Jeneralissima warily entered the theater and paused when she took in the scene in front of her.

Writersblock was clinging to the top of a palm tree on what looked like an island. The stage had been flooded, and the Jeneral swore that those were shark fins cutting through the water. However, what truly gave her pause was what was at the bottom of the tree.

"Is that…the story?"

Sure enough, the file, still leaking commas, was snapping at the base of the tree. Meanwhile, the writer was holding on for dear life as their perch swayed dangerously.

"I just needed one more comma!" they explained. "But then it got up and began attacking."

The Jeneral's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't recognize that file. It's not something…new, is it?"

"Um…" The writer realized that they might have a better chance at survival if they jumped in with the sharks. "No?"
"Again!?" The incredulous demand caused the sharks to swim away, and even the story briefly froze in fear. When it started snapping again, it seemed almost nervous. "For crying out loud, Block! How many times are you going to not release things on your to-do list?"

"In my defense, it actually came from the Keystones cycle…" WB seemed to be edging further up their tree.

"Which you've finally finished, right?" When there was no response, their beta growled, "Right?" A loud splash met her disappointed sigh, and she watched as the writer swam off stage, still being chased by the story. "Of course."

Turning, Jeneralissima addressed the audience. "It's not anything you wanted, but I guess it's here." A loud scream cut her off, and she mumbled something about stupid writers. "It goes without saying that we don't own RWBY…" the story hopped out from behind the curtain, something red dripping from its teeth. She watched it warily as it rubbed against her legs like a cat, "…but it bears repeating that this is a one-shot that definitely has no further plans at all." The glare she leveled at the audience caused more than a few nervous looks, and a couple less brave people made a run for the door.

The story, probably sensing weakness, followed closely behind.

"Without further ado," she ignored the terrified screams coming from the lobby, "A Twisted Fate."

Writersblock limped out, carrying what looked like cooked shark steak kebabs. Handing one to their beta, they grinned happily. "Enjoy the story, folks!"

"If you had a chance to change your fate-

Would you?"

Merida- Brave

'Do you believe in destiny?'

The words echoed in Pyrrha's mind as she raced to the school. She briefly nodded to Headmaster Ozpin, who didn't waste time speaking, merely motioning her toward the elevator, which closed behind them with a soft 'ding.'

'Jaune, do you believe in destiny?'

Placing her head against the cool elevator wall, she thought back to her mother, still back in Argus. She hadn't wanted her daughter to come to Beacon, to leave her forever, and instead Pyrrha had found herself enrolled in a finishing school for girls; ironically, it was the same one that Weiss Schnee had been sent to. Yet when they had been told to select an extracurricular, she had found herself drawn to the fighting ring, and when she had touched the first blade she realized that she needed more.

Her mother had always supported her fighting career and had never forced her to do anything she didn't want to. Pyrrha had, in some ways, felt that her time in the finishing school was for her mother. Someone who had always supported and loved her. Who swore that fighting Grimm was a death sentence. A battle in a ring between two people would end when the other was down. Grimm fought to the death.

Nonetheless, even as Pyrrha had tried to fit in, her desire for more had continued to grow in the back of her mind, and eventually she begged her mother to let her go to Beacon. Her mother was distraught at the thought of her oldest daughter leaving her and had asked her a single question before she left:

"Do you believe in destiny?"

In some ways, she did. The first day she had picked up a sword she had immediately known that she was always meant to wield a blade. When she had held her shield, she had instinctively known how to use it. Her semblance was practically made for hand to hand combat. It was as if she was destined to be a fighter.

…And yet, she still wanted more.

She couldn't say whether that was destiny or greed, but she had departed for Beacon with the knowledge that her mother supported her no matter what, the question still ringing in her mind.

'Do you believe in destiny?'

