Cards of Remnant

by TheMaster4444

Ruby Rose has wanted to be a Hunting Duelist all her life, to train her aura to manifest the monsters in her deck to fight the Grimm. So when she gets an invitation to join her sister at Beacon Duel Academy, she jumps at the chance. But old powers are stirring, and ancient summoning methods not seen in eons are about to clash, with the fate of Remnant in the balance.

46. A Cracked Vale - End of Volume 2

Final Top Three Tally for the Fan-Favorite Duel of the Investigation and Dance Arcs!

3rd Place: Emerald & Mercury vs. Coco & Yatsuhashi - 6 Votes

2nd Place: Blake & Yang vs. Nora & Ren - 7 Votes

1st Place: Pyrrha vs. Ilia - 8 Votes - Congrats to the official FAN-FAVORITE DUEL of these two arcs!

I am thrilled to see that Pyrrha vs. Ilia resonated with you guys as much as it did me. I believe that match is one of the best I've yet written, and I hope to build on it moving forward. :)

New Poll for the Fan-Favorite Duel of the Mt. Glenn Arc is now on my profile!

---

Beep.

"Dad, please!"

Beep.

"This isn't up for debate, Ruby."

Beep.

"What about Weiss and Blake? We can't just leave them with half a team for the rest of school."

Beep!

"You are too young. In two years, you can reapply to Shade or Haven or Atlas."

Beep!

"Why not Beacon?"

Beep!

"Because I should have known better than to trust him with your lives!"

BEEP!

"Tai."

BEEEEEPPPP!

Ruby shrank back as Professor Ozpin appeared at the doorway of her sister's hospital room. Before she could blink, her dad had charged forward, seized him by his lapels, and smashed him up against the wall.

Cracks splintered across the white plaster as Yang's heart monitor continued to beep.

"You gave me your word," Tai growled. "You gave me your word that you wouldn't involve them with her until after they graduated."

Ozpin remained as calm as ever as his former student kept him pinned. "I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry, then why were they on a third-year mission?!"

"T–That's not his fault," Ruby stammered. "I asked him to let us take the mission. I didn't tell him we knew the White Fang would be there. I chose to–"

"You think you did!" Tai snarled, his raging eyes never leaving his old headmaster. "You don't know him like I do. He manipulates, pulls strings, anything to get what he wants. For 'the greater good' or what he says it is."

Throughout it all, Professor Ozpin retained the calm, collected expression that seemed ingrained in his face. A huntsman, always cool and in control, even under the harshest of pressure.

"You have every right to be angry with me," He conceded. "But this is not your choice to make."

Beep.

Yang's heart monitor rang out, strong, steady, and unwilling to be forgotten.

Tai's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his old teacher. "Their choice, huh? I said they could make their choice to help you against her or not after they'd graduated. After they were fully trained adults! Did you forget that? Or did you just not give a damn?!"

A note of shame did enter Ozpin's eyes there, despite his calm. "Circumstances changed. It was a mistake–"

"A mistake?! My daughter lost an arm! She would have died if Raven hadn't shown up! Raven!" Tai shouted. "I should have known better than to trust you!"

Ruby shrank back into herself, her father's yells reminding her of darker times. Echoes of his arguments with Uncle Qrow resonating through the floorboards, hiding in her hood, Yang heading toward the door…

Beep.

She tried not to look at her sister's bandaged stump, tried not to remember whose fault it really was. Because it wasn't Professor Ozpin's. He'd warned her of the danger, more than once. He had told her not to thank him for letting them go to Mt. Glenn. Even back at the docks, he had asked them to just be students.

And cautioned her that, if they were set on being more, she needed to step up as leader.

She'd tried. She'd tried so hard. But it didn't matter. She couldn't use her eyes when she needed them. She couldn't convince Raven to stay and help. Her plan in the tunnel must have been wrong because Yang had left her bottleneck position to duel Neo, so there must have been some strategic thing she'd missed her sister had needed to compensate for and lost her arm because of–

"A duel," Ozpin proposed, cutting through the static of Ruby's mind. "If I win, Ms. Rose and Ms. Xiao-Long's withdrawals from Beacon will be stalled until such time they decide to submit them."

"Why in the world would I agree to that–"

"If you win, I give you my word that whatever academy duelist they choose to attend, they will never be asked for assistance in the matters you are concerned with," the headmaster finished, his gaze steady.

Tai's brow furrowed, contemplation breaking through his anger. "... I need more than your word."

"A duel anchor's bet can't be set for something so specific." Ozpin pointed out. "And I am not risking your heart by having you use your mark for a mystically binding ante to the duel."

"Then conjure a Shadow Game."

For the first time, a note of irritation flashed over the headmaster's face.

"Shadow Game?" Ruby inquired. "What's that?"

"Something very dangerous, Ms. Rose," Ozpin said. "And not relevant to this moment."

"More lies?" Tai challenged.

"You wanted me to wait until she was older. You were right," Ozpin countered. "And if I'm not going to put you through the strain of your mark, I'm most certainly not going to put you through that. So perhaps an alternative ante."

The white-haired huntsman reached down into his deck box and withdrew a card. It had the teal border of a spell, but Ruby caught a hint of green scales from its image due to the angle she was at.

No. It couldn't be. Could it? But did that mean that The Queen really did have its sibling?

"I swear upon this eye, that should you defeat me, and I fail to keep my word to you as promised, may it go blind for me forever after," Ozpin said. "Forever after. For me."

Ruby didn't get the emphasis her teacher placed on certain words, but it seemed to convince her father. The muscular blonde finally released his hold on the headmaster and stomped out of the room.

Ozpin sighed, planting his cane back on the ground. He managed to flash a reassuring smile to Ruby, that old twinkle back in his eyes. "It'll be alright, Ms. Rose."

Beep.

The silver-eyed girl glanced back at Yang. Her sister was back. Safe.

But not sound.

"Will it?" she asked.

Ozpin tapped a button on his cane, the handle curling around his wrist. The shaft folded along his forearm, breaking into segments that flattened out to form a duel disk.

"We shall see," he replied. "But your father is not an opponent I can defeat without everything I have. It may be a sight worth seeing."

Didn't she know it. Heck, she should have been salivating! Her dad, a full-fledged Signer, was about to duel Professor Ozpin, his teacher and the strongest hunting duelist on Remnant. It was a dream duel to watch, even if that card wasn't what she thought it was!

And yet, after everything she went through at Mt. Glenn? Yang was forcibly left-handed, Zwei was still on his way back with Dr. Oobleck, and dad was relapsing into some of his worst traits. She'd gotten sleep since The Breach, but she still felt so tired.

There was no one she could really talk to about any of it. Weiss and Blake were doing endless media rounds to make sure public opinion would keep the latter out of jail. Sun and his team of "Junior Detectives" were being worked to the bone helping the police deal with the cleanup and fallout of The Breach. Team JNPR was so far out on the frontier that she'd probably need to go to Beacon Tower to call them. They might not have even heard what'd happened yet.

All her friends were in Vale, while she was back on Patch. Everyone said not to worry, that they'd take care of everything so she had time to take care of her sister.

But how was she supposed to take care of her sister? She couldn't make Yang wake up or bring her arm back. She couldn't do anything! She was supposed to keep things at Mt. Glenn from getting so bad in the first place, but that clearly hadn't worked. Now, she needed to do… needed to do… something!

Her dragons called out from her deck. Black Rose offered waves of comfort, almost as if trying cradle her in its rosy plumage. Starving Venom encouraged her to stop beating herself and go join in her dad and the professor's duel. Both of them were opponents truly worthy to be eaten!

In the end, Ruby did find herself following her teacher down to the physical therapy wing (equipped with a hardlight duel dais for duelist rehabilitation). Whatever her miasma, she needed something to do, and watching a duel between two titans was certainly that.

But as the hardlight dust barrier flared to life and Ozpin and her dad raised their duel disks within, she just wished she had a friend to watch the match with–

"Hey! Ruby!"

The silver-eyed girl turned toward the familiar but unexpected voice. A faint smile rose to her lips. Maybe she wouldn't have to watch the duel without a friend after all.

"Emerald!"

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Hey! We heard about what happened to you and your sister. Cinder sent me and Merc to check on you."

Suffice it to say, Emerald had been very surprised to wake up to the news that not only had The Breach gone off days earlier than intended, but that it had been offhandedly dealt with in seconds by the heiress, The Odd-Eyed Bandit (now public knowledge), and some huge purple and black dragon that no one had ever seen before. Adam and Torchwick had been arrested, neither Neo nor the White Fang were responding to calls, and everything they'd planned had generally gone pear-shaped while they were asleep.

Cinder, of course, remained perfectly poised. Calm and collected, she'd pivoted to handle something in the Emerald Forest while Ozpin's forces were distracted by the fallout of The Breach. In the meantime, since the away missions that hadn't left already were delayed for the time being, she ordered Emerald and Mercury to get intel on just what the hell had actually happened. There was no dragon in existence capable of conjuring enough lightning to kill what must have been thousands of Grimm set to come through that tunnel. And thanks to some Junior Detectives with loose lips for concerned friends of their friends that they were also extremely worried about, they were able to set their sights on the half of Team RWBY that wasn't currently showboating for the media.

"Cinder sent you to check up on us?" Ruby queried. Her quirked eyebrow transitioned down into a pleasantly surprised smile. "Guess she does have a heart."

"The last few days have been full of surprises," Emerald replied, though her surprises were very different from the younger girl's. "Like this. What's this about?"

"Duel!" Ozpin and a buff blonde dude yelled, each of their duel disks raised and hands of five cards drawn.

Ozpin: 4000 Life Points

Taiyang Xiao-Long: 4000 Life Points

"My dad wants to pull me and Yang out of Beacon. Professor Ozpin wants him to let us choose," Ruby explained. "They're dueling over it."

Emerald's eyes widened. "Your dad is dueling Ozpin?"

"I activate the effect of Magicians' Souls in my hand by sending a Level Six or higher spellcaster from my deck to the graveyard," the headmaster began, a card ejecting into The Long Memory's graveyard slot, only to be swiftly shot back out. "I could special summon it, but I will instead use its second effect to send it to the graveyard to summon one of two specific monsters from my graveyard. Rise. Without rest, reward, or pride. The ultimate wizard who sees behind the curtain of black magic."

As soon as Magicians' Souls' card struck the graveyard slot, a blinding light shot up from The Long Memory. Emerald and Ruby had to shield their eyes as the flare sparked into the air, a firework to light their souls.

When it faded, no one needed the monster's name to be spoken to identify it. Robes of royal purple ending in a pointed hood. A staff of dark green crowed by a mysterious jade orb. A serious face that nevertheless held the same mysterious twinkle in the eye as its duelist's jaunty facade (ATK 2500/DEF 2100).

"Dark Magician," Ozpin pronounced.

Emerald gulped at the sight of the legendary rare monster. It wasn't the first time she'd seen its card, having stolen one from an auction a while back. But she'd pawned it off as soon as she could to avoid the heat that having it would bring. Dark Magician was notoriously difficult to forge, even with the required dust formula known. There were many theories about how a duelist's aura, either amount or just the unique frequency of their soul, factored into crafting cards, but the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense was so hard to manufacture that there were less than ten cards of him in the world despite being a normal monster.

