Greetings!

As always, thanks for the support! This chapter's really tense, and I hope it turned out justified.

Song, with context, is "Not Your Kind of People", by Garbage.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

"Our first mission! Aren't you excited?!"

Summer jumped excitedly around her teammates, her cloak flapping as she moved rapidly. After 6 months in Beacon Academy, they were finally given a mission to partake. And with their exemplary performance both in and outside of class, they were given a mission slightly harder than normal first-year students.

In this time, the team had gotten closer to each other, relatively mellowing out most of their respective eccentricities. Summer had come out of her shell and embraced her team as close friends, showing her sunny and optimistic disposition. Tai managed to get a handle on how the rest of his team acted and become a middleman of sorts, and Raven and Qrow lowered their walls ever so slightly about their lives outside the Kingdoms. Just a bit, though.

In response to Summer's enthusiasm, Tai chuckled good-naturedly. Qrow was smirking, and Raven just stood in silence, a tick forming on her forehead.

She got where Summer was coming from, but still! Couldn't they just focus on what to do and get it done as soon as possible? She loathed wasting her time like this,especially with all the cheerfulness.

The four of them were standing around at the entrance of Beacon Academy's grounds, patiently waiting for their Bullhead to arrive.

"I mean, this is what we've been training for all these months!" Summer continued with cheer. She had her weapons ready on her hips, dual machetes hidden just beneath her cloak. Combined, using advanced Mechashift technology, they would make a rifle that could also act as a sniper. She called them 'Cloaked Precision'. "We're about to see what real Hunters do!"

"Yeah, yeah. Pipe it down, would you?" Qrow waved a hand as if to dispel Summer's enthusiasm, but it held no malice. "I get what you're going for, but before you know it we'll be back home in no time."

Tai punched Qrow's shoulder in jest. "Ah, c'mon, Qrow. Let her have some fun, will you? 'Sides, Summer's right. It's time to prove our worth and training."

Qrow opened his mouth for a witty retort but was interrupted by Raven. "Spoken just like someone who's never been outside the walls before." She scoffed. "If this is how you react, then I dread to imagine how you could handle being 'Hunter'."

"Hey, we're out here to save people, right?" Tai said. "Can't do that with a broody face like yours, Raven."

At that, Raven winced. But if it was about the joke or the saving people thing, Tai couldn't figure it out.

"Settle down, settle down." Qrow rolled his eyes. "Just focus on the mission now. Let's review. What was it again?"

"Nothing too hard!" Summer said. "There's a village on the edge of Vale's territory that needs some Grimm clearing. They're a farming village, and provide the Kingdom with wheat and bread. So then it's our job to go in, meet our Hunter supervisor, and clear the areas from any pesky troubles."

Subtly, Raven shook her head in disapproval. Some weaklings who couldn't fend for themselves, and used what they had to bargain for the strength of others.

Good for her, none of her teammates noticed her movement. Now, it was Qrow who decided to speak.

"I read that we've got a quite a bit of area to clear out." He pointed out. "East, west, north, south. They're surrounded, but not by much."

"Ah, I've already got a plan for that!" Summer said. "Once we go in, we strike the one with the most Grimm first! If we can take it down, the rest will be scrambling to fill the hole and make a mess of their formation."

"You sure we can do that?" Tai asked. "I mean, I know we're good, but that's a pretty tall order, Sum."

"Ah, it'll be fine!" Summer waved Tai's concerns away. "We've been practicing together a lot, and we'll get a senior Hunter to guide us too. This'll be nothing we're not ready for. I know Team STRQ can do it."

"Heh, then we're practically eating Grimm for breakfast, yeah?" Qrow slurred. "Bet old man 'Oz almost named this mission after that."

"Pfft. Like he'd name a mission as corny a name as Grimm Eater." Summer shook her head. "So! Now that everything's cleared up, all that's left is to wait for the Bullhead to arrive! Any questions, team?"

Tai shook his head and Qrow slouched back with his hands in his pockets. Summer's eyes turned to her partner. "Raven? Anything you'd like to add?"

"…Nothing to add for now." Raven said frostily. "Let's just get this over with."

"Alright then…" Summer said. "Oh, and looks like that's our Bullhead right now!"

Summer pointed to a Bullhead that flew over them, and eventually landed a good distance in front of them. Right at the landing ports of Beacon Academy.

"Huh. Just as we're finished, huh?" Qrow shrugged. "Well. Time to go, right?"

"So, Summer?" Tai asked his leader. "Ready to head out?"

Raven looked away but still mumbled her confirmation. "On your lead."

The whirring of the Bullheads did nothing to dampen Summer's enthusiasm. Instead, it was now enhanced by the trust from her teammates. This was it! They were going to do this together, as a team! All four of them fighting side by side!

"Right!" Summer turned around and walked first to the Bullhead, her team following suit. Despite their differences, they walked in sync toward the Bullhead, getting closer and closer to their first-ever mission. Excited, eager, and ready to prove themselves. One of many to come, of course!. All four of them, together…

Present Day…

And now he was all alone.

"We've got word from Vale."

The whirring of Bullhead engines echoed throughout the grounds of Haven Academy. On the centre of the campus, a Hunter and an ex-Huntress walked alongside one another as both students and paramilitary alike lined up at their side. They all had their posture straight, their weapons by their side in their own forms of salute.

Tai and Beryl's steps were tense and brisk, done with haste and urgency. Right in front of them was a special Bullhead ready for the Headmaster's departure.

But even so, Tai was still healing from his wounds. Bandages covered his arm and legs, but he still had to go.

Beryl spoke to her superior beside her. "They've ratted out the traitor. Emerald Sustrai, one of our 'transfer students'. A mole for more than two years."

Tai stayed silent beside her, his eyes locked on the Bullhead. With his silence, he urged Beryl to continue.

"We've dug deeper into her file and found discrepancies all over. And those discrepancies matched Leonardo's records." Beryl continued. They walked closer and closer, approaching the open hatch Bullhead.

As they reached the Bullhead, Beryl's voice grew louder to combat the turbines. "We dug into her association and found some links to her team as well! Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, and lastly an alias used by Neopolitan!" Tai reached the Bullhead and took a single step on its hatch.

"They've been in Vale for a long time!" Beryl shouted. Tai took another step and entered the Bullhead, hand on a railing and turning around to face Beryl. She spoke again. "We need to find out what she's done over there and stop it! Find that, and them out, by any means necessary! No hesitation!"

Tai stayed silent for another second. He contemplated the risks. Last time, his mistake was his lack of preparation. Even now, they were on the backfoot to defend Vale. They should move now, but that meant another lack of preparation from his end. He can't afford to lose Vale. To lose his girls like he lost the chance for Summer.

The wound on his leg itched.

No, him alone won't be enough.

Tai looked Beryl dead in the eye and gave his order. "I'm gonna need backup on this one!"

Beryl gave a short nod. "I'll take care of the regulations! We'll rendezvous on site!"

Tai gave a short nod back and knocked on the wall of the Bullhead. With that command, the hatch closed and he was all alone.

Tai took a seat and closed his eyes, feeling the weight of his weapons strapped on him. LimitBreak and HF Dragonsbreath, along with some Aura syringes he had stored. Beside him, a repaired version of Cloaked Precision was sheathed, repaired from what they could salvage.

The risk was higher than ever. Salem's agents would be scrambling, and a cornered rat was the most dangerous rat of all.

But that's not all he came to Vale to do. After his mission to retrieve Summer, he did some digging on his own. Of what Summer did on that final mission, what she was up against, who gave the order, and just what kind of people were responsible.