She didn't believe in destiny, and yet if it was not destiny, then it must be luck- -right? But she knew the difference between skill and luck, and she knew that what she was capable of was skill, not luck. When Ozpin had told her the story of the maidens and shown her the underground vault, she'd started to question it again. Coincidence could be written off easily once or twice, maybe even three times…

But how many times had she been in the right place at the right time with the right abilities? Perhaps the question was no longer whether or not it was fate or luck or skill or even coincidence. Perhaps she had to review the question:

'Do you believe in destiny?'

The ding indicating that they were at the bottom jolted her out of her thoughts. Pulling her head away from the wall of the elevator, she slipped between the doors before they had even opened, Headmaster Ozpin's footsteps following close behind her. Without even stopping, she slipped within the clear tube and watched it slide shut. As the headmaster typed dust-only-knew-what into a terminal, she had a flash of realization: she had been asking the wrong question this entire time.

'Do I believe in destiny?' She took a deep breath. It didn't matter any more. Her hesitation had already cost too much.

Headmaster Ozpin looked up. "Are you-?"

"Do it," she interrupted. It was now or never. Whether or not it was destiny, fate, or just happenstance didn't matter anymore. She was done waiting for someone to make the decision for her. "Do it now." She had lost too much time.

Ozpin slammed his hand on a button, and Pyrrha felt the tube heat up as Amber's aura encased her; it was soft and warm, like a blanket that had been left out in the sun. 'This is nice,' she thought. 'If I am going to change, at least it feels nice.'

A thump on the glass of the tube brought her out of her warm state. She saw Ozpin clearly blocking…something from breaking through, three people that she couldn't make out clearly trying to break in. Suddenly one of the figures dropped with a shriek so loud she could hear it through the glass. Something black and orange broke off from the fallen woman and began flying toward her tube. Ozpin tried to block it, but it simply passed through his semblance as though it wasn't there.

Pyrrha braced herself to break out as soon as it reached the tube, she could feel Amber's power- Amber's soul -begging to be released. It whispered to her that the two could stop this, all of it, all she had to do was defend Ozpin. As soon as the tube broke, the two of them would be one, and they would stop the invasion, the attacks, everything. Nothing would stand in her way. She would be the defender of Beacon, and no one else would die. Penny was not her fault, the blame lay at the feet of her attackers.

She felt her aura coalesce into a flame in her hand as she prepared to launch herself at the invaders, when the black monstrosity phased through the glass, into the tube, and engulfed her.

And then Pyrrha Nikos screamed.

Jaune tore through another Beowulf with his sword without even pausing. Beside him the sharp report of Ren's pistols was almost drowned out by Nora's war cry…err, cry of glee? He glanced over to see her wrestling an Ursa to the ground, punching it in the face, hammer forgotten. Two small Nevermore above her were torn apart by Ren's accurate shooting, and he glanced around.

"Where's Pyrrha?"

Team RWBY raced by, the four of them in the process of bringing down a massive Nevermore, while across the courtyard multiple teams of students continued to fight other Grimm. Pieces of the Atlasian android were still scattered everywhere, but he couldn't see his partner's golden armor.

Ren's shoulder bumped his as the dark haired boy took in the other side of the field. "I do not see her. Is it possible she left?"

Nora, now sitting on the disintegrating Ursa, grinned as she picked up her hammer. "She left with Ozpin as soon as everything started. She's probably fighting at the school right now." Glancing around, the pink-haired girl's face morphed into a scowl. "Heck, she's probably doing more fighting than we are." Turning to Ren, she pouted at her partner. "Can we go beat up the Grimm attacking the school? Pleeeeeaaaaase?"

Ren glanced at Jaune, who realized that his teammates were looking for him to lead. Swallowing his nervousness, he nodded firmly. "Yeah. Let's find a ship and get the heck out of here."

Glancing across, he saw Ruby finish off her Nevermore. Most of the battles around them were wrapping up too, and clearly almost everyone was of a similar mindset: they had to get to the school. The three members of JNPR (or 'junior' as Nora promptly christened them) joined the mass exodus to the ships that were now arriving to pick them up. Getting on board with Sun and his team, the faunus sent him a knowing look.

