Chapter 8

Ruby slammed a book onto the table.

"Ahem. Brother! Sisters! Friends! Weiss…"

"Hey!" the ice queen herself objected, as Ruby smirked at her. Percy only rolled his eyes, his raven hair looking as disheveled as ever. His deep sea-green eyes looked vaguely interested in her speech, shining with a bit of mirth. Ruby could get lost in those eyes for hours…

Snap out of it. You have a speech to give, she reminded herself.

She cleared her throat, "I had a dream…A dream that one day, the four of us would come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had… ever!"

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss stared at her accusingly.

Uh… maybe? Hehe.

"No, I would never! I'm no such crook," she stated with the most serious face possible, even if Percy snorted in disbelief.

Nooooo Percy! Why are you blowing my cover?

Blake looked utterly confused, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!"

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!"

Percy elbowed her in the side, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

An apple hit Yang in the nose, "Booooo!" Nora yelled.

"It's been two weeks, and with more and more exchange students arriving from Haven academy and what not, and the Vytal tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tomorrow, so I scheduled a bunch of exciting and wonderful events for us today!"

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "I don't know whether to be excited or scared of what you have in store."

"No worries ice queen," Percy spoke, smirking at the glaring Weiss, "I'm sure we can trust Ruby here. Right Ruby?"

"Of course," she agreed.

"I don't know," Blake piped up, "I think I might sit this one out."

"Nope, nope, nope," Ruby objected, "We're doing this as a team, right team leader?"

"Right," Percy backed her up, smirking at the expressions on the rest of the team's faces.

"I think we should do this as a team," Weiss said, standing up, "I for one, think that-"

A cake landed on her face perfectly. Ruby couldn't resist bursting out in giggles, and a food fight started.

Percy groaned, "I'm heading back to the dorm-"

A pie splattered onto his face.

He sighed, "If team JNPR wants a fight, they'll get a fight."

Ruby grinned. Now that was the spirit!

"Ozpin!"

"Hello, general," Ozpin rose to meet him, hands clasped behind his back.

"Please, drop the formalities. It's been too long! And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh, James," Goodwitch waved a hand, "I'll be outside."

And then she left.

"Well, she hasn't changed a bit," Ironwood commented.

"So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" Ozpin asked, pouring a cup of coffee for the general, "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

"Well, you know how much I love Vale at this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends. Yet the fleet of ships outside my window…" Ozpin shot Ironwood a scathing look, "has me somewhat concerned."

"Well…" Ironwood said, looking conflicted, "Concern is what brought them here."

"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult."

"Oz…" Ironwood set his lips in a thin line, "you and I both know why I brought those men."

Ozpin placed his mug onto the desk, sighing, "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this… are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true, then-"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival: A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across Remnant."

"I'm just being cautious."

"As am I…" Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, "which is why we will continue to train the best huntsmen and huntresses we can."

"Believe me, I am."

Ironwood turned to walk away, "But ask yourself this… do you honestly believe your children… can win a war?"

"I hope they never have to. But one individual has caught my attention."

Ironwood turned back towards him.

"Perseus Jackson."

A holographic screen popped up, showing a profile of the teen. Sea-green eyes, with disheveled raven black hair and a troublemaker smile, Ironwood noted.

"Oz… even if he is the most skilled prodigy in the world, you cannot place all responsibility on him."

"Oh, but he isn't just that."

Ozpin stared deep into Ironwood's eyes, "He has old eyes, much like mine. Experienced eyes that have seen things no child should have seen. He's a tactician, and a powerful fighter. You are aware of the Mistralian prodigy, Miss Nikos, yes?"

Ironwood nodded, "What about her?"

"Perseus here defeated her with ease. Guess how much aura he had left."

"Sixty percent?" Ironwood wagered.

"Even sixty is a far stretch. No, Mister Jackson here was left with ninety-six percent aura. Look at him."

