Chapter 34: The Brave and the Bold

A few years ago, when Teams RWBY and JNPR had crash landed on Menagerie and were about to be drafted into the civil war, grimm attacks were still happening across the world. In the city of Mantle, two notable groups were doing everything they could to protect the city. Robyn Hill was running for a councilwoman position in Atlas to try and better Mantle's living conditions with the help of her Happy Huntresses. And Briar "Reverb" Canary, Jr. was patrolling the outskirts of the city with occasional help from his mentor, Tanya "Mad Dog" Granite.

But as the weeks went by, Reverb began to notice that "occasional" quickly became "casual" in regards to Mad Dog's help. It wasn't that he couldn't get by without her, but he was beginning to worry that the older woman had decided that he wasn't worth her time anymore. However, once he shook those insecure thoughts out of his head, he realized that it was much more likely that she was in some sort of trouble.

One night, after receiving word that a pack of Beowulfs would be making their way to the docks, Reverb called Mad Dog and asked her to meet him there. But as the sun began to set, and he watched as the first of the pack creeped out of the woods, Mad Dog was nowhere to be found. He hastily dialed her number.

"Hello?"

"I'm at the docks, Mad Dog." Briar whispered into his scroll. "Where're you?"

"Sorry, sweetie!" His mentor whispered back, followed by a grunt. "I got caught up in something else."

Briar huffed in annoyance. "This is getting old, Tanya."

"Relax, sweetie. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Would those be real minutes or Mad Dog minutes?"

"Hey, c'mon."

Briar decided that he couldn't wait any longer and jumped down from his perch to evacuate the dock workers. At the same time, one of them was watching a cage fight on his laptop during his break. But when Briar evacuated the area, he dropped it while it was still playing and ran away with his co-workers. Wanting to end this quickly so he could chew out Mad Dog, he took a deep breath once he saw the first Beowulf and used his semblance. A high-pitched sonic scream tore into the Grimm just as well as any Dust. With the threat neutralized, Briar was just about to inform the dock manager when he spotted the laptop.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!" The huntsman knelt down to watch the screen. "Still the undefeated champ… MAD DOG!"

Briar's eyes widened in shock. "That little…" he growled out before shaking his head. "Get mad later. I need to help my friend out, but something tells me I won't be able to do it alone."

Before Briar could continue on his line of thought, a sudden gust of wind wound up blowing a loose flyer into his face, much to his irritation. After peeling it off, however, he couldn't help but grin. "Fortunately, I know just who to ask for assistance," he declared as he looked upon the flyer advertising Robyn Hill's campaign for a seat on the Atlas Council.

The Next Day

"And that's the last of it…for now," Robyn commented as she set down a pen on her desk before getting up and started delivering some quick jabs to a punching bag in her office to let out some stress.

"Shame there isn't a Semblance out there that can get rid of paperwork," Fiona declared.

Robyn just chuckled as she looked to where one of her fellow Happy Huntresses was standing. "Believe me: I'd pay top lien to hire the owner of said Semblance if it did exist."

"Well, it's not over yet." Joanna sighed as she and May entered the room.

Robyn tiredly rubbed the back of her neck before continuing her workout as she listened. "Alright, what've we got?"

"The homeless shelter needs more funds to repair their heater." Fiona chimed in.

"And you're behind in the polls in sector twelve of Mantle." Joanna added.

"And you have a guest." May finished.

Robyn looked up from her punching bag to see Briar Canary leaning in the doorway. She smirked to herself. "Okay, we weren't going to win over sector twelve anyway. The three of you, divert the funds from campaign ads in that sector to fixing the heater in the homeless shelter. I'll take care of our guest."

Once the trio exited the room, Briar made his way towards the Happy Huntress. "Most politicians, when running for a position of higher power, would focus more on campaigning before actually doing some good for the community."

"I'm not most politicians." Robyn shrugged. "Besides, I've always believed in paying it forward."

"Well then, I know who I'm voting for in the next election," Briar genuinely declared with a grin.

"As much as I appreciate the support, something tells me you didn't come here to discuss politics," Robyn declared with a raised eyebrow. "So how can I be of service?"

"50 for vanilla, 100 if you want it weird."

"...what?"