And after everything he researched, his meeting with Summer, and what recent actions would lead to believe, he had some questions for Ozpin. One that would determine the course they needed to take.

Tai felt the Bullhead jolt, and then it began to slowly lift itself up. Then, he heard the pilot spoke. "Heading to Vale! ETA five hours!"

Tai let out a breath and did his best to sort out his thoughts. The Bullhead finished its direct ascent and then fired out all forward thrusters. It sliced through the skies of Mistral with the maximum speed it had, heading straight for the centre of the conflict.

To Be Continued…

Ruby sat alone in Beacon's cafeteria. Normally she'd have her team, but now with everyone splintered, she had no one but herself. Not even Yang was around.

Still, she had just called Weiss, and the heiress had promised she would be here soon. She asked Ruby why she didn't want to meet in front of their dorms, but after today, she'd rather be anywhere but her room.

As for Yang, Weiss told her she was stuck in the med-bay after their training together. Not out of injury, but because of Raven. Ruby couldn't find it in herself to pull Yang away from that, much less ask Weiss to do it in her stead. So instead, she just gave a weak 'OK' to Weiss and told her to leave Yang alone.

Blake was out of contact. That's all she had.

So now it was just her and Weiss, going to watch the Tournament live later on. And for now, she was alone. She needed to use this time to think and plan.

Her head went back to Venom's words. He was right. They needed to do something to stop Beacon's threats. 'That one emotion' Venom referred to, she found out that it was caring for her family and friends.

She had to stop them. The traitors, and Salem's faction as a whole. She won't fight that anymore.

But should she kill?

Maybe if she didn't know who the traitors were, it'd be much easier. At this point, they didn't, so saying yes wasn't so hard.

The thought didn't scare Ruby as much as she thought. Killing 'figures' wasn't so hard, it seemed.

So with the state things were, she was teetering on 'yes', but 'no' was shouting louder than ever…

Now all she needed was to keep her Team from fracturing, more than because of the White Fang or because of Jaune's death. But just how could she do that…?

A voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey there, Red." Ruby looked up and saw someone familiar approaching.

"You seem kinda down." Mercury pulled a chair back and sat across her. He leaned forward with an eyebrow raised, voice laced with concern. "Everything OK?"

"Oh, hi Merc…" Ruby weakly waved her hand in greeting. "Didn't see you there."

"Really?" Mercury chuckled. "Cindy's going to be glad to hear that. She's been bashing our heads with stealth for a few months now. Glad to know some of it stuck around at least."

Despite herself, Ruby felt the atmosphere lighten. She looked up into Mercury's eyes. There was concern there, and she appreciated the gesture from a friend. The barest hints of a smile formed on her face. "She doesn't like being called that, you know." Ruby pointed out.

Mercury shrugged. "Eh, she's not here, so I don't really care. 'Sides, she's probably off doing chores or something."

"She has been kinda busy lately, hasn't she?" Ruby pondered. "I mean, is it good for her to ditch you guys like that?"

"Ah, she told us about that before actually. Turns out, Cinder's scouting out some senior Hunters to mentor us." Mercury said. "Since we're about to be seniors soon, Cinder wants us to get an idea of how real work in the field goes before we graduate."

"Huh. That's thinking pretty far…" Ruby said.

"She sure likes to plan, that's for sure." Mercury chuckled. Ruby gave a weak chuckle in response.

In the very back of her mind, Ruby admitted that it was nice to see someone from outside RWBY and JNPR. They had met Team CMEN back in the first Vytal Festival they participated in, and they had hit it off rather well. After the exchange program had ended and Team CMEN returned to Haven, Ruby made sure that CMEN and RWBY kept in contact.

To Ruby, it was no surprise they came back for this year's Vytal Festival. They were quite skilled, and if rumours were correct, made sure to gain a favourable enough reputation to return.

But then, his tone turned serious. "But enough about me. You still haven't answered the question from before, Red."

At that, Ruby deflated. "It's just… ehm…" Ruby let out a breath. "A lot's happening right now, and now my Team seems like it's falling apart."

"How so?" Mercury prodded. "I mean, you beat Torchwick, right? Stopped that big-ass mecha too, and the whole deal with the Fang and the Breach. If you asked anyone else, they'd say you guys are the most tight-knit Team in Beacon."

"Language!" Ruby reflexively shouted. "But yeah, I guess you're right. But now that all seems like such a long time ago." Ruby shook her head. "It always seemed so easy. Going around and saving everyone, it's always the right thing to do! We never doubted ourselves, doubted each other, so why now? When everything's at stake?"

"From what I understand, things never go smoothly for too long." Mercury said. "Y'know Emerald and I didn't exactly hit it off, right? We needed some time to sort things out. These things happen, Ruby."

"Where is Emerald, anyway?" Ruby asked Mercury.

At this, Mercury waved his hands. "She's watching the Tournament right now." He said. "She said that there's just something about the live performance than on Scrolls or whatever." He shook his head. "Personally, I don't see the big idea."

"And you didn't choose to tag along with her?" Ruby asked.

"Eh, she's fine with me being here, besides it's Cinder's orders anyway." Mercury said. "She won't be upset in the least."

"Well at least someone's not alone…" Ruby muttered and cast her gaze to the table.

"Ruby, can I ask you something?" Mercury said. At Ruby's miniature nod, Mercury continued. "You said everything was at stake. Do you mean the Tournament?"

Ruby deftly shook her head.

"It isn't? Then what is?"

Ruby exhaled. "Mercury… someone wants to destroy Beacon."

If Mercury was surprised, he certainly didn't show it. He merely raised his eyebrow and leaned back. "That's quite the bold claim, Red." Mercury shrugged. "If they wanna destroy an entire Academy then they've got their work cut out for them. Ozpin, General Ironwood, not to mention you guys! Heh, they'd barely stand a chance."

Ruby cracked a small smile. "Well, that's the idea at least… but how should we get around to doing it? What if it's not enough?"

"Hey, if you think too much, then when're you actually gonna do the damn thing, eh?" Mercury shot back. He was about to say something more, but the vibration of his Scroll cut him off. "Oops. Hold on a sec."

Mercury picked up. "Hello. Mercury here."

Ruby watched as Mercury spoke through his Scroll, her mind mulling over his words. Do what had to be done…

Ruby decided. She had had enough of thinking.

Whatever the cost of her actions, she'll deal with it later. Act first, plan second, and moral dilemma third.

Just like Mr. Venom said to act, and Mercury told her not to wait. They were running out of time.

And her team, she'll wrangle them around whether they liked it or not.

"Ah!" Mercury spoke, breaking her out of her thoughts. He pulled his Scroll slightly to the side and covered it with his hands, "Cinder wants to talk to you, Red."

"Sure."

With that confirmation, Mercury put Cinder on speaker.

"Ruby? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Cinder."

"Good." Cinder confirmed. "Mercury told me you've been having some leadership problems. My only advice is to dig in your heels and do what must be done."

"Okay." Ruby nodded. "I understand."

"Take it from one leader to another, alright?" Cinder told her. "Trust me, Ruby. This comes with our territory."

"It sure does, doesn't it?" Ruby chuckled. Her shoulders felt lighter, and she hear objective was clear now. She had her own methods, her Team had their own methods… they just had to stick together and look at where it took them. "Thanks guys. I needed this."

"No worries, Red." Mercury said. "We'll always hear you out."

"What Mercury said." Cinder said, tone playful. "Oh, and if I may ask, who's got you in such a twist anyway?"