Ironwood had to give the kid a nod of respect. His swordsmanship was incredible, flowing like water. He couldn't pick out any flaws, though that might have been because he himself wasn't too familiar with swords. Not to mention that ward semblance… His semblance was powerful, even if the kid didn't seem to have full control over it yet.

"He has secrets as well. Watch the pen."

As the teen flicked the cap off, it transformed immediately into a golden, leaf-shaped sword.

"That isn't mechashift. It's something different, something with magic," Ozpin's eyes were usually dull, but they now teemed with certainty.

"Could he be one of her agents?" Ironwood questioned, nervousness clear in his voice.

"Not likely. He displays affection towards his team, even going so far as to volunteer to sit out of the Vytal tournament because they have a non-traditional five members instead of four."

"Oz… why are you showing me this?"

"I simply have a… piqued interest in him."

"Oz," Ironwood warned, "you can't be thinking of this. He's only a first-year student!"

"A first-year student who has tactical cunning, and much leadership. He could be of use to us, to offer a new perspective."

His old friend pulled up another clip of the kid in combat class.

"He adapts and uses his surroundings."

The corner of the professor's mouth twitched slightly as the student splashed his opponent with a bottle of water, then slapped them across the cheek with his off hand.

Ironwood hummed in amusement, "Certainly… resourceful."

Ironwood made eye contact with his old friend for several seconds, a clash of wills occurring before the general slammed his hands on Ozpin's desk.

"You cannot."

Ozpin only raised an eyebrow, "He could be a valuable resource, an asset, and a new, fresh perspective on the war."

"Ozpin, he is a first-year student. No child deserves to be dragged into our eternal war. He doesn't have the experience-"

"Oh, but he does."

Ironwood stopped.

"His eyes James… they remind me of my own. A child whose childhood was brutally ripped away from them, who has endured things no child should ever."

"Are you saying he's a child soldier?" Ironwood said quietly, the tone in the room now melancholy.

"Possibly. Mr. Jackson shows not potential, but skill, cunning, tactics, strength. He doesn't show potential because the word 'potential' is used to describe children who have not yet reached the level of a huntsman. He's not a child, not anymore. In many ways, he's more mature than any of his teammates. He's seen the world," Ozpin stressed, "He knows what he's doing."

"And you are aware of all of this just by… taking a long look into his eyes?"

"Deduction, James, deduction. He cares fiercely for his teammates. The White Fang incident? He was there to protect his teammates from being hurt, and he came at the criminal, Roman Torchwick, with a vengeance. Torchwick could barely fight him off either, and we know the infamous criminal is no slouch."

"Oz… you're normally not so willing to… how do I say this lightly… trust."

"I am well aware," he chuckled light heartedly, "of my, well, paranoia. Strength is something I value, intelligence and cunning even more will be careful with him. I'm only suggesting the idea, because I feel we may need him in the future."

"For Autumn," Ironwood said knowingly.

"For Autumn," Ozpin echoed.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that!" Weiss objected once again to the 'ice queen' name, playing Remnant – the game, of course – with Ruby, Blake, and Yang.

"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend," Sun, the monkey faunus, pointed to a blue-haired guy standing next to him.

"Uh…" the blue-haired guy said, "aren't libraries for reading?"

Percy nodded sagely, "They are indeed."

Ren shouted from the other table, "Thank you!"

"Shut up don't be a nerd," Sun sent a glance to the guy.

"I prefer intellectual. Thank you."

"I'm Neptune."

Gah. Why did this dude have to have his father's name? Eh, he supposed, it wasn't really his fault anyway.

"So Neptune," Weiss said diplomatically, "where are you from?"

"Haven. And…" he slid next to Weiss, "I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."

Weiss looked put off by him already, and sent a few glances in Percy's direction.

"I'm Weiss. And I already have a boyfriend," she sent a scathing look in the guy's direction, dragging Percy, wrapping her arms around him and leaning against his chest.

