Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

At the sound of the gunshot, Ember celica had extended into combat form, and Yang had even made it a half step forward before ironwood made his ultimatum and she froze. Call it a credit to Yang’s vibes reading skills, and just how rancid Ironwood’s had been the entire time they’d been in the office, an entire different flavor than what he’d been giving off in her brief tenure at resistance HQ.

Of course, it wasn’t nearly fast enough to do anything to turn this situation on its head or anything, and Yang had taken a slow, begrudging step backwards as her brain tried to play catchup on the xanatos speed chess everyone seemed to be playing around her. She’d started to hold a hand up as Raven stepped through the portal, a sudden “Don’t-!” making it out of her before the rest of her sentence was drowned out by another shot and ultimatum from the general.

She didn’t break eye contact with Ironwood in the silence that followed, didn’t even glance to the side at the very unwelcome sound of her own voice coming from the other side of the room. Just reached over and gently gripped the top of the lantern in Ruby’s arms as she eventually responded.

“Okay. I’ll bite. What’s ugly over there selling that you’re buying Jimmy? You give Ozpin the relics, he leaves Atlas alone?” She asked as she gingerly lifted it out of Ruby’s arms, hoping her sister trusted her enough to let it happen. “I’m supposed to believe that James Ironwood really buys that at face value when he can’t even trust Salem’s people?”

"You like 'em ugly, grimm bait! Rawr!"

As if the five other headaches all going on in the room all at once weren't enough, vanilla Yang had to just deal with the unstoppable force-immovable object worthy struggle of vehemently ignoring a version of herself tone deaf to being ignored.

Ironwood, in stark contrast to the kissy faces Yang's worse self was making at her, wore features that could've been chiselled in a mountain so rigid were they. The unaffectionate nickname and barb didn't seem to register, and his eyes barely flickered towards the relic when she lifted it before they were back at her eyes. He did eventually answer the question, though sparsely.

"Salem's lies. Weiss's lies."

The words were practically toneless, born not of resentment but of whatever higher level of clarity the general seemed to believe he operated on.

"Am I the only one who finds it strange that the only one who seems to tell the truth is Ozpin? He only needs the relic. Atlas once needed it to stay airborne. Now it doesn't."

Weiss probably would've jumped in somewhere around there if she weren't still sprawled flat on the floor, trying to massage the ringing out of her ears.

"So I'm left questioning why exactly my kingdom needs to fight either of their wars when there's a path that seems to avert one entirely—"

"Say, Jimmy?"

Yang's fun nickname for the bionic man probably became a whole lot less fun as Carnelian seemed to take a liking to it, his voice just as amiable as it carried over from the elevator. He wasn't looking at them, though.

The armor she had constructed, the weapons she made, the tools she created, her semblance that she used to great effect to modify all her creations, they were all potent in their own right, but none of them were the most crucial. The greatest thing in her arsenal was her mind.

He was looking at her.

Or more accurately, through her.

Gwen's mind was an amazing thing. It operated on a higher level in sheer procedural thinking than perhaps even Weiss's, in certain areas. Unfortunately, as was the case with Weiss, that level of intellect almost always bred egos. Big egos. Egos made people overlook things.

Like the fact that someone in the room could read minds.



"Smartypants here just jammed your gun. She's about t-" BANG "-ohp."

The 'ohp', and bang, were both a consequence of the second reason Gwen's play didn't really pan out.

Carnelian wasn't the only general in the room with a mind semblance.

The other was just more internal than external. To the naked eye Ironwood may have appeared tunnel-visioned on Yang and the relics, but the fact was he wasn't. He was tunnel visioned on everyone. It wasn't even a tunnel at all, more a crowded overpass. Every bead of sweat, every finger on every trigger. The man was a juggernaut of sheer focus, and that focus was part of what made him a faster draw than anyone in the room.

Which was why even Carnelian barely saw it coming when he drew his second pistol and blew Weiss's kneecap out.



Weiss was still too deaf to know it was coming, but if nothing else she was at least braced for pain this time. She liked to think she was acquainted with it.

But there was pain and there was taking a bullet, sans aura, to one of the most sensitive nerve clusters in the body, and while she didn't cry out no amount of gritted teeth could conceal the involuntary "Nnnnnhhhhh-!" or the flood of moisture that appeared from under her eyelids even as she screwed them shut. She tried to clutch at it and curl up in a ball, but Ironwood yanked her up before she could do so, arm slung across the throat to deter any bullets, forcing her to shift all her weight to one leg while the other hung awkwardly.

"Gwen is smart, Carnelian. One of the smartest."

He still didn't look at her, but for a brief moment it was neither fugitive or general James Ironwood she was pointing a gun at.

It was the headmaster. The one who had overseen her training, watched her graduate and personally promoted her to the rank of special operative.

"But she was never a very good listener."

"Take... relics... go." Weiss hissed through a clenched jaw at the shape she thought looked most like Yang, hilariously still trying to boss her around.

"STOP TALKING!"

The moment Ironwood's composure slipped for first time at was the same one the Yang in the elevator lunged forward, pounced from all fours and brought her Grimm fist thundering into the forcefield, hard enough that the entire floor shook with her scream of exertion and ecstasy.

It held. Barely.

But it wasn't going to withstand a second.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Flashback Post

Penny's alarmed and concerned yell was joined by two screams of pain, the voices of both Cinders blending together in response to near simultaneous attacks. The older, malicious one hovered in place, arm writhing around as it violently regrew the appendage it had just lost. It sounded and looked as painful as it did disgusting. The younger one fell several dozen feet before she managed to right herself in the air. She didn't have aura(that much even more evident by the burn marks that lined her sleeveless arms), but she still had the magic of the maiden keeping her afloat. The teenager would have shouted back that she was okay, but a glimpse of the frozen Ruby falling through the sky put the ixnay on that. The blue flames shooting out of the heel of her boots suddenly EXPLODED with intensity as she soared that way. Faster faster faster faster must go faster, Cinder's thoughts raced just as much as the girl herself was.

The wind was a fierce howl on her ears as she sped up with each passing second, but she managed to catch up and grab hold of the frozen huntress. Immediately she reversed direction, the jets of flame pushing her straight up enough so the pair's descent speed slowed down dramatically. Eventually the two came to a relatively gentle halt upon the snowy ground and the teenager let out a sigh of relief. Truth be told, she had no idea how aura worked within there, if it would prevent the frozen Ruby from cracking or shattering from a forceful impact, but she was not going to take the risk in finding out.

She took one last look at Ruby before her head snapped up to catch sight of Penny.



By that point, her evil older asshole self had more than recovered from the loss of her monstrous wrist. The bitch was bringing Penny down! The teenager winced at the cry of pain, this time it was her turn to call out with "PENNY!" She started forward in a sprint, she may have had no aura but she was going to--skid to a sudden, abrupt halt by what she just witnessed.

As the grimm hybrid hovered there with a cruel smile on her face, it got wiped the hell off her face by what followed, much to her younger double's satisfaction.



That. Rocked. Her. World.

The huge blast was so unexpected and so powerful that she almost got knocked down into the ground herself. It was at literally the last second that she managed to avoid that fate, jets of flame blasting outward as she rose back into the sky, head swiftly turning from left to right as she tried to get a bead on what had just hit her. Cinder didn't manage to zero in on it. There wasn't enough free time for that. Her attention got swiftly pulled back down to earth as another energy beam came rushing for her, this time definitely courtesy of Penny.

Her teeth gritted together in annoyance. The stupid bot should have just stayed down. A massive ball of fire erupted in the air around the hybrid double maiden before it came together and she unleashed it all as a counter blast to meet Penny's own.

The Cinder of this world didn't stay put watching that. Lack of aura be damned! So she couldn't get up close and personal in an extensive brawl with her dark counterpart, fine. She could still help, and she refused to let Penny go at it alone(?)

She flew into the air while the other two were caught up in that, but she kept her distance and even went higher up in the sky, looking downward at the maniac that shared her name. "Eat this, bitch." Cinder muttered to herself with a smile, slamming her two blades together into the form she was most comfortable with.

Spoiler

Penny could output an absurd amount of power with her aura generator and power core, and she wasn't holding any of it back in this blast; it was enough to slice a manta clean in half, or blow a hole straight through even the oldest goliaths, and it wasn't even close to what Cinder was pushing back with. The blades spun faster as Penny willed as much of her soul into the attack as possible, her feet digging into the ice and pushing backwards through, the pushback enough to move even her weight, but all it did was slow CInder's blast from overtaking her immediately to doing so inexoriably, buying a few more seconds at most.

A few seconds was all the good Cinder needed though, and the aftermath of whatever peppering of arrows was all the third assailant needed to make their own next move, as what felt like a a metric ton of solid steel came careening at Cinder Prime through the clouds to try and land a metallic mid air haymaker of a punch. The momentum was such that regardless of whether the people's elbow from hell hit, the third of Cinder's problems crashed into the ice with enough force that they went through the ice, into the first floor of the resistance base down below.



They stood up from the landing with a whirr of gears and servos. Their form was obscured by interlocked and overlapped plates of metal hued black with dark green accents, with the sole exception being the white snowflake on one pauldron and the S.D.C stenciled on the chestplate. A pair of gun barrels jutted out on either side of their right hand, with a hardlight emitter connected to their left, and a much larger cannon potruding just behind their left shoulder, currently slid out of firing position to rest against their back. Their face was entirely hidden by a viewport, the sort that made it unhelpful unclear as to whether the newcomer was even human or some sort of advanced attack drone. It was a complete mystery as to who this could be-

"WATTS!"

Penny's joyous exultation came over the comms, and the only thing that saved Arthur's hearing from the sheer decibels that Penny put into it was that he knew his friends too well not to put a volume cap on his internal radio. He gave an exasperated sigh as he boosted himself back out of the staging area's new skylight.

"Hello, Penny. More throughout reunions can be had when we're not about to die."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"You like 'em ugly, grimm bait! Rawr!"

As if the five other headaches all going on in the room all at once weren't enough, vanilla Yang had to just deal with the unstoppable force-immovable object worthy struggle of vehemently ignoring a version of herself tone deaf to being ignored.

Ironwood, in stark contrast to the kissy faces Yang's worse self was making at her, wore features that could've been chiselled in a mountain so rigid were they. The unaffectionate nickname and barb didn't seem to register, and his eyes barely flickered towards the relic when she lifted it before they were back at her eyes. He did eventually answer the question, though sparsely.

"Salem's lies. Weiss's lies."

The words were practically toneless, born not of resentment but of whatever higher level of clarity the general seemed to believe he operated on.

"Am I the only one who finds it strange that the only one who seems to tell the truth is Ozpin? He only needs the relic. Atlas once needed it to stay airborne. Now it doesn't."

Weiss probably would've jumped in somewhere around there if she weren't still sprawled flat on the floor, trying to massage the ringing out of her ears.

"So I'm left questioning why exactly my kingdom needs to fight either of their wars when there's a path that seems to avert one entirely—"

"Say, Jimmy?"

Yang's fun nickname for the bionic man probably became a whole lot less fun as Carnelian seemed to take a liking to it, his voice just as amiable as it carried over from the elevator. He wasn't looking at them, though.





He was looking at her.

Or more accurately, through her.

Gwen's mind was an amazing thing. It operated on a higher level in sheer procedural thinking than perhaps even Weiss's, in certain areas. Unfortunately, as was the case with Weiss, that level of intellect almost always bred egos. Big egos. Egos made people overlook things.

Like the fact that someone in the room could read minds.

View attachment 817036

"Smartypants here just jammed your gun. She's about t-" BANG "-ohp."

The 'ohp', and bang, were both a consequence of the second reason Gwen's play didn't really pan out.

Carnelian wasn't the only general in the room with a mind semblance.

The other was just more internal than external. To the naked eye Ironwood may have appeared tunnel-visioned on Yang and the relics, but the fact was he wasn't. He was tunnel visioned on everyone. It wasn't even a tunnel at all, more a crowded overpass. Every bead of sweat, every finger on every trigger. The man was a juggernaut of sheer focus, and that focus was part of what made him a faster draw than anyone in the room.

Which was why even Carnelian barely saw it coming when he drew his second pistol and blew Weiss's kneecap out.

View attachment 817091

Weiss was still too deaf to know it was coming, but if nothing else she was at least braced for pain this time. She liked to think she was acquainted with it.