"Sorry," Briar called out as he looked away with a blush. "Recently got done helping a former prostitute get out of a bad deal and I've got sex on the brain as a result. I swear I'm usually not like this."

"Hey, not a problem, and for the record, I'm not against the idea, as you are kind of hot, but at least invite me to dinner or at the very least coffee first," Robyn said with a wink.

"I'll keep that in mind," Briar replied as he looked back towards Robyn with a grin. "But in all seriousness there is something I need from you…but first do you have somewhere around here where we can spar for a bit?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need to see how well you can hold your own in a fight before I can share more details with you."

"Okay from that statement alone, I can tell that you're expecting for a fight to break out at some point," Robyn called out with a concerned expression on her face.

"Eh, half and half," Briar declared while giving a seesaw motion with his hand. "I'm hoping to end this without throwing a punch, but you know what they say: hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Still that's all the information you'll be getting from me without allowing me to test your skills."

"Fair enough."

Minutes later, Briar had shrugged off his leather jacket and was now circling a wrestling mat with Robyn. He threw a punch, only for her to easily dodge it, grab his wrist, and pull him close to her.

"You're telegraphing." She remarked. "You need to center yourself."

"Center myself. Got it." Briar nodded with slightly red cheeks.

Little did she know that he was purposely holding back to get on her good side. Once again, Robyn managed to grab Briar's wrist and toss him to the mat. He tried to get up, but with her hand still on his wrist, she twisted his arm behind his back and kept him pinned.

"So what was that about needing to see how well I 'hold my own?'" Robyn remarked, cheekily.

Briar smirked back. "Alright. If you're feeling that cocky, would you mind helping me out with a little problem?"

"I dunno, sounds fishy." Robyn replied.

"How about this; if I break out of this hold, you help me."

Robyn pushed his arm up slightly further. "Deal."

Suddenly, Briar smiled and bent his legs upwards to hook his feet around her neck and flung her off of the mat. He rolled onto his back and kick-jumped himself off of the floor and onto his feet. With a smug smile, he picked up his jacket and extended a hand to the impressed huntress.

"I'll drive."

Meanwhile, Tanya Granite had just sent another text message to her protegee to apologize for the umpteenth time about not showing up to the bust. But after she sent it and scrolled upwards to see all of the other times she had to apologize because she had been secretly participating in cage fights, she felt a pit at the bottom of her stomach. With a heavy sigh, she got up and went to the office of the Hunter-Brawl's head manager; Jackson "High Roller" Jewel.

"High Roller…?" She took a deep breath to get his attention. "I need a word."

The businessman leaned back in his seat to give her his full attention. "Anything for my star."

"I've come to a decision… I'm not gonna fight in the cage anymore."

High Roller frowned. "What brought this on?"

Tanya crossed her arms to reaffirm herself. "It's been interfering with my work and I've been letting my friends down."

"You're referring to members of the hunting community?"

"That's right."

High Roller shrugged and went back to typing on his computer. "The timing's a shame. Jack Plum was in town and wanted a shot at you. But don't worry, I'll let him know you quit."

Tanya sneered at his tone. "Knock it off. I know what you're doing, but it's not gonna work! I've already made up my mind."

"Well, you're a good woman, Mad Dog." High Roller took off his glasses with a soft smile. "I can't fault you for being loyal to the hunting community. I just have a hard time understanding why."

Tanya arched an eyebrow under her mask. "What's so hard to understand?"

"Well… you must have to swallow a lot of pride when you're around them." High Roller reasoned as he got up from his desk and paced around the fighter. "No semblance or even an impressive weapon. In fact, as I recall, you reached out to me because you were dissatisfied with your teaching job at Watchtower Academy and weren't getting called into action anymore."

Tanya silently considered his words as he made his way to the door.

"You want to go back to a life of mediocrity? Fine… but if you want to stay in a place where you're respected - where you're the queen - then forget about going back."

Meanwhile, Robyn was impressed to find herself riding alongside Briar in a custom muscle car he'd rebuilt from scratch. However, as they began to leave the city limits, Robyn felt she needed some clarification. "So what's the deal with this Mad Dog?" She asked, curiously.

"She's been moonlighting with Hunter's Brawl." Briar explained as he drove towards their destination. "An illegal cage fighting racket. Mostly guys with combat-based semblances and chemical enhancements."

"Why's she doing it?"

