Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Ren halted his run the moment the ground before him exploded, directing the briefest of looks over at Roman before he re-focused on Watts. All that talk was easily ignored. He had too much experience dealing with overly talkative gingers rambling on and on to let any of that nonsense get to them. His gun was still firing as he ran, and he caught the other one when it returned to him mid-sprint. When the next shot of Roman's came, Ren was swift in response, jumping clear over it and landing directly in Watts' path. One hand outstretched towards Watts, using Arthur's own running momentum against him as he ran right into the hand and Ren gripped his collar tightly. Ren's face was emotionless, but the raising of Stormflower spoke volumes. The bladed end came down--

--and got deflected off its intended path by one well-placed dust arrow slamming into the weapon, sending it veering way off course to the side and leaving Watts unharmed.

Ren frowned at the interruption. 3 opponents...no. Watts found himself quickly thrown over at Cinder, knocking both to the ground. Before they had even hit each other, Ren had already switched targets, rushing for Roman and swinging the bladed end of his weapons towards Torchwick.

Arthur did his best to not completely demolish his partner as he was whipped at her, but there was only so much he could do other than try and twist out of the way before they both landed in a heap on the ground. He grunted a mixture of pain and frustration as he scrambled to his feet and offered Cinder a hand up. "I am quite done with these two" he growled as he brought his screen up again. "I know its not quite your style, but a bit of subterfuge is in order. Can you and Torchwick get him a block south? Preferably without dying, though I'm not picky." he added with a smirk as he glanced away from whatever system he was working his way into to meet Cinder's eyes.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Yea. Super weird. Adam's a girl now. Name's Eve. So that's nice! Never pegged her for that but hey, its the one thing I'd ever actually congratulate her on if we weren't just trying to kill each other. "

“...Oh wow.” That was even weirder than what she had experienced. Not the biggest concern but still strange!
​

"...Any idea how to wake up, sis? Really wanna be done here"

“Huh? Yang, what’s going on over ther—“

As she turned to face the one who had intrigued her so, the remnants of the glove over her prosthetic peeled away to reveal the glistening black metal underneath. Steeling herself, Ruby panted before focusing her furious gaze on the one she'd heard blabbing away...

"...Me?"

"...…...Yang, I'm going to have to call you back." Ruby quickly tapped on her scroll and ended the call, sliding it back into one of her pockets. Talk about something nobody would ever expect to see except for in a mirror. Your own face, staring back at you. Ruby's eyes glanced towards the other Ruby's side, the dark metal of that hand glinting in the pale moonlight. "How did--" Ruby caught herself, her sympathetic look at that prosthetic vanishing. If her meeting with Cinder and the others here was any indication, then that meant...Ruby feared that her suspicion was very much the case, judging from how angrily this Ruby was glaring at her, but there was only one way to be sure.

“Is all this-“ Ruby gestured outward with both hands, indicating the chaos happening all around them. "-because of you? Are you the one leading it?" Even asking that question left a nasty feeling in her throat. A world where that was even remotely a possibility seemed so...wrong. Never in her life had she wanted Yang to be 100% right more than in this very moment. For this to be all some twisted dream, a nightmare pulled out of the dark depths of her subconscious for some unknown reason.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...…...Yang, I'm going to have to call you back." Ruby quickly tapped on her scroll and ended the call,

"Waitdon'thangupyetbesafedon'tdoanythingIwould'ntIloveyoueven'tifyou'rejustadreamokaybye-" *click* "-eeeeeeeeeee..."

 

[MidwayLives]

--and got deflected off its intended path by one well-placed dust arrow slamming into the weapon, sending it veering way off course to the side and leaving Watts unharmed.

Ren frowned at the interruption. 3 opponents...no. Watts found himself quickly thrown over at Cinder, knocking both to the ground. Before they had even hit each other, Ren had already switched targets, rushing for Roman and swinging the bladed end of his weapons towards Torchwick.

Was this guy serious?? He was totally sandbagging him here!

"Hey, hey! I"m giving you gold here and you're ignoring me?! GOLD!!"

Roman had half a mind to rush in and take this guy on with his bare hands he felt so offended. But as he continued to get a better picture on just how skilled Ren was, Roman nervously scoffed. "Whatever! Beating him will be as easy as beating up a kid!"...Why was that where his mind immediately jumped for a frame of reference? Oh well! But as Watts was tossed away, Roman slowly put two and two together on what this meant. "...Alright, come get it!"

He did. Roman was quickly put on the defensive, his cane moving to swat and block any incoming swipes. This guy obviously had raw strength over him and firing off a flare this close wasn't going to work out too well. But what else could he do? Sooner or later this guy would slip up and he'd get a hit in. "Not...Today!"

Oh, where were you..?

​

Arthur did his best to not completely demolish his partner as he was whipped at her, but there was only so much he could do other than try and twist out of the way before they both landed in a heap on the ground. He grunted a mixture of pain and frustration as he scrambled to his feet and offered Cinder a hand up. "I am quite done with these two" he growled as he brought his screen up again. "I know its not quite your style, but a bit of subterfuge is in order. Can you and Torchwick get him a block south? Preferably without dying, though I'm not picky." he added with a smirk as he glanced away from whatever system he was working his way into to meet Cinder's eyes.

"Hahaha, I'm having a real hard time, I hope you've got a plan Watts, hahah..."

Originally, Roman's plan would have been to lead Ren away and let Cinder and her team apprehend Nora. From there, well...Uh. Guess he hadn't thought that far ahead on what he'd do once he got Ren alone. Of course he'd fight him, Roman wasn't afraid of that. But as the repeated sounds of Ren's blades clanging and slashing off the handle of Melodic Cudgel got him more and more nervous, Roman couldn't help but grit his teeth. Was there any hope that he could defeat this guy on his own? He really hoped so or else he'd be in a world of trouble here.

"Alright, tough guy, my turn!"

Seeking to bat aside one of Ren's incoming slashes, he tried to take aim and fired from close range.

"Bang."​

 

[MidwayLives]

"...…...Yang, I'm going to have to call you back." Ruby quickly tapped on her scroll and ended the call, sliding it back into one of her pockets. Talk about something nobody would ever expect to see except for in a mirror. Your own face, staring back at you. Ruby's eyes glanced towards the other Ruby's side, the dark metal of that hand glinting in the pale moonlight. "How did--" Ruby caught herself, her sympathetic look at that prosthetic vanishing. If her meeting with Cinder and the others here was any indication, then that meant...Ruby feared that her suspicion was very much the case, judging from how angrily this Ruby was glaring at her, but there was only one way to be sure.

"Yang? That's what you said isn't it? How...Why are you talking to MY sister?"

Whenever the two of them talked, which wasn't often, it was short and to the point. Ruby told her what she/Ozpin wanted and there were to be no rebuttals. Yet from what she'd managed to make out from this convo, the two sounded almost...amicable. Ruby took a step forward, the joints in her prosthetic hand creaking as she balled her hand up into a fist. "You can't be her. The one who could shift how she looked. She hated me, us, I would have killed her if I could have. But I can tell you're not the same kind of person as her.." Ruby held her hands out to either side and her expression seemed to soften somewhat. "You look...Unbroken, unhampered by the horrors this world has lurking within it, you..." Ruby noticed the lack of a glove or even an artificial arm like she had. "Everything that isn't me...But how? Why?"

She couldn't wrap her head around all these strange occurrences. She'd done many things for the sake of his dream. So it wasn't too far-fetched that one girl would have had a reason to hold a grudge. It wasn't as though Ruby would have cared for it/the girl seemingly had no desire to talk to her anyway. But to see her own face, unmarred by the things that had taken her and left her as the Red Masque, the horror of Vale and beyond, Ozpin's enforcer. It was like staring at a doll in a music box. You were in awe of it's beauty and pristine condition but to see them you had to disturb them.

"You're me...and I'm you....and yet? I feel as if we're day and night."

Noticing the curiosity leveraged towards her artificial arm, Ruby's gaze grew gold as she slowly ran her hand over the stump where the arm had been attached. "My Yang and I were but children, just kids going through the woods, ignorant of what was laying in wait for an easy meal. Then, a Beowulf emerged and attacked us...I defended us and it cost me more than just an arm..." More than she could explain right now. Feeling all kinds of emotions welling up in her, Ruby huffed and even though the letting of blood from her busted lip had stopped, she started it once more as she bit down on it out of anxiety.

"Why would I see someone like you? To torture me? To make me wonder what could have been?" He'd never do anything like this to her. He'd been there for her when everyone else had either stopped caring(her father) or she felt as if their relationship had changed forever(Yang) Him and her Uncle were the only ones who'd ever show her kindness. The ones who weren't afraid to speak their mind around her and reassure her that this was the right way to do things. If she kept up the good work that she'd been doing, the world would be changed and for the better. Nobody would ever need to worry about being afraid like the two of them had been back then.

~~~

The Beowulf lunged and Ruby screamed even as the agonizing loss of her limb threatened to force her into unconscious. But it'd never lay another finger on her or her beloved sister. Even back then, Ruby made sure of that.

The Beowulf had been frozen mid-lunge, a gruesome statue with fresh blood caked over it's face. As she slowly turned to face her sister, Ruby felt weak all throughout her body. Perhaps it was the ensuing bloodloss or the fatigue she always got from using this strange ability, Ruby remembered one thing.

She smiled.

"Everything will be okay now, Yang.."

~~~
​

“Is all this-“ Ruby gestured outward with both hands, indicating the chaos happening all around them. "-because of you? Are you the one leading it?" Even asking that question left a nasty feeling in her throat. A world where that was even remotely a possibility seemed so...wrong. Never in her life had she wanted Yang to be 100% right more than in this very moment. For this to be all some twisted dream, a nightmare pulled out of the dark depths of her subconscious for some unknown reason.

"How is this fair...? How can you stand there without a care in the world? While my sister can hardly look me in the eye...?"

Ruby bemoaned, tears streaming down her face, before the weight of her counterpart's questions finally hit her. Gesturing to the same 'chaos' as Ruby had, she glared. "Chaos?! You look around and all you can see is chaos?!!! You're wrong...This, this is all wrong.." Sniffling and refusing to wipe away the tears that continued to fall, Ruby took another step forward. "None of this would have been necessary if she'd just given me what he wants. All of this, all of what happens is HER fault. She chose to stand in the way of his dream!" Stomping her foot down, Ruby glared daggers at her alternate self.

"Everything that I've done I’ve done it for him! For us! You have no right to stand and judge me!” Spreading her feet apart, she finally wiped away some of her tears. “I am the enforcer of his will, I am ‘The Red Masque’ and I won’t stop here...”

Then she sighed.

“I guess, the only thing left to wonder now is...Are you going to fight me?”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Blake let out a bitter, involuntary laugh at the admission as sh grasped at the side of her head. "Oh, now you want to talk?! You're the one who left Eve! Not me. But... that was... fine" She said, her tone stumbling as she broke eye contact "I... I thought you of all people would stay with us, with me, and help us do what needs to be done. But I'd never make you do something you didn't want to, and this war is... its dark work."

