion. But that confusion turned into concern as she felt a tremor in the ground directly under her. It was too late to do anything though as Knuckles blasted out from under her, causing the icy ground to shatter and Elm to loose her footing as she was sent flying straight up.

"You can't root yourself in mid-air, can you?" Knuckles stated as he was also in the air with her, right before he pounded Elm with rapid punches as they started to fall, he threw his fists at such speeds that she was unable to block before he pulled both of his fists back and delivered a powerful double-punch that sent Elm crashing to the icy ground with enough force that it created a crater upon impact.

The buzzer sounded just as Knuckles landed on his feet in front of the crater. "Elm Ederne is eliminated by Aura level!" Ozpin announced.

Clover looked with concern, while Harriet just seemed to get even angrier. Their whole team had been eliminated?! Well Harriet was about to change that! She would eliminate their leader and best combatant by herself if she had too! She then sped herself directly at Sonic, only for Tails to block her strike by crossing the wing-blades of Hurricane Gamma again before Sonic sped to Clover to lock Caliburn against King Fisher again.

"Outta the way, kid! You can't outpace me!" Harriet tried to throw multiple rapid punches at Tails, but he hovered around her and when Harriet tried to punch at him, Tails blocked it with his right-wing blade before quickly slashing at her with his left. She then tried to punch him again, but Tails blocked it once again before spinning his twin tails to ensnare that very same arm and pulled her into a double-kick.

Harriet looked in complete surprise. How can this little fox block all her attacks so easily?! "How the hell are you…?!"

"Sure, you have speed on your side. But you're nowhere near Sonic's level and I've been beside him most my life." Tails explained. "And compared to how he fights, your moves are simple and easier to read. All I have to do is get the timing down. Math is kinda my thing."

As Harriet glared, Sonic rapidly swung Caliburn at Clover, which he had trouble blocking right before Sonic sped past him and delivered a Homing Attack from behind to knock him into Harriet. But as they rolled, Clover had already casted out the line of King Fisher, which had successfully hooked around Sonic's sword as Clover yanked it away and to his own hand even as he rolled to his feet next to Harriet.

Despite that, Sonic didn't seem the least bit worried as he sped to best friend. "Hey Tails, Think we can pull off a double-tornado?"

"Only one way to find out." Tails replied as he re-attached the wings to Hurricane Gamma's pack and flew upwards just as Sonic sped around the recovering Clover and Harriet and began to move at such a rapid pace that he had unleashed his Blue Tornado. This ended up sweeping both Ace Ops members off their feet and up into the air.

While he hovered directly over the eye of the blue vortex, Tails kept himself hovering using his own tails and jetted out another Dust round just as he detached the wing-blades from his pack and brought them together. The round was cracked open as a white wind-sphere appeared in the center of Tails' energy-blades, which he fired straight downward, creating a condensed tornado-like beam that hit the ground. While Sonic's blue tornado was much larger, Tails' attack was much more condensed, both appeared to be equally strong as they repelled against one another… right before they exploded in a flurry of wind!

The intense wind power was so strong that even the audience felt it as many of them braced themselves while Clover and Harriet were sent flying in opposite directions and landed outside the arena. The buzzer sounded once again.

"Clover Ebi and Harriet Bree are both eliminated via ring out!" Ozpin announced. "The winners of the match are Team Sonic!"

Sonic slid to a halt as Tails flew directly down to him, the pair exchanging a high-five.

"Oh, my gods… that was AWESOME!" Ruby beamed standing up as she, Jaune, Yang, and Nora all stood up as well and cheered while Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha clapped while Zwei barked loudly.

"They took on full-fledged and experienced Huntsmen, supposedly the best in all of Atlas, and won without a single elimination…" Pyrrha said with a smile of awe.

"Well, you expect anything less from Team freaking Sonic?" Nora questioned with a wide smile.

"I never doubted them for even a second." Jaune said. "I mean, after everything we've seen them do…"

"We really shouldn't be at all surprised, considering that." Ren commented.

"Still really awesome though!" Yang stated.

"Yes, it was." Blake agreed as she also found herself looking towards Marrow as he was at Clover's side to help him up. While she was happy and unsurprised that Sonic and his team won, she was more than a little surprised to see that there was a Faunus in the Ace Ops. Though she herself had never been to Atlas, she did hear a lot about many of the elites there being very prejudiced against the Faunus, and yet there was one in the ranks of Ironwood's top team. It was nice to know that not everyone in Atlas felt as judgemental towards her people.

Qrow himself was also rather surprised. A part of him should feel satisfied that some Atlas specialists, notably those under Ironwood's command, were knocked off their high horse, actually beating them is no small feat. He could tell that they were well-trained and well-equipped. Yet Sonic and his companions were able to handle them very effectively and even defeat them without any causalities on their side. Without a doubt, they were strong. They could be powerful allies against Salem if Oz decides to let them in. At the same time, he doubted they could actually beat her considering all Oz was able to do is hold her back all this time. A few stronger allies might not change much of anything in the long run.

"I… don't believe it… They lost…" Winter muttered in surprise. She had seen the Ace Ops in action herself, even worked alongside them more than once. There was no doubt that they were among the best in Ironwood's ranks. Yet they were so swiftly defeated.

Weiss was surprised to see such a look on her older sister's face, and yet, she herself must have had a similar expression upon first seeing Sonic and the others before. And even now, it was still a surprise to see them win against top tier Huntsmen like this, and yet, she also never doubted Sonic for a moment.

"That was a very impressive battle, I must admit." Penny smiled.

"Truly." Pietro agreed. "And Tails seems to have gotten the hang of his weapon in such a short time… that boy is a prodigy in my opinion."

As Team Sonic regrouped outside the arena, Ozpin seemed rather satisfied with the results, yet he and Glynda both noticed a very serious look on Ironwood's face, complete with his fists clenching, something Glynda addressed quickly.

"James, your men have performed very well." She told him. "They may have lost, but they were still excellent. You must be quite proud."

"I am." Ironwood assured, calming down somewhat in her presence. "They did their very best and I expect nothing less from them. Still…"

"I doubt we have anything to fear from Sonic or his friends." Ozpin told him. "Even if they are suspicious of us, I see no reason why they would turn their power against Remnant. But the purpose of this match was to mend fences and establish good relationships. And I believe we have accomplished that. See for yourself." He gestured ahead as Sonic was at the downed Harriet.

