Pyrrha stared, not so much conflicted, but rather confused at the scene playing out before her.
Ren was the first to take action, laying out a blanket of bullets no different than the one V had draped around his form. It was cover fire for Nora to dash in for a swipe, with Jaune swinging around to the other side in an effort to cut off any escape. V, in response, looked to duck underneath the hammer, but that was a foolish move as Nora had been going for an overhead swing.
Her thoughts were proven wrong when he nailed their resident lightning bolt of energy right in the gut, pushing her back before slamming his boots into the pavement after. It had been a sort of flip kick, which had him somersault backwards by a single step about an inch or so off the ground. He never left the ground though, with his duck acting as the start, he'd flung one leg up to hit her away, and it carried its momentum while the other entered the air. His one free hand allowed for a partial cartwheel during the motion, and he came back down easily from standing on the single limb. Nora flew through the air from the immense force, righting herself almost instantly before landing, skidding to a stop a little ways away. Jaune pushed in, but before he could even get close V had dashed back a couple steps, twisting to avoid the blade made to stab.
The blanket, by this point, was starting to tear from the hail of gunfire, which only ceased for a second as Ren forwent reloading to rush into the fray himself. Surprisingly, the makeshift cloak remained intact, and V never once let the single hand holding it as a shroud go. His grip was tighter than before, and she couldn't even see his face with how small the hole was. Nothing but crimson irises stared out, and a single knee rose to block the slash unleashed by her team leader.
That leg transitioned into a twist, hooking around the boy's neck and pulling him in, where V carried the momentum by falling on his back and halfway rolling. His other foot jut out once Jaune was above him, kicking hard and sending him up and out in the air, and allowing V time to recover from that roll and shoot left, avoiding Ren's boot.
The often quiet member of the group didn't let up there, swiping to and fro while moving closer. V kept dodging and weaving, shifting away from each strike as he backed up, all the while distinctly allowing some of said slashes to go through, but only on the black leather of his one exposed arm.
And that was where her confusion lied.
He'd already been discovered, and was very clearly at a disadvantage fighting with that cloth - where did he even get that thing anyway? The fast approach would have been to drop it, which would free up the other arm for combat. So why didn't he?
Nora rushed in and delivered a heavy crushing slam from the right, and thanks to Jaune sneaking up from behind, V's efforts to dodge were met with a surprising lack of options. He'd made to sidestep it, but Jaune's shield knocked him off balance. He'd recovered, naturally, but with said recovery the hammer of justice took him. Within its pull, he was spun a half circle around by the gargantuan weapon before launching off into a nearby wall, just missing a window by about a foot.
Had he the time to scold her, Pyrrha knew Ren would have something critical to say about watching her aim.
Still, the impact cracked the bricks, and for a second V was motionless after falling the single step back down to the ground. Getting his bearings would have been a good chance to close in, but this fight was more for show than anything. It needed to appear just decent enough not to be questioned by the masses, but not too hard as to actually hurt V. The goal was to defeat him, not break him, which was where Pyrrha found her concern growing bold.
She'd yet to do anything in the fight, merely watching as the rest of her team put him through the ringer, and in the sparse moment of calmness, she tried to rationalize why he still, even now, hadn't tossed aside the blanket.
But she couldn't sit there doing nothing forever; that alone was suspicious. And so, seeing her team ready themselves once more, she stepped forward and made to speak. V, be it due to fatigue or common courtesy, remained where he was as she made her next demands.
"You're outmatched." It tumbled out of her lips so smoothly, much better than what she'd expected for a lie. Lies usually tasted bitter, with hints of sour mixed in, like a wine spiked by those less used to the uniquely smooth and disgusting mix the ancient concoction made its fame by. "It is not too late to surrender. You'll be given a fair trial and access to a lawyer if you comply; there is still a chance to turn this around."
He never said a word, and while Pyrrha held back a sigh, she made it obvious to all onlookers she was restraining one to begin with, all for appearances sake. It was here she took a step ahead, but that decisive step was unfortunately made moot by the slight vibration in her back pocket. Although quite embarrassing from an outward look, she decided to roll with it and pointed towards him.
"Seize him." A bit overt for her personal tastes, but the others didn't seem to notice; except for Nora, who flashed a little grin before she shot ahead. Pyrrha herself took a step away from the restarting fight, intent to just let her team handle him for a bit as she quickly fished out the scroll, which kept ringing soundlessly.
General Ironwood?
Had they already attracted newscast attention? A quick glance around provided no cameras, other than the few brave souls watching from the sidelines with their scrolls presumably recording. Some looked to her, pointing their cameras, but soon went back to the battle; she, while interesting visually, was ultimately the less chaotic display. Maybe the newscasters and cameramen were just hidden somewhere, watching from afar. Wasting no more time, Pyrrha took the call, and seeing as the general had opted to go for voice only this time, she raised it up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Let him escape."
"What?"
"Let him go." Pyrrha's brows fell, and as the confusion surely painted her expression a strange sight - despite her attempts to hide it - the man continued. "Winter's at the Schnee manor now, and according to her father, the intruder behind their alerted status is a woman."
"A woman?" Not even a name? So far the general had been fairly professional with their intel, and the fact he just called this intruder 'a woman' could mean only one thing. "Do we know who she is?"
"No, but Winter's working on that. I trust her to at least come up with something, but right now with this new development we must assume V's anonymity is still intact. If that is the case we can't afford catching him, so if you come across him I need you to abandon your orders and ignore him. Is that understood?"
Pyrrha looked ahead, watching as V dodged and took blows wherever he could, still clutching that blanket as if it were his lifeline, and with the general's news in mind, it may as well have been. While worn, and torn, and spilling some of the fluff it held within, she had yet to even see a hint of anything signaling to his true identity. As far as it looked, this was just a random rogue hunter, who stupidly covered his face with a blanket.
"We may have a bit of a problem with that." She kept her tone low. While she didn't see any Faunus civilians yet, she wasn't willing to risk her words being overheard by the more attentive onlookers, though few they were. "We're facing him right now, and we've made a bit of a show of it already."
"So his efforts were in vain..." The general's previous sturdiness dropped in an instant, but Pyrrha wouldn't let it stay that way for long.
"No." Just like that, she heard his breathing hitch. "We're fighting him, but he's got himself shrouded in a blanket. His identity remains hidden; or, at least I think it does."
"A blanket... Not the best choice for cover, but if it works, it works." He picked up in tone. "Listen, I don't care how you do it, but you have to lose this fight, and you have to make it look natural."
"I understand." Pyrrha looked up, and despite her team slowly wearing him down, the blanket was still holding. "We can do it, but we'll have to lose in front of everybody. There aren't many, but still… It won't look good for the school."
"Students make mistakes, and students often bite off more than they can chew. I'm fine with our academy's credibility dropping a bit if it means our operation stays on track."
"Alright then. Leave it to us."
"Good. Now listen carefully: lead him over to somewhere dark; a place nobody can see too easily. If you can break the line of sight, I can send Raven in via the use of her portals to get him back home. You have exactly five minutes after this call cuts before she shows. I won't count it a mission failure if she's seen, but I'd rather we still be able to use her as a visible member of our military; obviously she won't be able to activate her semblance openly, but her skills at combat alone are more than worth the hassle."
"Okay. We're ready to begin."
"Good. I wish you luck." Thus the call ended, and Pyrrha faced ahead towards V, who'd been maneuvered to the main road and away from the buildings.
Immediately she dashed for Jaune.
.
.
They were better than before.
Maybe it wasn't the best use of my senses to spend most of the fight observing the team, but if I were to keep my face from showing I'd need to analyze their strategies. They had me on the ropes of how easily I could evade, what with Nora's fervent desire to clobber me with her hammer, and Ren's seemingly endless waves of projectiles.
But the absolute worst to deal with so far had been Jaune, shockingly - although I couldn't much say I was all that surprised. The man was still a little rusty when it came to his swordplay, but he was far from the novice I recalled back at Beacon. Considering Pyrrha was the only other sword wielder on the team, I awarded the credit of his sudden increase of skills to her. Jaune had a strange habit of always sneaking up on any blind spots or escape routes in an almost perfect harmony with both Ren and Nora's advances, which I very quickly figured was far from coincidence.
While stepping back, just barely leaning away from another of Nora's smash attempts, Jaune predictably closed in from behind. I knew this because his blade tore across my lower back, cutting yet another piece of my cloak of my lower back were probably showing now, but the plating along that exposed skin kept the metal from drawing blood. No aura could be used with them, and neither could my magic, but luckily enough, I didn't plan on either. Our frantic display was sure to keep any onlookers from getting a solid enough glance to recognise me, and I was thankful for that at least.
Tossing myself back, I was sure I knocked him quite a distance away, and as I skidded against the road again, Ren came in from above. He pulled off an impressive summersault, although for what reason I wasn't sure, until of course, he extended one leg. I blocked it with my free arm, pulling said limb back and trying to strike forwards, but had to relent and drop nearly flat on to the ground because of Nora's hammer. This transitioned into a roll towards the wall again, but Ren was back on the move, and as his next dash caught me on the getup, we were both sent crashing through nearby glass.
Small chairs, a counter along the back wall, and tables - one of which we fell on, and through due to how brittle their glass tops were - made up the quaint looking space. It wasn't a massive place, perhaps large enough to seat maybe ten or twelve people, but for the two who were present, and employee and customer up at the front, we were surely a startling sight.
I never gave Ren a chance to move, taking his neck with my free arm and pulling his body over my head. Practically weightless in my grip due to the immense strength afforded with my transformation, I let go upon seeing his legs pass over my vision, and heard him crash into the counter. Rolling over, I hopped up with that same arm and shot to the door behind the counter. The employee was just about to reach it, but the sight of Ren landing distracted him just enough to give me a second's lead.
It came from its hinges easily, and I was in the kitchen.
Cramped and sporting a single counter, with only some shelves and a much heavier door to the right, which I assumed held the product sold here, it was clear that whoever owned it didn't have much of a budget. This meant, of course, everything related to running the shop was kept in tight quarters, and I saw another door along the back, much less defensive than the first. Banking on the reliability of previous experiences - although outdated for about fifteen hundred years - I assumed it to be an exit, and as if luck were inviting me into its very home, I stumbled out into what appeared to be an alleyway.
Shooting my head towards the street, the one which I had no doubts acted as the field for the previous battle, I considered whether to double back in that direction. Pyrrha and the others wouldn't simply wait for me to leave, and upon no activity within the establishment, they would soon figure out there was an exit in the back, at which point they would most likely try to predict my path and cut me off somewhere else in the city.
But if I were to wait where I was now, and settle myself a little ways up on the wall above, just out of sight, they may rush down the alleyway in an attempt to catch up with my presumed chase, unknowingly leaving me behind without a second thought.
I chose to climb up, not just to hide, but to instead redirect my path of escape back to the rooftops. There was a chance Oscar, Maria, and maybe even some other Atlas students might spot me up top, but they were far more manageable than Pyrrha. Unlike the other Grimm, or even Cinder: I couldn't track her with my powers.
At best, if I focused hard enough, I could get a hit on her general location, but nothing like the raw pinpoint malice of the other Grimm and their ravenous emotions. Maybe it was because her state was inflicted by my own essence, and thus had no mind of its own to emote with, but when it came to trying to track Pyrrha's location right now, all I had was a vague hum of peace. I only connected this to Pyrrha due to our meeting once again back at Haven. Tossing on my armor back on the train not only drowned me in the tides of rage most Grimm exhibited, but also a pleasant tickle of relaxation I could only now pick out due to her being the only nearby Grimm. I gave it no thoughts back then, not even registering the change, but right now, it echoed hauntingly around me.
Even so, I had to try and focus on that feeling, otherwise I felt it would slip away.
Kicking myself from spot to spot, my hands took hold of the edge, and pulling myself up as quietly as I could, I was greeted by no one. There were other roofs higher than this one, which is where I knew the others were, and looking back down I could see the squad of four rush down the alleyway. My guess was either right, or they were merely chasing what they presumed was a fleeing man.
Letting my breathing ease up, I dropped my armor, and instead focused on trying to figure a way out of everything.
For a second I thought to call the general, using the peace I'd acquired to inform him of my status, and hopefully be given a new extraction point. Now that I wasn't actively being assaulted I could risk the action.
"Huh, so you're up here... Guess I need to call Yang and tell her the manor's a waste of time." Personally, I should have known my luck wasn't that good, because when was it ever good? I turned around, and saw Blake just standing there. Looking around, I couldn't see anyone else present, and there weren't any windows on the taller buildings looking in our direction, so I highly doubted anyone could hear us talk.
Rather than speak immediately, I slowly approached. Strangely though, she raised a hand defensively.
"Don't come any closer; we need to fight, remember?"
I ignored her, keeping my pace until I was just two or so steps before her. I stopped there, and despite her gritting teeth and slow reach for her weapon, I addressed her in a low voice.
"I'm not compromised."
"What?" Her hand stopped, but kept hovering right above its companion.
"My identity remains intact."
"It can't be. The general-'' A slight ringing interrupted her, and she paused. Reaching that hand from above her weapon upwards, she pulled her own scroll from within her overcoat, flicking it open to Yang's plain voice.
"Hey, uh... change of plans. The general called and said V's cool, so if you reach the manor first-"
"I'm with him now." Blake was quick, and seemed to have startled Yang.
"Huh? I-I mean great! Just... um... just wait there I guess. I'll call Weiss, and we'll swing back around shortly." The call ended there, but right as Blake sighed and maneuvered her scroll back towards her coat, it rang again. Opening it up once more, Yang's voice barreled out. "Hey, uh... so where are you exactly?"
Rather than answer with a name, Blake's face faltered, and she spoke with a less approving tone.
"Four minutes north of where we split up. We're on one of the lower rooftops."
"Oh, so right around the corner! Cool, we'll be there in a bit." It cut out again, and this time Blake waited a bit before putting it away. Sighing, she grit her teeth, reaching both for, and taking into her hands, Gambol Shroud: a short sword which acted as both whip and gun, and something I'd always found fascinating.
"We have to fight a little bit." She took a stance. "Otherwise anybody looking will start asking questions.
"Nobody's looking." I said, waving my free arm towards the closest building with windows, which was right across the street. "And even if they were, I doubt they can see us good enough to know we should be fighting."
Staggering for a bit, Blake appeared to mull it over in her head, and bearing a scowl, she sheathed the multitool of a sword once more.
"It's still a risk." For a bit her face twisted, with her brow furrowing and her scowl being swapped out for a small frown. Crossing her arms, she beckoned me, "You said your identity was still undiscovered, but chaos at the Schnee manor says otherwise. How is it you weren't caught, and yet they're still up in arms?"
"There was someone else. She's the one they know of, not me."
Blake's eyes widened.
"Cinder?"
"No. As far as I'm aware, she entered undiscovered, whereas the other woman didn't seem bothered about being caught."
"Stop." Blake spat, with her eyes scrunched tightly as if physically struggling to piece it together. "So Cinder was there, but there was someone else. And it was this person who got caught. Am I reading this right?" I nodded, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, so: this other woman was caught, and both you and Cinder weren't. Right, so how was she caught then? If she was with Cinder, then wouldn't she be skilled enough to avoid detection like her?"
All valid questions, but unfortunately, the answers I could offer weren't all that enlightening.
"From how she spoke, I don't think she really cared about being discovered. And, along with that, she didn't seem to be directly working with Cinder." My answer once more looked to confuse the girl.
"Then why-?"
Blake was interrupted by the shimmering of a crimson vortex right behind me, and before any of us could move, Raven popped out. The woman twisted her head back and forth, looking around, before smirking and facing us.
"Good, we're alone." She seemed pleased. "I was half expecting us to have a crowd, but it seems that we're not in too big a rush."
"You?" Blake's confusion was audibly clear in that one. "Why are you here?"
"General's orders." Raven leaned back on one leg. "Seeing as the Black Knight hasn't been caught like we initially assumed, I was tasked with evacuating him from the city." Her eyes shifted dramatically after that, and her smirk flickered. "You and your crew are to report back as well."
"Why?" Suspicion coated Blake's response, but Raven apparently didn't care.
"Our little event with Hill and her crew supposedly went sour enough that the Ace-Ops are reporting concerning questions from her, and with the Schnee household being attacked within the same time frame, Ironwood is planning to host a meeting between all three candidates for the election. In other words, he's doing his damnedest to prevent any accusations from being thrown around, by nipping them in the bud before they can even form. So far nobody's directly blamed him, but with a little digging, we're sure they'll try if we don't do something drastic."
Right as Blake was taking that all in, Yang and the others came down from above, with the titular blonde herself nearly choking at the sight of us.
"Mom!? What are you doing here!?" Raven merely shook her head with a sigh, stepping back into her portal without another word. Yang, in response, huffed. "Okay then, don't answer; that's fine."
"I'll explain after, but we need to follow her." Blake walked over, nodding to me before stepping into the crimson swirl. I myself waved the rest over, and with nothing more than some weird looks at what I assumed was a strange sight - my choice of covering wasn't the most ordinary sort - they headed on inside. Casting one last glance around, I hopped in myself while tossing the remains of the tattered blanket aside, now no longer needing it. More so, I'd been wondering what sort of chaos awaited the general's new plan, and that soon transitioned into wondering why the man himself was staring intently at a woman I'd never seen.
Discarding that makeshift cloak seemed to be the wrong choice, because she appeared to recognise me instantly, and thus panic looked to set in. Raven, however, huffed more from annoyance at the sight.
"Pity you never mentioned having guests over." And then slipped on far too peaceful a smile. "I would have prepared refreshments."
The general's irritated face struggled to keep up its already fumbling integrity.
"You're not the only one, but the council members have a bit of a habit with showing up unannounced."
Author's note
...
Okay, a little more action packed this time - to an extent. Most of it was Pyrrha's perspective, and yeah, she wasn't all that active in the fight, at all, but at least she answered the call. Ironwood's information line appears quite quick, but as you can no doubt guess, that's not always a good thing when the info is provided so late into the action.
Strangely, this event went off without a hitch, and while V's identity remained hidden - until the end - that isn't to say everything will be getting easier. Penny's still out, Ruby's just woken up, Raven's finally active, and now not only are Jacques and Robyn about to share a space, but a member of the Atlas council has seen V arrive personally in the academy. Sure, V hasn't needed to use his new ability yet - on anyone but Vine, however that was more discovering it, and not really using it - but that isn't exactly a good sign with how things tend to go in this tale.
We're in the endgame anyways - by about thirty or more chapters anyway, depending on how this all plays out - so is it even a surprise things are weird again? With any luck, this can pick up in pace, because I'm damn tired of things taking forever... but then again, that's my own fault now isn't it?
Until next time.