But there was pain and there was taking a bullet, sans aura, to one of the most sensitive nerve clusters in the body, and while she didn't cry out no amount of gritted teeth could conceal the involuntary "Nnnnnhhhhh-!" or the flood of moisture that appeared from under her eyelids even as she screwed them shut. She tried to clutch at it and curl up in a ball, but Ironwood yanked her up before she could do so, arm slung across the throat to deter any bullets, forcing her to shift all her weight to one leg while the other hung awkwardly.

"Gwen is smart, Carnelian. One of the smartest."

He still didn't look at her, but for a brief moment it was neither fugitive or general James Ironwood she was pointing a gun at.

It was the headmaster. The one who had overseen her training, watched her graduate and personally promoted her to the rank of special operative.

"But she was never a very good listener."

"Take... relics... go." Weiss hissed through a clenched jaw at the shape she thought looked most like Yang, hilariously still trying to boss her around.

"STOP TALKING!"

The moment Ironwood's composure slipped for first time at was the same one the Yang in the elevator lunged forward, pounced from all fours and brought her Grimm fist thundering into the forcefield, hard enough that the entire floor shook with her scream of exertion and ecstasy.

It held. Barely.

But it wasn't going to withstand a second.​

"HEY!"

Spoiler

Yang took a few deep breaths and looked around, giving her doppelganger a warning glare of red eyes and slight jerk of her hand with the relic towards Raven's portal to warn her off against another charge. Once she was relatively sure no one was pulling anymore triggers or trying any more fancy moves, she spoke as calmly as she could, which is to say she was a powder keg in a gas station next to a lit match

"We could do what you want; give you guys the relics. Then what? You expect me to believe you're just gonna let us zip off? That you haven't already proven in the last two minutes he's more of a ends justify the means jackass than Weiss' already proven herself to be, and there's no reason after that for him not to finish what he's starting?"

She let her eyes fall down to Weiss instead.

"Or we could do what she's saying and get out of here. Let Atlas sort itself out, and get on with getting home, and getting the rest of the relics to kick Ozpin's ass with. And let Weiss die, or worse.... Or..."

She lifted the relic slightly and swung her eyes across the group at large; both generals, Raven, Weiss, the trash fire, and the two talons standing grimly behind the other two murderers.

"I take option three. You guys all know how this works right? You think you can get it away from me before I say a syllable? There's only one question left, and then its useless to everyone for the next couple centuries. And if Jimmy over there pulls that trigger one more time, the question I'm gonna ask it is how to win this fight so hard I break every single one of you so bad in the next five minutes that you'll never be able to hurt anyone again."

She looked around again and slowly lowered the relic.

"Or we take option four. You let sis, I mean the masque, go over to weiss and bring her through the portal, and we leave without ruining everyone's turn with the relic. It stays in play, Ozpin loses anything of interest to him in Atlas, and you all get to walk out of here with your bones and metal bits still able to make you move. None of us go home happy, all of us go home with a piece of the pie. So... whats it gonna be?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

He was looking at her.

Or more accurately, through her.

Gwen's mind was an amazing thing. It operated on a higher level in sheer procedural thinking than perhaps even Weiss's, in certain areas. Unfortunately, as was the case with Weiss, that level of intellect almost always bred egos. Big egos. Egos made people overlook things.

Like the fact that someone in the room could read minds.

"Smartypants here just jammed your gun. She's about t-" BANG "-ohp."

The 'ohp', and bang, were both a consequence of the second reason Gwen's play didn't really pan out.

Carnelian wasn't the only general in the room with a mind semblance.

The other was just more internal than external. To the naked eye Ironwood may have appeared tunnel-visioned on Yang and the relics, but the fact was he wasn't. He was tunnel visioned on everyone. It wasn't even a tunnel at all, more a crowded overpass. Every bead of sweat, every finger on every trigger. The man was a juggernaut of sheer focus, and that focus was part of what made him a faster draw than anyone in the room.

Which was why even Carnelian barely saw it coming when he drew his second pistol and blew Weiss's kneecap out.

"...no. NO!" The second repeat was far louder than the first but it didn't at all compete with the sound of the gunshot that hung in the air. Ironically, it had been her that was tunnel-visioned. So focused on the immediate threat, so sure she had control over all the variables that mattered in this bad situation, that in trying to hamper that immediate threat, that gun resting against Weiss's skull, she overlooked that which should have been obvious. Carnelian's semblance. The second gun in Ironwood's holster. She was too slow to prevent that shot.

She had never been in control.​

Weiss was still too deaf to know it was coming, but if nothing else she was at least braced for pain this time. She liked to think she was acquainted with it.

But there was pain and there was taking a bullet, sans aura, to one of the most sensitive nerve clusters in the body, and while she didn't cry out no amount of gritted teeth could conceal the involuntary "Nnnnnhhhhh-!" or the flood of moisture that appeared from under her eyelids even as she screwed them shut. She tried to clutch at it and curl up in a ball, but Ironwood yanked her up before she could do so, arm slung across the throat to deter any bullets, forcing her to shift all her weight to one leg while the other hung awkwardly.

Her face fell. Shame at being too focused on one thing, guilt for the pain even Weiss couldn't deny she felt, frustration that she hadn't been smart enough or fast enough to prevent one of Atlas's most important individuals from coming to harm, it all felt like a river she was drowning in. But there was no time for that, and it got forcefully buried as she lifted her eyes back up.​

"Gwen is smart, Carnelian. One of the smartest."

He still didn't look at her, but for a brief moment it was neither fugitive or general James Ironwood she was pointing a gun at.

It was the headmaster. The one who had overseen her training, watched her graduate and personally promoted her to the rank of special operative.

"But she was never a very good listener."

For a second there, she wasn't the tech-wise special operative who'd just made a serious mistake, and he wasn't the asshole who had just shot out a councilwoman's kneecap. It was like she was back in school, doing her utmost to graduate with the highest marks. Rigorous studying, intense training, sometimes so extensively that it felt like her bones themselves were cracking. The man himself standing there, praising her strengths and outlining her faults all in one breath. It all eventually paid off. That day when she got not only her huntress license, but a personal commission to become a special operative. It had been one of the happiest days in her life, if not the one.

Had been.

Then the moment passed and the man she was looking at, she...she didn't recognize. The thunderous boom behind her, of one of them no doubt testing her field's strength, she hardly paid it any mind. Her cold eyes and fierce scowl remained on the man she had once looked up to beyond all others, now glaring at him from behind the barrel of a gun. She had come up here expecting something simple. None of it was.
​

"HEY!"

Spoiler

View attachment 817146

Yang took a few deep breaths and looked around, giving her doppelganger a warning glare of red eyes and slight jerk of her hand with the relic towards Raven's portal to warn her off against another charge. Once she was relatively sure no one was pulling anymore triggers or trying any more fancy moves, she spoke as calmly as she could, which is to say she was a powder keg in a gas station next to a lit match

"We could do what you want; give you guys the relics. Then what? You expect me to believe you're just gonna let us zip off? That you haven't already proven in the last two minutes he's more of a ends justify the means jackass than Weiss' already proven herself to be, and there's no reason after that for him not to finish what he's starting?"

She let her eyes fall down to Weiss instead.

"Or we could do what she's saying and get out of here. Let Atlas sort itself out, and get on with getting home, and getting the rest of the relics to kick Ozpin's ass with. And let Weiss die, or worse.... Or..."

She lifted the relic slightly and swung her eyes across the group at large; both generals, Raven, Weiss, the trash fire, and the two talons standing grimly behind the other two murderers.

"I take option three. You guys all know how this works right? You think you can get it away from me before I say a syllable? There's only one question left, and then its useless to everyone for the next couple centuries. And if Jimmy over there pulls that trigger one more time, the question I'm gonna ask it is how to win this fight so hard I break every single one of you so bad in the next five minutes that you'll never be able to hurt anyone again."

She looked around again and slowly lowered the relic.

"Or we take option four. You let sis, I mean the masque, go over to weiss and bring her through the portal, and we leave without ruining everyone's turn with the relic. It stays in play, Ozpin loses anything of interest to him in Atlas, and you all get to walk out of here with your bones and metal bits still able to make you move. None of us go home happy, all of us go home with a piece of the pie. So... whats it gonna be?"​

She didn't say anything on the topic of the various options. She remained standing where she was, locked in a standoff. The next move was not hers to make, she would let them do that. But she did make one thing clear. "General Ironwood." She spat out his former rank and name as if it was something utterly disgusting, some reviling garbage that stained Atlas's history, and not something, someone, to be revered. To be trusted. "Whatever happens next, I will do everything I can to make sure we both face justice for this." Then she was just as silent and still as Raven and Ruby were, waiting to see how this fiasco played out.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Penny could output an absurd amount of power with her aura generator and power core, and she wasn't holding any of it back in this blast; it was enough to slice a manta clean in half, or blow a hole straight through even the oldest goliaths, and it wasn't even close to what Cinder was pushing back with. The blades spun faster as Penny willed as much of her soul into the attack as possible, her feet digging into the ice and pushing backwards through, the pushback enough to move even her weight, but all it did was slow CInder's blast from overtaking her immediately to doing so inexoriably, buying a few more seconds at most.

A few seconds was all the good Cinder needed though, and the aftermath of whatever peppering of arrows was all the third assailant needed to make their own next move, as what felt like a a metric ton of solid steel came careening at Cinder Prime through the clouds to try and land a metallic mid air haymaker of a punch. The momentum was such that regardless of whether the people's elbow from hell hit, the third of Cinder's problems crashed into the ice with enough force that they went through the ice, into the first floor of the resistance base down below.



They stood up from the landing with a whirr of gears and servos. Their form was obscured by interlocked and overlapped plates of metal hued black with dark green accents, with the sole exception being the white snowflake on one pauldron and the S.D.C stenciled on the chestplate. A pair of gun barrels jutted out on either side of their right hand, with a hardlight emitter connected to their left, and a much larger cannon potruding just behind their left shoulder, currently slid out of firing position to rest against their back. Their face was entirely hidden by a viewport, the sort that made it unhelpful unclear as to whether the newcomer was even human or some sort of advanced attack drone. It was a complete mystery as to who this could be-

This was it. It was over. Just a few more seconds now and--

The first of the arrows struck then, the dust within exploding upon contact with the back of her skull. The unexpected assault threw her off, spinning her around wildly. As a result, the remainder of her fire blast split the sky as it streaked up into the clouds above rather than at her target. She snarled in anger, more beastly sounding than ever, head beginning to turn to face the one who had just--

She didn't get that far. A third(THIRD!) attack almost caught her off guard too. Almost. This time she saw it coming, and this time she was able to react. The hybrid spun, and her grimm hand caught the punch instead of it striking her. That didn't fully stop it, though. The weight, the momentum, it still hit like...well, a ton. The pair slammed into the ice at many miles per hour, through it even, ending with them crashing into the just as cold metallic floor of the base. The armored one was the first to recover, boosting himself back out.​

"WATTS!"

Penny's joyous exultation came over the comms, and the only thing that saved Arthur's hearing from the sheer decibels that Penny put into it was that he knew his friends too well not to put a volume cap on his internal radio. He gave an exasperated sigh as he boosted himself back out of the staging area's new skylight.

"Hello, Penny. More throughout reunions can be had when we're not about to die."

"...Arthur?" She questioned in a soft whisper, astounded by who had just come to their aid.

"ARTHUR!" The surprise passed, and then she was just relieved and gleeful as Penny was, no doubt adding to his exasperation.

The other one was feeling not at all positive about this new attacker. The hybrid maiden came rocketing out of the hole she had just inadvertently made at ridiculous speeds, twin obsidian blades now in hand and alight with flame as the distance between them was closed nigh-instantly.

"Another one of you?! Is there no end to the pests infecting Atlas?!?" She growled, pure hatred pouring from her mouth just as surely as fire shot out of her eye. "If you want to die that bad, fine!" The older Cinder began swinging, aiming to cut deep into the armored tin can. "I'll cut into your shell, pull you out and stomp you like the pathetic bug you are!" ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"HEY!"

Spoiler

View attachment 817146

Yang took a few deep breaths and looked around, giving her doppelganger a warning glare of red eyes and slight jerk of her hand with the relic towards Raven's portal to warn her off against another charge. Once she was relatively sure no one was pulling anymore triggers or trying any more fancy moves, she spoke as calmly as she could, which is to say she was a powder keg in a gas station next to a lit match

"We could do what you want; give you guys the relics. Then what? You expect me to believe you're just gonna let us zip off? That you haven't already proven in the last two minutes he's more of a ends justify the means jackass than Weiss' already proven herself to be, and there's no reason after that for him not to finish what he's starting?"