The fact that Ozpin had three copies of the spellcaster would have been enough to make him famous even without the secrets Emerald had learned of his true nature. But he had also crafted support for the magician that seemed to be able to handle any Grimm or scenario thrown at him. Over four decades since the then 'young prodigy' had first come to Beacon, and there wasn't a record of him losing a single duel. When most hunting duelists struggled to survive to their late thirties, there was a reason the headmaster was known as the strongest of them all.

Some of that was hyperbole, The Queen bested him at times over the centuries and so had other members of her cabal both past and present. Rarely, Ozpin even trained an ally that grew to rival him in power. However strong, there was no such thing as a truly unbeatable duelist.

But there was also very good reason that Cinder only dared to attack Amber when she was far away from Beacon. And why even now she wanted to wait until she had the Fall Maiden's full power before risking a confrontation with the headmaster.

Yet, something was missing. Despite Ruby being right next to her, there was a distinct lack of starstruck squealing.

"I activate Bond Between Teacher and Student," Ozpin continued. "With Dark Magician on the field, I can special summon Dark Magician Girl from my deck."

In a flurry of sparkles, a new spellcaster manifested next to the Dark Magician. Unlike the serious wizard however, this young woman was all smiles, her pink and blue robes highlighting a grin as bright as her golden hair (ATK 2000/DEF 1700).

"Bond Between Teacher and Student also allows me to set one of four specific spells from my deck. I choose Dark Burning Magic," Ozpin said, a facedown flashing in front of him. Soon after, he set two more cards from his hand. "I end my turn."

Emerald waited for the squeeing as Taiyang drew for his turn. Both the legendary Dark Magician and the renowned Dark Magician Girl had been summoned by the strongest hunting duelist in the world, of whom they were the signature monsters. As a spellcaster duelist herself, she could admit even she was getting interested in the match, if only to observe her enemy's tactics. After months of The Onomatopeia Gang singalongs and having to endure ravings about how awesome the different artworks of Summoned Skull forgings were, she expected her eardrums to start bleeding from the volume of high-pitched squeals to come.

But there was only quiet. As Taiyang activated Book of Lunar Eclipse and discarded a card to flip Ozpin's legendary spellcasters facedown, the thief finally allowed her eyes to flick back to Ruby, the silver-eyed girl silently observing the duel.

"What's up?" Emerald asked.

"It was a good move," Ruby replied, not taking her eyes off the match as her father special summoned his Vice Dragon (ATK 1000/DEF 1200) with its power halved, then normal summoned Soul Resonator (ATK 500/DEF 200) and used its effect to search Creation Resonator from his deck. "Dark Burning Magic destroys every card on the opponent's field, but only if Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are both on the field. By flipping them both facedown, dad set things up so he can take them out one at a time."

"Uh, good to know," Emerald remarked. "But not what I meant."

"Huh?"

"I activate the continuous spell Resonant Destruction!" Taiyang barked, a spell card rising up with a picture of a Resonator monster clapping its instruments together to unleash uncontrollable power. "Now I–Huh?"

The blonde hunting duelist paused as Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl's facedown cards were ripped away but a sudden yank. The hidden spellcasters were pulled toward a spontaneous vortex of blue and red lights, the spell whirlpool enclosed in a ring of golden hieroglyphics.

"What the heck?" Emerald mused.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "That portal sort of looks like…"

A fusion vortex. Far more stable than any Emerald had ever seen before, even from Cinder. The monster spirits slid inside like water flowing down a drain.

"I activate my facedown, Secrets of Dark Magic," Ozpin announced, revealing the spell card that was the source of the sudden spiral. "It has two effects. But the one I'm activating now allows me to fuse monsters on my field or in my hand to Fusion Summon, so long as Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl is among them. I call forth, The Dark Magicians."

The golden hieroglyphs surrounding the fusion vortex lit up with warm light. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl emerged from within, the ringlet's glow passing on to them as it went black. They knelt upon a sideways defense mode card, the glyph ring continuing to rotate behind them (ATK 2800/DEF 2300).

"Fusion summon," Emerald murmured, putting awe in her voice since this was, as far as Ruby knew, the first time she'd ever seen it. She didn't have to fake all of it though, since she couldn't remember ever seeing the summoning technique performed on the opponent's turn.

"It's the summoning method I told you about. The one my Starving Venom uses," Ruby explained, though she glanced at her headmaster with surprise. "I didn't know Professor Ozpin could do it though."

"I tune Level Three Soul Resonator with Level Five Vice Dragon!" Taiyang shouted.

Soul Resonator broke into a trio of emerald tuner rings, assembling into a column in the center of the field. Vice Dragon shattered into five twinkling stars, lining up within the green hoops. A great pillar of light blazed through them, and the hospital foundation shuddered from a booming roar.

"The pulse of the king forms a line here! Witness the power of the rumbling heavens and answer to me! Synchro Summon!" Tai howled. "Level Eight! Red Dragon Archfiend!"

An enormous black and red dragon emerged from the pillar of light, wreathed in hellish fire. Black horns carved down and to its back, ready to tear Ozpin limb from limb as it loomed over the headmaster (ATK 3000/DEF 2000).

Strangely though, as the headmaster unflinchingly held its gaze, the dragon's snarl ceased. It turned back at its own duelist and frowned.

"Don't give me that look. I know what I'm doing," Tai snapped at his ace. "I'm not stopping them from moving forward. But I'm not letting him make them his puppets."

Red Dragon Archfiend growled in displeasure, but it did face-front to continue the fight. Just as Resonant Destruction began to glow.

"What was that about?" Emerald wondered.

"Red Dragon Archfiend believes in people ruling with all the will and power they've got, regardless of the risk, so long as you knowingly take it on. Its effects blow up any monster on the defense or hanging back, whether foe or friend. My guess is that it's not a fan of dad trying to take me and Yang out of Beacon just because Yang got hurt," Ruby surmised. "If they hadn't been friends as long as they have, it might have even shattered its own aura body. Though Red Nova Dragon probably won't be so picky."

"Resonant Destruction is destroyed during my second End Phase after activation. But so long as it's on the field, whenever a Resonator monster is used for a Synchro Summon, I can target and destroy one of your cards," Taiyang proclaimed. "Destroy the backrow card that isn't Dark Burning Magic."

"Then I shall activate it. Dark Magic Inheritance!" Ozpin declared, his facedown flipping up just as Resonant Destruction's lightning lanced across the field to destroy it. "I banish two spells from my graveyard. In exchange, I can add a spell that specifically lists Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl from my deck to my hand. I choose Dark Magical Circle."

On his field, The Dark Magicians clanked their staffs together, crossing them in an 'X' as the orbs at the tips shined.

"The Dark Magicians' effect now activates. Once per turn, when a spell or trap card or effect is activated, I draw one card," Ozpin continued, pulling the card from the top of his deck. He then calmly slid it into The Long Memory's backrow. Impossibly, that same card flipped up as soon as it manifested on the field. "I can then set that drawn card if it was a spell or trap. And if it was a Quick-Play Spell or any sort of trap card, I can activate it this turn. Which I will do so with Dark Magic Expanded. It gains effects based on the number of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on my field and in my graveyard. One, raises a spellcaster's attack by one thousand. But with two, for this turn, you can no longer activate cards or effects in response to my spell or trap cards or effects. Nor can you destroy my spell or trap cards with card effects."

"Resonat Destruction can't hit Dark Burning Magic this turn," Emerald noted, knowing how useful protecting a card that powerful would be.

"Since I have a Level Eight or higher Synchro on my field, I can special summon Creation Resonator. And since it's a dragon, I can special summon Red Nova," Taiyang continued, manifesting Creation Resonator (ATK 800/DEF 600) and Red Nova (ATK 0/DEF 0) without a hint of shock at his former headmaster's skills.

Emerald cocked an eyebrow at the spritely fire fairy the blonde had just summoned, recalling Ruby mentioned something like it a few moments ago. "That thing turns into a dragon?"

"Are you sure you want to try what comes next?" Ozpin called out to his opponent. "You should not risk your heart by using your mark just to beat me."

"I don't need to."

"Really?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I've been working on," Tai sneered. "To add something good to the world, to make it possible for others to evolve their dueling without needing a damn crimson tattoo. Just aura."

"Has anyone without a Signer Mark proved able to use that method?"

"Not yet. But fortunately, that doesn't matter right now," Taiyang spat. "I tune Level Three Creation Resonator and Level One Red Nova to Level Eight Red Dragon Archfiend! Double Tune!"

The two tuners broke apart into four glowing green circlets, spinning around Red Dragon Archfiend so fast that they blurred into a sphere that ignited into a furious inferno. The black and red dragon curled into itself as it glowed with scarlet light, consumed by the fire around it as it became a new blazing sun.

"The king and devil now merge here! Give the roar that created heaven and earth! Burn hotter than the sun and answer to me! Synchro Summon!" Taiyang roared. "Red Nova Dragon!"

The hospital foundations shook again as a deafening roar burst out from the roiling star, the hardlight dust barrier shaking and flickering as a few plumes of fire snaked through its openings to glaze the floor with soot. A gargantuan dragon with sharp wings and thick armor erupted from the flames, regally soaring above the battlefield (ATK 3500/DEF 3000). Its muscles pulsed with a crimson aura, power surging through its form as its eyes blazed (ATK 5000).

Emerald's knees shivered beneath her, the thief's jaw dropping as her red eyes widened. "What the actual hell?!"

"Oh, Red Nova Dragon gains five hundred attack points for each tuner in its graveyard," Ruby explained.

"He just used two tuners to Synchro Summon!"

Ruby tilted her head to the side. "Did we never mention that he can do that? Or that he's been teaching Yang how to do it?"

"No!" Emerald squawked.

This was insane! Double Tuning, fusion summons on the opponent's turn, the magical cards she knew were waiting in the wings. She hadn't expected their enemies to be weak, but even Amber hadn't busted out such crazy moves. Emerald was an ant beneath tap-dancing Goliaths. Even with the wicked card that Cinder had gifted her when they'd first met, what use could she possibly be against such giants? She was just a thief with a useful semblance. She couldn't even finish off Team CFVY with a perfect win like she'd promised.

"The Synchro Summon of a dark attribute dragon Synchro Monster returns the Red Reign I discarded for Book of Lunar Eclipse to my hand," Taiyang moved on, Resonant Destruction already crackling beside him. "And since another Resonator was used for the Synchro Summon, Resonant Destruction destroys The Dark Magicians!"

Once more, lightning surged forth from Resonant Destruction, enveloping The Dark Magicians. Strangely, only the black circlet of hieroglyphs behind them shattered. The spellcasters themselves just split off into two separate defense mode cards.

"As you know, when The Dark Magicians is destroyed, a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl can be summoned from my hand, deck, or graveyard–"

"I know!"

"Then I simply activate Dark Burning Magic," Ozpin pronounced, his final facedown flipping up. "When Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are both on my field, every card on your field is destroyed."

"Red Nova Dragon can't be destroyed by your card effects," Tai countered.

"But Resonant Destruction can."

Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl crossed their staffs, purple power crackling from the former's while pink energy surged around the latter. The mystic forces warped and flared together, combining into a conflagration of power that erupted over the opponent's field. As Taiyang promised, Red Nova Dragon just roared into the blast, its body blazing crimson as it brushed off the stream. But as Ozpin promised, Resonant Destruction was annihilated.

"Battle! Attack Dark Magician Girl!" Taiyang shouted. "Burning Soul!"