"I don't know if this is my position to tell you this…" Ruby trailed off. But Cinder and Mercury had helped her, hadn't they? It was only right she paid them back in return. Besides, what harm could some names bring?

"There's a bunch of 'newcomers' around in Beacon." Ruby said. "There's Raiden, Jaune, and Venom."

"Jaune?" Cinder asked. "Isn't he…?"

"I know. Long story short, he wasn't actually dead." Ruby said.

"Huh…" Cinder trailed off. "And they're strong enough to make you confused like this?"

"Jaune didn't even break a sweat while fighting JNPR." Ruby responded.

"Ahhh…. So that was him, huh…" Cinder realized. "Huh. Quite the improvement. But anyways, keep what I said in mind, okay, Ruby?"

"Sure thing, Cinder." Ruby nodded. "Thank you."

"Anytime. And as for you, get over here, Mercury. I need you. Now." The tone held no malice, at least none that Ruby could detect.

"Aye aye, captain." Mercury sat up from his seat and gave a little bow to Ruby. "Well, gotta be off, then. See you, Ruby."

"See you."

"Stay safe, you two. I'll see you on the other side, Mercury." And with that, Cinder hung up her call and Mercury dashed out of the cafeteria, leaving Ruby all alone.

Ruby's head was now clear. Her objective, the current conditions, her Team…

Now was the time to act, no matter what it was. And besides, she found herself not caring that much anymore.

After all, these enemies were just 'figures'. Not that hard to deal with those the way traitors should be dealt with.

Jaune leaned against the railings, at the highest level of the Vytal Tournament Arena. Off to the side, Pyrrha stood straight with her hands on the railings. The both of them were watching the rest of their team participate in the tournament, with Nora and Ren pretty much slaughtering the opposing team.

In front of them, they could clearly see the Aura scales of both their teammates and their opponents.

Nora – 70%

Ren – 65 %

Han – 40%

Mariya – 52 %

Of course, the announcer wasn't absent either. The man was excitedly commentating on the battle, hyping up the civilian spectators and providing valuable insight for both them and the Hunters-in-Training as well.

"And there goes Nora from JNPR with her hammer! She's shattering Han's defense with her immense power! No matter the speed Han has, she just can't seem to catch up!"

Down below, Nora slammed her hammer against Han's back. It sent her flying away, rolling on the floor and stopping just before she fell off the edge of the stage.

"Smash 'em, Nora!" Jaune shouted from above.

Nora grinned upon faintly hearing the words. The crowd roared as she lifted her hammer high, and with the encouragement of her former leader, Nora jumped high aiming for her opponent.

"She's playing to the crowd! A big smash with an ever impact! Han's going to have to dodge this or she'll be splat on the ground!"

Nora brought her hammer down with all her might. "HAVE SOME OF THISSSS!"

Han saw her descend quickly and panicked. As fast as she could, she rolled to the side with a push of her hands.

SMASH!

The hammer landed right where her stomach once was. A small cloud of dust kicked up paired with debris, and the entire stage shook from Nora's impact.

"And she avoided it just in time! Folks, I can feel the arena shake from over here, and I'm pretty sure Han's feet is shaking more than mine!"

"Ngh!" Nora gave her hammer a quick tug, pulling it free from the ground. Now, it was her whose feet were just around the edges of the arena. Nora grinned, eager to charge again and get out of this predicament. She turned around to face her opponent, but it turns out she had recovered faster than Nora thought. In mere milliseconds, she was right at her face with her Bo staff right at Nora's face.

Smack!

"Oh and that was a clean hit from Han! Will she be able to keep it up?!"

"Gah!" Nora felt her face being knocked around, but she stood her ground. Another smack at her jaw and Nora winced. Dreadfully, she felt herself stepping back a single step.

"She's overwhelming Nora! If she can keep this up, it doesn't matter the Aura difference!"

"You're done for!" Han shouted. She spun her Bo staff and attacked Nora with a flurry of strikes. First, her hands. Then, her neck, and then her knees, her heels, every single weak joint Nora had to force her off the stage.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

"All Han needs is to push her off the stage!"

"Get out of there, Nora!" Pyrrha shouted. "Don't get overwhelmed!"

The crowd roared as Nora couldn't keep up and took a step back. Then another, then another. Her opponent slammed her Bo staff at Nora's shoulder, and Nora felt herself forced to take a step back and kneel.

"Grk!" Nora's eyes shot open when she felt the edge of the arena cross just beneath half of her feet. Another step and she'd be out of the tournament!

Nora looked up and saw her opponent grip her Bo staff in a stabbing position, aimed right for her face. Her opponent lunged at her with Bo staff.

'Now!'

In a flash, Nora transformed her hammer into its grenade launcher form. She aimed it behind her and fired her impact grenades at the arena-less ground.

BOOM!

Nora grinned. "WOAHHHH!"

Han yelled. "AAAA!"

"AMAZING PLAY BY NORA! But can she save it?! If they keep going, then they'll both be out!"

The explosion knocked both of them into the sky in the direction of the centre of the arena, soaring high parabolically until they peaked near the open roof of the stadium. Both of them flailed wildly about, with Nora cheering wildly and Han yelling a panic. Both of them still had their weapons in their grips, and slowly, ever so slowly, they regained their senses.

They were soaring above the centre of the stadium now, and from the corner of her eye Nora noticed two things. One, that Ren was fighting his opponent below, and two, that Han was closing in on her with her Bo staff drawn.

Nora smirked as she formed an idea. She yelled down below to her partner. "REN! UP HERE!"

Ren looked up while fighting Mariya and saw Nora approaching fast. Quickly, he broke free from his opponent and jumped up to Nora's area.

Nora smirked as she saw Han come in closer and closer. Not just yet…

"HAH!" Han lunged with at Nora with the tip of her Bo staff.

Nora twisted her body and let the attack miss. Han's eyes widened when her guard opened and she realized her mistake. She saw someone else behind Nora, prepared to attack.

No! She didn't have time-!

"Hyah!" Ren kicked Han down, his foot hitting her left shoulder.

"OUCH!" Han's body was sent down… Right into the swinging hammer of Nora.

"YEAHHHH!"

SMASH!

Han's body was sent flying away, soaring like a baseball after a home run swing. "AAAAAAHH!" She screamed as she couldn't fight the force, and in the end, felt her back slam against the protective spectator wall.

"Ngh…" Han groaned as she slowly slid down the wall. After a few seconds, she slumped down and landed on the edge of the building floors, far outside the arena area.

"AND HAN IS OUT!"The announcer shouted. "And that's not all either! Both of Team JNPR's members are still in the green! That begs the question…"

RN landed side-by-side, facing Mariya with both their weapons drawn. In response, their last remaining opponent stared them down and entered her stance. She pointed her polearm at Ren and Nora, but it proved to be of little effect.

Side-by-side with his partner, Ren spun his submachine guns and calmly aimed them at Mariya. Nora chuckled darkly and slammed her hammer on the ground, leaning against it while prepping her chin on her hand.

The crowd roared, and the rest of Team JNPR with them.

"Wooohoo! Good job, guys!" Jaune shouted.

"Take them down, quickly!" Pyrrha said, a proud smile on her face. "Win without a doubt!"

Even through the harsh crowd, Nora and Ren could feel the support from their teammates. They felt their energy burn up in excitement, to take this home for the team.

Mariya tried her best to remain calm. These two were something else!

Nora let her grin grow wide. She pushed herself off of her hammer and held it high behind her. "Let's go, Ren!"

"Hm."

"AND THEY'RE OFF AGAIN! WILL MARIYA SURVIVE THE ASSAULT?!"

