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.

49. New Challengers

To the Guest Reviewer I mentioned in last chapter's Author's Note, do not worry. You were not in any way a nuisance. I am IMMENSELY grateful to have you and other reviewers to doublecheck my duel work in this story. It only helps me improve and make the story even stronger for everyone to enjoy! Thank you so much for doing so! :D

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

---

Two Weeks Later

Amity Coliseum was the jewel of the Vytal Festival, a marvel of engineering that reflected the sun's brilliant rays and hosted the largest hunting duelist tournament on Remnant. It was truly a testament to the human capacity to reach even into the heavens.

But even for those who couldn't get a hold of a ticket for the tournament, the Vytal Festival had plenty to enjoy. Across the Beacon fairgrounds, merchants and companies from all over the world had set up booths, with the SDC selling Link Monsters to revolutionize decks while the Heartland Corporation operated massive Action Duel arcade domes for civilian and huntsman alike to have fun testing them out. Vale's finest hunting duelists had answered their former headmaster's call to serve as security for the sprawling event, people smiling whenever they caught a rare glimpse of the mighty guardians who protected them. The rarity of the sight possibly contributed to the joy of the encounters, as there were only so many hunting duelists to cover the titanic grounds.

Yet, that might have also been what let the people enjoy the festival with peace of mind, delving into the wonders of the four kingdoms' peace celebration. And there were wonders aplenty. Food stalls with every delicacy a person could imagine, stores with goods from other continents, and even carnival games that might or might not have been rigged filled the Beacon green.

"And down! Another bites the dust to The Invincible Girl of Arm Wrestling!"

Admittedly, Pyrrha had never expected to be running one of the aforementioned carnival games.

Well, 'running' might have been overstating things. Ren collected money from both the participants and the members of the crowd who chose to gamble on the outcome. Nora was the enthusiastic emcee on the microphone they'd hooked up to the sound system. All Pyrrha really did was sit at a table, flash a camera-worthy smile to the audience, and wait for people to accept the challenge of the banner above her with her picture and the words 'Invincible Arm Wrestling with the REAL Pyrrha Nikos!'

She withdrew her arm off her now bested opponent's and extended her hand for a shake. "Thank you for playing. It was an excellent match."

It truly was. Pyrrha had barely been able to overwhelm her opponent's strength to take the win. But that was to be expected given the quality the dark-skinned girl had shown in their past duels.

"Hmmm," Arslan Altan hummed, her serious expression unchanging as she observed the redhead's hand. Still, she accepted the offered gesture, even bowing her head in respect afterward. "I was disappointed when you didn't come to Haven as well. I had hoped to duel you again sooner than this."

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha replied. "But I have no regrets about choosing Beacon."

The woman now known as The Golden Lion of Haven hummed again in careful thought at the firmness of her statement. Truthfully, if Pyrrha had to, in hindsight, select her strongest rival from her Mistral regional tournament days, it was Arslan without question. The pride of an ancient Swordsoul dojo, the fierce blonde was always calm and honorable in a duel, fervently devoted to proving herself.

"Do not lose before you face me in the tournament," Arslan commanded, striding away with determination. "I had thought you would be your team's leader as I am mine. Do not let your failure to seize such power deny us our rematch, Invincible Girl."

Pyrrha's heart skipped a beat, her emerald eyes darting out to the very edge of the crowd. There, Astral occupied Jaune's body, standing next to Weiss (back in her bushy fake mustache disguise) as he gleefully tasted the festival's plentiful food and drink. But on his other side, floating in a ghostly form as the spirit of the key usually did, was her true team leader, her partner, pensive and lost in his own thoughts.

Her partner that now knew she liked him.

She yanked her face away before he could see her looking at him. Two weeks since Yang had outed her at Ruby's party and neither of them had spoken about it. They had thrown themselves into their duties for the festival, him handling sponsorship offers and her prepping for her duties as team ace and scout. She'd been relieved when Nora and Ren had come to her with their idea of using her star power to enhance one of their old scams, desperate to help her friends and forget her own emotional quicksand. After all, Yang had been the strongest of her friends, the closest to Pyrrha's own level, and if she had been so thoroughly crushed by the dangers of the world–

No, no, no! Don't think about it! Think about the arm wrestling! Keep smiling for the crowd! Winning and helping Weiss was the most important thing. Using her power to protect her friends so they could have the time to grow was the most important thing–

"Looking forward to a good match," a new voice spoke up from across the table.

Pyrrha's eyes widened. Not just because her next opponent in line had taken a seat while she'd been lost in thought, but because she knew that voice.

The voice of a fellow Emperor.

She scanned the slim girl planting her elbow for the arm wrestle. Lithe, but muscled with definition. Blue-gray eyes hardened like saber steel. The hair was cut short and blonde, but it could easily have been dyed or a wig. The skin was several shades darker than their last encounter, but that was hardly a problem for this girl.

Pyrrha placed her own elbow on the table, doing all she could to keep her shock off her face, trying to figure out if not screaming for the nearest hunting duelist was the right move. "What… what are you doing here?"

"Who wouldn't want to take a shot at armwrestling The Invincible Girl?" Ilia coyly replied. "You'll see the truth of my resolve in the palm of my hand."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed, but she couldn't risk much more with so many civilians close. So she just took the undercover chameleon faunus's hand in her own, ready for their competition.

"All bets are in!" Nora hammed up for the crowd. "Wrestlers! Are you ready?!"

"Yes," Pyrrha said.

Ilia nodded, rubbing her palm against her opponent's while they were gripped together.

"Then three! Two! One!" Nora yelled. "Smash!"

SMASH!

In the blink of an eye, Pyrrha had slammed her opponent's arm down to the table. She blinked in surprise. Ilia didn't even try.

"Too bad. Guess I've still got some growing to do," Ilia said, rising without a care. "Thank you for the match, champ."

She darted away while the spectators were still chattering about how awesome Pyrrha was for crushing her opponent in brute strength as easily as in dueling.

Meanwhile, The Invincible Girl glanced down to her own hand, a folded-up note stuffed against her glove.

"The truth of your resolve in the palm of your hand?" Pyrrha dryly remarked, unable to keep from smirking. All that just to pass her a note?

She unfolded it while Ren was collecting new bets and Nora was calling up the next opponent in line. Written on the paper was a location, a meeting time later after the Leader Royale was expected to conclude, and a several times underlined "Don't tell Blake!"

Pyrrha frowned. The White Fang had been quiet since The Breach. Some even speculated the Vale Cell had been completely wiped out. Why would they come back now, when Beacon's security was at its highest with the eyes of the world locked on the city? And why would Ilia want to speak with her?

"Nice to see you again, Ms. Nikos," a new voice interrupted the redhead's thoughts, a woman's right elbow hitting the wrestling table. "I hear you've seen my baby pictures now."

Pyrrha stuffed the note away in her pocket, surprised to once again be met with the sight of someone she knew, a blonde woman with now familiar ocean blue eyes. Though, she'd met this person long before Ilia. Long before she'd come to Beacon even.

But it was only after the bonds she made at Beacon that the passing acquaintanceship gained new weight.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"I'm surprised Pyrrha would agree to be a part of such a lowbrow sideshow," Weiss confessed, watching as The Invincible Girl blinked away strange recognition before taking hold of the right hand of the blonde woman before her. "I know Nora and Ren did stuff like this to survive before Beacon, but that was before they had their stipends."

"As you may have heard recently, it does not hurt to supplement such income," Astral reminded her, in between purring as festival food and drink danced over Jaune's tastebuds. "Though, Pyrrha did reject Nora's suggestion to use Polarity on her bracers to subtly cheat if she needed to. Apparently she and Ren used to secretly put a taser under her when they did this scam in the past."

"Pyrrha would never do something so dishonorable," Weiss scoffed. "Even still, doing this at all just seems… beneath her."

"She had no objections once I informed her where I suggested the proceeds should go."

"Ooo, where the money should go?" Weiss chuckled, though she couldn't disguise the curiosity in her voice. "So not just to the 'Ren and Nora Pancake Mix Supply Fund'?"

"None of it this time," Astral informed her, delighting in his latest bite of a churro with unique Vacuo spices. "I believe Nora named the recipient 'The Tell Weiss' Dad He Can't Control Her Emergency Tuition Fund'. Ren and I both argued it could be a shorter title, or at least use an acronym–"

"Wait, what?!" Weiss exclaimed, catching Jaune's wrist before the ancient spirit could gag himself with more churro. "They're doing this scam to get money… for me?"

"More specifically, to fund your payment to Beacon in case your father does escalate his attempts to financially control you and pull your tuition," Astral explained. "They did mention they were planning to take advantage of the Vytal Festival to do this anyway, but they had no objections when I suggested we change the profits' destination–"

"You suggested they give the money to me?" Weiss asked, still confounded by the earlier clarification. "Why?"

Astral blinked, befuddled. "Why not?"

"Because it's not your problem! Because Ren and Nora, as we've already established, could very much use the extra lien themselves!"

"You chose to only accept sponsors you could support with a clear conscience rather than take the easy path and gain the profit to protect yourself and the new life you've built," Astral said admiringly. "Is it so surprising that we, who care about you, would want to shield you while you strive to shield others?"

Weiss released his wrist, her eyes avoiding his as a pink blush dusted her ivory cheeks. "Well, when you put it like that… um…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure they plan to gamble with it during the Vytal Festival before giving it to you," Blake spoke up through her bushy fake mustache disguise, arriving beside the pair with two concessions trays tied around her neck and fried cod buns in each hand. "They said they're putting everything on your sister in the exhibition duel, so that should leave more than enough lien to go around."

Weiss's face twisted with shock as she turned to her teammate's buffet, takoyaki, sushi, and the smells of all manner of assorted seafood wafting up from her concession trays. "Did you buy every fried fish on the festival grounds?"

Blake fervently nodded, an enormous smile painting her face. "Haven't been to a Vytal Festival since before I left my parents. I've missed it."

"How did you afford all that? I thought you were on stipend."

"Savior of Vale discount."

Weiss's eyebrow twitched.

"Honestly, I was surprised how many people didn't want my head on a pike," Blake admitted, an air of melancholy misting through her amber eyes between scarfing down takoyaki. "I was with the White Fang for a long time. Hurt a lot of people. People with friends, families. Stopping The Breach, it was good. But the good doesn't erase the bad."

"Mommy, look! I told you it was her!"

"Dear, please, that person doesn't want attention brought to their mustache… wait. Is that mustache… fake?"

Weiss froze. She was blown!

"Are you… Blake Belladonna?"

Weiss's eyebrow shot up, glancing at Blake to make sure her teammate wasn't about to be mobbed by rabid fans. Fortunately, the Odd-Eyed Bandit was remarkably calm at being recognized, continuing to gobble all but two takoyaki as she turned to those who'd seen through her impeccable disguise.

The two who'd made her turned out to be a faunus mother and child. The mother had a giraffe's neck that made her tower above the students, while her daughter had the squarish nose of a cow.

Blake playfully smirked at the kid, swallowing the food in her mouth and lifting her mustache for a moment. "Don't tell anyone."

The cowkid managed to keep her squee quiet. "It really is you! In person! Can I have your autograph?"

"Oh, geez," Blake regretfully giggled. "I'm flattered, but I don't have anything to write with–"

Astral pulled a pencil out of Jaune's pocket and handed it to her. Weiss cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I convinced Jaune to always keep one in his pocket after he forgot to bring one to class four times," the spirit explained. "He had found it quite useful."

Weiss preened in agreement. "It is prudent."

Blake happily used it to write her autograph on a piece of notepaper the giraffe mother provided. The child looked like she'd been handed a block of gold once it was in her hands.

"Thank you so much, ma'am!" the cowkid grinned. "Everyone at school is going to freak when I show them this."

"Freak?" Blake chuckled. "Don't get too excited about that, okay? Some of them might not have much reason to like me–"

"Why wouldn't they like you? You saved the whole kingdom!" the child emphatically declared. "When I grow up, I'm going to be a huntress just like you!"

"O… oh," Blake blinked, her false mustache unable to completely hide how rosy her cheeks were getting. "Just like me, huh?"

"Yeah! I'm going to become an awesome duelist and kick all the bad guy butt, just like you do!"

"That's enough, dear. We shouldn't hog Ms. Belladonna's time. She probably wants to enjoy the festival before the tournament starts," the giraffe mom gently cautioned her daughter. "Thank you for everything you've done. For saving the kingdom, but also for everything you've been doing in the media. It means a lot to the children to have a faunus hero for them to look up to. Someone they can see themselves in when… well, when the world says they can't be something like that."

"R–right. Just doing my job. As a huntress," Blake replied. She nervously held out her second to last ball of takoyaki to the child. "Takoyaki?"

Weiss's eyes widened. Blake was giving away fish?

"Food from the Odd-Eyes Huntress!" the cowkid grinned, snatching the fried octopus ball. "This will be the best thing I ever eat!"

The faunus family strode off to the Gogogo Golem inflatable jousting, just another mother and daughter in the crowd enjoying the festival.

"The good does not erase the bad," Astral echoed. "But the bad does not erase the good either."

Blake nodded, only for her head to suddenly freeze. Her amber eyes widened, seeming looking at nothing, her fish kebabs loosening in her grip. Weiss caught them before they could fall.

"He's not there, Blake," she comforted her friend. "He's locked up in the flagship. He can't hurt you."

"Wasn't just him this time," Blake revealed, shaking her head as she resumed stuffing her face with seafood. "Perry was with him. He's shown up a few times since I talked with the general at Ruby's party, but this is the first time they've appeared together."

Weiss frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. They're not real. I've just got to push through this."

"I don't just mean that," Weiss clarified, glancing after where the faunus family had gone. "You gave away fish. Did they really rattle you that much?"

"I guess. They called me The Odd-Eyed Huntress. 'Huntress'. Not bandit," Blake snorted. "When did I become a role model?"

"I believe they said it was when you saved the kingdom," Astral remarked.

"Yeah, but me? A huntress?" Blake pressed her palm to her forehead, her mind still spinning at the idea. "I came to Beacon to hide from Adam. Becoming a huntress was an excuse. I grew up in protests that were broken up by hunting duelists."

"The wrong kind of hunting duelists," Weiss pointed out. "Maybe there's no right kind of hunting duelist if the system is flawed enough. I've certainly done my share of worrying about that. But if anyone can do it, it'd be… well, Pyrrha or Ruby. But you're a solid third place."

Blake chuckled. "I will wear my bronze medal with pride."

"Not bronze. Gold in a different category," Astral argued. "That woman said it was important for faunus children to have a hero they can see themselves in. There are certainly many admirable qualities they can find in Pyrrha or Ruby, but they will not see another faunus. As a huntress, you can be their paragon."

Blake cocked an eyebrow, unconvinced. "A model docile faunus for the councils to trot out."

"They will undoubtedly try to make you play that part," Astral acknowledged. "But realpolitik is inevitable to some degree in your case, is it not? Even before you became a hero of The Breach, you were still the daughter of two of the most prominent faunus activists in history, one of whom is now Chieftain of Menagerie."

