Cards of Remnant

by TheMaster4444

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

47. Happy Birthday, Ruby Rose!

Happy New Year! :)

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

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"EEEEEEEEEE! IT'S THEM!"

"The Heroes of The Breach!"

"Marry me, Blake!"

"Step on me, Ms. Schnee!"

"Please include me in the Monochrome harem!"

A rabid crowd stampeded through the streets of Vale, chasing two girls in black and white clothing. Thanks to the ethereal glyphs beneath them, the hunting duelists outpaced the mob, turning a sharp corner out of sight. The fans took the turn as fast as rapier wasps that smelled sap, uncaring the target pair had disappeared from sight.

And not noticing the two ladies in trenchcoats, hoods, glasses, and thick bushy mustaches that slipped inside the grand reopening of From Dust 'Till Dawn.

"Ha! And you said the fake mustaches were overkill," Weiss preened, pulling back her hood and stroking her ostentatious facial hair. "I'll thank you not to underestimate my experience with an enthusiastic fanbase again."

"It was a very different adventure than running from the cops," Blake admitted, taking down her own hood and chuckling beneath her mustache. " But I was right about Shadow Clones still doing the trick."

"They were an exceptionally useful diversion. They can't spot the small details in them like they could in my decoys back home."

Weiss and Blake chuckled at the small joke, both girls having fun despite having to get out of view of any of the shop's windows. In the month since The Breach, their rigorous PR campaign had proved even more effective than they'd hoped. Law enforcement had only contacted them for expected follow-up statements and hearings about The Breach and showed no signs of issuing an arrest warrant for The Odd-Eyed Bandit. Professor Ozpin had even reassured them that he was arranging a full pardon to be issued in both Vale and Atlas. Mistral wouldn't be happy about it, but so long as the cat faunus didn't vacation there any time soon, that wouldn't be a problem.

In the meantime, Blake was able to experience the simple joy of being a cat faunus in public again. She hadn't realized how stifling it'd been to wear that bow all the time until she felt that crisp wind on her ears again. Sure, she'd gotten some surprised looks around Beacon as students trickled back from their away missions, but they'd thought her a human for months now, so some confusion was understandable. Some of them had been outside the reliable CCT range for their assignments and didn't even know The Breach had happened for weeks.

It was somewhat strange how life had gone on afterward. The biggest terrorist attack in decades and people were more enamored by the star-crossed heroines who'd saved the day than any thought of how close they came to annihilation. Even the dust shortage's effects were fading without the White Fang to interfere with shipments.

"Why are prices still so high?" Blake pondered, frowning at the sky-high lien numbers labeling shelves of dust and cards. "I know they're trying to make up for lost profits, but this feels like price gouging."

"It probably is. But this place is tame compared to some of the larger markets," Weiss shrugged. "With any luck, the council will take action before things get too bad–"

RING! RING! RING!

'Are you satisfied with your victory, my darling?'

Blake hopped back, a familiar voice filling her mind. Her eyes widened as she looked at the corner of the shelf, Adam standing with a wrathful, his SDC brand accusing as it throbbed on his face.

"Blake?" Weiss asked, her eyes narrowed as her teammate's sudden jumpiness. "What's wrong?"

"I…" Blake mumbled, glancing towards her friend a moment before looking back to where Adam was.

Except when she looked back, there was no bull faunus. Just a display of dust crystals for sale, the fire gems at the top the same shade as Adam's hair.

Weiss clocked her friend's spooked expression, putting a hand on her shaking shoulder for support. "You saw him again?"

"Y… yeah," Blake confirmed. "He's not there though. He's locked up, where he should be."

Which made it all the more frightening that she kept seeing him. She'd learned her lesson about hiding things from her friends, so she'd told Weiss when it'd started happening a week into their press tour. Together, they'd been able to hide the cat faunus' condition from the public, but they'd been able to make little progress getting to the root of the problem.

"We beat him. I know he's not some unstoppable monster now," Blake growled. "So why do I keep seeing him?"

"Maybe, because he wasn't just a monster to you?" Weiss suggested. "Consciously, you know what he became. But subconsciously, he might still be something else to you. Or at least represent something else."

"Doesn't make it any easier to get him to stay away," Blake sighed. She glanced at her teammate's scroll, its ringing continuing from before. "You gonna get that?"

Weiss pulled out her scroll, a look of hope briefly on her face. Only to frown and hang up as soon as she saw the caller ID.

"Your dad again?" Blake inquired.

Weiss sighed. At first, her father bringing the power of the SDC propaganda machine to bear had been a boon for their efforts. Every news channel wanted to speak with them, the more radically conservative networks couldn't go after them without risking the funding the billionaire paid them under the table, it was astoundingly convenient.

But nothing from Jacques Schnee ever came free. Before long, it was clear that he wanted Blake to do much more for company PR than just stand next to his daughter. He went from helping to arrange interviews to trying to script what the girls said in them to get Ghira Belladonna's daughter defending SDC policies on live broadcast. Policies that could only be charitably described as "capitalistically inhumane".

Suffice it to say, Weiss and Blake had refused. But while Jacques wouldn't throw away the good PR he'd gotten so far by publicly turning on The Heroes of The Breach, he hadn't stopped trying to dig his claws deeper into them.

"He never did know how to take a hint," Weiss grumbled. "I'm trying to keep this line open for people I actually like."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer that we'd called ahead?"

Weiss and Blake whipped down the aisle, smiles blooming across their faces as Pyrrha waved at them with a joking smile, the rest of Team JNPR assembled behind her.

Greetings, laughs, and hugs were exchanged by all, the six friends quickly continuing their conversations as they shopped.

"When did you guys get back from your mission?" Blake inquired.

"Just last yesterday," Jaune said. "Working with a frontier sheriff was really interesting."

"We laid down the law!" Nora cheered.

"And then jetlag laid us out," Ren said.

"Well, all of us but Pyrrha," Nora giggled. "Someone pulled a Ruby at the forge last night."

Weiss and Blake stared at the Argus girl in shock, the redhead sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

"I was… inspired. By something that happened the night of the dance," Pyrrha explained. "I've been working to incorporate some old favorites back into my deck from before I started dueling professionally in Argus. So I wanted to forge some new support that worked for them in my Heroic deck. Admittedly, I lack Ruby's skill, so no successes so far."

"But why change your deck at all?" Weiss queried. "It's perfect! You're perfect!"

Despite the sincerity of the heiress' praise, Blake caught Pyrrha wincing at it. "Thank you, but perfection is stifling. Brittle. And, honestly, not me. Or, not all of me. My friends are trying to reach me on The Invincible Girl's pedestal, but I want them to find 'me' when they reach me, not just her."

"But–"

"Would you prefer to duel as yourself, or just the Schnee Heiress?" Jaune asked, one of his eyes looking weirdly red under the store's lights.

Weiss pouted. "... well, I wouldn't say The Invincible Girl has the same negative connotation as my family name, but point taken. Thank you… uh, Jaune."

The blond smiled, though Blake noted that, in addition to his uncharacteristic insightfulness, he seemed far more at ease than Jaune's usual goofy grin. "Astral."

Blake cocked an eyebrow as Weiss's orbs widened. The crystal blue spheres zipped between her teammate and Team JNPR's leader.

"Are you sure?" the heiress inquired.

"Ren has recently showcased just how deserving of trust my friends are," Jaune replied. "I believe it is time that the eight of our teams know the truth."

"The truth being?" Blake asked, curious but without judgment. "Are you secretly a faunus too?"

"No. I am a mystical spirit that lives inside Jaune's necklace and shares a mysterious connection to the Over-One Hundred Numbers."

"... okay. For the sake of Ilia and Ragnazero, I will need elaboration. And for the sake of my Ninjas of Love slash fic, I will need firsthand details on 'a spirit living inside another guy'."

Who said that being outed as a faunus would make her life any less weird?

---

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While Astral sequestered Blake in a corner to let her know the details of his and Jaune's situation, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora went to the counter to make their purchases. Fortunately, despite the grand reopening, the shop was mostly empty. Otherwise, there might have been rabid people around to see through the heiress' brilliant fake mustache. They'd certainly already be looking their way given The Invincible Girl's presence.

And the giant poster of Winter next to the register.

"Execution By The Kaiserin!" Nora read off the promotional poster for the Vytal Festival's opening exhibition duel. A woman who looked like an older, even more icy version of Weiss dominated the sheet in full military regalia. The marketing team was clearly given direction on who to focus on, her opponent barely present under a battered hood, surrounded by Cyber Dragons in the corner. "They're really not hiding who they expect to win, are they? Who she dueling anyway?"

"Professor Port. Though you wouldn't know it by the headlines," Ren remarked, glancing through his scroll's newsfeed. "Or the bookies. All the bets seem to be about whether The Kaiserin will win in round one or round two."

"If she goes second, as ideal for a Cyber Dragon deck, then round one," Weiss preened. "No offense to Professor Port, but my sister is the fastest rising star in the Specialist Program's history and the youngest person ever selected to be part of the Vytal Festival's exhibition duel."

Nora leaned into Ren as they paid for their common booster packs. "Put us down for a hundred lien that the duel goes two rounds. She's way too proud of her sister for this to not backfire."

"I'll have you know she deserves that pride and more! Oh! I am so excited to see her at the festival!" Weiss shook with excitement, only to cast a reproachful side-eye at her friends' boosters. "Also, is that really all you're getting as Ruby's presents?"

Ren shrugged. "We're poor and prices are still abnormally high."

"We are living on our Beacon scholarship stipends," Nora added. "Plus, it is Ruby. We could give her random cards we found on the ground and she'd love it."

They weren't exactly wrong, but Weiss still felt compelled to frown as she handed the shopkeep her card. She slid the expensive dust mixing bowl she was getting for her partner across the counter. Ruby had gone through enough since The Breach. She deserved the best, most expensive birthday present to perk her up.

Pyrrha nervously shuffled over to the heiress. "Speaking of Ruby, how is she? And… well…"

"Yang?" Weiss glumly finished, her noodles turning morose. "I don't know. Blake and I have been texting them every free moment we get. Which admittedly isn't much. But Ruby usually responds eventually, while Yang…"

Pyrrha mournfully looked down. "I've always known the danger of our chosen profession. But I never imagined that even Yang would be…"

Nora gulped. "The news has been focused on you guys, but when they mention Yang, they say that… that she…"

She made a chopping motion halfway up her arm. Weiss reluctantly nodded.

Pyrrha's face fell further.

"She's been recovering well, according to Ruby," Weiss tried to perk everyone up. "Apart from her arm, her aura healed her up weeks ago and she's acing her physical therapy. The fittings for a prosthetic have gone well and the final, personalized model will be arriving from Atlas any day now."

"That's good," Ren said. "Perhaps she will be able to return to school for our second year."

"You kidding? This is Yang we're talking about?" Nora grinned, though Weiss couldn't tell if it was real or just for Pyrrha's sake. "If her body's all fixed up, she'll be ready to kick dueling butt by the Vytal Festival. She's Team RWBY'S scout after all–"

A thrown projectile interrupted the encouragement, slicing through the air. Weiss' eyes widened as her own payment card was seized only an inch from her face, Astral having deftly caught it in Jaune's fingers.

"Oh yeah, you're definitely too coordinated to be Jaune," Blake remarked, saddling into the checkout line with a shopping bag of rough dust.