She let her eyes fall down to Weiss instead.

"Or we could do what she's saying and get out of here. Let Atlas sort itself out, and get on with getting home, and getting the rest of the relics to kick Ozpin's ass with. And let Weiss die, or worse.... Or..."

She lifted the relic slightly and swung her eyes across the group at large; both generals, Raven, Weiss, the trash fire, and the two talons standing grimly behind the other two murderers.

"I take option three. You guys all know how this works right? You think you can get it away from me before I say a syllable? There's only one question left, and then its useless to everyone for the next couple centuries. And if Jimmy over there pulls that trigger one more time, the question I'm gonna ask it is how to win this fight so hard I break every single one of you so bad in the next five minutes that you'll never be able to hurt anyone again."

She looked around again and slowly lowered the relic.

"Or we take option four. You let sis, I mean the masque, go over to weiss and bring her through the portal, and we leave without ruining everyone's turn with the relic. It stays in play, Ozpin loses anything of interest to him in Atlas, and you all get to walk out of here with your bones and metal bits still able to make you move. None of us go home happy, all of us go home with a piece of the pie. So... whats it gonna be?"​

Silence reigned for the next few seconds, and in that time Yang knew what it was to have all eyes on her in a room that made Junior's club look like a kiddy's ballpit. Her double's growling, predatory eyes, awash with a pure and seething hatred rather than their typical boisterous sadism. The disdainful, all-seeing stare of General Carnelian, so much darkness and wrath distilled into the form of one man it was a miracle he was the one who could scan minds and not vice-versa. The quiet, solemn bearing of James Ironwood, the tin man who'd given so much in the defense of humanity he no longer had any left himself.



And Weiss, who despite being in agony, held at gunpoint and too deaf to hear a single word Yang said was somehow still giving her the most withering glower of all.

"I DON'T CONSENT TO WHATEVER IT IS SHE JUST SAID. AM I YELLING? WHAT?"

Everyone ignored her.

"Awwww, look everyone! My bitch thinks she's people."

Naturally, it was the voice Yang probably least wanted to hear answer who did, a throaty laugh of derision assailing her from the elevator as her worse half casually leaned forward against the field, forearms crossed.



"Goootta hand it to ya, grimm bait. For a sec just there I almost saw it. You been practicing your best me impression since last time? Guess I rubbed off on you in more ways than one, huh?"

She threw in a cheeky grin at the implication, tossing her hair back behind a pierced ear with a casual sweep. Her playful confidence may have been back in spades, but it was still hard to miss the spark of dangerous, unstable anger in her eyes whenever she looked at her other self, an obsessive resentment that bordered on something else.

"Only then I thought jeez, this is just the same old bullshit. Little girl playing all the cards she doesn't have, hoping somebody buys this wannabe macho act long enough to miss how scared you really are. It'd be sad it weren't so fucking funny! And speaking of funny—"

Her eyes darted to the Ruby she knew and hated in the room then back, the hateful menace in them flaring twice as wide for that brief instant.

"—The test tube fetus is 'sis' now? Pffffffhahahaha! No, pipe down, I'm gonna tell her, I'm gonna!" She trilled, swatting her malignant arm like it was a gal pal misbehaving on a night out before she tapped a knuckle against her head. "Paging doctor bimbo! That thing is not anyone's sister. You do realize she came back and tried to jump my bones after your last little playdate session, right? Pretty sure I can still feel the ropeburn. 'Preciate you leaving me holding the bag on that one, by the way. Like it didn't get old after the first, gee I dunno, trillion times. Hey, hey hun? You want some advice, one 'sis' to another?"

She hunkered down and cocked her head in a manner far too friendly for the words that followed, affixing Ruby with a bright, exuberant smile. Except not her Ruby (never her Ruby).

It was Yang's Ruby. Ruby-Ruby.

"Just be honest with her! All these mind games are a total turnoff, trust me. Ooh, actually, scratch that. Better idea. Why dontcha just lie down and stop breathing?"

SLAM

The way she let her head loll back, jerk forward and slam up against the hardlight field was like something out of a horror movie, if the monster were trying to escape the screen and had its eyes locked on Ruby in a soulless, empty stare.

"̶W̵h̷y̷ ̷d̵o̶n̵t̴c̶h̸a̴ ̸j̸u̵s̴t̴ ̴l̶a̵y̷ ̷b̷a̷c̶k̴ ̷a̸n̷d̵ ̸l̵e̷m̴m̷e̶ ̶p̵o̸k̶e̴ ̷o̶u̴t̴ ̸y̶o̸u̵r̵ ̵f̸u̸c̷k̴i̵n̶g̷ ̶e̵y̴e̶s̷?̵"̷̷

SLAM

Ironwood's visage was that slight bit more clouded by the time he offered a less insane answer, jaw tight with obvious disdain.

"Look, Xiao Long. I can hardly blame you for not taking me at my word, but I can't stress enough that I'd be much happier doing this the way where you aren't all savaged by these bloodthirsty lunatics. That being said, letting you walk out of here with everything? So I can offer Ozpin nothing and watch him turn Atlas over to them like he did Mistral?"

He shook his head.

"No deal."

SLAM

Weiss rolled her eyes, enough functionality having returned to her ears to make out at least the tail end of that. "Oh for goodness' sake. HE IS NOT GOING TO MURDER ME, YANG! HE'S BLUFFI-"

He was, however, apparently going to slam the butt of his pistol into the back of her skull hard enough to make her go limp, which was exactly what he did.

SLAM

It was also right when the other Yang's skull hit the hardlight wall hard enough to burst through it, a savagely ferocious grin on her face as she gave a feral howl and launched herself at Ruby with a deafening KABLAM. Carnelian...

Was just gone. He didn't even seem to be in the elevator anymore, yet another worry in a veritable typhoon of them.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Which was why even Carnelian barely saw it coming when he drew his second pistol and blew Weiss's kneecap out.

Weiss was still too deaf to know it was coming, but if nothing else she was at least braced for pain this time. She liked to think she was acquainted with it.

But there was pain and there was taking a bullet, sans aura, to one of the most sensitive nerve clusters in the body, and while she didn't cry out no amount of gritted teeth could conceal the involuntary "Nnnnnhhhhh-!" or the flood of moisture that appeared from under her eyelids even as she screwed them shut. She tried to clutch at it and curl up in a ball, but Ironwood yanked her up before she could do so, arm slung across the throat to deter any bullets, forcing her to shift all her weight to one leg while the other hung awkwardly.

"WEISS!"

Ruby's face was hidden away by her hood. But were she a dog, she would have been positively foaming at the mouth.

Her entire body shuddered and shook.
​

"—The test tube fetus is 'sis' now? Pffffffhahahaha! No, pipe down, I'm gonna tell her, I'm gonna!" She trilled, swatting her malignant arm like it was a gal pal misbehaving on a night out before she tapped a knuckle against her head. "Paging doctor bimbo! That thing is not anyone's sister. You do realize she came back and tried to jump my bones after your last little playdate session, right? 'Preciate you leaving me holding the bag on that one, by the way. Like it didn't get old after the first, gee I dunno, trillion times. Hey, hey hun? You want some advice, one 'sis' to another?"

Ruby froze....

Then she exhaled.

Weiss had already made it clear that Ruby had kept some things from her.

Nothing to be done about it now.
​

She hunkered down and cocked her head in a manner far too friendly for the words that followed, affixing Ruby with a bright, exuberant smile. Except not her Ruby (never her Ruby).

It was Yang's Ruby. Ruby-Ruby.

Ruby's head snapped to look over at her counterpart.

"Ruby! Run!"
​

SLAM

It was also right when the other Yang's skull hit the hardlight wall hard enough to burst through it, a savagely ferocious grin on her face as she gave a feral howl and launched herself at Ruby with a deafening KABLAM.

The hardlight faded and for that matter so did Ruby.

Not the one that Yang loved but the one who'd lived in the woods making a name for herself.

The Red Masque.

Reappearing beside her counterpart, Ruby gave her a sharp shove to the side.

Which of course left her wide open for....

"URGH!"

Ruby grit her teeth and dug the heels of her boots against the floor of Weiss's office as best as she could. The two sisters from hell had collided and Ruby's eyes met Yang's and for the longest time since she'd joined Weiss's side, Ruby finally felt as though she were at home. She could give in to the constant aching that'd been tearing at her mind. Yelling at her over and over to forget the customs and civilization that Weiss in all her effort had tried to impart upon the former bandit. Moving her flesh and artificial hands up to try and clasp Yang's, Ruby growled and snarled. "That Ruby....hasn't done a damn thing to you....You want somebody to blame....Somebody to hurt..."

Ruby reared her head back and moved to smash it against her Yang's forehead.

"I'm right here! Your ticket to get payback is fresh and ready to go, you do-nothing BITCH!"

​

 

[MidwayLives]

Tiger didn't really care for all the talking...

She hadn't been much of a gifted speaker. Most things that involved her usually just required her to punch any obstacle.

This was just tedious.

As Ironwood and the others spoke, Tiger clenched and unclenched her left hand. That arm had suffered extreme damage as a result of pushing herself past her semblance's (at the time) limits. But if she added little by little to the increments instead of going all out, then maybe...

"Hm..."
​

It was also right when the other Yang's skull hit the hardlight wall hard enough to burst through it, a savagely ferocious grin on her face as she gave a feral howl and launched herself at Ruby with a deafening KABLAM. Carnelian...

"Hmph."

Tiger wanted to do that herself...

Ah well, wasn't really the time for petty grievances. Stepping on through, Tiger's eyes locked onto Yang and the relic.

"I will be taking that."

No demands or anything like that. Tiger didn't operate like that. She said what was on her mind.

Raising her left arm, she winced slightly.

All while her eyes remained locked on Yang.



"10....4...104%"

If it was more gradual rather than a sudden jump from 100 to beyond, maybe her own body wouldn't be destroyed by her semblance this time.

Guess she'd have to wait and see.

Her left arm twisted and bulged to the point the bandages practically exploded off the limb. Scattering to the ground, Tiger tried to survey the damage she'd obtained as a result of her fight with Nora. Her arm had been twisted in ways an arm should never be and it was covered in scars and pocked marks. But it hadn't snapped in half or exploded into a pile of gore and bone so she counted her blessings however small. Spreading her feet apart, Tiger burst forward to try and sock Yang in the stomach and grab the relic from her grasp in the process. Didn't really matter what the thing did or didn't do. Tiger didn't particularly care. Another detail that was best left up to those who handled such things.

Tiger just wanted to fight and so that's exactly what she did.

The bandages coming loose around her face, tufts of her white hair poking out. Her mouth was exposed and she looked absolutely thrilled.

​

 

[MidwayLives]

Grey had achieved something of an epiphany earlier.

It hadn't been naked courage that'd got him to challenge the third strongest member of the Shadow Fang to personal combat. It hadn't been his own belief in his abilities that got him through that whole debacle. He was a total mess for lack of a better word. He hadn't shaved leaving him with a five'o clock shadow that wasn't gonna go away anytime soon(he believes Cobalt would have liked it)he still wasn't much of a fighter and would have definitely been killed by Blake if he'd tried going after her like the bunny eared Atlesian solider had wanted to. After making sure he and the duck-billed faunus who'd been severely injured were seen off, he'd gone off on his own.

He needed time to get his shit together. A moment to breath.

He'd combed his hair. He'd splashed a glass of cool water on his face.

"Cobalt..."

He spoke, not really sure to who, but.

"....I hope you're proud of me." He murmured with a slight sniffle at the end as he zipped up his jacket. Felt almost naked to not be dressed up in his 'usual' attire but after having been picked up by Weiss, he hadn't the time or resources to track down his old getup.

Looking in the reflection of his scroll, Grey patted the rifle strapped to his chest.

He'd insisted he take it to 'better protect himself' after Paradise went about seeing Magenta was taken care of.

It wasn't much but he'd been getting better with his semblance too...

He was ready for anything....
​

"Another one of you?! Is there no end to the pests infecting Atlas?!?" She growled, pure hatred pouring from her mouth just as surely as fire shot out of her eye. "If you want to die that bad, fine!" The older Cinder began swinging, aiming to cut deep into the armored tin can. "I'll cut into your shell, pull you out and stomp you like the pathetic bug you are!"

*BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM*

Rifle shots rang out through the cool night air.

Small traces of the fog his semblance conjured escaped from Grey's lips in lieu of his 'breath.'



"Why don't you leave the kids alone and fight someone your own size..."