"She loves to fight. She's the only huntress in history who successfully defeated every single type of Grimm with nothing but her bare hands." Robyn picked up on a slight amount of pride in Briar's tone. "And before she was a huntress, she was Watchtower University's undefeated mixed-martial arts champion."

"Oh, yeah!" Robyn snapped her fingers. "I remember reading about her. Wasn't she also part of-?"

"The Hunting Society of Justice." Briar nodded. "A team put together to protect innocents from the crossfire during the Great War. The same team as my dad, the first Reverb."

"Huh. That explains how you two know each other." Robyn shrugged. "But that still doesn't explain why she's turned to illegal cage fights. Doesn't she get enough fighting in the hunting community?"

"I think the community's part of the problem." Briar theorized. "It's like she's going through some kind of mid-life crisis. I'm worried something's going to happen to her."

He pulled off a nearby exit into a discrete parking lot. Five minutes later, a dark panel van arrived and Briar got out to speak with the driver. Robyn got out of the passenger seat with her crossbow at the ready in case something went down. After a few seconds of talking, Briar walked back to his ally.

"I need to borrow a thousand lien." He said.

Robyn gawked. "For what?!"

"You can't just buy tickets for Hunter's Brawl online. The location's a secret." Briar nodded his head back towards the shady driver. "For one thousand, this guy gives us the location and an entry pass."

Robyn huffed. "Well, at least now I know why you brought me. You didn't need the Green Happy Huntress, you just needed green."

"It's not like that!" Briar insisted, defensively.

"No? Then tell me! What's it like?!"

"I thought I could trust you…"

Robyn sighed in defeat, took out her wallet, and made her way to the van.

"Whoa. Nice gal to have on a date, man." The driver remarked.

"A thousand." Robyn counted the bills in her hand and handed them over. "Right?"

The driver pocketed the cash and pulled out a single pass. "Actually, a thousand only buys one pass. If you're both going, it's two."

Robyn and Briar shared a glance.

Half an hour later, the duo found their way to the Hunter's Brawl arena. After handing in their passes, they made it into the main lobby where they could see two guys going at it in the cage. Briar tapped her shoulder and nodded towards the dressing rooms. At last, they found Mad Dog in the middle of a light warm-up.

"How'd you find me here?" Tanya asked, incredulously. "What the hell's this?"

"We're here to help you get out, Tanya." Briar declared.

"What, does it look like I've got a problem?" Tanya crossed her arms, defensively.

"You do if you can't see what you've become here!" Briar exclaimed in disappointment. "You're just entertainment for these people! The rooster in a cockfight!"

"Fighting is what I do!" Tanya snapped, pulling off her mask to emphasize how serious she was. "It's all I was ever good at, and I'm still good at it! I'm Mad Dog: The Woman Who Fights…! That's what I am."

Briar gently rested a hand on his old mentor's shoulder to comfort her. "You're so much more than that." He promised, softly.

Robyn crossed her arms and looked away.

But Tanya still wasn't having it. She shrugged his hand off and made her way back to her sandbag. "Anyway, I can quit anytime I want, alright? I don't need 'help.'"

Briar sneered, doubtfully. "Then quit. Right now!"

"Uh-uh, can't." Tanya replied, punching the bag. "I'm up against Jack Plum tonight. And you know he deserves a beat-down."

"Tanya, come on-!"

Tanya gave her bag another hard punch. "Hey, I was the greatest, alright?! I fought every kind of Grimm and I beat every kind of Grimm! Now, look at me! Most of the time, they keep me in that stupid school! Babysitting! They call me in to do real work less and less! And d'ya think I don't know why?! I mean, I can't see in the dark, I can't shoot plasma from my fingernails, I don't even have a supersonic scream!"

Briar, while momentarily stunned by the outburst, became even more disappointed. "So that's what this is about?! You're angry at people who have semblances and down here you get to beat on them?!"

Tanya pulled her mask back over her face and turned away, but Briar reached out once more. "Am I getting too close now?"

Tanya had heard enough and pushed Briar away, admittedly a bit harder than she'd intended.

"Hey!" Robyn quickly got in-between the two. "Settle down!"

Tanya grabbed Robyn by her scarf. "How's this your business, huh?"

Briar pushed them apart. "Stay out of this, Robyn!" He scolded.