"That reminds me, have you gotten any word from your parents since The Breach?" Weiss inquired. "Even Menagerie must have gotten CCT reports about who had stopped… it?"

The heiress's voice trailed off as Blake's face went stark white at the mention of contact with her folks. Then she suddenly snapped away from her teammate and looked to Astral. "So, the Pendulum Xyz prototype has been coming along well. Thanks to your help, I should be ready to bust it out for a test run if the tournament allows."

"Don't change the subject so blatantly!" Weiss protested.

"That is wonderful to hear," Astral smiled at the cat faunus. "I am glad that my Xyz Summoning tutoring helped to get you a workable grip on the style. Though given you memory shared with Weiss, it perhaps shouldn't be surprising that you picked it up so quickly. Her instincts are within you now, and she is exemplary."

"Of course I am!" Weiss preened, doing her best to hide her vexation that the spirit of the key complimented her so easily and so genuinely. It'd be easy to brush it aside if he was just trying to flatter her, but the logical, mature specter meant every word. "Speaking of the exemplary, shouldn't Pyrrha's arm wrestle be done by now?"

Astral turned back to the armwrestling stall, tilting his head in surprise as the audience went wild at the continuing contest. Pyrrha and the blonde woman across from her were both sweating profusely, The Invincible Girl looking more strained than even her encounter with the Golden Lion of Haven. "This woman does seem to be putting up a surprisingly effective fight… you know her?"

Weiss was about to answer in the negative until she saw the spirit was glancing at empty air on his other side, where the real Jaune was no doubt floating. The body's eyes shifted to blue on both sides as the original owner took control again.

"No way," Jaune murmured. "She never mentioned she was going to be here."

"Who?" Weiss asked.

SMASH! A resounding thud echoed from the table, Pyrrha finally pinning her opponent's arm down.

"And The Invincible Girl does it again!" Nora screamed into the microphone as the crowd went wild. "But it was the longest match yet! So if you bet it'd be over in less than a minute, sorry! We're keeping your money! She just put up too good a fight, she did. Our mystery blonde woman whose eyes look weirdly familiar–Oh my gods, you're Jaune's big sister from Mrs. Arc's photo album!"

"Sister?" Weiss squeaked.

Jaune was already rushing over. Weiss snatched Blake's arm before she could grab her last takoyaki and dragged her teammate after the blonde boy.

They made it to the table just as Pyrrha finished shaking hands with her opponent. Up close, it was easy to recognize the blonde woman as Saphron Cotta-Arc, her shoelace necklace crowning the adventurer archaeologist's rugged clothes. Whether it was the framed picture in Dr. Oobleck's office or the numerous articles about her in various Duel Monsters research journals, her image was quite striking. Jovial, but striking. Mature…

Weiss pinched her skin before that thought could go any farther. This was a married woman. Clearly, she was still adversely rattled by Penny's display at Ruby's birthday party. Her mind was far too susceptible to filthy, scandalous thoughts these days.

"Hey, little brother!" Saphron grinned, engulfing Jaune in a warm hug while Ren and Nora informed the crowd that the booth was closing for the moment. "Glad to finally see your partner and team in person. Gotta say, I approve."

"Never thought you wouldn't," Jaune laughed, pulling back from the embrace. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Are Terra and Adrian here?"

"No, unfortunately, despite Adrian's pleas otherwise. Kid's only eleven, but he's definitely my son. Wants to go out and see the world like you and me," Saphron replied. She raised a Heartland I.D. badge clipped to her beige vest. "After The Breach, Mr. Heartland called me up and asked me to run the Action Duel Arcade Domes. There's a lot of expensive tech in those things that he didn't want blown up by terrorists in transit or while it was here."

"But he also didn't want to rattle the shareholders by paying for an extra hunting duelist contingent after the danger was 'already passed'," Weiss surmised.

"Precisely. I see you're as smart as Jaune's letters said you were, Ms. Schnee," Saphron said, flashing her and Blake a warm smile. "It's an honor to meet you. And you, Ms. Belladonna. Argus may be my home now, but it'd be pretty awkward to visit the family in Ansel if the kingdom was overrun. Ooo! Takoyaki! May I?"

"Of course," Weiss responded, shoving her hand over Blake's mouth before the cat faunus could hiss. "It's an honor to meet you as well, Mrs. Cotta-Arc. Dr. Oobleck has only the highest praise for your work."

"He only says that after he's done editing it," Saphron teased, snatching up Blake's last takoyaki with her left hand. "Honestly, I do need to check-in with him about an artifact I tried to send him."

"A–artifact?" Jaune nervously chuckled. "T–that's why you're here?"

"Aw, don't get into a tizzy about it, you big baby," Saphron playfully punched her little brother's arm. "Obviously the main reason I came was to meet my little bro's friends and cheer them on in the freaking Vytal Festival. Also to eat takoyaki. I was worried I wouldn't get any when the stand was sold out. Said some faunus lady bought all they had left."

Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, and the newly arrived Ren and Nora all turned to the Odd-Eyed Huntress.

"I'm not the only faunus woman who likes takoyaki!" Blake protested. "Savior of Vale discount only goes so far! I couldn't afford all of it!"

"Sure you couldn't," Nora sarcastically said. "And I totally didn't steal an inn's refrigerator to get more pancake ingredients for Ren."

"Woah! A whole refrigerator?" Saphron gasped, taking a bite of her takoyaki. "You have got to tell me the story behind that."

"Oh, it's a good one! It starts with a dance-off with Branwen bandits gone wrong. They couldn't handle Ren's sick moves…"

Nora and Ren drew Saphron's attention a bit further off as they recounted their childhood story, Blake reaching after the elder Arc sibling's octopus ball in vain.

"That was my last one," she mourned. "Farewell, my sweet takoyaki."

"You still have half the festival's seafood!" Weiss exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha focused on Saphron's octopus ball for a different reason, her emerald eyes narrowed at the hand she held it in. "Jaune?"

"Uh… yeah, Pyr?" Jaune replied, as awkward as when Saphron had mentioned the artifact she sent to Dr. Oobleck.

"Is your sister left-handed?"

"Left-handed? Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Pyrrha glanced down at her palm, the rest of her arm still sweaty. "She used her right arm to wrestle me. And I wasn't holding back."

Weiss's eyes widened. "What? But she pushed you more than Arslan Altan."

Jaune shrugged. "Honestly, not that surprising."

"Yes it is!" Weiss countered. "Aside from maybe Team CMEN, The Golden Lion of Haven is the strongest first-year at Haven."

Pyrrha nodded. "I can confirm that her strength is not just for show."

"I never thought it was," Jaune clarified. "But Saphron is the oldest of my sisters. Since the rest of us weren't born yet, there were fewer mouths to feed, so dad had to take less jobs. He had time to train her. She mastered the Noble Knight deck and then forged her own Synchro variation of it. She's explored half the world on her expeditions, with Professor Oobleck and without him. She might not have a license, but she's as strong as any hunting duelist."

Weiss looked after the dueling archaeologist with new appraisal. Not even many licensed hunting duelists could match Pyrrha's strength with their offhand. True, it was only physical strength, but better aura control technique for monster summoning usually led to that increasing as a matter of course. Was it possible that Jaune's older sister was even stronger than her pedigree implied? So strong as to rival an ace hunting duelist like Dr. Oobleck?

More than that, she was a woman who'd left her family behind, stepped out from her family's legacy and gone out into the world to craft her own. Successfully! That was something Weiss wasn't sure if she could do herself, or even how to start as her father tried to tighten his grip–

"What are you guys still doing here?!"

A rush of rose petals stampeded through the crowd, Ruby taking shape in the middle of her friends.

"Ruby, hey!" Nora waved, ecstatically pointing at Saphron. "You're never gonna believe this–"

"I sent text messages! I set a calendar notification!" Ruby rambled, frantically holding up her scroll. "Do you guys all have your scrolls on silent–"

"-Jaune's sister is here!"

Ruby cut her rant short, her head instantly whipping toward Saphron. Her eyes sparkled when she finally took in the blonde woman. "... really? Oh, wow, this is awesome. It is so nice to finally meet you."

"Ruby Rose, I take it? Thank you for befriending my brother right from the start," the elder Arc greeted. "Though I admit, you're more intense than his letters described."

"That's right!" Ruby's rant resumed, jumping up and down like she'd just taken triple her absurdly sugar-filled coffee. "The opening ceremony starts at eleven! We need to get going now!"

Everyone glanced at each other in confusion. Jaune checked his scroll. "Uh, Ruby, it's only ten-forty-five. We've got time before the ceremony–"

"The shuttle ride up to Amity can take ten to fifteen minutes! Ten to fifteen!"

Weiss's eyes paled. "Oh my gods, she's right! We've got to go!"

"Oh crud!" Jaune yelped, Saphron already cackling as she waved goodbye. "Bye sis! Talk later!"

Like their first day of Beacon classes so many months ago, Team RWBY and Team JNPR dashed away to keep from being tardy to a vital debut. Only instead of just their first day of classes, this time they risked being late to introduce themselves to the world stage. Careers and legends were forged in the Vytal Festival Tournament, the world engrossed by the next generation of hunting duelists who would defend them!

Truthfully, Weiss was a bit aghast at herself that Ruby was more on schedule than she was. True, her partner was taking her duties as leader more seriously, but she'd sworn to be the best teammate she could be. There were standards that she had to uphold.

Even so, how she was to uphold those standards she set for herself was a question she still needed answers for. She had chosen to act during the duel under Mt. Glenn, but did that mean she would act as a huntress, through the proper channels of the kingdom, at the councils' discretion? Would they send her to help all those who needed it, or just those it profited them to protect? If she wanted to act independently of such politicking missions, and help whoever she saw needed help, she'd need the income to support herself. She loved her friends and would gladly accept any assistance they offered her in that regard, but she couldn't rely on them completely to the point of being a burden. And if her father's recent opening salvos of attempting to financially control her proved anything, it was that the time when their conflict openly boiled over may no longer be avoidable. Their values were too incompatible.

What did that mean for her quest to redeem the Schnee name and the SDC? While she'd worked to assert her independence from her father in the past, she'd always hesitated at openly becoming his enemy. Gaining control of the family company as a huntress would be nigh-impossible without his support. She'd need shareholders who owned over half the company stock in total to back her, and given how much profit Jacques made them, it would be difficult to make enough of them lose faith in him.

She would not become a monster just to try to destroy her father. Such a choice would lead her down Adam's path. But then, how did she put a stop to his evil and take responsibility for her family's sins?

"Quick! Place the bet! Place the bet, Ren!" Nora gasped once everyone was safe on a shuttle to Amity. The hyper redhead leaned over her partner's shoulder as he worked his scroll, Ruby massaging Jaune's back as his airsickness kicked in. "Put it all on the Cancer… The Kan-Kan… Weiss's sister!"

A smile lit up Weiss's lips, her eyes spotting yet another poster for Winter's upcoming duel. Her personal ship had graced the skies of Vale that morning. The Kaiserin who left the Schnee name behind.

She took out her scroll and sent her sister a text, inquiring about when they could meet up later that day.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"... the minor increase in Grimm attacks on the outlying settlements right after the news broadcast of The Breach has since fallen back to regular numbers. Commander Ebi's response work has been exemplary as always, but the Essen Militia under their Captain Thornmane were notably effective."

"If Bram trained them himself, that doesn't surprise me," Ironwood remarked, looking over the reports he'd been brought.

Bram Thornmane had been Clover's year at Atlas Academy, an underclassman to James himself. He was a bit brash at times, but they'd all served together after they'd joined the military, had each other's backs on dozens of dangerous missions. He'd been upset when Ironwood had become general and chosen Clover as the new head of the Ace Ops instead of him, even leaving the military over it. But he'd done exemplary work as an independent hunting duelist, even settling down as the regular militia captain of the outlying town of Essen. The general knew he wasn't always the best with social matters, but it relieved him that their friendship had survived its hiccups over the decades.

"Anything stirred up against Atlas itself?" Ironwood inquired to the one who'd brought him the reports. "Or reports on the experimental cards and Paladin duel runners stolen by the White Fang?"

"The Paladins are all accounted for at this point, either recovered or confirmed destroyed by the Vale authorities. Alas, two shipments of Link and Fusion cards are still in the wind. As for Atlas, the kingdom's defenses were able to deal with the attacks without difficulty, though Mantle hunting duelist team The Happy Huntresses did report an above average number of Sabre kills in the week after the CCT public broadcasts."

"Above average for a normal team or for them?" Ironwood joked.

The Happy Huntresses had been freshman students during Fria's final year as Atlas headmaster. She'd warned James when he'd taken over that they were talent to be nurtured, the top duelists in their year. He'd tried to encourage them to consider the Specialist Program, but they'd chosen to remain independent.

A true shame. There was no living independent team of hunting duelists that could rival the Ace Ops (Team STRQ certainly surpassed them when they were whole, but alas), but those four women came the closest. Especially the leader, Robyn Hill. If he'd been allowed to train them further in the military, they could have equaled the newer recruits like Marrow or Harriet. Maybe even rivaled the more experienced members like Vine and Elm. But at least James got to enjoy Jacques clenching his teeth whenever they protected some of his striking workers from Grimm pro bono. Sure, SDC warehouses had their cargos mysteriously halved during such instances, but the military couldn't go getting involved in such matters on hearsay alone (even if such less than legal methods of Ms. Hill and her team were less hearsay and more an open secret in Mantle).

Ironwood closed up his reports and filed them away in his desk. "Thank you for this update, specialist. I suppose the only question left is how you're feeling. Ready to duel?"

"Sir!" His pride and joy saluted, her movements sharp and her stare icy. "I have ensured that my deck has been rebuilt from its combat build to one appropriate for a public duel. All my fusion spells have been removed and replaced with suitable utility cards such as Called By The Grave, Lightning Storm, and Monster Reborn."

Ironwood smiled as warmly as he could in response to the perfect reply. His numerous responsibilities as both general and headmaster prevented him from being as hands-on in teaching as Leo and Theodore liked to be. But when they spoke with pride about how far their students had come, he knew what feeling swelled in their hearts because he'd trained the woman before him now.

Of course, saying he'd 'trained' The Kaiserin might have been giving himself too much credit. Winter Schnee was a once-in-a-generation natural talent, a natural diamond even before Jacques had spent a fortune on the best dueling tutors in the world to polish her. She'd entered Atlas Academy as a student the same year Ironwood had taken over as headmaster, and he soon realized that his greatest responsibility would not be further improving the young duelist, but to act as a wall to shield her so that she could grow on her own path without her abusive father's interference. A master of Xyz, Synchro, and more, he was honored to have been able to help her leave her past behind and become a true huntress in every sense of the world.

"Good to know," he joked. "But not what I meant."

Winter's face twitched subtly, so slight that Ironwood wouldn't have caught it under her professional facade if he didn't know her so well. "It is an honor to be selected to compete in the Vytal Fesitval's opening exhibition duel."

"The youngest ever," Ironwood encouraged her.

Another twitch. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

Winter finally allowed the slightest sliver of a smile to crack her lips. "I am very much looking forward to this. Peter Port is an exemplary veteran huntsman. It will be a privilege to have a perfect, respectful duel against him on such a stage."