Oh, he really wasn't ready for this.

'Mental note: If I'm to die today, let it be known....I'll be reunited with them again.'​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Why don't you leave the kids alone and fight someone your own size..."

Spoiler: totally the legit response

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

This was it. It was over. Just a few more seconds now and--

The first of the arrows struck then, the dust within exploding upon contact with the back of her skull. The unexpected assault threw her off, spinning her around wildly. As a result, the remainder of her fire blast split the sky as it streaked up into the clouds above rather than at her target. She snarled in anger, more beastly sounding than ever, head beginning to turn to face the one who had just--

She didn't get that far. A third(THIRD!) attack almost caught her off guard too. Almost. This time she saw it coming, and this time she was able to react. The hybrid spun, and her grimm hand caught the punch instead of it striking her. That didn't fully stop it, though. The weight, the momentum, it still hit like...well, a ton. The pair slammed into the ice at many miles per hour, through it even, ending with them crashing into the just as cold metallic floor of the base. The armored one was the first to recover, boosting himself back out.



"...Arthur?" She questioned in a soft whisper, astounded by who had just come to their aid.

"ARTHUR!" The surprise passed, and then she was just relieved and gleeful as Penny was, no doubt adding to his exasperation.

The other one was feeling not at all positive about this new attacker. The hybrid maiden came rocketing out of the hole she had just inadvertently made at ridiculous speeds, twin obsidian blades now in hand and alight with flame as the distance between them was closed nigh-instantly.

"Another one of you?! Is there no end to the pests infecting Atlas?!?" She growled, pure hatred pouring from her mouth just as surely as fire shot out of her eye. "If you want to die that bad, fine!" The older Cinder began swinging, aiming to cut deep into the armored tin can. "I'll cut into your shell, pull you out and stomp you like the pathetic bug you are!" ​

Whatever was going on under the hood of Watts' new toy, it hadn't magically turned him into the most nimble member of team WTCH; He tried to arc his path away from Cinder, but a month of flight practice hadn't been anywhere close to enough, and she caught up to him with ease and slashed her first swing of superheated stone straight through the shin of Watts' armor; The steel was thick enough that the blade still didn't cut all the way through, but it did gouge a lengthy cut in it that trailed angry red globs of molten metal behind them.

"Ah."

Suit breach detected, aura levels near maximum; Externalizing aura protections

The next swing slammed into the armor and instead flared in a dark green blow, just as if Cinder had struck Watts directly, and to Watts absolute dismay one swing sent his aura bar rattling down a full quarter on his hud. He twisted his flight into a backwards loop with a grim frown as he called over the comms. "Stay back a moment if you would. In fact, take cover"

Penny had been scant seconds from joining the melee but swerved her thrusters to a halt in mid air with a worried frown. "Are you sure???"

Cinder's blades found him again in a flurry that put him dangerously close to the red "YES!"

Penny arced back downwards, Watts evaded again, and the next time Cinder caught up, dozens of little ports opened up all along the armor. He absolutely didn't want to use this so soon; it was a one and done, and also took about six hours to replace. "AMP!"

Anti-Maiden Protocol Engaged

But it was better than dying ten seconds into his first fight with the prototype.

the ports ignited, and an omnidirectional flechette blast of lightning dust rounds suddenly exploded around him, whatever direction Cinder Prime had deigned to take evasive action being as much in the zone of fire as anywhere else as the ground, surrounding buildings, and night sky all light up in a cacophany of lightning and thunder.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang, for the most part, just grit her teeth and ignored what the Yang sporting an ugly garbage disposal for an arm instead of sleek Schneecorp tech had to say. But even for her willpower,

"—The test tube fetus is 'sis' now? Pffffffhahahaha! No, pipe down, I'm gonna tell her, I'm gonna!" She trilled, swatting her malignant arm like it was a gal pal misbehaving on a night out before she tapped a knuckle against her head. "Paging doctor bimbo! That thing is not anyone's sister. You do realize she came back and tried to jump my bones after your last little playdate session, right? Pretty sure I can still feel the ropeburn. 'Preciate you leaving me holding the bag on that one, by the way. Like it didn't get old after the first, gee I dunno, trillion times. Hey, hey hun? You want some advice, one 'sis' to another?"

She hunkered down and cocked her head in a manner far too friendly for the words that followed, affixing Ruby with a bright, exuberant smile. Except not her Ruby (never her Ruby).

It was Yang's Ruby. Ruby-Ruby.

"Just be honest with her! All these mind games are a total turnoff, trust me. Ooh, actually, scratch that. Better idea. Why dontcha just lie down and stop breathing?"

​

That was a bit much to brush off with the absolute belief that she was the coolest and healthiest version of herself. It got her attention, and it also meant she saw where BDE Yang's eyes drifted as she continued.

Oh hell no. Whatever horribly gross and confusing revelation that had been, THAT very quickly became almost the only thing that mattered, and she set her jaw into a determined frown as she swiveled her gaze back to Ironwood as she waited for his answer

Ironwood's visage was that slight bit more clouded by the time he offered a less insane answer, jaw tight with obvious disdain.

"Look, Xiao Long. I can hardly blame you for not taking me at my word, but I can't stress enough that I'd be much happier doing this the way where you aren't all savaged by these bloodthirsty lunatics. That being said, letting you walk out of here with everything? So I can offer Ozpin nothing and watch him turn Atlas over to them like he did Mistral?"

He shook his head.

"No deal."

It only took the first word out of Ironwood's mouth for Yang to see where it was going, and his excellent focus could see the shift in her demeanor as her eyes lidded slightly and her expression turned ever so slightly grim.

Then far less slightly cocky as she smirked and lowered the relic back towards Ruby's arms.

"Raven. Ruby. You got me?"

It was pretty rhetorical as far as requests went. One answer she knew for sure, and the other was almost as close. Objectively, this was a way, way worse situation than they'd been in not a minute earlier, when Weiss had been the obstacle Yang had been trying to overcome. But that had been a battle of will and heart, where having too much of the latter was what had allowed Weiss to cut her off at the knees in the former.

This? Sure, in Yang's most brutally honest moments and particularly after the two months she'd had, she'd be hesitant to call herself the winner in a one vs one against over half of this circus troupe of psychopaths and misanthropic 'heroes' who had clearly never watched a real one grow up right before their eyes. But brothers was it all so much simpler than the emotional tangle it had been before.

Punch the bad guys. Get the relics into Vacuo. Get everyone out alive.

She was real good at that first part.

"Jimmy?"

There was plenty she could have answered with. Lamented the loss of his humanity in pursuit of victory by the numbers. Called out his hypocrisy for feeling betrayed and answering with betrayals. Tried one last time to appeal to the hero that still lurked somewhere in that iron heart.

But honestly? She was feeling kinda over the talking at this point. She kept it simple



"Wrong choice"

SLAM

Weiss rolled her eyes, enough functionality having returned to her ears to make out at least the tail end of that. "Oh for goodness' sake. HE IS NOT GOING TO MURDER ME, YANG! HE'S BLUFFI-"

He was, however, apparently going to slam the butt of his pistol into the back of her skull hard enough to make her go limp, which was exactly what he did.

SLAM

It was also right when the other Yang's skull hit the hardlight wall hard enough to burst through it, a savagely ferocious grin on her face as she gave a feral howl and launched herself at Ruby with a deafening KABLAM. Carnelian...

Was just gone. He didn't even seem to be in the elevator anymore, yet another worry in a veritable typhoon of them.

The third slam wasn't just the sound of BDE Yang crashing into the hardlight shield, and while Yang didn't have a mind reading semblance or super focus, she was team RWBY's premiere boxer and brawler; she knew the body language of a hit windup like she knew how to breathe, and while she didn't clear the distance enough to save Weiss from (at this point probably blessed release of ) unconsciousness, it did leave Ironwood almost no time to react as her feet planted into the ground right in front of him and her fist planted right into the shoulder Yang knew was still flesh and blood.

Tiger didn't really care for all the talking...

She hadn't been much of a gifted speaker. Most things that involved her usually just required her to punch any obstacle.

This was just tedious.

As Ironwood and the others spoke, Tiger clenched and unclenched her left hand. That arm had suffered extreme damage as a result of pushing herself past her semblance's (at the time) limits. But if she added little by little to the increments instead of going all out, then maybe...

"Hm..."


"Hmph."

Tiger wanted to do that herself...

Ah well, wasn't really the time for petty grievances. Stepping on through, Tiger's eyes locked onto Yang and the relic.

"I will be taking that."

No demands or anything like that. Tiger didn't operate like that. She said what was on her mind.

Raising her left arm, she winced slightly.

All while her eyes remained locked on Yang.

View attachment 817269

"10....4...104%"

If it was more gradual rather than a sudden jump from 100 to beyond, maybe her own body wouldn't be destroyed by her semblance this time.

Guess she'd have to wait and see.

Her left arm twisted and bulged to the point the bandages practically exploded off the limb. Scattering to the ground, Tiger tried to survey the damage she'd obtained as a result of her fight with Nora. Her arm had been twisted in ways an arm should never be and it was covered in scars and pocked marks. But it hadn't snapped in half or exploded into a pile of gore and bone so she counted her blessings however small. Spreading her feet apart, Tiger burst forward to try and sock Yang in the stomach and grab the relic from her grasp in the process. Didn't really matter what the thing did or didn't do. Tiger didn't particularly care. Another detail that was best left up to those who handled such things.

Tiger just wanted to fight and so that's exactly what she did.

The bandages coming loose around her face, tufts of her white hair poking out. Her mouth was exposed and she looked absolutely thrilled.

View attachment 817270​

The first thing Tiger noticed was that Yang wasn't holding the relic when she went for the swing; it had been deposited back in Ruby's waiting grip with an expert little flip of a toss on takeoff by Yang.

The second was that the boxer didn't even try to dodge, merely pivoted from her own punch threw up her arms into a crossguard and ate Tiger's haymaker full stop. The absurd force behind those muscles seemed to ripple through yang for a half second before it actually sent her flying, and even though she hit a solid steel wall she was almost ejected from the headmasters office melee as soon as it began, the wall almost completely buckling under the force of Yang crashing into it like a freight train. She slid down off the wall, her arms still locked into a crossguard and her golden aura swirling around her.

"Hey..."

Her eyes opened back up, and her golden locks instead burned almost white as heat licked off her in waves that distorted the air around her.

"Thanks"

 

[MyrtenRose]

Whatever was going on under the hood of Watts' new toy, it hadn't magically turned him into the most nimble member of team WTCH; He tried to arc his path away from Cinder, but a month of flight practice hadn't been anywhere close to enough, and she caught up to him with ease and slashed her first swing of superheated stone straight through the shin of Watts' armor; The steel was thick enough that the blade still didn't cut all the way through, but it did gouge a lengthy cut in it that trailed angry red globs of molten metal behind them.

"Ah."

Suit breach detected, aura levels near maximum; Externalizing aura protections

The next swing slammed into the armor and instead flared in a dark green blow, just as if Cinder had struck Watts directly, and to Watts absolute dismay one swing sent his aura bar rattling down a full quarter on his hud. He twisted his flight into a backwards loop with a grim frown as he called over the comms. "Stay back a moment if you would. In fact, take cover"

Penny had been scant seconds from joining the melee but swerved her thrusters to a halt in mid air with a worried frown. "Are you sure???"

Cinder's blades found him again in a flurry that put him dangerously close to the red "YES!"

Penny arced back downwards, Watts evaded again, and the next time Cinder caught up, dozens of little ports opened up all along the armor. He absolutely didn't want to use this so soon; it was a one and done, and also took about six hours to replace. "AMP!"

Anti-Maiden Protocol Engaged

But it was better than dying ten seconds into his first fight with the prototype.

the ports ignited, and an omnidirectional flechette blast of lightning dust rounds suddenly exploded around him, whatever direction Cinder Prime had deigned to take evasive action being as much in the zone of fire as anywhere else as the ground, surrounding buildings, and night sky all light up in a cacophany of lightning and thunder.

Spoiler: Photo taken seconds before disaster

At the penultimate second before she was upon him again, ready to finish carving up that tin can...that happened. All those openings let loose with their salvos, and the cold night sky erupted with an explosion of lightning dust that rivaled the storm she had just conjured up shortly beforehand. The sheer light that illuminated the darkness was overwhelmingly blinding. That alone got her to flinch, and in a panic she did her best to reverse course and get the hell out of the danger zone. To no avail. The tremendous sound of thunder absolutely dwarfed any screams on her part, but they were there nevertheless. Howls of agony as innumerable bolts coursed through human body and grimm arm alike, in addition to a few rifle shots that peppered her from below, by yet another attacker.

