Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Indolent]

"Don't you DARE-"

*BOOOM*

The round went off, blasting the elevator clean off the cable, and the last Yang saw of Pyrrha was the most affronted look she'd ever seen as the elevator went screaming down the shaft in a spray of sparks.

Mere seconds ago, transpiring concurrently with the chaos that took place within the headmaster's office was the second elevator, minimally stately as it was for a military facility, ascending with a quiet hum pleasant to the ears of its one occupant. It was then the elevator announced its arrival to the floor, a polite ding, coinciding with the unceremonious departure of Ozpin's premier enforcer. A mechanical disengage rung audibly and the heavy metal doors divided, allowing for the entity inside to disembark.

Only they didn't take their cue to do so, loitering a second's breadth as they surveyed the disaster unfolding. Within the same time-frame, if anyone took notice of the man clad in an attire that was excessive for what appeared to be military wear, his was a demeanor that was just disquieting with his eyes of crimson seemingly staring straight ahead. If it was a quality inherent to him, it certainly was enhanced by his choice of wear.



There was no hesitation as the clad figure stepped outside into the draconic brawler's eyeline and potentially the diminutive valkyrie and the felid goliath. Appearances were important, especially on the face of Remnant and it was with this in mind he acted, spoke immediately with his right hand snapping outward.

"It's the Colonel. I'm here for the councilwoman."

A swathe of explosions blanketed Tiger's form immediately, wreaking havoc upon her so as to diminish her aura while unsettling the faunus for Nora's assault, a display of cooperation to offset any mistaken impression. There wasn't really anything else that needed be said, the notion conveyed as Llewellyn lunged for the office, an explosion at his heels facilitating speeds outstripping conventional methods like Xiao Long's explosive shells.

"Liza." Just one word was enough to initiate communication as the Colonel threw himself into the fray.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Cinder! I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your--"​

Both Pennies looked at each other and gave a firm nod before they took off in opposite directions; One taking grey and swooping down low to the ground towards the enemy CInder, the other taking their Cinder in much the same sort of carry and instead taking her instead towards Watts.

"I know you want to help, Cinder; but all this other you wants is you."

her face was a worried sort of determined.

"That is not an outcome I can allow. Without your aura, if even a stray shot..." She shook her head. "With two maidens of their caliber firing upon each other, the risk is too much."

Her sentence drifted off unfinished as she got swept up by one of the Pennys, one cheek reddening slightly in embarrassment from being held that way, but she didn't object. It made all the sense. What's more, to keep trying would have meant going against Penny and her wishes. If there was one thing she did not want to see, it was seeing that adorable precious robot face in a state of upset or disappointment or anything close to it. "Yeah." She said instead. "You're right." Cinder agreed. Once they had landed by Watts, she jumped out of Penny's arms and jogged up to her former team leader. Despite the pain she felt from the knife in her shoulder, despite Watts looking to be in a bad way after everything that bitch had done, despite the perilous situation going on not far from them...a goofy appreciative smile emerged on her face.

"Arthur! You came!" It was really good to see him again and she made that clear before her face grew more serious as she kneeled down, more thought given to him than the injury she had. "Are you going to be alright?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

There was no sudden or explosive movements from Bear as Raven regained her balance. Merely a calm and purposeful stride forward broken only by the slight sneer Carnelian got in response to his salute before his eyes focused back on Raven.

One of Salem's personal enforcers.

For all the crimes and horrors the Shadow fang had been directly responsible for and indirectly guilty of by virtue of their allies, this part of the fight still felt righteous to Bear. Learning what he had, about the kingdoms, the academies, the war, and all that had gone on behind it... the anger it roused in him was almost half as angry as the thought of Carnelian made him, which is to say it burned as bright as the sun. To claim that Salem had no part in how the faunus had ended up in the modern age was laughable; she quite literally had all the time in the world and much of the power.

They merely were never important enough. Never a priority.

It seemed it took all those crimes and horrors for her to finally deign to give the faunus her notice, even if it was merely as an enemy.

But he was in no hurry, no furious, reckless rush to take Raven down; all he cared about was watching for the moment of focus it would take Raven to try and open another portal, and waiting for his moment was something Bear had perfected

In contrast, she only spared him a single annoyed glare, making a mental note to not lose track of the guy. She wasn't sure what that had been exactly, but whatever he had done to her disrupted their ticket out of this mess. She, no, none of them could afford to have that happen again. That didn't change the fact that he was not the focus. Unlike him with her, she had no grudge with Bear. That was why when she lunged back into the fray, it was not at him.​

The second struck the relic she was already holding, meant to knock the staff of creation he'd spent so many years safeguarding straight from her grip, where it rolled to a perfect stop at the feet of quite possibly the one man he would have never in a million years entrusted it to under any other circumstance.

Carnelian.

It was at Carnelian, her now black colored blade swinging across in a frenzy of blows, doing all she could to keep his attention on fending her off and not on collecting the relics.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Yeah, so what?" Nora shot back, almost rolling her eyes even. "Is that supposed to make us buddy buddy, make me forget that you're a part of the group that bombed us--" She only got that much out before the kick sent her across the room. When she stopped, she only had a tiny bit of forewarning, an aura sense of danger going off before Tiger was on her again, but it was enough. Magnhild was yanked off her back in one smooth motion, held up above her. Tiger's jump was caught, the big faunus's boots slamming into the metal of Magnhild's long handle instead of her body. Even with her strength though, that jump had so much power that it forced her hammer's handle down until it was nearly choking her. Nearly.

"No."
​

"Because I haven't." Nora finished saying. She wrenched her weapon around to throw the faunus off and to the side before she jumped back to her feet, dashing after Tiger to bring Magnhild down upon her in an overhead smash.

The hammer came down...

But Tiger didn't give.

Raising her arms up to block the overhead smash, Tiger grunted.

"...But I value honesty above all else. So, here's a little more honesty for you..."

Tiger's muscles bulged again.

"110%."

The remaining bandages-except for those around her waist-erupted into a flurry of fabric as Tiger knocked Magnhild back and reached out to grab Nora by the neck and slam her down. The boost she'd just undergone quickly swelled back down as Tiger huffed and puffed. 110% had been where she'd gone wrong last time. Her entire body ached but since she'd only 'used it' for a brief moment, she hoped her body wouldn't have as adverse a reaction. "The honest truth is you won't beat me. I'm sorry." Tiger's left arm shook in place as the faunus swung it down to punch Nora directly in the face and likely smash her head into the floor.

....But the punch never came as Tiger's fist stopped inches from Valkyrie's face.

​

A swathe of explosions blanketed Tiger's form immediately, wreaking havoc upon her so as to diminish her aura while unsettling the faunus for Nora's assault, a display of cooperation to offset any mistaken impression. There wasn't really anything else that needed be said, the notion conveyed as Llewellyn lunged for the office, an explosion at his heels facilitating speeds outstripping conventional methods like Xiao Long's explosive shells.

Tiger's ears twitched like crazy.

"Oh no-"

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

"AGH!"

Tiger stumbled back, smoke hissing off her form as her aura flickered.

"Long range fighters....Annoying..."

Swinging her right hand down, Tiger coughed up a storm as she smashed it into her bandaged up waist. The pain hurt as though you were getting a screwdriver driven into your innards but it helped her focus for whatever Nora may have done to take advantage.​

 

[MidwayLives]

that wasn't for her at all; instead angled just so so that it went straight through the hole the other Yang had left in the top of the elevator to the shaft above, and Pyrrha eyes widened as she heard the telltale sound of one of Yang's explosive rounds arming itself above her.

"Don't you DARE-"

*BOOOM*

The round went off, blasting the elevator clean off the cable, and the last Yang saw of Pyrrha was the most affronted look she'd ever seen as the elevator went screaming down the shaft in a spray of sparks.

Ruby continued in desperation to pull at the invasive entity.

The whole experience reminded her of a past conversation she'd had. Where she'd idolized what Ozpin had done to Maria and how she couldn't wait to undergo the same process. At the time Ruby was still a devoted sycophant for Ozpin and his evil machinations. The idea that going through that whole bit wouldn't be completely and utterly agonizing hadn't even registered to her. Now that she could see with her own eyes this...this thing attempting to enter her body, she couldn't have been more wrong. This wasn't fun or luxurious. This was a waking nightmare and there wasn't a thing Ruby could do about it.

She sniffled.

"Yang, help meeeeee...."