"Just don't let him pontificate too much about those dinosaurs of his," Ironwood chuckled. "From what I hear about his lectures, he might just put the whole world to sleep on live broadcast."

"Then I shall endeavor to keep the pressure on," Winter declared. "A duel between high-level hunting duelists can end in an instant. I won't give him time to talk."

"More time to spend with Weiss later," the general smiled. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you more than the day before returning to Atlas."

"No apologies necessary, sir. Duty is duty. Weiss understands this," Winter replied, her face warmed by the pride in her voice for her sister. "I will make sure to inquire about what's been happening with Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon for you."

"Thank you."

"Welcome one and all to the opening ceremonies of the Vytal Festival Tournament!"

Ironwood stood as Dr. Oobleck's voice filled Amity Colosseum through its intercom and the entire world through the CCT. "Well, that's your cue. I look forward to watching your perfect duel of respect, specialist."

Winter snapped into another sharp salute, her icy mask barely containing her eagerness.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"... now that all the qualifying teams from each academy have been assembled, all please rise for the anthems of each kingdom!"

"Crap! Crap! Slow down for once in your life, doc!" Yang panicked, stumbling her way out of a bathroom stall and barely getting her backpack over her shoulder. Why did she think putting on a bag with two arm loops would be easy when she only had one arm?!

Two weeks of reworking her deck for Clear Wing and training with her dad to get in good enough mental shape to duel, and she was missing the opening ceremonies of her first Vytal Festival! The big handicap bathroom stall had been occupied when she'd come in to do her business and she'd thought 'Nah! I can totally still handle a regular-sized one with no railing'. And sure she could, but it turned out it was a lot harder to get herself looking presentable again when she only had one hand to pull up her pants with. She was considering putting on the Atlas prosthetic in her backpack just to deal with that.

Ugh! The others didn't even know to stall for her! They didn't know she was there! She'd wanted to surprise them in the staging area, be all "Guess who's back?". Wipe away the stain of the piece of shit she was at Ruby's birthday party with a big entrance.

But now they were already assembled with the rest of the qualifying teams in the arena, and she still needed to wash her hands! Also, why didn't she think more about how she was going to wash her hands?! In the hospital's restroom, there had been a brush set up for her to rub her soapy hand against, since she couldn't use her other one now. Her dad had mimicked the setup in the bathrooms at home. But public restrooms didn't have them and she hadn't thought to bring one, so what was she supposed to do–

"Excuse me? Do you need help, dear?"

Yang's head whipped to the side, an older faunus woman looking at her with concern. She wore a black, white, and gold dress in a style the Patch girl didn't recognize, a purple armband tied around her left bicep. Her skin was naturally tanned like she'd been in a tropical climate for a while, her black hair cut short around her concerned face. Atop her head were… cat ears? Wolf ears? She couldn't tell. Part of her wanted to ask, but after her screw-up with Pyrrha, she preferred to hold her tongue rather than risk offending someone she didn't even know.

"I'm… I'm fine. Thank you," Yang managed, working to get a hold of her panic as the faucet's water ran and the kingdoms' anthems transitioned from from Atlas to Vacuo, nearly back to the home kingdom's to end the musical interlude. "I… I just…"

The faunus woman's amber eyes glimmered with gentle compassion. She drew a few towels from the dispenser and crinkled them up.

"Will this work for you to scrub against?" she asked. "I can hold it steady."

"That's… actually that's perfect," Yang awkwardly admitted. "But you don't have to stay and hold it. You should go ahead and get a good seat before they're all taken."

The woman chuckled warmly, reassuring the hunting duelist with a sincere smile. "I imagine they're all taken by now. It was much too long a line to get in here."

Something about her tone provoked a giggle from Yang. "Ain't it always?"

Her nerves didn't quiet completely, but she accepted the woman's offer to hold the crumpled towels steady. She doused her hand in soap and water, using the towels as a surface to scrub against. When she was finished, she dried off and offered her appendage to the good samaritan to shake. "Yang."

"Kali," the faunus woman replied, gladly taking the offered hand just as Vale's anthem finished.

"We shall now announce the competing teams and their members!" Oobleck's voice echoed through the intercom. "Representing Haven Academy and the Kingdom of Mistral, we have Team…"

"Well, time to go and grab whatever seats are left," Kali remarked. "Are you here with anyone?"

"Oh… uh… not really," Yang said. She couldn't exactly embarrass herself by running out onto the pitch when everyone else was already in position in front of the entire world. "I'm going to try to meet up with some friends later, but right now, I'm on my own. My dad couldn't get off work to come with me."

"I know that feeling. My husband wanted to join me, but he has many duties that require his attention at home," Kali commiserated. "Perhaps we can watch together? At least until you have to meet up with your friends."

Yang frowned. She raised her stump of an arm. "Look, I know how this thing must look to you and I admittedly didn't plan out this bathroom break as well as I could have, but I'm not helpless–"

"Perish the thought," Kali interceded, pulling out her own bag and unzipping it to reveal a motherload of perfectly fried golden takoyaki in individual boxes. "But I did go a bit overboard on concessions and I'd appreciate the help not letting it go to waste."

Yang barely kept herself from drooling as the delectable smell hit her. "I mean… if you're offering."

"... Representing Beacon Academy and the Kingdom of Vale, we have third-years Team…"

The pair made their way to the stands, making do with the best seats they could manage. Yang could have sat in the section reserved for academy students, but if she did, her classmates would recognize her. They'd see the sunny and bombastic ace of Team RWBY reduced to… whatever she was now. She wasn't sure she was ready for that yet. She'd worn a long brown coat just to avoid being identified on the festival grounds, keeping its baggy hood up until she reached the bathroom.

Plus, she hadn't been able to have takoyaki since she got Blake for a partner. The Odd-Eyed Bandit's catnip was seafood and smut.

So she sat down with Kali and partook in the delicious fried octopus, watching the assembled hunting duelist teams in the arena below, assembled in orderly lines around the central duel dais. Most of the students wore shining dark blue Obelisk Blue jackets, with a smattering of bright Ra Yellows like Jaune and Nora among them.

And one single Slifer Red.

"... first-years Team RWBY!"

The cameras pivoted and Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were projected live over the coliseum's giant viewscreens. And through the CCT, across all of Remnant.

Suffice it to say, the crowd went wild.

"It's the Heroes of the Breach!"

"Go get them, Ms. Schnee!"

"Kick butt, Odd-Eyed Huntress!"

"You mean Odd-Eyed Bandit! She's a damn terrorist!"

"She saved the kingdom! Get a life!"

"If anything, it's that SDC heiress who should be locked up!"

"She saved the kingdom too! You get a life too!"

"Monochrome for life!"

Yang smiled at all the support her friends were getting from the crowd. Weiss's family and Blake's past were always going to be burdens that made some hate them, for justified reasons or not. But it seemed their PR campaign after The Breach did its work. Those who despised them were in the minority, with thousands in the stadium screaming in support of them.

"She really is with a Schnee," Kali murmured, a wry smirk slipping over her lips. "Didn't see that coming."

"Believe it. She and Weiss are the best of friends," Yang said, popping a takoyaki into her mouth. Best to reassure the faunus woman that the Odd-Eyed Bandit really had become the champion for her people the news said she had. "No one's more passionate about helping people than those two. Well, except for–"

"Hey, why is there only three people on their team?" someone in the crowd spoke up.

"And who's that middle schooler in front? Is she supposed to be the team leader?"

"Is she a Slifer Red?! Why is someone like that in charge over The Heroes of The Breach? What if that slacker loses in the Leader Royale and we don't even get to see Ms. Schnee and Belladonna duel?"

"Monochrome revolt! Cast down the false leader and become co-leaders for life!"

Yang froze, noticing Ruby paling down below. The downside of their teammates getting the credit for The Breach was that a Slifer Red being in charge of them was now seen as even more unusual. And, to certain parts of the new heroes' fans, intolerable.

"... first-years Team JNPR!"

Fortunately for Ruby, no derision of her could be heard over the thunderous cheers that shook the colosseum when Team JNPR was put up on the viewscreen. Or at least, one of its members.

"NIKOS! NIKOS! NIKOS!"

There was no silver of discontent like with Weiss and Blake, no minority of naysayers. The Heroes of the Breach were still a new fad, while The Invincible Girl had long cemented herself in the public's consciousness. Pyrrha smiled and waved, the perfect picture of grace and serenity for the camera, Jaune doing his best in front of her while Nora excitedly jumped around behind her.

Yang had to look away. She knew that performance was just that, a performance. The real Pyrrha was way better than any doll for the cameras. And she'd hurt her.

The rest of the Beacon teams were introduced smoothly from there (Team CRDL qualified? Huh. Good for them), the central duel dias elevating as the most anticipated part of the opening ceremony began.

"The Vytal Festival is a celebration of the peace between kingdoms achieved through so much hardship at the end of The Great War. And its tournament is meant to inspire the world by showcasing just what great defenders that peace has allowed to be reared. Thus, to inspire those very upcoming huntsmen, two former victors of past festivals, now licensed hunting duelists serving Remnant with all their strength, have returned to demonstrate the heights of skill that can be reached in dueling," Oobleck pontificated, a door opening in the arena wall to Yang's left. "Ladies and gentlemen! Please give a warm welcome to the first Vytal Festival Champion competing in this duel! The Kaiserin! Winter Schnee!"

Sparklers and small fireworks went off along the open door and the path forward, lighting the entrance as the favorite to win stepped out to thunderous applause.

Weiss's sister definitely looked like how Yang imagined the Ice Queen's sibling would. Back straight, stony glare, imperious march with her head held high. Her Atlas military uniform was crisp and perfectly pressed, confidence and competence radiating off her in waves as she arrived at the central duel dias.

"So that's who the Ice Queen's always trying to act like," Yang remarked. "An even icier Ice Queen."

"She does seem to be an impressive young woman," Kali noted. "Though, you speak as if you know the younger Ms. Schnee personally?"

"Uh, everyone at Beacon knows the Ice Queen. Hard not to," Yang chuckled. "Schnee heiress and all–"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Yang was saved from having to talk herself out of admitting who she was when the sparklers and fireworks for the opposite side of the stadium, the side Winter's opponent would be coming out, suddenly lit up ahead of schedule. It must have been some sort of malfunction, as the door hadn't even fully opened yet and two of the emitters fizzled before blowing up, nearby students hopping back to avoid the shrapnel.

It was surprising. The Vytal Festival was the biggest event on Remnant. They must have tested those systems a dozen times in preparation for this. Guess the thirteenth time they did it was just unlucky.

When the sparks and fireworks cleared though, there was a new figure on the entrance path. A minuscule puffball of brown fur with tiny green and yellow claws, twirling around, dizzy from the early explosions.

Yang's eyes narrowed as the crowd started mumbling to each other. Didn't she know that puffball?

"Is that…"

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Kuriboh?!"

The dizzy puffball whipped around toward Ruby. Its eyes lit up with joy as it raced around the arena floor, students scrambling out of their orderly lines to avoid it. Which made it all the easier for the brown gremlin to reach the Silver-Eyed Signer and leap into her joyful arms.

Ruby couldn't believe it! She didn't think the opening ceremony could get any better! Sure, they'd made it there by the skin of their teeth timing-wise, but aside from that, the grandeur of it all was finally sinking it. It was the Vytal Festival! She was competing in the Vytal Festival! Her team's jackets had their sponsors' stickers printed on them and everything! Everyone was lined up from Team JNPR next to her team, to Penny, Aoi, and their friends in the Atlas kids' section, to Team SSSN and Team CMEN with the Haven students. Everyone was there!

Well, not Yang, but she was trying not to think about that.

And now she didn't have to because she got the happy surprise that her favorite brown puffball was there!

"Oh, if only Zwei was here!" Ruby gushed as she hugged the tiny fiend. "He'd love to spend time with his bestie."

Kuriboh suddenly froze, its eyes whirling throughout the stadium with ice-cold terror. Admittedly, while Ruby was sure he and Zwei were as much BFFs as she and Weiss were, the corgi did have a fondness for… well, chew toy games.

"Ruby! Don't hold onto that thing!" Weiss scolded her. "Kuribohs are Fiend-Types! Borderline useless in a duel it may be, that thing must carry all kinds of diseases!"

"Who summoned it anyway?" Blake queried. "It's a weak enough monster to be a civilian pet, but who'd bring it out here?"

"Oh, Kuriboh! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing here… oh…" Ruby suddenly stopped hugging the monster, holding it out to face her as she paled. "... oh no."

Kuriboh nodded with a resigned whimper, confirming her worst fears.

"Hello, Amity Colosseum! How you–" a familiar voice burped. "How you doing?!"

Ruby and everyone in the stadium turned to the entryway Professor Port had been supposed to come in from. But instead of the rotund huntsman, everyone in the world beheld a tall lanky man with salt and pepper hair and a scruffy five-o-clock shadow. His long-sleeved gray jacket was torn and stained, an open hip flask raised in his hand as he drunkenly shouted straight at a wall. The only thing that could have possibly made him stand apart from the average drunk sloshed up in the early morning street was the perfectly maintained, sleek silver duel disk hooked on the back of his belt.

"Happy Vytal Festival–ow!" the man yelled, only to walk into the wall and bounce right off. He stumbled back and started twirling toward lines of students with a lazy smile. "Happy Vytal Festival, kiddos! Trust me, you'll never forget your first! Haha!"

The students, understandably, edged away. Ruby spotted even Cinder and Mercury, usually apathy incarnate, staring with shock and utter befuddlement. Weiss's sister looked like she wanted to charge off the duel dais and rip the drunk's head off.

"Oh no," Ruby repeated, releasing her grip on Kuriboh. Just as it had for decades, the brown puffball dashed to its master, grabbing the drunken man's hand and guiding his stumbling gait toward the dueling dais.

"What a shameless, revolting display," Weiss growled. "How did this drunk get past security?"

"He's got a duel disk," Jaune shrugged. "But where's Professor Port?"

"Ruby?" Blake inquired. "The Kuriboh knew you. You know this guy–Hey! That's my fake mustache!"

Ruby disagreed, slapping it on her face. "Who is Ruby? I am foreign exchange student!"

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "What accent are you going for?"

"Also, it's the Vytal Festival," Weiss pointed out, gesturing to all the actual foreign exchange students assembled around them. "A bit late for that stunt."

"Give me back my fake mustache!" Blake exclaimed, ripping it off Ruby's face.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Who's this asshole?"

"Maybe he's the other champion? The posters didn't really have a good picture of him."

"No, the other duelist is a Vytal Festival champion too. Some old Beacon professor."

"But then what's this drunk doing here?"

"Such shameless behavior in public?! The nerve!"

"What is that man doing?" Kali scornfully noted, echoing the audience's sentiments. "This is meant to be a festival for the children."

Yang pulled her hood over her head and tugged her coat closed. She really hoped no one looked her way now.

"What the heck are you doing, old man?" she muttered.

They'd find out soon enough as Kuriboh guided him up to the duel dais across from Winter Schnee, whose glare had gone from icy to outright glacial.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYUYGIOHYUGIOH

"What the hell are you doing here, Qrow?" Winter hissed. "This is neither the time nor the place for your childish games."

Qrow burped, that mangy furball of his having to float up into his armpit to keep him standing with any semblance of balance. "Nice to see you too, Ice Queen. Always knew you had a festive attitude in you somewhere. Buried deep, deep down under that stick you've got up your–"

"We are on live CCT!"

A green streak rushed into the arena, Dr. Oobleck appearing in person between the two hunting duelists.

"Qrow, what are you doing here?" the Beacon professor frantically asked his old friend. "Where's Peter?"

"Barty! Happy Vytal Festival! Last I saw Pete was… the Crow Bar? Re Bar? It was a bar," Qrow shrugged. "I took him out drinking before the big day."

"He's a lightweight!" Dr. Oobleck hissed. "The festival has a schedule! We can't exactly postpone this."

"Oh, relax, Barty," Qrow waved off, his Kuriboh once more having to push up his back to keep him from faceplanting. "If it's a Vytal Festival champion you need I can fill the part."

"The combatants were selected months ago by the festival committee," Winter growled. "There's a program, weeks of marketing."

"I've seen the posters," Qrow taunted. "You and Jimmy really wanted Pete tiny in them."

Winter gnashed her teeth together. Neither she nor the general had any say in the Vale marketing team's infuriating design for the posters. She'd been furious at how little respect was paid to her opponent in them.

Dr. Oobleck pressed two fingers to his earpiece, the same model as the one in Winter's own to hear any stage directions. "Yes… got it. I'll improvise as best I can, headmaster."

The professor looked up to Winter. "Ozpin says roll with it. We can't afford a negativity spike by delaying the festival when we don't know where Peter is. Are you alright with this, Ms. Schnee?"

She nodded. "I will do my duty as a huntress."

Plus, smashing Qrow's infuriating smirk into the pavement sounded fucking therapeutic.

The drunk lout flicked his duel disk around to his arm, somehow taking up perfect form despite his previous sloppy gait.

Dr. Oobleck glanced back at the stadium viewscreen, breathing a sigh of relief when a graphic of Qrow appeared on it. It was clearly hastily thrown together compared to Winter's, several years out of date and showing a man years younger but it was better than nothing. "Slight change of plans, folks. Peter Port was injured valiantly defending innocents from the Grimm. But we have another duelist here to challenge The Kaiserin. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for two-time Vytal Festival champion – Qrow Branwen!"

It was a good effort by the doctor, but insufficient given Qrow's drunken entrance. The crowd was befuddled by the sudden change and how it would affect their bets at best, while at worst they were utterly livid that a drunken fool had been thrown in front of them. Fortunately, there were only so many visitors from Mistral present to worriedly murmur about if the huntsman named Branwen had any connection to the infamous Branwen Tribe.

"We will now begin the traditional shuffling!" Dr. Oobleck announced. "Duelists please give each other your decks!"

Winter handed her cards over without complaint, accepting the drunk's deck in turn.

No, not the drunk. Whatever she thought of Qrow, he was her opponent now. She owed him respect. She would face him with the honor he deserved, befitting the comportment of an Atlas Military specialist–

"Don't worry, Ice Queen. I'll go easy on you. Play on your level so you can look good in front of the kiddies."

Winter's icy glare fixed itself on Qrow's smarmy smirking face.

Respect your opponent, respect your opponent, respect your opponent, don't be like your father. Respect your opponent.

While you're smashing him into the ground.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

Cinder was grateful that everyone's eyes were locked on the huntsmen shuffling each other's decks. It kept them from looking at her while she was struggling not to panic.

"What is he doing here?" Mercury hissed, his own eyes wide at the sight of the hunting duel who stole Amber away after they bested the Fall maiden.

"I don't know!" Cinder snapped back, a bit of heat slipping into her voice.

The Queen's years of grueling training had made Cinder a match for any of the academy headmasters as a duelist. Still, her trainer had been very clear there were three enemies she was to keep from fighting until she had the maiden's power.

One, Ozpin. Obviously.

Two, Glynda Goodwitch. Only Hazel with his kings and their contracts or Tyrian and his toys might be able to overwhelm her.

Three, Qrow Branwen. A warning Cinder had doubted before he and his winged warriors had cut through her efforts to claim all of Amber's power and forced her to retreat after claiming just half and Hermos.

Now, he was suddenly here again, stumbling into her improvised plot like a drunken ghoul. What if he recognized them? What if he told Ozpin and their cover was blown? What if he found out what she did to his old friends Rhodes and–

No! No, everything would be fine. Emerald had, with her usual competence, used her semblance to keep Qrow from seeing their faces when he arrived at the scene of the Amber attack. None of the monsters they'd had out when arrived were uncommon (there were at least three other students other than Mercury using Battlin' Boxer deck and she'd even spotted another Red-Eyes user from Shade Academy. Though obviously vastly inferior to her), so he had no way of knowing they were anything but normal students.

"Wait, did he just…"

"Did he just what?" Cinder whispered questionly at Emerald.

The green-haired thief pointed to the long sleeves of Qrow's jacket, his hands finishing their shuffle of the Kaiserin's deck. "I think… he had something up his sleeve. He skipped it into her deck."

"You think?" Mercury queried.

"He did it fast. Worked it into the motion of the shuffle… honestly perfectly. I'm still not sure he did anything," Emerald admitted. She glanced back at their team's fourth member. "Did you see it?"

Neo, shrouded in a Gothic Lolita disguise, nodded. She pointed up at the grand stadium viewscreen and shook her head in the negative.

Cinder frowned. So Qrow slipped something into The Kaiserin's deck without letting the festival's many cameras see it. Not only that, he did it in such a way that even master thieves like Emerald and Neo barely caught it. He even constantly insulted his Atlas foe so she'd be glaring up at his face instead of looking at her cards in his hands.

The pair returned each other's decks and marched to opposite ends of the dueling dais. Oobleck stepped off and the protective hardlight barrier ignited as the combatants' duel disks deployed.

Meanwhile, Cinder's brow furrowed. The ancient laws of Remnant, the same that facilitated the Master Rule, prevented a duelist from stacking their own deck in a duel and still having their aura (or magic) manifest the stacked cards. Intentionally colluding with others to do it for you produced the same handicap.

But you could stack an opponent's deck. In training, it allowed teachers to help a student test a specific combo. In combat, the opportunity to stack the enemy's deck before dueling them almost never arose. In traditional tournaments, where the opponents shuffled each other's decks as a show of respect, it was pointless to attempt since deck lists were submitted beforehand and a duelist could alert the judges if they discovered an unlisted card in their deck.

But the Vytal Festival, especially its exhibition match, was not a traditional tournament.

"Duel!"

Qrow Branwen: 4000 Life Points

Winter Schnee: 4000 Life Points

So what did Branwen need from this duel that he'd barge into the biggest tournament on Remnant during a worldwide CCT broadcast?

And why was The Kaiserin paling so much at the sight of her hand?

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

Winter's eyes widened when she saw that card in her hand.

How? She'd taken them all out of her deck! She'd triple-checked! How had she missed one?

"I'll start us off with Graceful Charity," Qrow sped ahead, his Kuriboh disappearing from his side before he drew three new cards and discarded two. After that, a continuous spell card flashed onto his field, a dark cyclone swirling around it with scraps of colorful feathers. "Then I banish Blackwing - Oroshi the Squall from my hand to activate the effect of Blackwing - Simoon the Poison Wind. I activate the Black Whirlwind continuous spell from my deck, and then normal summon Simoon without tribute."

On an ill wind, a haggard birdman manifested in front of Winter's foe, his black and red plumage molting with sickness (ATK 1600/DEF 2000). The moment it appeared, the dark cyclone of the continuous spell it conjured rushed over the huntsman deck.

"As long as Black Whirlwind is on the field, whenever I normal summon a Blackwing, I can add one with less attack points from my deck to my hand," Qrow explained, doing just that before placing the new card on his Harbinger duel disk. "I use my regular normal summon on Blackwing - Auster The South Wind. When it hits the field that way, it summons Oroshi the Squall from banishment."

A bright yellow bird with colorful wings tipped with black (ATK 1300/DEF 0) flew onto the field. With a flap of its wings, a rainbow tornado formed, sucking down a smaller black bird on a defense position sideways card (ATK 400/DEF 600).

Once again, Black Whirlwind's dark cyclone lashed out at Qrow's deck, allowing him to snatch another card from his deck, Blackwing - Sharnga the Waning Moon.

"I banish Blackwing - Zonda the Dusk from my graveyard," the huntsman announced, removing one of the cards he discarded with Graceful Charity from Harbinger's graveyard slot. "This lets me summon a Level Five or higher Blackwing from my deck in exchange for taking damage equal to its attack points."

A dark tempest erupted from his graveyard, battering the huntsman aura until it crackled.

Qrow Branwen: 1900 Life Points

"What was that, you drunken fool?!"

"You just threw away half your life points!"

"We didn't want you here! You better not waste our time, bandit scum!"

Winter's eyes narrowed at her foe, ignoring the crowd's lambasting of him. After all, an experienced duelist knew that getting the right monster on the field could be worth even a substantial amount of life points. Her opponent was likely setting up a powerful defensive Synchro Monster to weather her attack, like Blackwing Armor Master.

Honestly, despite how tiring she found Qrow as a person, she was honored he was showing her respect by dueling her seriously. The general himself considered the former member of Team STRQ the third-strongest hunting duelist on Remnant. A match with him would be an excellent chance to see how far her skills had come, and if he showed her courtesy in that battle, she would gladly return it in kind.

"I summon Assault Blackwing - Kunai the Drizzle!"

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Assault Blackwing?" Weiss queried, a ninja bird warrior with five kunai in each hand appearing in front of the drunk in defense mode (ATK 2100/DEF 1600).

"Blackwings are the Branwen Tribe's usual archetype," Nora remarked, her eyes narrowed at the lanky drunk in suspicion as he special summoned Blackwing - Sharnga the Waning Moon in defense mode from his hand (ATK 500/DEF 500). "But none of the ones me and Ren dueled ever had an 'Assault Blackwing'."

"Hehehehe, foolish BFF and friends," Ruby evily snickered. "There is much more in Blackwings than is allowed in your philosophy."

"That's not the quote," Blake critiqued. "And are you going to explain–"

"For you see!" Ruby grandly declared. "Once upon a time, there were a pair of twins, heirs to a horrific legacy. Sent away to glorious Beacon, one did a stupid and went back to their tribe for some reason. But the other, always rejected by all but his sister for reasons he's always clammed up about, grew from his time away. And with the technology of the modern world, he evolved his legacy's normal Blackwings into the advanced, hi-tech Assault Blackwings!"

"So the only difference from regular Blackwings is the name?" Weiss clarified.

"Oh, BFF of little faith. Uncle Qrow's Assault Blackwings are awesome!" Ruby insisted to her friends, jittery with excitement. "Ooo, I can't wait to see them in action here in Amity! He's got all the tuners and non-tuners he needs. He's gonna bust out his ace Raikiri the Rain Shower! Ooo, or Chidori the Rain Sprinking! Or even his strongest monster, Onimaru the–"

"I lay one card facedown and end my turn," Qrow cockily declared.

Ruby fell flat on her face.

Black Whirlwind shattered into shards of dark aura, the glass fragments blown back into the older hunting duelist.

Qrow Branwen: 900 Life Points

"At the end of the turn, the Black Whirlwind that Simoon's effect brought out is sent to the graveyard," he explained. "And I take a thousand points of damage.

"What the heck?!" someone in the crowd demanded.

"You end your turn?! You took out most of your own life points and didn't even do anything!"

"How are you an ex-Vytal Festival champion, you drunk!"

"Why didn't you Synchro Summon?!" Ruby yelled, leaping to her feet and petulantly waving her arms at her relative. "Come on, Uncle Qrow! I want to see your monsters kick butt in front of the entire world!"

Jaune winced, his eyes shifting around as nearby students and a few sections of the audience noticed her outbursts. "Uh, Ruby? Might not be a good idea to tell the audience you're related to the guy they all hate."

"Well, Ice Queen?" Qrow taunted up on the dais. "It's your move."

Winter frowned at him from across the field. "You summoned five monsters, including tuners and non-tuners, and didn't Synchro Summon."

"Wow, I didn't know you'd been promoted to captain obvious."

"Why?"

"I told you, didn't I? I'm going easy on you, playing at your level," Qrow shrugged, fanning himself with the two cards left in his hand. "Admittedly, this might be too much for one of Ironwood's dolls."

Winter's nostrils flared with fury, his fists clenching at her sides.

Weiss scowled as the entire stadium booed Qrow. "Ruby, your uncle's a dick."

"Yup," Blake nodded.

"Big time," Nora concurred.

"Hundred percent," Jaune said.

"I find him to be highly disrespectful," Ren declared.

Ruby sighed. One day she was going to introduce a friend to Uncle Qrow on a day he wasn't drunk.

"Draw!" Winter yelled, ripping a card from atop her deck and slamming it onto her duel disk. "Since you control a monster, I can special summon Cyber Jormungandr from my hand, which in turn summons Cyber Dragon from my deck!"

A roiling steel serpent with red lights on its eyes and scales (ATK 1000/DEF 2100) coalesced into being around the Atlas Specialist. The creature opened its jaws and let out a computerized shriek, a second metal dragon called up to soar into the sky, its body bright, futuristic, and grand (ATK 2100/DEF 1600).

The crowd cheered at the arrival of the second dragon. Even if Cyber Dragon was the standard deck of the Atlesian Knights, The Kaiserin had taken the simple power deck and honed it to perfection through blood, sweat, and tears. Not just anyone could almost single-handedly win a Vytal Festival with such a deck. The monster was a symbol of Atlas's might, and she was the tip of the spear.

"See?" Qrow gestured to it. "You even use the same deck as the rest of the sentient garbage."

Winter's pearly white teeth looked like they were about to crush each other from how hard she was gnashing them together. Wordlessly, she smashed Cyber Dragon Herz's card onto her duel disk, the tiny infant machine sliding up beside her (ATK 100/DEF 100).

Ruby frowned as she overlooked the action, her silver eyes finding her uncle's back, strangely stable for one of his drunken stupors. Indeed, while his natural mockery could certainly get hurtful with people he didn't like, especially when he got into his cups, his words to Weiss's sister felt targeted. Precise. He wasn't just taunting her for the fun of it, he was deliberately trying to make her mad.

Why did he take Professor Port drinking the night before this match when he knew his old friend was a lightweight?

"I activate Machine Duplication! I target one monster on my field with five hundred or less attack points, and summon up to two more monsters from my deck with the same name! I target Cyber Dragon Herz!" Winter announced, only for two more regular Cyber Dragons (ATK 2100/DEF 1600) to shriek into the sky above her. "Did I mention that Cyber Dragon Herz's name counts as Cyber Dragon when it's on my field or in my graveyard?"

"Really? I had no idea," Qrow snarked. "Please enlighten me about more fascinating factoids. Like just how shiny is Ironwood's shiny metal ass–"

"Appear! My circuit of perfection!"

Winter's command conjured a square grid of blue light, Cyber Dragon Herz and one of the regular Cyber Dragons surging into crimson arrowheads on its sides.

"Confirming arrowheads! Middle left! Bottom Center!" the Atlas Specialist called out. "Link Summon! Link-2! Cyber Dragon Sieger!"

A new, sleeker Cyber Dragon burst forth from the link circuit, coiling into Winter's Extra Monster Zone. The new machine looked like a member of the newest summoning style, sleeker and more hi-tech than its kin, with a halo of blue hardlight projected around its head (ATK 2100).

"Then with Cyber Dragon Jormungandr and one of my two remaining regular Cyber Dragons, I build the Overlay Network!"

A white spiral galaxy blossomed beneath the Atlas duelist, her chosen monsters smoothly transforming into bright blue nodes of energy. Aside from Astral (and Penny's unique style), Ruby didn't think she'd ever seen someone transition their aura bodies through the Overlay Network with such elegance.

"Star of perfection! Infinite in distance and unbound by death! Offer up your life and fuel the machine of salvation and strength! Xyz Summon! Rank Five! Cyber Dragon Nova!"

The spiral galaxy erupted with a dazzling white supernova, a mechanical dragon larger than the others rising up from its depths. As it spread its wings, blazing red light lit up along its steel scales, fiery orange spikes forming a crown around its head as two red Overlay Units orbited around it (ATK 2100/DEF 1600).

"By using one Overlay Unit, Cyber Dragon Nova can summon a Cyber Dragon in my graveyard," Winter announced, slipping a spell from her hand into her duel disk. "I'll also activate Cyber Revsystem, allowing me to summon a Cyber Dragon from my hand or graveyard and make it indestructible by card effects."

Her Xyz Monster devoured one of its Overlay Units, its chest lighting up with the heat of a forge. It spewed a swamp of molten metal into a neighboring monster zone, a restored Cyber Dragon bursting out from the pool. Another of the base dragons soon soared up from the grave, bathed in protective blue light.

But the crowd paid the revived machines no heed. Seeing Cyber Dragon Nova had only brought one chant to their lips.

"Evo-lution! Evo-lution! Evo-lution!"

"Evolution! Evolution! Evolution!" Ruby joined in, she and Nora excitedly pumping their arms in the air along with most of the stadium.

"I thought you were rooting for your uncle?" Weiss asked.

"I am," Ruby said. "But I've never seen this technique up close before!"

"Fair. It is a rare sight," Weiss preened, smiling at her older sister with complete adoration. "As is a genius who can perform it so young."

"I rebuild the Overlay Network with Rank Five Cyber Dragon Nova!" Winter roared, another white galaxy swirling into existence, this time above her head. "Rank-Up Xyz Evolution!"

The fiery light along Cyber Dragon Nova's steel scales erupted with molten metal, the slag melting the mechanical wyvern's form. Its body compressed and reshaped itself, growing sleeker, fiercer, darker. The raging, ravenous machines soared up into the Overlay Network above, the galaxy's power crystalizing its ascension.

"Star of perfection lashed down to purgatory! Break your chains and soar into the cosmos beyond your cage! Leave it all behind and consume the boundless unknown! Rank Six!"

A monstrous mechanical shriek pierced the air of Amity, a new war machine streaking up to the limits of the colosseum's hardlight barrier. The dragon dove back down to roost before its mistress, slightly smaller than Cyber Dragon Nova, but sharper and far more aerodynamic. Its steel form was pitch-black, with veins of harsh red light lining the obsidian shell (ATK 2100/DEF 1600). The creature's engine thrummed with power as its two Overlay Units circled it, flickers of scarlet electricity crackling between them all (ATK 2500).

Winter let a fraction of Weiss's smugness slip through her icy demeanor, the jewel of the Kaiserin's crown finally making its grand return to the Vytal Festival it had conquered. "Cyber Dragon Infinity!"

The crowd went wild. Ruby was not ashamed to admit she did too.

"That is so cool!" she screeched.

"It is, isn't it?" Weiss beamed, looking like she would break into a happy dance if they weren't on worldwide CCT.

Still, for once, she had good reason to be smug. Only a sparse handful of duelists on Remnant were capable of performing Rank-Up Xyz Evolution, and most of them trained for decades to make even the slightest progress. Getting an aura body to move through the Overlay Network alone was nearly impossible, but to do it when the monster involved already had the complexity of a rank instead of a level? Pushing things even further to bring out a whole new monster required ludicrously precise technique.

And Winter Schnee, only six years older than her sister, could make it look easy. No one in their right mind wouldn't be impressed.

"Wow," Qrow remarked, absentmindedly scratching his patchy five-o'clock shadow. "I don't know how you did it, Ice Queen, but you found a way to make those toy lizards of Jimmy's even uglier. Kudos."

At this point, Ruby had learned to expect the boos. The crowd did not disappoint. Blake and Pyrrha had to hold a livid Weiss back from stamping up to the dais and trying to smash through the hardlight barrier to tear the drunk apart limb from limb.

Cyber Dragon Infinity blew literally steam out of its nostrils. Winter didn't look too different from her monster, trembling with barely constrained fury.

"Cyber Dragon Infinity gains two hundred attack points for each Overlay Unit it has. And once per turn, it can turn any attack position monster on the field into an Overlay Unit," the Kaiserin growled. "Infinite Strident Absorption."

Cyber Dragon Infinity spread its wings wide, scarlet lightning erupting forth and crashing into Simoon the Poison Wind. The avian warrior squawked in agony as it was morphed into a red energy node and sucked back to Infinity to orbit with its new companions (ATK 2700).

"I don't know why you thought sucking up one of my monsters would make it look better," Qrow chuckled. "I mean, have you seen me?"

"Can you not take this seriously for five seconds?!" Winter finally snapped.

Qrow burped, the alcohol so thick on his breath it was practically visible in the air. "Why? You see an opponent I'd need to take seriously?"

Winter recoiled as if she'd been slapped. If Ruby hadn't had so much experience with Weiss since Beacon started, she would have missed the split-second flicker of hurt that flashed over her older sister's face.

But it was only a split-second, far too quick for the crowd to have seen as they intensified their lambasting of Qrow.

All they saw was The Kaiserin's icy glare amplified colder than ever, her gloved hands curled into fists at her sides. "Battle. Infinity Evolution Burst."

Cyber Dragon Infinity opened its jaws, scarlet solar energy spewing across the field for Blackwing - Auster The South Wind.

"Trap card open," Qrow leisurely responded, his sole facedown flipping up to show two rods of metal strapped together in some semblance of a cross shape. "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow."

Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight of his trap.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIHOYUGIOH

Despite her uncle acting like an enormous jerk even for one of his benders, Yang couldn't help but smile at the sight of his trap card. The ramshackle iron cross manifested in front of Cyber Dragon Infinity's blast, the beaten-up helmet topping the post staring down the futuristic attack without blinking.

"Scrap-Iron Scarecrow?" Kali quizzically remarked, munching on a takoyaki ball. "I wouldn't have expected a veteran huntsman to play a common trap like that."

Yang nervously chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe it's got sentimental value to him?"

It did. Scrap-Iron Scarecrow was as basic a trap card as there was, negating one attack a turn with the added bonus setting itself facedown again instead of going to the graveyard. Most kids on Remnant had at least one or two of them, but most changed them out for more destructive or specific traps as they got older.

Save one Summer Rose, who had to build her deck out of cards other people threw away before she started at Beacon. And in turn gladly gifted her extra copies of Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to her teammates. Dad had stopped playing with it after her death, finding it too painful to use without her.

But as far as Yang knew, Uncle Qrow had never taken it out of his deck.

Not that such sentimentality would help now.

"I activate Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect!" Winter barked, one of the orbiting scarlet spheres flying into her ace and making its veins surge with electricity (ATK 2500). "Once per turn, it can use one Overlay Unit to negate the activation of your card or effect and destroy it!"

Cyber Dragon Infinity spread its wings and a surge of red lightning cascaded across the field, slamming into Scrap-Iron Scarecrow and obliterating the trap. Leaving the mechanical menace's original attack to continue unabated toward Auster The South Wind.

Yang paled, the math instantly computing in her head. Cyber Dragon Infinity had twenty-five hundred attack points. Qrow's Blackwing only had thirteen hundred, and, because of his reckless string of effect damage to himself, he only had nine hundred life points left. If Infinity Evolution Burst landed, the duel was over.

And land it did, Auster The South Wind blown to smithereens by the scarlet blast. The stream of energy continued onwards, heading straight for Qrow to wipe out his life points and shatter his aura.

"Kuri!"

Only for a minuscule brown puffball to suddenly appear in front of the drunken duelist. The tiny fiend opened its mouth impossibly wide, sucking the incoming blast inside itself. When the attack was fully consumed, the brave furry creature had just enough time to pose defiantly before its aura body explored.

Once again, Yang couldn't help but smirk, watching her uncle discard one of the two cards left in his hand into Harbinger's graveyard slot.

"What the heck was that?!" a bystander shouted.

"How'd you slip your way out of that, you stupid drunk!?"

"The asshole's too sloshed to see straight! He must've done that by accident."

"I've got money on The Kaiserin winning in round one! Don't you dare make me lost my bet, you jerk!"

The crowd's familiar condemnations made Yang pull her hood over her head to hide her brief smile for her uncle's oldest friend. Meanwhile, The Ice Queen's older sister looked even more livid that the old man refused to stop egging her on and just lose already.

Qrow smirked at her. "When your monster attacks, during damage calculation, I send Kuriboh from my hand to the grave to make the battle damage zero–"

"I know what Kuriboh does!" Winter snapped, her patience with her opponent's disrespect long since worn out. "And it can't save you twice! Cyber Dragon Sieger! Attack Assault Blackwing - Kunai the Drizzle!"

The link Cyber Dragon opened up its futuristic jaws, sapphire energy building into a blinding laser.

"Kaiserin!" some of the crowd started to chant. "Kai-ser-in! Kai-ser-in!"

"Kai-ser-in! Kai-ser-in! KAI-SER-IN!"

"It's over," Yang gulped.

Qrow's remaining three monsters were all in defense mode, but Winter had four more powerful monsters ready to attack and none of the Blackwings' effects could stop them. Three of the Cyber Dragons would destroy the three Winged-Beasts, leaving the last to attack the drunkard directly. He had no more facedown cards, and his opponent was entirely correct. Kuriboh couldn't save him twice.

"Blitzkrieg Evolution Burst!"

Cyber Dragon Sieger's laser spewed forth from its maw, racing to slice Kunai the Drizzle and his antiquated weapons in two.

THRUM!

Yang smashed her palms over her ears, Kali doing the same with both pairs of hers as a sonic boom suddenly crashed through the stadium. Wails of pain screeched out from the audience, the hardlight barrier only able to buffet so much of the auditory assault.

Inside the barrier, a dark cyclone had suddenly materialized around the three Blackwings on the field, the winds racing like the entire night sky had been transformed into a hurricane. Cyber Dragon Sieger's attack was sucked into the obsidian abyss, only lightning allowed to provide the slightest glimpse of haunted horror within.

A haunted horror with Qrow's sharp smirk as its spear tip.

"At the risk of sounding cliche," he mockingly droned. "You just activated my trap card."

"What?!" Winter squawked. "You don't have trap cards–"

The storm's thunder drowned out the rest of the Kaiserin's protest. The booming black hurricane suddenly expanded outward, swallowing Winter's side of the field in its furious gale. The tempest's racing winds cut through the steel wyverns, all three Cyber Dragons, Cyber Dragon Sieger, and even Cyber Dragon Infinity shrieking in agony as they were torn apart.

When the storm finally faded, the ears of everyone in the stadium were still ringing.

And Winter Schnee's field was empty.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"What… how…" Winter stammered, staring at her barren field in dumbfounded shock. "How did you…"

"Hm? How did I do that?" Qrow finished for her, back to scratching his stubble like she wasn't worth his time. "Like I said, you activated my trap card."

"You didn't have any trap cards!" Winter protested. "You didn't have any cards facedown!"

"But I did have one left in my hand," Qrow revealed, pulling the offending card from his duel disk and waving it at her with a dismissive yawn. "Black Sonic. A personal number of mine. Basically, it's Mirror Force on steroids. You attack a Blackwing, it banishes all attack position monsters you control.

A classic example of increasing a card's power by adding restrictions in the forging process, in this case limiting it to a single archetype. Still…

"But… you didn't have it facedown," Winter argued. "It's still a trap card, isn't it?"

Qrow shrugged. "When I have exactly three Blackwings on the field and no other monsters, I can activate it from the hand."

Winter's eyes widened. "Exactly… three…"

Everything clicked so cleanly into place. It'd been a trap from the beginning. He knew she'd bring out Cyber Dragon Infinity, it was her iconic ace monster. He knew she'd use its absorption effect to suck up one of his monsters and have its negate as protection. So he kept from Synchro Summoning to have as many monsters as possible, counting on her stealing one and destroying another, having Scrap-Iron Scarecrow bluff out the negate and Kuriboh protect his life points. The life points he made such an irresistible target by knocking them so low and having no facedowns left to protect them.

"You played me like a fiddle," Winter murmured.

"Nope," Qrow waved off, taking out his flask and fiddling with the cap. "Fiddles take skill. You're just like the rest of Ironwood's dolls. Push the right buttons and you march right into place. Just like daddy designed you."

… daddy?

How dare he!?

He had barged his way into one of the most sacrosanct events on Remnant, disrespected her and their duel, and insulted the general! Her teacher! The man who'd trained her and helped her leave the curse of being a Schnee behind! The man who'd allowed her to become a hunting duelist who could actually do some damn good in the world! She didn't know what petty whim was driving this drunk, but she'd refused to let her mother degrade her when she was in her cups. She would not let this oaf humiliate her, her teacher, her comrades, and every student who'd come to participate in the Vytal Festival with honor! Including her sister!

Her emotions blazed out of control and she slammed the find card in her hand into her duel disk.

"I activate my Quick-Play Spell!" Winter roared.

A white mechanical core crackled into existence in front of the Atlas Specialist, only to begin spinning through the air. Electricity crackled over its steel surface, a blinding glow conjured up by its rotation as a vortex of lightning was conjured. Even from banishment, her three Cyber Dragons were sucked in, whirling around the center before coalescing as one.

The core blazed like a perfect white star, its light casting the shadow of an enormous three-headed mechanical dragon over the field. All around, the audience members not still disoriented from Black Sonic looked on the new monster with wonder.

Meanwhile, Qrow, his eyes suddenly clear of the boorish drunkenness he'd displayed since his arrival, merely stared up at the approaching monster with resigned irritation. Like he'd expected its appearance, but he was still infuriated to have been right.

"Schnee! Stop!"

Winter's eyes widened as the general's panicked voice crashed through her earpiece, tearing through her rampaging rage and snapping her back to reality. The monster she was about to summon would end the duel in her favor, but it was not meant to be known to the public! She'd thought she'd taken the copies of the spell and Power Bond out of her deck for a reason!

There was only one think she could do.

She cut off all her aura, the three-headed mechanical monster and the vortex conjuring it vanishing in an instant. Without delay, she pressed her palm down on the top of her deck.

"I surrender," she declared.

Winter Schnee: 0 Life Points (Surrender)

Winner: Qrow Branwen

"Huh?" Dr. Oobleck muttered, clearly confounded at what had just happened as the hardlight dust barrier shattered. "I… um… I guess we have a winner! Ladies and gentlemen! Put your hands together for the winner of this year's Vytal Festival exhibition duel - Qrow Branwen!"

The boos were deafening.

"What the heck was that?!"

"You surrendered!? What was that big hubbub quick-play spell about?"

"You've been paid off to throw the duel, haven't you? Trust a Schnee to be crooked."

"Some Kaiserin! The stupid drunk dueled circles around you!"

"Do you have any idea how much money you two cost me!? Thieving Branwen scum!"

Winter lowered her head, gritting her teeth with every accusation. No matter how hard she'd worked, no matter how much she respected her opponents and dueling, one slip, one move that was less than perfection, and the family name she sought to leave behind branded back upon her. The mobs of Remnant were ever so fickle.

It was her own fault. She'd known all that already. She was the huntress, the guardian. Perfection was what she signed up to be, and because of her unruly emotions, she'd slipped from that standard.

Unlike some others, she didn't have the luxury of rummaging about in the muck beneath it.

"Yeah, yeah, you all lost money. I hear you," Qrow cackled at the crowd, flashing an obscene gesture with his finger as he took another drink from his flask. "Teach you not to gamble–"

"Uncle Qrow!"

A short gremlin of a girl leapt onto the drunkard's arm in a blur of rose petals, silver eyes shining with adoration. Weiss's team leader Ruby Rose, if Winter remembered correctly from the dossiers on the mysterious four dragons. "Hi! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?"

Qrow's entire being transformed so drastically and so instantly that Winter could not have believed it if she hadn't witnessed it in real-time. His cocky smirk was swallowed by a beaming smile of adoration. His balance, off-kilter and inhibited since his arrival, planted itself like a great oak, sturdy enough that it would never let the child it held fall.

"Nope," he replied to the young girl, playful and spirited instead of dismissive as he'd been to Winter before.

Ruby laughed. "You made a trap card that can activate from the hand! A Mirror Force on steroids that can activate from the hand! How? How? You've got to tell me how!"

"Qrow!"

Only those on the dueling dais were at the right angle to look into the entrance hall and see Ozpin staring at them from deep in the colosseum hallways behind Winter. The headmaster of Beacon was famously cool-headed, never being openly angry and rarely letting even a hint of distress cross his face. But he did appear much more stern than usual. The Kaiserin knew that General Ironwood would be just as displeased.

Qrow leaned into Ruby with a conspiratorial wink. "I think I'm in trouble."

"I mean, you did kind of barrel in here drunk," Ruby nervously shrugged. "Kind of a big event."

"Yeah, I did. Don't worry, everyone will forget all about it when you whoop the competition's butt," Qrow chuckled. He ruffled the girl's hair and gave her a friendly fistbump. "Catch you later, kid."

The moment he stepped away from Ruby, all the warmth vanished. Like a switch was flipped, his gait became ramshackle once more, like a Scrap-Iron Scarecrow swaying in the wind as he strode towards Winter.

"Catch you later, Ice Queen," he taunted her one last time, shooting a boorish mock salute as he passed her. "I'll let Ironwood know you get full marks for what he's looking for."

Winter seethed as he sauntered off, leaving her to deal with the shame burning within her as the crowd continued their bombardment of blame.

Fury boiled within her at the insufferable rogue, anger of a more personal breed than she cared to admit. She saw the glimpse of a true hunting duelist under the wretched surface when he interacted with his niece. Why did he insist on behaving so much less than he was? He must have sought to leave behind his upbringing in the Branwen Tribe as much as she did with the Schnee name. If he was so strong, why did he not parley that strength into being the perfect respectful guardian she hungered to embody?

Regardless, there was nothing more she could do here. The general would want to debrief her on this debacle, especially after she'd gone against orders and used a card he'd told her to take out of her deck. She'd thought she had… wait. Where was it?

Winter looked down at her duel disk, her eyes wide as the Quick-Play spell card no longer occupied the slot she'd placed it in during her lashing out. Where could it have… gone…

Qrow, who'd been raised as a thief and bandit of the Branwen Tribe, had mockingly saluted her with one hand as he'd passed, drawing her attention to his head.

What had the other hand been doing below her sight line?

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Blake?" Weiss whispered, holding in her rage for the crowd that dared accuse her sister of purposefully throwing a duel. "That thing she conjured with her last spell. Was that what I think it was?"

The cat faunus nodded. "It was a fusion vortex. More advanced than most I've seen, but no doubt about it."

"Atlas has fusion?" Jaune murmured, Nora crying into Ren's arms about all the money they'd lost thanks to Qrow's interference. "Since when? Are they being supplied by that scorpion faunus guy too? Or does the scorpion faunus guy work for them?"

"That makes no sense. General Ironwood's no friend of the White Fang, and the Kaiserin is one of his closest lieutenants," Pyrrha pointed out. "Maybe Professor Ozpin gave it to them for study? Ruby said he used Fusion in his duel with Mr. Xiao-Long."

"Why all this hubbub about keeping it secret from the public then?" Blake questioned. "Fusion's just a summoning style like any other. If Xyz, Synchro, Pendulum, Link, and Ritual are fine for everyone in the world to know about and develop, why is Fusion so different? Why is Ozpin so desperate to keep it from evolving?"

Weiss's brow furrowed, a different mystery on her mind. "That dragon that Winter was trying to summon… it had three heads."

"I think so? She stopped right in the middle of summoning it, so it might not have finished forming," Jaune pointed out. "Why?"

"I don't know," Weiss confessed. "I just… a dragon with three heads, in that shape… I feel like I've seen it before. Or something like it. I just can't remember where."

"That Slifer Slacker is the Branwen drunk's niece?!" someone in the audience shouted.

"It's a conspiracy! The Kaiserin is out to keep her sister down with an inferior leader!"

"Get out of here, you bandit bitch weakling!"

Weiss's pondering evaporated into a weary groan as the audience hurled abuse down at the only person left on the dueling dais.

Ruby first nervously waved at the audience, trying to play it off. But as the insults continued and many students from the other schools started to echo them, the honor of their Vytal Festival having been sullied by Qrow's display, the leader of Team RWBY seemed to freeze, withdrawing into her red hood. At least, until she had to use fancy footwork to dodge the concessions chucked her way by angry gamblers.

"That dolt," Weiss groaned. "She shouldn't have announced he was her uncle."

The people who bet on Winter lost their money. The people who bet on Professor Port lost their money. Qrow Branwen's little stunt had been bad luck for thousands across Remnant, including Nora, Ren, and their efforts to get Weiss financial security. And every student who was excited to compete in the biggest tournament on Remnant, potentially their first or their last chance to establish themselves on the world stage, just had their eyes spit in by the same mockery.

"All teams, please file out. Team members, get to your seats. Team leaders, head to your assigned locker rooms and prepare for combat!" Dr. Oobleck announced, hurrying Ruby away from lobbed popcorn. "The Leader Royale starts in thirty minutes!"

And Ruby would have the biggest target in the world on her back.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

The second Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow arrived in Ozpin's office, Ironwood erupted.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he barked at Qrow. "If you were one of my men, I'd have you shot for a stunt like that."

Qrow responded with a burp, already pulling his flask for another swig. "If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself."

"You just upended one of the most important events on Remnant on live CCT," Glynda glared at the drunk huntsman.

"While drunk!" James added.

Glynda shrugged at that point. "He's always drunk."

Ozpin rubbed his forehead as he took a seat at his desk. "Qrow, why are you here?"

"You've been out of contact for weeks," Ironwood said. "You can't just go dark like that in the field–"

"I'm not one of your specialists, Jimmy," Qrow spat back, closing his flask and stowing it away on his hip. The drunk, however much of the persona was real and how much was exaggeration back at Amity, was put away with it. The hunting duelist who'd kept pace with his Signer teammates was fully present. "You sent me to get intel on our enemy. And I'm telling you, our enemy is here."

"The Queen has pawns," Ironwood rolled his eyes. "You told us."

"Not just pawns. They're the ones responsible for Amber's condition," Qrow warned. "And if the White Fang cells I've raided are right, that means the one who has half of the Fall Maiden's power and Hermos is duelist strong enough to keep The Blood-Soaked Bull in line."

"That still doesn't explain why you decided to crash the exhibition duel," Ironwood pointed out. "You went out of your way to egg on and humiliate Winter in front of the entire world. You can't just do whatever you want like a loose cannon–"

"And what about you, Jimmy?"

Qrow reached into his jacket and slammed down a tall stack of cards, vacuum-sealed in Atlas Military wrap, the kingdom's insignia printed at the top, unbroken.

The cards inside were all copies of the same Quick-Play spell: Cyberload Fusion.

"Like I said, I raided some White Fang cells around these parts while I was looking for intel. Figured while I was there, I should get back the card shipments they stole from you when they raided those Paladin duel runner convoys a few months back," Qrow explained. "Imagine my surprise when those shipments were full of never-before-seen fusion spells for your sentient garbages' decks."

Ironwood engaged Mettle immediately, using its focus to keep any fear from peeking through his face. He could not let all his work be ruined like this.

"We already know the White Fang has been researching Fusion. Cyber Dragons are faster than the Beast power decks they've been using. They're becoming more dangerous," he said. "It is concerning that they've gotten their hands on official Atlas seals though."

"Right. That's what I was thinking," Qrow snarked, reaching into his jacket and pulling a single card. He tossed it onto the table, revealing it to be another Cyberload Fusion. "Which is why I slipped that into the Ice Queen's deck, even made sure it'd end up in her starting hand. Funny, she didn't seem surprised to read that it 'Fusion Summons' a monster."

Ozpin groaned, massaging his forehead in annoyance.

"The White Fang is actively using Fusion," Ironwood argued. "I've told a few of my top people about its existence so they wouldn't be blindsided in a duel–"

"You think I needled her like a pincushion for fun? I did it to get her to use the spell if she could! And surprising no one, she had a three-headed tin can in her Extra Deck ready to go! " Qrow shouted, all patience for playing coy lost. "So did you think you were being discreet with your little pet project, James? Or did you just not give a damn?!"

Glynda glared at him. In hindsight, with how thoroughly Qrow had gathered evidence through his machinations surrounding his duel with Winter, trying to cover the whole thing up was just making him look worse. Which meant the program's only hope was to make it look as good as it was, all cards on the table.

Ironwood sighed. He took out his scroll and placed it atop Ozpin's desk, connecting with the office's CCT tower link to project what he needed into the middle of the room.

Fusion spells and monsters flashed into the room. Penny's Cynet Fusion and Cyberse Clock Dragon, even the A.I. Love Fusion she'd been crafting since meeting Ms. Rose. Winter's Power Bond and the Cyber Dragon and Chimeratech monsters she'd been working on. Pietro's triumphs for the rank and file in Cyberload Fusion, Overload Fusion, and so many others. Even the general's personal creation, Rapid Trigger, was present.

"We all know what The Queen is capable of. Link Monsters can help turn the tide, even the playing field," Ironwood said. "But when the stakes are all of Remnant, evening the playing field just isn't enough–"

"Don't give us a sales pitch. These aren't Atlesian Knights and we're not buying it," Qrow spat. "Ozpin brought you into this. And one of his big rules is no developing fusion cards!"

"Why?" Ironwood demanded. He turned to Ozpin, who'd remained sitting stony at his desk without a word. Like a smart tactician, he'd let Qrow go on the attack while he'd hung back and watched for weaknesses. "You've always said we can't let Fusion develop, but never why? It's just another summoning style, no different from the others, only untapped. You even use it when you have to. So why keep it hidden?"

Ozpin said nothing for a moment. He took a deep breath. The legendary headmaster did not get visibly upset. He didn't show anger or get shaken. Yet, if he had to take time to gather himself, his fury must have been boiling underneath his facade.

"She does not spread Fusion to groups like The White Fang because she believes they will defeat us. She spreads them in hopes that one of them, any of them, might discover the piece she is missing to get what she wants," the older man said. "She seeks the God Cards in the vaults for that same reason, as well as extracting their magic for her ultimate creation."

"That doesn't explain anything!" Ironwood barked. "She's had centuries to research Fusion! What could the White Fang or us or any random criminal group possibly provide that she hasn't already found?"

"The missing piece," Ozpin mused. "The missing piece to forge the ultimate Fusion Card. The Card of the King."

"Card of the King?" Ironwood queried. "You've never mentioned that before."

"He doesn't need to," Qrow backed up his mentor, as he always did. "He told us to stop fusion because there was a big threat. So we do. That's how we do good in the world. We don't need to know exactly what doomsday card she's trying to forge to stop her. We've got to follow the plan."

"A plan we don't know?" Ironwood argued.

"Enough! Both of you!" Glynda shouted, her glare cowing the pair. "Amber's condition grows worse by the day. She won't last long past the festival's end. If she dies before we find a replacement candidate to take in… to take in her aura from the transfer, then this pawn of The Queen will win by doing absolutely nothing."

"Quite, right, Glynda," Ozpin nodded. "For now, we focus on finding our guardian. I believe I have settled on the candidate. We can make our overture tomorrow. Until then, we keep the festival safe. And James?"

"Yes?"

"All this?" Ozpin pointed at the holographic cards still hanging in the air. "Destroy it. All the research, the designs, even the cards. All of it."

Ironwood ground his teeth together, but it was plain he would not be able to convince his friends to see sense. Ozpin kept too many secrets and without knowing them, he could not make an effective argument against the old man's passivity and Qrow's loyalty.

He could not forfeit all the work he'd done, all the effort his subordinates had put into this research. He would hold out on following Ozpin's command as long as possible and come up with another argument for the value of weaponizing Fusion for themselves. They could not sacrifice such a weapon!

And if this Card of The King was really the "Ultimate Fusion Card", wouldn't it be better to take it into their own hands than wait around for The Queen to stumble upon the piece she needed to make it?

He retrieved his scroll from Ozpin's desk, his transparent strivings fading away.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

As she pulled her duel disk from her locker and fixed it upon the arm of her Obelisk Blue Haven uniform, Cinder idly noted an alert chirp from her scroll. Furtively scanning to make sure she wasn't being watched by the other team leaders in the room (only Coco Adel had her eyes on her, and she eventually left to enter the arena), she opened it up to find The Black Queen Virus had acquired a new access point, a new device connected to Beacon Tower's CCT. There had been a fair few since The Vytal Festival began, mostly useless drivel from visiting civilians trying to get a better signal than their wireless alone. Scrolling past the alerts had grown tiresome.

This one, however? This one had potential.

She gave the data a quick glance over, not having the time to examine it in detail at the moment. Most of it was data on Fusion and Link Monsters designs. Likely of interest to Watts, but she'd known Ironwood was researching Fusion behind Ozpin's back since Penny Polendina had used it against Torchwick at the docks. It was old news, and not particularly useful.

Though, speaking of Ms. Polendina…

If anyone ever asked her about it, Cinder would deny how her eyes had widened as she glimpsed the schematic of a mechanical body with the exact appearance of the entirely too peppy redhead. Notes about the prosthetic form's ability to amplify an Ignis's aura generation to impressive levels rivaling any human. An Ignis.

She knew the basics of The Lost Incident, of Watts's failure and exile that had driven him from Atlas. She knew what the arrogant doctor had tried to create. She couldn't wait to show this to him, to rub into his face that his rivals had accomplished what he'd failed so many years to materialize.

It also got the stirrings of an idea going in her mind. After all, the Black Queen Virus, though it had failed to locate Amber, had given her access to the personal files Beacon kept on their staff and students. Including the voluntarily disclosed semblances.

Including Pyrrha Nikos's polarity.

Cinder smirked as she stowed the scroll away, already making plans to send Watts the data later (perhaps Atlas had found the missing piece to let The Queen forge The Card of The King before Cinder even collected the four maidens' powers?). She glanced around the locker room, including where Ruby Rose hid from many angry team leaders' glares behind her blond monkey faunus friend from Haven. She spotted Aoi Zaizen collecting her duel disk, her far too cheery, secretly android, friend present to provide a wish of good luck. Nikos's team leader (the name escaped her… John? Jack? Whatever) was nowhere to be seen, but so long as he survived the Leader Royale and got The Invincible Girl to the next round, he'd be sufficient.

But the scenario developing in her mind would be a climax. It would require a prelude to properly set the scene, get the audience riled up to be properly shattered by the final tragedy. And given Nikos and the tin can's statures as The Invincible Girl and The Second Coming of The Kaiserin, the opening act couldn't be complete unknowns.

Such as the team of The Heroes of The Breach.

Cinder's sly smile stretched wide. How ironic. After foiling her last careful plan, Team RWBY would be the key to her new plot's triumph.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"It's been a while since you were so nervous before a duel."

"Can you blame me?" Jaune asked Astral, groaning as he rose from the toilet and wiped the lingering vomit from his lips. "I don't get through the Leader Royale, the team doesn't move forward. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora are all counting on me. And if I'm not going to let them down, I've got to take on the strongest team leaders the academies have to offer. In front of the entire world!"

"There are alternatives to fighting in a battle royale," Astral advised. "But I sense that your distress is not merely for the match. You've been troubled since Ruby's birthday, throwing yourself into your duties to prepare for the festival. Is finding out that Pyrrha has romantic feelings for you so distressing–"

"Nope! Not that!" Jaune deflected, getting out of the bathroom stall and turning the sink up to max, drowning out his spirit partner's words with the sound of rushing water. "Not thinking about that–"

"I hope you show me that you're ready to move with the times, son."

"Y–yes, sir."

"Speak clearly when you respond to someone."

"Yes, sir!"

Jaune cocked an eyebrow. "Cardin?"

He'd never heard his former bully sound so skittish. When he tiptoed to the bathroom entrance and peeked out into the hall, he spotted the bigger boy with his head bowed before an older man with the beginnings of a potbelly. Same body type and face, just with three decades more time staining it. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was Cardin's dad.

"Good lad!" Winchester Sr. barked. "I expect to see Number 69. You have learned how to summon it, right?"

"Well… uh…" Cardin murmured.

"What did I say about being clear?!"

"Right! Sorry, sir!" Cardin snapped to attention. "I have managed to summon a Number in the past, sir. I'm still struggling with two in one duel."

"With Heraldry Crest, you only need one," Winchester Sr. laughed, slapping his son on the shoulder in a way that seemed to be intended as reassuring. "Glad you finally got your head on straight and ditched those tribute summon fossils for a real deck. The Heraldic Beasts let us Winchesters build our Number collection. Any true son of the family can use them to take victory like a man."

Cardin gulped. "Right. Of course, sir."

Winchester Sr. playfully punched his son's muscular arm and went on his way. "Looking forward to watching you crush the competition, son! Provide for your own and lead your team to the finals!"

Cardin waved to his dad as the man left. But as soon as he was gone, the redheaded boy started shivering, breathing hard as he clutched his hands together. "Calm down, Cardin. Calm your fucking tits and grow a pair! He's right. Your boys are counting on you. They're counting on you to show your strength and win. So win. Win and he won't care how you do it. He won't care what you can't do. Just win… against Adel… Altan… and Rose… and Fall… you can do it. They're chumps compared to you. Chumps!"

Astral tilted his head to the side. "I don't recall Cardin ever playing a Heraldry Beast card, let alone a whole deck of them. Do you?"

Jaune shook his head. "Just Battleguards–"

"Hey! What're you looking at, Arc?!"

Cardin stomped toward Jaune's head peeking out of the bathroom, no longer seeming as fragile as he did in his father's presence.

"Oh. Hey, Cardin. Happy Vytal Festival," Jaune meekly waved. "Did… you need to use the bathroom too?"

The towering redhead scowled. "Happy Vytal Festival. The day's finally here for us to finish what we started."

"That duel back from our first semester?" Jaune nervously chuckled. "Come on, that was ages ago. Can't we leave it in the past–"

"Use. Your. Number," Cardin quietly demanded. "No holding back like you did against Black in your promotion exam. No losing to some other nobody before I get to you. We're going to duel, one-on-one, and you're going to be at your best when I crush you."

"I mean, it's a battle royale, no guarantee we get to duel one-on-one–"

"Your best, Arc. Come at me with your strongest weapon," Carden growled. "Also, get out of the way, I do actually have to use the bathroom."

"Oh! Sorry," Jaune said, hurrying to clear a path as his bully turned self-proclaimed rival rushed inside and beelined for the stalls.

"It seems you're not the only one who's nervous," Astral remarked. "Though he will be sorely disappointed if he expects to face Utopia."

"Tell me about it," Jaune groaned.

With Astral in the pilot seat, summoning Utopia was easy as pie. For Jaune himself? While he could confidently say he could Xyz Summon his Gagaga Xyz Monsters as many times as needed during a duel, they were designed to be as easy to summon as Xyz Monsters could be. Numbers were much harder. And Utopia in particular seemed to be more complicated to call out than its seemingly simple structure belied.

In short, if Jaune was to duel with his own strength, Number 39 would not be making any appearances on the world stage.

He made his way to the locker room, collecting his duel disk before meeting up with Ruby and Sun. Or, as the former was claiming under her stolen fake mustache, 'foreign exchange student' and Sun.

"Everyone still mad at her?" Jaune asked the monkey faunus.

Sun nodded. "Her uncle really turned everyone against her."

"Who is this 'uncle', you speak of? I, foreign exchange student, have no uncle."

Jaune sighed. "Might work better if you picked a name for 'foreign exchange student'. Or at least a specific kingdom they're from."

He turned to step away, only to find himself facing a dark-skinned woman with golden blonde hair. Her Obelisk Blue Haven uniform was unzipped, revealing a wrapped chest and a mess of scars along a sculpted six-pack of abs. Her olive green eyes stared at Jaune, drilling into him with all the presence of an ancient forest.

"Uh," Jaune droned, unsure how to respond as the girl unflinchingly stared at him. "... hi?"

Sun waved at the girl. "Hey, Arslan."

"Wukong," the girl nodded, only deviating from looking at Jaune for as long as was polite before returning. "You are Jaune Arc, correct? Pyrrha Nikos's, partner and team leader?"

"Uh, yeah," Jaune replied. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Don't lose," Arslan said. "I have waited too long to duel The Invincible Girl again. If I fail because of my own mistakes, I can live with that. I simply need to hone my skills further. But I will not be pleased if I am denied my rematch because you are not up to the task of leading a warrior such as her."

"Heheh," Jaune chuckled. When Arslan left, the blonde boy pressed his back against a locker and sighed. "You and me both."

"Who was that lady?" Ruby inquired.

"Arlsan Altan. Golden Lion of Haven. She's pretty intense, but nice once you get to know her," Sun explained. "She's a killer duelist though. Swordsoul Tenyi is nasty to duel."

"Swordsoul Tenyi? Sweet! I've always wanted to duel someone with that deck," Ruby smiled. Her brow furrowed and she stroked her fake mustache in contemplation. "Hmmm, I don't suppose you've got intel on anyone else in the tournament? A good team leader should get information on their opponents in advance."

"Then I must be a great team leader, because I've got intel on all the heavy hitters in this shindig!" Sun grinned, flashing them both thumbs-up. "And totally not because Scarlet wouldn't get off my back about it! This was me and Neptune at our Junior Detectives best!"

Jaune laughed. "How reassuring."

"Tell us about all the awesome duelists!" Ruby squeed, her efforts to stuff herself in a locker to hide wiped away.

"Will do!" Sun cheered. "Okay, so first, we've got the favorites to take the whole thing, Coco Adel of Team CFVY and Arslan Altan of Team ABRN!"

"Know her and just met her."

"Right, right," Sun chuckled, rubbing his banana hair in embarrassment. "Guess you don't want to hear about Cinder either?"

Ruby's excitement dimmed back down, glancing away nervously. "I mean… I made sure I have the effect damage protection to handle her. Hopefully. Do you have any details on her Red-Eyes deck?"

"Not much honestly. All the rumors are focused around her duel with you, and her and Arslan being the strongest Haven first-years. And some Raptor guy, who's got a Red-Eyes too, wants to duel her to see who the 'real Red-Eyes master' is. No one thinks it's him," Sun shrugged. "But from Shade, I heard that Brawni Ni of Team BRNZ and Nebula Violette of Team NDGO are the ones to watch out for. They're skilled, and not afraid to take advantage when they see weakness. Classic Vacuo."

"Ooo!" Ruby perked back up. "What are they playing?"

"Brawni is running Battlin' Boxers like Mercury," Sun explained. "Nebula's deck is something called Dragunity I think?"

"Awesome!" Ruby clapped. "It's a Synchro archetype that specializes in equipping monsters to each other. Some say it's an offshoot of what would eventually become Pendulum."

Jaune's brow furrowed. "What about Cardin?"

Sun quirked his head to the side. "Who?"

"Cardin. Cardin Winchester."

"Oh! Right. The Winchester kid with the Battleguards," Sun nodded. "I mean... Battleguards? Sorry. I focused my research on the favorites and upper-ranked teams. That guy's pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to Beacon. I'm honestly surprised his team even qualified for the tournament."

"You have heard any rumors about what he's playing now?" Jaune inquired. "Any Numbers?"

"Maybe? The Winchester family is pretty famous for having the biggest Number collection in Vale. But that doesn't mean he can summon them," Sun pointed out. "Why so interested in that guy?"

"He used to bully Jaune. Then they got into a secret after-hours duel they never finished," Ruby explained. "Cardin's wanted to duel him in the Vytal Festival ever since, finish their rivalry on the world stage."

"Cool!" Sun cheered, giving Jaune a playful punch to the arm. "You got this, dude! Kick his butt!"

"Hehe, sure," Jaune grimaced.

Astral was in the driver's seat for most of the previous duel with Cardin, running circles around him with Utopia. Every other time Jaune had faced his former bully in a class match, he'd gotten trounced. He'd grown since then. But if the snippets he'd overheard were true, so had his self-proclaimed rival.

And if Cardin really had learned to summon a Number, the gap he'd put between him and Jaune was not one the leader of Team JNPR wanted to try closing in front of the entire world.

"Now then, next up, we got Atlas," Sun continued his spy report. "Flynt Coal of Team FNKI is a popular wild card pick. Symphonic Warriors for him."

"Pendulum with one Synchro? And he's an Atlas student? Wait!" Ruby's eyes widened, pulling her Slifer Red jacket off to point at the 'Coal Family Dust & Card Shop' sponsor stamp on it. "Coal as in this Coal?"

"Uh, I don't know. Wasn't really the intel I was looking for. Aside from Aoi Zaizen's brother being a councilman, which is kind of hard to miss, family didn't really come up much in the research," Sun admitted. "Speaking of, Aoi Zaizen."

"Penny's team leader, right?" Jaune inquired.

"Yup!" Ruby confirmed. "Ooo! Is she some sort of super awesome killer duelist like Penny?"

"I have a solid maybe on that," Sun confessed. "Honestly, all the talk about her has either been about her brother or her being Penny's team leader. After what happened to Weiss's sister's match, people are even more… uh… 'insistent' that 'The Second Coming of The Kaiserin' live up to the name."

"So they're putting a ton of pressure on Zaizen to not lose so her more famous teammate can duel?" Jaune clarified with a sympathetic sigh. "I know that feeling."

"Tell me about it," Ruby groaned. "Everyone just seeing you as an extension for your family or your teammates is not a good time."

"But Aoi is an exceptional duelist with a superb command of the Trickstar archetype. She will most definitely prove herself to be amazing no matter who focuses on her!"

"Yeah, that's right–Ah! Penny!" Ruby leapt back, pinning herself against the lockers next to Jaune as the redhead suddenly appeared beside them. "What are you doing here?"

"Salutations, Ruby! Friend Jaune! Friend Sun!" Penny merrily waved.

Sun giggled, nudging Ruby with his elbow. "So, you're different from a regular 'friend' now, huh?"

"Stooopp," Ruby moaned, smacking her hands over her face as her cheeks turned the same color as her hood and jacket.

"So, what are you doing here, Penny?" Jaune asked, eager to help Ruby out of any romantic embarrassment given his own current woes. "You're not competing in the Royale, right?"

"Affirmative! I am not combat-ready for this event. Though I remain combat-ready in general!" Penny saluted. "I came to wish Team Leader Aoi Zaizen good luck. And now that I am here, I wish you all good luck as well! Oh, though if you face Aoi, I would have given good luck to both sides. That would be treason against my team leader. I don't want to hurt my friends… hmmm…"

Sun waved her off. "No worries. Just consider the good luck wish negated if we're up against her."

"Sensational! Well, um…" Penny shuffled up to Ruby. "Maybe… you could keep the good luck even then, Ruby."

The Slifer Red leader's finger peeked open. "Oh, um… uh… thanks."

"Also… well…" Penny nervously tiptoed. "I know it is not your birthday anymore. But Naoki said that kisses could also be a gift of good luck–"

"Oh! Look at the time! Gotta get to the launchpads! Make sure Jaune gets there alright. You know how he is with being airborne! Bye!" Ruby rambled, grabbing Jaune and blurring away in a storm of rose petals.

When they were rushed out into the hallway and rematerialized as themselves (since when did her new semblance power work on others?), Ruby shoved her first friend against the wall and started panting. It was not merely just being out of breath, her feet teetering beneath her.

"Woah! Woah! Ruby?" Jaune dashed back to her side, holding her up. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I was ready for this. I thought all the work I did after Mt. Glenn, the training, I thought it meant I'd be ready to be a leader," Ruby struggled to speak. "But being out there, the crowd hating me, everyone looking down on me, it's all just like Signal again, and I shouldn't be feeling this weak. And especially with Penny looking at me like that… ugh… I don't know what to do about that."