"Hey, that was a good fight." Sonic offered his hand for her, but she kept her head down so he couldn't see her face. "You definitely know what you're doing, even tripped me up a couple times. So, let's do this again some time, okay?"

However, Harriet wasn't feeling any sort of good sportsmanship at all. He beat her! She was one of the Ace Ops! A huntress who trained relentlessly at the academy of the most advanced Kingdom in Remnant, equipped with technology specialized for her! But despite all her training, skill, and weaponry, she lost! And she couldn't even beat that fox kid either! She was supposed to be one of the best, yet she lost to this blue rat, again! She was more than tempted to strike him right then and there to vent her frustrations…

"Harriet." Glancing to the side, she saw Clover looking at her with concern as the rest of her team had gathered together. She had to remind herself that she was in front of Ironwood, and she didn't want to embarrass him any further by acting out like a child.

Taking a deep breath and calming down, she accepted Sonic's hand as he helped her up. "I'll work with you if I have to." She told Sonic. "But we are not friends!"

"That's cool." Sonic accepted with no issue. "You go at your own pace."

The rest of his team gathered behind him as they met up with the Ace Ops. "That was an incredible match." Clover granted to all of them. "You are all definitely something."

"And that jet-pack thing you got is really cool!" Elm told Tails.

"Thanks, made it myself." He smiled and showed his deactivated metal backpack with pride.

"Seriously?! You made that?!" Marrow questioned in shock.

"Oh yeah. Kid here's got a super brain." Sonic gave his best friend a noogie, causing Tails to laugh as he pushed Sonic away.

"After seeing his invention, I certainly believe that now." Clover complemented.

Vine offered his hand towards Amy with a genuine smile. "Good fight."

"You too." She shook his hand. "But no offense, those stretchy arms are kinda creepy."

"No offense taken." He replied. "Though if they get the job done, that's all I can ask for."

"Hey." Knuckles got Elm's attention. "That was a lot of fun. Wanna go again some other time? I don't have a whole lot of sparing partners here."

"Absolutely." She smiled. "Maybe we could have an arm-wrestling contest over a hot meal some time?"

"Works for me." He nodded.

Marrow then noticed Rouge giving him a grin, causing him to blush as he looked away with crossed arms. "That was dirty…" He muttered to her.

"No such thing as dirty in a fight, kid." She told him. "Better to learn that now than later."

"Whatever…" He grumbled.

Shadow, meanwhile, remained where he was. While Omega by his side had kept his sensors open to detect any prying eyes on the outside, he himself was focused on what he saw from that fight. He could get an idea of what the Ace Ops could do and what their Semblances were. Harriet's was obviously focused on speed, though not as fast as him or Sonic, but it also seemed different when compared to Ruby's, or rather, Ruby's own Semblance was different from Harriet's own speed. Elm's was rather simple, root herself into the ground. Such an ability could provide tactical advantages depending on how it was applied, but it was also easily overcome if the surface below was broken. Vine's Semblance allowed him to stretch his arms and legs, though it seemed more like an outstretching of Aura rather than the limbs themselves, and he seemed more of the defensive and support type rather than attacking. Marrow's was simple and easy to understand, point and the target freezes. Useful, but too straightforward and easy to work around if you know what it is. The only one he didn't quite have a grasp on was Clover. Nothing particularly flashy like enhanced strength or speed, or flight or elemental control or anything else of that matter. Though he did notice how Clover was able to catch Tails and even Sonic off guard a few times by what could only be described as a sheer stroke of luck. Clearly Clover was the most skilled of his team and it was easy to see why he was the leader. But there was something else here that he needed to do, something he had to know.

"Keep monitoring for outside threats." Shadow told Omega.

"Acknowledged." The former Badnik nodded as he watched the black Hedgehog descend the stairs.

"Well, that was certainly a spectacle." Ozpin commented as he, Glynda, and Ironwood met up with Team Sonic and the Ace Ops. "I trust you enjoyed yourself."

"You got it, Prof." Sonic stated eagerly.

"It was fun, yes. Thank you, Professor." Clover nodded.

"Now, is there anything else that you may…" Ozpin began.

"I request one more match." Shadow stepped down, getting all their attention.

"Shadow?" Sonic was somewhat surprised by this.

"Another match?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not with teams, just three combatants against one another." The Ultimate Lifeform continued. "The Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee, against your Huntsman Qrow, against myself."

To say everyone was surprised at that request would be an understatement. Nearly every one of Sonic's friends was surprised by this, save for Rouge who had a curious look on her face. The Ace Ops, Glynda, and Ironwood were equally shocked as well. Weiss was among those who was the most shocked as she, Penny, and Pietro happened to look towards Winter as she had a serious look on her face; while Ruby and Yang were also just as stunned, both looking up towards Qrow himself as he just had a raised eyebrow.

"May I ask the reason for it?" Ozpin requested.

"I need to assess whether or not they are capable of handling Eggman's forces should he arrive, and this seems like the best way to do so." Shadow explained. "Their fight in the courtyard didn't really show much of what they were capable of, other than a lack of maturity on both parts."

"True, on both accounts." Ozpin granted. "And once again, thank you for ending that disruption before it could escalate. Regarding your request, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't, but I'm afraid Specialist Schnee doesn't answer to me. And if Qrow chooses not to fight, then I won't force him."

"I wasn't suggesting you do so." Shadow told him before looking towards Ironwood, silently asking him what his choice was on this matter.

Ironwood thought for a moment. Shadow was not like Sonic, he was the one who clearly had zero trust in him or any of his allies. So this was obviously not an attempt to mend fences or just for the sake of fun. Was he trying to probe for information? If that was the case then…

"Sir?" Winter had stepped forward from behind the general, prompting him to turn toward her. "I would like to accept his request."

"Winter…" He was about to protest at first.

"If we're going to be working together, I too would like to assess what he is capable of." She explained. "I've already seen for myself what Sonic and his companions could do; this could also serve the same purpose."

Ironwood trusted Winter's judgement. And if Shadow was indeed trying to probe for information, he had nothing to worry about in regards for Winter as she was not a part of their inner circle. So, he had nothing to lose from this either.

"Very well." The general accepted.

"Thank you, sir." Winter stood straight.

"Well that is one person on board." Ozpin commented. "Regarding Qrow…"

"I'm in." Qrow himself had also stepped down. "After that last fight, can't say I'm not a little pumped. Could be a decent workout."

"Qrow, are you sure?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah Oz. I'm sure." Qrow answered seriously with a knowing look in his eye.