"That's it, I'm done!" Robyn huffed and stormed out of the room. She planned on getting back to her car and driving back to Mantle, never to see Briar ever again. But once she heard footsteps behind her, she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. She pivoted on her heels to see a frustrated Briar following after her. "What're you dragging me into all of this for?! You two clearly have your own stuff to work out!"

"What 'stuff?!'" Briar snapped. "You were just going to leave me when I'm trying to help a friend?!"

"That sure looked like you were a hell of a lot more than 'friends!'"

"Did you think…? Tanya is like a mother to me! She raised me! Trained me! Trained a lot of us when we were starting out and kept us out of trouble!" Briar sadly glanced back at the door to Tanya's room. "Now, I guess training isn't enough for her anymore."

Robyn's expression softened; she wished now she hadn't jumped to conclusions. "So you want to get her out of this quietly so that she doesn't lose her huntress license." She realized.

"Or worse." Briar sighed.

"Alright," Robyn said with an understanding nod. "What's our next move then?"

"We're going to have to drag her out of here." Briar surmised. "But it might involve making a scene."

Robyn scanned the hall. "There's… nowhere to change here."

"Right here will do." Briar declared before turning around and pulling off his dress shirt. He paused once he spotted Robyn staring at his toned back muscles. "You drop something?"

"Nah, just appreciating the obvious hard work you've done to maintain your physique," Robyyn readily replied. "As well as wondering if you had fully thought things through on this move of yours."

"What do you…?" …and that was as far as Briar got before gasping as Robyn turned around and taking off her own clothes, showcasing the hard work the politician had done to maintain her own physique.

"What's wrong?" Robyn teasingly asked while looking over her shoulder, well aware that the back of her sports bra was visible. "You drop something?"

"Okay, okay! You made your point!" Briar yelled out with a blush. "We'll find a bathroom or broom closet to change in!"

"That's what I thought."

Back in the arena, Mad Dog had taken her place at the corner of the ring just as Jack Plum made his way in. The bell rang to start the match and Mad Dog rushed her opponent, dodging his energy blasts until she got up close and personal. Jack could barely react in time before she decked him. He tried to swing back, but she blocked his sloppy punch and headbutted his forehead, knocking him back against the cage.

Before she could throw another punch, however, a crossbow bolts struck her wrist and released a rapidly hardening foam that trapped her to the cage. A spotlight drew everyone's attention to Reverb and Robyn standing atop the bleachers.

"Show's over, folks!" Robyn declared. "Forever!"

She fired a grappling line towards the stage and the duo glided down to rough up the other brawlers. A handful of bodyguards rushed towards them, but Robyn fired another bolt at one's pant leg and stuck to the floor, causing him to trip and knock over another guard. Once the remaining three got close enough, Robyn converted her weapon into a shield and used it to block their punches.

"What's the matter?" Robyn mockingly asked as she took one guard down with a sudden punch. "I thought you wanted there to be a fight here."

In the meantime, Reverb rushed towards his mentor while she was still detained.

"I didn't need or want your help!" Mad Dog yelled out.

"Clearly: you didn't even try to break out of that foam when you saw the fight break out…and don't say you couldn't: I saw you do something similar on a dare last week!" Briar called out with a growl before sighing and fixing her mentor a hurt expression. "What happened to you, Tanya? When did you decide your hatred of combat-based Semblances mattered more to you then those you called family?"

Mad Dog actually flinched at that question but turned away from Briar with a scoff regardless. "If we're really family, you'd know how much fighting means to me and that I can't walk away from this just yet."

"Can't or won't?"

"What does it matter?" Mad Dog asked. "All of these folks are getting what they deserve, so I'm not leaving."

Before he could argue further, Reverb turned around to see High Roller had summoned the other felonious brawlers to kill Robyn. After watching her pupil run off, Mad Dog finally freed herself and ran up to stop the fight.

"Hold it!" Mad Dog barked as she stood between the criminals and the hunters.

"We're not leaving without you." Reverb declared. "You'd better decide whose side you're on."

Mad Dog looked up towards High Roller's balcony. With a heavy heart, she stepped out of the way, allowing the criminals to advance on the hunting couple.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this." Reverb remarked.

"Forget the apology!" Robyn called back as they continued to back away. "Just use that sonic scream of yours!"