Red Nova Dragon's wings folded inward and it divebombed the blonde magician. A volcanic inferno encircled the draconic leviathan, tearing through the spellcaster in the blink of an eye.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," Tai finished, glaring across at his old teacher.

Emerald let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, relieved that the Goliaths had taken a break in their tap dancing. Her eyes flickered to the hardlight barrier, thankfully still whole.

Taiyang's towering dragon, a monster summoned via Double Tuning, was undeniably awe-inspiring. But while the thief quaked with terror at the idea of having to face it down herself, it was Ozpin that filled her with ice-cold dread. She was a spellcaster duelist too. While other decks relied on summoning towering ace monsters, most spellcaster decks focused on field presence and versatility, always having a response to the opponent's play. Misdirection, diversion, tricks to whittle down the enemy's power while subtly preserving their own for the perfect moment of counterattack.

Ozpin had faced down Red Nova Dragon and Resonant Destruction's continuous destruction without losing a single life point. His ace monster was on the field and his hand was full of cards to use. His foe was the furthest thing from weak, and yet he had gone blow for blow, using every card at his disposal, even a powerful Fusion Monster, as a tool to be used at its most effective moment. It was a singularly impressive display of dueling.

Which made the quiet of Emerald's companion even more noticeable.

"Ruby, seriously, what's up?" she demanded. "You should be frothing at the mouth at a duel like this."

"What?" Ruby replied. "I don't froth at the mouth at duels."

Emerald couldn't help some of her natural annoyance slipping through to her narrowed eyes.

"Okay, metaphorically, maybe," Ruby conceded, nervously shuffling back to look at the match as Ozpin drew for his turn. "I am enjoying it. Or at least, I'm trying to."

"Your Beacon attendance being on the line hurting the fun of it?" Emerald proposed, though she wasn't quite sure if that was the case. Ruby wasn't ignorant of the danger of high-stakes duels, but she'd also looked like she was on a sugar high when she'd gotten the chance to share the 'Awesome Tale of Her Epic Clash Against The Evil Dark Signer and Her Horrible Evil!'.

"A bit. But it's more like…" Ruby stumbled, her brow furrowing. "Emerald, have you ever had to duel with someone else's life on the line? I mean, a duel where you couldn't hold back, where you might have to… to kill the other person?"

Emerald shrugged. "Yeah."

It was the truth, though the silver-eyed squirt didn't need to know that it wasn't exactly common. Most of her life had been spent on the streets, desperately fending for her next meal, using her semblance to keep from being skewered when other urchins tried to jump her. It was kill or be killed, and her only allies were her cards.

That was until she met Cinder, her savior who saw worth in her and plucked her from perdition. The older woman had given her a place to belong, actually cared about her. And that had given Emerald the new experience of caring about her. It had made the duel against Amber different than any the thief had ever fought before, given her new passion and determination to protect something more than herself.

"What was the other person like?" Ruby asked. "Were they… evil?"

Evil? Emerald hadn't known Amber beyond the dueling profile and deck information Cinder had had her study beforehand. But if she had to venture a guess, probably not. Then again, she didn't think most of the urchins she'd killed when she was on the streets were either. It was just that they didn't have any food, she'd stolen food, they figured she'd be easier to steal from than a store with a security system. Simple as that.

"No. Doesn't change the fact that I couldn't afford to lose to them," she declared. "Where's this coming from?"

"I… I made a wrong choice. I must have. Even if it wasn't going to Mt. Glenn, it must have been something I decided once we were there. Otherwise, Yang wouldn't be…" Ruby sighed. "I dueled someone. An old friend of Blake's. Someone who joined the White Fang because they really did have no other option and who didn't know about the Grimm. And because of that, I hesitated when I was fighting them. And if I hadn't, if I had won faster, maybe I could have gotten out of the hardlight shield sooner and been able to save Yang from her crash. Instead, I didn't and… and Yang… what if next time, I try to spare someone who deserves it, and one of my friends die? What if I get one of my teammates, who are relying on me as their leader, killed because I tried to be merciful?"

The silver-eyed girl shivered, clutching the edges of her red cape and pulling them inward. Emerald was used to Team RWBY and company annoying her to bits with infuriating teenage prattle like Jaune playing to ask out Weiss with a special bouquet or Weiss and Blake's drama before the dance. She wasn't used to Ruby wrapping herself in her hood like the thief used to wrap herself in discarded newspapers for warmth.

Even though the issue she was debating was juvenile, perhaps it was that similarity that made Emerald respond with sincere advice.

"Ruthlessness is mercy on ourselves," she bluntly told the younger girl.

Ruby's head whipped toward her. "What?"

Emerald clenched her teeth. She sucked in a deep breath, reminding herself to tone it down and keep her cover. Friendly do-gooder aspiring huntress brat, not hardened cutthroat thief.

"You grew up around here, right? Let's just say I grew up in significantly worse circumstances."

"Like Sun? Streets of Vacuo?"

"Not Vacuo, and not the way he tells it. I imagine a small girl alone has a rougher time of it than a buff pretty boy with family," Emerald said. "The world is dark."

"I know. But isn't it our job to make it better?"

"You try to do that by running around looking to hug everybody with open arms, you'll get a knife in the back before you can make much of anything," Emerald countered. "A hunting duelist's job isn't to save people, it's to save the people it's their mission to save. Anything that tries to stop you from doing that is a Grimm. Even if they're people."

Ruby frowned. "I… I can't accept that."

"Then you'll die."

"I'm prepared for that."

"The people you're trying to protect will die too," Emerald emphasized. "Beacon's not the real world. You can duel for fun there. What you saw at Mt. Glenn, that's the real world. You'll need to close your heart there. The price of living is resolve."

"Can I open my heart again? After I come back?" Ruby wondered. "I don't want dueling to stop being fun."

Emerald gestured back toward the duel of dancing Goliaths. "How about we keep watching? Somehow, I don't see this duel slowing down any time soon. And I don't think anyone can't get into a match this good."

Well, except Mercury, but he was a special case. Hopefully, he was having an easier time with his target than she was with hers.

---

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Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Hospitals were still new to Mercury.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

His old man had never taken him to one. The closest he'd gotten was the back-alley surgeon who'd fitted his prosthetics. Cinder had tracked him down and killed him to make sure no one would be able to identify him as Marcus Black's assassin son if they ever got onto a CCT broadcast.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The Beacon infirmary was the nearest thing to a real hospital he'd ever been in. Ironic that it'd been where he'd first really met the woman now laid out unconscious in the first real hospital he'd ever been in.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He couldn't exactly interrogate Yang for intel about what the hell happened at The Breach while she was out, so he left for the hospital cafeteria and snatched up some eggwiches. He told himself that he only went back to the hospital room to eat them so that Emerald couldn't get on his case for dumping the entire mission on her. He was keeping an eye on one of the targets, nothing objectionable there. Having lunch at the same time was just smart multitasking.

Smart multitasking where his eyes never left the golden-haired girl's stump.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

His dad had taught him torture by kidnapping someone no one would miss and giving a demonstration. Even outside the horrifying stuff, a lot of his old man's assassination targets were huntsmen or ex-huntsmen, a field with no shortage of members down a limb. It was hardly the first time he'd seen an amputee.

But it was the first time he'd seen one after becoming one himself.

He kept eating, shoving delicious eggwich after delicious eggwich into his maw, delighting in being able to taste and devour such delicious food, food his old man would have never let him touch. It was only because he'd joined up with Cinder when opportunity came knocking that he got to have a full belly, only because he'd been party to The Breach that he got to have a life of anything other than constant hell. Xiao-Long made her choice. It wasn't his fault she wasn't strong enough to put her money where her mouth was.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Would that freaking machine shut up already?! Seriously, what was it even for?!

He shoved down his lack of knowledge of hospital devices and crammed the second-to-last eggwich into his mouth. He reached for the foil holding the last one and raised it to his mouth.

His gaze's path fell upon Yang. He paused, his mouth closing, finding her face as much as her absent arm. The face that'd stared at him with the emotion he couldn't recognize back at the dance.

Perhaps it was the emotion roiling inside him now. If so, no wonder she lit herself on fire. The more he tried to ignore it, the more it felt like it was burning him up inside. It was annoying.

And yet, it made him stand. It made him look down on her from up close, and notice how haggard and reduced she appeared in her unconscious state. It made him compare that state to how vibrant she'd looked as they'd traded banter on the ballroom balcony and find it… unsatisfying.

He leaned over, unsure what he was doing. But when he could see her breath fogging up her oxygen mask, he found himself speaking.

"People will pity you. Behind your back or in your face. And they will stare. At you. Or look away, if they're trying to hide it," he said, not knowing what words he would speak before they left his lips. "Today, you are weak. But you're still alive, by luck or an enemy's mistake. So, what will you be tomorrow?"

Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw her face shift a fraction after his words.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He left his last eggwich on her bedside table and left. He could get more food from the cafeteria and eat in a room that didn't have so much noise.

---

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"I activate The Eye of–"

"I activate Red Reign!" Taiyang shouted, his trap flipping up before Ozpin could finish speaking.

Red Nova Dragon roared into the air, fiery meteors streaking down from the ceiling and smashing into Dark Magician. The purple-robed wizard was blown to smithereens, banished where its duelist could not reach it.

The spell that Ozpin had activated faded away before it could fully form. The card's aura body didn't even get the chance to form the image of a dignified green dragon.

"That was it!" Ruby squeaked from the sidelines. "That was–"

"Just a spell, Ruby," Taiyang growled. "Just a spell that fizzled out without a target."

He felt a pinch of shame as his youngest daughter's sudden burst of excitement vanished, her jubilant arm shrinking back into her previous melancholy. He wished he could go and comfort her, but he needed to keep his head in the game. He needed to stay focused and at his best if he had any hope of shielding her and Yang.

Ozpin wasn't invincible. Summer had bested him in the past. But if he was given the breathing room to set up his central combo of Dark Magician the Dragon Knight, Eternal Soul, and Dark Magical Circle, it would be incredibly difficult to bring him down. The only way to win was to hit him hard enough and fast enough to make sure he couldn't fortify himself.

"I activate Dark Magical Circle," Ozpin said, sliding the continuous spell into The Long Memory. Another black ring of mysticism manifested on the field, inscribed with glittering golden hieroglyphics. "When it's activated, I look at the top three cards of my deck and can reveal one Dark Magician or a spell or trap card that mentions it, and add it to my hand. Any cards that I don't reveal are put back on top of my deck in any order I choose. I select Soul Servant to add to my hand."

But that wasn't the effect Tai was worried about. Dark Magical Circle was a continuous spell, and the effect it had on the field was that, if a Dark Magician was summoned, Ozpin could banish a card his opponent controlled. Red Reign made Red Nova Dragon unaffected by card effects for the turn, but only that one turn.

"I reveal the Ritual Monster Illusion of Chaos in my hand. This activates its effect to let me add one Dark Magician or a non-Ritual Monster that mentions it from my deck to my hand. Then, I put one card in my hand on top of my deck. I search another Magicians' Souls," Ozpin said, flipping the monster around. "I then send Palladium Oracle Mana from my deck to the grave with Magicians' Souls' effect, sending it to the graveyard to summon Dark Magician Girl from my graveyard."

The light of Magicians' Souls struck the graveyard and the smiling blonde in the pink and blue robes twirled back to field (ATK 2000/DEF 1700).