The crowd watched in excitement as Nora and Ren took on their remaining opponent. Beneath the lights of the stage, they only got to see the 'exciting' parts of being a Hunter. Nothing like the truth…

Jaune smiled as he watched his teammates perform. "You did well, Pyrrha."

"Thanks, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled too. "It means a lot."

Jaune nodded, and let comfortable silence stretch on. They watched their teammates fight some more, yet it was clear that the fight wouldn't last much longer. There was a reason Ren and Nora were such a dynamic duo, and even more so with only one single opponent. Well, maybe he could just tune out the rest for now.

"So! Fight's about to end." Jaune spoke up, attracting Pyrrha's attention again. "What's the agenda after this?"

"Well, I was thinking we could spend some time together as a team." Pyrrha said. "Maybe a little celebration? If you're not busy with your job, that is."

"Hm, you've got a point…" Jaune thought for a moment, rubbing his chin, before shrugging his concerns away. "Eh. Raiden will contact me if something comes up. I need the day off anyways."

"He won't be looking for you?"

"We've got each other's locations via CODEC." Jaune waved his hand. "If it's anything urgent, he'll ring and give me a call."

"Well that's convenient." Pyrrha said. "And you can just teleport back to Beacon?"

"Exactly." Jaune nodded.

"How exactly does your Semblance work, anyway?" Pyrrha asked. "I couldn't make it out back in our fight."

"Ah… I'm still testing it out, actually." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "But basically, Teleporation works by memory. Any place I can recall, I can go to in the blink of an eye."

"What happens if the memory's blurry?"

"Then the landing destination will also be 'blurry' in a way." Jaune waved his hands. "I'll land in a general area, but not the exact place I want. Like that time I went to Haven with Raiden…. But anyways. since in fights, you can remember vividly the location around you, the place you're fighting, this doesn't tend to be a problem."

"What about teleporting to a place you've only seen, but never been to?"

"I haven't tried that…" Jaune trailed off. He rubbed his chin in thought…

"Let's say you want to teleport to some point in this Arena. But I doubt your memory's strong enough to cover every single inch of this stadium." Pyrrha asked. "What would happen?"

"Hm… the results aren't gonna be pretty, I think…" Jaune trailed off. "Too many people here… it's going to be hard to find a clear dot to focus on. Didn't get much chance to test back before… they locked my Aura with nanomachines, so I didn't get a chance."

'Nanomachines? Locked Aura? Just what kind of technology is that…' Pyrrha thought to herself. But she focused back on the task at hand. "Well then, we're going to have to test that out soon then, no?" Pyrrha asked. "To know your limitations and all."

"Hm, yeah." Jaune nodded. "Maybe after the fight."

"Hm." Pyrrha turned back to the fight. "From what I've heard, the U.C seems like it has so many inventions… wonder what else they have in store?" She mused.

"Oh, you wouldn't hear the end of it." Jaune chuckled. "Cybernetic enhancements all around, high-frequency weapons, alternate energy sources… Ruby's going to have a field day once she hears about 'em."

"Yeah…" Pyrrha trailed off. Speaking of their sister team, "So… What do you think about them?"

Jaune sighed. "Like it or not, they're going to have to learn. Hm, at least you're a bit more open-minded."

Pyrrha stayed silent. That wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't how she'd put it either.

After a few seconds, she gave a short reply. "Sure, let's put it what way…"

If Jaune noticed her pause, he certainly didn't show it. He spoke once more, this one seemingly more to himself. "Salem needs to be stopped." He said certainly. "She can't be allowed to win."

Pyrrha nodded. "That we can agree on."

"Hn."

"AND TEAM JNPR WINS!"

"Heh, what a surprise…" Jaune leaned back from the railings, resting his back on the wall. "So, wanna meet the others down below?"

"Sure! Let's get on that." Pyrrha turned around and smiled at her partner. He returned it with equal spirit and moved to get off the wall. But then, something interrupted his thoughts.

Ring ring! Ring ring!

Incoming CODEC Call

"Ah! Hold on a sec." Jaune put his palm out to Pyrrha, who nodded patiently and leaned against the railing. Jaune put a hand on his ear and answered the CODEC. "Yeah, it's me. What is it?"

"Jaune." Raiden spoke urgently. "We've found the traitor."

"Really?!" Jaune almost shouted. Pyrrha leaned forwards slightly in interest. Now what was this about?

"Yeah. They slipped up, and we managed to track down." Raiden said. By this point, Pyrrha was inching closer and closer to Jaune, who seemed to be too absorbed to notice. She strained her ears to hear what was being said, because she needed to know.

"And…?" Jaune asked. "Who is it?"

"Emerald Sustrai. Transfer student from Haven, of Team CMEN."

"Put their entire team under suspicion too." Jaune said. "There's no way-."

"We're on that. But you're our boots on the ground. Get on them, I'll catch up as fast I can." Raiden said. "If they run, then they're almost certainly guilty."

"On it." Jaune said gravely. "Get back to me soon."

"Will do. Raiden out." The call was cut and Jaune lowered his hand, and only now did Jaune realise it was shaking.

This was it. Their breakthrough. And now, it was time to attack. End this threat for good.

"Jaune…" a voice close to him said. "You're shaking. Is something the matter?"

Jaune closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself down. But he can't do it on his own. Moreover, he has no idea who this 'Emerald' was, where to look, what kind of person she was like…

And even though he was sure Raiden would send the data as soon as he could, mere words on a screen wouldn't do personal profile justice.

Reluctantly, Jaune opened his eyes and looked at his partner dead on. "Pyrrha." He said solemnly.

Pyrrha noticed the change in her partner's behavior. The cold determination, merciless murderer, had returned.

This was something serious. Both for him, and for her.

Jaune spared no pleasantries. "Do you know someone named Emerald?"

Pyrrha felt dread grow in her stomach. She briefly described how Emerald looked, and then, nervously, she turned around and pointed to the student's seat in the stadium.

Jaune looked at where his partner pointed. There, he saw a woman who matched the description to a tee. And even more damningly, she was getting up from her seat and wading past the crowd fast.

And then, suddenly, she disappeared. Like she was never there before, like he hadn't just seen her with his own eyes.

Jaune narrowed his eyes. No way she wasn't guilty now. He put a hand on his hilt and looked at Pyrrha briefly. "Hold on." He ordered.

Pyrrha did as she was told, laying a hand on his mechanical shoulder, but still had some reservations. Her mind was racing to connect the dots. "Jaune, do you mean-?!"

"Yeah." Jaune said with no hesitation. "Emerald Sustrai is the traitor."

Flash!

Jaune teleported them to the student's seats. He grit his teeth as he felt the pull on his gut, then the cold hard floor of the student's stands. That was risky, he had never been on the side of the arena before, so flashing so accurately took some more concentration and Aura. He guessed it took around 10%, and that was out of his already larger tank.

And moreover, they couldn't land correctly either. They tumbled to the floor in a jumbled mess, hastily standing up and looking around. Where was Emerald…?

In the stands, the students jumped back with surprise. Who're these people, how'd they suddenly appear? Wait, wasn't that the Mistral's championship girl and her dead partner-?!

Among those students were Weiss and Ruby. The ice queen jumped back from surprise, and Ruby did mostly the same thing. The youngest of Team RWBY looked at her partner. 'Wait, what's happening-?'

Jaune looked around, as did Pyrrha. Jaune swore. Dammit, she's not around here anymore! He looked to the crowds. Still, no trace!

"Look!" Pyrrha shouted. She pointed to the lower edge of the stands, where Emerald was moving through crowds while visibly panicked. "There she is!"