"Alright. Looks like we have our match." Ozpin said as he looked towards all three combatants. "As such, the same rules will apply here. You will be eliminated either by ring out or Aura level. Though in Shadow's case, if he is knocked unconscious, he will be eliminated. Do you all find this acceptable?"

"I do." Winter nodded.

"Yeah, yeah." Qrow waved off.

"I accept." Shadow stated.

"Then get to the ring." Ozpin gestured as the three of them made their way towards the arena.

As they did, the Ace Ops got into the seats to sit beside Penny and Pietro, while Weiss moved to sit by her teammates as Team Sonic and Rouge joined them.

"Uh Sonic…?" Ruby got his attention. "Why is Shadow…?"

"Like he said, he wants to see if their tough enough to take on Eggman." Sonic said. But he also had a sneaking suspicion that something else was on Shadow's mind.

"I know, but…" Ruby stuttered.

"Hey, Uncle Qrow is one of the toughest guys out there!" Yang stated. "I've seen him mow down Grimm by the dozen!"

"Shadow's not the type to just take your word on it." Knuckles said. "For him, actions speak louder."

"That does make sense. Still…" Weiss looked more than a little worried, her expression mirroring Ruby's, something Sonic was quick to pick up on.

"Shadow's not gonna go all 'Chaos Blast' on em." The Blue Blur assured. "That'd be overkill even for him."

"We've still seen what he can do, and he's not the type to pull his punches…" Weiss commented. While she too had seen what Winter was capable of, she even regarded her as one of the best Huntresses she had ever known. But against someone like Shadow…?

"All we can do now is just watch." Sonic said as they all looked forward. "I'm sure it'll all be fine."

Ruby trusted Sonic's judgement and while she knew that Shadow was ruthless, she didn't think he would do anything to seriously hurt her uncle. But that didn't make her any less worried.

Shadow, Qrow, and Winter all stood apart from each other, facing one another as they drew their respective weapons while the environment around Amity Arena changed once again. But this time, four different environments surrounded the three combatants as opposed to two. One was set in a mountainous area, the one on its left was that of a ruined urban city, the third was a volcanic landscape, and the last was an oceanic area with a beach.

"Looks like we get to settle this after all, Ice Queen." Qrow teased Winter.

"I won't hold back." She told him.

"If you keep bickering like this on the actual battlefield, you're more likely to draw in Grimm than accomplish anything." Shadow criticized.

That resulted in Winter glaring while Qrow just scoffed. "Jeez, what crawled up your skin and died?"

"Begin!" Ozpin announced.

Winter attacked first, her blade pointing towards Qrow as she rushed him, which he blocked with Harbinger. However, before either of them could press against one another, Shadow appeared in-between the pair and kicked with his rocket-skates to generate a wave of energy and push them both back.

The black Hedgehog then sped to the male Huntsman as Qrow tried to swing his sword at him, but Shadow swerved under the strike and appeared behind Qrow to deliver a Homing Attack to his back and knock him towards the mountainous area. Winter than rushed Shadow with her sword, which he blocked with Arondight, parrying her strikes before leaping back to throw a Chaos Spear at her feet to blast her back. But as she flipped and recovered in mid-air, Shadow instinctively pulled up his sword to block a gunshot from Qrow as he had Harbinger converted into its shotgun mode.

Shadow glared as he converted Arondight into its semi-automatic rifle mode and shot at Qrow in response as he used his speed to circle around the general area and get to Qrow, who in turn, ran closer to the small mountain to get some distance, but he gravely underestimated Shadow's speed as he caught up, grabbed him by the face with his free hand and slammed him into the mountain.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shadow noticed a flash of white as he looked back to see several small white Nevermores flying in his direction, but he snapped his fingers to create a flash of Chaos Energy and dissipate them before leaping up to a ridge on the mountain as Winter rushed forward, using a Glyph to propel herself, thrusting her sword, which Qrow blocked with his weapon before leaping up after Shadow with Winter following right behind him.

As the three ascended the mountain, they also moved to attack one another, dashing along the sides to slash and strike at each other with Winter attacking Qrow and Shadow striking him in the back with a kick to knock him down somewhat before Winter had drawn a second sword from her first and swung her dual weapons at Shadow, which he blocked with Arondight before Spin Dashing at her feet and almost knocked her off the mountain completely as he used his rocket skates to propel him to the top of the mountain. Though Winter had used a Glyph to stabilize herself as he landed on the ground, Qrow appeared on the side of the mountain as they both looked up to see Shadow literally looking down on them expectantly. That seemed to really get to them both as Qrow quickly jumped his way towards the summit to swing Harbinger at Shadow, who blocked it with Arondight. The two locked their red eyes as Qrow gave a taunting smirk just as Winter had suddenly appeared, standing on a giant white Nevermore that hovered above them before said Nevermore launched a volley of white feathers with Qrow leaping back and Shadow teleporting above Winter and her white Nevermore to throw a rather large Chaos Spear at the Nevermore's neck, decapitating it and causing Winter to fall as Shadow dashed at her while in mid-air.

"Hold on… did your sister just create a white Grimm?" Sonic asked, looking at Weiss in surprise.

"Summoning." The heiress explained. "A special Glyph ability that lets us summon familiars of defeated foes to aid us in combat, such as the Grimm we've killed."

"How come we never saw you do that before? That's so cool!" Ruby stated.

"And you never really talked about it while we were training this past week." Tails added.

Weiss looked away with embarrassment. "I'm… still having trouble working on it."

Shadow had locked blades with Winter as they fell, before he performed an aerial cartwheel kick to knock her down towards the urban area filled with ruined buildings. Though she landed on her feet, she used a Glyph to dash out of the way of Shadow's devastating Homing Attack that left a crater where she once stood. Right as he landed, she dashed directly at him to slash her dual swords, which Shadow blocked and parried with ease. But a series of gunshots erupted in-between them as Qrow rushed them, using Harbinger to slice at them before focusing on Winter. However, Shadow stepped back and noticed the smirk on his face.

'He's not taking this seriously.' The Ultimate Lifeform thought. 'If he or Winter are involved with Ozpin and his conspiracy, that could make them potential threats, notably to the children.'

With that thought in mind, Shadow performed a Spin Dash and sped at both Qrow and Winter, sweeping them off their feet before slashing at and dashing the two of them. Qrow recovered first as he saw Shadow standing on top of a pile of rubble… but he looked in surprise to see that Shadow was holding his flask. Qrow felt his jacket to see that his flask was indeed missing.