"Are you alright?" Astral gently inquired.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you," Weiss replied. She glanced around his hand at the checkout counter. "But what–"

She was greeted by the old shopkeep furiously pointing at the cash registers display: DENIED.

"What?" She murmured. "That doesn't make sense. I've been so busy running around doing PR that I haven't even touched this month's allowance."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Your allowance from your father?"

"Yes."

"Who's been trying to turn us into his propaganda machine?"

"Yes."

"Whose calls you've been ghosting?"

"Yes–wait! You don't think he's cut me off, do you?"

"Your father has committed multiple crimes against humanity," Astral pointed out. "Logically, this is well within his threshold."

Weiss' breath hitched in her throat, pale and frozen as her friends mournfully shook their heads at her. Not only was this a socially embarrassing scenario, not only did it open the door to her father escalating his attempts to financially control her like pulling her Beacon tuition, but most horribly she couldn't buy Ruby's birthday present!

She looked at Blake for help. The cat faunus regretfully lifted her own bag.

"I'm living on school stipend," The cat faunus reminded her. "My present is cheap dust."

Weiss pulled her fake mustache from her face, unveiling her true identity to the shopkeep. "Good sir, would it be possible to get a 'Savior of Vale' discount?"

The shopkeep didn't seem fazed by her reveal, merely pointing up at the banner above the counter.

"Grand Reopening! Robbed Three Times But Still Not Out!" Nora read off, cocking an eyebrow. "Man, did Torchwick have it out for this place or something?"

"I think this was the place he first met Ruby," Jaune said, his eyes morphed back to completely blue. "Might have created some bad memories."

Weiss pouted. "Okay, I understand the need for profit after such an event. Maybe… ten percent off?"

The shopkeep shook his head.

Weiss collapsed over the counter in tears. Truly, it was a terrible fate to be poor!

"I'll pay for it," Pyrrha offered, handing her payment card to the shopkeep. The old man grinned as the cash register purred with lien symbols, happily bagging the dust mixing bowl.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss cheered, sobbing in thanks as she adoringly hugged the redhead. "You really are perfect! But what about your present?"

Pyrrha chuckled and reassuringly patted the melting heiress on the back. "Don't worry. Ruby actually asked me to get her something specific for her birthday a while back. I'm already all set to give it to her."

Blake smirked slyly as she made her own purchase. "She asked for it specifically? Somehow, I think I know what it is."

"How is Ruby doing by the way?" Jaune inquired. "I've been back in CCT range for a day and my scroll's backed up with sponsors wanting to endorse our team for the Vytal Festival."

"Mostly because of Pyrrha," Nora admitted.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Though you should probably let me know if any of them are companies you turned down in the past for good reason," Jaune reassured his partner. "But I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Heroes of The Breach are who everyone's talking about. The whole kingdom's talking about you. Probably all of Remnant. There's got to be a ton of sponsors who want to endorse you guys."

"And they'll have been bombarding Ruby with offers and negotiations for a month now," Weiss paled in realization.

As much as sponsors could possibly help shore up her teetering financial situation in case her father pulled her Beacon tuition to make her return to Atlas, the white-haired girl was far more concerned for her partner. For as wonderful as Ruby was, social skills were not her strength, let alone matching wits with corporate lawyers. They wouldn't care for the emotional havoc that she was dealing with during her leave from Beacon (to say Team RWBY finished their away mission early was an understatement, so they had the rest of the scheduled period off). They would only seek to use it to manipulate her into benefiting them.

Oh, what turmoil must the leader of Team RWBY have been dealing with?

---

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"Bouncy castle!" Ruby cheered.

"Bouncy castle!" Sun hollered.

"Bouncy castle!" Emerald joyfully echoed.

Outside the Xiao-Long family residence, Weiss, Blake, and Team JNPR arrived to find a massive, colorful bouncy castle inflated in front of the house. While Penny and Mercury stood at the entrance, the three hunting duelists in training laughed their hearts out as they bounded into the sky. Black Rose Dragon and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon were manifested on either side of the rubbery fortress of fun, their vines cycling above the teenagers as the most extreme game of jump rope in history.

"Salutations, friends!" Penny waved, Mercury not sparing the new arrivals a glance as he massacred a plate of cake. "Welcome to the sweet sixteen of Ruby Rose!"

Weiss blinked in flummoxed befuddlement. "Well, she's doing much better than I expected."

"Of course she is. She's got a bouncy castle!" Nora exclaimed, dashing for the entrance. Amazingly, she actually skidded to a stop in front of Penny and Mercury. "Oh, sorry. Are you guys in front of us in line?"

"I'm just here for the cake," Mercury said.

"Which is why I gave him my slice! Not at all because I am unable to consume food," Penny beamed. "But don't worry, my friend Nora! You are free to bounce! This castle is cleared for more than three people at once."

"Great!" Nora celebrated. "But why are you out here then?"

"I am unfortunately over the weight limit."

Nora blinked. She looked Penny's petite form up and down. She quirked her head to the side. "... okay then! Last one in is a rotten egg! I shall be queen of this castle!"

"Wait, Nora!" Jaune yelled, both him and Ren charging after her into the elastic haven. "This is probably a rental!"

Pyrrha laughed at her team's antics. Meanwhile, Weiss' brow furrowed in confusion at Penny.

"Bouncy castles for adults can usually take five hundred kilograms or more," she murmured. "How could she be over the weight limit?"

"She couldn't," Blake pointed out, leaning in so Penny couldn't hear them. "But not everyone wants it known that they're too scared to try out the bounce house at their friend's birthday party. Especially people in our profession who've got a lot of pressure on them to be brave and strong."

"Especially if they're held up as The Second Coming of the Kaiserin," Weiss glumly noted.

She knew from experience how harrowing it could be to be compared to the perfection that was her sister. She would keep her Goddess of Notetaking's secret and not press her on her obvious cover.

"It's nice to see you again, Penny," Pyrrha smiled, striding up to the other girl while Jaune desperately dodged the dragon vines swishing through the air.

"Thank you, Pyrrha Nikos! It is nice to see you too," Penny replied. "You are Team JNPR's scout, correct?"

"That's correct."

"Sensational!" Penny cheered. "I am my team's as well. If our paths cross in the Scouts' Turbo Duel round, I look forward to an exemplary duel with you."

"Thank you. I look forward to our duel too if that's where the chips fall," Pyrrha grinned back. "Though speaking of scouts, I don't see Team RWBY's around?"

For once, Mercury's fork paused in stuffing his face.

"She's in her room," he revealed.

"The general is with her," Penny nodded. "My father finished making the final version of her prosthetic, so since my research schedule has been too busy to see everyone, I asked if I could drop in to deliver it and give Ruby her presents. He decided that since I needed an escort anyway, he would come along to handle the final hookups and give me time to enjoy the party."

"General Ironwood is here? Himself?" Weiss queried.

Between running the military, Atlas Academy, and his two seats on the council, the general was one of the busiest people on Remnant, surpassed only by Headmaster Ozpin when he had to deal with all the logistics for the Vytal Festival. His schedule was planned out to the second each day, and its events likely went long and played havoc with his sleep schedule. For him to have made time, even if only a little, to personally escort Penny to the party and deliver Yang's new prosthetic, demonstrated that he put immense importance on either the safety of The Second Coming of The Kaiserin, Yang's recovery, or both.

Or maybe he just wanted the daughter of Link Summoning's creator to have as much time with her friends as her own busy schedule allowed?

"Oomf!" Jaune exclaimed, his face hitting the bouncy castle floor. Starving Venom laughed, flexing his vine that had swatted the blond when he'd leapt too high and couldn't dodge.

"Good try, Jaune!" Pyrrha encouraged.

"Why do I get the feeling that Starving Venom is enjoying this more than Black Rose Dragon?" Weiss sarcastically remarked, the Fusion monster swatting Nora down into the rubber. Unlike Jaune, the redheaded girl cheered as she was wildly tossed about.

"He is. He got more excited as Emerald and Sun dodged his vines. Black Rose Dragon became frustrated that she couldn't hit them," Penny smiled, Ren also nimbly dodging the Signer Dragon's competitive ivy. "I think he enjoys the challenge. Especially with his and Ruby's training."

"Training?" Blake queried. "At a birthday party?"

"That doesn't sound like Ruby," Pyrrha noted.

"Geronimo!"

The girls looked up, Ruby leaping off the highest vine of Black Rose Dragon. The hooded girl dove through the air, nimbly darting through her monsters' whips.

At the end of her descending arc, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon opened its jagged maw.

"Is she…?" Blake worried.

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss waved off. "Not even Ruby would risk getting eaten by her own–"

Starving Venom's jaws snapped closed around its duelist, rose petals trailing down its throat as acid dripped from its fangs.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Weiss, Blake, and Pyrrha screamed.

"Well done!" Penny grinned, flashing a thumbs-up at Starving Venom's feet. "That was your fastest dispersion yet."

"That dolt was eaten by her own monster!" Weiss sobbed. "I always knew it would end this way–dispersion?"

A round of familiar laughter broke the mourning, the rose petals reforming at Starving Venom's feet. Reforming into a very much not-eaten Ruby.

"Close but no candy cigar, buddy," she grinned up at Starving Venom. "Better luck next time. And you get to enjoy a next time because you didn't actually eat me. Huh? Huuuuuh?"

Starving Venom rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide a hint of a smile. Though he quickly dashed that expression into a petulant pout when he saw Black Rose Dragon flashing him a shit-eating grin.

"Alright," Ruby clapped her hands, turning to her friends. "Dispersion time felt good, but Penny, how was my reforming–Oof!"

"You dolt!" Weiss cried, squeezing Ruby in a tight embrace. "How dare you nearly get my third favorite Xiao-Long/Rose eaten?"

"Huh?" Ruby blinked. "Blake, can you explain–"

"You're a dolt," Blake scowled, looking like she was about to rush in and hug her team leader herself. Or smack her.

"Okay…" Ruby muttered, Weiss releasing her with a still livid face. "Pyrrha, can help understand–Aah!"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence before Pyrrha rushed in and engulfed her in an even tighter hug than Weiss.

"Aagh! Yang strength hug! Yang strength!" Ruby gasped, flailing in the muscular redhead's loving embrace. "Not like this! Not… like… this…"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha exclaimed, hurriedly releasing her friend. The champion sheepishly rubbed her hair as Ruby took in huge gulps of air. "We're all just so glad you didn't get eaten."

"Because you jumped into your own monster's mouth!" Weiss glared, a touch of envy in her gaze as she looked at where Pyrrha's muscular arms were formerly wrapped around her partner. "Why would you possibly do that?"

"Training," Ruby coughed. "Helps Starving Venom see he can have fun without eating people, and work on my semblance."

"Eating people?" Pyrrha raised a concerned eyebrow.

"Your semblance?" Blake queried. "I thought you had that down. It's speed, right?"

"Well, yes. But also, no," Ruby said. "Turns out, it wasn't what I thought it was, or it evolved or something. Penny explains it better than I do."

Penny grinned. "Ruby is capable of traveling at high velocity from one point to another by breaking herself down into her molecular components and reassembling herself at her destination."

Weiss crossed her arms and gestured to the rose petals scattered around the bouncy castle.