As the *BOOM* resulting in Pyrrha's abrupt departure from the battle rang out, Ruby's tear soaked face finally flashed a smile. Even as she continued to scrape and pull at the thing burrowing into her bloody stump.
​

There was no hesitation as the clad figure stepped outside into the draconic brawler's eyeline and potentially the diminutive valkyrie and the felid goliath. Appearances were important, especially on the face of Remnant and it was with this in mind he acted, spoke immediately with his right hand snapping outward.

"It's the Colonel. I'm here for the councilwoman."

"Ector!!"

Before, Ruby hadn't much of a chance to speak to the colonel.

Matter of fact she just assumed he hated her. Or at the very least disliked her.

But at this moment in time? She couldn't have been more happy to see him if she'd tried.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"It's not your--"

She didn't get to finish but Grey knew what she was gonna say.

It didn't matter all the same.

He'd messed up and if Weiss hadn't been there, who knows how things would have went?

He had to see this through to....the end...

*gulp*

​

"That is not an outcome I can allow. Without your aura, if even a stray shot..." She shook her head. "With two maidens of their caliber firing upon each other, the risk is too much."

"-this is going to be very dangerous! I understand if you want me to abort!" the other Penny finished saying to Grey, the heat around them melting the ice into a sloshy mess beneath their flight as they closed in on the volcano the other Cinder had become.

The sight of a grown man being carried bridal style by the cutest robot you're likely to have ever seen....

On it's own it was probably a comical image.

But in Grey's heart, he knew that Penny was a great person and he appreciated that she'd given him an opportunity to help.

Even if the destruction the other (very very evil) Cinder was capable of wreaking was very scary.

"....I'll be fine. We don't need to worry about hostages or anything now. Just get us in as close as you can...." Grey murmured as he rolled up his sleeves and let his jacket hang loosely from his shoulders revealing the plain black t-shirt underneath. Fog started to ebb from his person, the black smog flowing around Penny and himself as the robot got them ever so closer while Cinder's attention was (thankfully!)focused on the other maiden.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The hammer came down...

But Tiger didn't give.

Raising her arms up to block the overhead smash, Tiger grunted.

"...But I value honesty above all else. So, here's a little more honesty for you..."

Tiger's muscles bulged again.

"110%."

The remaining bandages-except for those around her waist-erupted into a flurry of fabric as Tiger knocked Magnhild back and reached out to grab Nora by the neck and slam her down. The boost she'd just undergone quickly swelled back down as Tiger huffed and puffed. 110% had been where she'd gone wrong last time. Her entire body ached but since she'd only 'used it' for a brief moment, she hoped her body wouldn't have as adverse a reaction. "The honest truth is you won't beat me. I'm sorry." Tiger's left arm shook in place as the faunus swung it down to punch Nora directly in the face and likely smash her head into the floor.

....But the punch never came as Tiger's fist stopped inches from Valkyrie's face.

Her face remained unflinching as the fist came swinging in, but it never actually struck. It just stopped in place right before her eyes. Between that and Tiger being distracted by the colonel, Nora intensified her struggle in Tiger's grip, busting free before the faunus's attention returned to her. Rather than immediately counterattacking however, the hammer wielding huntress pulled back some instead. The woman could empower up on command, grow in size...that was a major advantage. But she was not the only one who could power up. Outside sources just did the work better for her. She was already running off a small bit of the dust Clover had given, as well as a lightning strike from the good Cinder, but now...

"That's the truth, is it? Hnh. One way to find out." She took advantage by absorbing all the rest of the dust, adding significantly to the power she already had. But that was a problem as much as it was an advantage. With all she had already enhanced herself, and her aura not even being back up to full, all that was more than enough to overload her. Jagged cuts of glowing pink snaked their way up along her arm, past her shoulder, up her neck and even onto her face as she let screeched out in pain...but it stabilized there for just long enough for Nora to take a step forward. The stomp shook the whole office and the rest of the floor beyond.

She briefly flashed a bold, fearless grin before letting loose with a war howl as she stomped forward again, planted her feet and swung Magnhild with everything she had to slam into Tiger just as it once had with the Hazel of her world and knock the faunus behemoth right out the blasted open window at great speeds to hopefully remove the threat she posed from this fight.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Almost immediately after those shots, the ice wall burst apart in a sizable explosion that sent bits flying all over the office, Gwen's weapon still smoking. She hardly gave any attention to the madness unfolding all around, her eyes fixated on exactly one man. The very same one she had been so fascinated by on that television screen so long ago. "James Ironwood!" She shouted like she never had before, jetting right for him, intent to just crash into him like a cannonball and keep going until one of the walls on this floor finally stopped them.

"DON'T TURN YOUR FUCKING BACK ON ME!"

"...Specialist... Gwen."

Ironwood's bearing, in contrast, was quiet and still as a mountain as he slowly lowered his handgun after surveying his shots, none of the engineer's explosive actions or words enough to get him to turn to face her. It was almost getting to the point where it seemed his efforts to dismiss her were concerted. Unless you were a mind reader like Carnelian, it would've been impossible to ascertain where his thoughts were even with a compass, map and magnifying glass. The man had been known throughout his career as an impregnable fortress of clarity and resolve, keeping his feelings guarded and stance concealed behind a veil of necessity until only the most crucial juncture. It had helped him cultivate his reputation, one seen as a paragon of wisdom and foresight in Atlas not unlike his headmaster counterpart in Vale.

The truth he had always avoided was he was just a man. Not an immortal sorcerer, prescient being or anything of the sort. Just a man trying, fighting, struggling to do the right thing in an impossible situation. He hadn't always made the right choices; the proof was all around him. The cost of his decision to entrust the destiny of Atlas to others had already proven far, far too high, a reality he was keenly aware of as his mind absorbed Gwen's words and drifted to another operative he'd once had the privilege of instructing. A young woman with a powerful semblance and a rebellious streak that did her no favors, but had all the potential in the world to become a powerful driving force for good if simply given the right guidance. An example to follow.

She was dead now. He had no illusions as to what had led to that injustice, nor who was to blame. On all counts. His exhale was weary as he contemplated what she might've had to say to him now, but he wouldn't allow it to shake him.

He had made a mistake. The only thing left now was to course correct.

But that didn't mean any more of Atlas's finest protectors had to die.

He weighed confronting the guilt of accusation behind him against the madness in front of him, and finally turned, the gun he slowly leveled at her somewhat at odds with the look in his eyes; imploring, reluctant, yet ultimately, indomitably determined.



"Don't do this to yourself. Please. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't the only way to restore sanity to this kingdom; To ensure Atlas and everyone living in it gets to go on."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Specialist... Gwen."

Ironwood's bearing, in contrast, was quiet and still as a mountain as he slowly lowered his handgun after surveying his shots, none of the engineer's explosive actions or words enough to get him to turn to face her. It was almost getting to the point where it seemed his efforts to dismiss her were concerted. Unless you were a mind reader like Carnelian, it would've been impossible to ascertain where his thoughts were even with a compass, map and magnifying glass. The man had been known throughout his career as an impregnable fortress of clarity and resolve, keeping his feelings guarded and stance concealed behind a veil of necessity until only the most crucial juncture. It had helped him cultivate his reputation, one seen as a paragon of wisdom and foresight in Atlas not unlike his headmaster counterpart in Vale.

The truth he had always avoided was he was just a man. Not an immortal sorcerer, prescient being or anything of the sort. Just a man trying, fighting, struggling to do the right thing in an impossible situation. He hadn't always made the right choices; the proof was all around him. The cost of his decision to entrust the destiny of Atlas to others had already proven far, far too high, a reality he was keenly aware of as his mind absorbed Gwen's words and drifted to another operative he'd once had the privilege of instructing. A young woman with a powerful semblance and a rebellious streak that did her no favors, but had all the potential in the world to become a powerful driving force for good if simply given the right guidance. An example to follow.

She was dead now. He had no illusions as to what had led to that injustice, nor who was to blame. On all counts. His exhale was weary as he contemplated what she might've had to say to him now

He had made a mistake. The only thing left now was to course correct.

But that didn't mean any more of Atlas's finest protectors had to die.

He weighed confronting the guilt of accusation behind him against the madness in front of him, and finally turned, the gun he slowly leveled at her somewhat at odds with the look in his eyes; imploring, reluctant, yet ultimately, indomitably determined.