Shadow then flicked open the top and turned it over, unceremoniously pouring out all its contents on the ground before dropping the empty flask into the puddle of spilled whiskey, all not breaking off eye-contact with Qrow as he did so.

Even Sonic had to wince at that while Ruby looked with concern. Yang, on the other hand, felt some form of satisfaction. While she didn't like her uncle being openly insulted and taunted like that, she was never a fan of his alcoholism either.

Qrow blinked in surprise before he glared hard at Shadow as he leapt after him with the black Hedgehog jumping backwards into an old building while Qrow jumped in pursuit. As he closed the distance, Qrow had his weapon converted from a sword to a scythe as he spun it around him to gain momentum before slashing at Shadow, which he blocked with Arondight while digging himself into the ground. The black Hedgehog saw the serious glare the veteran Huntsman was giving him, no smirks or taunts, just anger from the insult that was dealt.

'That's more like it.' Shadow thought before flashing a burst of Chaos Energy in Qrow's face to push him back. Unbeknownst to either of them, many of the pillars that kept what was left of the building up were all starting to crack away. Before either could continue however, another flash of white had caught both their attention as another giant white Nevermore flew in to crash through the whole building, causing it to collapse as the giant white bird flew over the arena, Shadow and Qrow both holding onto its feathers while Winter herself was on the ground controlling it.

Shadow then teleported off the white Nevermore and re-appeared in mid-air above Winter to throw a volley of Chaos Spears which she rolled out of the way to avoid right when he landed and dashed at her to send her into the volcanic environment.

'So, he's fast and he can teleport?!' Qrow thought as he continued to hold onto the circling white Nevermore. 'Now, that's just cheap!' He pushed himself up towards the white Nevermore's neck and hooked Harbinger in its scythe-mode underneath its throat before swinging with a mighty yell to decapitate it, causing it to vanish as he fell towards the volcanic environment where Shadow and Winter dueled.

The eldest Schnee tried to swing her swords at him, using subtle and small Glyphs to try and keep up with his superior speed, but Shadow easily sped around her to grab her by the arm with his free hand, haul her up and slam her to the ground before throwing her away. Glancing up, he saw the incoming Qrow try to bring his Harbinger in its scythe-mode down to him, but Shadow teleported out of the way and appeared behind Qrow to land a solid kick to his back before jumping backwards. As Qrow tried to charge at him, a small blizzard had encircled the pair as multiple white Beowolves had also appeared to close in on them, courtesy of the recovering Winter as she took the time to catch her breath.

As insufferable as he was, Qrow was still a skilled Huntsman. But this alien was keeping both of them on the back foot as she couldn't even find any openings to land a single hit in. Maybe these summons of hers can keep them both occupied and by her time to recover before she can summon a Manticore and…

However, a Black Tornado had suddenly appeared in the middle of all that, easily overcoming the blizzard and sucking in all the white Beowolves and even Qrow himself before it vanished and all were sent flying with Shadow dashing to her like a missile in the blink of an eye, grabbing her by the face as he dashed even further.

Qrow happened to be blasted all the way to the oceanic area, landing hard on the ground and flopping into the shallow water as he pulled himself up. He looked to see Shadow had propelled himself and Winter far past the volcanic area and near the edge of the arena before delivering a spinning kick to knock her away, all while hovering with his rocket skates, and threw a volley of Chaos Spears at her, which she was unable to avoid as they all struck her with explosive results to send her flying and crashing outside the arena, her light blue Aura briefly appearing around her before vanishing.

The buzzer sounded upon her landing. "Winter Schnee is eliminated by both ring out and Aura level!" Ozpin announced.

"Winter…" Weiss couldn't help but look saddened. Though the pragmatic part of her had a feeling Shadow would have the advantage, having seen just how powerful he was. But it was still upsetting seeing the older sister she admired so get defeated like this.

'Speed, teleporting, energy attacks, and those fancy skates of his can even let him fly.' Qrow thought as he observed Shadow. 'Not only does this freak have a boatload of powers, he knows how to use them.' The Ultimate Lifeform then appeared before him on the sand as his opponent was ankle-deep in water. 'If he really wanted to win, he could have just teleported me out of the ring. He's testing me, trying to see if he can take me in a real fight. If I forfeit, that'll just make him more suspicious. With that in mind, might as well give him what he wants.'

"Let's go." Qrow challenged. Shadow maintained a serious look as he dashed at Qrow, who swung his scythe at him, but Shadow had leapt over it and performed an aerial kick to Qrow's face which he just barely avoided by pulling his head down, but this caused Shadow to appear behind him as he tried to swing Arondight, which Qrow blocked with a spin from Harbinger before firing a point-blank shotgun blast at him. But Shadow teleported to avoid that and appeared in front of Qrow to kick him in the stomach and push him deeper into the water with Shadow pressing the advantage as he sped and swung Arondight at him, which Qrow caught under the hook of his scythe and spun it around, causing the sword to slip from Shadow's grasp. Qrow tried to use this opening to punch with all his might in his free hand, but Shadow easily caught the punch with little effort.

'A faint!' Shadow saw through Qrow's intent as he tried to bring Harbinger's scythe mode to his side, but Shadow used his other hand to manifest a Chaos Spear and not only block the scythe, but even blast it out of Qrow's hand. With his enemy open, Shadow punched Qrow in the chest and channeled his Chaos Energy into it with explosive force to blast him out of the ring, complete with a buzzer as he crashed to the ground.

"Qrow Branwen is eliminated by ring out and Aura level!" Ozpin announced. "The winner of the match, is Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Though there was applause from the audience, it wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Team Sonic's battle against the Ace Ops. Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Penny, and Pietro all clapped just for the sake of being polite and courteous to the combatants, same with Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and even Sonic, though he and Rouge both had serious looks on their faces. Omega too had observed the fight, all while monitoring for any outside eyes, and he had detected none; as such, he was unsurprised by the outcome. Ruby appeared to be more than a little shocked, a sentiment she shared with Yang. Much like how Weiss thought, they knew Shadow was truly powerful, but seeing their beloved uncle lose a fight, even if it was just a friendly competition (or as friendly as you can get with Shadow), was a sight that was not so easy for them to process.

Each of the Ace Ops looked in complete surprise. They had worked with Winter before and knew she was certainly skilled, so much so that she could rival even Clover, it was little wonder she was considered Ironwood's right hand. And while they didn't know Qrow all that much, he was clearly an experienced and capable Huntsman in his own right. And yet, this Shadow was able to hold his own against both of them and appeared to be in complete control of the whole fight. Suffice to say, they should best watch themselves if they were ever around him.