Percy had just enough tact to wrap his arms around her while also hiding his shock and trying to maintain a smile.

Yang sniggered, barely hiding her laugh as Ruby stuttered in disbelief. Pyrrha looked away, her hand over her mouth. Nora hid her face in Ren's chest as Ren coughed into his fist. Blake bit her lip, barely keeping it together.

"O-Oh-" Neptune apologized, "I didn't know. My apologies."

The blue-haired guy looked disappointed, and Sun stepped in, "Come on man, let's go."

Percy would have felt a little bad for the guy, but he had been hitting on his friend.

Blake took the opportunity to leave for some reason, and Percy frowned. She'd been really moody lately.

He turned back to the others who were interrogating a stammering Weiss.

He sighed. He wouldn't come to Weiss' defense, not this time. This one was her fault, and hers to handle.

"Stop," Weiss called out as Blake headed to the door.

"You've been quiet and anti-social, even more so than you usually are," Percy pointed out as Weiss nodded along.

"It is kind of your thing," Weiss called her out, "But this is unacceptable. You gave us a promise to come to us if you needed help. So tell us! We're right here for you. What… is… wrong?"

Weiss balanced dramatically on a chair, before it tipped over. She gave out an elegant squeak as she fell to the ground.

Blake closed her eyes, "I just… I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby piped up.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Of course they aren't."

Well, that might have been his bias against law enforcement speaking, but… eh.

All heads swiveled to Percy as he strolled around the room.

He snorted, "The police are 'on the case'. But they're very clearly incompetent; we just saw them investigating the two dust shops hit last week! Each within days, and they couldn't stop it. I'm not against us becoming vigilantes or whatever."

"Okay!" Ruby piped up before Weiss could object, "All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale?"

"Hey! I'm a huntsman. I'm right here, you know?"

"Tch. You aren't important," Yang dismissed him with a casual wave of the hand.

Percy retaliated, "You only say that because I whoop your ass in spars. I bet if I took off my shirt you wouldn't say that."

Yang grinned back, "Who wouldn't?"

"Getting back on track…" Blake shot a look at Yang, "Yes."

"Of course!" Yang chipped in, while Percy tilted his head to the side.

This was kind of a bad idea… but who said he was ever against breaking the law?

"I'm in."

"Well, I suppose it could be fun," Weiss finally agreed.

"Alright then… We're in this together."

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby suggested enthusiastically, her silver eyes twinkling.

"Yeah!" Yang shot finger guns at Ruby, who gasped suddenly, "I left my board game in the library!"

"We're doomed," Weiss shook her head.

"I'll go with Ruby."

Ruby ran into a red-eyed, green haired girl and a silver-haired teen.

"Omph! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just watch where you're going."

The girl helped Ruby up.

"I'm Ruby. Are you… new?"

A third joined them, this time a fair-skinned girl with golden eyes. She might have been considered a beauty, and he would have stumbled had he not met Aphrodite herself before.

"Visiting from Haven, actually," she said.

Percy was instantly on edge, although he didn't show it. Something about her words made him feel… ticked off. Ruby seemed put off too, not answering for a few seconds.

Why would they be in these dorms, anyway? The exchange dorms were different.

"Exchange rooms have their own dormitory," Percy stepped in smoothly, offering his signature grin to put the three at ease.

"I guess we just got turned around."

"Don't worry, happens all the time!" Ruby said in a friendly manner.

"Thanks. Maybe we'll see you around."

The golden eyed girl let her hand linger on Percy's shoulder for a little bit, before removing it.

"Welcome to Beacon!" Ruby called out after them, as they left.

Percy smirked at the facepalming Jaune as he got rejected yet again by the ice queen.

"You know her name is 'ice queen' for a reason, right Jaune? I know I'm hardly one to be giving girl advice, but there are plenty of fish in the sea," Percy patted the guy on the back in sympathy.