"Don't do this to yourself. Please. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't the only way to restore sanity to this kingdom; To ensure Atlas and everyone living in it gets to go on."

Her intent had 100% been to slam into him full speed in a rage, but as she herself knew, anger didn't come as naturally to her as it did with some. So it was when he turned to her with that look on his face, she found that she just couldn't go through with it. Even with his gun still being pointed her way. Helios came to a mid-air halt a few feet away, her thrusters disengaging and dropping her down onto the floor below. She stood still and silent as he spoke, her own weapon nevertheless aimed at him in return as she listened to his pleading. Hardly a second passed from his last word before she opened her mouth in reply, her voice a mix of disbelief and also pleading. "Tell me you don't actually believe that." Her eyes softened to a degree behind her visor, but her gun didn't move a centimeter.

"How can you look at what's going on around you right now and think that this is the way to restore sanity?!" Gwen shook her head, not at all comprehending the thought process there. "You've sided with terrorists and murderers. The very same ones responsible for the destruction of Mistral's CCT and bringing down global communications. The ones that bombed this very academy not so long ago, who've also murdered special operatives and civilians alike. You helped orchestrate their prison break, held a councilwoman hostage, even shot her through the knee! Look me in the eye and tell me how any of this is legal, or right, or just. I don't understand. I don't know what the bigger picture is, I don't know what would drive you to take such extreme actions, but I know what you're doing is wrong."

Her eyes hardened to icy steel once more as she stared him down from behind the barrel of her gun. "I don't care what excuses you'd use to justify what you've done. The man I knew growing up, the man I admired and respected, the man who personally welcomed me into the military, he would have found a better way. The man who once commanded the world's mightiest military, had connections with many of Remnant's smartest minds, who helped govern the richest kingdom, could come up with no better plan of action than this? This insanity is your solution??" Helios shook her head again.

"No. No. Whatever has pushed you to do this, this is not the right way to handle it. We don't have to trample over our oaths and our own morality to keep the people safe. So either you can stand down, now, or you can take your best shot at me. Please do what's right." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She tried to claw at her stump and whatever it was she felt invading her body. Burrowing deeper and deeper. Her nails cracked as she scratched at the floor. Calling out for her aunt with tears in her eyes. "AUNT RAVEN!!! H-HELP ME!!!" But as Raven had her own issues, Ruby's screams turned to a different plea for help.

"YANG....YANG HELP ME!!!"

Ruby's breath was caught in her throat.

"Mommy.....*sob* Mommy, help me!"

Curiously, by the time the Dragon's eyes had returned to the latest victim of her brutality it was with a look of puzzled ambivalence, the first-ever sound of her childhood tormentor's panicked wails not invoking the barbaric grin one might expect from one of her disposition. Instead she just raised her eyebrow, dismay in her eyes and a quizzical frown to her lips as she casually rested one hand on her hip.

"Y'know I gotta say, Rubes, it's pretty fuckin' sad seeing you like this. Ice queen's really done a number on you, huh? You think people like you and me live in a world where mommy's gonna come, what, take care of us? That ship has sailed, sweetheart. Mommy's not coming. And wait, what was that first part? Did I seriously just hear you ask my mom for something? Pahahahaha!"

She threw her head back with a laugh so vigorous and rattling it was like a howl, the fiendish, delirious cackle of a hyena as she slowly slid down on her knees to take Ruby's head in her lap, demonic fingers raking through a few strands of her hair as if they weren't at the center of a full-on hurricane of violence. The entire picture grew stranger still when she spoke again, and her usual forceful, steamrolling tone was substituted with a soothing murmur.

"My mom has been avoiding looking at me from the moment she walked into this room. She's washed her hands of us, Ruby. Just like everyone, everywhere is always gonna wash their hands of you. Except me."

Yang's hands kept combing the same tresses out of the way absently like Ruby was a doll she couldn't quite remember how to play with, ignoring her struggles and cries, face sliding towards a blank slate of expressionlessness as her thousand-yard stare settled on the floor.

"Dontcha get it yet, spaz? This is Yang helping you. The Yang who won't jerk you around like a cheap hooker then take off the first shot she gets at heading home to all her prissy little friends and their fucking PG sunshine world. I'm real. I'm for keeps. And I know it stings now, but soon there won't be any bad feelings left at all, Ruby. Only the highs. Only the good stuff."

Her face gradually broke into a smile, one made eerier by how blank and lifeless her eyes remained. Ruby could feel something else, now, besides the pain; no, overwhelming the pain. She felt it spreading through her chest like it was emerging from her very soul itself, a wave of soothing cold that swallowed up all her frustration, all her sadness and anguish and agony and left her feeling one thing.

Numb.

The dragon giggled, watching the sensation (or lack thereof) dawn across her sister's face.

"There it is. See? Isn't that so much better? All I want is to help you be strong again, sis. Just like you helped me."

A look of discontent crossed Pyrrha's face as Tiger thundered off after Nora. Those two seemed content to have their little struggle, and it wasn't as if Yang could be ignored. But this...

Yang snarled as she recovered and pushed off her back foot for a sliding quick step for a jab, only for her gauntlet to jerk upwards as Pyrrha answered with a step of her own and a flick of the wrist. Milo slashed straight across Yang's neck, a strike of maximum lethality with the minimum force required, making Yang's aura flair just as bright as Tiger's strike had with far less fed into the blonde's semblence.

...This sort of matchup was just going to be dreadfully boring, wasn't it?

She sighed as Yang gasped and stumbled at the strike before she pivoted on her heel at the same time Pyrrha spun Milo as it shifted into a rifle and-



BANG

-Shot Yang square in the forehead instead of an unbalancing shot to the side of the cheek like she intended as she just suddenly... stopped moving, outside of the caliber of the bullet suddenly making her head jerk upwards, staying there for a moment before it slowly came back down.

Yang knew which Ruby it was making those sounds. Harsh as it sounded, her Ruby would've never broken like that. Her sister was too strong. She'd outgrown the need to be protected. At worst, she needed someone to watch her back as an equal, and at best, she was the one keeping Yang's feet on the ground these days whenever she existed anyways. But she'd gotten that way with help; from her dad, from their uncle, from their teachers, their teammates, their friends, and from Yang. She hadn't always been that way. There was a time, a long time ago, so long that it felt like a lifetime even to someone as young as Yang, that she would've called out to Yang like that when she was scared, when the nightmares got too bad, or some grimm she'd gotten overexcited about fighting and tried to take down herself proved to be too much.

Yang would always be there for her in those moments. Maybe this Ruby was something monstrous before, but she was trying to be better now, and it was clear she still needed someone at her side. It shouldn't have been the most important thing in the room. There were two relics that she needed to get if she ever wanted to get home to see Weiss and Blake again being literally tossed around in hails of gunfire. She'd never won a spar against Pyrrha back at Beacon, and a far more deadlier version of her former friend was trying to slit her throat. Weiss, the woman with the power of two maidens inside her, the girl who Yang had given up so much of herself to try and break her walls down and show that it was okay to let people in, was unconscious in a room of people who wanted her far, far worse than just dead.

All of that still mattered to her. Some of it so much that it hurt. But none of it mattered more than the fact that her little sister was crying.

None of which mattered to Pyrrha, who's friendly smirk cracked into a more tense, annoyed smile as Yang just stood there. "I'm sorry Miss Xiao Long, but am I boring you?"

"Yea."

Her eyes finally snapped back up to lock onto Pyrrha's, the person in the way of her doing anything about any of that. It wasn't anger in her eyes. She was past anger, to a point of clarity of purpose that she wasn't sure she'd ever had or would have again in her life.

"You are"

She slammed her guantlets together and two explosive rounds went off right on top of her.

Pyrrha fought the urge to roll her eyes.

She figured out what this was the moment Yang started to pull her fists back to strike together; an over dramatic smokescreen. How mind numblingly simple of a tactic; if she had a lien for every person who thought she needed to see to use her semblance, she'd almost match her lifetime winnings in the arenas. She should've known better than to expect anything fancier than schoolyard tactics folstered by sheer brute strength and skill from a copy of the dragon, but something about the way everyone had reacted when she'd made her threat with the lantern had Pyrrha at least a little excited for this fight, no matter how lopsided it was to pit her against a woman with a metal arm.

Oh well.

She reached out with her semblance into the smoke and flame, found the arm, moving in the direction of a leap and jerked it forward.