"So, where's your friend, the golden one- Pyrrha, right?"

Nora answered before either he or Ren could. "Oh, probably beating up all the Grimm at the school." The girl leaned on her hammer casually. "She could've invited me, but I guess she was in a hurry or something."

"More likely, she saw you were still busy beating up a Grimm and thought it best to simply let you come when things were taken care of here,." Ren suggested softly. Nora just shrugged.

"Sure, seems reasonable to me." She glanced at Jaune. "You called her yet?"

Jaune swallowed, holding his scroll in his hands. "I just… I don't want to interrupt her if she's fighting."

Nora just grinned. "Nah, she'll probably just ignore your call if she's busy- that's what I do."

Jaune punched the call button. It rang once. Twice. By the third time he wasn't holding out hope, but halfway through the fourth ring, she picked up.

"Jaune?" Her voice sounded…weird. "Everything okay?"

"Where are you?" He blurted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm at Beacon Academy." She replied, in a strangely even tone. "Things are…not good. Headmaster Ozpin is dead, but the ringleaders of the invasion have been…dealt with." Her tone sent shivers down his spine, but he pressed on.

"Where can I meet you?"

"I am currently in the main building, but I will be leaving shortly," she said, her tone still slightly off. "Can you meet me in the courtyard?"

"Yeah. We'll be there." He said, looking at Ren and Nora, both of whom nodded seriously.

"I will see you shortly." Pyrrha hung up. Jaune looked at his team.

"Something is very wrong." Ren said softly.

"Ehhh." Nora seemed unconcerned. "She's probably just trying to deal with the fact that Grimm have pretty much overrun the entire place." The students stared at her, and she looked at them, surprised. "What? I mean, unless you're used to that kinda thing, people think it's kinda weird."

Weird wasn't the word that Jaune would use, but he didn't voice that. Instead he tried to focus on seeing his best friend and ignoring the steady gnawing in his stomach that something might be wrong.

Pyrrha had nearly made it out to the courtyard when she got distracted.

In her defence, she could not really give a good reason that she decided to look exactly one-hundred and twenty seven degrees left, toward the burning library, or why she stared for no small amount of time, looking for something that was wrong, but she could give a perfectly good reason for her response to the scene that she finally did see.

Blake Belladonna was her friend, and Pyrrha was not in the habit of leaving her friends to die. At least, not when they were someone as useful as the daughter of the Chief of Manajorie.

(Where had that last thought come from?)

Dropping her captives, she crossed the lawn in a blur of red flames and gold armor. By the time the fool that was attempting to kill her friend was in mid-swing, she was ready with her shield. The look on his face when he saw her morphed from surprise to anger as he glanced behind her. Following his gaze, she saw that Yang Xiao Long had also thrown herself in front of the blow, though Pyrrha had been further forward and managed to block the blow herself.

"I don't know who you are, but you have no business-"

Pyrrha didn't wait for the fool to finish his sentence, backhanding him and drawing her blade. "Who is this fool, Blake?"

"He's Adam Taurus, head of the White Fang."

"And he wants you dead because..?" Pyrrha asked, watching the faunus feel his face and glare at her hatefully.

(She wanted to hit him again. Why?)

"I…sort of betrayed him?"

"And?" Pyrrha prodded, sensing there was more to the story.

"He's her ex." Yang growled.

"Oh?" Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow at the angry faunus in front of her. "So he is a guy who does not know how to take no for an answer?"

(She felt as though there was a monster in her chest.)

"That's hardly-"

Using her other hand, Pyrrha brought her fist across his face a second time. "Quiet, fool. Do not speak unless spoken to." She glanced back at the surprised faces of her friends. "Did I sum up the situation correctly?"

(That felt good. Very Good.)