"What do you mean you're hardly one to give girl advice?" Jaune questioned, "there are literally rumors that you're building a harem among our two teams."

Percy choked on air, "I did not need to hear that."

He headed to his dorm, knowing he had to be there for the mischievousness the rest of his team was about to stir up. Not to partake in it, but to at least mitigate the damage.

"Alright guys, today's the day. The investigation begins!" Ruby declared enthusiastically from her bunkbed.

"I'm glad to see that we're taking this extremely seriously," Weiss rolled her eyes, laying the sarcasm on thick.

"At least we have a plan!" Yang nodded sagely, "It is very serious. We are very serious people."

Percy sighed in exasperation, "Alright I'll just go over the roles again in case anyone forgot."

"More like for yourself," Yang smirked at him, "What? You know its true."

"I would never forget such an important plan," Percy claimed, "Anyway, Weiss and Ruby will head to the CCT and check the records suspicious stuff, like robberies and what not."

Weiss nodded, adding on, "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

"According to Blake," he nodded, "the White Fang has meetings to try and recruit new members. Blake will try to find out what they're planning."

"And Yang has a shady friend," he shot her a look, "which we all expected. She and I are going to go meet up with him and see if we can wrestle out any info. We'll rendezvous near Yang and I to see what we found."

Percy sensed someone outside their window.

The window cracked open, and a certain blonde, monkey-haired faunus peered inside, hanging by his tail.

"Sun!" Blake cried out, all of them taking a step backwards while Percy took a step forwards.

"Sun! My buddy! What brings you up to this prestigious level of floors?"

"Oh, nun' much."

"How did you get up here?" Ruby inquired.

"Oh, it's easy, I do it all the time!"

Percy snorted in disbelief. He had just given himself away.

"You do what?"

Weiss looked a mix between offended and weirded out, which was the appropriate reaction, he supposed.

"I climb trees all the time!"

Good save man, good save.

"Anyway, my friend Neptune and I want to join in."

Percy peeked outside the window. The blue-haired guy was there too.

Gods. How did he get up there?

"Okay, okay. Sun can go with Blake, since that makes the most sense," Percy ignored Blake's outcry of indignation in the background, "and Neptune can go with Ruby and Weiss to the CCT."

Ruby ran after the orange-haired girl. Why was she running from her?

"Penny! Where have you been? We haven't seen you in weeks!"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding."

Ruby narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "What? Penny? Is everything okay?"

The orange-haired girl ignored her and kept walking.

"Penny! Stop! I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me. Those guys we fought at the docks, they're up to something bad! Something big! Something that could hurt all of Vale. I need you to tell me what happened to you that night… please. As a friend," Ruby pleaded, hoping Penny would answer her.

She sighed, looking around, before moving closer to Ruby, "It isn't safe to talk here."

What did she mean?

Weiss rolled her eyes as the blue-haired guy – Neptune – kept trying to make small talk with her. He was… persistent, to say the least.

After Ruby had ditched her, she scoffed internally, the meeting with the Schnee company's secretary had been suspicious to say the least…

The secretary kept insisting that she patch Weiss through to her father and her sister. Not that she didn't want to see Winter, it was just… her… sperm donor. He was a controlling man. He frequently hit her when she wouldn't obey, although he would always make sure the servants covered up any signs of abuse for the public.

Weiss shivered. She did not want to meet that piece of dung crap right now.

She was almost ninety percent sure that the secretary would dial through that she had sensitive information now.

Ugh. She would need to deal with her father now too.

Ruby listened as Penny said she didn't know anything about those guys they fought at the dock.

"Then what happened to you that night? We were all sitting on boxes, chatting, when you just sort of disappeared, like you were never there in the first place. Were you kidnapped?"

"Oh no! Nothing like that!"

"Then what happened? Where did you go?"

"I've never been to another kingdom before," she confessed, "My father asked me not to venture out too far, but, oh you have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a ton. He cares a lot, and he wants me under his wing and in safety."