The arm came out, the rest of Yang didn't, and Pyrrha had a downright uncharacteristic moment of surprise as she stared at the prosthetic that clunked harmlessly against her shield before a far more real fist smashed into her face with the fiery vengeance of an angry god. It was the sort of strike that would daze even a terminator like Blake or the man who couldn't feel pain in Hazel, and the sole downside of being the absolute queen of not getting hit was that she didn't get as much practice as most in taking them; She couldn't even get her bearings as she crunched into the floor with the sound of twisting metal and still bounced slightly back up before a low roundhouse kick caught her in the side to send her rocketing straight into the still open elevator with a thunderous crash.

She was still Pyrrha Nikos. She made it back to knees in a roll rather than ending up prone against the back of the elevator, and she instinctively raised her shield to catch the shot she knew was coming even as her vision swam, and was rewarded with the sound of Yang's gauntlet going up in a follow up shot-

that wasn't for her at all; instead angled just so so that it went straight through the hole the other Yang had left in the top of the elevator to the shaft above, and Pyrrha eyes widened as she heard the telltale sound of one of Yang's explosive rounds arming itself above her.

"Don't you DARE-"

*BOOOM*

The round went off, blasting the elevator clean off the cable, and the last Yang saw of Pyrrha was the most affronted look she'd ever seen as the elevator went screaming down the shaft in a spray of sparks.

The dragon suddenly perked up while the process took hold, a bit of a shine returning to her eyes as she cracked a knowingly coy smirk and let her eyes flit back towards the corner of her peripheral. She had that ears-burning, hair-standing-up feeling of electricity she got whenever a pretty girl looked at her in the club, and an easy yawn accompanied her roll of the shoulders and crack of the neck as she tossed a casual jab over her shoulder in greeting.

"Oh hi, grimm bait. How's the hickey?" She rolled her eyes. "Finally decided I'm worth a little of your attention, huh? 'Bout time. I mean, not to be clingy, but what does a girl have to do to get a call back after the first date?"

There was an active superiority in her voice when she addressed her double now, a comfortably victorious note of cheer after having imposed her will on her so thoroughly during their last encounter.

"Lemme guess. I was too gentle, right? Too much foreplay? You want someone to really slap you around some, put you in your place more?" She bit her lip enticingly, whatever mental picture was flashing through her brain evidently making her giddy. She finally leaned back and arched her spine to look behind her at an angle, emphasizing her flexibility in a way that only slightly undermined the predatory hunger rising in her eyes.

"Wanna be treated like you're bad?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Her intent had 100% been to slam into him full speed in a rage, but as she herself knew, anger didn't come as naturally to her as it did with some. So it was when he turned to her with that look on his face, she found that she just couldn't go through with it. Even with his gun still being pointed her way. Helios came to a mid-air halt a few feet away, her thrusters disengaging and dropping her down onto the floor below. She stood still and silent as he spoke, her own weapon nevertheless aimed at him in return as she listened to his pleading. Hardly a second passed from his last word before she opened her mouth in reply, her voice a mix of disbelief and also pleading. "Tell me you don't actually believe that." Her eyes softened to a degree behind her visor, but her gun didn't move a centimeter.

"How can you look at what's going on around you right now and think that this is the way to restore sanity?!" Gwen shook her head, not at all comprehending the thought process there. "You've sided with terrorists and murderers. The very same ones responsible for the destruction of Mistral's CCT and bringing down global communications. The ones that bombed this very academy not so long ago, who've also murdered special operatives and civilians alike. You helped orchestrate their prison break, held a councilwoman hostage, even shot her through the knee! Look me in the eye and tell me how any of this is legal, or right, or just. I don't understand. I don't know what the bigger picture is, I don't know what would drive you to take such extreme actions, but I know what you're doing is wrong."

Her eyes hardened to icy steel once more as she stared him down from behind the barrel of her gun. "I don't care what excuses you'd use-"

"..."

She started speaking, and Ironwood slowly lowered his gun, eyes laden with a heavy burden. He listened, features locked in a grim frown, hearing her out up to a certain point.

Something no one ever would've denied James Ironwood was the fact that he had a strong pokerface. One of the strongest, in point of fact. And as sincere as his regret was, as genuinely as he wished not to see Helios come to harm?

Like he said, she was never a good listener. And he was familiar enough to know there was no convincing her once she made up her mind. Familiarity could be a blessing and a curse; it could help someone predict the actions of others, or make them hesitate when it mattered most.

Gwen was a good soldier, but she wasn't a general. She hadn't seen the things he'd seen, made the sacrifices necessary to operate on the same line of thinking. She was a peacekeeper, and no agent of the law was comfortable pointing a gun at their own superior; let alone one who'd had so much influence during her formative years. And yet despite that, he wasn't delusional: he knew the things she was saying were true. He knew exactly who and what he was acquiescing to. He knew this was wrong.

He was just going to have to live with it.

So he lowered his gun, and the moment he saw that grave indecision mirrored in Gwen's eyes, the moment his seeming compliance and how desperately she wanted him to come to his senses had her lower her weapon in turn, even a fraction-



-He drew his second pistol and shot her right between the eyes.

There was zero hesitation on his part, her body language scanners unable to so much as get an accurate reading on his primarily cybernetic one. That meant there was no warning, no indication, until the blur of motion and the round that struck her in the head barely a heartbeat later, its high caliber leading her aura to finally shatter as she fell back.

"Stay down."

There was nothing insulting about the words; it was genuine advice. The best chance she had of surviving this now was if she played dead.

Then he turned around and left her there.

It was at Carnelian, her now black colored blade swinging across in a frenzy of blows, doing all she could to keep his attention on fending her off and not on collecting the relics.

Only one such blow barely skirted his sword, raised in an overhead block without the general so much as looking back, before Carnelian executed an impossible slide straight through Raven's guard, moving at the perfect time to weave perfectly around her sword and deliver a single stiff elbow to her nose that sent her staggering back.

Right into Bear's reach again.

He seemed content to let the veteran chew on her for a while, kicking the staff into his hand with an inspecting twirl and strolling across the room to come to a stop in front of the skirmish's newest participant. One of few people in the room he actually considered worthy of the attention.

A swathe of explosions blanketed Tiger's form immediately, wreaking havoc upon her so as to diminish her aura while unsettling the faunus for Nora's assault, a display of cooperation to offset any mistaken impression. There wasn't really anything else that needed be said, the notion conveyed as Llewellyn lunged for the office, an explosion at his heels facilitating speeds outstripping conventional methods like Xiao Long's explosive shells.

"Liza." Just one word was enough to initiate communication as the Colonel threw himself into the fray.

He kept his eyes on the tip of the staff as he addressed his junior officer, voice a cocky, commanding drawl that carried none of the pretense of formality he attempted with Gwen. Honestly, he always hated this upstart little asshole, anyway.

And, well, he was always a little curious.

"Colonel." He began, courteously enough. What followed was less so.

"Stand by Weiss Schnee and I'll have you stripped of your rank, discharged with immediate effect and hung for treason slow enough that you can watch while I show your little sniper piece all her most vital organs. Your choice?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"YOU BITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--"

"So I'm told." Weiss confirmed icily in the silence after Cinder was struck from the sky, eyes already scanning the steaming chasm she disappeared into. Gray she completely ignored because she had entirely forgotten who he was, and the sight of two Pennies just had her sharply raise her hand to cut off their exclamations, not for one second taking her eyes off the ground to address them.

"I have neither the patience or energy to deal with one of you."

That was all she said before a single flap of the hand bade them go, her glare hardening as she started to descend at a measured pace.

Hopes that were dashed shortly after when the distant gash in the earth began to glow, burning orange illuminating that area at least just as brightly as Weiss's attack, if much less visible given the ground obscured most of it.

Again, that Cinder seemed to be a volcano personified as she exploded out of the ground just then. A dark figure, framed by the scorching flames behind her, glaring at them with rage, frustration, disgust, annoyance, hatred...all of it so overflowing that she would have doubtless made quite a snack for any grimm, were she not partly one herself. Call it arrogance, or a blinding lust for power, or something else entirely but even after that brutal assault, the woman still refused to give up. All the flame around her swelled up even further before it thrust forward as one beam attack of her own, greatly dwarfing even the similar attack she had launched to counter Penny's laser from before.