"Okay, okay, let's start there," Jaune advised, guiding her to the wall so they could take a seat. "Penny… uh… kissed you. Maybe it's just Penny being Penny? Misinterpreting stuff she hears from others and acting on it."

"I think it was at my birthday party. But just now?" Ruby shivered. "I think the first time must have made her realize something. It's like Blake said, I've got 'natural rizz'."

"Oh, great. I think?" Jaune said. "Well, did the kiss make you realize anything?"

"Only how much I don't know!" Ruby groaned. "It's like, why would she want to kiss me? And also, why did the kiss feel so disgusting? And, and, why was I happy it was her?"

"But you were happy it was her," Jaune precisely noted. "That's a sign of something."

"But I didn't like being kissed."

"I mean, have you ever thought of a girl… sexywise? Before then?"

"Not really. I mean I thought I did for a while because I didn't like any guys that way, but honestly, no girls either," Ruby shrugged, squirreling her head away between her legs. "Yang liked plenty of both of them, so I figured there was just something wrong with me."

"I mean, nothing wrong," Jaune deduced. "From the sounds of it, you're just ace."

Ruby quirked her head to the side. "An… ace hunting duelist?"

"Asexual," Jaune clarified. "You know… not liking guy or girl sexywise."

Ruby shot up in amazement. "There's a word for it?!"

"You didn't know?" Jaune said, surprised. "I guess Patch is pretty out in the boonies. I only learned about it because one of my sisters is."

"Huh. Asexual. Asexual," Ruby spoke, testing out each syllable to see how they tasted on her tongue. "Good to know I've got normal knees in one way at least. But then how could I not like being kissed, but like that it was Penny?"

"That sister I mentioned? The one who's ace too? She's been happy with her husband for years now," Jaune smiled. "Sexywise love isn't the same as lovey-dovey love. They overlap a lot, but they're separate. If you want to try a relationship just lovey-dovey with Penny, no reason you can't."

"Huh. That's… huh…" Ruby murmured.

"Not helpful?"

"No, no, it is. Getting one more thing sorted out is one less thing on my plate," Ruby smiled at Jaune. "I just… never really thought about… feeling lovey-dovey with anyone. How is it between you and Pyrrha?"

"Me and–wha?!" Jaune responded, his lungs suddenly being the ones panting for breath. "I… I don't know what you're talking about–"

"Mercury told Emerald. Emerald broke under Nora's interrogation. Nora told everyone. Except Weiss," Ruby revealed. "To be honest, I think me and her were the only ones who didn't already know."

Jaune groaned, deflating over his knees. "Astral knew before me. I have no idea what to do."

"Well, have you asked yourself what you asked me about Penny?" Ruby queried. "Do you want to try to have that kind of relationship with Pyrrha?"

Jaune moaned. "I mean, why would Pyrrha, Pyrrha Pyrrha, want to have that kind of relationship with me? Back before the dance, Yang gave me this talk about how this stuff wasn't about being 'worthy' but just the other person's choice, but I don't get why Pyrrha would choose me. She could have anyone on Remnant. Wanting me makes no sense! I suck!"

"That's not an answer," Ruby pointed out. "Do you choose to try to have that relationship with Pyrrha? I mean, you literally called her 'hot stuff' the first time you met her."

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "She believed in me back then, back when I was… that. She believed in me back when I didn't deserve it. She's the kindest, most compassionate… she's the best person I've ever known."

Ruby smirked. "Perfect?"

"Oh, heck, no," Jaune snorted, though he couldn't deny he used to think so. She certainly came closer than anyone else he'd ever met. "She's got a bad habit of putting everything on her own head. And, she doesn't think what she wants is important compared to what everyone else wants."

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that just being selfless?"

"Uh… maybe?" Jaune admitted. "I don't know, it feels different with her. Like she might even throw herself into a fight she knew she couldn't win because someone else said so, even if she didn't want to."

"I still don't get it. Pyrrha's not going to run headfirst into a horde of Goliaths without a duel disk just because someone tells her to. She's way too smart for that."

"She is," Jaune mused, finding himself frowning as he remembered how much she tortured herself leading up to the dance instead of just telling them what she planned to do after graduation. She didn't let them help her because she didn't want them hurt, but that didn't help anyone. "But sometimes people are too smart to see the simple solutions."

"Like just talking to Pyrrha about how you feel about this romance stuff?"

Jaune pursed his lips and fixed his first friend with a thoroughly unamused glare. "Low blow, Crater Face."

Ruby smirked back at him like an incorrigible imp smile. "Turnabout is fair play, Vomit Boy."

"Would all team leaders please proceed to their assigned launchpads!" Professor Oobleck's voice chimed over Amity's PA system. "The Leader Royale will begin in five minutes!"

Astral, who seemed to have retreated into the key to give Jaune and the others some privacy in the locker room, floated back out. "The world awaits."

"The world awaits," Jaune echoed.

He shuddered at the idea. He came to Beacon to be a hunting duelist. He'd come further in his skills than he could have dreamed back at Ansel. But he was still the weakest of his friends by far. In Beacon's student population, he was decidedly middle of the road. And now, solely because of an arbitrary election before he and his teammates even knew each other, his victory or defeat would determine if his friends, the actual jewels of Team JNPR, would get to show themselves on the world stage.

The world was a big place. He wasn't just going to be dueling Beacon students. Arslan Atlan, Nebula Violette, all the others Sun had mentioned, he doubted he could take any of them in a one-on-one duel. And as the Pyrrha Nikos's team leader, all Remnant would be watching to see when he failed. Watching when he just… wasn't enough.

"Well," Ruby took a deep breath next. The silver-eyed girl steeled her lips into a smile and rose to her feet. She offered a hand down to him. "Time to be hunting duelists."

He glanced down. "What if I can't? I mean, I barely beat Mercury when he was dueling with one hand tied behind his back. My team is counting on me, and against the entire world, I'm… I'm not enough."

"You'll have to be enough. You'll have to put everything you've got into being enough. If you're not constantly working to be at your best, and improving what that best is, why should anyone follow you?" Ruby challenged. "Your team is going to follow you, Jaune. So lead."

Looking up at her then, he couldn't believe she was the same girl who'd so desperately run away from Penny a minute ago. If initiation had shaken out differently, he would have loved to have her as a leader.

At the very least, he could still take her hand.

Once both of them were on their feet, they pulled out the special wristbands they'd been supplied by the faculty the day before. Then, they placed two metal chips they'd been given at the same time into bracelets' slots. Two of each of the bracers' ten slots were filled with golden chips.

Golden chips shaped like stars.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"And they're off! The leaders of the qualifying teams have been launched into the air and scattered into Amity's penta-biome battlefield! Witness how each student masterfully performs their landing strategy, a staple tactic of any hunting duelist!"

Yang's eyes scanned the scores of team leaders riding monsters and bouncing off their semblances, each of them having been fired into the sky like Beacon Initiation to scatter them across the five biomes conjured by the colosseum's state-of-the-art engineering system. Forest, volcano, geyser, desert, and urban ruins formed an ecosystem built for war.

In the middle of each of the five environments, a giant red star glowed in the sky. Beneath it on ground level, there was a pedestal where a handheld version of the red star chip rested, surrounded by a several-meter radius ring of glowing dust.

"For those of you just joining us, allow me to explain the rules of the Vytal Festival Leader Royale!" Professor Oobleck hollered over the PA, his face in the announcer's booth appearing on one of the many holographic viewscreens conjured to display the multitude of duels about to occur. "Each team leader has been given two golden badges called 'Star Chips'. Whenever they duel in this royale, they will bet any amount of Star Chips in their possession. Whoever defeats a duelist, gains the anted chips of that duelist. Lose all your Star Chips, and you're eliminated from the tournament."

Ten golden stars appeared around the professor's face on the screen. "When a duelist acquires ten Star Chips, they will be able to use one of the many exits to leave the battlefield at the arena's edge. But they can be forced into a duel with a duel anchor if caught on their way out. A team's place in the next round is only secured once their leader successfully exits the battlefield."

A red star replaced the ten golden ones. "In the center of each biome is a single Red Star Chip. It is worth five regular Star Chips to whoever holds it. Around each Red Star Chip's display stand is a ring of territory. If two duelists not engaged in a duel are in that territory at the same time, they must duel before either of them can take the Red Star Chip. However, if a third duelist comes along while two others are occupied dueling each other, they can take the Red Star Chip while its guardians are distracted. A hunting duelist must never be distracted from their objective by a battle!"

"Yadada, the royale ends when either sixteen leaders secure their place in the next round or all teams have been eliminated," Yang rolled her eyes, not really listening to her teacher as she looked over the viewscreens and what she could see of the biomes for Ruby, Jaune, and Sun. "Where are they?"

"Looking for anyone in particular?" Kali inquired.

"Oh, uh, a friend of mine. Sun Wukong from Haven. He plays X-Sabers," Yang said, figuring the fame of Ruby and Jaune's teams would make any interest she showed in them later excusable. She reached into the concessions bag, only to frown as she found nothing but air. "Darn. We went through that takoyaki fast."

"Sorry," Kali winced, scratching the back of her cat ear. "I may have a bit too much of a seafood tooth."

"Hey, I hardly held back from chowing down," Yang waved off, only to let out a huge burp. Once, she would have followed that up with a roguish smirk daring anyone to call her out on it, but now, she found herself shrinking into her hooded jacket in embarrassment. Especially after all the burping her uncle had done earlier. "Sorry."

Kali merely shot her a gentle smile. "Better out than in. And better that way than the other one."

"Ha!" Yang laughed. Some ladies were just too cool.

"The leaders have landed!" Oobleck announced, his speed talking making him an exemplary sports announcer. "The first duels have begun! In the urban biome, it's Haven's Cinder Fall vs. Atlas's Ushio Trudge! In the forest biome, Haven's Arslan Altan is facing off with Beacon's–oh my goodness! Another duel has broken out in the geyser biome! Yes! In the geyser biome, it's Beacon's Ruby Rose vs.-"

Yang's gaze instantly whipped toward the geyser biome.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"-Atlas's Aoi Zaizen!"

Ruby had no idea if her luck here could be considered good or bad. After that big talk with Jaune about sorting through her feelings about Penny and what she wanted to do about the whole kiss thing, the first person she ran into just happened to be the Ignis girl's team leader.

On the other hand, Penny had said she was strong. Aoi's Obelisk Blue jacket was stamped with sponsor displays for Mermaid Glamor & Fashion and that Blue Angel popstar Weiss had mentioned before, her posture ready for a fight. Ruby had never dueled a Trickstar duelist before, but she'd researched the archetype plenty and seen some online videos of the deck in use. For her personal goal of facing powerful duelists and seeing all the amazing cards they made firsthand, Zaizen was as good an opening bout as she could ask for.

Yet, she was not competing in the Vytal Festival for her personal goal. She was competing as Team RWBY's leader. Weiss and Blake were counting on her victory.

"I wager two Star Chips!" Aoi shouted, pulling the Star Chips from her wristband.

Ruby winced. Great. She could only raise the ante or call it. There was no option to offer a lower bet. In this match, either her team or Aoi's team, Penny's team, would be eliminated from the Vytal Festival. How was she going to talk with Penny after this if the Ignis was mad at her for knocking her out of her first tournament before she even got the chance to compete?

"Well? We ain't got all day," Aoi challenged. "The longer you delay, the longer everyone else has to find us and jump in. Or are you scared to face me in an actual duel and need to play mind games like your uncle?"

Ruby bit her lip. She remembered Aoi was polite if unsure about her when they met after the dance, warning her to be careful about getting too close to Weiss due to Jacques Schnee's reputation. It seemed Uncle Qrow's disrespectful stunt had sent her opinion of the silver-eyed girl into a nosedive.

She wasn't the only one. The audience hadn't forgotten the exhibition duel.

"It's that Slifer Slacker! The Branwen's niece!"

"Take her out, Zaizen! You're a councilman's sister! It's your duty!"

"Don't let that weak scum think she can do what she wants!"

Ruby gritted her teeth, desperately trying to keep the crowd from getting to her. This wasn't Signal. She wasn't weak. She was younger than every other duelist here. She wouldn't be there at all if Ozpin's hadn't thought she was strong enough to stand in the ring with everyone else.

Besides, if she lost, then the crowd would just get mad at her for losing when they remembered they wouldn't get to see Weiss and Blake duel if Team RWBY was eliminated. But if she won, again, they'd be mad at her for making it so they wouldn't see Penny duel. No matter what she did, people were going to be mad at her.

'People talk. They complain about things they don't understand. You can do everything in your power to try to save them and they'll just take the chance to stab you in the back for their own ends. Ignore it. Block it out. Don't let them make you think you're something you know you're not.'

'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is life. You can only play the hand you're dealt.'

"Just another battlefield. I'll have to be enough," Ruby murmured as she pulled out her two Star Chips, recalling General Ironwood's advice from the dance and Headmaster Ozpin's from the hospital. She would have to accept that the crowd, Aoi, and more importantly Penny, could think what they liked of her. She couldn't let them stop her from doing what she had to do. "Done! Two chips!"

The four total chips zoomed out from both girls' hands, hovering in an energy sphere that floated between them. Their duel disks deployed, each of them pulling their starting hands. Ruby pulled hers the fastest, so she would go first.

"Duel!" they both shouted, one of the stadium's holographic viewscreens displaying each of their official win records and known decks to the audience.

Ruby Rose: 4000 Life Points

Aoi Zaizen: 4000 Life Points

Ruby looked over her five-card hand, and her eyes widened in shock.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"That poor girl," Kali shook her head, eyes locked on the screen showing Ruby staring down Aoi amid spewing geysers. The cat faunus noted two other nearby displays, showing other duelists racing toward that biome. "Her uncle put a target on her back. Whoever takes her out will get a big boost to their standing in the tournament. They'll cut into her match to take the credit."

"They'll have to move quick," Yang winced. "She might not last long enough for them to get there in time."

To anyone else, Ruby's expression was full of confidence. Maybe even excited for the duel ahead. But part of learning to duel was learning to have a good poker face to keep your opponent from spotting when you had an ace up your sleeve or were plotting something. Her little sis had gotten better at it over time, but not good enough to fool family.

And Yang knew that face.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYUGIOHYUGIOH

Ivy Shackles.

Fragrance Storm.

Energy-Absorbing Monolith.

Seed Cannon.

Blossom Bombardment.

There was no doubt about it.

'I bricked!' Ruby internally wailed.

---

WHY IS THIS CHAPTER SO FREAKING BIG?!

Ugh. Well, at least it packs a lot into it. Leader Royale time, which I've been mentioning for quite a while. Hopefully, it will be an enjoyable time for all. :)

Next Time on Cards of Remnant!

"Salutations, my friends! Come sit with me and my team."

"Why isn't that dolt playing anything?"

"Only the strong survive, Slifer Slacker. You should have known better than to expect a fair fight."

"Sun! Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes."

"The first team leader has collected ten Star Chips!"

"Aoi Zaizen takes the Star Chips!"

Next Time on Cards of Remnant: Leader Royale: Trickstar & Luck

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!