Both nodded, but the laughter coming from the faunus in front of her brought her attention back to him. "Oh, you should have just walked away, you stupid girl; now I-"

Pyrrha didn't bother waiting for the rest of the sentence. Jabbing her sword toward the fool's stomach, she was unsurprised to see his blade already moving to intercept it. Pressing the button to swap her gladius to a spear saw the butt of it slam into his solar plexus. The whoosh of air accompanying the sudden impact was almost as satisfying as the clang as his sword bounced off the metal of her spear. As he stumbled back, Pyrrha met the shocked eyes of her friends. "Get to safety."

Blake shook her head, reaching for a broken sword. "This isn't your fight, Pyrrha."

The male faunus rushed her, and Pyrrha blocked both strikes with her shield, moving his sword slightly out of the way on his third swing and finally kicking his knee out from under him. "Do not act recklessly, Blake. Your weapon is in two pieces, and judging by the fact that neither of you were here when I arrived with the headmaster, you were both at the arena, which suggests that you are quite probably low on ammunition." She blocked two more attacks before swinging her spear wide, the flash of the horned faunus' aura showing that without it she may have taken off his head. Using the momentum, she ran her shield into his face, causing him to stagger. "I, however, still have a full belt of ammunition, am built for one-on-one combat and," she let flames begin to lick her spear as it shifted back into a sword, "I assure you both, I have not even begun to fight." Giving them a dark smile, she said firmly, "Use your remaining ammunition on the Grimm between you and the evacuation point." Turning back to the paling faunus in front of her, she finished, "This fool is mine."

Not waiting for her friends to agree or argue, she launched herself at her opponent. A shoulder to his gut succeeded in pushing both of them through the wall of the library and out into the hall. Adam, or 'the fool' as she was going to call him, managed to push her back but was clearly winded from the attack. She grinned as they exchanged blows. The fool may have been fast, but he was not only facing a superior opponent, he was also facing someone who could turn his very blade against him. His blocks were good, but she nudged his blade with her semblance minutely each time. Sometimes that meant he merely blocked at an inopportune angle, but sometimes it meant that he was just a bit too late, and her burning blade was turned away by his aura. The longer he was on the defensive, the more he had to rely on his aura to protect him, and soon she would deplete it.

Sadly, it seemed that the fool realized that she would overpower him. He clearly thought that the fire was her semblance and she was focusing on keeping her blade alight. Pyrrha just let him think that, only using the tiniest bit of her own semblance and aura to actually slow down his attacks and blocks. Suddenly, she saw a slight shift in his weight and blocked the riposte. The force behind the attack caused her to stumble, and pushed her onto the defensive.

The clangs as his blade bit into her shield echoed down the hall. Deciding she needed to set the tempo of the fight, she kicked him through the nearby doors and into a classroom. Clearly caught off guard, he barely kept his balance, matching her blows as they fought between the desks.

As the fight continued, she began sending arcs of fire at him. He dodged some and caught a few on his blade, but she continued to press her attack as he did so, forcing him to choose between her blade and her fire on multiple occasions. As she drove him back inch by inch, she began to use the fire to herd him toward the end of the room. It was clear from his scowl he knew what she was doing, but he had to make a choice between being burned or being sliced open. Frustration colored his features, especially right before she threw her shield into his chest, knocking him backward over a flaming desk and through a window out onto the grass below.

Following quickly behind, she recalled her shield to her, blocking the sword with her transformed spear and using her semblance to rip his blade out of his hands. He tried to punch her twice, but she easily dodged both. Slamming the butt of her spear into his foot, she smirked at the crack of breaking bones. As he limped back, clearly favoring his other foot, she gently placed the tip of her spear on his collarbone.

"Surrender or die, fool. I do not have all night."

He snarled, shoving her spear away from his neck as he lunged forward. Slamming her shield into his face felt better than it should have, and the crunch that she felt under the metal was far too satisfying. As he stumbled back, she saw what her handiwork had done to her opponent. As she had suspected, his nose was sideways, suggesting that either she had hit him with enough force to break through his aura, or his aura had finally given in to the pummeling she had subjected it to. Most amusingly, at least to her, were the pieces of mask that were slowly falling away from his face. Idly she thought she should feel bad that her actions could have potentially caused the fool to lose an eye, but somehow she just…didn't.