Weiss hovered as low as she could get away with and simply watched Cinder's fury explode, a single eyebrow arched expectantly. Her scowl carried a pulse of impatience, looking very much like she had more important matters to get back to than a rogue maiden knocking over things. The heat soared so high even the tundra's bitter winds turned blistering, peppering her aura with negligible damage, and right before the monstrous maiden erupted with her attack she could've sworn she saw the barest hint of the councilwoman's expression twist into a scoff.

A three-dimensional spiral structure comprised of dozens upon dozens of glyphs arrayed themselves neatly around her, and as the blast impacted the first it found itself redirected through them like an electrical current, the fire's flow circulating from glyph to glyph and surrounding the heiress in a vortex of fire that never came close enough to so much as singe her dress. After a few loops the stream rushed from the final glowing sigil directly into the palm of her hand, her gaze watching it impassively before it swerved back towards Cinder with another brow arched; this one in disappointment.

"I gather you're supposed to be some sort of big deal where you come from. Forgive my ignorance, but I don't really see it. Would you like some advice?"

Her tone was perfectly civil, all things considered, a fact that actually made the assessment to follow all the more scathing. The flame was being condensed into a tiny, volatile orb in her hand, a miniature sun she could've closed her fist around if so inclined.

"This power is about control. Serenity, comprehending your place in the natural world; that sort of thing. If you let your emotions tame you, rather than vice versa? Then I'm afraid you'll never amount to anything more than a sad little woman throwing fire from her hands."

As if to demonstrate her superiority in that regard, she held the orb on the tip of one finger and lightly flicked it towards Cinder's position, where it hurtled at surprising speed and detonated on contact with a solid, releasing all the energy Cinder had channeled at her in a single unfocused burst. Unruffled as the hot winds swept through her hair, in that moment it was clear as day how Weiss viewed the other Remnant's Cinder Fall. She was nothing; an unexpected nuisance. The last piece of paperwork she had to do before clocking out. Someone undeserving of the time, effort or attention she was currently being afforded.

She was dirt.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

So he lowered his gun, and the moment he saw that grave indecision mirrored in Gwen's eyes, the moment his seeming compliance and how desperately she wanted him to come to his senses had her lower her weapon in turn, even a fraction-

-He drew his second pistol and shot her right between the eyes.

There was zero hesitation on his part, her body language scanners unable to so much as get an accurate reading on his primarily cybernetic one. That meant there was no warning, no indication, until the blur of motion and the round that struck her in the head barely a heartbeat later, its high caliber leading her aura to finally shatter as she fell back.

"Stay down."

There was nothing insulting about the words; it was genuine advice. The best chance she had of surviving this now was if she played dead.

Then he turned around and left her there.

For a moment there, she had genuinely believed she had managed to get through to him. That her words had disarmed him of his belief in this being the only way. But that was nothing more than overly optimistic sentiment. Desperation to pull back a childhood hero, stop him from making a mistake before it was too late. Cynics would have said she should have known better, and right then, right as she felt the bullet hit her between the eyes...she would have found it difficult to argue that point. The high caliber nature of the bullet and close proximity between them flung her back, navy blue aura shimmering, breaking entirely before she had even hit the ground. Gwen grunted as she landed back first, adding to the ache from her much rougher landing shortly beforehand. She laid there still, seemingly obliging those two words he said. Ones that she heard as both sincere advice and a warning of what would happen if she didn't.

But then her eyes flickered to the corner of her holographic visor, focusing on what she saw there. With the tap of a button on her wristpad, it enlarged to take up the majority of space along that visor.

The professional license she had gotten the day she graduated, one of the most proud days in her life. And she was keenly reminded of what it meant. What that simple license stood for. Then she knew, in her heart, that she couldn't stay down. A huntress was meant to do what was right, all the way to the end. Whenever it came. Before he had gotten too far, she was back on her feet with a shaky arm reaching down and snatching up Malware. Then she fired, emptying the whole clip of her own high caliber rounds aimed at his departing back.

"I...can't do that, sir." She said with profound sadness, feeling herself growing significantly more teary-eyed as she stood there. The only way this ended, from her perspective, is if she took him down, brought him into custody...or he finished the job by knocking her out. Or...worse.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Weiss hovered as low as she could get away with and simply watched Cinder's fury explode, a single eyebrow arched expectantly. Her scowl carried a pulse of impatience, looking very much like she had more important matters to get back to than a rogue maiden knocking over things. The heat soared so high even the tundra's bitter winds turned blistering, peppering her aura with negligible damage, and right before the monstrous maiden erupted with her attack she could've sworn she saw the barest hint of the councilwoman's expression twist into a scoff.

A three-dimensional spiral structure comprised of dozens upon dozens of glyphs arrayed themselves neatly around her, and as the blast impacted the first it found itself redirected through them like an electrical current, the fire's flow circulating from glyph to glyph and surrounding the heiress in a vortex of fire that never came close enough to so much as singe her dress. After a few loops the stream rushed from the final glowing sigil directly into the palm of her hand, her gaze watching it impassively before it swerved back towards Cinder with another brow arched; this one in disappointment.

"I gather you're supposed to be some sort of big deal where you come from. Forgive my ignorance, but I don't really see it. Would you like some advice?"

Her tone was perfectly civil, all things considered, a fact that actually made the assessment to follow all the more scathing. The flame was being condensed into a tiny, volatile orb in her hand, a miniature sun she could've closed her fist around if so inclined.

"This power is about control. Serenity, comprehending your place in the natural world; that sort of thing. If you let your emotions tame you, rather than vice versa? Then I'm afraid you'll never amount to anything more than a sad little woman throwing fire from her hands."

As if to demonstrate her superiority in that regard, she held the orb on the tip of one finger and lightly flicked it towards Cinder's position, where it hurtled at surprising speed and detonated on contact with a solid, releasing all the energy Cinder had channeled at her in a single unfocused burst. Unruffled as the hot winds swept through her hair, in that moment it was clear as day how Weiss viewed the other Remnant's Cinder Fall. She was nothing; an unexpected nuisance. The last piece of paperwork she had to do before clocking out. Someone undeserving of the time, effort or attention she was currently being afforded.

She was dirt.

The solid it struck was the sudden large wall of ice that Cinder pulled up from the ground, harnessing the natural Atlas cold to her advantage to block off her own redirected attack before it got anywhere close to actually striking her. One of the rare occasions she saw fit to use an element other than the raging fire she so preferred. The collision of frozen ice and scorching flame resulted in a heavy and thick fog enveloping the whole area, spread further along than it would have by subtle uses of wind. Trusting herself to be temporarily hidden from sight, she dropped to a knee, switching to using her semblance. Thanks to both the already superheated area from her attack, as well as the level of maiden power she wielded boosting what she could do with her semblance, dozens if not hundreds of burning obsidian swords were conjured up. And every single one got thrusted outward for the position she had last seen Weiss hovering in.

Cinder herself did not fire any blasts to go along with, or soar upwards to meet Weiss in the air. She stayed deep within the fog, hidden and obscured like a predator just waiting to pounce on prey. One that had been gracious enough to come right to her. "You Atlesian elites, you're all the same!" Cinder spat in pure hatred. Her voice echoed through the mist, making it very difficult to pinpoint her location. "Looking down on the people less fortunate than you, treating them like garbage. No, less than garbage! It comes so easy to all of you." She snarled. "So eager to demonstrate your greater power over those you look down on! But this won't be one of those times. I've come too far to be beaten down again by some rich, elitist jerk. So save your lectures for somebody who wants to hear it!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The solid it struck was the sudden large wall of ice that Cinder pulled up from the ground, harnessing the natural Atlas cold to her advantage to block off her own redirected attack before it got anywhere close to actually striking her. One of the rare occasions she saw fit to use an element other than the raging fire she so preferred. The collision of frozen ice and scorching flame resulted in a heavy and thick fog enveloping the whole area, spread further along than it would have by subtle uses of wind. Trusting herself to be temporarily hidden from sight, she dropped to a knee, switching to using her semblance. Thanks to both the already superheated area from her attack, as well as the level of maiden power she wielded boosting what she could do with her semblance, dozens if not hundreds of burning obsidian swords were conjured up. And every single one got thrusted outward for the position she had last seen Weiss hovering in.