"I don't know, BFF. Sometimes semblances have weird quirks to them," Ruby shrugged. "Like Yang's hair lighting on fire."

Pyrrha's eyes whipped away from where she was staring nervously up at Starving Venom, who seemed far too happy when Jaune got up to try bouncing through its vines again. "How is Yang?"

"She's… uh… hopefully getting a new arm that finally fits right will help her," Ruby said. "But, since everyone's all here, I think it's time for presents!"

The silver-eyed warrior clapped her hands. Slowly but surely, those still in the bounce house dismounted, Ren helping Jaune and Nora limp out, grins plastered over both their faces. Sun and Emerald followed, both still jittery and wired.

"Woohoo!" Emerald beamed, the biggest smile on her face Weiss had ever seen. "That was amazing! How was that so amazing? I've flown on my monsters before."

"Haha! It's different when you're leaping through the air yourself," Sun laughed. "Especially different when the ground is bouncy beneath you. I am so glad Neptune and the guys were willing to cover my Junior Detectives shifts so I could come! Never actually been in one of these things before. Without sneaking in, I mean."

"I wish I'd snuck into one before!" Emerald cackled. "When I was shooting up through the sky, dodging vines, I felt so free–"

The green-haired girl cut herself off, catching sight of her partner staring at her with a mocking, shit-eating smirk.

"Shut up," she scowled.

"I didn't say anything," Mercury whistled.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything."

Emerald stomped off towards the main group. Mercury shrugged at Sun, hanging back and eating more cake as the monkey faunus went ahead of him.

"I wasn't expecting to have to give presents so soon," Weiss said, raising her bag. "But while I admit this gift wasn't exactly paid for by me, it does come from my heart–"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I meant presents given from me to you guys," Ruby clarified. "Penny?"

"Affirmative!" Penny saluted, pulling out several cards from her pockets and handing them to the hostess. "Happy birthday, my friend Ruby!"

"Thank you! And thank you for handling the forging for me," Ruby smiled back, handing the cards out to her friends.

"You're welcome! Your designs were very intuitive."

"Aw, thank you–"

"Link Monsters!" Weiss exclaimed, staring at the new Phantom Knight in her hand.

"Two for me," Blake whispered, her eyes flickering between the pair of blue monsters in her hand.

"We were already working on one that supports Pendulum Monsters. I wasn't able to utilize Ruby's design wholly for it, but I was able to use some ideas to create an additional one for you," Penny explained.

"Headmaster Ozpin's asked us not to use Fusion Monsters during the Vytal Festival, so those will help you kick butt anyway, Blake," Ruby said.

"The headmaster was very insistent that I not tell anyone about Fusion after I saw his duel with your dad," Emerald revealed. "He trying to keep it secret or something?"

"Pretty much. Don't know why exactly, but I say we listen to his warning this time," Ruby insisted. "Though I didn't know you would be here, Mercury. No offense, I'm glad to have someone who can compete with Nora's cake devouring, but you never accepted any of our invitations to Onomatopeia Gang night."

"There wasn't cake there," Mercury succinctly replied. "Besides, I'm not exactly looking for big boosts to my deck."

Penny passed him a card anyway. "I apologize, but I only have the standard support card we were making for Warrior-Type decks."

"Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights," the gray-haired boy noted. "Not bad. Guessing The Invincible Girl got the same?"

"I did," Pyrrha confirmed. "Is there a story about this one, Jaune?"

"I mean, I admit, I was never the best at Noble Knight lore. That was always Sapphron," the blonde leader of Team JNPR admitted. "But if I remember right, both Isoldes were in love with the same Noble Knight. It wasn't a love triangle, they knew him at different times. But they both met tragic ends because of that love. That right, Penny?"

"Affirmative!" Penny nodded. "Though, Ruby, I do feel bad that I didn't get you anything as a birthday present for you."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby insisted, throwing up a smile too wide for even her. "Helping my friends get stronger so they won't get hurt is the best present there is."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow, sharing a befuddled look with Blake. It wasn't exactly out of character for Ruby, but it felt more strained that it would have before Mt. Glenn.

"Ruby…" Weiss started to speak.

"Still, it is your birthday," Penny spoke up, rubbing her chin in thought. Then, she snapped her fingers as her face brightened up. "Oh! Aoi's suggestion!"

Weiss flinched back. "Aoi Zaizen? How do you know her–"

Her question died on her tongue as Penny took hold of Ruby's face and smushed their lips together.

---

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"... based on your previous fitting tests at the hospital, Dr. Polendina was able to customize this prosthetic specifically for the nerves that were relocated in your stump," Ironwood explained with a smile. "We were able to make use of your physical therapy training data for its CPU too. So you won't have to spend time getting it to learn what signals from which nerves mean which motions. It already knows."

"How about that? The wonders of Atlesian science," Tai laughed. "What do you say, Yang? Want to try it on?"

Even as soon as the blonde man said it, Ironwood doubted his daughter would acquiesce to his request.

The room was that of a child, posters of boybands and entertainment duelists littering the walls. Boxes of random common cards were shoved against the foot of the bed, Speedroids among Synchrons among fiends among children show promos. The bed's sheets were ruffled and unmade, littered with dog hair as Zwei snuggled up with his mistress.

That mistress was Yang Xiao-Long, the teenager wearing a brown jacket with a sleeve tied off around the stump that used to be her right arm. Physically, she looked much better than she had in the direct aftermath of Mt. Glenn, no longer haggard or marred with bags under her eyes. From what Ironwood heard, she'd aced her physical therapy and could move around as easily as she could before her crash.

And yet, she looked anywhere but at the open box he'd presented her with, anywhere but the hi-tech cybernetic arm that could make her whole.

"I… Thanks, general," Yang muttered. "But I'm… I'm not feeling too great today. Maybe… some other time."

Tai's face fell. "Sure. No problem."

Ironwood found himself less permissive. He glanced down at his own mechanical arm hidden under his glove and sleeve, the chip that helped him control his machine half thrumming in his ear. He knew firsthand the depression that could sink through a person after they lost a limb, how it could feel like they'd never be whole again, because a piece of them was gone. And it was never coming back.

He reached for his glove, considering if he should remove it, show the young huntress that she was not the only who'd gone through such horror. That it could be weathered. That one could move forward from it.

But in the end, he did not grip it. What good would it do to show her that there was no safety from such a danger? That a headmaster, a general, someone who was supposed to be strong enough to protect her and all her loved ones, had been weak enough to make mistakes grievous enough to scar him so?

No, he had to show strength if he was to have any hope to help her. But that didn't mean he couldn't use his own experiences to help her. He had not forgotten the spirited, passionate huntress he'd seen duel the night of the dance. No child deserved to be dimmed so gravely from seeking to do their duty.

"Forgive me for asking, but why?" he said. "in my experience, soldiers who've been through what you have usually want to get back to normal as soon as possible?"

"Heh. Everyone keeps asking me when I'll be back to normal. But… this is normal now," Yang mourned. "A piece of me is gone and it's never coming back."

Her eyes drifted to her bedside table, clutching Zwei closer as her gaze fell on the drawer's knobs.

"More than one piece."

Ironwood walked over to the bedside drawer, looking to its owner for permission. Upon receiving a nod from Yang, he opened it up. Within was her deck, neatly stacked. And next to it, was a scrap of a Synchro Monster's card.

"I see," the general glumly sighed.

"I do too," Tai declared. "You lost some brain cells along with that arm."

Ironwood whirled on the blond, his eyes wide. What the fuck–

"Hahahaha!" Yang laughed, a sun reignited from within its cold miasma. "Haha! You jerk!"

Ironwood blinked in confusion as both daughter and father grinned like maniacs. He had no idea how those words came across as endearing instead of horrifically insulting, but he supposed different things worked for different people. And Tai knew his child better than the general did.

Not everyone took well to pity, even the most well-intentioned.

"You're my sunny little dragon, Yang," Tai smiled. "That hasn't changed. You're kind, and caring, and stronger than you give yourself credit for. Losing an arm doesn't mean there's no way for you to be the person you want to be."

"He's right," Ironwood concurred. "Ms. Xiao-Long… Yang… sometimes, in this line of work, sacrifice is demanded of us. Sometimes, sacrifices we don't think can be recovered from. The stress of the battlefield can follow us off it. But it can't stop us from doing what needs to be done."

Yang's smile held for a moment, only to be tinged with melancholy yet again as she glanced toward her bedside drawer.

She stood up and strode over to the table, staring down at her deck and her torn-up ace. "But what if I can't do it? I can't pretend to be strong anymore. I'm alive… but I'm weak."

Weak? Hardly.

Ironwood had done research into Team RWBY's records both before and after The Breach. Yang's dueling abilities were nothing short of exemplary. Sure, she wasn't a prodigy on Winter or Pyrrha Nikos' level, but they were practically once-in-a-generation talents. But Tai's eldest was a skilled duelist in her own right, forged by training, grit, and hard work, better than many prospective huntsmen ahead of her in their training. She had simply been outmatched against an experienced killer like Neopolitan.

"You're still a child, Yang. No one is expecting you to save the world yet," the general comforted her. "Go downstairs, be with your friends. It's your sister's birthday after all."

Yang flinched away at the mention of her sibling. "Ruby… doesn't deserve to have me bringing down the mood."

Ironwood felt there was more to those words than he was being told, but at that point, he'd said all he could without showing his own prosthetics. Tai led him out of the room, allowing Yang to close the door for her solitude.

"Thank you for getting that arm made so quickly," Tai said as the two men headed down the stairs and out of the house. "Honestly, I thought I'd have to call in some favors to get something like that for her."

"No favors needed. Not for that. Not from me," James assured his old acquaintance.

He rubbed his gloved hand, remembering the feeling as the leader he once trusted had his Vorse Raider slice off through his flesh. He would not deny that he hoped that Yang recovered stronger than ever so that the secrets of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon could be uncovered, but at his heart? No one should have to go through such trauma, let alone a young child.

Perhaps if they were able to unlock the secrets of Team RWBY's dragons, they could put an end to The Queen and ensure no child ever had to go through such a thing again.

"Penny! Time to go!" Ironwood called as he and Tai arrived in the yard with the bouncy castle and Ms. Rose's dragons. "Penny?"

"Ready, sir!" Penny dutifully saluted. "Goodbye, friends!"

The Ignis girl skipped to the general's side, but he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the other teenagers left in her wake. He didn't know the green-haired girl or the silver-haired boy eating cake, both of them seemingly more confused by everyone else's reactions than anything. Sun Wukong, who assisted Team RWBY in their battle with the White Fang at the docks, was smirking as he flashed two thumbs-ups at Ruby. Nora Valkyrie was madly shaking Lie Ren with a manic grin on her face. Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc were blinking at Ruby in a blind stupor. Blake was feverishly writing things down in a notebook. Weiss was white as a ghost, her hands shaking in front of her mouth like they were looking for pearls to clutch.

Meanwhile, Ruby just stared ahead, her silver eyes lost staring at something that didn't exist.

"Happy birthday, Ruby," Ironwood said.

"Huhuhuhuhwhat?"

Ironwood's confusion grew as he and Penny headed back to their transport. "What happened to get them all like that?"

"I gave Ruby her birthday present," Penny explained. "When I asked my team what I could get for her, Aoi said 'Gonna give your girlfriend a birthday kiss?'."