"Can't; at this range, it'd kill them… but I've got a better idea." He turned towards the announcer's box where High Roller was seated. "How'd you like to see two hunters in that cage?! Me and Mad Dog! That make you some money?!"

Needless to say, High Roller was very much interested. "Oh, yes." He grinned, speaking into his microphone. "I believe it would."

"Then here's the deal; if I win, you ban Mad Dog from cage fighting forever!" Then, Briar turned to his mentor. "And if you win, I'll never bother you again."

"Forget it!" Mad Dog hastily objected.

"Sorry, Mad Dog, it's too good of an opportunity!" High Roller declared, excitedly. "Just give us a few moments, folks! After a brief intermission, the show will go on! With two good guys! So place your bets!"

Minutes later, Mad Dog angrily threw a chair into her dressing room's mirror while High Roller witnessed her tantrum.

"I'm not doing it!" Mad Dog declared, firmly. "I've only ever fought guys who had it coming, and that's all I've ever done!"

"Or so you tell yourself." High Roller retorted. "The truth is you love the fight."

"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna love beating up one of my students! That ain't right!"

"If you trained him, he can take care of himself." High Roller declared, firmly. The sleazy businessman got up in her face with a scowl. "But I'm warning you, don't go easy on him. Don't even take a fall. If I even think you aren't giving me one hundred percent, I'll never let you set foot in this place again. You're still my best fighter and if you can't even give me that, you're useless to me."

Once High Roller and his goons left the room, Mad Dog angrily punched a hole clean through her sandbag. Tiredly, she slumped over to her seat and buried her face in her palms as she quietly cried. "... I'm sorry, Briar…" She whimpered to herself.

Twenty Years Ago.

Back during the Vacuan Civil War, Mad Dog often worked with Reverb - Briar Canary, Sr. - due to their shared interest in mixed martial arts. The pair had originally met when Ozpin brought them together with a group of extraordinary huntsmen and huntresses to protect innocent people caught up in the Great War. Over time, however, they became friends and Reverb even blessed her with being his son's godmother. Unfortunately, the civil war had its fair share of dangers; from trying to escort refugees away from enemy fire, to fighting grimm.

One night, while they were stationed at Shade Academy, an enemy bomber had been shot down and crashed into a firehouse. The duo and their team were quick to respond, wanting to save as many firemen as they could. By the time everyone was safely out, Mad Dog realized Reverb was still upstairs looking for more survivors. She dashed up the stairs and found him using his semblance to try and clear the smoke. But the smoke quickly got to him and his throat grew sore.

"Mad Dog…!" He coughed. "Is everyone safe?!"

"Yeah! Now, come on! We've gotta get out of here-!"

Suddenly, the roof gave in and the plane fell further into the building. Its exposed fuel lines caught fire and an explosion rocked the entire building. Once the ringing in her ears stopped, Tanya got to her feet and spotted her partner trapped under the rubble.

"Briar!" She cried out, pushing the burning debris aside and taking him into her arms. "Briar, just hold on! Stay with me!"

"Tanya…" Briar groaned, weakly. "I'm not… I'm not gonna make it…"

"Don't say that!" Tanya wept. "I-I'll get you to Dr. Twilight! A-a-and she'll patch you up just fine!"

"Tanya, please…" Briar quietly begged, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Just promise… promise me… you'll look after my boy… he's all I've got left…"

Lips quivering and tears rolling down her mask, Tanya hugged Briar tight and whispered in his ear. "I swear, Briar… I'll never let anyone hurt him…"

Now.

High Roller had escorted Briar and Robyn to a separate dressing room. Briar was shadow boxing in front of a mirror while Robyn inspected the outside. Two security guards had been placed outside to make sure Briar didn't try anything funny. The Happy Huntress hummed in discomfort as she couldn't figure out what her ally's plan was.

"Well, you bought us some time." Robyn observed. "You sure you don't want to use the scream?"

"You don't understand…" Briar remarked as he stretched his back. "If I use my semblance - or do anything to force her to quit - she'll just keep coming back. We have to settle this the only way she understands."

Robyn arched an eyebrow as she fiddled with one of her crossbow bolts. "I thought that was just you pretending again."

Briar stopped stretching and turned around in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like all that flirting you did back at my office." Robyn said, accusingly. "The way you acted interested in my politics. To get me to come with you."

Briar looked hurt. "Who said that was pretending?"

Robyn crossed her arms and shook her head. "Uh-uh. I know your game now."

Now, Briar looked really hurt. "It's not always a game."

"No? Then come over here." She demanded, making a come hither motion with her finger. "Look me in the eyes and say that."

Not one to deny an honest request, Briar made his way over to the Happy Huntress to tell her exactly how he felt. But before he could speak, he felt something prick his arm. He looked down just in time to see one of her bolts had pricked him. Unfortunately, he blacked out before he realized that it was coated in a nonlethal tranquilizer. Robyn caught him and laid him down just as High Roller and his goons entered the room.

"Don't worry," Robyn called out to High Roller as he and his goons started to glare at her upon realizing what happened, silently glad that the unconscious Briar wouldn't be able to argue against what she said next. "You'll still get your main event."

A few minutes later, Tanya took a deep breath and put her mask on once more. As she took the stage, she tried to drown out the sounds of the crowd. However, as she took her corner in the ring, her eyes widened in shock at the sight of who was standing in the other corner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's been a slight change to the schedule!" High Roller announced with vigor. "Instead of Reverb, Mad Dog will be fighting the leader of the Happy Huntresses; Robyn Hill!"

"Absolutely not!" Tanya objected, indignantly. "There's no way! I'm not fighting her! Reverb could've held his own, but not this self-righteous politician!"

"You'll fight whoever I tell you to fight." High Roller ordered. "End of discussion."

Once High Roller left the ring and locked the cage behind him, Robyn put up her fists and approached her opponent. "C'mon, Dog, what're you waiting for?"

"She's not a fighter!" Tanya called out, a bit of desperation in her voice.

"What's the matter?" Robyn asked. "You seemed pretty psyched at the prospect of fighting any opponent when my friend and I first showed up, so why…? Oh, wait, never mind: it all makes sense now."

"...what does?"

"Your pupil told me how he saw you as something of a second mother, so it seems to me that you just wanted an excuse to beat your kid without being arrested for it."

Needless to say, this comment earned Robyn a punch to the face that momentarily knocked her to the ground.

"...okay: I deserved that," Robyn admitted before giving a grin. "But still, thanks."

"For what?"

"For doing exactly what I hoped you'd do," Robyn replied as she got back up into a fighting stance. "After all, if I remember correctly, once a fight starts here, the only way either of us gets out of this cage is for a winner to be declared."

Mad Dog froze as her attention was drawn to the cheering crowd as well as the guards keeping the cage locked, quickly realizing that Robyn was right in what she said. "Come on man, don't do this," she called out. "Just quit before I hurt you."

Instead of replying verbally, Robyn jumped in close and started throwing some quick and precise blows that momentarily threw Mad Dog off-balance. "I know," Robyn cheekily remarked when Mad Dog looked at her in surprise after momentarily letting up in her assault. "A politician who can actually fight her own battles? Not something you see a lot of in this day and age, but I made a promise to our mutual friend that I'd do my very best to get you out of this mess, so like it or not, the only way you're going to make me quit is for you to force me to do so."

With that Robyn threw another punch at the old boxer…only for Tanya to quickly catch it before the blow could land. "Fair enough," Mad Dog said with a nod as she drew her other fist back, "but just remember that I gave you the chance to walk away."

And that was all the warning Robyn got before she was punched in the face again, sending her flying across the ring as a result.

Meanwhile, Briar had recently woken up and gotten off the ground with a low groan…only to blink as he took in the sound of cheering. "Wait, if I'm here, who's…?" he began to ask before the answer came to him, causing his eyes to momentarily widen in shock before pounding the ground in frustration. "That idiot!"

With that he got off the ground and raced out of the room, intending to at least try and stop the fight that no doubt was taking place between Tanya and Robyn.

As it turned out, Briar had a right to be worried. While Robyn wasn't a pushover - heck if you had asked Tanya later, she'd readily admit that Robyn was easily among the top ten best fighters she'd ever seen that she hadn't trained personally - she was still going up against someone with decades more experience then herself and it was beginning to show.

By the time Briar made it to the stage, the crowd was in an excited frenzy. Even during Mad Dog's bouts with criminals, they'd never seen her deliver such a brutal beat down. Briar tried to open the cage and break it up but one of High Roller's goons held him back just as Robyn was knocked off her feet by a firm right hook.

"HILL! What do you think you're doing?!" Briar couldn't help but ask.

"Teaching the teacher a lesson," was Robyn's only reply before leaping right back into the fight.

Despite her claim though, Tanya was easily able to overpower the freedom fighter, as evidenced by how Robyn was quickly thrown against the edge of the cage. As Robyn bounced off the cage, Mad Dog quickly rushed her and kneed her in the stomach before grabbing the politician by the shoulders and throwing her to the ground.

"Mad Dog, stop it!" Briar begged.

"She asked for it!" Mad Dog reasoned, angrily before a light cough interrupted the mini argument.

"So when are you going to start, has-been?" Robyn mockingly asked even as she struggled to get back to her feet.

Mad Dog's eyes flared with rage as she tackled Robyn to the cage floor and mercilessly began pounding into her face. Briar shut his eyes out of discomfort while High Roller gleefully watched with interest. At last, once she saw her opponent's aura beginning to flicker out, Mad Dog let up. And yet, despite her shallow breathing, Robyn refused to give up.

"I don't even have a combat-based Semblance, and yet you're still too old to knock me out." Robyn called out with a mocking grin.

Tanya snarled as she picked Robyn up, hoping that would shut her up, only for the freedom fighter to give her a mocking wink instead. Enraged, she delivered a massive uppercut to the leader of the Happy Huntresses, feeling a sense of satisfaction as her opponent's aura was shattered as a result before hitting the ground with a thud. "You had enough, smartass? Well, have you?"

The brawler then scoffed when Robyn didn't reply right away. "Get up, I'm not done!" Tanya snarled as she kicked the politician's body over, only to pause when she noted the lack of reaction she got from doing this. With no small amount of concern, she knelt down to feel at Robyn's neck for a pulse, and grabbed at her wrist to double check… and then dropped Robyn's arm to the ground in shock when she found that there was no pulse.

Tanya could only back away from Robyn's body in horror, the cheers she had been enjoying all evening now feeling like a sort of mockery. Horrified, Briar headbutted the goon holding him back and threw open the cage door to see for himself. Mad Dog glanced at her protege with regret, only to be punched in the face.

"What have you done?!" Briar snapped.

"I'll tell you what she's done!" High Roller called out, excitedly. "She's taken the fights to a whole new level! Think of the word that'll spread from this! Anything's possible here! Next time you fight, we'll clear millions!"

Mad Dog looked down at her blood-soaked hands in shame. "... no. I'm out." She declared, mournfully, walking out of the ring. "And this time… I mean it."

Twenty minutes later, the stadium had cleared out. But Briar hadn't left Robyn's side. So many thoughts were racing through his head, like how he was going to explain to the Happy Huntresses why their leader had done this, or how he was going to keep Mad Dog's manslaughter out of the papers, or how he wanted to rip High Roller's head off and use it as an ashtray. He was angry at so many people, himself included, and he didn't even know how to deal with it.

But for the moment, Robyn's lifeless body would make a good scapegoat.

"Y'know, that was an incredibly stupid thing to do!" He chastised, quietly. "Not to mention selfish! Arrogant! Misandrist! And…"

Robyn's lifeless body didn't respond to his scolding. He knew he was wasting his breath, but didn't know how else to deal with the ache in his chest. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

"And… very, very brave…" Briar kissed Robyn on the cheek, tears still in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Robyn teasingly replied.

Briar got back up with a gasp as Robyn pulled a gadget out of her pocket. "It's a stunner the Happy Huntresses use to help with non-lethal takedowns: puts the target in metabolic stasis for a few minutes."

Briar's gaze shifted between Robyn and the device as his brain quickly caught on. "You… you wanted Mad Dog to see what it would feel like to kill someone."

"You think it worked?" Robyn couldn't help but ask right before the shadow of a familiar figure approached them.

"It worked," Tanya promised even as she gave a look of begrudging respect to her previous opponent even as she offered her a hand up.

Robyn merely accepted it before Tanya and Briar began to help the wounded politician out of the building.

"Who are you kidding?" High Roller scoffed as he suddenly appeared to block the trio's path. "You won't be happy in that academy. I give you a month, and you'll be crawling back here begging for me to give you another chance. Mark my words, Mad Dog, I know your kind and you will fight again."

While Mad Dog and Robyn were disgusted by the sleazy businessman's overconfidence, Briar just smiled with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Of course she will… just not here."

Robyn and Mad Dog turned around as Briar marched back towards the center of the stage. With a deep breath, his aura flashed and he let out an ear-splitting high-pitched scream that sent out powerful shockwaves at the now-empty coliseum. High Roller cupped his hands over his ears and looked on in horror as the shockwaves shook the very foundation of his building and the entire place collapsed in on itself. Then, Briar turned back around and knocked High Roller out with a single punch before continuing to help carry an astonished Robyn towards the nearest hospital.

Mad Dog could only smile. "Heh, sing's just like his daddy."

"...WHAT?" Robyn yelled out, apparently having not covered her ears quickly enough in no small part due to her recent injuries.

Mad Dog couldn't help but join Briar in wincing in concern upon hearing this. "That happened a lot with his father as well, if I remember correctly."

Sometime later, Mad Dog found herself walking alongside her favorite pupil through the halls of Watchtower Academy. They had changed out of their costumes into civilian attire and delivered Robyn to the doctor's office to be patched up by their mutual friend, Dr. Charlotte Luna. After that, Briar happily sat through a self-defense class taught by Tanya to make sure she stayed. Once the class was over, he walked with her again to talk.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through," Tanya remarked as she walked alongside her old pupil. "But don't worry. Seeing a… dead body from my hands did a good job of knocking me back to my senses."

"I believe you," Briar said with a nod as they stopped at the teacher's lounge. "But I'd like some assurance it's going to stick."

He opened the door to reveal a room with four other elderly teachers; Professor Sandra Desert, Professor Roxanne Fritz, Dr. Theodora Star, and Mr. Dewey Pickles.

"Hey, Tanya." Sandra greeted as she prepared a cup of herbal tea. "Come on in. We've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Tanya asked. "Why?"

"Uh, Briar told us about your nightly jaunts." Roxanne revealed. "Don't worry, we've kept it between the four of us."

"Well, the five of us." Theodora corrected, politely. "Charlotte will be here later."

"Until then, we thought maybe we'd take a minute to talk to you." Dewey added. "Make sure you stay on the straight and narrow."

"Excuse me?"

Briar gave her mentor an empathetic expression. "Things like this? Sometimes you can't stop all by yourself, no matter how much you want to."

Tanya merely gave a nod and a sigh in reply. "Believe me: fighting's nowhere near as tough as this is going to be."

Briar merely smiled as Tanya entered the room, with his grin only growing as Robyn, who had since recovered her hearing and was currently walking around on crutches, approached where he was standing.

"How's she doing?" the freedom fighter couldn't help but ask.

"She'll pull through: how about you? Are you recovering okay?"

"I've had worse," Robyn replied with a shrug.

"I wouldn't brag about that, if I were you," Briar said with a light scolding voice.

"Care to partake of that coffee we talked about earlier?" Robyn couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah: I'd like that." Briar readily replied.

"Good: you're buying."

Briar was momentarily taken aback by this as Robyn started to head out of the room before smiling and shaking his head in amusement and readily following after the politician.

Years later…

"Hey Aunty Robyn: I'm going to go ahead and head out now: I promised to meet up with Holly before the next campaign meeting," Roger called out.

"Okay sweetie: just don't stay out too late," Robyn readily replied.

"Don't worry, I won't," Roger promised before starting to head out.

"If your nephew is any indication, you'll be a great mom someday," Briar declared as he entered the room, having gotten into the habit of regularly working with the politician over the years.

"I can agree with that," Roger remarked before leaving. "Nice to see you again, Uncle Briar."

"...he does know we're not married yet, right?" Robyn smirked.

"Yes, but he loves teasing us regardle…wait, did you say 'yet'?"

"Never mind that for now," Robyn said with a blush before clearing her throat. "Anyways was there something you needed?"

"As a matter of fact, there was," Briar remarked. "Apparently, RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY have started a little club for those of us who want to use our talents for good. You up for an interview?"

As if to answer, Robyn smiled and held up her crossbow.

To Be Continued