Cinder herself did not fire any blasts to go along with, or soar upwards to meet Weiss in the air. She stayed deep within the fog, hidden and obscured like a predator just waiting to pounce on prey. One that had been gracious enough to come right to her. "You Atlesian elites, you're all the same!" Cinder spat in pure hatred. Her voice echoed through the mist, making it very difficult to pinpoint her location. "Looking down on the people less fortunate than you, treating them like garbage. No, less than garbage! It comes so easy to all of you." She snarled. "So eager to demonstrate your greater power over those you look down on! But this won't be one of those times. I've come too far to be beaten down again by some rich, elitist jerk. So save your lectures for somebody who wants to hear it!"

Weiss didn't bother dodging. Summoning the columns of glyphs that appeared in front of her was every bit as natural an action to the heiress as breathing, her soul's innate desire to exert control over a chaotic world a tool she had plied and mastered obsessively over the years to the point of perfection. A forward thrust with two fingers saw them all collectively unleash a volly of ice spikes, meeting Cinder's swords in midair as the two projectile storms collided and sent scattered shards of both raining down across the snow.

She landed elegantly in the midst of it, rolling her eyes at the scathing critique of her wealth class as it rolled forth from the fog and pulling her exquisite sheepskin a bit tighter. She concentrated, bidding the wind pick up around her, her response as characteristic as one could get.



"That's largely true. That said? I've run into far too many self-pitying types using their unfortunate lot in life as justification for crimes against common decency today. Frankly, my sympathy's wearing thin. You don't want to be treated like garbage, miss Fall?"

She clapped her hands together, and the cone of air that had been swirling around her gradually started expanding to push the mist away, Weiss's eyes sharp as they carefully scanned her surroundings.

"Don't be garbage."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"That's largely true. That said? I've run into far too many self-pitying types using their unfortunate lot in life as justification for their crimes against common decency today. Frankly, my sympathy's wearing thin. You don't want to be treated like garbage, miss Fall?"

She clapped her hands together, and the cone of air that had been swirling around her gradually started expanding to push the mist away, Weiss's eyes sharp as they carefully scanned her surroundings.

"Don't be garbage."

“I don’t take advice from dead women!” She hissed, greatly looking forward to making that a reality. As the mist began to clear, there was a distinct twang from her left, three arrows loosed and darting through the fog for Weiss’s position, now revealed thanks to her efforts. The trio of projectiles burst apart into mini-explosions whether they made contact with her, her glyphs or were just avoided entirely, throwing up new clouds of smoke. Before that smoke and fog could be cleared away entirely and the grimm hybrid was herself zeroed in on, that monstrous arm shot through the air too, surging for Weiss’s jaw with malevolent intent and to do everyone the favor of shutting the ice queen’s mouth.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"That's the truth, is it? Hnh. One way to find out." She took advantage by absorbing all the rest of the dust, adding significantly to the power she already had. But that was a problem as much as it was an advantage. With all she had already enhanced herself, and her aura not even being back up to full, all that was more than enough to overload her. Jagged cuts of glowing pink snaked their way up along her arm, past her shoulder, up her neck and even onto her face as she let screeched out in pain...but it stabilized there for just long enough for Nora to take a step forward. The stomp shook the whole office and the rest of the floor beyond.

Tiger had steadied herself...

'In the last fight, you'd empowered yourself past your limits just as I'd done myself...'

Tiger smiled.

'Now, here you are again...pushing the boundaries of what's possible. To that I salute you but...'

The floor began to rumble. Whatever wasn't strapped or bolted down began to rustle or shake and the glass on the windows rattled.

The purple miasma that normally flowed around Tiger began to blow like a wild wind.

"....The cause is all I have....I've never cared what happens to me..."

That hadn't changed one bit.

"...But I chose this fight! Of my own free will!"

Then, Tiger let it all go.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!"

Tiger grew bigger and bigger, her clothes(which had for the most part been designed with her semblance in mind!)began tearing at the seams. They weren't the only things for that matter. Nora could have seen tears in the faunus's skin that stretched from her forearms to her quads. The bandages around her waist were ripped to shreds revealing the mess of scarring that lay over her rigid abs. Out of everything it seemed as though her pants(which were still quickly becoming shorts)and boots were the only things that were enduring the massive transformation: a seeming answer to Nora's own abrupt powerup.

"1....120%!"

Tiger looked as though she could barely move with all the muscle mass she was accumulating. Her torso swelled and sweat ran down her forehead. The effort of once again trying to push past her limits and keep her own semblance from killing her being something of a fine line that needed careful management. The increase she was undergoing was only one she'd simulated through mental training and positive reinforcement that she'd let play out in her head during the time they'd been locked up. It wasn't exactly 1:1 and was no true replacement for attempting to gradually build herself up as she'd done for years. But it'd keep her from becoming a vegetable after it's use at least. It still wasn't without it's risks though.

Tiger pulled a hand back from her stomach and noticed the crimson coating.

Old wounds opened up and Tiger coughed up spittle as blood could have been seen running down her arms and legs. Bits of muscle/tissue every so visible through the aforementioned tears in her skin. Tiger actually had to briefly cup a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting stomach bile all over the office floor. She didn't complain for even a second though. It was just as she'd said. No matter the risks abusing her semblance like this drug up, she couldn't be bothered. She didn't care about the relics or anything other than the fight she'd willingly gotten herself embroiled in.

'This isn't the Hand's doing or the Master's. This is mine...The woman known as Tiger....I am-'
​

She briefly flashed a bold, fearless grin before letting loose with a war howl as she stomped forward again, planted her feet and swung Magnhild with everything she had to slam into Tiger just as it once had with the Hazel of her world and knock the faunus behemoth right out the blasted open window at great speeds to hopefully remove the threat she posed from this fight.

Tiger spread her feet apart.

For whatever it may have been worth, in the midst of all the chaos, there was a small patch of black hair amid the white of Tiger's flowing mane.

However this battle ended up, it'd be white from stress. Just like the rest of her hair.

Unlike the rest though, it wouldn't be from any emotional stress. For once in her life, Tiger was actually....having fun!

Pulling back one of her mammoth-like arms, Tiger moved her fist to meet Magnhild's head directly.

The shockwave was likely to break whatever windows were left, the shockwave alone would have completely written off anyone weaker.

Tiger and Nora Valkyrie were FAR from weak.

The huntress would have felt the slightest pitter patter upon her cheek. Then another, and soon after that one more, and soon it felt like an onslaught.

That was all Tiger's blood from her wounds-new and old.

The faunus didn't seem perturbed/disturbed by the gruesome injuries at all. Whether it was her semblance's boost keeping her afloat or sheer enthusiasm blinding agonizing pain, she couldn't really say. Biting her lip, Tiger glared down at the weapon that Nora held and that had been by her side throughout all of her battles in this twisted world. The faunus's ears gave a slight twitch and her other arm moved down to attempt to knock the weapon from Nora's grasp and smash it into the floor. The purple smoke gave off a snakelike hiss as it seemed to flow out from Tiger's wounds indicating that her current percentage was on a time limit before she 'deflated' back to...well, whatever normal was for her.

"No...*huff*....more...*huff huff* weapons...Just...*cough cough* our fists..."

Tiger pulled back her fist again and grit her teeth.

"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" ​

 

[MidwayLives]

"My mom has been avoiding looking at me from the moment she walked into this room. She's washed her hands of us, Ruby. Just like everyone, everywhere is always gonna wash their hands of you. Except me."

Yang's hands kept combing the same tresses out of the way absently like Ruby was a doll she couldn't quite remember how to play with, ignoring her struggles and cries, face sliding towards a blank slate of expressionlessness as her thousand-yard stare settled on the floor.

"Dontcha get it yet, spaz? This is Yang helping you. The Yang who won't jerk you around like a cheap hooker then take off the first shot she gets at heading home to all her prissy little friends and their fucking PG sunshine world. I'm real. I'm for keeps. And I know it stings now, but soon there won't be any bad feelings left at all, Ruby. Only the highs. Only the good stuff."

"That isn't true! That's not...Yang would never...."

...She had to go back to her own world eventually....

Ruby knew that and yet...

Her nails cracked as she continued to rub and dig at her stump. As if she could pull out the invading Grimm as easily as an ingrown hair.

"We're no good together, Yang...."
​

Her face gradually broke into a smile, one made eerier by how blank and lifeless her eyes remained. Ruby could feel something else, now, besides the pain; no, overwhelming the pain. She felt it spreading through her chest like it was emerging from her very soul itself, a wave of soothing cold that swallowed up all her frustration, all her sadness and anguish and agony and left her feeling one thing.

Numb.