"Where?!" Jaune shouted. "I can't see her."

Pyrrha squinted her eyes. Just then, Emerald's faded from her vision too. But still, it was late enough for her to make a reasonable deduction. "She's heading for the Hangar!"

"She's getting away!" Jaune shouted. He prepared to take off again, hand on his hilt with Pyrrha close by. They had no time! Once Emerald was off on a Bullhead it'd take too long to track her down again!

"Jaune? Pyrrha?!" Ruby shouted. Just- it was all so fast, even for her! What was even happening?! "What're you-?!"

"No time to explain!" Jaune shouted at Ruby, his head almost snapping from looking at Ruby. The intensity sent Ruby into a slight shock. "Get your head out of the clouds and get your shit, and your Team, together! NOW!"

With that, Jaune raced through the rest of the crowd with haste, leaving Ruby and the other students behind. Pyrrha followed suit with what she could manage, but little by little she felt herself falling behind.

All the while, Ruby's mind was racing. So then, there was only one conclusion.

This was it…

"Ruby?" Weiss asked her partner. She approached her and put her hand on her shoulder, turning her around so she could look at her face. "Ruby, are you…?"

Ruby stayed silent. Then, in a tone colder than even Weiss could ever manage, she gave her orders. "Get the others ready. I don't care how."

Ruby's eyes met Weiss, and an icy determination that lacked nobility greeted the ice queen's gaze. "We're taking action."

"Ma'am, they're-!"

"Relax, Emerald. We're gathering up. Get to these coordinates, and we'll arrange our escape route."

"They're on my tail..." Emerald whispered. "I don't know if I can make it."

Static greeted her.

"Ma'am-?"

"Follow my instructions to the T." Cinder said over her call. "If you want to survive, then do not think and merely obey. That Jaune is powerful... so we'll play with every advantage we've got. And if that's not enough... The Boss already has a plan."

"I understand. I'll do as you say, ma'am."

"Emerald Sustrai's been here since the last Vytal Festival!" Pyrrha shouted after Jaune. She tried to keep her pace as best she could, but she felt her breaths going short. And even then, it seemed Jaune hadn't closed the gap to Emerald just yet.

They were out of the crowds now, running in the halls that lead to the Bullhead hangars. It was still relatively empty, built with sterile white tiles that reflected the two that decided to run out early.

But even though they were fast, Emerald kept extending her lead. Not because of her speed, but because of the maze-like nature of these halls, and also the fact she reached here first. If he took a guess and teleported forward, and then it was the wrong one, then it'd be all over. There were many departure zones in the arena, and the possibilities of which Emerald would go to, which Bullhead she'd take, was simply too great to risk it.

Jaune grunted while running to urge Pyrrha to tell him more. He could just barely keep sight of green flashes as Emerald turned each corner….

"She's a part of Team CMEN! Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and Nia!" Pyrrha shouted. "She uses dual revolvers that can turn to sickles! I don't know what her Semblance is, but she never stood out that much in class!"

They turned a corner. Jaune spoke up. "We're getting closer!" He shouted to Pyrrha. "Keep going!"

"Right!" Pyrrha said. "But Jaune… convincing the others will be harder than you thought!"

"And why's that?!"

"They've played their cards right!" Pyrrha shouted. "These last few years, they've gotten to know everyone at Beacon! And more so, they're close to Team RWBY!"

"Fuck!" Jaune shouted. He turned around a final corner and came to a stop. Not long after Pyrrha, did so as well and stood right beside Jaune.

The hangar was large. Wider than any other room in the arena save for the stage itself, made with hard concrete and installed with bright lights. The other end of the hangar was built to be wide open, to accommodate Bullheads flying in and out.

But the room was empty of any such aircraft.

"No!" Jaune ran to the edge as fast as he can and looked down to the open skies.

The wind whipped against his face, and Jaune put a hand over his eyes. He could feel his ponytail moving, the gusts of wind blowing past his feet. He pulled his hand back and squinted.

Right now, he could see the amazing, clear blue sky above Vale. Right now, they were above the clouds. But there, down in the skies and starting to descend through the clouds, was a Bullhead that was moving suspiciously fast.

They were so high up in the air, at just the border between where Aura works and doesn't work. Just barely above the clouds, but high enough that once someone descended, in a minute they'd be immediately covered in the clouds. And thus, unable to be traced.

"Damn it!" Jaune swore. She got away! He'll have to contact Raiden and get a ground search group together quickly-!

He heard the sound of his partner's footsteps approaching, grinding to a stop next to him. She too looked down and saw Emerald's Bullhead descending.

"That's her…?"

Jaune gave a mute nod.

"Then we jump." Pyrrha said in an even tone.

Jaune's head whipped to his partner. "….What're you-?"

Pyrrha met Jaune's concerned gaze with her determination. "Trust me."

Jaune let out a breath. If he did this, then Pyrrha'd be involved no matter what.

But in the current situation, did he really have a choice?

"Fine." Jaune nodded. "I trust you."

"Then stand beside me." Jaune did as he was told, and the two stood side-by-side facing against the edge of the hangar. "Link your CODEC to my Scroll's call." Jaune quickly did just that, and now Pyrrha spoke once more.

"We jump in 3… 2… 1…"

The Bullhead was growing to be too small to see...

"Now!"

Both of them leaned over the edge, their bodies tilting forwards and the wind whipping against their face. Then, as one, the two jumped over the edge and flipped in the open skies.

FWOOOSH!

After several flips, both Jaune and Pyrrha stabilized their dive and went into a straight posture with their heads ground first. Jaune squinted his eyes as the wind assaulted his face, his mask automatically deploying. This was a crazy idea, even for him!

Jaune looked down. The Bullhead was fully within the clouds now. Damn!

He shot a bare glance at his partner. How was she faring?

In surprise, Jaune saw that his partner had both of her eyes closed. Instead of normal diving positions, she had her left hand outstretched to below.

Even more curiously, it was glowing black.

Pyrrha focused on everything metal around her with her Semblance. They were diving fast, and there were only three metal sources in these skies. Her partner, herself, and the Bullhead. That last one was the farthest away. All she needed was to get closer, and use her Semblance to find out where it was…

She continued to detect metal presences around her, giving the Bullhead slight tugs with Polarity to guide them both.

Jaune looked down, a smirk hidden beneath his mask. Ah, so that was her plan. Dangerous, but no doubt genius.

They dived together through the clouds.

Jaune heard Pyrrha speak through his CODEC. "Left!"

Jaune adjusted his position just as Pyrrha did the same.

"Open formation!" Jaune opened his arms, breaking the momentum. "Slight right!" Jaune tilted to his right. "Forwards!" As they entered the clouds, Jaune followed every command.

All around them, it was nothing but white fluffy vapour. But even so, he could still hear his partner's voice clearly.

"Right!"

"Backwards!"

"Left!"

"Dive! Full speed!"

Eventually, the cloud started to thin.

"Brake! Now!"

Jaune did as Pyrrha told, and both of them slowed down their descent with open arms and feet. As they pierced through, they could finally gain clear vision.

Jaune chuckled darkly. The Bullhead was right below them.

"Hold on!" Jaune shouted, and not a moment later he felt Pyrrha's hand on his armour.

Jaune chuckled and put his hand on HF Murasama's hilt. Then, as they grew closer, he pulled the trigger and let him and his partner lurch forward.

BANG!

HF Murasama flew out if its hilt and into his hand. Following the movement, Jaune stabbed HF Murasama into the top of the Bullhead to pin him and Pyrrha down.

Clang!