Ah, Ruby could understand that. It was like how dad didn't want her and Yang in danger too much, or how Uncle Qrow did his best to watch over them when he was around.

"Believe me, I know the feeling… But, why not let us know you were okay?"

Ruby had a minor gripe with people who just left without a second thought; they worried her! Like Blake, Penny just didn't contact them for several weeks, and Ruby had assumed the worst.

"I… was asked not to talk to you," Penny admitted.

"Just me?"

"No, not just you. Or Percy, or Yang, or Blake, or Weiss, or anyone else, really."

Did her dad want her to be anti-social? Was he controlling her?

"Was your dad that upset?"

"No, it wasn't my father."

The two of them paused, hearing a hologram of the general of Atlas, General Ironwood, present his new robots.

Military-grade, that was for sure. They were amazing! Ruby had stars in her eyes, practically drooling like she did every day at Percy's sword, Riptide.

They stood there like two idiots, watching as General Ironwood presented the Atlas Paladin, a mechanized robot.

"Ruby… maybe we should go somewhere else…" Penny suggested softly, looking nervous for some reason.

"Wait, why?"

Penny didn't answer, as two Atlas soldiers pointed at her, murmuring to each other.

That was… strange.

The orange-haired girl bolted.

"Penny? Wait! Where are you going?"

The two soldiers came towards her, running, and Ruby put two and two together. They were after her friend!

She narrowed her eyes. She wouldn't let a friend get hurt.

Ruby sprinted after her, following her as they ducked through the alleyways. The soldiers were close on her tail.

She spotted a box of crates. Perfect. Ruby pulled out her baby Crescent Rose, shooting out the legs so that the crates crumbled. The soldiers stopped; their vision obscured by the boxes.

Ruby used her semblance, speeding towards Penny and picking her up. She then exploded in a blast of red petals, speeding far away from the soldiers.

She ran out of gas soon, however, and dropped Penny. Ruby flew onto the street.

A truck honked behind her.

Ruby panicked, palms sweating. Penny knocked her out the way before stopping the truck by herself, the truck screeching.

Her jaw dropped open, and Ruby's eyes were wide open in disbelief. The only other person that she had seen that could feasibly do that was Percy, who was basically half-man, half-amazing. The concrete had torn up as Penny stopped it, before the orange-haired girl asked the driver if he was okay.

People gathered on the sidewalk to stare.

Penny left immediately, as Ruby once again chased after her. She came to a stop in another alleyway.

"Umm… uhh…"

"Penny! Please! What in the world is going on? Why are you running? How did you do that?"

"I-" she stuttered, "I can't. Everything's fine!"

She hiccuped, "I-I don't want to talk about it."

Ruby worried for her friend, "Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!" she persisted.

"No, no no, you wouldn't understand."

"Yes I would! Let me try. You can trust me."

"You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?"

"I promise."

"Ruby…" she opened her palms, revealing metal?

"I'm not a real girl."

"Oh."

Yang had brought them to a club.

A fucking club. Of course, Yang.

Classic. He shouldn't have expected anything else.

Yang strode in confidently, with all the poise of a huntress, "Guess who's back?"

The guys instantly pointed guns at her.

"Uh… Yang? I don't think this is the right place."

"No, no, this is most certainly the right place. Don't you worry about it."

"Stop, stop, nobody shoot."

A guy wearing a red tie came through the crowd of douchebags, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a douchebag himself, but without the typical red glasses.

Wait… red glasses. These were the guys that were with Torchwick that night of the dust shop robbery!

"Blondie! You're here. Why?"

"You still owe me a drink."

Yang dragged the guy as Percy followed them. She sure did have a history with shady people.

"This is it."

"You sure?"

Sun and Blake were in some kind of an alleyway in the middle of nowhere. It was awfully suspicious, if Sun had to say so himself.

Blake glowered at him, and Sun raised his hands in self-defense, "Ya know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."

They followed the instructions as the recruiter shouted.

"I just don't get it," Sun said, gesturing to the mask, "If you believe what you're doing is right, why would you hide who you are?"

Blake turned to him. "The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."

"Isn't that like… counter-intuitive? Or at the very least, kind of… ridiculous?"

Sun winced as Blake's smothering glare turned onto him. She still seemed a little defensive of the White Fang.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you, huh?"

She didn't answer, as they filed into the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming," the figure on stage began, "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for, for so long."

Roman fucking Torchwick walked onto the stage. Roman. Torchwick.

Sun pinched the bridge of his nose; well, tried to pinch the bridge of his nose through the mask anyway, as Blake facepalmed.

The White Fang members immediately started jeering, but Torchwick waved them off sarcastically, "Thank you! Thank you! Please, hold your applause."

"What's a human doing here!" someone shouted out.

"I'm glad you asked, dearie. Now I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst. Case in point," he continued, playing the crowd like a fiddle, "So I understand why you would love to see us all locked away, or, better yet: killed!"

"But, before the claws come out, I would like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy. The ones in control, the people pulling the strings. The dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms."

"Government. Military. Even the schools. They're all to blame for your lot in life."

The crowd began cheering, slowly tuning themselves to his speech. Blake and Sun shared a worried look.

"And they're all pests that need to be dealt with. Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around."

He strolled on the stage, "No offense to any rodents in the room."

He snapped his fingers, unveiling a massive piece of war machinery, seemingly pilotable.

How did he get his hands on that?

"How did he get that?" Blake whispered furiously to him; Sun could only shrug.

"As some of you may have heard, this right here," Torchwick knocked his fist on the thing, "is Atlas' newest line of defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my… employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, hit the shelves."

He continued, "Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine. But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"

The crowd began cheering in favor of the infamous criminal, as Blake whispered to him, "We should get out of here."

"Would all new recruits, please come forward."

Welp! We're well and truly fucked.

"I don't know!" Junior protested.

"How can you not know?"

Yang was infuriated, as she crossed her arms.

"I haven't talked to him. I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here. He paid upfront, I lent him my men, and none of them ever came back.

Yang shared a look with Percy, his face indicating that he knew something about that. She would have to talk to him later.

"I haven't found out what I wanted!" Yang demanded, threatening Junior.

"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys and I guess he wasn't happy with them! Which is something I can relate to!"

Yang walked out, Percy next to her.

"His 'boys' never came back because of Ruby and I. I recognized the uniforms, they were there the night of the dust shop robbery. That's all I know."

Yang narrowed her eyes in thought.

"What're we gonna do?" Sun whispered to Blake.

"I'm thinking."

"Well, we can't just stand here! We look suspicious not waving and chanting like the rest of them.

They raised their fists in chanting, but Roman saw the sudden movement and narrowed his eyes.

"I think he saw us," Sun whispered.

He waved his hand, before Blake shot the power out.

"Sun! The window!"

"Stop them!" a screaming Roman Torchwick yelled in the dark.

The most typical villain line. Ever.

They burst out the window, jumping onto buildings. The high-tech Atlas… thing chased after them.

They jumped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to lose the thing.

"So you wouldn't happen to have… oh I don't know… some form of backup?"

"On it!"

Blake dialed the rest of the team, as they kept running from the Atlas piece of tech.

They jumped onto cars, leaping from each one to avoid the massive thing.

Neptune appeared in the wrong spot, trying to land a blow on the paladin, but he missed. The paladin swatted him away, and he crashed into Sun, and they both flew off the highway.

Weiss conjured ice onto the highway, causing the Atlesian paladin to slip off, onto the ground.

When it landed, Ruby was already in front of it.

The rest of the team landed not a second too late. Ruby watched as Percy gave a quick hand signal from behind a pillar, hiding his presence from the paladin.

Freezerburn. One of the moves they hadn't practiced too, too much. Eh. Percy was always one for trying new things.

"Freezerburn!" she called out. Weiss knelt, conjuring ice again, as Yang blew fire into it. The resulting smoke was thick enough to trip up the paladin's vision.

The paladin's lasers were confused, and its vision obscured.

She was honestly still in shock from the whole Penny incident; after all, it was pretty surprising to find out she was, for a lack of a better way to phrase it, a sentient robot with an aura. Penny had made her promise not to tell anybody, and Ruby would keep that promise. Even if she had wanted to immediately tell Percy and her team.

She snapped out of her reverie as Percy's voice reverberated in her ear. He had insisted on getting high quality earpieces to allow for perfect communication, even if they already had hand signals. It was paying off though.

"Piercing blaze," he called out confidently.

Weiss and Blake instantly rushed the paladin as the smoke cleared, trying to distract it, and jamming their blades into it, but to no effect. The paladin raised missiles at them, even as Ruby fired at it relentlessly, and zoomed in with her semblance for several hits.

They back handspringed away from the blasts, but they weren't quick enough to escape, and Weiss was blasted away as Blake backed out.

"Rosecat. Continue Piercing Blaze."

Ruby ran forwards, placing her own scythe in tandem with Blake's weapons, and they swung around the paladin, landing hits that were no more than mild annoyances to the paladin.

The paladin swatted them away like flies.

Yang charged in, landing on top of it and blasting her gauntlets into it. An arm threw her off, and another punched her into the ground.

"Yang!" Blake called out in worry.

"Don't worry. With each hit, she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back. That's what makes her special."

Her hair turned on fire, and Yang unleashed her fury onto the Paladin, absolutely shattering one of its arms.

"Iceflower," Percy grunted out into comms.

Ruby and Weiss instantly set up, Weiss conjuring white glyphs in front of Ruby with her rapier. Ruby shot bullets through them that turned into ice upon contact with the Paladin, freezing multiple parts of it.

Percy finally showed himself from the pillar, an absolutely massive piercing ward in hand.

He pushed it forward with Riptide as it accelerated towards the Paladin.

The Atlesian Paladin, a thing of pure, powerful metal was pierced in half by the powerful ward Percy had conjured.

It was glorious.

Torchwick looked mildly disgruntled at best.

Yang fired a shot at Torchwick, but an umbrella blocked it. It tilted to the side, revealing a short, brown and pink haired girl with mismatched eyes.

"Ladies. Ice Queen. Always a pleasure. Neo, if you would."

The girl curtsied sarcastically.

Percy narrowed his eyes, extending his senses.

He felt the two bodies walk away, but they were still there. In front of him. He let them walk away, partially due to wanting to hide another card up his sleeve. Plus, if they arrested him, he reasoned, he would just break out anyway with the help of that girl.

Percy growled, and an expel ward shattered the two into pieces.

An illusion semblance. He checked the expressions of his teammates, and noted that they were similarly bamboozled.

An illusion semblance that affected everyone. Now that was dangerous. And highly overpowered.

"I guess she really made our plans… fall apart?" Weiss tried, cringing when she saw their reactions.

Percy facepalmed, "Not the time Weiss."

"No, just… no," Blake turned away, shaking her head softly.

"There's a time and place for jokes, Weiss."

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good."

"Yang, you're a hypocrite."

"Oh, shut up."

"Oww… lucky shot."

Cardin Winchester groaned on the ground, as Pyrrha had defeated him yet again.

She looked up at the audience, noting that absolutely no one was surprised. Percy looked impressed. His expression seemed to say, You've improved. He gave her a firm nod and a thumbs up.

"Well done Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," Miss Goodwitch commented.

"Thank you, professor."

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?"

After a moment of silence, she singled out Blake, "Miss Belladonna? You've been rather.. docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"

"I'll do it."

A hand raised itself.

"Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually, I wanna fight… her."

Pyrrha glanced at him. That was odd, but she shrugged.