As Winter pushed herself up, she was approached by Ironwood. "I apologize, sir." She told him, bowing her head.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Winter." He assured her. "You put up a good fight. Well done."

"Thank you." She nodded. Though that did bring her some relief, it was still disappointing to lose a fight like this, especially in front of her younger sister.

Shadow, having reclaimed Arondight, and holding Harbinger in his hand, had seen their interaction briefly before walking over to Qrow as Ozpin extended his hand to help the man up.

"Good work, Qrow." He congratulated.

"I tried…" He shrugged off with a seeming smile before it quickly faded as he saw Shadow approach him before handing him his discarded weapon. Qrow did glare a bit before taking his weapon back.

"I trust you were satisfied, Shadow?" Ozpin asked.

"They will suffice." He answered simply.

"Well, nice to know I meet your expectations." Qrow said, not even trying to hide his sarcasm. "By the way, that was some expensive whiskey you dumped back there!"

"You should consider giving it up entirely." Shadow told him. "Alcohol is for the weak. It can turn even the most hardened of warriors into a complete mess. And if you're not careful, your youngest can easily follow that same path herself."

That really ticked him off, with Qrow looking ready to try and tear him a new one, but Ozpin held out his arm to stop him. "That's enough. And he's not wrong, Qrow. You really should stop drinking. It's not healthy."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll think about it." Qrow waved off as Shadow walked away. He then leaned towards Ozpin and spoke softly. "He's strong. Probably the strongest guy here. He might give you a hard time."

"I don't doubt it. But we are on the same side right now, and we need to make sure it stays that way." Ozpin whispered back firmly.

"Fine." Qrow reluctantly accepted. But it wasn't just Shadow's stunt with the whiskey that ticked him off. The way he carried himself, looking down on him with critical and distrusting eyes, even the way he talked… pretty much everything about him reminded him of his sister, and that really did not sit well with him. Qrow may be on the fence regarding Sonic, but one thing was certain. He did not trust Shadow.

And it seemed the feeling was mutual. Shadow could tell from that fight that Qrow was indeed the one who trained Ruby, not that he didn't believe her when she spoke about him, but Qrow's own actions all but confirmed it. The same applied for Winter regarding Weiss. But he still learned what he needed to know. Winter was not involved in all this secrecy. She may answer to Ironwood, but she regarded him as her superior, possibly even seeking his approval more than anything. That's not the kind of attitude you want if you mean to keep a deep secret like this. Qrow, on the other hand, acted as Ozpin's equal. Though it was clear that Ozpin was the leader of this group, Qrow wasn't looking for any kind of approval like Winter was. Not only that, but he also happened to hear a little bit of what was just said between them just now. There was no mistaking it.

Qrow was a part of Ozpin's conspiracy.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight." Glynda addressed the students who sat alongside Team Sonic. "Many of you have to compete in the tournament tomorrow, so I encourage you to get a good night sleep."

"Thank you, Professor. We will." Pyrrha assured as Teams RWBY and JNPR all stood up along with Team Sonic and proceeded to leave the arena.

---

However, rather than get some sleep, both student teams had arrived in Team Sonic's dorm room where they, along with Team Dark, had important information to share.

"Omega? Rouge?" Shadow spoke to his team.

"No listening devices or outside interference detected." The former Badnik reported.

"And I'm not hearing anyone outside either. We're good." The jewel thief added.

"What's going on here?" Ruby asked.

"You said you had some info on the spies?" Jaune recalled.

"We've identified at least two." Shadow said as he looked towards Omega with a nod, the robot then shined it's camera to reveal a three-dimensional still of one of the team battles from the tournament earlier that day, the one that had Cinder's group participating. "This one right here…" He pointed to the hologram of 'Mary Poppins' before Omega switching to his ultraviolet setting on the hologram and reveal her true from of Neopolitan.

"That's the same woman we saw with Torchwick!" Pyrrha recognized.

"She had some sort of illusion-based Semblance." Ren recalled. "It was how they were able to slip away back then."

"But a pair of robot eyes could see right through that." Nora smirked.

"Affirmative." Omega confirmed. "Her ability creatures visual distortions surrounding herself and a small radius within general area based on Rouge's testimony."

"I fought her back on the train, but her power doesn't stop her from being heard." Rouge herself added.

"So, it's only visual." Tails stated. "I can see how she would use that to sneak into Beacon."

"What about the other one?" Knuckles asked. "You said you found two of them."

"Her." Shadow pointed to the image of Cinder. "She's using the name 'Cinder Autumn', I don't know if that's her real name or just an alias. But she was the same intruder we fought in the communications tower with Metal Sonic." Shadow revealed, looking towards Ruby and Knuckles, with the girl being the most surprised as the red Echidna narrowed his eyes.

"So, she was the one on the motorcycle?" Sonic recalled to which Shadow nodded. "But that would also mean…"

"She's the one who murdered Fifer." Blake growled, clenching her fist as she recalled that disturbing scene. This also caused Weiss to look away with a partially guilty expression herself.

"Alright! We got em then! So let's go bust…" Yang looked ready for a fight.

"Hold on Yang, not yet." Amy stopped her. "What about the other two?" She referred to the other two members of their team on the holographic-still, Emerald and Mercury. "That boy and the girl. Are they in on it?"

"Not sure." Rouge confessed with a shrug. "We didn't find a lot of info on either of them, not even their Semblances. But we did see that Mercury-kid in the courtyard when Qrow and Winter were having their little 'spat'. And when he saw that, he turned tail and ran."

Shadow saw that as well. If he ran away at the sight of Qrow, who was also involved with Ozpin's conspiracy, then he might be a spy as well. "But this does not guarantee that their whole team are intruders. There is a chance that at least one of them is innocent."

"Innocent?" Jaune asked. "But if they're on the same team as the bad guys…"

"I get it." Ren figured it out. "They could be hostages. Someone to use as leverage if their cover gets blown."

"Exactly." Shadow confirmed.

"Well, that's cowardly." Weiss spat.

"Tactically speaking though, it makes sense." Blake commented. "Not that I agree with it."

"It also means we can't just charge in head on." Sonic said with reluctance.

"But there's only two or four of them!" Yang pointed out. "And there's eleven of us! And with someone as fast as Sonic, we can…"

"We might stop them, but it won't stop Eggman, and we still don't know what he's planning." Sonic interrupted. "As much as I'd like to solve this quickly, we gotta take it slow… not that I like this sort of thing."

"I agree, we can't rush in on this." Knuckles agreed, looking to Yang with a serious expression. "And Mimic was just one guy, remember how that turned out?"

Yang winced at that particular reminder. But at the same time, it also brought her back to reality as she reminded herself that she can't just go in guns blazing anymore like how she used to. She almost got Ruby killed twice for thinking that. She wasn't going to repeat that mistake with anybody else.

"But we still at least know who two of them are right? That's some good progress!" Ruby beamed. "Let's try and talk with Uncle Qrow about this. I'm sure he can…"

"No!" Shadow interrupted, much to Ruby's as well as Yang's surprise.

"No?" Ruby questioned.

"No." Shadow reaffirmed.

"W-why not? He's a pro Huntsman, one of the best out there." Ruby pointed out in confusion.

"He can't be trusted!" Shadow stated.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course, he can!" Yang stepped up. "Is this about that fight with him and Weiss' sister?"

"We get it. That was wrong of him." Ruby added. "And maybe he's a bit of a drinker too, but he still…"

"He's involved with Ozpin!" Shadow revealed, which caused many of the students to look in surprise, with Ruby and Yang's eyes especially widening, while Team Sonic looked with seriousness.

"Is that the reason you picked a fight with him?" Sonic asked his fellow Hedgehog.

"I needed to know for sure if that was the case with him, as well as Winter." The Ultimate Lifeform concerned. "Whether they'd be allies, or liabilities."

"And how can you tell from a fight?" Nora questioned.

"In something as intense as a battle, it's hard to keep up a façade." Knuckles said. "Your real thoughts and emotions can slip in and show themselves."

"That, and if you also pay close attention to how people interact before and after said fight..." Rouge added. "If you have keen observation skills, that is."

While Ruby and Yang looked more than a little conflicted, Weiss happened to look rather nervous herself. "So… is my sister also involved?"

"No, I don't believe so." Shadow revealed, much to Weiss' relief. "She seems more to be looking for Ironwood's approval. Qrow was also likely using that match to test myself for the same purpose. And he probably observed your fight against the Ace Ops that way too." He said towards Sonic as the blue Hedgehog looked serious.

"B-but… Uncle Qrow… he's not… I mean…" Ruby seemed at a loss over this revelation. While they were able to figure out that Ozpin was hiding something from all of them, the idea that her uncle, someone from her family, was involved in that did not sit well with her at all.

And while Yang had similar feelings as well, she couldn't help but think back to how often Qrow was home, or rather how he was rarely home. Though he did make most of their birthdays, he was only at their house in Patch a couple times a year. The only exception being when he became a teacher at Signal, but that was only when Ruby enrolled. And even then, he seemed to focus most of his attention on Ruby. And right after she got accepted into beacon, he quit his teaching job right then and there. If he was involved with Ozpin, it may explain why he wasn't home as often.

"Okay… so let's say that Qrow is involved with Ozpin." Pyrrha said, putting a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder to give her some form of emotional stability. "I still don't see that as a reason to not tell them about the intruders."

"Yeah, Pyrrha's right." Jaune agreed. "Wouldn't he be just as concerned about his school since he runs the place? And no offense Shadow, but this kinda makes you sound like a hypocrite since your mad at Ozpin for keeping secrets, but you're fine with it yourself?"

"Did he really just call Shadow a hypocrite right to his face?" Amy whispered to Tails.

"Yes, he did." The young fox confirmed. "But while he's not wrong, I'm sure Shadow has his reasons." Tails knew. It was the reason he had his Anti-Virus equipped with a special programing to gain a copy of Beacon's schematics to search the school.

Shadow sighed, realizing Jaune was right in this regard. But he soon spoke. "Let's consider what we know. When Eggman came to Remnant, he had a whole fleet at his disposal, and still does. As far as we know, we also has the remaining six Chaos Emeralds, and complete control of Space Colony Ark. He's had more than enough time since then to repair any damage to the Eclipse Cannon that had been used to transport us all here. He has everything he needs to launch a world-wide invasion of the planet, and yet he hasn't. If he could only target one Kingdom, it would be Atlas. He'd destroy the most powerful of the Kingdoms to showcase his superiority, and yes, he has the power to do that." He said that part to Weiss specifically. "But his target is Vale, or specifically Beacon. Why this Academy? And even if Beacon is his true target, why hasn't he launched an attack? He's sent in spies, armed a terrorist militia with his weaponry, and allied with a deranged scientist. The Doctor would never partake in such roundabout measures to get what he wants unless it was absolutely necessary."

"Which means this isn't his plan. We already figured out that he's working with someone." Sonic put in.

"And whoever that someone is, wants something that's here at Beacon." Shadow added. "That's why they had a small group infiltrate the Academy. Ozpin knows what that is, and he knows who Eggman is working with. But for whatever reason, he's not telling us. He doesn't trust us. If we go to him and his group about what we've learned, on one end they may not take us seriously because we only have partial information. On the other, Ironwood could take it too far with his hardhanded approach and arrest their whole group, potentially endangering any possible hostages."

"They could also take care of them out of sight and try make up an excuse as to why they were here to throw us off their trail." Rouge added. "Qrow included." She then noticed how conflicted all the students looked at this, especially Ruby and Yang and sighed before she spoke again. "Look, I get that you kids aren't a fan of all this black-ops stuff, but we're stuck. This is the best we can do right now. If we find out why Eggman and his mystery partner are targeting Beacon, we can definitely find a way to help and even a way to take the fight to them. But until then, we're on perpetual defense and that is not how we roll."

Ruby could tell that a lot of Shadow's arguments made sense, many of her friends were feeling the same way. There was something happening behind the scenes, something that could put a lot of people in danger. As a Huntress-in-training, it was her duty to try and help them. But not knowing the whole situation made that harder. If there was something at Beacon that Eggman wanted, maybe they could move it and lure him away. But Ozpin hasn't been telling Sonic anything. And if Qrow's involved in that… she honestly had no idea what to think of that.

"So… what do we do? T-there has to be something we can do! Right?!" She looked towards Sonic with desperation in her eyes, hoping he had some idea.

The Fastest Thing Alive thought for a moment. His arms crossed, eyes closed, and his foot tapping rapidly. All this roundabout and secret stuff was not the Blue Blur's style, but like Shadow and Rouge pointed out, they were stuck, and Sonic hated that feeling even more. Eggman and his mystery partner had the advantage right now; while all Sonic and everyone had going for them was one Chaos Emerald and Tails' Anti-Virus. But then an idea came to him.

"Okay, I got it!" Sonic snapped his fingers, getting all their attention before pointing to his best bud. "Tails, how's your Anti-Virus coming along? Find anything yet?"

Tails pulled out his Miles Electric and looked over the data he had. "Nothing yet… but it's combed through half of Beacon's network at this point, so we should actually have something soon."

"How soon? Say… after the Doubles Round tomorrow?" Sonic asked.

Once again, Tails looked over the data on his device. "Hmm… at the rate it's going… Yeah. I'd have the entire network covered by the end of the day tomorrow. If there is a virus in the system, I'll definitely have it found!"

"Perfect!" Sonic clapped his hands just once. "Here's the plan. We'll keep what we know to ourselves for right now, if only because we don't have the full picture, and we don't wanna tip the bad guys off that we're onto them. We'll keep an eye on the spies and see if their whole team is involved…" Sonic gestured to himself and the rest of his own team as well as Team Dark. "While you guys, keep going with the tournament." He told the students. "Keep up the appearance that you don't know. Once we've found something with Tails' handy Anti-Virus, we'll go straight to Ozpin and talk to him. We'll tell him what we know and find out for sure what he knows." Sonic said seriously. "Shadow's right. Ozpin is keeping something from us, and it's making it that much harder to take the fight to Eggman. Once we figure all that out, we're finally going on the offense."

"Good plan, Blue. Except that Oz could still deny us if we just question him without any real proof that he's hiding something." Rouge put in. "Which is why I'll be doing some snooping and find out what he's trying so hard to keep buried."

"Why am I not surprised you'd volunteer for something like that?" Weiss questioned the bat, who only smirked at her.

"You might not like the way I do things, but I get things done." She replied.

Sonic sighed. "Okay, fine. You look around, just don't get caught."

"You know me." Rouge shrugged playfully.

"So… we all good on the plan?" Sonic asked everyone as each of them took a moment to think about it.

"It's a good plan." Ren nodded.

"Yeah, I'm on board with it." Nora said.

"Same here." Knuckles agreed.

"I don't like it one hundred percent, but it may be the best we got right now." Amy said.

"Affirmative." Omega was on-board as well.

"I'm in." Blake also said. "And since I'm not in the Doubles Round, maybe I can help keep an eye on the infiltrators."

"Just watch your back." Weiss advised. "If they're involved with Eggman, they may have been working with the White Fang too, so they could know about your history."

"Fair point." Blake accepted.

"It sounds like a reasonable plan." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, I'm in too." Jaune also said.

"I'm also in." Weiss stated. "But… what about my sister? Should I tell her about all of this?"

"No." Shadow responded. "Even if she's not involved with Ozpin, she still answers to Ironwood. I don't trust him to be precise enough in this regard. Same goes with the Ace Ops."

"Alright… I understand." Weiss accepted, but that didn't mean she'd have to like it. Winter could certainly help. But at the same time, she knew Shadow wasn't wrong about Ironwood or Ozpin either.

Ruby then looked towards Yang as she didn't quite have an answer right away. She too felt a bit conflicted if Qrow was involved in all this. But the elder half-sister came to a decision.

"Alright." The blonde accepted with reluctance.

"I guess we're in." Ruby then said. "But Shadow… what if you're wrong?" She asked the black Hedgehog. "What if whatever Uncle Qrow and Ozpin are hiding isn't… bad or anything? Or they have a good for reason for doing what they're doing?"

"Then I'm wrong." Shadow replied. "I'm willing to accept that. But I would rather be wrong and considered paranoid, than be completely blindsided because we didn't dig deep enough." That seemed to ease Ruby's mind a bit. "That being said…" Shadow got her attention again. "I want you to take what I have to say very seriously. Just because there is family involved, doesn't automatically make it right. Ask questions. Look into it. Don't just accept it just because family says so. Don't enlist until you know what war you're fighting."

Shadow knew right away that Ruby would not take any of this well, but she had to know. Just like with Eggman, Shadow also considered everything he knew about Ruby. She was accepted into Beacon by Ozpin personally two years ahead of the average student here. While her combat skills were optimal, she still had a lot to learn. There were cons as well as pros to such a choice. Plus, Qrow personally trained her, he could tell from his match against the man as many of his techniques were more mastered versions of her own. And if Qrow trained Ruby and he was involved with Ozpin… then perhaps Ozpin was more involved with Ruby personally and even her whole family than it seemed. From a certain perspective, it felt like that Ruby was being groomed for something. And that did not sit right with Shadow.

"Okay…" Ruby seemed to get what Shadow was saying. "Can I at least talk with Uncle Qrow about… some personal family stuff? Because… there are some things that I need to talk with him about." She glanced at Knuckles, who could tell right away what she was talking about, causing the red Echidna to nod to her.

"That's fine." Shadow accepted.

"Alright, now it's time to hit the hay." Sonic told everyone. "I get a feeling we're all gonna need it." As everyone else prepared to exit Team Sonic's dorm, the blue Hedgehog came to the red-clad girl as he gently grabbed her wrist to get her attention. "We'll get this figured out, okay? Not exactly my style, but we'll take it one step at a time if we have to. So long as we get to scramble some Eggman, it's worth it."

Ruby giggled at that. Even if all their problems weren't solved, just hearing Sonic's reassurance was enough to ease her a bit. "Thanks, Sonic."

---

"You're sure?" Cinder asked, pacing in the room she shared with her team.

"Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him." Mercury confirmed, sitting on a chair, having told Cinder and everyone else about Qrow's arrival.

"So, what do we do?" Emerald asked, sitting on a bed with Neo sitting on the one across from her.

"Nothing." Cinder answered. "We stay the course. Even if that fool Ironwood brought in more of his elite, they still have no idea who we are. So, we have no reason to worry."

Neo then used her Semblance to take the form of Sonic as she looked at her with a skeptical expression.

"Yes, how can we forget the blue rat that Eggman won't shut up about." Cinder rolled her eyes as Neo changed back. "But just like with everyone else, they don't have a clue who we are. So we'll keep going, and when one of those precious students of his makes it to the finals… we'll set them up and hit him right where it hurts."

"That's assuming they make it that far." Mercury pointed out. "They can still lose their matches."