"Argh!" Jaune grunted as they both hit the Bullhead hard. Just as they landed, the Bullhead began to go faster. And add to that, its movements became more erratic.

The Bullhead jerked left. Then right. Then it began to tilt up and down wildly.

"SHIT!" Jaune could barely hold on to his sword. Moreover, he was concerned for his partner. "Hold on Pyrrha!"

The Bullhead continued to move wildly, no clear direction in mind. Pyrrha realized both her and Jaune couldn't keep this up. "We need to stop them!"

"How?!" Her partner shouted.

"Let me handle this!" Pyrrha shouted back. "It'll only take a second!"

"Then you better hurry!" Jaune shouted.

"Don't worry!" Pyrrha let go of Jaune and attached herself to the Bullhead's roof with her hands and feet. Then, she used Polarity to make herself stick.

"Ngh!" Pyrrha's grips almost faltered. The force of a thousand winds blew against her body. But still, she had to hold on. Slowly, she moved herself in reverse, to the back end of the Bullhead.

The Bullhead moved erratically again, and Jaune almost lost his grip on HF Murasma. Damn, hurry up Pyrrha!

After a few seconds, Pyrrha finally made it to the back end of the Bullhead. Right below her would be the Bullhead's closed hatch. Pyrrha took a deep breath. Alright, time to do this.

"HYAH!" Pyrhha leapt from her position and flipped to the closed hatch of the Bullhead feet first to kick it down. Encasing her feet with Polarity, she bent the hatch and forced herself in.

BAM!

Pyrrha went through the hatch, forcing it open and landing on her own two feet inside the Bullhead. She could still feel the wind blowing behind her, the change in pressure causing air to move quickly.

She heard the sound of footsteps from above the aircraft. Not long after, Jaune too landed inside and joined her side-by-side.

"Oof…" Jaune let out a breath. His mask retreated and he gasped for breath. That was some crazy idea…

Loud beeps sounded, and emergency metal walls propped up behind them to close the 'hole' they just made. It replaced the open hatch, stabilizing the Bullhead once more and preventing them from a way out. In front of them was the way out of the cargo bay. Then, the passenger seats, and then finally, the pilot seat.

All they had to do was make it through all three, not that it would be particularly difficult.

"Hah… Hah… You're crazy… you know that?" Jaune bit out. In response, Pyrrha merely drew her weapons from her back.

"We're… not done… just yet, Jaune." But even she was gasping for breath too. She forced herself into a ready position. "We need to keep going…"

"Yeah…" Jaune gasped out. He stood straight, redeployed his mask, and twirled HF Murasama in his hand. They stood beside each other, and Jaune spoke again. "How much Aura did do you have left?"

"I'm at around thirty percent" Pyrrha said.

"Damn. I'm at around sixty too." Jaune said. "Fighting the winds sure took a lot, more so for you since you used your Semblance." Jaune made a decision and stepped forwards.

"I'll lead." He said to Pyrrha. His tone held no room for argument. "Stick beside me."

"…Alright." Pyrrha relented and stepped slightly behind Jaune.

Jaune gave a slight nod. The two of them stepped forwards, slowly inching through the plane's interiors. As they reached the first door, Jaune held HF Murasama high and sliced it open.

"RARGH!" Jaune kicked the gap wider and pushed through, Pyrrha following behind him. They both entered the second section, the passenger seats room.

All the lights were out, which meant this Bullheaddid indeed take off in a hurry. Jaune held HF Murasama in front of him, its blood-red glow illuminating a small area in front of him. Pyrrha stuck close to him, her weapon in rifle form and checking all edges.

They stopped in the middle of the passenger section, back-to-back. "All clear." Pyrrha whispered to Jaune.

"Same here." Jaune answered. "Not picking anything up around..."

Suddenly, they heard the click of the pilot door opening. Jaune and Pyrrha's head snapped to the door.

It was creaking open, ever so slowly…

Then, a pair of chained sickles came flying out.

Jaune raised his sword and blocked them both. He cast his gaze back to the door, which had fully opened.

Jaune narrowed his eyes. There was no one there, only the bare light of the pilot seat leaking into the dark passenger sections. He turned to his partner. "You see anyone?"

Pyrrha gripped her rifle tight, pushing its stock against her shoulder. "None."

They let the silence reign for a few seconds, knowing that each of them could draw their own, same, conclusions about Emerald.

Jaune pursed his lips and whispered to his partner. "I can't go all out in a plane. It'll risk us both."

Pyrrha gave a mute nod, understanding what Jaune meant. She whispered back to him. "I'll make sure your one swing counts."

The atmosphere was tense. They both knew that Emerald was watching them, waiting for the right time to strike.

Any second now.

A pair of chain sickles lurched forwards from Jaune's left.

"Hmph!" Jaune parried the blows and let the attack bounce back. Once it did, the sickles faded from both of their views. Jaune noted that neither of them were aimed at him. Instead, they were aimed at Pyrrha. And with the slight tensing of his partner's shoulder, Pyrrha no doubt knew this as well. Jaune pursed his lips. 'Sly bastard…'

Jaune's eyes darted around. Where next…?

He heard the sound from his right, and his eyes immediately darted there.

Clang!

He blocked another attack, and the sickles once more returned to nothing.

More sounds. To the left again!

He blocked another attack and saw it retreat once more. Jaune shot a glance at Pyrrha, who seemed utterly calm. He'll wait patiently for her help, but what exactly was she planning?

Another attack, this one from right in front of Pyrrha. She jumped above the attacks, Jaune dodging to the left, and fired several shots at her front.

The shots hit the wall, and the sickles retreated and disappeared as they both landed. They immediately got back-to-back once more.

'She's getting more desperate…' Pyrrha thought. And those previous shots confirmed it to. Where the sickles came from didn't necessarily mean where Emerald was. With the chains, she had a lot of range to manipulate where the attacks came from.

This time, the attack came from above them.

"Split!" Jaune ordered. Both of them dodged forwards, the sickles landing in between them. The two sickles then went in different directions. One Jaune, and the other Pyrrha.

Pyrrha flipped upwards, dodging her danger, while Jaune parried the attack. The sickles withdrew and then switched between Jaune and Pyrrha.

Jaune and Pyrrha kept deflecting and dodging respectively. With each miss, the attack became more and more frequent. 'That's it…' Pyrrha thought, dodging another sickle slicing down on her left. 'Good. Get desperate.'

The attacks' speed grew, but not to a degree Jaune couldn't keep up with. He deflected another attack and looked at his partner. She was deftly dodging the attacks, patiently waiting for something. 'How much longer…?'

Pyrrha ducked below a sickle aimed at her neck. Before she could stand up straight, she had already jumped above another attack for her heels. The blades were coming at her faster…

But from their chase before, at the stadium, Pyrrha had concluded one thing. Emerald couldn't move too fast while she was using her Semblance, lest the illusions dropped for a brief second.

And with that latest attack, speed faster than ever before, Pyrrha spun quickly in mid-air, eyes searching around the room.

Her eyes spun behind her, and her determined orbs met Emerald's red dead-on.

No illusions to block her now.

Pyrrha saw Emerald's eyes widen in fear. The thief was about to open her mouth in shock before Pyrrha forcefully pushed herself down to her feet.

With the sickle chain still beneath her, once Pyrrha landed, the chains were instantly pinned to the ground by her feet.

Crk!

"No!" Emerald shouted, and with her panic, all signs of the illusion dropped, both for Jaune and for Pyrrha. She had to move away, get to Cinder-!