This time, it was this Cinder who plummeted to the snow below, but any of the more keen and focused among them did not see her aura break. It was flickering, wildly, but it did not shatter. She slammed into the ground like an errant comet, throwing up snow and sleet and dust that obscured the newly formed crater in Atlas's landscape. As the lightning dust flechette began to fade, as the thunder began to cease and silence began to take hold again, there was no sign of movement. Almost fifteen seconds passed, each one seeming to be much longer than they actually were, at least from the perspective of the Cinder still hovering in the sky, bow in hand. As much as she would have liked to, she didn't dare hope that was all it took for this to be over.

And she was right. By the seventeenth second, the grimm hybrid maiden hurtled out from the dust like a missile, huge bursts of flame shooting out of her. A trajectory that took her straight for wherever the armored Watts now was. Penny, the lesser version of herself, that other guy, all of them were ignored as she made a blindingly fast beeline for that hunk of junk. Her grimm arm elongated to a ridiculous degree before she had even made it up there, grabbing hold firmly on one of it's arms and yanking it down just as she flew up. Once the rest of her had caught up with, her human hand clutched the other arm just as tightly, her semblance engaging to superheat that spot, just as the inhuman strength of her grimm arm just started trying to crush the opposite armored limb entirely.

Perhaps more alarming than that, though, was the beyond pissed snarl on that Cinder's face as she leaned in dangerously close to the viewport separating her from the one inside. That look was far more ferociously animalistic than anything resembling human, one that promised plenty of pain. A promise that she intended to make good on. The only warning given was the fact that the inside of her mouth glowed, split-seconds before red-hot flame erupted from her mouth like a volcano exploding and burned into the viewport.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The third slam wasn't just the sound of BDE Yang crashing into the hardlight shield, and while Yang didn't have a mind reading semblance or super focus, she was team RWBY's premiere boxer and brawler; she knew the body language of a hit windup like she knew how to breathe, and while she didn't clear the distance enough to save Weiss from (at this point probably blessed release of ) unconsciousness, it did leave Ironwood almost no time to react as her feet planted into the ground right in front of him and her fist planted right into the shoulder Yang knew was still flesh and blood.

By and large Ironwood's days in the field were a ways behind him, but he was an equally long way from being a desk jockey; he kept up with his training rigorously, and as it happened knew a thing or two about boxing himself.

Enough to know he had roughly a snowball's chance in hell of doing it better than any daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long who took after him in that department. Maybe with his arms free he could've at least put up a better guard, but being that he had a gun in each hand and now Weiss's weight propped up against him it was the most he could do to have his right pistol raised by the time Yang was there, jaw set in determination and just as resigned to the way this had to play out as she seemed to be. Even with his level of clarity it wasn't fast enough to stop what was about to hit him; Yang felt the handgun's barrel whisk against her hair, the grip brace against her shoulder, already past his firing range. So he didn't aim at her.

The first thing Tiger noticed was that Yang wasn't holding the relic when she went for the swing; it had been deposited back in Ruby's waiting grip with an expert little flip of a toss on takeoff by Yang.

He aimed behind her.

A single, sharp BLAM sounded in what seemed like perfect time with Ember Celica's more echoing KABLAM, and among the cacophony of noises to follow were the easy-to-miss ting of a round bouncing off the Relic of Knowledge and sending it spinning wildly off its intended arc. The next three sounds happened so close together it was almost impossible to distinguish them.

First, there was an unholy crash and a rain of rubble as Carnelian came tearing through the ceiling, right at the spot the relic was now flying towards, palms already splayed around his swords in preparation for a perfect catch. The two men's semblances complimented one another perfectly; the younger general visualized the trajectory, the older made sure he was in the perfect spot ahead of time to receive. The two would've killed on the football field.

The next sound was much softer than the others, but it served as a stark reminder of how precarious Weiss's situation was as she slumped to the floor, auraless, right by the seven-foot wall of fearsome muscle that was Tiger.

And the third was a mass of glass shattering as Yang's blow sent Ironwood straight through the window of his own office, momentarily plunging below view before another BLAM saw him reverse his momentum back into the room in a poised combat crouch, eyes already scanning the room to track the second relic. Ruby immediately had to contend with an imminent torrent of bullets, the general opening fire with impunity as he began an inexorable march towards her.

Which of course left her wide open for....

"URGH!"

Ruby grit her teeth and dug the heels of her boots against the floor of Weiss's office as best as she could. The two sisters from hell had collided and Ruby's eyes met Yang's and for the longest time since she'd joined Weiss's side, Ruby finally felt as though she were at home. She could give in to the constant aching that'd been tearing at her mind. Yelling at her over and over to forget the customs and civilization that Weiss in all her effort had tried to impart upon the former bandit. Moving her flesh and artificial hands up to try and clasp Yang's, Ruby growled and snarled. "That Ruby....hasn't done a damn thing to you....You want somebody to blame....Somebody to hurt..."

Ruby reared her head back and moved to smash it against her Yang's forehead.

"I'm right here! Your ticket to get payback is fresh and ready to go, you do-nothing BITCH!"

The devil Yang's grin only widened in diameter and gleamed brighter with madness as the two rolled across the floor in a heap, and with that approach it was no surprise when the freakishly strong brawler ended up on top. Her dear sister found her face pinned to the ground with an insulting level of effortlessness by the grimm hand, arms trapped by Yang's knees on either side of her in a straddle that made sure she got a nice, long eyeful of every last one of the curves she was sure as hell never gonna touch.

"Ooooh nonono no, meat. 'Payback' implies I give a solitary fuck whether you live or die. Tell ya what, though! Drop this whole redemptive retard act and come back to the winning side and I'll tell daddy you were just working a long con this whole time. I mean, you gotta be getting the message by now that you just don't belong with all these nice, domesticated animals, right? Did you see the way they just looked at you?" She gave a scandalized, derisive scoff, like Ruby was the unpopular kid who'd just embarrassed herself in front of the whole party. "C'mooooon, 'sis'. Pack it in and admit the vacation's over. All it'll take is a single word."

She dropped low and moved close, back arched and voice a husky, seductive whisper.

"Uncle."​

 

[MidwayLives]

The devil Yang's grin only widened in diameter and gleamed brighter with madness as the two rolled across the floor in a heap, and with that approach it was no surprise when the freakishly strong brawler ended up on top. Her dear sister found her face pinned to the ground with an insulting level of effortlessness by the grimm hand, arms trapped by Yang's knees on either side of her in a straddle that made sure she got a nice, long eyeful of every last one of the curves she was sure as hell never gonna touch.

Ruby squirmed and snarled up until her face was pressed against the floor.

The mechanisms within her artificial arm whirred as she attempted in vain to wrestle her sister off her.

Whatever the thing that existed in lieu of Yang's arm was....Ruby HATED having it this close to her face. It sent shivers down her spine.

"GrrrrRAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
​

"Ooooh nonono no, meat. 'Payback' implies I give a solitary fuck whether you live or die. Tell ya what, though! Drop this whole redemptive retard act and come back to the winning side and I'll tell daddy you were just working a long con this whole time. I mean, you gotta be getting the message by now that you just don't belong with all these nice, domesticated animals, right? Did you see the way they just looked at you?" She gave a scandalized, derisive scoff, like Ruby was the unpopular kid who'd just embarrassed herself in front of the whole party. "C'mooooon, 'sis'. Pack it in and admit the vacation's over. All it'll take is a single word."

Ruby continued to growl and resist.

In her heart of hearts though, she knew or believed that her Yang was right.

It didn't matter how much time had passed. Or how much she in Qrow's words 'played house' with Weiss, her abuse of Yang was something she simply couldn't hide.

She couldn't hide it from Weiss and now it was out in the open air.

With half of her face obscured by the demonic limb palming her cheek and holding her head to the floor, Ruby grit her teeth.

"....What then, Yang?"

There was the slightest of pauses.

"....You're not wrong about me. I'd rather live in the woods and hunt to survive than wear another suit or take another shower. But what'll be left when he...When Ozpin's...tch....done? There'll be nothing left but corpses and people wishing they were dead. That's not any kind of life! I was able to open my eyes and see that..." Ruby closed her eyes. "...If I hadn't hurt you like I did when we were kids, maybe you could have too."

But it was too late for that now.
​

She dropped low and moved close, back arched and voice a husky, seductive whisper.

"Uncle."

Yang could feel Ruby's entire body shudder.

But this time it was out of regret rather than whatever sick pleasure she might have gained from Yang taunting her. That side of her was no longer able to be hidden away but it didn't mean she had to embrace it.

"....I'm sorry, Yang."

The palm of her prosthetic hand lit up and fired up towards the ceiling, icing it over and blasting a chunk through it. Frozen pieces of debris began to fall, some centered right above where Yang had her pinned upon the floor. Remembering how close Yang had come-mockingly or therwise-at gouging out one of or maybe both of her eyes from their last 'encounter', it was a risk Ruby didn't wish to take again. Not when there was so much more at stake in this fight than her issues with either Yang. Her eyes flashed and she sought to move her head out from under the hopefully hardened/frozen piece of eldritch spawn masquerading as an arm. Hoping that was enough to temporarily distract her sister, Ruby vanished out from under her and moved to try and grab her by the neck and rear back with her mechanical arm.

She doubted she had the strength to put her Yang down for the count. As the years passed by it became clear that no matter how hard she worked, at some point in life, Yang had crossed a boundary of strength that Ruby simply couldn't follow across. But whether it was due to the upbringing she had or just her time out on her own as a criminal wanderer, this Ruby much preferred hand to hand fighting and whether not the punch landed. Or if this fight ended up with her dead. The voice that'd been taunting her for so long had stopped talking since this all started. Ruby didn't feel scared anymore.

She was who she was and there was no going back.

For better or for worse.​

 

[MidwayLives]

The second was that the boxer didn't even try to dodge, merely pivoted from her own punch threw up her arms into a crossguard and ate Tiger's haymaker full stop. The absurd force behind those muscles seemed to ripple through yang for a half second before it actually sent her flying, and even though she hit a solid steel wall she was almost ejected from the headmasters office melee as soon as it began, the wall almost completely buckling under the force of Yang crashing into it like a freight train. She slid down off the wall, her arms still locked into a crossguard and her golden aura swirling around her.

Tiger blinked.

"Better..."
​

"Hey..."

Her eyes opened back up, and her golden locks instead burned almost white as heat licked off her in waves that distorted the air around her.

"Thanks"

Tiger's eyes narrowed and ripping off the remainder of the bandages around her face, she shook her head from side to side.

What was it with her last few opponents?

The small one had needed dust crystals to stand on equal footing with the faunus.

Now this one was also going through some kind of 'transformation?'

Guess it showed her one thing: Her semblance really wasn't all that great.

Readying herself for whatever came next, Tiger caught something out of the corner of her eye...
​

The next sound was much softer than the others, but it served as a stark reminder of how precarious Weiss's situation was as she slumped to the floor, auraless, right by the seven-foot wall of fearsome muscle that was Tiger.

Schnee had never said two words to the woman who had inherited the moniker of Tiger.

That was okay, Tiger hated making things personal. Made any sort of fight seem bittersweet.

She also wasn't too fond of playing dirty or fighting opponents weaker than her.

Looking down at Weiss's beaten form, Tiger frowned.

She wouldn't have been surprised or shocked if Weiss had decided to kill three of them earlier after discovering Winter's body. Tiger had come to simply accept that.

Tiger propped the sole of her boot against the councilwoman's neck and started to press down...
​

First, there was an unholy crash and a rain of rubble as Carnelian came tearing through the ceiling, right at the spot the relic was now flying towards, palms already splayed around his swords in preparation for a perfect catch. The two men's semblances complimented one another perfectly; the younger general visualized the trajectory, the older made sure he was in the perfect spot ahead of time to receive. The two would've killed on the football field.

"...Good."

The old bastard was making a move towards the relic.

Which meant that Tiger could fight how she pleased and not like a two bit thug.

Giving Weiss a sharp kick to the side, Tiger turned her attention back to Yang.

'Didn't feel right, left a sour taste in my mouth.'

This wouldn't on the other hand.