Her hands dropped to her side and clenched into fists, the bitter frown underneath her mask audible in her tone. "So I stayed. I stayed, because the faunus already suffer every day. My father, Ilia's parents, you, Eve, all of us have suffered under their rule, and my parents' way, not even your way was working. Sienna's way will work, is working. All you had to do was just stay away and keep playing hero, while we did the worst of it."

The frustration she'd worked herself up to finally overpowered whatever shame or regret had kept her from looking at the other faunus, and her gaze snapped back up in a furious glare as her voice cracked. "So why? Why couldn't you just... not? Why are you getting in our way, my way, when I'm doing this for all of us? For you?!"

For all the fury and aggression Eve had channeled at Yang before, the huntress seemed almost a distant afterthought in the White Fang leader's eyes as she paced across the diameter of the room to plant her feet opposite Blake instead, still keeping her distance. As the dark scowl gradually dawning across her face implied, this was the part of proceedings she was looking forward to the least, if it were even possible to distinguish one among the typhoon of dread she'd felt building up to this encounter. For as many victories as Eve held over Blake on the sparring floor, she was pretty sure she'd never claimed so much as a single measly win over her ex-partner in an argument. The Belladonna daughter, well-bred and educated, had a habit of just bombarding the even more taciturn faunus with words until her only recourse was to shut up and brood. Tonight that wasn't an option.

From an outside perspective, any impact Blake's tirade had on Eve may've seemed subtle, if not downright nonexistent; To someone who knew how to read her, the occasional twitch of her mouth and tensing of the jaw told another story. Normally that much emotion peeking through the facade of an Eve trying to appear confident and in-control pointed to an imminent explosion from the White Fang's commander, which made her next sentence all the more surprising.

"...I should never have left. I see that now."

The quiet, sorrowful confession was low in pitch, mainly to keep it from breaking entirely under the strained notes of regret. Eve's proud, tall posture suddenly seemed very small as her shoulders slumped and her gaze fell away, the veil of two masks suddenly insufficient protection from the eyes she knew were quietly judging her.

"I couldn't... I didn't know how to reach you. Make you see. I was never good with words like you were. I always pictured myself going back—I meant to, I just... I was waiting until I had the right words. I guess I never found them."

Remorse was an odd look on the faunus, one she seemed uncomfortable wearing as she stood a little too rigidly to keep herself from squirming. Her diverted gaze brought Yang back into her field of vision for a brief moment, and it was impressive how quickly the sight of one of Blake's mysterious conspirators brought spite and frustration bubbling back to the surface of her person as she refocused her glare on the other faunus, voice once again firm and unwavering.

"If I had any idea who you were becoming, I would never have gone. Wouldn't even have considered it. I don't know who these human puppeteers of yours are, or what they did to force your obedience, but I would've never allowed it to happen, I promise you. I don't care if it came through Sienna. I would've nailed her to her throne before I let her reduce you to this."

As if to drive home the point that any trace of uncertainty Blake may have provoked in her was thoroughly vanquished, she started taking slow, deliberate steps towards the faunus, unthreatened by whatever reaction it elicited and making no move for her weapon.

"Whatever she said to convince you sending our brothers and sisters out to die for some human vendetta against the kingdoms was our best hope, listen to me now: the kingdoms won't forget this night, but they aren't going anywhere. And they will never forget who slaughtered their protectors while human and faunus alike died in the streets. What happened to uniting our people against oppression? All I see is someone uniting the entire world against us! The humans never needed much of a reason to hate us before; So what do you think's going to happen now that you just gave them one?"

More and more, the fury and resentment she felt towards Blake's chosen course crept into her mannerisms, filling her every step with a sense of malice. She shook her head with a resigned sigh, bitter and filled with trepidation for the way she knew this had to go. Blake was too far gone. The difference of opinion in the room was irreconcilable. She knew there was only one course of action available to her, but whether she had the strength to carry it out was another matter entirely.

"You're asking me why, Blake? You're really gonna stand there and ask me why, like you're not making yourself an enemy of every ambition I ever had for the world? Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I've been hunting down your best agents since the moment I arrived, waiting to draw you out so I could get you alone? Did you seriously think I could let you continue the way you've been going?"

She seemed to be rationalizing whatever decision she'd made to herself as much as Blake. The dark, cryptic edge to her tone masked her true feelings on what she was about to do, posture stiff and tall as she made the most out of her height advantage over Blake when she arrived and stood before her, as large and menacing in presence as ever. She exhaled, a visible attempt to steel herself, and her hand whipped up-

-to forcefully grab Blake's own, raising it to chest level and squeezing it tight but otherwise mostly just holding it there like she didn't know what to do with it as she forced the words to tumble from her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Come... Come away with me." She would've cursed herself mentally for the clumsiness of her phrasing, emotionally unequipped to put this any other way that didn't make her sound like a character from some stupid romance novel. "I've been thinking about it. We could—It doesn't matter where we go. It can be anywhere. You have to let me take you away from all this before it's too late, Blake, please. It's the only way to save you. Please."

Her tone was urgent if not outright afraid, the solemn, haunted look on her face the look of someone who had wracked her brain for hours thinking about every other way this ended and was unwilling to face any of them.

It was as close to begging as she had come since she was a child.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

For all the fury and aggression Eve had channeled at Yang before, the huntress seemed almost a distant afterthought in the White Fang leader's eyes as she paced across the diameter of the room to plant her feet opposite Blake instead, still keeping her distance. As the dark scowl gradually dawning across her face implied, this was the part of proceedings she was looking forward to the least, if it were even possible to distinguish one among the typhoon of dread she'd felt building up to this encounter. For as many victories as Eve held over Blake on the sparring floor, she was pretty sure she'd never claimed so much as a single measly win over her ex-partner in an argument. The Belladonna daughter, well-bred and educated, had a habit of just bombarding the even more taciturn faunus with words until her only recourse was to shut up and brood. Tonight that wasn't an option.

From an outside perspective, any impact Blake's tirade had on Eve may've seemed subtle, if not downright nonexistent; To someone who knew how to read her, the occasional twitch of her mouth and tensing of the jaw told another story. Normally that much emotion peeking through the facade of an Eve trying to appear confident and in-control pointed to an imminent explosion from the White Fang's commander, which made her next sentence all the more surprising.

"...I should never have left. I see that now."

The quiet, sorrowful confession was low in pitch, mainly to keep it from breaking entirely under the strained notes of regret. Eve's proud, tall posture suddenly seemed very small as her shoulders slumped and her gaze fell away, the veil of two masks suddenly insufficient protection from the eyes she knew were quietly judging her.

"I couldn't... I didn't know how to reach you. Make you see. I was never good with words like you were. I always pictured myself going back—I meant to, I just... I was waiting until I had the right words. I guess I never found them."

Remorse was an odd look on the faunus, one she seemed uncomfortable wearing as she stood a little too rigidly to keep herself from squirming. Her diverted gaze brought Yang back into her field of vision for a brief moment, and it was impressive how quickly the sight of one of Blake's mysterious conspirators brought spite and frustration bubbling back to the surface of her person as she refocused her glare on the other faunus, voice once again firm and unwavering.

"If I had any idea who you were becoming, I would never have gone. Wouldn't even have considered it. I don't know who these human puppeteers of yours are, or what they did to force your obedience, but I would've never allowed it to happen, I promise you. I don't care if it came through Sienna. I would've nailed her to her throne before I let her reduce you to this."

As if to drive home the point that any trace of uncertainty Blake may have provoked in her was thoroughly vanquished, she started taking slow, deliberate steps towards the faunus, unthreatened by whatever reaction it elicited and making no move for her weapon.

"Whatever she said to convince you sending our brothers and sisters out to die for some human vendetta against the kingdoms was our best hope, listen to me now: the kingdoms won't forget this night, but they aren't going anywhere. And they will never forget who slaughtered their protectors while human and faunus alike died in the streets. What happened to uniting our people against oppression? All I see is someone uniting the entire world against us! The humans never needed much of a reason to hate us before; So what do you think's going to happen now that you just gave them one?"

More and more, the fury and resentment she felt towards Blake's chosen course crept into her mannerisms, filling her every step with a sense of malice. She shook her head with a resigned sigh, bitter and filled with trepidation for the way she knew this had to go. Blake was too far gone. The difference of opinion in the room was irreconcilable. She knew there was only one course of action available to her, but whether she had the strength to carry it out was another matter entirely.

"You're asking me why, Blake? You're really gonna stand there and ask me why, like you're not making yourself an enemy of every ambition I ever had for the world? Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I've been hunting down your best agents since the moment I arrived, waiting to draw you out so I could get you alone? Did you seriously think I could let you continue the way you've been going?"

She seemed to be rationalizing whatever decision she'd made to herself as much as Blake. The dark, cryptic edge to her tone masked her true feelings on what she was about to do, posture stiff and tall as she made the most out of her height advantage over Blake when she arrived and stood before her, as large and menacing in presence as ever. She exhaled, a visible attempt to steel herself, and her hand whipped up-​

Blake found herself stepping backwards despite herself as Eve began to close, her eyes narrowed and one hand drifting towards the weapon on her back, and at the edge of her vision she could see Blake's partner in crime(?) start to stand up in alarm.

"The kingdoms aren't as invincible as you think. Do you really think I'd just throw faunus lives away pointlessly? You don't know what these people are capable and, and stop, Eve, stay back, please don't make me-!"

-to forcefully grab Blake's own, raising it to chest level and squeezing it tight but otherwise mostly just holding it there like she didn't know what to do with it as she forced the words to tumble from her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Come... Come away with me." She would've cursed herself mentally for the clumsiness of her phrasing, emotionally unequipped to put this any other way that didn't make her sound like a character from some stupid romance novel. "I've been thinking about it. We could—It doesn't matter where we go. It can be anywhere. You have to let me take you away from all this before it's too late, Blake, please. It's the only way to save you. Please."

Her tone was urgent if not outright afraid, the solemn, haunted look on her face the look of someone who had wracked her brain for hours thinking about every other way this ended and was unwilling to face any of them.

It was as close to begging as she had come since she was a child.

"..."

Belladonna stared quietly at the the hand clasping hers, giving it a few weak tugs in a halfhearted attempt to free it before she slowly shook her head. When she turned her amber eyes up to Eve's mask, they were glistening with unshed tears.

"...You'll just never be able to resist trying to play the hero, huh?"

Her voice was hoarse and wistful, and her free hand reached up to brush against Eve's hair as she studied her features. Sienna was never going to forgive this. Years of earning their allies' trust, months of planning, all throw into disarray by the headstrong girl in front of her. She'd want Eve dead. But that wasn't the problem. No, it was that Ozpin and his little psychopath enforcer would probably want even worse, and the red masque's sister was right here, watching this all happen. If they got their hands on Eve, she couldn't even fathom what they'd put her through. And they would find her. If Blake left with her now, then she gave them a month, tops, before they were both dead.

She refused to waste her life like that. Not when so many faunus still suffered. She couldn't even fathom that she'd chosen the wrong path not, if that so much of the blood on her hands was innocent. She didn't need a savior. And Eve... she... she was...