"I activate Soul Servant. This spell allows me to place any Dark Magician or card that specifically mentions it or Dark Magician Girl from my hand, deck, or graveyard, and place it on top of my deck. I select Palladium Oracle Mahad," Ozpin continued, ordering his deck before the rest of it shuffled beneath his choice. "Then I banish Soul Servant from my graveyard to activate its other effect."

"You draw cards equal to the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Palladium Oracle Mahad, and Palladium Oracle Mana on your field and in your graveyard with different names. I know," Tai spat. "Draw your two and summon Mahad."

Ozpin didn't rise to the bait, maintaining that unending calm that'd once been comforting and mysterious, only to become more and more infuriating as Tai had grown. "When Palladium Oracle Madad is drawn, I can reveal and summon it to my field."

An ankh of golden light blazed through the air, forming into the radiant armor of a stalwart spellcaster with a regal staff (ATK 2500/DEF 2100).

"I activate Pot of Greed," Ozpin declared, inserting the other card he'd drawn into The Long Memory and drawing two more. "Palladium Oracle Madad attacks Red Nova Dragon! When it battles a dark attribute monster, its attack points are doubled."

"I activate Red Nova Dragon's effect!" Tai called. "When your monster declares an attack, it can banish itself until the End Phase to negate that attack!"

Palladium Oracle Mahad threw back its golden specter, conjuring a complex array of mystical runes (ATK 5000). Red Nova Dragon responded with a forceful roar, its body spitting apart into crimson rain that hammered the spellcaster back.

"Dark Magician Girl attacks you directly," Ozpin followed up. "Dark Burning Attack."

The bouncing blonde magician thrust out her blue and gold rod. Crackling pink energy gathered at its tip, only to flood over Tai in a wave of power.

Taiyang Xiao-Long: 2000 Life Points

"I lay two cards facedown and end my turn," Ozpin said. "Are you alright, Tai? Your heart–"

"Isn't going to budge from a tickle like that," Tai growled, hiding how deep a breath he needed to take as his knees trembled a fraction. "At the end of your turn, Red Nova Dragon returns!"

His dragon flashed back together as he drew for his turn. In theory, he could have clashed head-on with Mahad. But that would have just caused the spellcaster's effect to activate and summon one of Ozpin's other Dark Magicians from his deck, triggering Dark Magical Circle's banish effect. Taking the direct attack from Dark Magician Girl was unfortunate, but it was impossible to win against such an opponent without taking a few hits.

For some reason, when he looked at Ozpin's serene gaze, he felt like his old teacher was somehow reading his mind, trying to get him to apply that fact to some greater metaphor about life. Something about how he couldn't shelter his daughters forever, that part of life meant that they'd suffer hardships, Grimm have teeth and that's part of the job, etcetera, etcetera.

But Grimm having teeth did not give him the right to send them after a Leviathan when he'd only told them it'd be a pack of Beowolves!

"Graceful Charity! I draw three and discard two!" Tai yelled, yanking his cards from his deck and sending Trust Guardian and King Scarlet to his grave. "Since Trust Guardian was discarded, another Tuner is in my graveyard."

Red Nova Dragon's burning aura grew brighter (ATK 5500), barring its teeth down at Ozpin's spellcasters.

"I activate the continuous spell Crimson Gaia! During my Main Phase, I can add Red Dragon Archfiend or one card that mentions it from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I choose Absolute Powerforce!" Tai proclaimed, seizing the second spell from within his deck. "Battle! Red Nova Dragon attacks Dark Magician Girl! Burning Soul!"

"I activate my continuous trap card, Magicians' Defense," Ozpin replied, one of his two facedowns rising up with the image of two female spellcasters forming a mystic buckler together. "So long as I control a spellcaster monster, all damage I take is halved."

That didn't save Dark Magician Girl, the blond sorceress blown away by Red Nova Dragon's divebombing conflagration.

Ozpin: 2250 Life Points

"Crimson Gaia's effect activates. When a monster on the field is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can summon a Red Dragon Archfiend from my graveyard," Tai announced, pumping his fist into the sky as a pillar of fire shot up from Dark Magician Girl's ashes. "Resurrect! My mighty beast!"

The shadow of his demonic dragon flashed through the column of flames (ATK 3000/DEF 2000). With a defiant roar, the monster that had chosen him for its Signer tossed the blaze into the hardlight barrier, taking up a position beside the evolved form they'd crafted for it together.

"I activate the quick-play spell Absolute Powerforce! Now when Red Dragon Archfiend battles your monster this turn, it gains one thousand attack points and three additional effects," Tai shouted, throwing up a finger as he counted off each effect. "One! You can't activate any cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step! Two! If it attacks a defense position monster, you take piercing damage! And three! Any battle damage it deals you is doubled!"

"But what's the point?" a green-haired girl watching on the sidelines with Ruby asked. "It's still a dark attribute monster. That oracle's attack points will double when they fight."

"Very astute, Ms. Sustrai," Ozpin complimented the girl. "However, Crimson Gaia has another effect. When Red Dragon Archfiend attacks, all the opponent's monsters can be changed into facedown defense position."

Tai ground his teeth together at his old professor predicting his strategy, but it was hardly surprising given who'd advised him to craft the card that way to capitalize on his Signer Dragon's special ability. His continuous spell glowed and flipped Palladium Oracle Mahad over where its effect couldn't help it. With Absolute Powerforce active, it wouldn't even be able to summon Dark Magician when it was destroyed.

"Battle!" he called. "Absolute Powerforce!"

Red Dragon Archfield charged, its flames bolstered by the spell card that shared a name with its attack (ATK 4000). Mahad flipped up only to be furiously smashed down into the hospital floor, only Magicians' Defense's continuous effect saving its master from immediate defeat by halving the damage that Absolute Powerforce doubled.

Ozpin: 350 Life Points

"I end my turn," Tai conceded.

He wasn't able to finish him. He didn't hit him hard enough.

"I activate Jar of Avarice," Ozpin called, his final facedown card flipping up. "This trap allows me to shuffle five cards from my graveyard back into my deck and then draw one card."

He wasn't fast enough.

Tai knew it for sure as he watched a spell card with the image of a green dragon be shuffled back into his opponent's deck along with Pot of Greed and three other cards. It was coming.

And he would destroy it.

---

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"I draw! I normal summon Magician's Rod. Its effect allows me to add a spell or trap card that mentions Dark Magician from my deck to my hand. I choose another Soul Servant. Then, I will activate it to place Magician of Chaos on top of my deck."

As much as he was ashamed of it, as high as the stakes were for Ms. Rose, Ms. Xiao-Long, and even Tai in a way, as much as this was his own fault that he had to take responsibility for, Ozpin had to admit…

… he was having fun.

Most duels he took part in these days were in his professional capacity, either officially or unofficially. For the former, few students could make him sweat and the latter's matches had drowned him in the drudgery of life or death stakes long ago. To face an opponent as skilled as Tai, one he did need to give his all to best but wouldn't end up dead if it proved to not be enough, it was a rare prerogative to take part in such a duel.

And there was admittedly a sense of teacherly pride for Taiyang in him. The overconfident scamp who'd sauntered into Beacon decades ago was now a man grown, focused even in his anger. A hunting duelist determined to protect his loved ones the best he knew how, using all the lessons learned from the tragedies he shouldn't have had to bear. It was no everyday huntsman that could force Ozpin to Fusion Summon.

Yes, he was going too far, but the old wizard had earned his anger. And what kind of teacher would he be if he didn't help his pupil see past his emotions to recognize where he was erring. After all, they were emotions Ozpin knew well.

He had been a father once too. Once, many times over.

Salem's curse had been designed to make her the perfect soldier, to make sure the Champion of the Tormentor could not be put down by a sneak attack from The Great Invader's minions. But as the war dragged on, The Brothers had grown worried that she was becoming detached from their world she protected, as all but her brother, his aging slowed by his fusion with his partner, passed to time or worse. If he fell, as he eventually did, would she still be able to fight with the same ferocity without something to protect?

Thus, when they revived The Sky Dragon's Champion, they experimented to try and make sure he would always have emotional connections to keep him involved in the war. The Merge was not that original identity supplanting 'like-minded souls' for their bodies. It was a true fusion of mind and soul. They came together, the individuals' connections as real for the combination as they'd been for the pieces. In truth, the man once known as Ozma had not existed for eons, melted into a mere fraction of the malaise that now called itself Ozpin, after its latest addition.

Every life, the wizard gained new friends, a new family, new people that he loved as dear as Ozma had once loved his and Salem's children. He could not simply choose not to feel for them as his newest like-minded soul did. They were one, a true merged being. They were his dearly beloved.

And every life, it'd hurt just as hellishly when they inevitably died. And they rarely had the luxury of falling to time.

Despite knowing how her present immortality had led to her current madness, Ozpin found himself grateful that the Brothers had fallen to the Great Invader before they'd been able to replace Salem's curse with his own, their newest successful experiment.

"I banish Soul Servant from my graveyard," he said. "Since Dark Magician Girl, Palladium Oracle Mahad, and Palladium Oracle Mana are all in my graveyard, I will draw three cards this time."

He placed his fingers atop his deck and drew his first.

As he knew it'd be, Magician of Chaos.

Two. Monster Reborn. Useful for bringing back Mahad, but it wouldn't matter with Red Nova Dragon ready to stop any attack with its effect.

Three!

Luck was on his side.

"I activate Pot of Greed," Ozpin announced, flipping his final card around and inserting it into The Long Memory. The card that Jar of Avarice returned to him enabled him to pull two more cards from his deck: Secrets of Dark Magic and…

He glanced outside the hardlight barrier, spotting Ruby beside Ms. Sustrai (he would have to impress upon her the importance of not mentioning anything she saw in this duel to anyone). The silver-eyed girl had only had excitement sparked back into her gaze once so far in the duel, before her father had countered with his Red Reign. Ozpin wished to spark that again if he could. It was his negligence that had caused it to dim in the first place.

He had the blood of children on his hands, those who had chosen to die and those he'd been forced to choose for them. It was an inescapable reality of war. Which was why, in a time of peace, he wanted to let children play the part of children.

"I use Monster Reborn to revive Dark Magician Girl from my graveyard," Ozpin said, his blonde female spellcaster returning to his field once more. "Then I activate Secrets of Dark Magic."

"Another Fusion?" Tai challenged.

"No, this time I will using its second effect," Ozpin clarified, the golden ring of hiereoglyphs surrounding Dark Magician Girl and Magician's Rod. Seven golden braizers sprouted around the circelt, the monsters' essences drawn to each, lighting them with blue and red flame. "I tribute Dark Magician Girl and Magician's Rod, monsters whose total level exceed seven. Ritual Summon!"

"Ritual Summon?!" Ms. Sustrai squawked.

"But that's a fusion spell!" Ruby gasped, wonder beating back her previous malaise. "How can one spell card fusion summon and ritual summon?"

Through many decades of trial and error forging. It often paid to be able to come at an opponent from an angle they didn't expect.

"Magician of Chaos!" Ozpin called. "Come forth!"

The flames of the braziers swam together, taking form from fire like one of Tai's dragons. Red and blue solififed into dark wizard's robes, the spellcaster's skin tinted green from touching power too arcane for even he (ATK 2500/DEF 2100).