"10....106%"

Tiger's body rattled from side to side as her torso enlarged then her arms, then her legs. The entire process seemed almost like something out of a body horror story as muscle seemed to gestate and grow upon muscle, the bandages around the faunus's body struggling to contain the rippling show power that tore at the seams of the white fabric. Whatever this one's semblance was, Tiger was most excited to see it play out.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Penny arced back downwards, Watts evaded again, and the next time Cinder caught up, dozens of little ports opened up all along the armor. He absolutely didn't want to use this so soon; it was a one and done, and also took about six hours to replace. "AMP!"

Anti-Maiden Protocol Engaged

But it was better than dying ten seconds into his first fight with the prototype.

the ports ignited, and an omnidirectional flechette blast of lightning dust rounds suddenly exploded around him, whatever direction Cinder Prime had deigned to take evasive action being as much in the zone of fire as anywhere else as the ground, surrounding buildings, and night sky all light up in a cacophany of lightning and thunder.

Grey looked absolutely delighted with the attack.

"There's no way she's getting up from that-"
​

And she was right. By the seventeenth second, the grimm hybrid maiden hurtled out from the dust like a missile, huge bursts of flame shooting out of her. A trajectory that took her straight for wherever the armored Watts now was. Penny, the lesser version of herself, that other guy, all of them were ignored as she made a blindingly fast beeline for that hunk of junk. Her grimm arm elongated to a ridiculous degree before she had even made it up there, grabbing hold firmly on one of it's arms and yanking it down just as she flew up. Once the rest of her had caught up with, her human hand clutched the other arm just as tightly, her semblance engaging to superheat that spot, just as the inhuman strength of her grimm arm just started trying to crush the opposite armored limb entirely.

Grey fell over right on his ass, the rifle nearly falling from his grasp.

"It would appear that...I'm at something of a disadvantage here..."

'On another note that's far more prudent, am I the only one not flying here...'
​

Perhaps more alarming than that, though, was the beyond pissed snarl on that Cinder's face as she leaned in dangerously close to the viewport separating her from the one inside. That look was far more ferociously animalistic than anything resembling human, one that promised plenty of pain. A promise that she intended to make good on. The only warning given was the fact that the inside of her mouth glowed, split-seconds before red-hot flame erupted from her mouth like a volcano exploding and burned into the viewport.

Slinging his rifle back over his shoulder and retrieving his scrolls as he ran towards the scene, the camera's zoomed in view wasn't exactly positive.

He'd fought...well...okay...He'd been completely crushed by a maiden in her own basement before. Her wind had worked against his fog and knocked him around so hard it fractured his arm.

"Now this one is spewing fire..."

But these kids needed help and he'd contribute if it was the last thing he ever did. Which at this rate seemed increasingly likely the longer he stayed involved.

'If I try using it from afar...my fog will never catch up to her at this rate or she'll blow it away...But if I can just get in close...' Grey began to unzip his jacket, fog still trailing out from his mouth. "PENNY!" Grey called out to the endearing robot. "I NEED TO GET INTO THE AIR AND IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THAT WOMAN. NOW IF AT ALL POSSIBLE." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Raven grimaced. This situation had gotten much more fucked at a rapid pace. There was no longer much reason to hold back. She briefly glanced at the portal, just in time to catch somebody else beginning to emerge, much to her annoyance. She had told them to stay behind for a reason, gah. But, it couldn't be helped. This was no time for lengthy reprimands.​

"Raven. Ruby. You got me?"

It was pretty rhetorical as far as requests went. One answer she knew for sure, and the other was almost as close. Objectively, this was a way, way worse situation than they'd been in not a minute earlier, when Weiss had been the obstacle Yang had been trying to overcome. But that had been a battle of will and heart, where having too much of the latter was what had allowed Weiss to cut her off at the knees in the former.

Objectively, Raven knew that what Yang was getting at was the logical choice of actions to go for, but after everything that had gone down as of late, she didn't...no, she couldn't just leave Yang to deal with all the wolves herself. Call it stubbornness, or foolishness, or just a plain refusal to leave behind a daughter, or someone who was every bit a reflection of her daughter but better....never again. Yang and everyone else would get out of here with the relics before she did, even if that necessitated she had to stay behind to deal with this group of psychos and killers.​

First, there was an unholy crash and a rain of rubble as Carnelian came tearing through the ceiling, right at the spot the relic was now flying towards, palms already splayed around his swords in preparation for a perfect catch. The two men's semblances complimented one another perfectly; the younger general visualized the trajectory, the older made sure he was in the perfect spot ahead of time to receive. The two would've killed on the football field.

There was the echoing bang of Raven's own weapon, Omen launched out of its scabbard at great speed. The hilt of the blade smacked firmly into the flying relic, interrupting what would have otherwise been a damn flawless move and knocking the relic off that course. Her sword bounced off and right back into the hands of a Raven who had already lunged into action, moving to bring the icy dust blade down on Carnelian in an attempt at freezing a part of him and keep the general delayed just long enough for another to get the relic.​

And the third was a mass of glass shattering as Yang's blow sent Ironwood straight through the window of his own office, momentarily plunging below view before another BLAM saw him reverse his momentum back into the room in a poised combat crouch, eyes already scanning the room to track the second relic. Ruby immediately had to contend with an imminent torrent of bullets, the general opening fire with impunity as he began an inexorable march towards her.

Ruby's eyes moved to track the relic in it's new trajectory, body falling into a sprint-ready position to rush towards the relic and grab it right out of the air. Her focus on that meant she didn't see the shots coming. But someone else did. The special operative had jumped into the way, one hand splayed out in the direction of the ex-general, and for the third time used her hardlight shields to inconvenience the man and the people he had lowered himself to associate with. Every single bullet stopped short of their intended target. Gwen may not known anything close to the full story about what was going on here, but the man in front of her was one that had just shot an unarmed, defenseless legally elected councilwoman in the kneecap. One that had apparently arranged for a prison break. She did not need to know the full story to be appalled by this flagrant disregard for the rule of law. Helios glared at him with disgust, shaking her head from behind the pale blue field. "Oh, I don't think so." She growled, every word resonating deeply with that disgust and disappointment. She didn't even turn to face Ruby, but out of the corner of her mouth: "Go on, kid."

Ruby didn't need to be told twice, taking advantage of the intervention of both Raven and Gwen, bursting into a blur of motion as she rushed for the relic.

Gwen charged herself a split-second after she registered the sound of Ruby doing that, hardlight shield staying firmly displayed in place to block any further shots as she went, intending to close distance to just straight up tackle Ironwood right out of that shattered window before he could do anything else and send them both dropping into the city below. A stratagem meant to keep him from getting back into the room.​

Giving Weiss a sharp kick to the side, Tiger turned her attention back to Yang.

'Didn't feel right, left a sour taste in my mouth.'

This wouldn't on the other hand.

"10....106%"

Tiger's body rattled from side to side as her torso enlarged then her arms, then her legs. The entire process seemed almost like something out of a body horror story as muscle seemed to gestate and grow upon muscle, the bandages around the faunus's body struggling to contain the rippling show power that tore at the seams of the white fabric. Whatever this one's semblance was, Tiger was most excited to see it play out.

As the big woman's attention rested firmly upon Yang, that was when another's fist slammed into her side, revealing who Raven had glimpsed coming through. A far smaller person but incredibly strong in her own right, empowered both by some of the dust Clover had earlier tossed her way and the lightning a certain teenage maiden had given her. The punch was meant to knock the faunus back, at least for a second, as Nora glanced towards Yang. "Things really got crazy here, huh?" She questioned, not really requiring an answer as she stepped to stand by Yang's side. A lot of this seemed really bad, but honestly...she had always wanted to be part of a duo team up with Yang especially. Even if it was just for a short time, to delay this gang until the relics were safely through the portal. Their combined strengths...

She couldn't help but be excited about that, despite the bad situation.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Ruby continued to growl and resist.

In her heart of hearts though, she knew or believed that her Yang was right.

It didn't matter how much time had passed. Or how much she in Qrow's words 'played house' with Weiss, her abuse of Yang was something she simply couldn't hide.

She couldn't hide it from Weiss and now it was out in the open air.

With half of her face obscured by the demonic limb palming her cheek and holding her head to the floor, Ruby grit her teeth.

"....What then, Yang?"

There was the slightest of pauses.

"....You're not wrong about me. I'd rather live in the woods and hunt to survive than wear another suit or take another shower. But what'll be left when he...When Ozpin's...tch....done? There'll be nothing left but corpses and people wishing they were dead. That's not any kind of life! I was able to open my eyes and see that..." Ruby closed her eyes. "...If I hadn't hurt you like I did when we were kids, maybe you could have too."

But it was too late for that now.

Perhaps shockingly, the once-Masque's honest reflection actually did register on Yang's face, a spark of stunned incredulity rising up from her domineering embers before it was snuffed out. The unstable, unrelenting dragon, keeping Ruby restrained as effortlessly and humiliatingly as she had her once upon a time (give or take a few thousand), actually looked thrown.

And not in a good way.

"You..."

She spat the word, as though talking about a virus that had wiped away everything that ever mattered to her.

Yang could feel Ruby's entire body shudder.

But this time it was out of regret rather than whatever sick pleasure she might have gained from Yang taunting her. That side of her was no longer able to be hidden away but it didn't mean she had to embrace it.

"....I'm sorry, Yang."

"You..."

Yang was an emotional person. That much was true in either Remnant. And while one dragon had gone one way in getting a handle on all the anger and pain that had been dealt her way in life—Discipline, life experiences, a support network—The other had swung the exact opposite direction in her vain pursuit of some tiny scrap of joy or contentment to be found in her wretched existence, to batter down the rage and hate and torment that had plagued her since birth. Violence. Sex. The Grimm appendage that fed on her negative emotions like a pig at a trough, just as it had Blake's a short time ago.

None of it worked. Not really. As a temporary outlet, maybe, sure. But the adrenaline surge of exerting dominance over another was fleeting; the pleasure of a warm embrace, transient. Things that slipped through her fingers no matter how hard she tried to grab on. Eventually, inevitably, the misery and hate all came flooding back in, irrespective of how much she committed herself to a new, double-inspired persona.

And she was sitting on the reason why, and what the fuck was she even saying right now?

"FUCK YOU!"

The scream that erupted from Yang was so raw, so furious and terrible that it temporarily soared right to the top of the room's din, drowning out the sound of gunfights, swords clashing, everything. There was something almost primordial about it.



"AND FUCK SORRY! YOU DON'T GET THAT! WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE TO EARN 'SORRY', YOU WEASELY LITTLE BITCH, HUH?! WHAT IS THIS, SOME TRIUMPHANT MOMENT FOR YOU?! THE DAY YOU DUCK PAYING THE BILL FOR EVERY SHITTY THING YOU EVER DID AND PRANCE OFF TO LIVE SOME NEW LIFE SCOT-FREE?! IT DOESN'T! FUCKING! WORK THAT WAY!"

The words became a little more distant and hard to hear, at least in Ruby's case, because Yang had started raining down some flat-out vicious head jabs that made her head feel like it was in a vice between the Dragon's knuckles and the floor. The Grimm hand, in particular, hit harder than she had ever been hit by another person before in her life.

"I hate you, meatbag, you know that? I fucking hate you and I don't buy for one second that you're any different from the fucked-up little she-witch who used to fuck with me, and y'know why? BECAUSE THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE HER!" She switched tones and mimed the tearful, snivelling whimper of a child, completely lost in her own apoplectic tangent at this point. "'Snff, snff, I swear, auntie Vernal, it wasn't me! Yang set fire to the cooking tent! Yang cut open Pinel's dog's throat! Yang started it, not me, but don't worry though 'cause I already made sure to teach her her lesson, hahaha!~' AND EVERYONE. FUCKING. BELIEVED YOU! JUST BECAUSE I WAS THE WEAK ONE! BECAUSE, 'CAUSE IT WAS MORE FUN IF IT WAS ME!"

The unhinged rant finally slowed so she could catch her breath, running her fingers back through her hair as if the sensation helped her relax somehow. The grimm hand shivered, nourished to the extreme, and when her voice returned it was as a resentful mutter.

"...Well, look who's the weak one now. Here's the pecking order according to civilized society, sissy, in case you forgot: it goes the faunus, the worms, the dirt, the Grimm, and then us. And I'm supposed to believe you just woke up one morning and what, changed your mind? Cuz some bimbo in a blonde wig fell from the sky and held out her hand? That is such... such bullshit." She shook her head and settled back onto her haunches more fully, giving Ruby some precious leeway to move her arms for the first time. "Where's my hand?"

The voice in her mind came back at once, booming and infinite.