She was a dead woman walking. Even if she somehow got out of tonight unscathed, even if she somehow escaped Sienna's and Ozpin's retribution, she'd just dump herself right back into the fray to do what she thought was right, and die then, and the hands of who knew what or who. The only thing that Blake could give her was this. She finished committing Eve's features to memory, burning this last moment of heroics in her mind. Determined to remember her as the girl who just wanted to protect Blake, rather than the traitor she acted like. She shifted her hand to hug Eve from the neck and let her forehead rest against Eve's chest. "...I'm so sorry."

Then Eve was cold. The soft embrace was suddenly rigid prison, and the Blake she was holding and that held her in place was no longer the real one, but an icy copy. Blake's sheathe and weapon were both in hand, ready to cut clean through Eve's neck and spine before she even had a chance to register that Blake had betrayed her-

*BANG*

The masked faunus let out a shrill cry of pain as the explosive shell went off against her, sending her tumbling to the floor in a sprawl that ended with her on all fours, wide eyed and incredulous at the supposed Lieutenant of Ozpin standing their with one arm extended, the barrel of Ember Celica still smoking as she stared back at Blake with a somber glower.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Even though she didn't expect this Blake to take getting shot well, the almost manic desperation in her voice wasn't a sound Yang had heard her own Blake make even at her worse moments, a mixture of anger and abject terror that made Yang's skin crawl. She didn't answer immediately, instead tossing out another shot to shatter the ice clone holding the woman Yang had just totally beat been brawling with.

"...You're crying, Blake. You don't want to do this. You don't have to do this." She eventually answered with an earnest frown. It didn't matter if this was a dream or not anymore. She couldn't watch that go on any longer, couldn't let Blake hurt herself like she'd clearly been about to. Yang might not have understood why this Blake cared for this Eve person, or anything that had happened in the last half hour, but that was a truth she could settle on, in any world, dream or otherwise.

"Since when do you care about anything like that you human monst-?!" Blake froze from where she'd started to circle the pair like a starved beast, eyes locked onto Yang's arm with an incredulous glare. The Xiao Long she knew wasn't a missing an arm. This... this wasn't her, was it? Yet she knew her name, seemed to know Eve, or seemed to think she did. The same weapons, same sister named Ruby, yet lilac eyes instead of red. Blake was already on an emotional spiral trying to deal with Eve, and a huff of a laugh escaped unbidden behind her mask as she looked between the pair.

Was she just completely losing it?

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Yang? That's what you said isn't it? How...Why are you talking to MY sister?"

"I wasn't. I was talking to my sister, not yours."​

"You can't be her. The one who could shift how she looked. She hated me, us, I would have killed her if I could have. But I can tell you're not the same kind of person as her.." Ruby held her hands out to either side and her expression seemed to soften somewhat.

"...no." Ruby shook her head. She couldn't believe there was a her that even thought about murdering somebody in cold blood. That would have done it if she had the chance. "No. Don't say that."​

"You look...Unbroken, unhampered by the horrors this world has lurking within it, you..." Ruby noticed the lack of a glove or even an artificial arm like she had. "Everything that isn't me...But how? Why?"

"You're me...and I'm you....and yet? I feel as if we're day and night."

Noticing the curiosity leveraged towards her artificial arm, Ruby's gaze grew gold as she slowly ran her hand over the stump where the arm had been attached. "My Yang and I were but children, just kids going through the woods, ignorant of what was laying in wait for an easy meal. Then, a Beowulf emerged and attacked us...I defended us and it cost me more than just an arm..." More than she could explain right now. Feeling all kinds of emotions welling up in her, Ruby huffed and even though the letting of blood from her busted lip had stopped, she started it once more as she bit down on it out of anxiety.

"I...I don't know." Her feelings on this other her so far were not good ones, but hearing the double speak of the world's horrors...the circumstances that led her to lose an arm, it was more than enough to earn some sympathy. Ruby wanted to reach out, put a comforting hand on the doppleganger's shoulder but distrust held her back. She was concerned if she got too close, this other her might attack. This Cinder seemed to have it in her to be a real huntress. If the opposite was true, there was no telling how low this other her could or would go. Ruby stood her ground, a sad expression all she could offer.​

"Why would I see someone like you? To torture me? To make me wonder what could have been?"

"..." She looked away. "N-no. I think you have it backwards. I think...I think I was brought here to see you. To make me fear how far I could have fallen." ​

"How is this fair...? How can you stand there without a care in the world? While my sister can hardly look me in the eye...?"

"..." Ruby frowned again, her eyes clearly expressing sorrow, but as before she did not act on it.​

Ruby bemoaned, tears streaming down her face, before the weight of her counterpart's questions finally hit her. Gesturing to the same 'chaos' as Ruby had, she glared. "Chaos?! You look around and all you can see is chaos?!!! You're wrong...This, this is all wrong.." Sniffling and refusing to wipe away the tears that continued to fall, Ruby took another step forward. "None of this would have been necessary if she'd just given me what he wants. All of this, all of what happens is HER fault. She chose to stand in the way of his dream!" Stomping her foot down, Ruby glared daggers at her alternate self.

"How can you not?! How can you look at what's happening all around us and not see chaos? If I hadn't stepped up to stop that dragon, it and all the grimm it would have been spawned would have rampaged throughout this school! Atlesian ships are firing on each other in the sky above us, their robotic troops on the ground are turning on the civilians they're supposed to protect, criminals and terrorists are taking advantage of the grimm invasion to slaughter even more innocents! And here you stand, playing the blame game to try and justify all of that!" The sorrow and sympathy had disappeared from her eyes. They were now narrowed in frustration.​

"Everything that I've done I’ve done it for him! For us! You have no right to stand and judge me!” Spreading her feet apart, she finally wiped away some of her tears. “I am the enforcer of his will, I am ‘The Red Masque’ and I won’t stop here...”

"You're wrong! I'm the one person who has any right to judge you! I--" Ruby hesitated, sudden realization hitting her like a 16-ton truck pushing 100 mph. This doppleganger had said "he." His dream. His will. Her fault for standing in his way. Could it actually be? Ruby glanced to the side in uncertainty briefly before putting that away in the "things to think/talk about later", focusing on the Red Masque before her.​

“I guess, the only thing left to wonder now is...Are you going to fight me?”

"If your goal will bring about the destruction of this academy, there really isn't any other choice to make." Ruby drew Crescent Rose, the sniper rifle extending out into scythe form, taking and releasing a deep breath as she prepared to face whatever may come.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Arthur did his best to not completely demolish his partner as he was whipped at her, but there was only so much he could do other than try and twist out of the way before they both landed in a heap on the ground. He grunted a mixture of pain and frustration as he scrambled to his feet and offered Cinder a hand up. "I am quite done with these two" he growled as he brought his screen up again. "I know its not quite your style, but a bit of subterfuge is in order. Can you and Torchwick get him a block south? Preferably without dying, though I'm not picky." he added with a smirk as he glanced away from whatever system he was working his way into to meet Cinder's eyes.

For her part, she wasn't overly pleased either at being knocked to the ground by a Watts-sized projectile. The hand up was grabbed only slightly reluctantly and she nodded in agreement to his growled statement. "Tell me about it." Then just like that, the once in a blue moon time that they agreed was over and she scowled. "You may not be picky, Arthur, but you are undoubtedly a prick." Still, he had a plan. They just had to move this guy.

"Alright, tough guy, my turn!"

Seeking to bat aside one of Ren's incoming slashes, he tried to take aim and fired from close range.

"Bang."

One of Ren's slashes was knocked way off course, the bladed edge of that gun swinging harmlessly through empty air. But as Roman lifted his cane to open fire, the other one came down and hooked around the cane, bringing its aim way down and ensuring the fired round exploded on the ground between them. Both were sent flying back in opposite directions. Before Ren managed to land on his feet, however, a volley of dust arrows were loosed in quick succession. The first hit right on target, exploding and knocking him back further and keeping him unbalanced enough for the rest to follow suit. "Help me out!" She roared towards Roman, continuing to rain arrows on the criminal.

 

[Gus Gungus]

"..."

Belladonna stared quietly at the the hand clasping hers, giving it a few weak tugs in a halfhearted attempt to free it before she slowly shook her head. When she turned her amber eyes up to Eve's mask, they were glistening with unshed tears.

"...You'll just never be able to resist trying to play the hero, huh?"

Her voice was hoarse and wistful, and her free hand reached up to brush against Eve's hair as she studied her features. Sienna was never going to forgive this. Years of earning their allies' trust, months of planning, all throw into disarray by the headstrong girl in front of her. She'd want Eve dead. But that wasn't the problem. No, it was that Ozpin and his little psychopath enforcer would probably want even worse, and the red masque's sister was right here, watching this all happen. If they got their hands on Eve, she couldn't even fathom what they'd put her through. And they would find her. If Blake left with her now, then she gave them a month, tops, before they were both dead.

She refused to waste her life like that. Not when so many faunus still suffered. She couldn't even fathom that she'd chosen the wrong path not, if that so much of the blood on her hands was innocent. She didn't need a savior. And Eve... she... she was...

She was a dead woman walking. Even if she somehow got out of tonight unscathed, even if she somehow escaped Sienna's and Ozpin's retribution, she'd just dump herself right back into the fray to do what she thought was right, and die then, and the hands of who knew what or who. The only thing that Blake could give her was this. She finished committing Eve's features to memory, burning this last moment of heroics in her mind. Determined to remember her as the girl who just wanted to protect Blake, rather than the traitor she acted like. She shifted her hand to hug Eve from the neck and let her forehead rest against Eve's chest. "...I'm so sorry."

Then Eve was cold. The soft embrace was suddenly rigid prison, and the Blake she was holding and that held her in place was no longer the real one, but an icy copy. Blake's sheathe and weapon were both in hand, ready to cut clean through Eve's neck and spine before she even had a chance to register that Blake had betrayed her-

*BANG*

The masked faunus let out a shrill cry of pain as the explosive shell went off against her, sending her tumbling to the floor in a sprawl that ended with her on all fours, wide eyed and incredulous at the supposed Lieutenant of Ozpin standing their with one arm extended, the barrel of Ember Celica still smoking as she stared back at Blake with a somber glower.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Even though she didn't expect this Blake to take getting shot well, the almost manic desperation in her voice wasn't a sound Yang had heard her own Blake make even at her worse moments, a mixture of anger and abject terror that made Yang's skin crawl. She didn't answer immediately, instead tossing out another shot to shatter the ice clone holding the woman Yang had just totally beat been brawling with.

"...You're crying, Blake. You don't want to do this. You don't have to do this." She eventually answered with an earnest frown. It didn't matter if this was a dream or not anymore. She couldn't watch that go on any longer, couldn't let Blake hurt herself like she'd clearly been about to. Yang might not have understood why this Blake cared for this Eve person, or anything that had happened in the last half hour, but that was a truth she could settle on, in any world, dream or otherwise.