(Why should she?)

"Yield," she told him boredly.

"Like hell," he snarled, glaring back at her, the firelight illuminating his scar brilliantly.

"Mhmmm," she nodded, before hurling her shield at him again. He easily dodged, but that was what she had expected. Instead she focused on his knees, knocking out his good one first followed by stabbing his uninjured foot with the blade of her spear. With a cry, he fell down, and she pulled it out, ignoring the blood that began to leak from his boot.

Wiping the blade on his pants, she chuckled darkly. "Do not move, fool." He glared at her hatefully, but didn't say a word. She smirked. "I see you have finally learned to keep your mouth shut. A shame that it took your pride being beaten out of you to get to that point." She looked around. "Now, where did your sword go? I think it would be poetic justice for the last thing for it to kill to be its master."

As she looked around the faunus saw his chance and tried to act, only for Pyrrha to shove her spear through his arm. Pyrrha waited for the scream to die down, before saying, "I said do not move, fool." Leaving her spear in his arm, she reached down to pick up the weapon that he had been holding. "Well, well, well, and here I was thinking that I had disarmed you. How sloppy of me not to see that you had dropped right next to your sword." The deep red blade glittered in the reflection from the fires from the buildings. "Perhaps my mistake was trusting your intelligence." Without even touching the blade, the sword snapped in half.

Pulling her spear from his arm, Pyrrha then threw it to the side, instead opting to hold the bleeding faunus up by his collar. "The trouble with a fool like you is that you do not know when to stop. When a girl like Blake is trying to escape someone like you, do you know what I want to do?" When the faunus didn't reply, Pyrrha bared her teeth. "Do you!?"

The faunus still stared at her defiantly, and Pyrrha smiled a bit. "Oh yes." She purred. "I can appreciate pride. I was proud once, so proud of my abilities." She smiled darkly and saw a spark of fear in his eyes. "Then I learned I could do this."

The faunus' eyes widened as his clothes caught fire. His arrogant mask held for a moment, but Pyrrha merely adjusted her grip. "You know what's funny, fool? Once this fire gets going, you won't be able to scream. The fire will burn all the oxygen from your lungs." She smiled as his face showed concern for the first time, and he began to try to escape; she just held on tighter. "Oh, do not waste your energy on that." She threw him to the ground, where he began rolling constantly in an attempt to smother the flames. "Nor will that work, I'm afraid." Laughing, she picked up the three bodies behind her. "That fire is my fire. It is an extension of me, and when someone like you goes after a friend of mine like Blake, well..." Her laughter took on a slightly unhinged note. "I always want to watch them burn."

By the time the three of them stepped off of the ship, Ren was pretty sure that Nora was bored.

This, of course, was probably obvious to most. She had announced it several times over, and the entirety of team SNNN had lost at least two arm wrestling matches in the two minutes it had taken to finish the journey.

Of course, the real differences were all but invisible to the naked eye, and only Ren could really tell-

"Haaaaaaayyyahh!" Nora flew by him and into the pack of Grimm and White Fang soldiers that were waiting for them. The Grimm themselves barely stood a chance; only the first two faunus stood and fought, while the rest raced back into the safety of the burning school. Ren sighed.

Nora was amazing.

Jaune pushed by him, his gaze fixed on the main building. "Come on, Ren, Pyrrha needs us."

Ren gently grabbed his shoulder, nodding toward Nora, who was currently punching one of the poor White Fang foot soldiers while the other was crawling away from her.

Jaune sighed. "Nora! Pyrrha, remember?"

Nora looked up at him. "Oh, right! Pyrrha! Yep!" She dropped the poor faunus and sprinted back over. "Let's go help her." With that, she raced into the grounds.