"HYAH!" Pyrrha lifted her hand towards Emerald, surrounded by Polarity. She yelled and ripped a chair from the floorboards near her opponent and smashed it at Emerald's back.

"GAH!" Emerald flew forwards from the impact, losing footing and flying towards Pyrrha…

And then straight past her and right for Jaune.

Jaune smirked beneath his mask. Adjusting his grip on HF Murasama, he lunged with all his speed. "RAH!"

Jaune stabbed Emerald in the arm and blood sprouted forth.

Splash!

"AHHH!" Emerald screamed in pain, but Jaune didn't stop there. He continued, pushing after the stab, pinning Emerald down to the floor with HF Murasama through her arm.

"Ngh!" Emerald tried to stand up, even with her arm pinned and bleeding profusely. That attack pierced through her Aura! Just who was this guy-!

All of a sudden, her eyes saw dark as something cold and metal covered them both.

Wait, no-!

"RAH!" Jaune grabbed Emerald's head with his mechanical hand, squeezed it hard, and pushed it to the floor.

SLAM!

Emerald fell limp, the grip on both her weapons slacking as they laind beside her.

Jaune let out a breath and slowly retreated, his hand letting go of Emerald's head.

"She's out?" Pyrrha approached him.

"Cold." Jaune responded. He pulled HF Murasama free and flicked it off of blood, sheathing it and stepping back. "You do the honours."

"Gladly." Pyrrha lifted her hand, and several pipes lifted from the floorboards. They bent in shape, circling over Emerald's hands and feet to prevent her from moving.

Once it was done, Pyrrha lowered her hands and fell to a seat in exhaustion.

"Hah…" Pyrrha gasped for air. That whole sequence took a lot out of her… she was probably deep in the red by now.

Jaune, noticing this, decided to take up the rest of the duty. "I'll redirect the ship for Beacon." He said and turned back to head for the pilot seat.

Pyrrha managed a weak thumbs up, but nonetheless laid back in her chair.

Ah, that was close. Now, to head back to Beacon and finally get some answers.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The Bullhead lurched and Pyrrha felt herself being thrown forwards. She managed to catch herself, but it wasn't easy. "What's going on?" She shouted.

The Bullhead lurched again and Pyrrha pelt the pressure inside the cabin change. Then, she felt them begin to descend rapidly. "Jaune!"

"Someone's got override over the controls!" Jaune shouted. "I can't steer the thing!"

"WHAT?!" Pyrrha shouted. "How?!"

"I don't know!" Jaune shouted. From the pilot's cabin, he tapped every single button there was, but none were responsive. He yanked the yoke back and forth, but it was no use. "Nothing's working!"

And then, just as Jaune said that, all onboard screens suddenly turned red with a black logo in the middle.

Jaune growled. Someone's hacked the Bullhead!

"Then where are we headed?!" Pyrrha shouted.

When Jaune didn't answer, Pyrrha scooted herself over to the window-side seats. She saw the skyline of Vale getting closer and closer, and they had no signs of slowing down their descent.

The Bullhead shifted again, and this time Pyrrha could practically feel the nosedive of the aircraft. Pyrrha saw tall buildings fly past, and then slightly shorter, and then the average story building… and they had no signs of slowing down.

They were going to end up smack-dab in the centre of Vale.

"We're going to crash!" Pyrrha shouted. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Not a second later and she saw Jaune bursting through the pilot cabin's door. Before she could utter another word, Jaune grabbed her hand and moved to drag her and him both to the cargo exit at the back.

"Come on!" Jaune shouted. "We have to jump out somewhere near!"

"R-Right!"

The clock was ticking, and the streets were getting closer and closer. Pyrrha could imagine the civilians above, panicking as they saw a Bullhead about to crash. And by Polarity's metal estimations and surrounding objects, they had just above five seconds.

They both reached the exit at the back and with a flourish of HF Murasama, Jaune sliced the metal forcibly open. He took a peek outside, looking at where he could take them.

Jaune saw an empty patch of ground, just below. But they were moving so fast more than 1500 feet per minute, his teleport could barely keep up! He can't move so accurately to a place he didn't know!

Unless…

He spent most of his tank on this one.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune. 'Three seconds.'

'Right.' Jaune clenched his fist. 'All or nothing.' He tried to focus on a single spot on the streets flying by.

'There.'

"Hold on, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha stepped beside him and gave him a squeeze on his metal shoulder.

'One second.'

With a nod, they both jumped out of the plane and teleported.

But not before Jaune felt a sickle wrap around his ankle.

Flash!

"Oooff!" Jaune wrapped his hands around Pyrrha and shielded her as they crashed and tumbled on the streets. Jaune felt his back crash and bounce on the hard asphalt, each hit draining him of his Aura. Jaune growled and opened his mechanical arm, planting it on the road to stop them from their movement.

The road cracked as Jaune's fingers made their mark. With his other hand still wrapped around Pyrrha, Jaune clenched his right hand harder to force them to a stop.

"Tch!" 'Come on, stop dammit!'

But it wasn't enough, and Jaune felt his back slam hard against a storefront before finally stopping.

Crash!

"Ack!" Jaune felt spit come out of his mouth, as well as shattered glass descending around him. He checked on himself, his limbs, his vision, everything. He felt just fine, but one thing was missing, and important to note.

From the skydiving, the combat, the teleports, and the crash landing, it was that he was finally out of Aura.

"Ngh…" Jaune shook his head, a slight dizziness starting to come. He took a blurry look around. He swore that he felt something wrap around his ankle just before he leapt out.

Fwoomm….

Jaune's vision cleared and he looked up when he heard something ominous come in.

The Bullhead was falling right in front of them, nose barely a few metres from the ground.

His eyes widened. They weren't clear of the blast radius-!

In less than a second, the large, passenger-bus spec Bullhead crashed into the streets of Vale.

BOOOOOOOM!

Jaune hugged Pyrrha around and covered her from the blast with his back as best he can.

Flames consumed them both, and Jaune felt his back start to heat up, red-hot flames surrounding them all.

Jaune grit his teeth and roared as his mask deployed. "Gah!"

FWOOSHH!

An entire city block was thrown to disarray, plumes of smoke rising high and visible even from the CCT Tower.

She felt warm.

"Ngh…"

The air was hot around her, like something from inside an oven. Sirens and emergency alarms were blazing, and she could also hear open torrents of water from fire hydrants flying through.

She tried to open her eyes. How long was she out for…? Her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurry. Her body felt sore, and she only had the barest traces of Aura left. If she were to guess, it'd be hardly above 10%.

Her stamina was downright drained. She tried to move her muscles, but she was wrapped securely around something. Or someone…

"Ah…" She pushed and forced herself free, falling to the concrete on all fours. The body that previously guarded her flopped beside her unceremoniously.

She tried to gather her breaths and organize her thoughts. Everything that happened… what was her next objective?

She looked to the side at the body that protected her. A formerly glistening white-painted metal arm, now covered in soot and burns, and the back part of the body's armor sparking with short-circuited electricity and burning damage…

'No!'

"Jaune!" Pyrrha forced herself through her tiredness and dragged her partner against a wall. His body was heavy, more so with his armour and weapons, but she pushed through and managed to position him to relax.

"Ngg…" Jaune stirred as he felt himself being moved, then positioned to lean against a wall. He opened his eyes slowly, and Pyrrha saw his mask retreat.

"Heh…" Jaune looked at her and gave her a smirk. But even so, she could see the burn marks on his skin, the blood leaking down his lips, a gash on his forehead that paired with a trail of blood down his chin, and his suit nothing but bare scraps hanging on.