Ironwood choked. "Girlfriend?"

"Yes. That was the phrasing she used. I'm curious why she didn't just use 'friend who is a girl'. I think that would be the usual way to say it," Penny shrugged, though her smile seemed somehow brighter than even her usual glowing grin. "Regardless, it was a very enjoyable gift to give. Especially teammate Naoki's suggestion that I use my tongue."

"Ah…" Ironwood murmured, in no way sure how to approach this situation. "Maybe… maybe don't tell Pietro about the tongue."

He had no idea how to deal with the next stage of hunting duelist evolution possibly developing a schoolgirl crush, but he really didn't want her father to find out she'd used tongue in her first kiss on his watch.

"General, one second!"

Ironwood turned back. "Ms. Belladonna?"

The cat faunus dashed up to him. Ironic, that about a year ago, he would have been trying to arrest her. Now, she'd proven to be one of his most vital allies and true huntress. He and Ozpin had been doing what they could behind the scenes to support her reformation, even pressuring the Vale police to grant her request to return her duel runner from impound.

"What can I help you with?" he inquired.

"It's… Adam," Blake said, her brow scrunched and unsure. "He's still locked up on your ship, right?"

"He is," the general replied. The information was hardly classified given how the media reported on him and Torchwick's unusual incarceration location.

"And he's… still there, right?" Blake queried. "All the time?"

"We have cameras on him twenty-four-seven," Ironwood confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

The dark-haired woman shuffled nervously, her cat ears pressed down against her head. "I… long story."

The general's face softened. Given what little he knew about the partnership between The Odd-Eyed Bandit and The Blood-Soaked Bull, he could make an educated guess what was haunting Blake.

"The stresses of the battlefield can follow us off of it. It does not make us any lesser," he consoled the girl. "You defeated him. A phantom is no threat."

Blake glanced back to her friends. "I had help against him. I don't think they can help with this. Not at the end of it."

"That hardly makes him invincible," Ironwood pointed out. "Block it out. Power on through."

Keep moving forward.

He left the party with those wise words, work more still to be done for him, Penny, and all who sought to save humanity.

---

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Ruby wasn't sure how long it took to get her brain back online. There were a lot of conflicting ideas rattling around in her skull. Confusion that Penny kissed her. Befuddled revulsion at being kissed on the lips, with tongue. Yet, happiness that Penny had been the one to kiss her? What was that all about? Weren't those two things antithetical?

Oh, forget it! It was her birthday. She had enough things to deal with, she could deal with whatever this was some other time.

She had her most important present to open.

"Pyrrha!" she shouted, perhaps louder than she should have given half her friends jumped when she suddenly spoke up. "I'll take your present now."

"Pyrrha's going to kiss you too?!" Weiss squealed, covering her mouth as her snow-white cheeks turned scarlet. "You can't have all the mature, muscular redheads! It's too greedy!"

"Yeah! You're not getting me, you silver-eyed heartbreaker!" Nora protested, yanking the still dizzy Ren close.

"Nora, I said 'mature', muscular redheads."

"And I have enough muscles to make up for not being mature."

"What are you talking about?" Ren inquired to his partner. "You're plenty mature. Not subtle, but mature."

"Aww! Thanks, Ren!" Nora grinned, only to glare daggers at Ruby. "See! You cannot compete, you seductive harem queen!"

Sun kept shooting Ruby thumbs-ups with a big smile for some reason. Blake returned from talking with General Ironwood, already jotting down more notes for herself. Jaune was nervously rubbing his head while trying to look anywhere but at his first Beacon friend. Emerald and Mercury were the only ones who were reacting sensibly, the former staring befuddled at everyone else's responses while the latter ignored it all to steal the cake from others' plates.

Tai grinned proudly. "Ah, birthday mouth-to-mouth action. My little girl is becoming a true Xiao-Long woman."

Ruby's eyebrow twitched. And she thought Yang not seeing that kiss would mean it wouldn't be problematic. "Pyrrha, you can give me the present by mom's grave–"

"You're going to kiss Pyrrha at your mom's grave?!"

"Would you forget about the kissing, Weiss?!" Ruby snapped. She took a deep breath and tiredly looked to the Invincible Girl. "To be clear, kissing is not the present I'm talking about."

"Huh? O–Oh, I didn't think it was," Pyrrha stammered, turning away from Jaune, who she'd been discreetly staring at for some reason. Though once she was well and truly focused on Ruby, an eager, challenging grin rose to her lips. "Though, if you're still after what we discussed before, I question if it truly qualifies as a 'gift'."

Ruby mirrored the champion's excited smile. "Believe me, I've wanted to duel you for a long time. I can't think of a better present."

---

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It didn't take long for most of the group to move to Summer's grave (Mercury preferred to stay with the food rather than watch a 'boring, old duel'). Once they arrived, Ruby took a moment to kneel beside the stone.

'Thus Kindly I Scatter…' read differently when she now knew exactly who'd scattered her.

"It's the first time I've been here since I found out what really happened to you. How you dueled The Queen and lost. You took on the ultimate evil, and it didn't go the way it should have," Ruby muttered, too soft for anyone to hear. "I know I'm all that there is now. I'll have to be enough. But, I want to reassure you… I will be. I promise."

Everyone told her she had to be the leader. She would have to live up to that.

She rose and deployed Crescent Rose, Pyrrha already waiting with her own bronze duel disk. Everyone else watched from the treeline as the two huntresses squared up.

"You okay if I try something before we start?" Ruby asked her friend.

"It's your birthday," Pyrrha graciously replied.

Ruby nodded and raised her arm. From beneath her sleeve, her Signer Mark flared.

"Light Magic is about unity for a greater cause. Togetherness," she muttered, remembering her dad's lessons over the past month, as she attempted to command the magic of Black Rose Dragon. "Five fingers make a fist. Six dragons serve the crimson. Two children gods sired by Odin, the father."

It was a basic incantation, meant to help her focus her power the same way a summoning chant helped one mold their aura for an intricate monster. Now, her Signer Mark called the depths of her dragon's Light Magic, manifesting it in bright crimson light. Slowly but steadily, the scarlet glow began to wrap around her and Pyrrha, forming a circular barrier, just like those her dad could conjure. Or that Lil' Miss had utilized through her drone that night at The Club.

But unlike theirs, when Ruby's curves of red light met, they did not connect into a single circlet. Instead, their angle of impact was just off, the entire magic matrix fizzling out.

"Darn it!" Ruby groaned, her breath heavier than before.

Pyrrha eyed where the light had been forming as her friend's Signer Mark faded. "Was that what I think it was?"

"Sorry. I've been practicing with my mark. Wanted to see if I could finally make a working barrier. Or even an unstable one," Ruby sighed, raising Crescent Rose to move on. "Looks like I need more practice."

"Your dedication to your training is admirable," Pyrrha smirked, Milo ready and waiting on her arm. "But this is a party. A present. Let's have some fun while we're here."

"Duel!"

Ruby Rose: 4000 Life Points

Pyrrha Nikos: 4000 Life Points

"Birthday girl goes first," Ruby claimed, slamming a monster card onto her duel disk, the wilted bulb of Evil Thorn (ATK 100/DEF 300). "I normal summon Evil Thorn, then activate its effect to tribute itself to summon two more from my deck. Dealing you three hundred points of damage in the process!"

The black spikes fired from her dying flower, two more rising to take its place. As expected, Pyrrha deftly dodged between the hail of botanical darts.

Pyrrha Nikos: 3700 Life Points

Still, it would be enough. Ruby had asked Pyrrha for a birthday duel long before Mt. Glenn, but she'd confirmed it was the present she wanted because it was useful to her purposes. She'd spent weeks forging new cards, finetuning her deck with new strategies to take on difficult foes who'd given her trouble in the past. Torchwick, Ilia, even Cinder (though she was admittedly not an outright terrorist like the other two), she had to be ready for any of them.

Pyrrha was the strongest duelist in Beacon, practically an ace huntress already even without being an Emperor. She'd beaten Yang and Ilia. If Ruby could beat her, then it would be proof that all her preparation was working, that she could bear the titanic challenge that her myriad of magic powers had placed on her shoulders. So she'd put together a logical strategy to unseat The Invincible Girl and her Heroic Challengers.

All that was left was to see if she was competent enough to carry it out.

"Appear! The circuit that moves forward! Arrowheads! Bottom left! Bottom right!" she called, a blue square of light manifesting before her. The two Evil Thorns broke into streams of crimson energy, surging into the grid's bottom two corners. "Link Summon! Link-2! Aromaseraphy Jasmine!"

A spritely botanical fairy broke out the circuit's opposite side, giggling as it took its place in Ruby's Extra Monster Zone. The pale plant creature brandished a staff topped with a purple wreath, encumbered by numerous sweet-smelling satchels (ATK 1800).

"Ooo!" Pyrrha excitedly remarked. "It looks like Penny did give a present for yourself after all. I mean, you know, besides the… uh…"

"Penny didn't make me this," Ruby cut in, already eyeing Weiss by the treeline, the heiress about to let out another scandalized gasp if reminded of what happened at the house. "I forged it after Mt. Glenn."

"You forged a Link Monster? That's incredible!" Pyrrha praised her. Only for her brow to furrow a moment later, befuddled. "I… thought you'd be more excited about it. You've been trying to forge one since you found out they exist."

"Yeah. And I have. She's beautiful," Ruby acknowledged, sparing a brief smile for her monster. Jasmine fluttered and grinned back at her duelist, eagerly flapping her wings as a dour girl in a dark green dress (ATK 800/DEF 0) appeared in one of the zones her link arrows pointed to. "But, there's more to be done. Since I have more life points than you, I can special summon Aromage Laurel from my hand. Then, Jasmine can tribute a monster it points to in order to summon a Plant-Type monster from my deck in defense mode."

"Any Plant-Type monster?" Pyrrha gasped.

Aromaseraphy Jasmine waved its staff, a purple flower rising up from the ground and consuming Aromage Laurel in its petals. When the violet leaves fell, they were replaced with an orange blossom, a small flame at its tip (ATK 500/DEF 1400).

"Lonefire Blossom," Ruby announced. But at the same time, bright green pollen rose up from where Aromage Laurel at be sacrificed, making the duelist's aura grow brighter as Jasmine fired a beam of light toward her deck.

Ruby Rose: 4500 Life Points

"When Aromage Laurel is sent to the graveyard, I gain five hundred life points. And once per turn, when I gain life points, Aromaseraphy Jasmine lets me add a Plant-Type monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Aromaseraphy Angelica," Ruby announced, pulling her extra monster from her deck. "Now, I tribute my Lonefire Blossom to activate its effect to summon any Plant from my deck. I choose another Lonefire Blossom. Then, I use its effect to summon another copy, and finally, I use the third one's effect to summon Chirubime, Princess of Autumn Leaves in defense mode!"

The Lonefire Blossoms burned one after another, their mulch fertilizing the ground on which they stood. When all three had incinerated themselves into Ruby's graveyard, a radiant monarch with a headdress of warm, autumn plumage took shape in one of the zones Aromaseraphy Jasime pointed to, her sideways card signifying her defense position (ATK 1800/DEF 2800).

"So long as I have more life points than you, neither Aromaseraphy Jasmine, nor any monster it points to, can be destroyed by battle," Ruby revealed.

"And Chirubime's effect forces it to be attacked instead of any of your other plant monsters," Pyrrha recalled with a smile. "A strong defense against a battle-oriented deck like mine."

"That's the idea," Ruby murmured, taking care to speak too softly for her friend to overhear as her gaze fell down to her remaining hand.

She had never beaten Yang, even after all their years together. She didn't know if she could have beaten Ilia atop the train. She'd been annihilated by Cinder and her superior use of effect damage and field control.

Pyrrha had beaten Yang. Pyrrha had beaten Ilia. Like Cinder was the strongest duelist from Haven, The Invincible Girl was the strongest duelist from Beacon. If Ruby could match her, best her, maybe she could be the huntress everyone told her she needed to be.

Aromatherapy Jasmine and the Princess of Autumn Leaves were a solid defensive core to build around, but there were still threats. Pyrrha's deck had piercing damage options like Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd. If she was able to use it to deal damage over Chirubime's defense points, Jasmine's battle protection was done. And one good shot from Heroic Champion - Excalibur would annihilate Ruby.

Frozen Rose, Energy-Absorbing Monolith, Enemy Controller, Aromaseraphy Angelica, all cards she'd added to her deck as part of her new experiments. It was time to see how well her new strategies performed in a real duel.

"I set three cards facedown and end my turn!"

---

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"Hmm…" Sun pondered, overlooking the duel. "Is it just me, or is Ruby being more… business-y than usual?"

"Unfortunately," Tai glumly noted. "It's become something of a recurring pattern over the last month."

Weiss watched as Pyrrha activated Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two from her hand. Pot of Greed soon made an appearance and the redhead drew two more cards from her deck. Watching The Invincible Girl duel was always a treat, but she couldn't tear her attention away from her unusually focused partner and the Link Monster she'd forged.

"She created a Link Monster with your old family forge," the heiress mused in awe. "The software to properly format a Link Monster's dust matrix, make sure they don't have a defense mode, is cutting-edge Atlesian stuff."

"Or stolen by the White Fang," Blake remarked, recalling Adam's Battle Shogun.

"There's no way a forge that old could run that software, even if she could convince Penny to give it to her," Weiss turned to Tai. "Did she?"

The older huntsman sighed, shaking his head.

"Unbelievable," Weiss murmured, staring at her partner as Pyrrha special summoned Heroic Challengers Assault Halberd (ATK 1800/DEF 200), Knuckle Sword (ATK 600/DEF 200), and Morning Star (ATK 1500/DEF 1300). "I always wondered what she'd be capable of if she really applied herself, but this is insane."

"I mean, she's been trying to make it for ages," Jaune pointed out. "Maybe she remembered the setup from Penny's forge and just did it at home."

"Pulling it off in practice without the software would still be like trying to forge a Synchro Monster with some dust shards in a cave," Weiss emphasized. "With a box of scraps!"

"... Oh," Jaune blinked, his eyes wide.

"She and Yang have had… issues being in the same room with each other, so she's been throwing herself into training," Tai revealed. "Whenever I'm not helping Yang, she's asked me for Signer training."

"That explains the magic barrier attempt," Blake remarked. "Kind of extra for a duel for fun among friends."

"Not sure it is for fun," Tai said. "I got her the bounce house to try and get her to actually relax. Results varied."

"How much did that cost?" Ren inquired.

Tai groaned. "Enough that I will be working over the Vytal Festival."

"I activate Heroic Envoy to add Heroic Challenger - Double Lance to my hand!" Pyrrha announced. As soon as she had her new card in hand, she thrust her palms forward. Like with Ruby, a square grid materialized in blue light. "Appear! The circuit that shines above!"

"Pyrrha can Link Summon?" Sun asked.

"She bought one of the basic ones from the SDC. We've all been practicing on it," Nora explained. "It's really not that hard. Really intuitive."

Jaune groaned. "For most people."

Ren gave him a comforting pat on the back.

"Confirm arrowheads! Bottom left! Bottom right!" Pyrrha called, Assault Halberd and Morning Star morph into streams of orange energy. "Link Summon! Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights!"

Ruby's gift shattered through the link grid, two beautiful maidens back to back, connected by the turn of a storybook's pages. One woman was a radiant blonde with a small harp, while the one was completely Monochrome (ATK 1600).

"When Isolde is Link Summoned, I can add a Warrior-Type monster from my deck to my hand. But I cannot summon or activate the effects of monsters with its name," Pyrrha stated, pulling card from her deck and showing it to her opponent. "I choose Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword!"

Jaune's eyes narrowed at his partner's choice. "She's setting up for Rhongomyniad next turn."

"If Ruby gets a next turn," Emerald mused.

"I activate Isolde's second effect. I send any number of Equip Spells with different names from my deck to the grave and summon a Warrior-Type with an equal level. I summon another level one Heroic Challenger - Knuckle Sword," Pyrrha announced, another warrior with a sword for an arm manifesting before her. She them reached into her graveyard slot and retrieved the Equip Spell she'd sent. "The effect of my Equip card Phoenix Gearblade then activates. When it's sent to the grave or is banished to activate a monster's effect, I can add it to my hand."

Emerald's eyes widened. "Where did she get that?!"

"Her forging experiments did not produce the support she wanted, but there were some successes," Ren remarked. "I take it from your reaction that it is not a unique card?"

"Cinder had one when I first met her. She gave it to Mercury to fill out his deck," Emerald murmured. "I… I didn't think anyone else could forge one."

"That's our Pyrrha for you!" Nora laughed. "Anything Ms. Meany Pants can do, she can do better!"

Emerald glared at the redhead. "Ms. Meany Pants?"

"Oh, you're right," Nora sagely nodded. "Ms. Meany Dress! She never wears pants. It's always a fancy dress or short shorts with that lady. Good catch, Emerald."

"That's not what I meant–"

"I normal summon Heroic Challenger - Double Lance! Its effect lets me special summon the Double Lance I discarded earlier for Graceful Charity," Pyrrha called out, two white-armored warriors emerging before her with spears in their hands (ATK 1700/DEF 900). Immediately, a spiral galaxy of orange blossomed beneath them, the monsters morphing into scarlet energy nodes. "Then I overlay my two Double Lances! Xyz Summon! Rank Four! Heroic Champion - Excalibur!"

The spiral galaxy exploded and The Invincible Girl's most famous monster rose from the nova. Adorned in dark red armor, the mighty knight towered over any of Ruby's monsters, twin golden Overlay Units orbiting its form (ATK 2000/DEF 2000).

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "No summoning chant?"

"Not like Pyrrha to be that sloppy," Sun remarked.

"Please, Pyrrha doesn't do 'sloppy'," Nora retorted, Ren affirmatively nodded beside her. "She's cool as a cucumber, no matter how much pressure is on her in a match."

Jaune's brow furrowed at his partner, The Invincible Girl thrusting her arms forward and conjuring another blazing starstorm, her two Knuckle Swords flowing into the nebula. As he watched her glow, a red and purple light seeming to pulse from her smile as much as the galaxy she conjured. Her grin caused one to blossom on his lips as well.

"She's not pressured," he remarked to his friend. "Pyrrha's having fun."

"Xyz Summon! Rank One!" the redhead shouted with glee. "Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr!"

The nebula erupted and a new warrior emerged, two orange Overlay Units circling its form. The monster was covered head to toe in red and silver armor, its gloves and gauntlets even thicker than the rest of its steel (ATK 700/DEF 1800).

Nora gasped. "She crystalized it?! And got it working!? Yes! Go Pyrrha! Kick butt with our baby!"

"I thought Pyrrha's forging experiments since she got back hadn't been working out?" Blake inquired, The Invincible Girl's two Xyz Monsters forming up in the zones her Link Monsters' arrowheads pointed to.

"Well, yeah," Nora snorted. "The ones since she got back."

"The sheriff we were shadowing had a forge," Jaune explained. "Pyrrha was trying some stuff out and Nora decided to help. This guy was the result."

"I named him after a pair of gloves I used to have," Nora beamed. "Rest in peace, Jarny and Jarny Two."

"I use two Overlay Units to activate Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr's effect. It can revive one Level or Rank Four Warrior-Type monster in my graveyard and gain its attack points too. I choose Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd!" Pyrrha declared, Assault Halberd rising from the ground with an extra weapon, tossing it to Jarngreipr for the Xyz Monster to expertly twirl (ATK 2500). "Then I activate Heroic Chance to double Assault Halberd's attack points for the turn and activate Excalibur's effect to do the same for it!"

Assault Halberd's polearm doubled in size (ATK 3600) as Heroic Champion - Excalibur drew its greatsword, the blade taking on a blazing orange glow (ATK 4000).

"Next, I equip Phoenix Gearblade to Jarngreipr," Pyrrha said, her Rank One gaining a new flaming sword (ATK 2800). "Now, Assault Halberd attacks your Princess of Autumn Leaves and Jarngreipr's effect activates! Once per turn, when an attack is declared involving your monster, I gain life points equal to half its attack points."

Pyrrha Nikos: 4600 Life Points

Sun's eyes widened. "That's higher than Ruby's! Aromaseraphy Jasmine's battle protection won't–"

"I discard Aromaseraphy Angelica from my hand!" Ruby instantly cut in, placing the sunny fairy in Crescent Rose's graveyard slot. "I target an 'Aroma' monster in my grave, and gain life points equal to its attack. I choose Laurel's eight hundred."

Ruby Rose: 5300 Life Points

"... oh," Sun noted, Assault Halberd thrusting at the Princess of Autumn Leaves, only for the blade to get caught between the botanical royalty's petals. "Nevermind."

"Since I gained life points, Aromaseraphy Jasmine lets me add a plant monster to my hand. I choose Rose Fairy!" Ruby announced, flourishing the new card from her deck before slapping it down on her duel disk. A new sprite with pink wings and puffy red hair knelt before the silver-eyed Signer on a sideway card (ATK 600/DEF 1200). "Rose Fairy then special summons itself because it was added from my deck to my hand by a card effect."

"Excellent move!" Pyrrha praised, pulling a card from her deck. "But Assault Halberd deals piercing damage, so your life point lead won't stay long. Plus, when it deals battle damage, I can add a 'Heroic' card from my deck to my hand."

Assault Halberd yanked its polearm free of Chirubime's plumage, cutting through the air and slicing through to Ruby.

Ruby Rose: 4500 Life Points

"Heroic Champion - Excalibur!" Pyrrha yelled, raising her arm as her most famous card raised its massive glowing blade. "Attack Chirubime, Princess of Autumn Leaves!"

"Not so fast!" Ruby called, Rose Fairy shimmering into dust as one of her facedowns lifted up. From the revealed spell card, a retro-era video game controller emerged. "I activate Enemy Controller!"

"Enemy Controller?" Nora squawked. "What the heck? Where's good old Book of Moon?"

"Probably still in there somewhere," Tai reassured the muscular girl. "But Ruby's been exploring some more versatile tech options. Said it had something to do with a training spar where she got boxed in?"

Weiss, Blake, and Emerald shared a knowing look, all three of them well aware of exactly which training spar had prompted Ruby to diversify her backrow options.

Enemy Controller's plug slithered across the battlefield, its socket snapping onto Heroic Champion - Excalibur's chest. The video game accessory stamped its buttons in a particularly order, Pyrrha's mighty Xyz Warrior leaping over to her opponent's field to occupy the same zone Rose Fairy had only a moment ago.

"Enemy Controller has one of two effects. One changes one of your monsters' battle position. But if I tribute one of my monsters, I can take control of one of yours until the end of the turn," Ruby revealed, only for another of her facedowns to fly up. "But you're not getting it back, because I'm sending Excalibur to the graveyard to activate Frozen Rose!"

The Invincible Girl's towering ace was frozen over by bright pink ice. In a flash, the partygoers gawked as the leader of Team RWBY sidestepped and sacrificed the monster that'd bested most of Pyrrha's opponents before she'd come to Beacon.

"Since it's a Non-Plant, Frozen Rose adds a Level Four or lower Plant-Type monster to my hand from my deck," Ruby said, ripping out her new card and showing it to her opponent. "I choose Predaplant Byblisp!"

Blake blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Predaplant?"

She and everyone save Taiyang turned expectantly to Weiss. The SDC heiress glanced between her friends before letting out a vexed groan. "I am not an encyclopedia! I don't know every archetype on Remnant like the back of my hand."

"But you do know most of them," Sun pointed out.

"I know many, as my family's company makes support for many and I make it my business to be as informed as I can on what we make," Weiss corrected. "Though, I admit, when I don't know of an archetype, it is either exceedingly rare… or… well…"

"A new creation," Emerald filled in, her eyes narrowing at Ruby with keen interest. "You think she's made a whole series of these 'Predaplants'?"

"It's Ruby," Weiss shrugged. "I'd be surprised if she didn't at least try. Personally, I'm amazed she hasn't attempted to forge a whole archetype for Baobaboon or Carrotweight Champion already."

"Those were her first-grade and second-grade projects," Taiyang chimed, fondly smirking with reminiscence.

"With Excalibur gone, you have no monster strong enough to get over Chirubime's defense," Ruby pointed out to her opponent. "Do you end your Battle Phase?"

Pyrrha smirked. "Not quite. Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr attacks Princess of Autumn Leaves!"

"Huh?" Ruby squawked.

"Huh?" Weiss echoed, the red and silver warrior leaping across the field with its flaming sword. "Does that thing have an effect to increase its attack points even more?"

"It doesn't," Nora confirmed. "At least, it didn't when we were making it."

A slim, sly smile slipped over Emerald's lips. "I don't think that's what she's going for."

"What do you mean?" Blake inquired. "Jarngreipr's attack is equal to Chirubime's defense."

"Yeah," Sun concurred. "If it can't raise its points, it can't break through."

"It doesn't necessarily need to be the one to get through," Emerald coyly replied. "Just watch. It'll make sense in a second."

The red-armored warrior swung its flaming sword down, Chirubime catching it between her petals. The Phoenix Gearblade flared up, its blaze turning from orange to a brilliant sapphire… just before it shattered (ATK 2500).

However, the broken blade's pieces did not crumble away into dust. Instead, they flew into Jarngreipr, Assault Halberd, and Isolde's chests, the warrior monsters roaring with new, fiery energy.

"At the end of the Damage Step after a monster attacks with Phoenix Gearblade, the spell can be sent to the graveyard," Pyrrha explained with a smirk. "In exchange, every Warrior-Type or fire attribute monster I control can attack twice this Battle Phase."

Ruby paled. "Eh?"

"Eh?" Weiss and Blake paled, Nora shooting them a mischievous grin.

"That is a… very powerful equip spell," Sun remarked, amazed.

"Like I said, Cinder can forge it," Emerald gloated, only for her red eyes to settle on The Invincible Girl with trepidation. "And, apparently her too."

"Battle!" Pyrrha called. "Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd attacks Chirubime, Princess of Autumn Leaves! Again!"

Once more, the warrior thrust its polearm for the botanical royalty. This time, Aromaseraphy Jasmine couldn't save it from being impaled.

Ruby Rose: 3700 Life Points

"When Princess of Autumn Leaves is destroyed, I can summon a Plant-Type from my deck. I choose Mystic Tomato!" Ruby announced, the fiendish fruit forming in front of her in defense mode (ATK 1400/DEF 1100).

"And I add another Heroic card from my deck to my hand," Pyrrha said. "Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr! Attack Aromaseraphy Jasmine!"

The red-armored champion leap back to Ruby's field, delivering a fearsome haymaker straight to the plant fairy's face.

Ruby Rose: 3000 Life Points

"Isolde! Attack Mystic Tomato! Tragic Ballad!"

The full-colored Isolde strummed her lyre, the handheld harp unleashing a sonic surge that tore the plump red fiend to shreds. However, it was soon replaced by the always-reliable Baobaboon (ATK 1200/DEF 1000).

"When Mystic Tomato is destroyed by battle, I can summon a dark attribute monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck in attack mode," Ruby explained, using its effect to draw a card and then put it on the bottom of her deck.

"It won't stay long," Pyrrha warned. "Isolde! Use your second attack on Baobaboon! Tragic Ballad: Reprise!"

The monochrome Isolde stepped forward and let loose a mournful wail. Like the fiendish fruit before it, the tree with a monkey face was obliterated.

Ruby Rose: 2600 Life Points

"When Baobaboon is destroyed, I can summon two more from my deck in defense mode," Ruby proclaimed, the new duo of trees forming up as she drew more cards via their effects. She put the first one on the bottom of her deck, but stoically nodded at the second and put it back on top.

"I lay two cards facedown and end my turn," Pyrrha said, her backrow forming as Assault Halberd's weapon shrank back to its normal size (ATK 1800).

"Draw!" Ruby yelled, furiously yanking up the card she'd set up with Baobaboon's effect and slamming it into Crescent Rose. "I activate Pot of Avarice! I shuffle five monsters back into my deck and draw two cards. I choose my three Evil Thorns, Aromaseraphy Jasmine, and a Lonefire Blossom."

Weiss' brow furrowed in concern. Ruby had just gone blow for blow with The Invincible Girl without losing even half her life points. Yet, there was no celebration, no joy. Just getting back to her turn, back to the fight.

She was suddenly very guilty that she'd taken her partner's assurances that she was "Fine" at face value.

"I activate Graceful Charity!" Ruby shouted, yanking her three new cards, then slid two into her duel disk's graveyard slot. "I discard Glow-Up Bulb and Predaplant Byblisp. Byblisp's effect allows me to add another Predaplant monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Predaplant Sarraceniant."

"Guess it's an archetype after all," Blake noted.

"I normal summon Twilight Rose Knight and use its effect to special summon Predaplant Sarraceniant from my hand," Ruby said, her young knight in black and red armor (ATK 1000/DEF 1000) flourished its blade to conjure an insectoid bug made of a vegetation (ATK 100/DEF 600). "Appear! The circuit that moves forward! Link Summon! Link-2! Aromaseraphy Jasmine!"

The two Baobaboons flowed into a new blue square circuit, the spritely plant fairy returning to Ruby's Extra Monster Zone (ATK 1800) with one of its arrowheads pointing at Predaplant Sarraceniant.

"I tribute Predaplant Sarraceniant to use Aromaseraphy Jasmine's effect to summon Evil Thorn from my deck," Ruby called out, her insectoid plant switched out for her usual spiky bulb (ATK 100/DEF 300). "When Predaplant Sarraceniant is sent to the grave by battle or card effect, I can add a "Predap" card from my deck to my hand. I choose the trap card Predaplanning!"

"She's already made a trap card for it?" Jaune murmured.

"Definitely an archetype," Nora mused.

"Evil Thorn! Fire!" Ruby roared, her dark bulb exploding a new bombardment at Pyrrha as two more wilted flowers took its place. The Invincible Girl darted through the needles as usual, but the damage was unavoidable.

Pyrrha Nikos: 4300 Life Points

"I activate Dark World Dealings! We each draw a card, then discard a job," Ruby said, both her and Pyrrha doing just that. "Then I send the top card of my deck to the grave to summon Glow-Up Bulb from it. After that, I send Glow-Up Bulb back to the graveyard to summon World Carrotweight Champion from there."

The tiny flower with an eye in its bulb barely stayed on the field for a second before its was replaced by the classic martial artist made of carrots (ATK 1900/DEF 0).

"A Level Three Tuner and a Level Four Non-Tuner," Ren serenely analyzed.

Weiss didn't need Ruby's Signer Mark lighting up on her arm to know what monster was coming.

"I tune Level Three Twilight Rose Knight with Level Four World Carrotweight Champion!" the silver-eyed girl called out, her knight breaking into three emerald rings as her plant fighter morphed into a quartet of twinkling stars. "Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest. Cold flames envelop the entire world. Thus kindly scatter and bring me victory! Synchro Summon! Level Seven! Black Rose Dragon!"

A pillar of light crashed through the trio of tuner rings and the majestic Signer Dragon let out a vivacious roar, its petal plumage scattering across the cliffside (ATK 2400/DEF 1800).

"One more," Ruby muttered, snatching a card out of her hand and slamming it into Crescent Rose, a familiar spell card with the image of an orange spiral over a blue background manifesting onto the field. "I activate Polymerization! I fuse my two Evil Thorns!"

A fusion vortex warped the air before the Silver-Eyed Warrior, her two wilted flowers yanked inside the distortion.

"Beautiful flowers with alluring fragrance! Scatter your petals and disclose the nightmare hidden beneath! Disclose your blood! Red likes roses!" Ruby chanted, slamming her palms together as a foul miasma flooded out from the spatial whirlpool. "Fusion Summon! Level Eight! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

A thin form of ivy green and royal purple charged out of the fusion vortex and into the second zone Aromaseraphy Jasmine pointed to, a terrifying roar scaring the birds away from the forest. The botanical dragon shook with excitement, acidic sap dripping from its jaws as its venus flytrap wings opened up to snack (ATK 2800/DEF 2000).

"No! Wait, wait wait!" Ruby frantically called out to her Pillar Dragon. She darted out in front of him and disapprovingly pointed at his opening flytrap wings. "We've been over this! No using the effect until I declare the target and when it happens in the chainlink order."

Starving Venom's head drooped, rolling its scarlet eyes. Black Rose Dragon leaned in from two monster zones over and gave the more ferocious-looking dragon a reproachful glare.

"Don't give me that eye-roll, mister," Ruby scolded. "You don't see Black Rose Dragon coming in her and blowing up everything with Black Rose Gale before I tell her, do you?"

Black Rose Dragon preened at her duelist's praise, flashing Starving Venom a haughty smirk. The fusion monster grumbled and stuck out its tongue at the synchro monster, but it closed its flytrap wings up.

"Suddenly, I'm very glad Ozpin said no fusion during the Vytal Festival," Blake remarked. "Would not want that to happen on worldwide CCT. Does he still have the… uh… eating people problem?"

"Eating people problem?" Jaune nervously spoke up. "Is he going to try to eat Pyrrha?"

"He'll choke on her bones!" Nora roared.

"On Starving Venom's summon, I banish the Predaplanning I discarded with Dark World Dealings from my graveyard to activate its effect," Ruby declared, then gesturing to her fusion monster. "Then, as chainlink two, I activate Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's effect. When it's fusion summoned, it gains the attack of one of your special summoned monsters until the end of the turn. I select Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr!"

Starving Venom broke out into a huge, excited smile, his flytrap wings cracking back open as puppy sap flew around the grass. The botanical lips sucked up the surrounding pollen, golden flecks of Jarngreipr's essence flowing into its body as its muscles bulged (ATK 5300).

"Nice move," Pyrrha grinned. "I must admit, after so long seeing it just in card form, it's thrilling to finally see it brought to life on the duel field."

"Heh, yeah, he is pretty great," Ruby smiled, a bit of her old joy peeking through as she beamed up at her Pillar Dragon. The purple and green lizard preened at her and Pyrrha's adoration, even Black Rose Dragon patting it on the back with a vine. "Now, Predaplanning's graveyard effect! When I fusion summon a dark attribute monster, I can banish it from my graveyard to target a card on the field and destroy it. I choose Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr!"

Violet vines burst out of Crescent Rose's graveyard slot, shooting across the field and wrapping around Jarngreipr's armored form.

Only for the red and silver warrior to flex itself, the violent vegetation torn to pieces.

"Huh?" Ruby squawked.

"Jarngreipr has another effect," Pyrrha explained with a confident grin. "So long as it's on the field, the first time any of my Warrior-Type monsters would be destroyed each turn, they aren't."

Ruby gnashed her teeth as she snatched another card from her hand, frustration leaking through as Black Rose Dragon looked over her with worry and Starving Venom tilted its head in confusion. "Fine. Then I activate Enemy Controller. This time, I'll use its first effect and switch Jarngreipr into defense mode."

Weiss watched nervously as the game controller manifested and plugged into Jarngreipr, forcing the heroic champion to take a knee on a sideways card. She was more than a bit on-edge about Starving Venom's 'people eating' problem, with Dark Rebellion not able to offer any effective assurances that their sibling would be able to restrain himself in a duel as exciting as a match with The Invincible Girl.

More than that though, it was saddening to see Ruby becoming so visibly vexed by the match. This wasn't like her duel with Cinder where she'd been picked apart and humiliated in front of their peers or the fights to the death under Mt. Glenn. This was a game between friends, one the Silver-Eyed Signer had been looking forward to since she'd met Pyrrha. She had her Signer Dragon, her Pillar Dragon, and the Link Monster she'd personally forged all out, and she was treating everything like…

… like how Weiss would have treated it before she came to Beacon. Back then she'd been convinced every duel was a test, a way to show herself and others that she was equal to the immense tasks before her. Until she'd dueled Ruby Rose and been forcibly educated in just how much fun could be taken from dueling.

It was unsettling to see that same face marred with the weight of her old burdens.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's special ability! I banish a Plant-Type monster from my graveyard to switch Jarngreipr back to attack mode and reduce its attack points to zero," Ruby shouted, yanking a Lonfire Blossom card from her duel disk's graveyard slot as she vigorously pointed at her foe's Xyz Monster. "Rose Restriction!"

Thorny vines surged forth from Black Rose Dragon's majestic plumage, forcibly twisting Pyrrha's Heroic Champion back to attack mode, his crimson armor cracking under the pressure (0 ATK).

"Aromaseraphy Jasmine! Attack Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr!" Ruby commanded.

"Jarngreipr's effect activates in response to the attack declaration," Pyrrha reminded her. "I gain life points equal to half your monster's attack points."

Pyrrha Nikos: 5200 Life Points

The spirtely Link Monsters twirled its staff, the purple wreath at the tip turning white as it gathered power. With a vigorous thrust, the plant fairy took its revenge on the warrior who'd slain it the turn before.

Pyrrha Nikos: 3400 Life Points

"I got you," Ruby announced, mercilessly pointing at her opponent's Link Monster, declaring her final target. "Starving Venom Fusion Dragon! Attack Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights! Venom Experience!"

Starving Venom Fusion Dragon's flytrap wings split wide open, a vast web of burning crimson vines crisscrossing behind it. Azure orbs lit up across its intersections, preparing a strike that could easily wipe out all of Pyrrha's life points.

If it wasn't Pyrrha?!

"What is she thinking? Getting cocky like this!" Weiss groused. "Pyrrha has two facedowns! Of course one of them is going to be Battleguard Howling!"

"Yeah!" Nora chroused. "Pyrrha wouldn't leave herself wide open for a one-turn kill… right?"

"I activate my trap card!" Pyrrha called out, one of her facedowns flipping up. "Battleguard Howling!"

"Right! See?" Nora grinned, her previous doubt expunged. "I knew it."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded, his eyes narrowed at the match. "Thing is, Ruby would know it too."

"When my Warrior-Type monster is targeted for an attack or monster effect, Battleguard Howling targets one monster you control, deals you damage equal to its attack, and then returns it to your hand," Pyrrha explained, though they all knew the text of one of her most famous cards. "I target Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

"Damn!" Sun exclaimed, Emerald watching keenly beside him as Battleguard Howling tore up the cliffside with a sonic blast. "Starving Venom's got way more attack points than Ruby does life points!"

"Yup!" Nora preened. "That's how the ace of Team JNPR rolls! Pyrrha was just luring her into a false sense of security by letting Jasmine's attack and Black Rose's effect land, getting ready to pounce–"

"I activate my trap card as chain link two!" Ruby yelled, her last remaining facedown from the first turn flipping up. "Energy-Absorbing Monolith!"

A giant black monolith took shape in front of the hooded Slifer Red, sucking in the sound waves from Battleguard Howling. The rectangular prism glowed white as it gathered the sonic assault, dusting its mistress with a rain of gentle sparkles.

Ruby Rose: 7900 Life Points

"Looks like Ruby was the one luring Pyrrha into a false sense of security," Blake noted, shooting a sly smirk at Nora, whose jaw was frozen open in astonishment.

"She used Pyrrha's signature trap to put her at nearly double her starting life points," Jaune murmured in awe.

"More than that," Weiss revealed, similarly stunned. "Battleguard Howling needs to deal its damage to bounce the opponent's monster. Energy-Absorbing Monolith negates that damage and boosts Ruby's life points by what she would have taken. Meaning Starving Venom Fusion Dragon is still on the field!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened as the Pillar Dragon's streams of energy barreled towards her side of the field. "Chain link thre–"

BOOM!

Venom Experience sliced through Isolde without mercy, an explosion of dirt and dust knocked up from Summer Rose's gravesite by over five thousand attack points of power. The Link Monster was blown away, its mistress obscured by the cloud of smog.

And yet, when that smog faded…

Pyrrha Nikos: 700 Life Points

… The Invincible Girl still stood.

"What?!" Ruby shouted, Starving Venom closing his hungry mouth and tilting his head in equal confusion. "How?"

Pyrrha panted, managing to point out her second facedown, now revealed to be a spell card depicting military rations. "As I was saying, as chain link three, I activate Emergency Provisions. I can use it to send other spells or traps on my field to the graveyard to gain a thousand life points for each of them."

"And since it was activated in the same chain as Battleguard Howling, you were able to send that trap to the graveyard for this effect before it went there on its own," Ruby quickly comprehended. "You boosted your life points to forty-four hundred right before my attack hit, meaning you still have seven hundred left."

Black Rose Dragon bowed to Pyrrha, clearly impressed at the move. Starving Venom outright clapped for The Invincible Girl, salivating at the thought of getting to continue the duel (or at how such a worthy opponent would taste? Weiss desperately hoped it was the former).

Unfortunately, for once, Ruby did not share her monsters' enthusiasm. "Black Rose Dragon, attack Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd. Black Rose Flare!"

The Signer Dragon frowned in concern at her mistress' tone, but faithfully unleashed a stream of violet flames on Pyrrha's lone remaining monster. The Invincible Girl raised her arms to protect her face from the backlash of the blast, falling to one knee as her aura crackled.

Pyrrha Nikos: 100 Life Points

"I end my turn," Ruby ruefully said.

Weiss gulped. The state of the field should have filled her with joy for her partner. But instead, all she could feel was trepidation.

"She got Pyrrha down to a hundred life points," Blake noted, her grim tone betraying her own concern for her team leader. "Not even Ilia was able to get her down that far."

"None of us have either," Jaune concurred, gesturing to his equally stunned team. "Though, Ruby is a lot more… focused than usual."

Emerald shrugged. "Can't say it isn't working."

"But that's not what matters!" Weiss insisted. "This is Ruby! It's her birthday duel! She shouldn't be acting all… all…"

"Ice Queen?" Nora offered.

"Yes!" Weiss proclaimed, uncaring for the implied jab. "She should be laughing–"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The onlookers whipped back toward the duel as someone started laughing their head off.

Just not Ruby.

---

RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH

"Hahahahahahaha!" Pyrrha cackled, steadying herself on her hands and knees but unable to keep her joy contained. "That was amazing! Using Energy-Absorbing Monolith to boost your life points and keep your attack going? Genius! Oh! Do you have Nature's Reflection in your deck as well?"

"Uh, yeah," Ruby nervously confirmed, looking at the redhead with concern. "Are you okay, Pyrrha? Do you need to catch your breath?"

"Catch my breath?" Pyrrha queried, only for the potentially troubling implications of her laughter to suddenly occur to her. "Oh! I'm sorry to worry you. It's just this duel is so much fun, Ruby!"

"F–fun?" Ruby stammered. The Silver-Eyed Girl blinked in befuddlement, glancing around at her duel disk and her field as if suddenly seeing it all for the first time again. "... huh. I… I'm usually better at noticing that."

Pyrrha shot her friend a sympathetic smile as she rose up to her feet. "Care to talk about the reason you haven't been enjoying this as much as I have? You've been dueling splendidly. This is one of the best matches I've ever had."

Ruby returned the redhead's caring expression. "I'm glad to hear that. Really, I am. And I want to enjoy this too if I can. But… something else takes priority. Something I learned at Mt. Glenn. I can't half-ass this stuff when my team's lives are on the line."

"At this moment, they're not," Pyrrha pointed out. "And I've never known you to 'half-ass' dueling."

"It's not enough. And I have to be enough. That's the reality of it," Ruby insisted. "If I want to keep my friends safe, I have to be… to be…"

"Perfect," Pyrrha finished.

Ruby sighed. "It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. How can you never be a little slow, a little late? You can never know if holding off your attack when the opponent has a facedown is smart or losing a chance at victory because of a bluff. But with what's out there… who else has tried to stop it and failed…"

The silver-eyed girl's gaze drifted to her mother's tombstone, lost in what-ifs and unsure dreams.

"You seem like you've thought a great deal about this," Pyrrha observed. "I imagine your father has already told you that in our profession, sometimes things go wrong no matter what we do?"

"Him and Professor Ozpin both," Ruby shrugged. "Doesn't feel like it changes anything."

"No, it doesn't. You have power, power that others don't. And with it comes great responsibility to protect those who look to you for leadership, to be their idol, their savior," Pyrrha cautioned, leaving unsaid 'their Invincible Girl'. "We can't escape that reality any more than we can escape who we are. So perhaps I can provide some more practical advice? Beating yourself into the ground with training won't help you."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Pyrrha, I don't exactly 'relax' at dances like you guys do. And I'm making sure to get all the sleep I need. I'm perfectly healthy."

Pyrrha flashed her a teasing smirk. "Who said anything about your health? It's ineffective for your goal."

"Huh?"

"I was called the perfect duelist before I came to Beacon and do you know what it taught me? 'Perfection' is the enemy of evolution. And thus, the enemy of power," Pyrrha continued. "Heroic Champion - Jarngreipr was the monster that gave you the most trouble last round, and the girl I was before Beacon didn't have it. I only forged it with Nora's help. I crafted Phoenix Gearblade with a heart full of joy, from knowing my friends would never leave my side, that no matter how high I rose on my pedestal, they would work to build their own to reach me. Draw!"

The Invincible Girl yanked her new card from the top of her deck, stowing it away in her hand as she pulled another one. "I activate Soul Taker! This spell targets and destroys one of your monsters in exchange for giving you one thousand extra life points."

Starving Venom Fusion Dragon shattered in aura shards, its destruction effect powerless with no monsters on Pyrrha's field to destroy. Still, the remnants of its form flowed back into its mistress.

Ruby Rose: 8900 Life Points

"Next, I activate Upstart Goblin!" Pyrrha said, slipping the spell into her bronze duel disk. "I draw one card, but you gain a thousand life points."

Ruby Rose: 9900 Life Points

Pyrrha pulled her new card and grinned at the sight of it. "Well, what do you know? Another Upstart Goblin. I think I'll activate this one too!"

Ruby Rose: 10900 Life Points

"And now a third! Go! Upstart Goblin!"

Ruby Rose: 11900 Life Points

Pyrrha pulled her third new draw. Her eyes danced with delight when she saw Inferno Reckless Summon. It was rare that a duelist was lucky enough to pull all three of their Upstart Goblins in a row, but it seemed the heart of the cards had responded to her brightly burning soul.

"Ruby, how much have I told you about my childhood?"

"Uh, some of it, I think?" Ruby pondered, rubbing her chin in ponderance. "Your mom was a professor at Sanctum. She taught you to duel with water monsters because those were popular in Argus because it was a port city. You tried out Heroics for fun and won your first tournament with them and Excalibur?"

"And when the scouts came calling and I got my first manager, they insisted that it would be better for my public image if I stuck to just Heroic monsters. They were likely right. People do love their perfect heroes, not a hair out of place. My career might not have reached the same heights if I played an ununified mishmash of monsters," Pyrrha admitted. "But in the process, I left behind some monsters that meant a great deal to me. I kept them close, but I never planned them, always went for the safe option. The perfect option."

Until Yang's burning soul ignited her own. Until Jaune and her team stoked it at the hearth.

"The Invincible Girl is a useful crown to wear. But far too heavy to wear all the time, lest you never see how high you can rise!" Pyrrha cackled, slamming a spell card into her duel disk. "I activate Heroic Call! This lets me special summon a Warrior monster from my hand or graveyard. Come forth, Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword! And then I'll use Inferno Reckless Summon to call upon two more copies from my hand, deck, or graveyard!"

Three armored warriors with a sword in each hand flashed onto her field on streaks of orange lightning (ATK 1000/DEF 1000).

"I banish Heroic Envoy from my graveyard to return Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd from my graveyard to my hand. Then, I'll normal summon him," Pyrrha continued, her spearman leaping back to her side (ATK 1800/DEF 200).

"Four Heroic Challengers?" Ruby gasped, leaping back into a ready stance as Black Rose Dragon knuckled down for a fight. "Rhongomyniad!"

Pyrrha smirked. "Good thinking. Wrong Number."

"Wrong Number–" Ruby paled, her eyes nervously glancing over to Sun and Emerald. "Uh, are you sure you want to bring out that guy in particular? Not all of our current company is 'in the know'."

Pyrrha chuckled. "Still good thinking. Still wrong Number."

"What?"

"I overlay my three Heroic Challenger - Extra Swords!"

A purple spiral galaxy opened up beneath her feet, the Extra Swords morphing into orange nodes of light and zooming into the center of the swirling stars. Pyrrha hadn't been worried that her monster would hold a grudge after she'd stuck so religiously to her Heroic Monsters for so long, she'd always made sure to communicate openly with her cards. But even she was surprised by how good it felt to weave her aura for its body again. It was electric, better than it had ever been when she was younger. She felt herself aglow with hot, chaotic power, red and violet light seeming to dance around her like fireworks.

"Paragon ruler of the deep sea! Release your virtue and glory, and by your sharp fangs, protect your realm! Xyz Summon! Rank Four!" Pyrrha laughed, the Overlay Network exploding in a wondrous supernova. "Allow me to introduce an old friend! Number 32: Shark Drake!"

Cutting through the nebula's starlight like the sea it rules, the maroon, maritime monster soared onto The Invincible Girl's field. Sleek, yet muscular, with four appendages sharp enough to be fins, wings, or blades, the menacing creature wasted no time claiming the cliffside for its own (ATK 2800/DEF 2100). Three sapphire Overlay Units orbited it at a respectful distance, the effects of the three Extra Swords causing the magnificent ocean drake to swell with power (ATK 5800).

For the first time all day, Ruby's face lit up with her usual radiant wonder. Her silver eyes sparkled without a hint of her previous moroseness, too engrossed by the deadly creature before her to think of such worries. "You have another Number?! And you didn't tell me!?"

Pyrrha giggled. "Like I said, I haven't had the courage to bring out one of my old favorites for a while now. But with you, with everyone, I take off the armor of perfection from time to time and explore what lies beyond. I banish Heroic Call from my graveyard! This boosts one of my monsters' attack points by five hundred for every Heroic card on my field, and every Heroic monster currently serving as an Overlay Unit to my Xyz Monsters."

Shark Drake grinned, letting out a roar of challenge to Ruby's field as it stretched its fins for battle (ATK 7800).

"Battle!" Pyrrha called. "Number 32: Shark Drake attacks Black Rose Dragon! Deep Sea Destruction!"

Frothing sea water gushed from Shark Drake's maw, surrounding it like a bullet casing as it tore across the field. Ferocious power mixed with blinding speed as the Number sank its jaws into Black Rose Dragon's throat, the Signer Dragon only able to wail as the quartet of fins sliced it to ribbons.

Ruby Rose: 6500 Life Points

"I activate Shark Drake's special ability!" Pyrrha shouted. "When it destroys your monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, I can use one Overlay Unit to bring that monster back with a thousand less attack points. In exchange, Shark Drake can attack again this turn."

"It can do what?!" Ruby exclaimed.

Shark Drake eagerly demonstrated its power for the Silver-Eyed Signer, the ocean water frothing from its mouth coalescing around its four fin wings. It thrust those appendages downward, the liquid morphing into titanic aquatic chains that buried into the ground. With a ferocious tug, Black Rose Dragon was yanked back up from the grave, bound and battered (ATK 1400).

"Attack again, Shark Drake!" Pyrrha called, a massive grin on her face. "Deep Sea Destruction!"

The Number pulled its aquatic chains back into itself, reforming its oceanic artillery shell as it divebombed Black Rose Dragon once more. Again, the majestic rosey dragon was shredded to pieces by the sea beast's assault. The impact unleashed a thunderous explosion across the cliffside, the onlookers holding up their arms to shield their faces as Ruby was blasted off her feet.

Ruby Rose: 100 Life Points

"Our life points are even now. Which means Aromaseraphy Jasmine can be destroyed in battle," Pyrrha called, not letting up her pace. "Assault Halberd! Attack!"

The Heroic Challenger leapt forward, its polearm thrusting at the Link Monster as it unleashed a hail of petals with its staff. The warrior and the plant fairy were felled simultaneously, their aura bodies ripped to shreds.

Pyrrha glanced down at the last card in her hand, another old favorite, one of her mother's signature cards that she'd been taught to use as soon as she'd learned to Xyz Summon. Unlike Shark Drake, she had made use of it in her pure Heroic deck from time to time, though few opponents actually pressed her enough to need to. If she remembered correctly, the last one was her opponent in the semifinals of her final regional tournament, a Swordsoul/Tenyi duelist named Arslan Altan. Yet, in this situation, the trap card wouldn't be useful.

At least, that was what conventional wisdom told her.

Yet, instinct told her otherwise, the chaotic power that'd been filling her veins as her excitement grew through the duel. Shark Drake grinned back at her, her old friend eager to make up for lost time on the battlefield. Their moves so far had been perfect.

Pyrrha smirked back at him. What had she told Ruby about perfection only moments ago?

"I lay one card facedown and end my turn," she announced. "Well, Ruby? Your move."

The Slifer Red groaned as she staggered onto one knee, her aura flickering. She caught her breath as she stared up at her opponent and her monstrous sea beast.

"I planned for this, you know. Really strategized, thought about how I'd counter your moves as logically as I could," Ruby sighed, a bit disappointed but also unable to hide her amazement. "But you really are amazing, Pyrrha. You're evolving so fast. I can't keep up."

"Can't keep up? Ruby, have you ever seen anyone else push me so hard? Get me down to a hundred life points? If you'd gotten a bit luckier and had Nature's Reflection facedown then instead of Energy-Absorbing Monolith, you would have won right there," Pyrrha praised. "You're evolving just as quickly as I am, if not more."

"So you're saying… I should take out my Energy-Absorbing Monolith for more Nature's Reflections?"

"No. Well, maybe against some opponents. But you know better than most that every card has value in the right situation," Pyrrha advised. "With them, our potential is limitless. So long as we are not crushed by it."

"You might have to climb on a pedestal one day," Ruby murmured, rising to her feet with her brow furrowed. "I didn't get what you meant when you told me that. But, I think I'm starting to now."

Pyrrha flashed her younger friend a reassuring smile. "Do you believe in destiny, Ruby?"

"Huh?" Ruby queried. "You mean like, 'dread it, run from it, arrives all the same'-type destiny?"

"Haha, no," Pyrrha chuckled. "I don't mean some sort of pre-determined fate. More, a final goal. Something you work towards your entire life."

"Helping people," Ruby wistfully murmured. "Being a hunting duelist."

"Precisely. You and I have chosen those same destinies," Pyrrha said. "But they're not achieved in an instant. They're the product of the choices we make along the way. Long-term choices to keep us going, not short-term ones to satiate our fear."

Ruby managed a cheeky smirk, her grin growing as she stared down Shark Drake's hungry gaze. "And what's the choice I make now?"

Pyrrha raised her hand and bent her fingers back in a clear message of 'bring it'. "Like I said, it's your move."

Ruby placed her fingers on her deck, some excitement back in her silver eyes.

"Draw!"

---

And so begins Volume 3. Outlined it the best I can. If all goes according to plan, I should be able to keep the pacing effective and complete the Volume with a total of twenty-seven chapters, of which this is the first.

A lot of fun stuff this chapter, our heroes getting live out their new status quo. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but they've gotten and look to get more time to work on their issues. As for Ruby vs. Pyrrha? I honestly had to rewrite it like four times when I realized I'd misremembered or misread a card effect, but if all goes well, the final product should still be an exceptionally fun duel. As for why Ruby vs. Pyrrha was the duel I chose to open the Volume with?

Well, it is Volume 3. Ruby and Pyrrha is where the narrative's focus needs to be. ;)

Next Time on Cards of Remnant!

"He's not actually going to eat her, right?"

"I came here to laugh at you."

"Don't worry, Yang. I will protect everyone until you're back on your feet."

"Did you buy every fried fish on the festival grounds?"

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

"Kuriboh! Hey, little buddy, I haven't seen you in forever! What you doing here... oh... oh no."

Next Time on Cards of Remnant: New Challengers

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

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

Go Forth and Conquer!