Ren sighed, jogging with Jaune to keep up with his partner. Nora was excitable at the best of times, and was probably having a blast all things considered. The two turned the corner and froze.

Pyrrha-and it could only be her, as he would recognize that hair and armor anywhere- was standing over the guy he vaguely remembered as Mercury, spear out and shield on her arm. The blade was under the faunus' chin. Beside her lay three bodies. One was tied up and barely moving; the other was tied up and was probably about halfway to being free, judging by the way she was moving her hands.

The last one was neither tied up nor moving.

He tried not to think about that.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out, relief seeping into his tone.

The girl looked back, her features softening. "Jaune." The sharp report of a gun emanated from Mercury's leg, and Jaune raised his shield, catching the bullet as his aura flared. Ren raised his pistol to intervene, but the look in Pyrrha's eyes caused him to hesitate.

A deadly anger, the kind he remembered seeing years ago when he'd met his best friend, flashed deep within her eyes, and she turned back to Mercury. Reaching out, though still not touching him, she closed her hand. The scream of metal on metal cut through the night as his legs literally collapsed like an aluminum can. She kicked him on the side of the head, and he went limp, only the merest hint of movement belying that he was still breathing.

Ren felt his breath catch in his throat. As her teammate, he knew the extent of Pyrrha's semblance, and her reluctance to use it so…brazenly. He could already tell that something had happened to his friend. Glancing at the four bodies on the ground, he had a few guesses.

Pyrrha, however, seemed unconcerned now that her opponent was dealt with. The girl who had been struggling earlier had frozen when her companion had been hit and was now lying quietly. Ren suspected she was playing possum and kept a close eye on her as he approached.

"Well, geez! Did ya save any for us?" Nora bounced up, looking at the four on the ground curiously.

Pyrrha smiled gently, although Ren noticed it didn't quite meet her eyes. "I'm sure there are a few left. That fool," Ren noticed Jaune wince at the harsh tone as she indicated one of the bodies, which looked distinctly burned, "brought quite a few friends with him. I'm sure they're around here somewhere." She turned her attention back to Jaune, and this time her concern shone in her eyes. "You're okay, right? Not hurt?"

"I-I'm fine, Pyrrha. Really." Jaune seemed nervous and, while Ren would normally roll his eyes at how oblivious the boy was, this time he felt that the nervousness was a good decision.

"Good." Ren was just as unprepared as Jaune was when Pyrrha grabbed her partner by the collar and pulled him into a searing kiss. He felt a blush run up his cheeks, even as Nora's 'Finally!' interrupted the two. Pyrrha pulled back slightly, and said something that Ren couldn't quite make out, but it was obvious that Jaune was still a bit off-balance when she pulled back.

"Hey, Nora? Can you help me with something?"

"I'm not gonna kiss you, but if it involves beating up bad guys, I'm game!" Nora was leaning against her hammer, and Pyrrha laughed. Ren subconsciously tightened his grip on StormFlower. There was something…off in that laugh, but Nora didn't seem to notice.

"No kisses, I promise." Pyrrha smiled brightly, her amber eyes reflecting the flames brightly. "I just need someone to carry him." She pointed to the unconscious guy.

"Sure!" Nora replied brightly, grabbing him by the leg…or what was left of it, beginning to drag him away. Pyrrha picked up the two female bodies and tossed them over her shoulders.

"Shall we?"

Ren shook his head, trying to clear it. "What about him?" Her face darkened, and he nearly raised his weapon in defence.

"There's no saving him." Her voice was cold. "Some deserve to lie where they fall, and a fool like him deserves no mourning." With that, she turned away, Nora following, swinging her hammer idly and chattering about how the fight at the coliseum went.

As the two walked away, Jaune finally found his voice. "Wow."

Ren just nodded.

"I mean…wow."

Ren nodded again, his eyes still locked on the two female forms.

"She's just so…wow."

Ren tilted his head slightly sideways as he remembered something. "Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't Pyrrha's eyes supposed to be green?"

-The End and we mean it!