"Why him? You could have grabbed almost any monster in your deck with Soul Servant," Tai pondered. "All he can do is pop a card when a spell or trap effect is activated and… and…"

The blond Signer's eyes widened as he remembered the Ritual Monster's full effects, being one of the few who'd witnessed the headmaster have to use his curveball on another duelist. But it was too late. The black mystical ring that was Dark Magical Circle was already conjuring a furious orb of vile sorcery within its circumference.

"When it's on the field or in the graveyard, Magician of Chaos' name is considered Dark Magician," Ozpin completed the explanation for the onlookers. "Which means Dark Magical Circle's effect activates. I banish Red Nova Dragon!"

The orb of black sorcery alunched itself from the circle like a shot from a railgun, streaking across the field faster than any monster could dodge. Not that Red Nova Dragon would have tried to avoid it, the prideful double tuned monster letting out another roar of challenge as it met the dark magic head-on.

Not that it stopped it from being erased from the field on impact.

"Dark Magical Circle's effect triggers Magician of Chaos' effect," Ozpin continued, his monster's arcane staff projecting eldritch sapphire runes. "I target Crimson Gaia for destruction."

"I banish Soul Resonator from my graveyard!" Taiyang shouted, fire blazing over the continuous spell and shielding it from the arcane chaos. "When I have Red Dragon Archfiend or a Synchro Monster than mentions it on my field, I can banish Soul Resonator from my grave to prevent my cards from being destroyed by a card effect. Now bring it out!"

"Bring it out?"

"That thing's name is Dark Magician. That means it'll work on it just like the real deal," Tai correctly deduced. "Come on! I'll crush it! I'll protect them from everything you and your world have got!"

One of those things would be true. Alas, if it was possible to completely protect anyone from everything in Ozpin's world, he'd have done it himself long ago.

He glanced at Ruby once more, the child seeming to have realized what her father spoke of, what her headmaster had been aiming for with his strategem. Now, the light in her eyes waited with bated breath to see if fortune had favored him.

Ozpin took up the last card in his hand and slid it into The Long Memory. Once more, the spell manifested in front of him, but this time Taiyang had no trap to remove the effect's target.

From the card's image, the green dragon soared onto the field, majestic and mighty. It threw its wings wide, its ivy scales glittering with power and nobility. Red Dragon Archfiend howled with excitement for the worthy foe, but the wizard's old companion merely stared back with cool cerulean eyes, keen and ready for the practiced tempest of battle as it took its place beside Magician of Chaos.

"I activate The Eye of Timaeus!"

---

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"It's real," Ruby murmured, awe filling her voice as her lips twisted into an enormous, beaming grin. "IT'S REEEEAAAALLLLLL!"

Timaeus! One of the Legendary Dragons! One of the Legendary Dragons! One of the dragons in the statue in Beacon's courtyard! There were so many stories about him! He was The Wizard's dragon in The Wizard, The Smith, & The Hero! Some of the other fairy tales even said that he and his wielder were entrusted to protect one of the Brothers' God Cards, The Sky–

"Holy moly!" Emerald gasped, interrupting Ruby's internal fangirling. "That's… wow."

"Isn't it?!" Ruby leapt up and down. "How did the headmaster get it? Why isn't he using it in every duel? Ooo, what do you think it does?"

"Glad to see someone's back to normal," Emerald chuckled. "As for that last question, I think we're about to find out."

Magician of Chaos leapt onto Timaeus' back, the green dragon letting out a noble roar as its eyes blazed with mystical light. Both monsters swirled together, just like a…

"A fusion vortex?" Ruby gaped.

"The Eye of Timaeus targets one Dark Magician on the field and then fusion summons a monster that lists it as material, using only that one monster as the entire fusion material," Ozpin revealed. "Come forth, Amulet Dragon!"

The wizard and dragon emerged from the swirling whirlpool anew, the spellcaster riding atop the dragon's back, its robes and skin restored to the natural shade of a Dark Magician, purged of the turbulent and unpredictable energies of chaos. Meanwhile, Timaeus' scales were covered with bright yellow writing, ancient runes of a forgotten tongue that wielded power long lost from memory (ATK 2900/DEF 2500).

"So that's the one you went with. Haven't seen that one in a while," Taiyang remarked, though Ruby had no idea where he'd seen something so awesome before. "If I remember right, that thing can banish any of the spells in our graveyard, right?"

Ozpin nodded. "And gain one hundred attack points for each one."

Ruby eagerly clapped her hands together. "Ooo, it's gain a lot of power then. There's been a lot of spells played so far–"

"Battle. Amulet Dragon attacks Red Dragon Archfiend."

Ruby froze. "Huh?"

"Magic Distortion."

The spellcaster thrust forward its staff, the green dragon beneath it opening its jaws as a maelstrom of mystic power took shape. With a dignified howl, the duo unleashed their blast of energy at the Signer Dragon.

Red Dragon Archfiend scoffed, conjuring volcanic fury in its palm before slamming its fist into the attack. Amulet Dragon's blast was blown to smithereens, its gargoyle-like foe racing in and incinerating the legendary beast, only its mystical golden runes left behind to linger in the air.

Ozpin: 250 Life Points

Ruby blinked in befuddlement, her brow furrowing.

"Well, that was anti-climatic," Emerald remarked, her head tilted to the side in similar confusion.

"What was that?!" Taiyang shouted. "Why didn't you use its effect?"

"There aren't enough spell cards in the graveyard. It wouldn't have wiped out your life points," Ozpin replied. "This will."

"What? You just destroyed your last–"

Taiyang's eyes widened as Amulet Dragon's golden runes continued to swirl through the air. The writing span faster and faster, a brilliant pillar shining to life.

"If Amulet Dragon is destroyed, I can summon one spellcaster monster from my graveyard," Ozpin revealed. "Return to the field, Palladium Oracle Mahad!"

The golden column folded back into the dignified mage's armor, his glittering staff raised for battle (ATK 2500/DEF 2100).

"Battle!" Ozpin called.

Palladium Oracle Mahad whirled back his staff, the complex array of arcane glyphs blazing into the air behind him. Like before, its attack points doubled as it battled a dark attribute monster (ATK 5000).

Red Dragon Archfiend let out a blaring roar. Fire spewed from its maws. Mahad's mystic lightning spewed forth from his sorcerous array.

Magician and dragon clashed in a brilliant display of power and storm. Gold, orange, and red surged throughout the duel field, the hardlight barrier crackling. Ruby and Emerald both had to shield their eyes from the searing shine.

When they uncovered them, Red Dragon Archfiend tumbled to the floor, its aura body shattering. Palladium Oracle Mahad floated above, flourishing its staff as it dissipated its magic sigils.

Taiyang Xiao-Long: 0 Life Points

Winner: Ozpin

"Incredible," Emerald whispered, a hint of trembling fear in her voice.

"Awesome," Ruby murmured. "But, he just crashed his monster away. The legendary Eye of Timaeus."

"He won," Emerald pointed out. "He dueled with everything he had and he won. And because of that, you and your sis get to stay at Beacon. That's what matters, isn't it?"

Ruby watched as Professor Ozpin returned The Long Memory to its cane form. The headmaster strode over to her father, extending a hand for a post-duel shake. Her dad seemed hesitant to take it.

"To duel with everything I've got, whatever the wall to climb," Ruby pondered to herself. Whether she needed to outthink her opponent, reach out to them, or even… how ruthless she had to be?

She still wasn't sure about that last one. She didn't want to give up the joy of dueling for herself or her opponent. How to reconcile that when the stakes were high, with her duty as a huntress and the leader everyone told her she had to be?

She'd have to figure that out as she went. With the help of her friends along the way.

"Hey, Emerald. Thanks for coming to check on me," Ruby smiled. "It means a lot."

The green-haired girl seemed to consider her answer for a moment, but the sly but friendly smirk she ended up on was a familiar and welcome sight. "What are friends for? Besides you and your sister still have standing challenges with my team for the Vytal Festival. Be a shame if you dropped out before the duels."

"Ha! That it would," Ruby chuckled. "Guess I should thank Cinder too when I see."

---

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"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

The only thing louder than Cinder's scream of rage was the fiery explosion she conjured that blew away quite a few of the Emerald Forest's trees.

What happened?! Her plan was foolproof! The Breach was to have rammed into the heart of Vale once Beacon's teachers and students were spread out for their away missions. The Grimm were to have run roughshod over the kingdom's defenses and forced Ozpin to run to Amber's hiding place in his fear. So how the hell had some of Remnant's most infamous terrorists and gangsters been swept aside by a team of first-year brats!? Months of preparation, bending the White Fang to her will, robbing every scrap of dust, and Team RWBY's mystery magic dragons had wasted all of it!

She'd of course not shown how absolutely livid she was in front of Mercury and Emerald, sending the pair off to do some reconnaissance on those cursed brats while she tried to get her house back in order. Torchwick and Taurus were under arrest, while neither Neo or Amitola had responded to her attempts to contact them. And to top it all off, the Scarab Grimm within her throbbed with a warning of a matter in the Emerald Forest that required her attention. Fortunately, with The Black Queen Virus keeping Cinder off any cameras, the scenic locale offered a useful stress reliever.

After all, any damage she caused would be dismissed as a side effect of her target.

She followed the Grimm through the thick oaks, Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Deathstalkers of all sizes charging towards her destination. Spindly crevices formed beneath the grass, oozing razor-thin threads of mercurial black mud. All of them stretched out from a point deep in the forest, the sounds of ferocious battle ringing through the forest.

When Cinder arrived at the source, she found close to what she'd expected. Off to the side, a horde of Grimm dogpiled a shadowy fiend with armored insectoid limbs, the exhausted monster radiating scraps of its dwindling Dark Magic as it desperately tore apart the creatures of Remnant.

She ignored the monster for now, turning her attention to the seemingly bottomless chasm it must have come through. A crack in the world.

The barrier that hid and protected Remnant was not as strong as it was in the time of The Brothers. Their deaths diminished its power and left it unable to automatically repair. Over the centuries, cracks formed from time to time, refugees slipping through like the Signer Dragons, Earthbound, or other monsters of light and darkness that wanted no part in the war beyond. Salem and Ozpin each tried to recruit (or experiment on, in Salem's case) those refugees, but they each thought it imperative to seal the cracks before any significant force discovered their godless, defenseless world. And so, one task of each of their circles was to investigate any sign of a crack and seal it at first opportunity.

Fortunately, they were not without assistance in that matter.

The bottomless pit was suddenly flooded with more mercurial black mud, the essence of the Grimm surging through the chasm to clog it up. Cinder raised her hand, the Scarab within her scuttling through her veins to exit and do its duty, hardening the gunk of its kind to seal the barrier. She could have used her maiden powers to do it, but she was unsure if the half she had would be sufficient. She'd pulled off a Shining Evolution the night she'd saved Torchwick from that botched dust robbery, but it had been a nearer thing than she'd made it appear (Salem's warning about the cataclysmic consequences of failing such a technique had been focused on the difficulty of balancing it, but she suspected the sheer amount of power was also a factor).

The Scarab was the tool for the job. It was a Grimm after all.

Its magic poured out over the mud, Salem's modifications allowing it to harden the swamp into the same consistency as the rest of the ground. It would take a bit more time to fully settle, but Hazel was the only one who stuck around the full few days to make sure no God Card tried breaking in before the barrier was fully restored.

"Foolish mud creatures! You think to challenge Tragoedia?! Servant of The Dar–No! Servant of Armityle and his Yubel! Not The Dark! I am of the Dark, but I am not just The Dar–"

Cinder tuned out the rest, uncaring about the glowing purple lines receding from the fiend's, Tragoedia, flesh. It would run out of Dark Magic to form its body soon and disappear into the ether of Remnant until it found a worthy duelist forging a card.

Or, she could take it for herself.

She drew the card from her deck, the one she'd forged with Shining Evolution. Its power brought forth Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, the dark skeletal dragon looming behind its mistress as her eye glowed gold.

Ruthlessness was mercy on herself.

"Molten Hellfire."

Tragoedia shrieked as it was consumed in Cinder's blaze.

---

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"Do you think you can do it?" Ironwood inquired.

"Affirmative, sir!" Penny saluted with a grin. "Mr. Taurus' forgework with the Six Samurai archetype is quite intriguing. I should be able to build upon it even further."

In the forge room of his fleet's flagship, Ironwood smiled at the Ignis' report, the captured deck of Adam Taurus laid out on an examination table. If The Breach had proved anything, it was that seeking evolution was imperative to defeat The Queen. Ozpin was understandably cautious about pushing Team RWBY too far, too fast, and the general concurred those kids deserved a break.

But the war would not wait. So that just meant he had to pursue alternate paths to ensure they had time to rest. When The Queen made her next move, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon would not have to fight alone.

It was unfortunate that Adam Taurus had chosen the side he did, but the fruits of his labor could still be of use. The White Fang was still out there and, as much as he loathed the philosophy that'd birthed it, a Six Samurai deck was still designed to decimate faunus decks. With Penny further building off The Blood-Soaked Bull's innovations, it would enable Atlas' forces to stop them in their tracks.

"Oh! By the way, sir, I have excellent news!" Penny brightly informed him. "My time at Beacon has successfully expanded my horizons!"

"Um, that's nice, Penny," Ironwood replied, glad the Ignis girl was happy, but unsure how to respond to such fanfare to news he'd pretty much already knew.

"Thank you! I could never have made the breakthrough on the Link-5 prototype without Ruby, Nora, Ren, and the others. I'd never considered incorporating Ritual Monster elements into the dust structure."

Ironwood's eyes widened. "Prototype? You mean–"

"Affirmative! Project Darkfluid will be ready for field testing by the Vytel Festival."

Ironwood's smile grew. Just when he thought the day couldn't get any better.

---

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Ilia didn't know how this day could get any worse.

"Ms. Belladonna, from what you've described, Ms. Schnee and your teammates were fully aware of your true identity before your mission to Mt. Glenn. When were they made aware of who you were and your involvement in the undercover investigation?"

"Oh, um, well, last semester, really?"

"Blake played a crucial role in preventing the complete theft of a SDC shipment, Lisa. She informed the rest of us of her true identity to emphasize that we needed to stay back and out of danger. It didn't quite play out that way, but it was truly a showcase of her integrity and selflessness."

"Well said, Ms. Schnee. Do you all suspect that she was not human prior to that point, or was the bow truly effective at hiding her cat ears?"

Ilia shut off her scroll as the Schnee's face went pale at the reporter's question. Lisa Lavender was the most professional journalist in Vale, but she wasn't a puff-piece reporter either. She would play fair with her young guests, but she would play hardball.

Since The Breach, it seemed like every channel on the Vale CCT was playing a different interview with the black and white duo of Team RWBY. It seemed the kingdom could do nothing but shower them in praise, even the most racist of commenters unable to lash out at Blake with the Schnee heiress right next to her and the SDC gleefully taking advantage of the PR opportunity. It twisted a knife in Ilia's gut every time she saw it. But she was also aware that her feeling were her aggravated feelings of abandonment by her former comrade, petty jealousy that the Schnee got to be next to her, and, most of all, shame.

Because Blake had been right, the night she'd lambasted her on the highway. Ilia had repeated her mistake from prep school, kept her head down because it was easy rather than stand up and do what was right. So what if she hadn't known about the Grimm attack, she'd known the attack wasn't planned with the faunus' interests at heart. She'd allowed herself to be an ally of Neo's cruelty, Torchwick's apathy, and Adam's wrath, all because she'd convinced herself there was nothing else she could do.

But there was always a choice. And despite what Blake and Pyrrha thought, it wasn't binary. She didn't have to submit to being a tool of those in power by becoming a huntress. But she did have to take action when her own allies were choosing the easy path.

A message appeared on her scroll, the Lady Rhodes once more demanding a response. Ilia put it in her trash. She wasn't that monster's minion. Never again.

"Commander?"

Ilia turned to see those few of the new recruits who remained. Most had been so horrified to have been tricked into causing a Grimm invasion that they'd deserted. The chameleon faunus was surprised any of them had stayed.

"What do we do now?" one of them asked.

Ilia shrugged. "Adam's locked up. I'm still getting in contact with the experienced survivors of Mt. Glenn. You all should go, like the others did. Go back to your normal lives."

"We… we can't. We joined the White Fang to make a difference. A bunch of humans are already trying to use The Breach to make things worse."

"Of course they are," Ilia groaned, unsurprised. "And you trust the White Fang to be able to help after this?"

"We trust you."

Ilia's head flicked up, befuddlement warping her face. "Why?"

She hadn't known about The Grimm, but she'd still gone along with Adam and Torchwick even knowing it was wrong. Why would they trust her?

"You trained us. And when things got bad, you came for us. Got us out alive. Wherever you go next, whatever you think needs to be done, we're with you."

Ilia looked over them in shock, taking in their determined, trusting stares. They wanted her to lead them? Why? She wasn't a leader like Blake, or Adam, or Sienna. She mixed into the background, melted into the shadows. She wasn't charismatic in a way that drew people to her, she was the one always getting sucked into others' orbit.

And yet, here she was, terrified as they all looked to her for hope.

What had Astral called her? An Emperor? It seemed she had imperial followers to lead. Whether she thought herself a leader or not, they had chosen her. All she could do was her best not to let them down.

"Prepare for a long journey," Ilia commanded. "We're headed to Mistral."

Sienna needed to be informed of what had really been going on in Vale. Even if she would take Ilia's head for her part in it.

So be it. If she was to lead, then she had to take responsibility for who she had chosen to follow.

---

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"You have every right to be angry with me, but this is not your choice to make."

It was lines like that which truly made Tai hate Ozpin. They proved that the wise, friendly teacher from his Beacon days, the man who, aside from his teammates, helped him grow from a naive hothead to the man he was today wasn't just a figure of his imagination. And that made him want to trust his old headmaster so badly.

Even when he thought back to the events that led to their falling out, he desperately wanted to believe that the old man had a good reason. He wasn't like Raven or James, who could be far too eager to default to brute force at times. Oz could be passive to the point of indolence. If he of all people decided to make such harsh choices, surely there must have been no other option?

But then he remembered what those choices were. Rhodes. The aftermath of The Lost Incident. What he might do to Pyrrha if he knew what card she'd forged. Tai had demanded answers once upon a time, and those he'd received about the danger of The Emperors were far too vague to justify such horror. If Ozpin didn't want to trust him with the full truth, that was fine, but he would not commit such terrible deeds based on only scraps of information.

The hardest thing was recognizing that he was both. That the headmaster was the scheming mastermind that he had to be wary of and the kind mentor who'd helped him sharpen his skills and his virtues. It'd be so easy if he was one or the other, but life was rarely so simple. He could only remain wary of the trickster while trying to live by the lessons of the teacher.

One of which was that he couldn't use that fear to justify taking away the choices of others.

"I'm sorry," he told Ruby, he and his youngest daughter walking back to Yang's room. "I overreacted, trying to pull you both from Beacon."

"It's okay. You were angry, I get it. You should be," she said, unable to meet his eyes. "I should never have asked for that mission. It's my fault–"

"Woah! Woah!" Tai exclaimed, instantly stopping their stride just outside Yang's room. He knelt down to Ruby's level, gently but firmly taking hold of her shoulder. "This is not your fault. Missions go bad. It's part of the job."

"But my job was to make sure it didn't," Ruby professed, her eyes beginning to glimmer with wetness. "I was team leader, but I couldn't do anything. Yang was going to die right in front of me and I couldn't do anything!"

Her tears fell then, a tangled knot of emotions finally gushing out all at once. Tai pulled her in, hugging his daughter and letting her sob into his shoulder. It was what he should have done from the start.

To watch his children grow up was to have his heart broken into two pieces and wander outside his body, where he could not protect them. His rage at Ozpin was justified, but that did not mean it was correct. His fury and rush to rip his girls from the headmaster's grip had blinded him to what should have been his first priority, just as his grief over Summer had years ago.

His girls were suffering. Being forced to watch his wrath would not help them heal.

He held Ruby as she cried. A minute. Then two. Eventually, her breathing began to stabilize, her sobs turning to sniffles. Those quieted too, in time. They just hugged each other then, a father allowing his daughter to let her emotions out before they burned her up from the inside out.

"I need you to teach me," she murmured. "I know you're angry with me–"

"I'm not angry with you. I'm sorry I made you think I was," Tai assured her, clutching her closer. "I was angry, but not with you. Never with you. What happened to your sister is not your fault."

"... Raven used some sort of healing powers with her Signer Mark."

Tai sighed, still not sure how to address his estranged wife's involvement in all this, or the fact that his youngest had met her. "It's not really healing. Not in any significant amount. It can cause wounds to scab up, help bones set, calm breathing, that kind of little stuff. Full-on healing someone would take channeling more Light Magic than is healthy for anyone through you and whoever you're trying to help."

"But it can help. Yang wouldn't have survived long enough for the doctors and her aura to save her without it," Ruby pointed out. The silver-eyed girl pulled away from the hug, pushing her sleeve up to reveal her Signer Mark. "I was so excited to be a Signer, but I never asked how to use this. I should have. I need you to teach me how to use it."

"If that's what you want, I will," Tai nodded, despite how it tied him up inside. "But, I think we all need to rest first. You've been through more than anyone your age should have to go through–"

"There's no time! I chose this. I wanted to be like you and Mom, so now I need to do it," Ruby insisted. "I need to know how to do what you do. What she could do. What Lil'M–"

"Uuuggghhhh…"

All worried thoughts fled Tai's head as both his and Ruby's heads whipped towards the hospital room the groan had originated from. Father and daughter's faces lit up with hope.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, blasting to her sister's bedside with her semblance. "Yang! Dad, she's awake! She's awake!"

Tai dashed through the trail of rose petals, his eyes lighting up as Yang indeed stirred from her slumber. Slowly but surely, the violet orbs he feared he'd never see again cracked back open.

"Step back a bit, Ruby," he cautioned. "We don't want to crowd her."

"Right, right," Ruby nodded, jittering back a step as Yang started to sit up. "Oh, Yang, don't take the oxygen mask off until the doctor–"

It all happened so quickly. One second, Yang's eyes were coming into focus. She was tired and gaunt, but when she spotted Tai, a faint smile of recognition lifted up her lips.

Then her eyes fell on Ruby and all hell broke loose.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" Yang screamed, suddenly flailing about like a madwoman, tangling herself up in the wires and tubes connecting her to the medical equipment. She was off-balance of course, her weight off from the absence of the arm she was too panicked to realize was gone.

But when Ruby rushed in to try to calm her, her sister tried to push her away with her right stump. And when her instincts realized that she was hitting only air, her left arm swung around and shoved her little sibling to the floor.

"Stay away!" Yang shrieked, scrambling back on the bed as far away from the silver-eyed girl as she could, nearly falling over the edge. "Stay away from me! Stay away–"

"Yang!" Tai roared, stepping between her and Ruby. He rushed forward and grabbed her, keeping her from falling off the bed. "Yang! It's alright! You're home! You're safe!"

"D–dad?" Yang stammered, her violet orbs calmed a fraction but still skittishly scrambling over him. "Are… are you real?"

Tai sighed in relief. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm real, my Sunny Little Dragon."

Apparently, using her name's meaning was enough to convince her that he was telling the truth. Tears of relief rushed down her cheeks, his fiery, confident girl shivering in his arms. "Is… is she real?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's your sister," Tai reassured her. "I know you were fighting an illusionist, but your back home now, in Patch General. You're safe. And that's your sister–"

His voice trailed off as he turned around to gesture to Ruby. But there was nothing but rose petals and empty air.

On the bedside table, next to a wrapped-up eggwich, was the only remaining scrap of Hot Red Dragon Archfiend's card.

"Archfiend," Yang brokenly muttered, spying the last fragment of her ace. Her eyes listed down to her stump, her body shuddering as she finally registered that her right arm was gone. "It… it was real. It was all real."

She sat there shivering, brokenly staring at the air her forearm should have occupied. Tai sat on the bed beside her, supporting her so a small breeze didn't shove her back wanted to go look for Ruby. But at the moment, Yang needed him more.

He could only pray his youngest would understand that her sister's outburst was a reaction to the one who'd maimed her, not her sibling.

He passed Yang the eggwich to keep her upright before the doctor arrived.

---

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'Like mother, like daughter, like dragon. All so eager to sacrifice yourselves for nothing.'

'You know what happens to people like that outside a fairy tale? Either the world walks all over them or they die.'

'Ruthlessness is mercy on ourselves.'

"Lien for your thoughts?"

Ruby was on the hospital roof when the headmaster found her, flashing him the biggest smile she could manage at the moment. Which admittedly was puny, but she hoped the sunset's light hid that. "You can have them for free. I owe you more than a lien, professor."

"And yet I, and all of Vale, owe you far more than that. You and your entire team," Ozpin replied, sliding in side-by-side with her. "I heard that your sister has awoken. I'm surprised you're not with her."

'Stay away! Stay away from me!'

"She… doesn't need me right now," Ruby dodged.

She'd seen Neo take on her and Starving Venom's forms when she'd torn up Hot Red Dragon Archfiend. Given how out of it Yang was at the time and what she'd gone through in general, she could hazard an intellectual guess why her presence had set her sister off like that.

It didn't make it hurt any less. But her having hurt feelings was hardly the important thing right now.

"I see," Ozpin said, diplomatically allowing her to end the topic. "I am so sorry for failing you both."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby shook her head. "I asked you to let us take that mission."

"And I should have said no," he calmly countered. "I'm afraid your father has every right to be furious with me, Ms. Rose. It is a teacher's duty not only to encourage their students to reach their full potential but also to set and enforce limits for their safety."

"We would have just tried to find a way to sneak off if you'd said no."

"And it would have been my duty to stop you then. Regardless of the heroism your team showcased, you have my sincerest apologies for not protecting you–"

"I met The Queen."

Professor Ozpin froze, his implacable calm cracked as fear flickered over his face.

"We summoned all our dragons at once. It caused that storm the day before The Breach," Ruby continued. "But we were put in some sort of trance. I could see… so much. And then she showed up. She said Yang and Clear Wing not getting along was affecting their ability to combine. She also said you lied to me."

"... I see," Ozpin remarked, clearly on guard. "Do you believe her?"

"She tried to kill my sister. I'm pretty sure she's not the good guy," Ruby mirthlessly chuckled, shooting her headmaster a reassuring smirk. "But you didn't mention that whole glittering card at the center of the magic stuff."

She trusted her headmaster, at least with what she knew she should trust him with. She wasn't about to let him know about Astral or Pyrrha given her dad's warnings, but she did believe her teacher was the better side in whatever squabble he had going on with The Queen. Given the two Legendary Dragons they possessed, there was obviously more going on than she thought.

Ozpin was silent for a moment, obviously mulling over how much he should say if anything. "I thank you for the benefit of the doubt. The Queen has been a threat to humanity for a very long time. I have enlisted Team STRQ's aid, among others, trying to deal with her in the past."

"And the glittering card? The one that radiated every kind of magic?" Ruby inquired, mentioning what details she could to put her professor at ease. He didn't need to hide things for her sake.

Once again, the headmaster took a moment to consider his words. "It's called The Numeron Code. According to legend, every world, magic, god, and fundamental force in the universe traces its lineage back to it. It is where your eyes channel magic from."

"And if it has every magic, in theory, I could channel any magic type from it," Ruby realized, confirming what The Queen had told her. And remembering the golden light that had tinged her vision when she'd gotten angry and hateful at the end of their encounter. "Why did you try to make me think I could only use Creation Magic?"

"Best to start simple. With the least dangerous one," Ozpin joked, regaining a bit of his former humor for a moment. "I have only ever seen one Silver-Eyed Warrior successfully wield powers beyond Creation through their eyes. At least, one who was able to recover his mind afterward."

"What about my mom?"

"As far as I know, she never attempted it. She never needed to," Ozpin fondly smiled. "Your mother honed her mastery of her eyes' Creation Magic to unseen heights."

Ruby grinned. "Accel Synchro."

"Precisely. And in time, she and Stardust Dragon combined their powers to go even beyond that. Did you ever witness Delta Accel Synchro?"

"That sounds awesome!"

"It was. Of course, combining her Creation Magic with her Dragon's Light Magic was a strain she was only able to bear after many years of building her tolerance for imbalance through training," Ozpin reminisced. "And even then, it was far from healthy."

"Delta Accel Synchro," Ruby murmured. Wonder filled her eyes as she stared into the sunset.

It was like seeing Timaeus or Blue-Eyes White Dragon in action for the first time ago, seeing the legends scattered through time appear before her eyes and live up to the hype. To know that her kickass hunting duelist mom and her Signer Dragon were even more incredible than she'd thought was a wonderful feeling.

At least, until she remembered that that particular fairy tale had already ended.

'It is gone from this world.'

Ozpin enlisted Team STRQ's help to fight The Queen, to end her evil. The Queen was still alive. Team STRQ was shattered and Summer Rose was dead. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

"She failed," Ruby bluntly stated. "Mom lost to The Queen."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Did she tell you that?"

"No, but it makes sense. What else could kill the perfect huntress? Mom went to try to take out The Queen. And the duel went bad somehow," she argued, shadows cast across her pensive face. "How am I supposed to stop her without making a mistake that even mom fell into? Yang's already lost an arm because I made a mistake! How am I supposed to keep from losing again–"

"Ms. Rose."

His headmaster voice was as effective as ever. No rise in volume, but just the right level of intensity increase from his usual calm timbre to jostle her out of her panicking ramble.

"I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. I have agonized over them, replayed them in my head, and studied them to the point where I never repeated them if there was another option. And in the process, I learned a very crucial lesson," he informed her. "That it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is life. You can only play the hand you're dealt."

"Ms. Goodwitch mentioned that after a training duel I had a while back," Ruby glumly noted, recalling her professor's evaluation after her match with Cinder.

"It is easy to blame ourselves. To claim we should have been better or that someone else could have done better if they were only in our shoes. It is comforting, in a way, a tool to give weight to our own choices and not feel as lost at sea even as we drown. But that will only make us sink faster and those we seek to sail to safety with us. We are only ever ourselves."

"And what if that's not enough?"

"Then it is not enough. But you will find that without wasting energy pondering that fact and instead focusing on the task at hand, one often is. I seem to recall young Zwei has never failed anything for that very reason," Ozpin joked, lightening the mood while still keeping a serious face. "Ms. Rose, I need to make sure you understand something. Despite my failure in my responsibilities to you, and despite my intent to prevent your team from engaging in any future missions beyond your academic limitations, despite the bad days that may follow for your sister… The Breach was a good day."

"Yang was maimed. Perry died," Ruby scoffed. "And I couldn't save anyone."

"Your entire team got home alive. Two of the most dangerous criminals in Vale were apprehended and locked away where they can hurt no one else. And, most importantly, a plot that could have destroyed the entire kingdom was stopped with no loss of civilian life. I know it doesn't feel like it, but for a hunting duelist, it was a very good day," Ozpin laid out. "Which begs the question: Do you still want to be a huntress?"

"You mean do I want to help with The Queen–"

"No." Ozpin declared with firm finality. "I made a promise to your father, Ms. Rose, and I intend to keep it."

"But if I can help–"

"Your desire to help is admirable. But prodigious as your gifts are, they still require training to hone. And training takes time."

"Do we have time?" Ruby questioned, her mind flashing to all she'd seen over the past few months. From The Breach, to The Queen, all the way back to her duel with Lil'Miss at The Club. "Someone told me that I've lived my entire life shielded by your 'veil'. I got a peek behind the curtain at The Breach and I can't just stand back while people are getting hurt! It doesn't matter how old I am. Like you said, if I'm not always trying to be my best, and making that best better, then what's the point of me?!"

Ozpin held her determined gaze with his calm stare. "... Ruby, it's not a sin to be a child."

She turned her head away from him, looking down over the side of the hospital room. All the people below looked so small, just dots shrouded by the sunset. Who would care if a few of them just suddenly disappeared?

Someone. Ruby didn't know who, but someone would. Some brother dot, or sister dot, or father, or mother, or friend, or acquaintance, or cat dot would care if a dot they knew disappeared. So she would too. Life was precious. And it had to be defended.

But could she still have fun dueling while fighting to defend it?

"My ante with your father did not include any obligation for you to return to Beacon. If you return, it must be by your choice and your choice alone," Ozpin told her. His face softened a fraction. "There is no shame if you decide to leave this path behind. There is no shame in choosing yourself."

"I already did. The day I dueled Weiss for the team leader position," Ruby declared. "I chose to duel instead of forfeit. I chose my own fun. I want to keep having fun. But I can't run away from its consequences. I'm Team RWBY's leader."

Weiss and Blake were busy playing the public to keep the latter out of jail. Yang was in the worst shape of her life. Everyone kept telling Ruby that she was the bee's knees, that she had to be the leader because she was the best person for the job. Now, with a mountain of paperwork coming up as the Vytal Festival approached, she was the only person for the job. Whether she wanted it or not didn't matter.

She wanted to help people. She had more magic in her deck and body than almost anyone. With threats like The Queen and Lil'Miss out in the world, that meant she had a responsibility to use her power to protect people from them. It meant that, whether she wanted to be or not, she was a huntress. This was the path she'd chosen. All she could do was keep walking.

Keep moving forward.

---

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Cinder smiled as she observed her handiwork, the grass around her still smoking, the wisps surrounding the new card in her hand. Her half of the Fall Maiden's power had forged the dust she'd kept in her clothing into a perfectly adequate card for Tragoedia, the insectoid fiend cowed within.

"You have two options now," she laid out, the Scarab Grimm within her ordering the rest of the Grimm to disperse from the relatively sealed crack in the world. "You're cut off from your allies. Hunted by your enemies. You have some small modicum of power, but not nearly enough to get what you want. You can either serve me and live, even getting the safety you desire, or you can die. Make your choice.