The dragon giggled, watching the sensation (or lack thereof) dawn across her sister's face.

"There it is. See? Isn't that so much better? All I want is to help you be strong again, sis. Just like you helped me."

Just as Ruby had reached the point where she was running herself ragged/coughing up a storm trying to cry, the sensation began washing over her. One that'd only felt so familiar as to be when she'd been the happiest in her life: living out on her own as the Red Masque. Unbound by having to work with her fellow bandits and free to make her own decisions. To do what she wanted to do, when she wanted, and to live wherever! Her hand fell to her side and blood dripped from beneath her fingernails as a result of scratching frantically at her stump.

"....You're.......right....I feel..."

Ruby paused. As if the answer seemed so obvious and yet so...not.

"....Alright."
​

"Lemme guess. I was too gentle, right? Too much foreplay? You want someone to really slap you around some, put you in your place more?" She bit her lip enticingly, whatever mental picture was flashing through her brain evidently making her giddy. She finally leaned back and arched her spine to look behind her at an angle, emphasizing her flexibility in a way that only slightly undermined the predatory hunger rising in her eyes.

"Wanna be treated like you're bad?"

In her heart of hearts, Ruby was still worried about what had happened.

But on the outside, all Yang would receive as she confronted this Ruby's sister was a blank stare.

One that seemed to be looking past the blonde. The one who'd come to save her after hearing her sister's wailing.

"...This isn't a fight you want.......Yang.........."

The words coming out didn't feel right. Ruby couldn't say that SHE didn't feel right. She didn't really feel much of anything, really.

Just....existence, pure as it was.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“I don’t take advice from dead women!” She hissed, greatly looking forward to making that a reality. As the mist began to clear, there was a distinct twang from her left, three arrows loosed and darting through the fog for Weiss’s position, now revealed thanks to her efforts. The trio of projectiles burst apart into mini-explosions whether they made contact with her, her glyphs or were just avoided entirely, throwing up new clouds of smoke. Before that smoke and fog could be cleared away entirely and the grimm hybrid was herself zeroed in on, that monstrous arm shot through the air too, surging for Weiss’s jaw with malevolent intent and to do everyone the favor of shutting the ice queen’s mouth.​

The maleficent limb contorted, grew, and lashed out for Weiss's face through the smokescreen, exactly the sort of ambush tactic that might've caught her off guard on a normal day.

Thankfully she'd just attacked a warehouse full of ninjas.

It made it so agonizingly close that Cinder could practically feel the Atlesian noble's breath tickle it where it ended up caught between a cross-section of three glyphs, Weiss eyeballing it warily with a cautious, disdainful frown as she took a large step back.

"Right. Because that's happening. Does this have aura?"

Myrtenaster twirled up from her side, glowing white-hot by the time she gripped it horizontally at shoulder level and delivered a quick, clean thrust through Cinder's palm with all its dust vials flaring, gauging the effect as if testing a theory on a lab rat.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Right. Because that's happening. Does this have aura?"

Myrtenaster twirled up from her side, glowing white-hot by the time she gripped it horizontally at shoulder level and delivered a quick, clean thrust through Cinder's palm with all its dust vials flaring, gauging the effect as if testing a theory on a lab rat.

The answer to the question was a conclusive no, given that 1. the blade went right through without resistance, 2. it provoked a pained grunt in Cinder, and further 3. the rest of her jumped into action immediately following that, an explosive jet of flame sending her lunging through the air with an almost feral look in on her face and a human hand carrying a large ball of fire she meant to unleash at point blank range into Weiss's damn face for daring to treat her like some experiment.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No...*huff*....more...*huff huff* weapons...Just...*cough cough* our fists..."

Tiger pulled back her fist again and grit her teeth.

"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

Nora yelped in surprise as her weapon got ripped away from her so suddenly, leaping back to avoid any immediate counterattacks. Such a challenge was not one Nora could refuse. To fight with such a mighty behemoth, again, with the chance of winning to thoroughly establish herself as the dominant bruiser of the two...far too tempting for somebody who enjoyed a good fight now and again. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be a viable possibility. It seemed that Nora had intended that one hammer strike to be the definitive blow to finish this, given that despite having a bold and determined smile on her face and hands raised up eagerly to trade blows with the big faunus...the ginger warrior didn't manage to take two steps forward before she dropped to the floor. This was, apparently, not the tale of two empowered bruisers going at it in a legendary fistfight, but rather the story of whose body gave out first from the strain put upon it.

How anticlimactic.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The answer to the question was a conclusive no, given that 1. the blade went right through without resistance, 2. it provoked a pained grunt in Cinder, and further 3. the rest of her jumped into action immediately following that, an explosive jet of flame sending her lunging through the air with an almost feral look in on her face and a human hand carrying a large ball of fire she meant to unleash at point blank range into Weiss's damn face for daring to treat her like some experiment.

"I didn't think so."

Like clockwork. When were these people going to learn that these fits of vengeful rage they dove headfirst into just made them predictable?

Weiss didn't move as Cinder came lunging in for her head, until a last-second glyph appeared the moment before contact and she executed a graceful pivot to wrench Myrtenaster out, the ensuing detonation blasting Cinder deep into the nearest mineshaft.

The corrupted maiden was learning firsthand what most capable opponents in Atlas had already witnessed: even when occupying a similar scale of power, to do battle with Weiss Schnee was just plain annoying.

The councilwoman touched down at the mouth of the shaft a moment later, arms folded with a sneer as she determined now to be the appropriate time to end things. A row of snowflakes arranged themselves into a majestic circle around her, and from the center of each came a blast of a similar nature to the initial one she'd initially hit Cinder with, albeit on a smaller scale. The bombardment continued for a good thirty seconds, setting off explosions deeper within the cave as if in reply as unmined dust veins were ignited. Weiss's apathetic frown remained unmoving for the entire duration. By the time she was through naught remained of the cave but a pile of icy rubble, and only then did she finally relax, letting out a deep, beleaguered sigh as she closed her eyes.

"A waste of perfectly good dust."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I didn't think so."

Like clockwork. When were these people going to learn that these fits of vengeful rage they dove headfirst into just made them predictable?

Weiss didn't move as Cinder came lunging in for her head, until a last-second glyph appeared the moment before contact and she executed a graceful pivot to wrench Myrtenaster out, the ensuing detonation blasting Cinder deep into the nearest mineshaft.

The corrupted maiden was learning firsthand what most capable opponents in Atlas had already witnessed: even when occupying a similar scale of power, to do battle with Weiss Schnee was just plain annoying.

The councilwoman touched down at the mouth of the shaft a moment later, arms folded with a sneer as she determined now to be the appropriate time to end things. A row of snowflakes arranged themselves into a majestic circle around her, and from the center of each came a blast of a similar nature to the initial one she'd initially hit Cinder with, albeit on a smaller scale. The bombardment continued for a good thirty seconds, setting off explosions deeper within the cave as if in reply as unmined dust veins were ignited. Weiss's apathetic frown remained unmoving for the entire duration. By the time she was through naught remained of the cave but a pile of icy rubble, and only then did she finally relax, letting out a deep, beleaguered sigh as she closed her eyes.

"A waste of perfectly good dust."​

Truly, Weiss was a remarkably difficult person to battle against. Gifted with a semblance that was nearly unmatched in versatility, backed up by the power of the maidens she had taken herself and never lacking for dust, the list of people who could even possibly match her was not a large one. And, as befit somebody as capable as she, the list of people who had gone against her and fell short only continued to increase, even day by day it seemed, sometimes. Robyn Hill, May Marigold, Fiona Thyme, Nora Valkyrie, Raven Branwen, Blake Belladonna, Liadan Jade, the list went on and on. Victories that were well earned. The only problem with that, was with victory after victory piling up, with the number of people personally defeated rising...it went right to her head. It made the possibility of somebody managing to hold their own seem more and more like an impossibility. It fed the ego, and the belief in one's inherent superiority. And that belief in and of itself, became a weakness.

For in that moment that Weiss relaxed, her guard let down with closed eyes, through the rubble came one more explosion. That of Cinder, body covered with burns, cuts and bruises(more than several of them severely painful looking), nevertheless bursting right out of the rubble. Between that explosive re-entry with the scorching flames following behind her, the wounds dotting her body, and the intense predatorial look of hunger on her face, so inhumanly determined to get the power she so desperately craved...suffice it to say Cinder looked like someone who had catapulted straight out of somebody's nightmare. That dark, ghastly, long appendage wrapped tightly around Weiss's neck in that moment of vulnerability, ending with a clawed hand firmly pressed against and covering most of the councilwoman's face, already glowing equal parts light blue and dark red as it did it's work.