Ï̴͙̭̹͇̋̎͒ ̶̡̲̘̀̕ͅa̸̤̕ͅm̷͕̤̄͗͑̈ ̴̺͉͓̰̾̚h̴̲̯͊̍́͗ę̵͋̓͋r̸̺̭͚̔ę̸̊.̶̜̹̲̜̍̎


And, for at least a few seconds, the storm inside quietened. Yang felt numb. She smiled, though it was faintly tired, and Ruby could tell her blank front-facing stare was no longer really on her.

"...Oh, yeah."

The palm of her prosthetic hand lit up and fired up towards the ceiling, icing it over and blasting a chunk through it. Frozen pieces of debris began to fall, some centered right above where Yang had her pinned upon the floor. Remembering how close Yang had come-mockingly or therwise-at gouging out one of or maybe both of her eyes from their last 'encounter', it was a risk Ruby didn't wish to take again. Not when there was so much more at stake in this fight than her issues with either Yang. Her eyes flashed and she sought to move her head out from under the hopefully hardened/frozen piece of eldritch spawn masquerading as an arm. Hoping that was enough to temporarily distract her sister, Ruby vanished out from under her and moved to try and grab her by the neck and rear back with her mechanical arm.

She doubted she had the strength to put her Yang down for the count. As the years passed by it became clear that no matter how hard she worked, at some point in life, Yang had crossed a boundary of strength that Ruby simply couldn't follow across. But whether it was due to the upbringing she had or just her time out on her own as a criminal wanderer, this Ruby much preferred hand to hand fighting and whether not the punch landed. Or if this fight ended up with her dead. The voice that'd been taunting her for so long had stopped talking since this all started. Ruby didn't feel scared anymore.

She was who she was and there was no going back.

For better or for worse.

However screwed in the head she may have been, Yang was that same dragon where it mattered, and she threw herself forward in a combat roll clear before any of the debris landed. Ruby's semblance made sure she was upon her by the time she was even turning around, though, which meant the most she could do was set her feet as she ate a mechanized fist right to the face that would've knocked out a solid 7 out of 10 huntresses, present company notwithstanding. Her head turned with the impact, and...

That was it. She didn't fall, didn't fly, didn't stagger. Yang hardly even moved, outside of a short slide back out of range of any followup strike as she stared at Ruby in mild surprise and touched a few fingers to her cheek, a few licks of flame starting to manifest in her hair.

"Mmm."

Nothing needed to be unpacked about the kind of 'mmm' that was that hadn't been already, but there was plenty to take from the shotgun blast that followed and the fist that slammed into Ruby's nose like a bag full of sledgehammers. The force was astronomical in comparison to the punch she had just thrown, and as Ruby was flung right across the room like a piece of trash in a hurricane she found herself facing the same issue Ironwood had.

No matter how good she was with her hands, she wasn't better than Yang.

"My thing, dipshit."

Gwen charged herself a split-second after she registered the sound of Ruby doing that, hardlight shield staying firmly displayed in place to block any further shots as she went, intending to close distance to just straight up tackle Ironwood right out of that shattered window before he could do anything else and send them both dropping into the city below. A stratagem meant to keep him from getting back into the room.

Speaking of the erstwhile general, dealing with a Xiao Long in close quarters may well have been a disadvantageous position to put himself in.

Gwen, on the other hand...

The operative was about to learn firsthand the value of field experience, as well as Ironwood's level of familiarity with the tactics of her and every other huntress he ever presided over, student or military. The soldier continued firing bullets from his left pistol to keep her shields occupied, a seemingly futile tactic that revealed itself at the last possible second to be a ruse. Right as she came in for her tackle, the gun in his right hand was flipped into a reverse grip, and Ironwood sidestepped the charge to bring its handle crashing down on the back of her neck with such strength she felt dizzy even with the protection of her aura. A swift, metal-laced kick to the gut followed, and as Gwen bounced back from the wall that put her into Ironwood aimed to end the efficient three-hit combo with a haymaker that sent her straight out the window herself, the grand city of Atlas splayed out to receive her while he seamlessly turned to resume firing on his original target.

There was the echoing bang of Raven's own weapon, Omen launched out of its scabbard at great speed. The hilt of the blade smacked firmly into the flying relic, interrupting what would have otherwise been a damn flawless move and knocking the relic off that course. Her sword bounced off and right back into the hands of a Raven who had already lunged into action, moving to bring the icy dust blade down on Carnelian in an attempt at freezing a part of him and keep the general delayed just long enough for another to get the relic.

"Hnh."

That glowering, unimpressed sneer she remembered so well from their skirmish in Mistral was what met Raven when she brought Omen down on him, and as his own nameless swords spun up to cross in a scissor formation he gave the slightest—Perfectly timed—step forward, assuring the contact their blades made was glancing enough that any ice forming over his own metal was quickly shorn off by his weapons' vibrating edges. He pivoted his feet and executed a graceful duelist's turn, though what followed probably would've been considered inadvisable in most competitive formats as he simply swept out an arm gracefully and threw one of his swords away.

The seemingly random act revealed itself a second later to not be so, as mere centimeters from Ruby's grasp the lamp was speared by its handle and pinned to the wall all the way at the other end of the room, the old man peeling his lips back in a grin and giving elder and younger huntress alike a mocking, contemptuous bow.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Speaking of the erstwhile general, dealing with a Xiao Long in close quarters may well have been a disadvantageous position to put himself in.

Gwen, on the other hand...

The operative was about to learn firsthand the value of field experience, as well as Ironwood's level of familiarity with the tactics of her and every other huntress he ever presided over, student or military. The soldier continued firing bullets from his left pistol to keep her shields occupied, a seemingly futile tactic that revealed itself at the last possible second to be a ruse. Right as she came in for her tackle, the gun in his right hand was flipped into a reverse grip, and Ironwood sidestepped the charge to bring its handle crashing down on the back of her neck with such strength she felt dizzy even with the protection of her aura. A swift, metal-laced kick to the gut followed, and as Gwen bounced back from the wall that put her into Ironwood aimed to end the efficient three-hit combo with a haymaker that sent her straight out the window herself, the grand city of Atlas splayed out to receive her while he seamlessly turned to resume firing on his original target.

While Helios wouldn’t say her hand to hand combat ability was weak per se, when compared to a soldier of greater experience, and especially one familiar with the way she operated? The difference was clearly shown as she got absolutely rocked by the combo of hits that left her dizzy and falling backwards out of the window. In many ways, her reliance on technology left her vulnerable, as that assault made clear. But in many other ways, that same reliance was one of her greatest strengths. While Helios herself was dazed by the blows, her systems, on the other hand, were not. A holographic visor manifested over her eyes just as she began to fall. Before she slipped out of view of everyone in the room, her targeting parameters locked onto Ironwood’s turned back.

Then she was out of sight, plummeting rapidly towards the distant ground below. Her weapon morphed in an instant, her regular pistol switched up to a grapple gun. The lock-on in her visor gave her the precise angle she needed to fire at in order to arc the projectile back into the room, and as she fell with the wind racing in her ears, she pulled the trigger. The sound of the projectile firing was oh so satisfying, and though she wasn’t currently in the best position, she allowed herself a small smile. Her systems, calibrated to the utmost degree, hit right on target. The magnetized projectile landed solidly on Ironwood’s back with a fairly audible clank.

And though she was not as strong as Ironwood, she tugged on the other end of her grapple gun to yank the former general right out of the room to ensure he couldn’t inflict too much damage, as well as leave her not falling alone. After all...she had just made a vow to make sure Ironwood faced justice. She did not plan for those to be empty words. Still, that left her with another precarious situation: the rapidly nearing asphalt of Atlas’s streets. She was about halfway down now, the wind roaring even louder. Yet even so, there was no fear in her eyes.

Another hardlight shield popped into existence some several feet directly below her just then, wide enough and strong enough that it served perfectly as a platform to land on. Gwen slammed back first into it, and though the impact was still hard, enough to drop her aura considerably, it was not as bad as it could have been. It also drove just about all her breath out of her body, and she was content to lay there for a bit. Both to catch her breath and for the dizziness she felt to fade away.​

"Hnh."

That glowering, unimpressed sneer she remembered so well from their skirmish in Mistral was what met Raven when she brought Omen down on him, and as his own nameless swords spun up to cross in a scissor formation he gave the slightest—Perfectly timed—step forward, assuring the contact their blades made was glancing enough that any ice forming over his own metal was quickly shorn off by his weapons' vibrating edges. He pivoted his feet and executed a graceful duelist's turn, though what followed probably would've been considered inadvisable in most competitive formats as he simply swept out an arm gracefully and threw one of his swords away.

The seemingly random act revealed itself a second later to not be so, as mere centimeters from Ruby's grasp the lamp was speared by its handle and pinned to the wall all the way at the other end of the room, the old man peeling his lips back in a grin and giving elder and younger huntress alike a mocking, contemptuous bow.

God, the arrogance of the old.

Raven didn’t even hesitate to press her attack, no matter how he looked at her or how badly the odds seemed to be against her. They didn’t need to win the fight, only to stall and get out of here with the relics. To that point, even as she slashed away, she yelled loudly in Ruby’s direction: “Hurry up!”

Ruby obliged, rushing towards the wall and reaching out to pull on the blade and free the relic before hopefully anyone else could interfere.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Spoiler: Photo taken seconds before disaster

At the penultimate second before she was upon him again, ready to finish carving up that tin can...that happened. All those openings let loose with their salvos, and the cold night sky erupted with an explosion of lightning dust that rivaled the storm she had just conjured up shortly beforehand. The sheer light that illuminated the darkness was overwhelmingly blinding. That alone got her to flinch, and in a panic she did her best to reverse course and get the hell out of the danger zone. To no avail. The tremendous sound of thunder absolutely dwarfed any screams on her part, but they were there nevertheless. Howls of agony as innumerable bolts coursed through human body and grimm arm alike, in addition to a few rifle shots that peppered her from below, by yet another attacker.

This time, it was this Cinder who plummeted to the snow below, but any of the more keen and focused among them did not see her aura break. It was flickering, wildly, but it did not shatter. She slammed into the ground like an errant comet, throwing up snow and sleet and dust that obscured the newly formed crater in Atlas's landscape. As the lightning dust flechette began to fade, as the thunder began to cease and silence began to take hold again, there was no sign of movement. Almost fifteen seconds passed, each one seeming to be much longer than they actually were, at least from the perspective of the Cinder still hovering in the sky, bow in hand. As much as she would have liked to, she didn't dare hope that was all it took for this to be over.
​

Penny gingerly poked her head out from behind the mining equipment she'd taken cover behind, slightly wide eyed as she stared across the vast expanse of snow that was pocked with scorchmarks almost as far as the eye could see.

"...That was approximately six hundred and eighty thousand lien worth of dust." She commented to no one in particular. Her eyes roved over to where Cinder Prime's fall had taken her, and with determined and wary look took off for it. She landed at its edge, and raised a palm towards it as her swords splayed out in an array, all pointed towards the center of the cloud.

"Cinder Fall. If you are still conscious, I order you to surrendER!?"

And she was right. By the seventeenth second, the grimm hybrid maiden hurtled out from the dust like a missile, huge bursts of flame shooting out of her. A trajectory that took her straight for wherever the armored Watts now was. Penny, the lesser version of herself, that other guy, all of them were ignored as she made a blindingly fast beeline for that hunk of junk. Her grimm arm elongated to a ridiculous degree before she had even made it up there, grabbing hold firmly on one of it's arms and yanking it down just as she flew up. Once the rest of her had caught up with, her human hand clutched the other arm just as tightly, her semblance engaging to superheat that spot, just as the inhuman strength of her grimm arm just started trying to crush the opposite armored limb entirely.

Perhaps more alarming than that, though, was the beyond pissed snarl on that Cinder's face as she leaned in dangerously close to the viewport separating her from the one inside. That look was far more ferociously animalistic than anything resembling human, one that promised plenty of pain. A promise that she intended to make good on. The only warning given was the fact that the inside of her mouth glowed, split-seconds before red-hot flame erupted from her mouth like a volcano exploding and burned into the viewport.

Even for her, the blur that exploded out of the the crater was fast, and she barely had time to spin on her heel and see where Cinder was going before she blasted off right after her with a "NO!"

Watts had coasted to the ground afterwards, his breath heavy as the sound of metal clanking against metal echoed through the air as his hands hit his knees. That... had been far more terrifying than he'd ever admit aloud, and he couldn't even be sure it was over as he turned to face where the maiden had fallen-

The grimm claw gripped his arm before he even made enough of a turn as Penny's no echoed from far too far behind Cinder, and metal groaned and strained as it started to buckle under the strength, digging into his arm.

Which was the least of his problems as his faceplate suddenly came under assault with molten fire, the only thing he could see now being the warning flashing across his HUD

Warning: internal tempreatures reaching dangerous levels

"I Knoooww!" he hissed through the pain as he felt the steel starting to burn against his skin, the only thing keeping his clothes from melting onto his skin the being the last dregs of aura he had left. It wasn't going to last even the few seconds it was going to take Penny to catch up, even with her forgoing Grey's request in a desperate attempt to reach Watts in time.

But it did last long enough to show this Cinder that she wasn't the only one who didn't need hands to shoot fire, as the cannon on his shoulder suddenly tilted downwards and let out a blast straight into her face.



It wasn't nearly as strong as the monstrous shot that his opening volley had been, but it was absolutely enough to snap her head backwards, sparing him those those few moments of additional damage before Penny came careening straight over the pair with a six sword slash straight through the grimm arm pinning Watts to the ground. She landed with a powerful skid just a few feet away, already swinging her hands around her head to guide her swords like a conductor to swirl around her for a flurry of slashes to force Cinder off Watts "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

This all, of course, happened way too far away from Grey for him to be of any use-

Something scooped him up into a bridal carry from behind so fast that it dented his aura a bit and carried him blasting off straight for the melee.

Penny(???) looked down at him and beamed with a "Greetings, Grey!" before her smile became more determined as she turned he gaze back towards the fight.

"Lets save our friends! and me!"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

God, the arrogance of the old.

Raven didn’t even hesitate to press her attack, no matter how he looked at her or how badly the odds seemed to be against her. They didn’t need to win the fight, only to stall and get out of here with the relics. To that point, even as she slashed away, she yelled loudly in Ruby’s direction: “Hurry up!”

Ruby obliged, rushing towards the wall and reaching out to pull on the blade and free the relic before hopefully anyone else could interfere.

Of all the people in the room so far, there wasn't anyone who could come even close to matching Ruby's raw speed with her semblence. Yet Ruby's hand was an inch away from the sword when the barest tickle of danger against her aura, the sense of something off, and pure heroic destiny all screamed in unison for her to abort, and not an instant later a black sword slashed through a cloud of rose petals instead of skin and bone as Blake landed in a crouch in front of the relic.



"Hmph. So you're that world's version of the traitor"

She slid back upwards and slowly turned her gaze towards where the young rose had ended her dash, the first time Ruby had come face to face with this world's version of Blake. Her mask had been recovered from the armory along with the rest of her equipment, though a chunk was missing in a large crack along one side, exposing still healing burn marks that led up to a slightly torn cat ear. For the first time since coming to Atlas, Blake's eyes weren't alight with the hellfire of hatred and the shine of grief; the girl in front of her wasn't a fated enemy, or a misled faunus, or some horrible monster.

It was just a human. An obstacle that bled. The only thing in those eyes was a grim belief that the way forward led through Ruby's death, and a righteous determination to do the work that path needed. There was a flicker of movement, and Ruby found Blake right before her eyes in a leaping strike, Gambol shroud coiled for a slash straight for her neck at blinding speeds

"Lets see if you're any smarter."

 

[MyrtenRose]

It wasn't nearly as strong as the monstrous shot that his opening volley had been, but it was absolutely enough to snap her head backwards, sparing him those those few moments of additional damage before Penny came careening straight over the pair with a six sword slash straight through the grimm arm pinning Watts to the ground. She landed with a powerful skid just a few feet away, already swinging her hands around her head to guide her swords like a conductor to swirl around her for a flurry of slashes to force Cinder off Watts "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

There was a pained grunt as her head got forced back from that desperate attack, the remainder of the flames shooting from her mouth went straight up into the air, sparing the clever teenager from any further pain on that front. The grimm hybrid didn't even have the time to lower her head back before Penny was upon them, and another far louder howl came as multiple swords sliced right through her monstrous arm. The assault did enough damage that the limb burst into a smoky haze typical of grimm, leaving her temporarily short one arm. The following strikes came so swiftly that it overwhelmed her in that current condition. Her face was still twisted up in a fierce snarl but she was forced to fall back, a jet of fire propelling her backwards and giving both herself and Watts some breathing room. Cinder skidded back along the ice several yards until she came to a stop.

Her body twisted, violently contorting with her teeth gritted together in pain as the grimm arm regenerated, a thoroughly terrifying looking process...one that even had her drop to her knees. But by the time she lifted her head back, the only look on her face was that burning anger resurgent.

She took a step forward, a ball of flame exploding out of her still human hand and ready to-- the grimm appendage suddenly snapped upwards, plucking a dust arrow out of the sky a mere second before it would have struck her in the face. Her eye rose up to glare up into the sky in the direction of her counterpart, the scowl on her face deepening, but now she remembered why she had come here in the first place. The snatched arrow got thrown to the side like it was a disgusting piece of trash and Cinder jetted upwards into the sky towards her younger self, but not before firing off a large blast of flame that threatened to consume the prone Watts, aiming to take advantage of Penny's heroic concern and delay the robot girl from immediately pursuing in favor of keeping him safe.

Oh crap!

The younger Cinder looked down with alarm before she burst back into motion herself. The hovering in place ended as she shot through the sky, doing all she could do to stay out of reach of Cinder Prime. It was to no luck, though. She was powerful, to be sure, but the older one had twice as much power to throw behind her flight. The bitch caught up in almost next to no time, essentially mid-air tackling the shorter one. It ended with a grimm hand pressed tightly against an auraless jaw, slowly depriving the kid of air as white talons traced their way across the skin of her cheek in a show of intimidation. The two's expressions right then could not be more opposite. One was the embodiment of fear in that moment, and the other...​

Something scooped him up into a bridal carry from behind so fast that it dented his aura a bit and carried him blasting off straight for the melee.

Penny(???) looked down at him and beamed with a "Greetings, Grey!" before her smile became more determined as she turned he gaze back towards the fight.

"Lets save our friends! and me!"

The evil one glanced over her shoulder and instantly spun both of them around to face the incoming pair, a black and jagged sword appearing in hand. "That's close enough!" She shouted, pressing the edge of the blade against the vulnerable skin of the kid's throat.

"I'd be extra careful about what you do next, if I were you." She cruelly taunted. Her grimm arm began to glow with crimson energy as she started to drain the terrified girl, her whimpers muffled behind the black hand that covered her mouth entirely.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Of all the people in the room so far, there wasn't anyone who could come even close to matching Ruby's raw speed with her semblence. Yet Ruby's hand was an inch away from the sword when the barest tickle of danger against her aura, the sense of something off, and pure heroic destiny all screamed in unison for her to abort, and not an instant later a black sword slashed through a cloud of rose petals instead of skin and bone as Blake landed in a crouch in front of the relic.

It was only that warning of incoming danger, and her speed, that had her narrowly avoid the sword slice from the sudden appearance of another threat. At the speed she was moving, she caught only a glimpse of some dark figure, but by the time she came to a halt some ways away and got a real look at who had just interfered in her relic reacquisition...​

"Hmph. So you're that world's version of the traitor"

She slid back upwards and slowly turned her gaze towards where the young rose had ended her dash, the first time Ruby had come face to face with this world's version of Blake. Her mask had been recovered from the armory along with the rest of her equipment, though a chunk was missing in a large crack along one side, exposing still healing burn marks that led up to a slightly torn cat ear. For the first time since coming to Atlas, Blake's eyes weren't alight with the hellfire of hatred and the shine of grief; the girl in front of her wasn't a fated enemy, or a misled faunus, or some horrible monster.

Her shoulders fell in shock and dismay, a frown emerging onto her face and pained sadness crept into her eyes. Blake. One had that had never left the Fang, had not thrown away the violent, murderous, criminal methods they espoused but instead embraced them. Silver eyes took in the cracked mask, the burns underneath, and up to one of her faunus ears, clearly hurt. All in all, coupled with murderous intent, it made for a terrifyingly intimidating appearance. But it was not fear that had Ruby temporarily rooted to the spot.​

It was just a human. An obstacle that bled. The only thing in those eyes was a grim belief that the way forward led through Ruby's death, and a righteous determination to do the work that path needed. There was a flicker of movement, and Ruby found Blake right before her eyes in a leaping strike, Gambol shroud coiled for a slash straight for her neck at blinding speeds

"Lets see if you're any smarter."

Crescent Rose was on her back, but she didn't draw her weapon. The sorrow in her widened eyes only intensified, and it was only at the last moment that Ruby burst apart into rose petals again, coming back together by the relic and tugged the sword out in one smooth motion to have the relic fall into her waiting hand. They didn't need to fight, she certainly didn't want to fight. They just needed these, and they needed to get out of here. Jury was still out if she was smarter or not.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Schnee had never said two words to the woman who had inherited the moniker of Tiger.

That was okay, Tiger hated making things personal. Made any sort of fight seem bittersweet.

She also wasn't too fond of playing dirty or fighting opponents weaker than her.

Looking down at Weiss's beaten form, Tiger frowned.

She wouldn't have been surprised or shocked if Weiss had decided to kill three of them earlier after discovering Winter's body. Tiger had come to simply accept that.

Tiger propped the sole of her boot against the councilwoman's neck and started to press down...


"...Good."

The old bastard was making a move towards the relic.

Which meant that Tiger could fight how she pleased and not like a two bit thug.

Giving Weiss a sharp kick to the side, Tiger turned her attention back to Yang.

'Didn't feel right, left a sour taste in my mouth.'

This wouldn't on the other hand.

"10....106%"

Tiger's body rattled from side to side as her torso enlarged then her arms, then her legs. The entire process seemed almost like something out of a body horror story as muscle seemed to gestate and grow upon muscle, the bandages around the faunus's body struggling to contain the rippling show power that tore at the seams of the white fabric. Whatever this one's semblance was, Tiger was most excited to see it play out.​

The moment Tiger put her foot anywhere near Weiss, she heard a crunch; not of bone, but of metal.

"GET-"

By the time she started looked she heard a second.

"-AWAY-"

The arena champion might've been the only person in the room who had as much pure technical skill in a fist on fist brawl, but-

As the big woman's attention rested firmly upon Yang, that was when another's fist slammed into her side, revealing who Raven had glimpsed coming through. A far smaller person but incredibly strong in her own right, empowered both by some of the dust Clover had earlier tossed her way and the lightning a certain teenage maiden had given her. The punch was meant to knock the faunus back, at least for a second, as Nora glanced towards Yang. "Things really got crazy here, huh?" She questioned, not really requiring an answer as she stepped to stand by Yang's side. A lot of this seemed really bad, but honestly...she had always wanted to be part of a duo team up with Yang especially. Even if it was just for a short time, to delay this gang until the relics were safely through the portal. Their combined strengths...

She couldn't help but be excited about that, despite the bad situation.

"FROM HER"

-it would've been hard to mount any sort of defense in the face of being clobbered like that, and while she was still stumbling from Nora's strike the the floor groaned under the sheer strength Yang was putting in her strides before a metal fist slammed into Tiger's gut, and she got to feel what a 106% plus Yang Xiao Long's own prodigious strength punch felt like on the receiving end, which is to say the shockwave blew out the stain glass of the atrium's ceiling above them as Tiger rocketed into the wall hard enough that she richoted off the steel. Yang leaped into the air while she was still disorienta-

Or rather, she moved to leap and let out a baffled squawk of surprise as everything but her prosthetic moved upwards and she crashed back to the ground in an awkward heap.



"Sorry, but, two versus one? I don't think that seems very fair"

The words were light and congenial, and way too recognizeable for Yang to be comfortable with as she stumbled back to her feet only to be met with the visage of Pyrrha Nikos not two inches from her and already midway through a slash with her blade. Her arm swung up at an angle for an expert glancing guard against her gauntlet, only for her arm to yank up higher than intended and give Pyrrha a clean slice against her stomach that sent her stumbling to the side as her aura flickered again, at the same moment a shield thrown from the elevator richoceted off the wall for the side of Nora's head to keep her off balance and give her fellow gladiator time to get her bearings.

The shield swung through the air and back to her arm regardless of whether it connected or not, and pyrrha gave her fallen friend's otherworldly double an apologetic smile that could almost be believed if her eyes weren't positively dripping with excitement as she took a defensive stance and drew a line of sparks in the floor with her sword.

"Why don't we keep things a little more even?"