Tragoedia shivered within the card, its Dark Magic present but cowed in the face of the half-maiden, her Legendary Dragon, and the Scarab Grimm within her. 'I… I will serve. My lady.'

"Good. But I wasn't just talking to you."

Three plasma tennis balls shrieked through the forest. Archfiend Black Skull Dragon had already been dismissed, but Cinder threw up a wall of flames with her maiden powers to throw them off course.

She did let one of the bolts glance off her aura. The damage allowed her to activate the special summon effect of her new creature.

Tragoedia flashed back into reality, the towering insectoid demon looming tall over Cinder with its new body of her aura and magic. Yet, it could not see the assailant.

Of course, that was hardly necessary for its powers to work.

Cinder discarded a Level Seven Red-Eyes Black Dragon to her graveyard. Tragoedia's eyes glowed a piercing scarlet, black smog released from its form and filling the area.

Glass shattered and Neo was blasted to the ground, her aura smoking as her own Toon Barrel Dragon towered over her, its painted shark face eyes glowing the same red as Tragoedia's.

Cinder glared down at the pink and brown-eyed criminal, already making plans to eliminate the girl as soon as she outlived her usefulness for daring to attack her. But at the moment, she needed every asset she could get to salvage this mess, so the trees would have to remain the only victims of her percussive therapy.

"I don't have time for your misplaced blame, girl. I gave your boss everything he needed to succeed, and he didn't," Cinder scoffed. "Now, he's stuck on Ironwood's flagship, and even you can't sneak in there and get him out. At least, not without a suitable distraction."

Neo glared up at her, but her scowl was all the confirmation Cinder needed to know she was listening. For all she was pissed, her greatest fear was losing Torchwick, for some inane reason. It was a weakness that made her useful.

"Don't forget. Without me, you are nothing." Cinder took her heel off Neo's head and strode away. "Send word to the chameleon girl. She hasn't checked in. After that, you'll be joining us at Beacon as our fourth member–"

RING! RING! RING!

Cinder froze, a distinctive ringtone chiming from her scroll. "Get out of here."

Neo scampered off, and Tragoedia was returned to its card. Cautious that Ozpin didn't send anyone to investigate the crack, Cinder dashed away to an isolated part of the forest and answered her scroll.

"Your grace," the half-maiden submissively greeted. "I understand what the media is saying, but I assure you, The Breach was merely my opening move against Ozpin, and it has gotten everything into place exactly where I need it–"

"My congratulations, Cinder."

Huh?

"Con–congratulations?" Cinder muttered.

"Yes. Your little scheme uncovered the identity of two of the four Pillars."

Cinder's eyes widened, her mind putting together the pieces from the news reports and that dragon Team RWBY had summoned to instantly thwart the attack. "Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna? They have pieces of the new god?"

"They are pieces of the god-to-be. With their connections to their dragons, they are as vital as their monsters. And the other two are nearby. The Fusion Pillar is in the possession of a Silver-Eyed Warrior."

Ruby Rose then. The girl had shown off her Fusion Dragon to Emerald often enough. Combined with Belladonna's Pendulum Dragon merging with Xiao-Long's Synchro Dragon during the dance, and it wasn't difficult to deduce the two remaining pillars with the information at Cinder's disposal.

"I can take the cards from them after I claim the maiden's power and the God Card–"

"Listen, child. The duelists that have bonded with their dragons are as valuable as their creatures. The Synchro Pillar is unworthy, and may be slain if necessary, but the others need to be taken alive. Otherwise we will have to wait for the dragons to find other champions they find worthy. Keep your focus on the maiden and the God Card. Their power will be crucial if you're to have any hope of forging The Card of The King. But be aware of the other factors at play. Discover the remaining Pillars identities and report back to me as soon as you do."

"By your command, Your Grace."

"Good. Oh, and the combined dragon summoned during The Breach likely drew on the lingering systems the brothers left behind, similar to the vaults. Remnant's barrier nearby is likely even weaker than it normally is near the academies. Be on the watch for cracks in the world."

"Always," Cinder gulped. "Without you, I am nothing."

The line went dead.

Cinder screamed in frustration, lighting the forest with her fury's flames. She stamped and growled and punched the tree trunks to let out her burning emotions.

Those meddling brats had ruined everything! She should have been basking in the full maiden powers and the might of a God Card by now! Now, she was to take Team RWBY alive instead of tearing them apart for what they'd done to her? How the hell was she supposed to do that?! All her major resources had been used up by The Breach.

The Vytal Festival would be upon them soon. Ozpin would be bringing in hunting duelists from across Vale to serve as security, and that was without Ironwood's fleet dominating the skies. She would have to take the maiden's powers, the God Card, and Team RWBY in one fell swoop, because taking them one at a time would only cause the defenses to be tightened to the point of impregnability. An army couldn't break through such defenses, and her army wasn't answering any of her calls! What was she supposed to… do…

… The Vytal Festival… every eye on Remnant would be watching.

It was risky. Suicidal even. There would be a billion moving pieces and she would be dead if Ozpin was roused from his passivity at an inopportune moment. The potential to be achieved if she was victorious was near limitless.

The danger was irrelevant. All that mattered was what she wanted and this was the path to get it. Forget Team RWBY. She'd take their dragons for her own, bind them to her, create the Card of the King with the magic of all of four maidens and the energy of a divine card, and become the next Supreme King. So long as she forged the new god as her minion, Salem wouldn't care how she did it. This was the route she'd chosen. Now all that was left to do was walk it.

Keep moving forward.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"You have one new message from… Penny Polendina."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Play."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Beep!"

"Salutations, Ruby! I am so sorry to hear about what happened to Yang. I wish her the swiftest recovery possible. My father has sent word that he is constructing a prosthetic for her though, and I assure you that his work is the best there is. He made my limbs after all."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you recently. Projects for work have kept me in the lab. The good news is that I do believe I'll have the time to whip up those Link Monsters you sent me the designs for. I'll need to make some modifications to the specs, but I should have them ready by your birthday. Thank you again for the invitation to the party! I shall do my very best to attend!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Beep!

"You have no new messages."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG–

Ruby flicked down the pressure systems of her family's forge, the flames dying down as her dust crystals solidified into a card with the touch of her aura. Dad was still at the hospital with Yang where he needed to be, so she'd headed home. If she was going to be a hunting duelist, she needed to make sure she and her team's decks were as powerful as they could possibly be before they were all fighting for their lives.

As much as she wanted to craft her own Link Monsters, her family forge was too old of a model to produce them with any hope of consistency, if at all. So she'd swallowed her desire for fun and sent her most important designs to Penny, asking her to make them instead. Fortunately, despite her busy schedule, her friend seemed confident that they'd be ready before the Vytal Festival.

After that, Ruby had set about trying to craft the designs she'd kept to herself. Or at least create something else useful in the process. She usually would have reveled in the wonder of not one hundred percent knowing what card she'd forge, but she found that her recent experiences dimmed that excitement somewhat.

Somewhat… but not all the way. She was definitely more focused and dour than usual, but she just couldn't keep herself from smiling with anticipation as the glowing white card began to take on its colors and text.

She looked away to a nearby table, where Black Rose Dragon and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's cards sat atop her deck.

"I need you both moving forward. Together, we have the power to help a lot of people. But it's not going to work if we can't work together," Ruby said. "Please, let me work with you."

Black Rose Dragon was instantly receptive, preening at her duelist's respectful plea and elegantly answering with her ascent. She then gave the card spirit version of a side eye to Starving Venom, pressuring the fusion monster to reply with his own agreement.

But Starving Venom Fusion Dragon felt more hesitant, narrowing his gaze judgingly at Ruby. His stubbornness was out in full, questioning if his duelist would ever allow him to fully sate his hunger by showing his worthy foes the respect they deserved.

"I'm not letting you eat people," Ruby insisted. "But I also don't think you need to if you're out to enjoy dueling. There are people who you want to duel again because they're so strong. And if you do beat them, they can get stronger, and you can have an even better duel later. That can go on and on, and just… keep getting more fun."

Starving Venom did not seem convinced. 'Always more to help. Always more to duel.'

"But you'll never duel that person again," Ruby pointed out. "If you eat them, they're gone. No one can be replaced."

She couldn't replace her mom. She was all there was. That would have to be enough.

She would make sure that she was enough, however she could.

"Give me a chance to show you what my style can be like," she asked her dragon with a cheeky smile. "See just why I'm so stubborn about it?"

Starving Venom grumbled noncommittally, but he didn't say no. That would be enough.

Ruby chuckled and went back to her solidifying card, its name coming into focus. Unfortunately, it did not come out as the Aroma monster she was aiming for, but at least it was still a Plant-Type monster.

"Sarrac… Sarracan… Sarrac… ugh," she grumbled, having trouble sounding out the second half of its name.

Still, the first word of its title was easy enough. And its appearance was wicked cool, a plant that was also an ant carrying its more obvious plant parts on its back. It was a bit creepy but totally awesome. And it had a search effect, so maybe she'd accidentally forged a rare archetype she'd never heard of, or maybe even a completely new one. Sweet!

Maybe it was a sign that things really were about to get better. Ozpin wasn't going to let them do any more 'extracurricular activities' once regular school started up again after the Vytal Festival, but that might not be so bad.

"Predaplant Sarraceniant," Ruby read off with a smile. "Welcome to the family."

---

And that is a wrap on Volume 2.

As promised, this chapter ended up as a lot of wrapup, though I was able to sneak in one last duel with Ozpin vs. Tai. Very important to establish just how strong Oz is. Plus, Ruby and Emerald got to be a lot of fun to play off each other, really establishing just how much of a friend Ruby feels Emerald to be. Which shall surely have no negative emotional repercussions ever. XD

Other than that, there were a lot of little scenes dealing with the aftermath. Weiss and Blake's media rounds, Ironwood and Penny, Ilia breaking away from Adam and Cinder, Mercury and Yang, etc.

Oh, and Cinder, who got to do lots of lore dumping, pressgang the GX manga Big Bad into her deck, and show off just how much The Breach has her scrambling. Probably for the best for her honestly. Cinder's only ever effective when she's flying by the seat of her pants. Volume 3 might go better for her than this Volume did.

Bloody hell, Volume 2 ended up being thirty chapters. That's nearly twice Volume 1's length. I am going to have to more effectively outline Volume 3. At this rate, the Beacon Arc alone might end up as 75+ chapters, and that would require me to split the other arcs off into their own fics.

But aside from my eternal pacing worries, I'm happy with how this Volume turned out, from the Patch Mini-Arc to the Mt. Glenn Climax. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter and the Volume as a whole in the reviews place. :)

Next Volume (The Volume as a whole, not necessarily next chapter) on Cards of Remnant!

"Happy Birthday, my friend Ruby!"

"I've wanted to duel you for a long time. I can't think of a better present."

"Please give a warm welcome to the first former Vytal Festival champion competing in this duel! The Kaiserin!"

"Chaos Xyz Evolution!"

"You haven't just been researching Link Monsters, Jimmy."

"Let the Vytal Festival Tournament Leader Royale begin!"

Next Time on Cards of Remnant: Happy Birthday, Ruby Rose!

Remember to vote in the Fan-Favorite Duel of the Mt. Glenn Arc on my profile! :D

Please remember to check out and add to this story's TVTROPES PAGE! It even has a Characters Page now, allowing tropes for individual characters to be transcribed and viewed. :)

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!