"Since when do you care about anything like that you human monst-?!" Blake froze from where she'd started to circle the pair like a starved beast, eyes locked onto Yang's arm with an incredulous glare. The Xiao Long she knew wasn't a missing an arm. This... this wasn't her, was it? Yet she knew her name, seemed to know Eve, or seemed to think she did. The same weapons, same sister named Ruby, yet lilac eyes instead of red. Blake was already on an emotional spiral trying to deal with Eve, and a huff of a laugh escaped unbidden behind her mask as she looked between the pair.

Was she just completely losing it?

Eve took the hug with the same initial stiffness she always did, followed by a gradual defusing of the instinctive tension in her body as she slowly raised a hand to pat—

Ice.

If that had been it, her final moment, she would've wished she never saw it coming. Had just given herself fully to the soothing embrace, letting the constant storm of a harsh lifetime settle inside her for just those few fleeting seconds the way it would whenever Blake held her when they were younger. Had she only been able to bury the nagging thoughts of skepticism and suspicion at Blake's reticence gnawing at the back of her mind, this might've actually been a good way to go.

But she hadn't buried them. And she did see it coming, far too late to stop it but in the nick of time to react to it. It wasn't one of her prouder moments, because she sincerely hadn't expected Blake to raise a hand against her unless she saw it as a last resort, and the sheer reflexive shock at what was obviously an attempted murder blow coming from the one place she could never even have fathomed it had her jerk her head away helplessly from the sword's arc with a howl of outrage and a touch of something else.

The subsequent reshuffling of the power dynamic in the room (again) sounded far away to her up until the moment Yang set her free, the way she slumped for an instant before sharply righting herself indicating she had gone limp in the grip.

"I—I figured you'd reject me. I didn't think you'd..."

She didn't really sound hurt, or even betrayed; Frankly she just sounded rattled, dazed like she was only talking to try make sense of what had just happened in her head. She could barely spare a thought for the nature of the blonde's involvement, which was just confusing at this point, because regardless of the attempt's success Blake had managed to slip a knife into her in a way that no enemy or monster ever could, and she wasn't sure how to react.

Eventually, she just decided to interpret it as a 'no'. Which meant she could fall back into the original plan, her mind finding a convenient way to deal with what just happened by ignoring it.

"...Then it's not up to you."

There was a dark, smouldering twist to the way she said that, a frightening conviction in the way her gloved hand tightened around Wilt's handle.

"You're coming with me, whether you agree it's what's best or not. You don't know what's best for you anymore. You're not dealing with the hero tonight, Blake."

That cold, almost bullish missive delivered, Eve burst from the remaining ice chips and was at Blake's side in a literal heartbeat, hair, blade and grimm eyes already a searing red that turned everything crimson as she moved to deliver a clean, precise strike straight through Blake's torso, unleashing all the energy accumulated from Yang's battering of her earlier.

With a semblance-enhanced Blush, the jilted faunus having every intention of shattering her former partner's aura in a single strike with the blunter scabbard as she finished her sneering drawl.

"You get the monster."​

 

[MidwayLives]

"I wasn't. I was talking to my sister, not yours."

"I-I should have guessed..."
​

"..." She looked away. "N-no. I think you have it backwards. I think...I think I was brought here to see you. To make me fear how far I could have fallen."

"Fallen? Is that really what you think of me...?"

She'd been feared, loathed, but never been told anything like this. She...She was sure she'd been loved at one point. "You're wrong! I'm doing the right thing!" None of this made any sense whatsoever. Where did this other her come from? WHY was she here-Wait..

"I..I think I understand now.."
​

"How can you not?! How can you look at what's happening all around us and not see chaos? If I hadn't stepped up to stop that dragon, it and all the grimm it would have been spawned would have rampaged throughout this school! Atlesian ships are firing on each other in the sky above us, their robotic troops on the ground are turning on the civilians they're supposed to protect, criminals and terrorists are taking advantage of the grimm invasion to slaughter even more innocents! And here you stand, playing the blame game to try and justify all of that!" The sorrow and sympathy had disappeared from her eyes. They were now narrowed in frustration.​

*SHUNK*

"I've realized it now. What you being here means, what all of this means." Ruby breathed in and exhaled. "This is a test. Tests are made to be overcome. If I need to do this for him to fully believe in me, I'll do it! Nothing will stop me!" Truth be told, she was jealous. Jealous that this version of her-if she was even real-could talk to her sister. Like they were actually people. But there was nothing to be done. Growing up in a broken home with nobody but her own will to stay alive getting her to where she is today, it was simply too late to turn back now. No matter what happened, she would achieve his dream-the one they both shared of a beautiful world. One without fear so people would never end up going through what Yang and her did.

A world without Salem!

"I believe in him! When the fires settle and he gets what he needs, this world will be a better place! I wouldn't lie to you....to myself..."
​

"You're wrong! I'm the one person who has any right to judge you! I--" Ruby hesitated, sudden realization hitting her like a 16-ton truck pushing 100 mph. This doppleganger had said "he." His dream. His will. Her fault for standing in his way. Could it actually be? Ruby glanced to the side in uncertainty briefly before putting that away in the "things to think/talk about later", focusing on the Red Masque before her.​

"No..."

To let Ruby judge her would be to look back on all that she'd done. That wasn't going to happen. Ever. She fully believed what she did and so did the people who...supported her. Loved was too strong a word. Love would make her weak, it'd take away the edge, the determination to do what needed to be done: everything that made her less Ruby Rose and more 'The Red Masque.' One of whom was her uncle. Her father had written him off as a good teammate in the past but others who'd heard of him spoke in hushed tones, like some kind of thug, a vile bandit. That wasn't the uncle she knew. When she ran away from home and then lost her arm, he was the only one she knew of that she could run to. She refused to go back home and her mother...

She wiped away the blood from her lip and forced back the tears she felt welling up.

Her mother was...gone.

"Why are you doin this, Ruby? To feel better about yourself? To get some kind of revenge? No matter what you do, she's gone. And she's never coming back.."

Out of everything else she'd heard in the rough training her uncle put her through, that had always stuck with her. At the time it made her sob like a newborn babe. But as she grew older, she realized her uncle was right. To get anywhere, she had to utilize the anger that swelled within her for better uses. Like getting done what needed to be done. Looking down at her prosthetic arm, she closed her hand into a fist. "You're right, Uncle Qrow..." Closing her eyes and sighing, Ruby flashed her counterpart a genuine smile, her cheeks tinged red. All while her hands wrapped themselves tightly around the handle of Crescent Rose.

"I'm sorry things didn't...couldn't have worked out between us. We've got different goals, different lives. But if things could have been even the slightest bit different? I like to think we could have been...friends!"
​

"If your goal will bring about the destruction of this academy, there really isn't any other choice to make." Ruby drew Crescent Rose, the sniper rifle extending out into scythe form, taking and releasing a deep breath as she prepared to face whatever may come.

"But...There's no more reason for us to shout back and forth is there?" Ruby hoisted Crescent Rose over her shoulder as the moonlight illuminated the glistening sheen of her prosthetic arm. "You feel you need to beat me and in doing so, you'd be ruining my life. But if I beat you and if this really was his doing? He'll be so proud of me! Now! Show me what you can do, I won't hold back against you! I WON"T!" Ruby sprinted forward, her eyes wide with fury and almost a playful eagerness that brought to mind the Ruby that Yang and Qrow knew of and loved with all their heart.

If only indeed...

"RUBYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Fallen? Is that really what you think of me...?"

She'd been feared, loathed, but never been told anything like this. She...She was sure she'd been loved at one point. "You're wrong! I'm doing the right thing!" None of this made any sense whatsoever. Where did this other her come from? WHY was she here-Wait..

"If you truly, genuinely think any of this is the right thing to do...then yes." Ruby answered.​

"I've realized it now. What you being here means, what all of this means." Ruby breathed in and exhaled. "This is a test. Tests are made to be overcome. If I need to do this for him to fully believe in me, I'll do it! Nothing will stop me!" Truth be told, she was jealous. Jealous that this version of her-if she was even real-could talk to her sister. Like they were actually people. But there was nothing to be done. Growing up in a broken home with nobody but her own will to stay alive getting her to where she is today, it was simply too late to turn back now. No matter what happened, she would achieve his dream-the one they both shared of a beautiful world. One without fear so people would never end up going through what Yang and her did.

"...….." Beyond the fact that this other her admitted that she was responsible for this attack on this Beacon, even just the way she thought about things seemed so alien to the Ruby who had woken up in this crazy mess. The hint of madness Ruby recognized in that voice, looking at it as some sort of test that NEEDED to be overcome. That nothing would stop her. In Ruby's eyes that translated to: there is no line this doppelganger wouldn't cross. The ultimate result of someone fanatically devoting themselves to some greater goal.​

"I believe in him! When the fires settle and he gets what he needs, this world will be a better place!"

"The ends don't justify the means!" Ruby was quick to shout back. Not that she thought she could actually get through to her twisted double, but because she simply couldn't just stand there and listen to that without saying anything.​

"I wouldn't lie to you....to myself..."

"I don't believe you. If there's a me out there who would lead an attack on a school of the world's protectors, who has it within her to gladly kill people herself, to watch as innocents suffer and die all around her as a result of her actions...what's one more lie compared to all of that?" ​

"I'm sorry things didn't...couldn't have worked out between us. We've got different goals, different lives. But if things could have been even the slightest bit different? I like to think we could have been...friends!"

That right there was the most unfortunately tragic thing in all of this. It wasn't because this villainous version of herself was right about that. No, it was because she was wrong. "No." Ruby replied, sadly but also assuredly shaking her head.

"Too much would have to be different for us to ever be friends."​

"But...There's no more reason for us to shout back and forth is there?" Ruby hoisted Crescent Rose over her shoulder as the moonlight illuminated the glistening sheen of her prosthetic arm. "You feel you need to beat me and in doing so, you'd be ruining my life. But if I beat you and if this really was his doing? He'll be so proud of me! Now! Show me what you can do, I won't hold back against you! I WON"T!" Ruby sprinted forward, her eyes wide with fury and almost a playful eagerness that brought to mind the Ruby that Yang and Qrow knew of and loved with all their heart.

"I guess not." Ruby remarked, every part of her gearing up for a fight. If this was simply a fight between her as she had been when she went to Beacon and the person she had grown into since then, Ruby was confident she would have won quite handily. She had traversed an entire continent, fighting Grimm every step of the way. The reincarnated soul of Beacon's headmaster, a man who had spent many lifetimes fighting, had personally given her more combat training. An elderly once-legendary huntress had given her enough guidance on how to properly harness the power of her eyes, so much so that she managed to freeze even a Leviathan solid. Mostly. Then the best of the best, the most elite huntsmen and huntresses in Atlas were training her even more.

But...

This Ruby wasn't just that, not merely a reflection of her skill when she was at Beacon. This dark copy of herself was one of his chosen lieutenants, the agent picked to bring Beacon to ruin. There was no telling how much more dangerous the doppelganger would be without seeing it in a fight.

Ruby answered her villainous double's sprint with one of her own, dashing forward to close the distance before she began to spin and slash away with Crescent Rose.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Too much would have to be different for us to ever be friends."

"..."

So, this was to be it. What stood before her was a window into another world, another life. Could she-would she have been happier growing up as this other Ruby did?

Yes. She would have, of that there was no doubt.

But she hadn't been given a choice. A father who didn't want her, a mother who was gone, and an uncle who's lessons left her hungry and upset, wishing things could have been different wouldn't have changed anything. This was her world and she'd been forced to make the best of it. Gripping tighter onto her weapon as the two closed the distance and clashed their weapons, the sound of metal straining against metal. She said nothing, to say anything more would have only been delaying the inevitable. To put off the fight that was to occur between them. They were too different and she hated it!

"GRRRRAAAAHHH!!"

Freeing her weapon with a kick to the gut to send her counterpart skidding back, Ruby launched forward with a series of berserk swipes. Each one coming from a different angle and direction. All designed to force the other Ruby to concede ground as she moved forward. But even as her anger started to boil over, Ruby was telling the truth. At least she felt she'd been.

She really did wish the two of them could have been friends.
​

"I guess not." Ruby remarked, every part of her gearing up for a fight. If this was simply a fight between her as she had been when she went to Beacon and the person she had grown into since then, Ruby was confident she would have won quite handily. She had traversed an entire continent, fighting Grimm every step of the way. The reincarnated soul of Beacon's headmaster, a man who had spent many lifetimes fighting, had personally given her more combat training. An elderly once-legendary huntress had given her enough guidance on how to properly harness the power of her eyes, so much so that she managed to freeze even a Leviathan solid. Mostly. Then the best of the best, the most elite huntsmen and huntresses in Atlas were training her even more.

But...

This Ruby wasn't just that, not merely a reflection of her skill when she was at Beacon. This dark copy of herself was one of his chosen lieutenants, the agent picked to bring Beacon to ruin. There was no telling how much more dangerous the doppelganger would be without seeing it in a fight.

Ruby answered her villainous double's sprint with one of her own, dashing forward to close the distance before she began to spin and slash away with Crescent Rose.

Each swipe she took tore chunks out of the ground at Other!Ruby's feet, sending debris flying every which way. To anyone unfamiliar with The Red Masque, they might have written it off as simple scare tactics. Frighten the opponent with a vicious barrage in order to get them tripping up and then pounce on them. But they were wrong. Angry she might have been but just as with her fight with Neo, Ruby hadn't lost awareness of her situation. During the initial clash of blades, this other Ruby had met her almost blow for blow. She was definitely skilled and it was almost enough to earn a goodhearted chuckle from her. The counterpart who'd led a life on completely the otherside of the tracks was a fighter.

She was proud of that. No matter the upbringing, they were not to be messed with.

But, she couldn't be stopped here. She refused to yield and would fight to the bitter end if need be.

I never wanted this.
I never asked for this.
Just get away from me!
Please stop touching me!

If this Ruby had never shown up, things wouldn't have needed to be drawn out as they had been. She'd have found the maiden and whether through convincing her or force, he'd get her and they'd be one stop closer to what he hoped to achieve. What the both of them planned to achieve. Seeking to knock aside her counterpart's Crescent Rose off to the side with a might swing, she lunged forward, closing her artificial hand up into a fist to try and sock her in the face and send her flying back.​

 

[MidwayLives]

One of Ren's slashes was knocked way off course, the bladed edge of that gun swinging harmlessly through empty air. But as Roman lifted his cane to open fire, the other one came down and hooked around the cane, bringing its aim way down and ensuring the fired round exploded on the ground between them. Both were sent flying back in opposite directions. Before Ren managed to land on his feet, however, a volley of dust arrows were loosed in quick succession. The first hit right on target, exploding and knocking him back further and keeping him unbalanced enough for the rest to follow suit. "Help me out!" She roared towards Roman, continuing to rain arrows on the criminal.

"Hey, I got one up on him! Yeah, I knew it, I got this in the bag-"

Roman's positive thoughts were caught off as the shot from Melodic Cudgel was used against him. Landing on his ass with a certain lack of poise, Roman slowly rose to his feet and brushed himself off. "Okay, I don't think any of us, certainly not me, were expecting him to do THAT." But as he psyched himself up for round two with Nora's silent brute, Cinder came in for the total assist. Shrugging his shoulders, Roman certainly couldn't complain. Watching as the scope came up on the end of his cane, Roman took aim and laughed.

"I'd gotten the impression you jumped in to help ME. But, yeah, let's take this guy down.."

*BANG*

~~~~

Meanwhile, having broken off with the squad of guards who'd found the soldiers that she and 'Bloody Red' had killed, Neo overlooked the destruction and chaos happening around her. If it weren't the annoyance that they'd been forced to separate before they could have killed the other, Neo felt...nostalgic. Watching the Grimm running amok, the real soldiers getting torn apart after trying in vain to protect themselves and the weaker students. It felt as if it'd only happened yesterday. But before she could fully indulge herself in the wave of nostalgia that threatened to overtake her, she recalled the greatest tragedy of that day.

"..."

A frown appeared on her face and she was glad for the loneliness among all this chaos. It meant that nobody would see her sad.

Just then, a message was passed across the com-links all of the soldiers had in their helmets. "Soldiers of Atlas, continue to watch out for the Red Masque! We believe them to be injured but still highly dangerous! Do NOT approach without backup and extreme caution! Also, keep an eye out for a woman who's description has been given as short with brown-pinkish hair! We have reason to believe she's not only attacked but killed some of our comrades! Apprehend for questioning!"

Hmph. Well, that'd be annoying normally. Not that she expected any of these grunts to be able to do a thing to her. But she was less worried because if there was an 'evil' Red here, then by that logic there had to be another Neo right? Let that one take the fall for her other's actions. Didn't matter to her in the slightest.

...Wait.

"...!!~"

She ran off. It had to have been true. It couldn't have just been her springing at false hope.

Roman...

~~~

With Nora having knocked Hazel through a window and beyond, Ren requiring both Cinder and himself to keep him at bay, and the seemingly endless tides of Grimm?

Things were definitely looking shitty but he couldn't give into despair. Well, for one, it'd only attract more Grimm. Whatever his thoughts on these two aside, he hoped that they wouldn't tear him apart or eat him alive like most, if not all, of the Grimm might have done. But because he had to be strong! He had to for not just his team's sake, not for his but...For her!! He was doing it for her!

Out of the corner of his eye in between firing shots at Ren, Roman noticed an Atlas soldier who seemed to have gained an interest in their little squabble. "Hey! If, uh, you wanna come back with an army, that'd be great! Otherwise, get the hell out of here! It's too dangerous!" But at his words, the soldier seemed to hesitate before slowly breaking out into a warm smile.

Ok. Kinda weird.

But then he started running towards them.

Okay...Even weirder, a little dangerous.

"Stop!" Roman shouted. He was going to ruin Watt's plan!

But the soldier gave a longing look at him and Roman was kinda creeped out. Even given the seriousness of the situation. But as the guard seemed to shatter into a million pieces, it all made sense to him! A huge smile broke out and Roman nearly dropped Melodic Cudgel, he was so surprised!

"Neo!"

Jumping in the path between Cinder & Roman with Ren across from them, Neo smirked and twirled Hush over her shoulder.

He looked a lot younger which was weird. He also felt...too nice?? Definitely weird. But he was fighting alongside....Cinder?? Mhm, well that stoked a bit of jealously/anger that Neo would definitely need an outlet for. Thankfully, Ren seemed to be more than willing to oblige and if he wasn't? Then that was okay too! Then she'd just have to skewer him like a hog! From seeing Roman again to getting a chance to strut her stuff against a person who didn't make her see red, she was having quite the rush!

"*giggles*~"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"...Then it's not up to you."

There was a dark, smouldering twist to the way she said that, a frightening conviction in the way her gloved hand tightened around Wilt's handle.

"You're coming with me, whether you agree it's what's best or not. You don't know what's best for you anymore. You're not dealing with the hero tonight, Blake."

That cold, almost bullish missive delivered, Eve burst from the remaining ice chips and was at Blake's side in a literal heartbeat, hair, blade and grimm eyes already a searing red that turned everything crimson as she moved to deliver a clean, precise strike straight through Blake's torso, unleashing all the energy accumulated from Yang's battering of her earlier.

With a semblance-enhanced Blush, the jilted faunus having every intention of shattering her former partner's aura in a single strike with the blunter scabbard as she finished her sneering drawl.

"You get the monster."

Blake didn't have time to blink before Eve was on top of her, but in the instant her eyes filled with nothing but red and black, she... resigned herself to her fate. Maybe it was better this way. She wouldn't be able to handle watching Eve torn apart by Ozpin's dogs. If she couldn't save Eve from that herself, then getting cut down before that day came was all she could ask. If anyone was going to free her from this horrible, human run world... at least it was-

She got a sheathe to the stomach instead of a blade, and she coughed up every bit of air her lungs had and then some as she smashed into the floor hard enough to break through both tile and concrete beneath it, leaving a line of destruction up to the wall that miraculously only cracked instead of being smashed apart. Her aura had been untouched till that moment, but it sputtered purple before cracking across her slumped form like glass.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something inside Yang snapped.

It was just like that night, but inverted. She was the one who got to watch as the bull faunus turned and unleashed the full power of his demonic semblance on her partner. Maybe it didn't end with a maiming, but it didn't matter if this wasn't her Blake. She was still Blake, in her voice, her conviction her eyes. and Yang had failed to protect her again. She'd might as well been directly responsible for it this time.

A warning shot breezed past Eve's head

"That's far enough, Taurus."

If she turned to acknowledge the warning, Yang stood there with a resolute glare that burned fiery red instead of soft lilac, the edges of her hair flickering with flames as her semblance fought to break past the control she'd been working on these long months. She hadn't forgotten everything that just happened. She knew this Blake was dangerous, and that Eve, in her own way, seemed to have the other Faunus' best interests at heart, and seemed to care for her past being some sort of trophy. But that anger, the controlling, violent edge to her voice was still there. Like hell she was gonna just wave that off.

"I won't let Blake go back to whoever she's working for, but I'm not letting you drag her back to the White Fang either. Back off, or we're gonna finish what we started."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I'd gotten the impression you jumped in to help ME. But, yeah, let's take this guy down.."

"Jeez. Don't get too bigheaded. That hat may not fit anymore if you do." Cinder snarked, keeping up her fire alongside Roman to keep pushing Ren back further and further. At least up until they were interrupted by...​

Jumping in the path between Cinder & Roman with Ren across from them, Neo smirked and twirled Hush over her shoulder.

He looked a lot younger which was weird. He also felt...too nice?? Definitely weird. But he was fighting alongside....Cinder?? Mhm, well that stoked a bit of jealously/anger that Neo would definitely need an outlet for. Thankfully, Ren seemed to be more than willing to oblige and if he wasn't? Then that was okay too! Then she'd just have to skewer him like a hog! From seeing Roman again to getting a chance to strut her stuff against a person who didn't make her see red, she was having quite the rush!

"Neo!" : D Cinder appreciated that another ally had emerged onto the battlefield. Between all of them, Cinder felt sure that they could dispatch of this silent punk who had long since outstayed his welcome. But unfortunately, he was not the only problem on this field. And he wasn't even the biggest one of those around.

Many saw the quiet man as Nora's chief enforcer, but that job description was more from her desiring to keep him as close as possible. To always have the man she trusted by her side, no matter what. It was not because Nora needed an enforcer. To have another serving as her muscle or her bodyguard. That wasn't necessary. Far from it. Nora was confident that she was strong enough, and skilled enough, to conquer any challenge that faced her. And while the others had been dealing with Ren, Nora had been busy proving her confidence wasn't unfounded. That Hazel was currently buried under a building's worth of debris with a broken nose was testament to that. And Tyrian?

If the noticeable bleeding cuts on Nora were any indication, Tyrian had been able to fight back remarkably well despite being assaulted by both her and plenty of Grimm. At least a dozen wounds were all over Nora's body, across her arms, down her legs, some on her torso and even one across her face. But that only took him so far. Tyrian was remarkably skilled, but he was still just a student. And Nora, she was too tough an opponent for him to handle alone, especially with his attention split across many foes.

His agonized screams as Nora had his tail in an iron-tight grip, forcing his scorpion stinger deep into his own shoulder with a manic grin on her face, was proof enough that he desperately needed help. NOW.

The pain-fueled yells were enough to catch Cinder's attention, and in a second she had spun around, catching sight of Nora doing...…….that. The very act brought a shocked look to Cinder's face. It was hard to even fathom the kind of person who would do something like that, let alone do it with a wide smile from ear to ear. But her shock quickly gave way to righteous, indignant anger that boiled over inside her until letting it all out was the only option.

Cinder seemed to essentially explode, a bright wave of fiery orange spreading out in every direction as well as flowing high into the sky above. The heat was enough to make everyone begin to sweat, and the temperature only got worse the closer anyone was to Cinder. As she stood there, eyes glaring daggers at the ginger criminal...the eyes themselves seemed to be ablaze with anger and also quite literally, spurts of orange-yellow flame emanating out the edges of her eyes.

With an absolutely furious roar that seemed like it came more from a beast than a young girl, another burst of flame threw Cinder forward. The fall maiden rocketed through the air, straight up tackling Nora, the pair of them crashing into and through the lower levels of an office building. Now that he was free from that brute, Tyrian silently dropped onto the ground face-first, too exhausted and hurt to fight further.

The sight of Nora being bowled over like that was the first thing here that cracked Ren's stony expressionless face in any meaningful way, concern clearly evident in those eyes for a few moments before Ren forced it down. There was still a fight to win, and he did not intend to disappoint Nora. He charged for the new umbrella-wielding arrival, swinging Stormflower in a rapid series of slices mixed in with kicks and barehanded palm strikes, intending to overwhelm the small girl. He didn't say it directly, but Ren definitely judged Roman as the least worrisome of any threats in this battle.

And potentially worse still, that explosive fire light show of Cinder's was enough to catch another pair's attention, standing atop another building not too far off. Both exchanged a knowing look. A lot of this wasn't going well. That Grimm dragon, to be so easily vanquished like that.....but that display was exactly what they had been told to watch out for. That had to come from their target. Both of them standing around here wasn't accomplishing anything. The redheaded one was quick to leap down from the roof and begin sprinting in that direction, leaving the blond to keep on filming.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Gripping tighter onto her weapon as the two closed the distance and clashed their weapons, the sound of metal straining against metal. She said nothing, to say anything more would have only been delaying the inevitable. To put off the fight that was to occur between them. They were too different and she hated it!

"GRRRRAAAAHHH!!"

Freeing her weapon with a kick to the gut to send her counterpart skidding back, Ruby launched forward with a series of berserk swipes. Each one coming from a different angle and direction. All designed to force the other Ruby to concede ground as she moved forward.

In contrast to her counterpart, Ruby's own wasn't showing intense anger but just a focused look of concentration. With their Crescent Roses locked in a clash against each other, Ruby opened her mouth to speak but whatever she was going to say didn't come out. The kick cut it off, sending her back a ways, though every follow-up strike of her opponent's Crescent was parried by her own, Ruby refusing to give any ground to her dark twin.

Seeking to knock aside her counterpart's Crescent Rose off to the side with a might swing, she lunged forward, closing her artificial hand up into a fist to try and sock her in the face and send her flying back.

Crescent was indeed swept off track, but the moment the other's fist came in, Ruby just vanished in a burst of rose petals. Reappearing directly behind her evil twin, Ruby struck out with a punch of her own that knocked the twin to the ground before planting one of her boots on the other's back. "Please surrender. I really don't want to have to drag this out."

 

[MidwayLives]

With an absolutely furious roar that seemed like it came more from a beast than a young girl, another burst of flame threw Cinder forward. The fall maiden rocketed through the air, straight up tackling Nora, the pair of them crashing into and through the lower levels of an office building. Now that he was free from that brute, Tyrian silently dropped onto the ground face-first, too exhausted and hurt to fight further.

The sight of Nora being bowled over like that was the first thing here that cracked Ren's stony expressionless face in any meaningful way, concern clearly evident in those eyes for a few moments before Ren forced it down. There was still a fight to win, and he did not intend to disappoint Nora. He charged for the new umbrella-wielding arrival, swinging Stormflower in a rapid series of slices mixed in with kicks and barehanded palm strikes, intending to overwhelm the small girl. He didn't say it directly, but Ren definitely judged Roman as the least worrisome of any threats in this battle.

And potentially worse still, that explosive fire light show of Cinder's was enough to catch another pair's attention, standing atop another building not too far off. Both exchanged a knowing look. A lot of this wasn't going well. That Grimm dragon, to be so easily vanquished like that.....but that display was exactly what they had been told to watch out for. That had to come from their target. Both of them standing around here wasn't accomplishing anything. The redheaded one was quick to leap down from the roof and begin sprinting in that direction, leaving the blond to keep on filming.

Hmph. For everything that seemed to be different here, Cinder still had those damn powers of hers. As much as it pained Neo to admit it to herself, she'd have to stay on her good side for now. Those soldiers were of no concern to her but taking on this guy and Cinder together? That sounded like such a pain that she wasn't in the mood for. She'd just been reunited with the person whom last she'd seen him? He'd been gulped down by a Grimm. That was it. No climatic final words or last regrets. Just one chomp and the criminal she'd gotten so close to was gone. This Roman looked more like a kid than the one she'd known. Still, even if it meant helping out another Cinder, she'd do what she could here.

Besides, she hadn't been able to kill 'Bloody Red', this guy would be the perfect outlet for her frustrations!

Sidestepping the incoming kicks and parting aside the various slashes and punches with Hush-closed as it was-and sought to give him a sharp kick to the chest to bounce herself back. Which she did ever so gracefully as she landed beside Roman who she flashed a warm smile to.

Roman returned it. Much to her satisfaction.

"Hey Neo?"

"...?"

"How about we put this guy to bed?"

"..."

Roman stared at her as Neo waited for him to add on 'for good.' "...Neo?"

Oh. He wasn't going to. That was....a real shame. Ah well, she'd have her own fun. Tapping Roman on the shoulder, Neo gestured to the upset Ren and grinned. Roman not quite getting what his partner/best friend was hinting at nodded his head. "Alright, Neo! Do it!" With his 'permission', Neo shifted forms once more. Only as she shifted, Roman's eyes grew wide in horror. They were seeking to defeat Ren! Not make him even angrier! "Neo, no!" Standing beside Roman was no longer Neo but rather what appeared to be a younger version of the woman that Ren loyally served, that he'd probably give up his life for.

Giving Ren a pleasant enough wave, 'Nora' rushed forward, with Roman scrambling to ready his aim. Jumping from side to side, 'Nora' threw a flurry of kicks and even went for a sweep of the feet to try and knock Ren off balance and set up for what would come next. Roman for his part didn't understand why Neo felt the need to be so malicious but if it worked to distract Ren, he supposed he couldn't exactly complain...? Trying to line up a shot on Ren as Neo hopped around him, he fired. For Roman, something about this felt both familiar and yet not. For Neo?

She was having a blast!~

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The redheaded one was quick to leap down from the roof and begin sprinting in that direction, leaving the blond to keep on filming.

Neo's day had been... like dominoes.

Each one slightly bigger than the last.

The first one was small enough. Glynda had caught her looking like, well, Glynda, doing some particularly un-Glynda things in the cafeteria. That knocked into the second domino, detention. Banished to her dorm for the entire day of the tourney, with a grim warning of what would happen should she try to leave that even with her semblance Neo was leery to test. It was here that the dominoes got bigger; the fall of beacon started. That led her to to team WTCH's door.

She really didn't want to think about that domino too hard, regardless of how painful the bruises on her face were, along with what she had a sneaking suspicion was a cracked jawbone.

That had her fleeing beacon, and at some point another domino must have fallen, because something had happened that made it so when she jogged up to a squad of Atlas soldiers, relief spreading across her so completely that she almost stumbled in her rush towards friendly faces, they immediately opened fire on her. She'd scrambled away as their shots picked at her aura and lost them in the alleys of Vale, but now she was lost, and wandering, avoiding both grimm and soldiers alike now. This wandering, unbeknownst to her, had her tipping over her biggest domino of the night. It didn't seem that bad; all that happened was she turned a corner in her sprint and slammed face first into some tall person's chestguard, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

The domino's size came not from the fall. It came from the fact that the woman she ran into was sporting deep red hair, and she gave her a flummoxed frown of apology as she scrambled to her feet, right as another explosion sounded from nearby.

That sounded like a Cinder explosion. She'd finally reunite with everyone :'D

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Jeez. Don't get too bigheaded. That hat may not fit anymore if you do." Cinder snarked, keeping up her fire alongside Roman to keep pushing Ren back further and further. At least up until they were interrupted by...



"Neo!" : D Cinder appreciated that another ally had emerged onto the battlefield. Between all of them, Cinder felt sure that they could dispatch of this silent punk who had long since outstayed his welcome. But unfortunately, he was not the only problem on this field. And he wasn't even the biggest one of those around.

Many saw the quiet man as Nora's chief enforcer, but that job description was more from her desiring to keep him as close as possible. To always have the man she trusted by her side, no matter what. It was not because Nora needed an enforcer. To have another serving as her muscle or her bodyguard. That wasn't necessary. Far from it. Nora was confident that she was strong enough, and skilled enough, to conquer any challenge that faced her. And while the others had been dealing with Ren, Nora had been busy proving her confidence wasn't unfounded. That Hazel was currently buried under a building's worth of debris with a broken nose was testament to that. And Tyrian?

If the noticeable bleeding cuts on Nora were any indication, Tyrian had been able to fight back remarkably well despite being assaulted by both her and plenty of Grimm. At least a dozen wounds were all over Nora's body, across her arms, down her legs, some on her torso and even one across her face. But that only took him so far. Tyrian was remarkably skilled, but he was still just a student. And Nora, she was too tough an opponent for him to handle alone, especially with his attention split across many foes.

His agonized screams as Nora had his tail in an iron-tight grip, forcing his scorpion stinger deep into his own shoulder with a manic grin on her face, was proof enough that he desperately needed help. NOW.

The pain-fueled yells were enough to catch Cinder's attention, and in a second she had spun around, catching sight of Nora doing...…….that. The very act brought a shocked look to Cinder's face. It was hard to even fathom the kind of person who would do something like that, let alone do it with a wide smile from ear to ear. But her shock quickly gave way to righteous, indignant anger that boiled over inside her until letting it all out was the only option.

Cinder seemed to essentially explode, a bright wave of fiery orange spreading out in every direction as well as flowing high into the sky above. The heat was enough to make everyone begin to sweat, and the temperature only got worse the closer anyone was to Cinder. As she stood there, eyes glaring daggers at the ginger criminal...the eyes themselves seemed to be ablaze with anger and also quite literally, spurts of orange-yellow flame emanating out the edges of her eyes.

With an absolutely furious roar that seemed like it came more from a beast than a young girl, another burst of flame threw Cinder forward. The fall maiden rocketed through the air, straight up tackling Nora, the pair of them crashing into and through the lower levels of an office building. Now that he was free from that brute, Tyrian silently dropped onto the ground face-first, too exhausted and hurt to fight further.

The sight of Nora being bowled over like that was the first thing here that cracked Ren's stony expressionless face in any meaningful way, concern clearly evident in those eyes for a few moments before Ren forced it down. There was still a fight to win, and he did not intend to disappoint Nora. He charged for the new umbrella-wielding arrival, swinging Stormflower in a rapid series of slices mixed in with kicks and barehanded palm strikes, intending to overwhelm the small girl. He didn't say it directly, but Ren definitely judged Roman as the least worrisome of any threats in this battle.

And potentially worse still, that explosive fire light show of Cinder's was enough to catch another pair's attention, standing atop another building not too far off. Both exchanged a knowing look. A lot of this wasn't going well. That Grimm dragon, to be so easily vanquished like that.....but that display was exactly what they had been told to watch out for. That had to come from their target. Both of them standing around here wasn't accomplishing anything. The redheaded one was quick to leap down from the roof and begin sprinting in that direction, leaving the blond to keep on filming.​

Hmph. For everything that seemed to be different here, Cinder still had those damn powers of hers. As much as it pained Neo to admit it to herself, she'd have to stay on her good side for now. Those soldiers were of no concern to her but taking on this guy and Cinder together? That sounded like such a pain that she wasn't in the mood for. She'd just been reunited with the person whom last she'd seen him? He'd been gulped down by a Grimm. That was it. No climatic final words or last regrets. Just one chomp and the criminal she'd gotten so close to was gone. This Roman looked more like a kid than the one she'd known. Still, even if it meant helping out another Cinder, she'd do what she could here.

Besides, she hadn't been able to kill 'Bloody Red', this guy would be the perfect outlet for her frustrations!

Sidestepping the incoming kicks and parting aside the various slashes and punches with Hush-closed as it was-and sought to give him a sharp kick to the chest to bounce herself back. Which she did ever so gracefully as she landed beside Roman who she flashed a warm smile to.

Roman returned it. Much to her satisfaction.

"Hey Neo?"

"...?"

"How about we put this guy to bed?"

"..."

Roman stared at her as Neo waited for him to add on 'for good.' "...Neo?"

Oh. He wasn't going to. That was....a real shame. Ah well, she'd have her own fun. Tapping Roman on the shoulder, Neo gestured to the upset Ren and grinned. Roman not quite getting what his partner/best friend was hinting at nodded his head. "Alright, Neo! Do it!" With his 'permission', Neo shifted forms once more. Only as she shifted, Roman's eyes grew wide in horror. They were seeking to defeat Ren! Not make him even angrier! "Neo, no!" Standing beside Roman was no longer Neo but rather what appeared to be a younger version of the woman that Ren loyally served, that he'd probably give up his life for.

Giving Ren a pleasant enough wave, 'Nora' rushed forward, with Roman scrambling to ready his aim. Jumping from side to side, 'Nora' threw a flurry of kicks and even went for a sweep of the feet to try and knock Ren off balance and set up for what would come next. Roman for his part didn't understand why Neo felt the need to be so malicious but if it worked to distract Ren, he supposed he couldn't exactly complain...? Trying to line up a shot on Ren as Neo hopped around him, he fired. For Roman, something about this felt both familiar and yet not. For Neo?

She was having a blast!~

​

He'd been too slow.

The blow to his pride was great. The blow to his conscience might have been even worse. He was team leader. Tyrian, Hazel, and Cinder had trusted him to be their guiding hand, and he'd guided them head first into a wall; Hazel was buried in a building, Cinder was losing control of her powers, and Tyrian was slumped on the ground after being stabbed with his own body. If they survived tonight, he had to steel his resolve. He had to do better.

He may even, if it came to it, have to apologize. Out loud

But before any such extremes were even considered, that survival had to happen, and despite his lack of weapon, and despite the fact that he was far and away the weakest member of his team in a straight fight, he was more determined than ever now to see that survival through. his fingers worked even faster than before; the reason this was taking so long was probably the reason Beacon had gone to hell in the first place. The atlesian tech here had some sort of nasty virus in it, and he cursed his inattention for not catching this sooner. Sure, he wouldn't have technically been allowed to dig through Vale's security network in the first place, but that hadn't ever stopped him before, and something was off about what had happened at the dance.

But that was the past. This was now. he grinned as the thing before him lit up with a flicker. He'd been expelled from Atlas Academy for stunts like this. For poking his nose into things he shouldn't, for tinkering with systems that military personel weren't even allowed to. He still resented Ironwood and his school for that. But while they may have judged his worth and morals on the wrong grounds, he had to admit; maybe they were at least a bit right to be worried about what one teenager with far too smart a brain for his own good could do.

As Ren tried to deal with the emotional ramifications of punching a teenage Nora in the face (sorry bud), Watts figured it was as good an opening as any. The only real warning was the sound of a slight thump from a block away, before the Atlesian spider mechs main cannon unleashed a full barrage on Ren the moment he separated enough from Neo and Roman for it to be safe. Its front right leg had been ripped off, and its central processing unit completely wrecked, but Watts had simply worked his rings' own systems into being the robotic beast's brain. It leaped into the air straight for the bodyguard afte the barrage, intending to land straight on top of him with one of its legs to try and shatter what remained of Ren's aura

 

[MyrtenRose]

It didn't seem that bad; all that happened was she turned a corner in her sprint and slammed face first into some tall person's chestguard, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

The domino's size came not from the fall. It came from the fact that the woman she ran into was sporting deep red hair, and she gave her a flummoxed frown of apology as she scrambled to her feet, right as another explosion sounded from nearby.

"No no, I'm sorry!" The redhead was quick to apologize in a sweet voice, getting back onto her feet herself. Though literally as soon as Neo wasn't looking at her, the apologetic façade was dropped and she was directing a particularly scathing glare at Neo's back. She resumed her sprint.

"Alright, Neo! Do it!" With his 'permission', Neo shifted forms once more. Only as she shifted, Roman's eyes grew wide in horror. They were seeking to defeat Ren! Not make him even angrier! "Neo, no!" Standing beside Roman was no longer Neo but rather what appeared to be a younger version of the woman that Ren loyally served, that he'd probably give up his life for.

"...…...…"

It wasn't an easy thing to tell, given that Ren's usual thing was a stoic silence. But this silence had a feeling of something different behind it. There was a weird feeling of anger hanging in the air all around. She dared to wear that face? She dared???? Ren let loose a vicious snarl as the girl approached him. He did his best to counter her hand to hand combat moves but his anger was unbalancing him. Moreover, as much as he didn't want to admit it, the girl was more skilled than he was. The leg sweep took Ren off his feet, leaving him wide open for one of Roman's shot to hit him and the explosion sending him rolling across the ground. With a scowl, Ren got back onto his feet...

Watts figured it was as good an opening as any. The only real warning was the sound of a slight thump from a block away, before the Atlesian spider mechs main cannon unleashed a full barrage on Ren the moment he separated enough from Neo and Roman for it to be safe. Its front right leg had been ripped off, and its central processing unit completely wrecked, but Watts had simply worked his rings' own systems into being the robotic beast's brain. It leaped into the air straight for the bodyguard afte the barrage, intending to land straight on top of him with one of its legs to try and shatter what remained of Ren's aura

...only to be immediately hit by the considerable power of one of Atlas's mech cannons, knocking him back and off his feet once again in as many seconds. Before he could make any attempt to get up, the thing landed on him with a painful sounding thud and accomplishing its objective. Ren's pink aura broke under the strain, and color returned to his body now that his semblance was inactive. Any follow-up attack was sure to knock him out.

 

[MidwayLives]

only to be immediately hit by the considerable power of one of Atlas's mech cannons, knocking him back and off his feet once again in as many seconds. Before he could make any attempt to get up, the thing landed on him with a painful sounding thud and accomplishing its objective. Ren's pink aura broke under the strain, and color returned to his body now that his semblance was inactive. Any follow-up attack was sure to knock him out.

Watching as Ren’s aura shattered, ‘Nora’ strutted over with one hand firmly on her hip. Her eyes looked just like hers but the bloodlust emitting from her made it clear she desired more than simply defeating Ren. Spreading her feet apart, she lashed out with a sharp kick to the face and holding his chin up with her foot, she wagged a finger.

She wasn’t done yet.~



Smashing the sole of her foot right into Ren’s face with the intention being to break his nose, she grinded it nice and good in there for a hot minute before finally letting his head droop to the ground. Turning away from Ren, Neo retook her usual appearance and did a gentleman’s bow before Roman...

“Neo...”

Yes, he was going to lavish her with praise on a job well done. Just like he always had. Him being younger was weird but they’d still be partners like they always had. No matter what. But as she waited for the compliments to start rolling in, Roman gripped both of her shoulders, having dropped Melodic Cudgel.

“What is going on with you!? You had the edge on him but what if he got angrier and hurt you? What if Watts hadn’t done his thing?! Don’t scare me like that!”

“....???”

What was he doing?? This...this wasn’t right! He was supposed to tell her what a good job she did and take the honors of finishing him off! Scrunching her face up into a pout, Neo was about to stamp her foot before Roman hugged her.



“Look, I’m...Im just glad you’re okay. Okay?”

“....”

She was surprised, she was embarrassed. But she did hug him back.
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Something inside Yang snapped.

It was just like that night, but inverted. She was the one who got to watch as the bull faunus turned and unleashed the full power of his demonic semblance on her partner. Maybe it didn't end with a maiming, but it didn't matter if this wasn't her Blake. She was still Blake, in her voice, her conviction her eyes. and Yang had failed to protect her again. She'd might as well been directly responsible for it this time.

A warning shot breezed past Eve's head

"That's far enough, Taurus."

If she turned to acknowledge the warning, Yang stood there with a resolute glare that burned fiery red instead of soft lilac, the edges of her hair flickering with flames as her semblance fought to break past the control she'd been working on these long months. She hadn't forgotten everything that just happened. She knew this Blake was dangerous, and that Eve, in her own way, seemed to have the other Faunus' best interests at heart, and seemed to care for her past being some sort of trophy. But that anger, the controlling, violent edge to her voice was still there. Like hell she was gonna just wave that off.