Jaune chuckled, but grimaced when his back hurt. Pyrrha saw sparks shoot up from the back of his armor and small fires being lit and unlit as time went on. "Is it over?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha glanced behind her. All this destruction… "Depends on how you look at it." She settled for.

"Heh, guess so." Jaune leaned his head back. He took in a deep breath, trying to gather some strength back. His back was the sorest it's ever been, withstanding a blast that wrecked an entire city block. He tried some experimental movements, but the armor didn't give him any enhancements in that department.

Jaune groaned inside his head. It was going to take some time before it rewired itself to a degree and start working again…

Jaune turned his focus back to his partner and gave her a weak smile. "You alright?"

Pyrrha gave him a small smile. "…I'll manage."

"Atta girl." Jaune smiled but then devolved into a coughing fit. The smoke must've gotten into some of his lungs...

Jaune looked past his partner, eyes sharpening. That was enough for pleasantries. Time to confirm where Emerald was…

"Pyrhha." Jaune looked to his partner again. "You found Emerald yet?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "Didn't see her." She said, "Once I woke up, I started helping you."

"That so…" Jaune knit his eyebrows. "Then there's a good chance she's still alive."

"You're sure?" Pyrrha asked skeptically. "The blast took –" Pyrrha motioned around them both. "All of this out. And look at you! You're already worse for wear as is."

"I felt something wrap around my ankle just before we jumped." Jaune said. "The coincidence's too good to be true, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha sighed and lowered her head. Damn it…

And then they heard the sound of metal falling. Then, a shout, and then a groan as someone forced themselves to keep moving.

The sound came from somewhere they couldn't see, but the voice was instantly recognizable.

Emerald Sustrai.

Jaune turned to his left, where the sound came from. It was there that he saw a bloodstain that lead away, away to the mazes of the city.

Jaune tried to lift himself up, but fell short when his back gave up on him. "Grk!" He felt himself crash back to the floor. He curled his hand into a fist. If only he had the strength…

"Easy there." Pyrrha held out a hand to her partner, and Jaune relaxed just a little bit. He was hurt, and yet every second they waited was the further Emerald escaped. Not to mention the time it took to wait for backup to arrive. After everything they went through, they simply couldn't let Emerald get away. Not when they were this close.

This chase took everything out of them, and Pyrrha won't let it go to waste.

"She must've landed near us and took cover." Jaune growled. "Found building cover that was able to survive the explosion, but it still damaged her."

Pyrrha gave a mute nod. If she had to hazard a guess, the blast broke through Emerald's Aura but didn't deplete it. And judging from the decreasing bloodstains as they got farther, she was healing herself rather quickly.

Pyrrha guessed Emerald would be fully healed in around three minutes, with a remaining Aura of around 40 percent. And also, by the time she was fully healed, she had no doubt that Emerald's teammates would pick her up and they'd disappear into thin air.

40 percent…

Much more than her measly 9 percent.

But that was if she got away.

Pyrrha made her decision.

"I'll go after her." Pyrrha said.

Jaune's eyes widened. "Pyrrha…" He whispered. "No. No! There's too much at risk!"

~Guitar Strings~

"What if there's more of them?!" Jaune said. "She's bound to have called for backup. There must be a reason she crashed here. What about the Fang? The rest of her team? Or if she gets a lucky shot!? The answer's no!"

"We're losing time the more we argue." Pyrrha said matter-of-factly. "If we let her go, then Beacon will lose its only advantage."

"Screw Beacon!" Jaune shouted. "I'm not sending you to die!"

"Jaune, Emerald's already seen my face." Pyrrha gave sad smile. "They'll know I'm involved. Vale's under threat and there's not a chance I'll ever stand by. And besides, Ozpin wants me to be the Maiden. Do you really think I'll ever be free?"

"You make it sound like there's no choice. There's always a choice." Jaune denied hotly. "I'm not giving up on people again. Not this time."

"Jaune… this is for the best." Pyrrha knelt down in front of her partner and looked him dead in the eye. She gave him her most sincere expression

With a promise, she took Jaune's mechanical right hand and wrapped it in both of her own hands.

We are not your kind of people...

"I'm not leaving you, Jaune." Pyrrha said with utmost determination. "I promise you, I'm coming back."

You seem kind of phony…

Jaune felt his resolve shake. His vision slightly blurred when he looked at his partner's face, smiling with sincere eyes promising to return.

Everything's a lie.

He's at a total liability.

For the first time, he actually can't do anything.

No, that wasn't right.

There was still one thing he could do.

We are not your kind of people...

Jaune lowered his gaze when he felt something begin to leak from his eyes. With a heavy heart, he lowered his left hand and let it inch to his hip.

Something in your make-up…

Pyrrha didn't dare look. She had an inkling as to what was coming, so she kept both of her hands wrapped securely in Jaune's right.

Don't see eye-to-eye…

Jaune's left hand found his most prized possession. With a final touch, he released it from its bindings and gripped it in his left hand.

Click!

Jaune pulled it free from his hip and presented the sheathed HF Murasama to Pyrrha with his left hand.

We are not your kind of people…

"Promise me." Jaune lifted his head and looked at Pyrrha dead in the eye. "Come back."

Don't want to be like you…

Pyrrha pulled her right hand free and grabbed HF Murasama's hilt with it. She felt the unique vibrations of an HF Blade in her hands, the enhanced properties of the metal with Polarity, of the characteristics of such a weapon. "I will." She promised.

Ever in our lives…

Jaune gave a short nod, and with it, let go of HF Murasama with his left hand.

NEW USER – AUTHORISED.

VT7 HF BLADE – MURASAMA: FULL ACCESS.

PYRRHA.

ACCESS GRANTED.

The dialog box retreated and Pyrrha pulled back and stood straight. On her back, her weapon and a plain white shield. And now, on her right hand, HF Murasama.

We are not your kind of people…

With her head held high, Pyrrha turned to the bloodstains and followed its trail, walking with readiness she never had before. Her heels crushed against the broken concrete and glass, accompanying her footstep noise, alarms and remains of destruction.

We find when you start talking…

Jaune watched her go as her back slowly became smaller and smaller.

Now, all he could do was wait and watch.

There's nothing but white noise...

And there we go, the chapter's end.

Thoughts, leave them in the reviews.

See you next time!

Review Respones:

To trisycthe59, I'll try to make the finale to this Arc not as depressing as that, as in having some hope in the end. Now all that's left is just getting to that peak of the Arc! Thanks for reading!

To Shashenka, glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!

To SolSparda369, Ruby's finally springing into action! Question is, will it be positive or not?

To Gwynx, glad you liked it! I wanted to both confront Ruby as the 'sunny protagonist' and also for Venom as the last time he 'saw' such a thing, Paz died a shitty death that pretty much made any type of character like that here in the MG 'verse so hard to exist (safe for Sunny). Actually wanted the hallucinations to return as well, but figured it was time he finally moved on. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

To Spyash2, it's coming, just have to figure out how exactly!

To Dhestrya, thanks!

To CriticaOfRandomness, team name should come sometime in the future! Also, RWBY finally getting shit together (at least starting with the leader)! Thanks for reading!

To Phantommore, just a matter of time now!

To Galeon82, the virus is still in the save for now. Jaune's trying his best to repair, but at the end now there's actually nothing he could do. Raven's connection is going to be interrogated even more, and as you can see, Tai's coming! Things are indeed going to the shit rather quickly. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed!

To Sneaking Box, box strat ftw!

To JCINNABAR, thanks for liking the story! I'll try to keep 'em coming!

To KyubiSora, thanks for the compliment! Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter!