Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

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.​

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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.~

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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.

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

“....”

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

If Neo thought it was weird that her and Pyrrha were sprinting in the same direction, it didn't show on her face. She did her best to keep pace with the other girl, but those freakishly long legs were absolutely unfair, and when Neo rounded the corner shortly after the other woman she did, she was worried about what she might see.

But of the various things she was worried about, that wasn't even on the list, and she stumbled to a halt with an utterly baffled look of shock as Roman sat there hugging, uh, her? Her first thought was that, somewhere, somehow, one of the various dopplegangers she'd made with her semblance had become sentient, wandered off, and didn't realize how fragile it was and was risking its very being with what was a very dangerous hug for it in a bid to find some meaning in its sad, short existence.

Then she realized it was probably just someone who could also disguise themselves with their semblance. Why they'd chosen Neo, random beacon student extrordinaire, as their target and Roman as their prey, she didn't know, but there was two things she did know; that she thought she finally understood why she'd suddenly become the enemy of Atlas grunts everywhere, and that Roman was in danger. And as confusing as today had become, there was one thing Neo would always be sure about: If Roman was in danger, she'd get him out.

Which was why Neo got a flying kick to the head, by Neo. She landed with her trademark silence borne from a look of determination despite how bruised and disheveled she looked, the look of anger in her eyes briefly broken as she shot Roman a wan smile before she focused on her double

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Watts winced slightly as Neo went... oddly farther than usual, but a brief bit of soul searching on his part ended with him realizing that no, he didn't feel all that much remorse about the violent criminal getting a broken face. He disconnected from the spider mech, leaving the leg pinned over the man with just enough pressure for it to just be incredibly uncomfortable instead of doing any lasting damage, just in time for Pyrrha to come onto the scene. He regarded her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he hopped down from the droid's back.

"He's as secure as can be, miss Nikos. but I'll gladly accept your help in assisting me in rescuing my teammate" He said politely as he snatched his pistol up from where it had landed on the ground. He started to turn and follow pyrrha.

Which was why Neo got a flying kick to the head, by Neo. She landed with her trademark silence borne from a look of determination despite how bruised and disheveled she looked, the look of anger in her eyes briefly broken as she shot Roman a wan smile before she focused on her double

Excuse him but what.

He stuttered to a stop as he watched one of his few friends punt herself in the head, and he stared at whatever the ensuing reaction was with blank surprise. It seemed that things were not going to be all quiet here. Yet... as another explosion went off in the building behind him, he couldn't help but weighing the odds as he always did. Neo and Torchwick out here againt... uh... someone who apparently looked like Neo, and his partner against the emnitable miss Valkyrie. Along with Pyrrha Nikos. If Watts was a more trusting kid, he might've weighed that heavily in his partner's favor.

But he wasn't a very trusting kid, not tonight of all nights, and it was his partner in there. If something went wrong and Cinder got hurt when he could have helped, he'd never hear the end of it. If something went wrong and she was worse than hurt, he'd never let himself hear the end of it.

"Good luck with that" Was all he said before he turned and sprinted off on Pyrrha's trail for the lighting and the flames within the building

 

[Gus Gungus]

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?"

Qrow watched with one eyebrow arched while Yang took on all that extra legwork, holstering Harbinger's inactive mode across his lower back and pondering the notion that he might've been an even better uncle if he gave her a hand.

Eh. Maybe in a sec.

"Hey, blondie, first off if anyone's the dream here it's you. No way am I just some figment of Yang Xiao Long's subconscious, I'm thinking about stuff she doesn't even know about. Like how I know you used to help Ruby sneak her broccoli under the table to Zwei so she didn't have to finish it."

He wasn't a snitch so he never said anything, but he saw them do it. Like a hundred times. Banter aside, his countenance took on a more heavy bearing as he let his shoulders slouch forward, posture not-great as ever.

"...I don't think either of us are dreaming, firecracker. We're in this for real. Don't ask me how, but something is very wrong."

He didn't make any more of a case than that, certain on some level that his niece already knew she was awake as it gets. He broke his eyes from hers, letting them shift over to Blake with a regretful (if wary) air, peering around Yang to lift the faunus's mask as if to confirm it was really her slumped there.

"Where to next depends what you plan on doing with these two. Honestly, I'm not so sure we should be doing anything, Yang. We don't belong here. I take it whatever situation you stepped into was... not good. As in, even worse than you remember?"

He shifted his gaze down to who he guessed had to be Adam Taurus, if a little easier on the eyes. His grave frown tightened.

"And the less said about that, the better. Your sister's fighting the Grimm down in the city. Once we're all together we can start figuring out... Something, I guess. I don't know."

His sigh, admittedly, was weary, in the way he hadn't been weary since he found out Ozpin had lied to them the whole time. If this, somehow, was really real, he might've seen it as an opportunity to right some of the wrongs of this night, and the years after it, if things were just the way they were supposed to be. Knowing Salem's every move for the next two years might've been enough to turn the tide of this entire conflict.

The problem was as far as he knew Salem was still standing up in that office, acting like a different person-- One he was very familiar with, as it happened. He kept the cool, aloof facade up for his niece's sake, but really, how the hell was he supposed to be handling this?​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Qrow watched with one eyebrow arched while Yang took on all that extra legwork, holstering Harbinger's inactive mode across his lower back and pondering the notion that he might've been an even better uncle if he gave her a hand.

Eh. Maybe in a sec.

"Hey, blondie, first off if anyone's the dream here it's you. No way am I just some figment of Yang Xiao Long's subconscious, I'm thinking about stuff she doesn't even know about. Like how I know you used to help Ruby sneak her broccoli under the table to Zwei so she didn't have to finish it."

He wasn't a snitch so he never said anything, but he saw them do it. Like a hundred times. Banter aside, his countenance took on a more heavy bearing as he let his shoulders slouch forward, posture not-great as ever.

"...I don't think either of us are dreaming, firecracker. We're in this for real. Don't ask me how, but something is very wrong."

He didn't make any more of a case than that, certain on some level that his niece already knew she was awake as it gets. He broke his eyes from hers, letting them shift over to Blake with a regretful (if wary) air, peering around Yang to lift the faunus's mask as if to confirm it was really her slumped there.

"Where to next depends what you plan on doing with these two. Honestly, I'm not so sure we should be doing anything, Yang. We don't belong here. I take it whatever situation you stepped into was... not good. As in, even worse than you remember?"

He shifted his gaze down to who he guessed had to be Adam Taurus, if a little easier on the eyes. His grave frown tightened.

"And the less said about that, the better. Your sister's fighting the Grimm down in the city. Once we're all together we can start figuring out... Something, I guess. I don't know."

His sigh, admittedly, was weary, in the way he hadn't been weary since he found out Ozpin had lied to them the whole time. If this, somehow, was really real, he might've seen it as an opportunity to right some of the wrongs of this night, and the years after it, if things were just the way they were supposed to be. Knowing Salem's every move for the next two years might've been enough to turn the tide of this entire conflict.

The problem was as far as he knew Salem was still standing up in that office, acting like a different person-- One he was very familiar with, as it happened. He kept the cool, aloof facade up for his niece's sake, but really, how the hell was he supposed to be handling this?​

"I... I know it doesn't make any sense if this is a dream"

She sighed with a glance to the side "I've got too many new bruises for that to be the case. But can you really look me in the eye and say that it makes less sense than going back in time to the fall of beacon at the same time someone played a reverse uno card on everyone's brains?" She asked with a as she looked up a glare that was laced with frustration, not directed at her uncle personally but just with... all of this.

"But yea. I'm not really sure what to do with them. But if you're about to suggest that I abandon Blake then just... don't." She warned. She didn't care how different this Blake was. That wasn't something she felt physically capable of doing.

"Her though... ehhhh..."

She'd feel kinda bad just dumping her here. Its not like Beacon was a bastion of safety right now, and Yang was pretty much directly responsible for her being auraless and KO'd. There was even the tiniest, bittiest amount of camaraderie she felt with her at their shared faunus girl problem that maybe in some other life she might've shared with Adam if he wasn't 2000% an absolute tool along with being a monster. Kinda like how she had with Sun!

Then she remembered she'd been about to go for her other arm, and she unceremoniously dropped her to the ground with a thud.

"RIght! Dream or not, we should still find sis. We talked a little earlier but she must've been swept up in those grimm you mentioned, I hope she's ok. You lead, I'll follow" She murmured, a bit of fret leaking into her tone. Like, if there was anyone she'd be worried about less when it came to dealing with grimm, they were who she was in this room talking to right now. But life came at you fast, and she'd had some serious curveballs whipped at her own head tonight.

"I wonder if-" she used her now free hand to fish out her scroll, and tried contacting Ruby again.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"He's as secure as can be, miss Nikos. but I'll gladly accept your help in assisting me in rescuing my teammate" He said politely as he snatched his pistol up from where it had landed on the ground. He started to turn and follow pyrrha.

"...Very well then." Pyrrha replied politely enough, deferring to Watts' call on this. It was only fair, this matter did concern a member of his team. And despite her utmost focus on getting up to where that battle was raging, the sudden and frankly bizarre sight of one Neo getting kicked in the face by another Neo got even her to pause for a moment. So she hadn't been beaten here. That made more sense. Except it didn't because nothing about one Neo being kicked by another Neo made even a bit of sense. Is there a Neopolitan assembly line somewhere out there in Remnant? She thought to herself before resuming her sprint.​

"Good luck with that" Was all he said before he turned and sprinted off on Pyrrha's trail for the lighting and the flames within the building

As she reached one of the elevators up to the higher levels, she immediately opened the doors with use of her semblance and waited for Watts to step in before she did so herself, giving Watts a reassuring smile. Once the doors slid shut again and they were now out of sight of the rest, however, the act was dropped. There was a sudden tug as he felt the pistol in his hand being pulled down out of his grasp. The same sensation emanated with his rings, forcing him into an almost kneeling position. A swing of her shield for the back of his head followed a second later, Pyrrha aiming to hit hard enough to drop Watts into unconsciousness with a single blow.

Whether or not he was out, Pyrrha looked down at him the same way. The faux smile had vanished. "Idiot. You should have listened to me. Spared yourself the headache." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

s she reached one of the elevators up to the higher levels, she immediately opened the doors with use of her semblance and waited for Watts to step in before she did so herself, giving Watts a reassuring smile. Once the doors slid shut again and they were now out of sight of the rest, however, the act was dropped. There was a sudden tug as he felt the pistol in his hand being pulled down. The same sensation emanated with his rings, forcing him into an almost kneeling position. A swing of her shield for the back of his head followed a second later, Pyrrha aiming to hit hard enough to drop Watts into unconsciousness with a single blow.

His suspicion was well placed. So well placed in fact, that the moment the doors closed behind him, he was already turning with pistol in hand to level it at Pyrrha.

Too bad it didn't matter.

He grunted in surprise as the gun was ripped out of his hand, and his rings yanked him to the ground even as he strained against them. In the end, all his paranoia earned him was getting the shield to the front rather than the back of the head. His already weakened aura shattered, and he groaned slightly as he slowly fell backwards to the ground, unmoving.

... at least until Pyrrha walked away. His ears were ringing, he could feel his consciousness fading, and the pain was... less than ideal. But he weakly held up a hand as accessed his rings computer, working to make out the screen through his rapidly fading vision. He had to let her know. Do what he could to help her. There was no way she'd answer a message or a call, not while she was fighting Valkyrie, so he had to get into her scroll, access the base functions-

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

Whatever mess Cinder was dealing with, the speakers on her scroll suddenly came to life seemingly of their own accord with Arthur's voice, weak and strained and only audible with the scroll being forced to max volume.

" *Cough* Don't... trust Nikos"

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

He could only hope that was enough, because that was all he managed to say before his vision went from hazy to black, and his hands fell to his side as a forced sleep took him.

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I... I know it doesn't make any sense if this is a dream"

She sighed with a glance to the side "I've got too many new bruises for that to be the case. But can you really look me in the eye and say that it makes less sense than going back in time to the fall of beacon at the same time someone played a reverse uno card on everyone's brains?" She asked with a as she looked up a glare that was laced with frustration, not directed at her uncle personally but just with... all of this.