"I won't let Blake go back to whoever she's working for, but I'm not letting you drag her back to the White Fang either. Back off, or we're gonna finish what we started."

Eve's head lolled back to stare at the ceiling in something very close to exasperation as the blonde butted in yet again, the act earning a condescending shake of the head as she turned back around to give Yang a pitying tut.

"I think I get it. Look, let me spare you some pain before you waste any more of your own time. You might be pining for her, maybe even enough to have some kind of change of heart. But I'm getting bored of you, and you're stupider than you look if you think Blake would ever feel anything for a human. Or that I'd leave her in the hands of one."

It was all starting to make sense. Well, maybe not all of it, but it gave a certain meaning to the blonde's behaviour earlier, to the grudge she seemed to bear Eve despite the two of them having never met. More than that, it was the softness in her eyes when she implored Blake not to do... what she had been going to do, the emotion in her tone when she vowed never to let Eve touch her again. Well, it wasn't like she could say she didn't get it, and she might almost have been willing to try a diplomatic approach out of pity.

If it wasn't making her blood boil.

Really, what did this kid even think she was doing? Throwing Yang's warning a snort of contempt, she buckled her knees slightly and dug her heels into the ground, hand drifting ominously towards her hip.

"I don't think your aura's doing any better than mine is. And I'm faster."

Not to mention she was doing this for Blake's sake now. She wasn't going to let herself get frustrated, make mistakes, get weighed down by her emotions. The cold mask of the White Fang commander was fully erected now, more than a little aided by the numbness she felt in her chest at what Blake had tried to do.

One shot. That was all she needed to end this.

One shot was her specialty.

There was no warning that Eve had said everything she was going to say, no warning that she was done viewing Yang as anything other than an obstacle to be cut down. She'd try to do it non-lethally, out of sympathy and a little obligation for Yang having saved her own life.

But she was still going to make sure she was in no position to follow them.

Eve actually blurred in three different places as she stepped off her sudden dash up to Yang, blade imbued with the final reserves of power it had absorbed as the one true Wilt among the whirlwind of duplicates swung up in a neat arc for her organic arm—

The ceiling exploded in a shower of plaster, dust, and even a stray feather or two. Eve's long, slender blade was suddenly trapped in the jagged groove of a much larger one, draped almost effortlessly over the shoulder of the first face Yang saw that night that looked truly familiar. A gentle breeze lapped Qrow's cloak as the veteran huntsman stood with a signature slouch, eyes gently shut in what he probably would've called an 'anticipatory calm'. Yang knew it was 100% just to look cool. He opened his eyes while Eve strained against the clash for a moment in surprised confusion, levelling Yang a warm, reassuring smirk that seemed genuinely relieved to see someone who was who she was supposed to be in this fiasco.

"...Need a hand?"

If he knew his niece, she'd probably appreciate that line more than the help itself.

He sidestepped, whirled and twisted his grip before Eve could properly adjust to the sudden intrusion, and a wrench of his blade had her stumbling forward a step or two towards Yang in a moment of imbalance before she recovered mid-step and let her attention shift to the enemy behind her for a split-second, jaw clenched.

Or to put it another way, this was over.

Qrow almost winced at the sound of Yang capping that off whatever way she did, already a couple of steps away with a hand propped casually on his hip as Harbinger's gears spun and it collapsed into its retracted form.

"Actually, from what I saw on the screens you pretty much had that in the bag. But we need to move fast. This is bad, Yang."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Pyrrha Nikos was swift to arrive on the scene after she had picked herself up from accidentally running into...the redhead blinked at the sight of the pink and brown haired tiny one, already present and hugging Roman. That puzzled Nikos, she had been sure she'd beaten Neopolitan to the scene. The small girl must be extraordinarily fast. But that surprise only held her attention for a short time. The sound of another explosion drew her eye in an instant and she lifted her head to peer up at the skyscraper reaching into the sky above her.

On one of the higher floors, there came an explosion of pink Dust so forcefully intense that it outwardly shattered several window panes, a hailstorm of broken pieces of glass falling down in their direction. Nikos quickly raised her shield to protect herself. By the time the last of the glass had hit the ground, there was another boom, and a burning flare of orange flashing from somewhere deep within the building to accompany the sound.

A damn symphony of explosions followed after in such a rapid chain that in many cases it was hard to tell which one of them had struck first. The colors of pink and orange took alternating turns at lighting up the levels of the office building from deep within, some blasts having barely a second between them. And not only that, but the blasts were rising quickly as well! Each time those gathered down here were bathed in either the soft pink light or the wild burning orange, the source was from one level higher than the previous one, their struggle inside the offices taking them higher and higher with each passing moment. The unseen battle between the monstrous Valkyrie and the powerful but inexperienced fall maiden was quite clearly an intense as hell one.

Pyrrha pulled her gaze away from that spectacle and glanced around at ground level before settling on Watts. "You. Take care of your wounded and see that he-" She pointed to the unconscious Ren. "-is properly secured for the authorities. I shall assist in--"

The booming sound of another explosion rang throughout the area. "-that fight." Without another word she dashed into the building, leaving the rest of them to handle it all. She had a goal to accomplish, and with no sign of the Red Masque anywhere nearby...she would take care of it herself.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Eve's head lolled back to stare at the ceiling in something very close to exasperation as the blonde butted in yet again, the act earning a condescending shake of the head as she turned back around to give Yang a pitying tut.

"I think I get it. Look, let me spare you some pain before you waste any more of your own time. You might be pining for her, maybe even enough to have some kind of change of heart. But I'm getting bored of you, and you're stupider than you look if you think Blake would ever feel anything for a human. Or that I'd leave her in the hands of one."

It was all starting to make sense. Well, maybe not all of it, but it gave a certain meaning to the blonde's behaviour earlier, to the grudge she seemed to bear Eve despite the two of them having never met. More than that, it was the softness in her eyes when she implored Blake not to do... what she had been going to do, the emotion in her tone when she vowed never to let Eve touch her again. Well, it wasn't like she could say she didn't get it, and she might almost have been willing to try a diplomatic approach out of pity.

If it wasn't making her blood boil.

Really, what did this kid even think she was doing? Throwing Yang's warning a snort of contempt, she buckled her knees slightly and dug her heels into the ground, hand drifting ominously towards her hip.

"I don't think your aura's doing any better than mine is. And I'm faster."

Not to mention she was doing this for Blake's sake now. She wasn't going to let herself get frustrated, make mistakes, get weighed down by her emotions. The cold mask of the White Fang commander was fully erected now, more than a little aided by the numbness she felt in her chest at what Blake had tried to do.

One shot. That was all she needed to end this.

One shot was her specialty.

There was no warning that Eve had said everything she was going to say, no warning that she was done viewing Yang as anything other than an obstacle to be cut down. She'd try to do it non-lethally, out of sympathy and a little obligation for Yang having saved her own life.

But she was still going to make sure she was in no position to follow them.

Eve actually blurred in three different places as she stepped off her sudden dash up to Yang, blade imbued with the final reserves of power it had absorbed as the one true Wilt among the whirlwind of duplicates swung up in a neat arc for her organic arm—​

Yang listened with no reaction outside the determination her face was set into, and her cheeks definitely didn't tinge red as her mortal enemy mocked her and made what she and Blake had sound like some goofy teenage crush. When it was clear that Eve didn't intend to back down either, she took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders as she planted her feet and put up her dukes. Though something in Eve's last words cracked her mask of determination, and a self satisfied grin snuck out in the moments before the fight picked back up in earnest.

"You may be faster, and maybe even stronger. But I'm sm-"

She was gone.

Yang exploded. The air around her expanded outwards from the sheer heat radiating off of her as she drew her fist back with a battlecry. It looked like she didn't have time to be smart, and the best she could hope for was lucky, that the Eve she guessed was the right one. It was funny. Even when it seemed like the world had put them ostensibly on the same side, here she was again, in this fight. words weren't ever gonna work between these two. Yang didn't buy into destiny normally, but maybe that's what was; a destined clash. However the world rearranged itself, no matter how they changed outwardly or inwardly, the dragon and the horned rose would always find themselves in this moment, a bloody battle over one girls future-

The ceiling exploded in a shower of plaster, dust, and even a stray feather or two. Eve's long, slender blade was suddenly trapped in the jagged groove of a much larger one, draped almost effortlessly over the shoulder of the first face Yang saw that night that looked truly familiar. A gentle breeze lapped Qrow's cloak as the veteran huntsman stood with a signature slouch, eyes gently shut in what he probably would've called an 'anticipatory calm'. Yang knew it was 100% just to look cool. He opened his eyes while Eve strained against the clash for a moment in surprised confusion, levelling Yang a warm, reassuring smirk that seemed genuinely relieved to see someone who was who she was supposed to be in this fiasco.

"-I'm related to a whole bunch of professional hunters?" She finished, sounding as confused about her punchline as Eve probably was at this interruption

Yang immediately disregarded any thoughts she was having about destiny, because if it did exist it seemed super keen on screwing itself over. Yang almost tripped over her own feet as she stopped herself from absolutely decking her uncle in the face, and while Qrow might have been wearing a look of relief, Yang, despite her joking, looked... almost wary at this next familiar face putting themselves into this mess. How could she be sure this Qrow was the one she knew, and not some lunatic Salem acolyte who hated the taste of alcohol but just recently picked it up to-

"...Need a hand?"

If he knew his niece, she'd probably appreciate that line more than the help itself.

He sidestepped, whirled and twisted his grip before Eve could properly adjust to the sudden intrusion, and a wrench of his blade had her stumbling forward a step or two towards Yang in a moment of imbalance before she recovered mid-step and let her attention shift to the enemy behind her for a split-second, jaw clenched.

Or to put it another way, this was over.

Qrow almost winced at the sound of Yang capping that off whatever way she did, already a couple of steps away with a hand propped casually on his hip as Harbinger's gears spun and it collapsed into its retracted form.

Nevermind. That was definitely her uncle.

the look of sheer delight Yang wore when Eve next laid eyes on her wasn't directed at the faunus, but it likely didn't make what came next feel any better; A fist slammed into her gut with enough force to send her spinning into the air as that Yang followed up with followthrough of her punch, only for Eve's momentum to be completely reversed as the charge planted with it exploded to send her slamming back into the floor as Yang sent herself spinning downward with a shot from her left gauntlet, her right smashing into Eve's mask with a thunderous crash and the sound of a shattered aura

"Actually, from what I saw on the screens you pretty much had that in the bag. But we need to move fast. This is bad, Yang."

Yang stood up, her hands on her knees as she knees as she caught her breath, and she couldn't help but snort and give her uncle a thumbs up "Oh yeah. totally. Had em on the ropes the entire time. You know me, always playing with my food like Ruby with a plate of brocolli. and yea, this is like, the worst dream I've ever had, which is saying something. One sec"

She jogged off, grunted as she heaved Blake over her shoulder, jogged back with a bit of huffing, and grunted against as she scooped Eve under her other arm like a sack of potatoes. "ok. Where to?"