"Me?"

"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match. I'd recommend you choose another partner," the professor tried to dissuade him.

"No! It's fine. I'd be happy to oblige."

She caught Percy's panicked look in the corner and wondered what that was about. He gazed at her, sea-green eyes trying to tell her something, but she couldn't work it out. She turned her attention to her opponent.

Pyrrha watched him carefully as he strode onto the arena with confidence. He had no visible weapons at all. Still, that was no reason to underestimate an opponent.

He took a nontraditional stance that Pyrrha hadn't seen before, putting her on edge. She tensed, waiting for him to make the first move.

After waiting a moment, he dashed forward, kicking hard. His boots were metal, she noted.

Pyrrha tanked the blow with her shield, and used her blade to sweep his foot out from under him.

He landed hard on his back, but quickly recovered, flipping away gracefully. If she could just get into his guard…

She charged forward, blocking a blow with her shield Akoúo̱, then parrying several with Miló. After trading blows, she rammed Akoúo̱ into his stomach, causing him to slide backwards.

He made a slightly impressed noise.

Mercury charged at her, swinging high in the air to throw down hits with his legs. Pyrrha tanked with Akoúo̱, turtling behind it to avoid the hits.

She dove away, turtling behind her shield again.

He swapped legs, kicking Miló into the air.

She blocked a kick with her forearm, and recovered Miló, but at the expense of letting him charge up his momentum.

He spun in the air, kick colliding with her shield again, but when she brought Miló up to attack, he kicked that into the ground.

He spun, trying to kick her, but Pyrrha held out her hand and directed the metal away from her with her semblance.

He lost balance and stumbled backwards several paces.

It was time to finish it. Pyrrha charged at him, and he jumped up, landing on her shield and firing a blast from his boots to keep distance.

She continued charging, before he stopped.

"I forfeit."

She stopped. What?Why- why would he do that? Did he feel like he didn't have a chance?

"You… don't even want to try?"

"What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter, we're obviously leagues apart."

"In that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match, again."

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. Why couldn't people at least try against her? They were always placing her on a pedestal, calling her the 'invincible girl'.

"Next time you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent," the professor narrowed her eyes.

"I'll be sure to do that," the guy said, and then walked away like he didn't care.

Pyrrha made a glance at her friends, but none of them seemed particularly animated. Except Percy. He was still, though a second glance told her that his eyes were frantic, trying to tell her something.

"And remember the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

Percy was waiting for her outside. He didn't say anything, and a quick glance of her surroundings revealed why. That silver haired kid, Mercury, was still within earshot.

"Percy, what's going on? You kept giving me weird looks."

He sighed.

"It's hard to explain. But the three new kids, Mercury, Cinder, and Emerald? Mercury being the guy you just fought, Emerald being the green-haired red-eyed girl, and Cinder an upperclass man?"

"Yeah, I know them. What about them?"

"They're a little… off. I can't say much, but they were wandering in our dorms the other night, despite knowing where the exchange dorms were."

"Percy, they could have just been turned around."

"They could," he conceded, "which is the exact excuse that guy Mercury gave. And today, he fought you on mostly equal footing; until you used your semblance. He resigned almost instantly. It was like he was trying to gather intel on you."

"Then why not on you then?" Pyrrha wondered.

"Because he doesn't know me. He knows that you, the four-time Mistralian champion, attends this school. But I'm not a champion or anything."

"I mean he could just be gathering info for the tournament."

"Right, but I can't explain the feeling that he's doing it for far more nefarious purposes. You saw how he just resigned, and that made you feel… put on a pedestal."

She looked at him in shock, "How did you know that?"

He smiled sadly, "I know the feeling. You trust me, right Pyrrha?"

She nodded with conviction. Percy would never hurt her.

"Just… be on guard for anything suspicious those three might do. I might be being paranoid, but just stay on the lookout."

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Next Chapter: June 17th

-thann3