"True. But given how the Invincible Girl and Schnee heiress are in the Doubles, it is highly likely they'll progress." Cinder said as she walked over to the desk to collect her personal scroll. "Besides, that's not our true objective, merely a back-up. Once we have what we came here for, not even Sonic will stand in my way." She noticed an alert on her screen, where the symbol of the black queen chess piece blinked. Clicking it, Cinder was mildly surprised to see she now had remote access to Ironwood's own scroll. "Ah… Look at that. We have a new access point, thanks to our clever little friend."

"Anywhere good?" Emerald asked.

"You could say that." Cinder answered. "Get some rest. I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am." Emerald nodded.

"Got it." Mercury waved off.

Neo stood up and approached Cinder before using her Semblance to transform into Torchwick.

"Don't worry. If all goes well, you'll get your precious Roman back." She told her silent ally, who changed back to normal before moving along. "Now then…" Cinder used her access to the Beacon internal system to get into the tournament set up for the doubles matches tomorrow. "Let's give the crowd a good fight." With a few clicks, she had set up Emerald and Mercury up to fight against Coco and Yatsuhashi.

However, just as she put the scroll down, Cinder failed to notice the symbol of the black queen blinking in and out briefly, before a new logo appeared. This one being a spinning yellow ball with a pair of fox tails at the end, all before the device turned off.

Done.

Well, that was quite the chapter, wasn't it?

Qrow, Winter, and the Ace Ops (with Marrow now in their ranks) have arrived on the scene and will lend their aid in the upcoming battle against Eggman. We had Team Sonic spar with the Ace Ops, and I had a ton of fun writing that. Things seemed to have been patched up as the two teams seem to be on good terms right now, with the exception of Harriet due to her pride, but she's at least willing to keep it professional so it's better than nothing.

We also had the reveal of Tails new weapon! Hurricane Gamma! A jetpack with jet-wings, which can be dethatched and converted into a pair of laser swords (thanks to Hard Light Dust), as well as some Dust munitions to create beams of elemental power (similar to what Penny can do with her swords). I know that many of you were probably thinking I'd use something like what Nine has with his cybernetic tails from "Sonic Prime", and in all honesty, I did consider that. But then I realized something, those cybernetic tails are not Tails' own style. Despite being parallel versions of each other, Tails and Nine are not the same person, Shadow said that very clearly in the canon "Sonic Prime" series, and he is absolutely right. The Tails we all know, and love is loving and optimistic, while Nine is cynical and angry, their personalities are different, so I wanted to give Tails a weapon that I felt was more his style and the jet-pack with swords seemed like the best way to do just that. And yes, it is named after E-102 Gamma, I thought that be nice.

Speaking of Shadow, we also had a very intense three-way fight with him, Qrow, and Winter and that was also a ton of fun to write. But while Sonic's spar against the Ace Ops was to mend fences, Shadow's match was to test to see if they will be strong enough against Eggman, and to see where their allegiances lie. While Winter does answer to Ironwood, she's not part of Ozpin's secret society, while Qrow is. And as you imagine, this is not sitting well with Ruby. So, expect things to get pretty emotionally tense going forward.

Likewise, the same can be true from Qrow's end as he prefers that Ruby and Yang stay away from all of this because he doesn't want them involved in the conflict against Salem, so he's not completely trusting of Sonic (and he does not trust Shadow at all, seeing him in the same light as Raven).

If you kinda think about it, Ozpin and his current gathering of associates can actually be considered foils towards the individual members Team Sonic, not just between Sonic and Ozpin…

Tails and Qrow are both foils to one another. They are both arguably the closest and most loyal to their respective leaders, seeing them as family even (with Tails viewing Sonic as an older brother, and Ozpin being a father-figure to Qrow), and they both have had a hard time growing up due to "disabilities" of sorts: Tails with his twin tails, and Qrow with his Misfortune Semblance. But while Tails has found a way to use his twin appendages to his advantage and make them into something he can be proud of (hence his nickname), Qrow still views his Misfortune as a curse, something he only has some form of control over. Their personalities are almost complete opposite as well. While Tails is young, he's also very optimistic and honest; while Qrow is older and more experienced, he's much more cynical, immature at times, and disrespectful to pretty much everyone aside from his nieces and Ozpin (he even badmouthed Team JNPR in Pyrrha's presence and showed little respect to Jaune and the others, even after being in-directly responsible for Pyrrha's death).

Knuckles and Ironwood could also be considered foils. Both their homes are floating pieces of land (all courtesy of powerful divine relics that have connection to gods, and once their removed, said homes then fall to the ground). They also seem to butt heads the most with their respective leaders and are incredibly stubborn. But their respective journeys and character growth in cannon are almost completely opposite. Knuckles started off as strict and naïve, easily being tricked and manipulated, but when he stepped outside his comfort zone and explored more of the world, he became much more open-minded, friendly, and even casual with those around him, learning and experiencing new things. Ironwood, on the other hand, started off as a good man, but regressed whenever things went bad and retreated back to his home turf and when that was being threatened, he only double-downed and became much more dangerous (his own Semblance being perpetually active didn't help either).

It could be said that Amy and Glynda are also foils to each other, but there's not much to go off when it comes to Glynda. Unlike Ozpin, Qrow, or Ironwood, we didn't really get any time to explore much of Glynda's character. But we can tell that while strict, she does care for her students. The only difference between Amy and Glynda is while one is openly caring, the other is strict on the surface, but they both seem to care a great deal for those around them, so that's nice. They're also incredibly loyal to their leaders; though Amy is more out of romantic feelings towards Sonic while Glynda doesn't have that for Oz.

Regarding Ozpin's Inner Circle, they aren't completely on-board with letting Sonic and his friends in on the shadow-war against Salem, Qrow is especially against it if that means Ruby and Yang will get pulled in as well, but this is also leading to Shadow and even Sonic becoming even more suspicious of Ozpin and his motives, leading to the black Hedgehog conducting his own investigation, and advising the students (particularly Ruby) about being careful around the Beacon headmaster and his associates.

And yes, Qrow is underestimating Eggman and seems to believe that Salem is the bigger threat (despite them both being equally dangerous) but given how much damage Salem has done to his family, you can't exactly blame him.

Despite this friction forming between these two parties, Cinder seems confident that her plan will work out. But she is completely unaware that she's already been found out, and Tails' Anti-Virus is working its magic. The conniving little schemer is in for a rude awakening.

Now then, let me remind you that I will be taking the next two weeks off from writing due to the holidays, so it will be some time before my next update. But coming up, we're going into the Doubles Round and I've got some interesting fights and character interactions planned here. Things are going to pick up real soon and I can't wait for you all to read it.

Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!