Cinder's legs were wrapped around the woman's midsection as well, pressing so tightly that were it with a lesser person, it may very well have squeezed the life out of them. Her perverse lust for power drove her to such extremes that even the immense pain inflicted by that absolute barrage did not deter her. She would have that power, it was all destined to be hers. Nobody else's. Not Raven, not Vernal, not Weiss, none of them were worthy of even an ounce of it in her eyes.

She would be top of the food chain, or she would die trying.
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

That was all Tiger's blood from her wounds-new and old.

The faunus didn't seem perturbed/disturbed by the gruesome injuries at all. Whether it was her semblance's boost keeping her afloat or sheer enthusiasm blinding agonizing pain, she couldn't really say. Biting her lip, Tiger glared down at the weapon that Nora held and that had been by her side throughout all of her battles in this twisted world. The faunus's ears gave a slight twitch and her other arm moved down to attempt to knock the weapon from Nora's grasp and smash it into the floor. The purple smoke gave off a snakelike hiss as it seemed to flow out from Tiger's wounds indicating that her current percentage was on a time limit before she 'deflated' back to...well, whatever normal was for her.

"No...*huff*....more...*huff huff* weapons...Just...*cough cough* our fists..."

Tiger pulled back her fist again and grit her teeth.

"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

Nora yelped in surprise as her weapon got ripped away from her so suddenly, leaping back to avoid any immediate counterattacks. Such a challenge was not one Nora could refuse. To fight with such a mighty behemoth, again, with the chance of winning to thoroughly establish herself as the dominant bruiser of the two...far too tempting for somebody who enjoyed a good fight now and again. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be a viable possibility. It seemed that Nora had intended that one hammer strike to be the definitive blow to finish this, given that despite having a bold and determined smile on her face and hands raised up eagerly to trade blows with the big faunus...the ginger warrior didn't manage to take two steps forward before she dropped to the floor. This was, apparently, not the tale of two empowered bruisers going at it in a legendary fistfight, but rather the story of whose body gave out first from the strain put upon it.

How anticlimactic.

As Tiger's battle was cut short, the surprise and dismay on her face was so palpable that Yang, honest to goodness, plain to see in Carnelian's semblance, green handed statement were Robyn to check with hers, felt bad for the faunus. She didn't really know this chick's deal, or what exactly her history was with Nora, but they clearly had some sort of thing going on and this was not how she'd wanted it to end. Combined with how horribly she'd just hurt herself, just for it all to come to an end prematurely... The faunus got a friendly pair of thumps on the back from Yang while Tiger was still distracted as she strode towards this world's Rose Xiao Long sisters.

"Don't feel bad; Nora absolutely woulda loved to be the one to rock your world, I'm sure."

Then she flicked her wrist without looking back, and a pair of explosions sent tiger flying into the wall with a metallic crash.

"You can try again whenever you two wake up, kay?"

The dragon suddenly perked up while the process took hold, a bit of a shine returning to her eyes as she cracked a knowingly coy smirk and let her eyes flit back towards the corner of her peripheral. She had that ears-burning, hair-standing-up feeling of electricity she got whenever a pretty girl looked at her in the club, and an easy yawn accompanied her roll of the shoulders and crack of the neck as she tossed a casual jab over her shoulder in greeting.

"Oh hi, grimm bait. How's the hickey?" She rolled her eyes. "Finally decided I'm worth a little of your attention, huh? 'Bout time. I mean, not to be clingy, but what does a girl have to do to get a call back after the first date?"

There was an active superiority in her voice when she addressed her double now, a comfortably victorious note of cheer after having imposed her will on her so thoroughly during their last encounter.

"Lemme guess. I was too gentle, right? Too much foreplay? You want someone to really slap you around some, put you in your place more?" She bit her lip enticingly, whatever mental picture was flashing through her brain evidently making her giddy. She finally leaned back and arched her spine to look behind her at an angle, emphasizing her flexibility in a way that only slightly undermined the predatory hunger rising in her eyes.

"Wanna be treated like you're bad?"

She hadn't kept her eyes forward out of any disrespect for the massive faunus; her ears were tuned in for any sound of her still rumbling around behind her; she just knew better than to take her eyes off the other Yang in the room once she had her focus. It would've been no different than taking her eyes off a circling shark.

Despite that, despite the torrent of feelings inside her, and the determination rolling off her steps in waves as she swung her fists to either side to reload Ember Celica, she answered Yang's smirk with one of her own.

"Sorry hun, you just weren't second date material! Clingy is so not cute on us."

She did the mental math on the way, before her final step put her on a rocket course for her target; She knew Yang and Ruby had traded some punches, she knew that telltale glow of silver eyes had beamed briefly through the office, but despite that, she was pretty sure she'd taken the harder hits; courtesy of Tiger and herself. Lower aura, higher strength, right up until the first punch switched it all up. Barring some fancy tricks or just being a complete magnitude more skilled than her uglier self, a fight between them was going to be a game of Russian Roullete with fists, a guessing game as to which punch was going to give too much more than you could take back. A gamble with her life, with both Ruby's, Weiss, the relics, everything

So no matter how much she wanted to, she knew that wasn't the best way to help her sister. That was what really mattered. If she'd been any less angry, any less laser focused, a fist fight would've been what she chose, but not this time.

Instead, her monstrous rush of speed from strength blasted her right by Yang to instead snatch the Staff of creation as it spun through the air, land with a pivot, and absolutely demolish Bear's knees using one of the oldest things on Remnant as a baseball bat with all her borrowed strength to send up him spinning across the floor with a grunt of shock as his aura flared dangerously close to breaking in one blow just before he could followup with Carnelian's assist. Yang shoved the staff into Raven's hands and yelled "Quit goofing around with these idiots and GO!"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Her sentence drifted off unfinished as she got swept up by one of the Pennys, one cheek reddening slightly in embarrassment from being held that way, but she didn't object. It made all the sense. What's more, to keep trying would have meant going against Penny and her wishes. If there was one thing she did not want to see, it was seeing that adorable precious robot face in a state of upset or disappointment or anything close to it. "Yeah." She said instead. "You're right." Cinder agreed. Once they had landed by Watts, she jumped out of Penny's arms and jogged up to her former team leader. Despite the pain she felt from the knife in her shoulder, despite Watts looking to be in a bad way after everything that bitch had done, despite the perilous situation going on not far from them...a goofy appreciative smile emerged on her face.

"Arthur! You came!" It was really good to see him again and she made that clear before her face grew more serious as she kneeled down, more thought given to him than the injury she had. "Are you going to be alright?"

“I’m fine” He croaked in a voice that very clearly showed he wasn’t; He was wearing his hunter’s uniform sans the outer jacket, and large swaths of it was covered in scorch marks where it had been touching the armor before he rolled out. He was actually ever so slightly sunk into the ice, hot enough that his body had melted it a bit when he’d rolled out of the armor, that itself was a good six inches into the ice sheet.

More than that though; he looked haggard, drained, utterly exhausted in a way that a lack of sleep or over exertion couldn’t begin to be the cause of. Yet in spite of that, he gave Cinder a wry smirk and slowly pushed himself back up, his aura still intact enough that the ice melting hadn’t gotten him stuck against it.

“You know me; do my best not to pick fights I can’t win and all that. Unlike you, You should be more careful, what were you thinking fighting a maiden by yourself, blah blah blah etcetera etcetera. Despite that though its… its good to see you too Cinder.”

His gaze grew more serious by the end, and it had drifted down to a glare by the time he’d swung his eyes to the light show that was happening between the two maidens.

“That is an example of a fight we can’t win. I don’t know what prompted her to make her move, or why she’s working against another Ozpin lackey, but whoever wins, we lose. We need a plan of action.”

It was then that Penny realized that Watts hadn’t been present for Yang’s debriefing or everything after; The last he’d heard of Weiss Schnee, despite seeking gainful employment in her company under his old name, she was still a loyal servant of Ozpin; in his eyes, this was just a power struggle between two maidens to see who got to be the one to kill his partner-

“-did you get stabbed?!” he suddenly yelled, gazing in slight horror at the knife still in Cinder’s shoulder.