Qrow folded his arms and watched with growing sympathy to his once-stoic frown as he reminded himself (not for the first time) to try and be a little more sensitive in situations like this. Old habits. He gave a soft huff and closed his eyes.

"Guess I can't... Dream-Yang."

There was something more earnest in the way he delivered that jab, as if to serve as a reminder that no matter how bad things seemed or how crazy, the two of them together were better off than either of them had been five minutes ago.
​

"But yea. I'm not really sure what to do with them. But if you're about to suggest that I abandon Blake then just... don't." She warned. She didn't care how different this Blake was. That wasn't something she felt physically capable of doing.

"Her though... ehhhh..."

"Whoa whoa, hey. I wouldn't dream of it," he said with a sheepish itch of the head, recognising that tone and feigning ignorance as to why she'd even make that clear in the first place. He watched with a sort of awkward satisfaction as Yang dumped a mirror image of the person who'd almost ruined her to the floor, having to imagine this was kind of a personal moment for her.

As far as he knew, after all, the Adam Taurus they were familiar with was still out there somewhere.

"But I ran into a few of those masks she's wearing on my way over here, and they weren't friendly. So I hope you have something in mind to hold her with if she wakes up. Blake's a good kid, but she's not the person you want left in a position to surprise you." He added more sagely, slipping his hands into his pockets. Times like this what he wouldn't have given to be one of Ironwood's goldenboys with their stupid gravity bolas. He turned without further preamble to start leading the way, trusting Yang to guard the rear and swinging a hand back to casually unsheath Harbinger in case something came at them from the front.

Yang, for her part, found her progress impeded almost immediately as, of all things, a hand grabbed her ankle the moment she went to step away. Looking down brought her face to face with the figure of her nightmares once again, albeit groggy and struggling weakly to push herself up with her other hand. The minor detail of the crack Yang left in her mask meant she could see one of the faunus girl's steel-blue eyes, flared wide with far too much anger and determination for someone who probably needed as much medical attention as she did.

"I—won't—let—you!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh my god, will you just stay down?!" Cinder growled in sheer vexed frustration. This fight was going better for the young maiden that it had any right to, keeping the hammer-wielding lunatic out of melee range for the most part. But she owed about 90% of that to the incredible power she had been given, and her use of it at the moment was fueled almost entirely by burning rage, rather than by any real grasp on the things she could do with said power. She'd barely gotten the basics on any of it. If she had to guess, the only reason she hadn't already been dropped to the ground with a swing from that hammer was because Nora was tired and damaged herself. It had taken a lot out of Nora to deal with Hazel, to catch the slippery Tyrian. But this wasn't over yet.

"Never!" Nora spat back in fierce determination, lightning sparking all around her as she fired another grenade towards Cinder. A quick blast of flame collided with the projectile in mid-air, causing it to explode well before it was in range. Cinder's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Nora emerging from the blast and flames, a running jump having taken Valkyrie right through. Magnhild was coming down in an overhead swing and it was all the shocked Cinder could do to jump to the side, avoiding...

...absolutely nothing, as a quick follow up swing slammed into her before she was clear, sending Cinder skidding along the floor and under a few office desks before she came to a halt against a cubicle wall. "...well I'll be feeling that for a week--" ​

Whatever mess Cinder was dealing with, the speakers on her scroll suddenly came to life seemingly of their own accord with Arthur's voice, weak and strained and only audible with the scroll being forced to max volume.

" *Cough* Don't... trust Nikos"

"...Arthur?" Normally hearing his voice suddenly coming out of her scroll without her answering any call would have annoyed her. It would have been proof that he hacked her scroll, because of freaking course he did. But that didn't matter in the slightest right now. "Nikos? What?" But there was no point in questioning that information, Watts was already gone. And after the sound of her voice asking what he meant faded away, Cinder realized that things had gone uncomfortably quiet.

Slowly both her hands gripped the edge of the office desk in front of her, and her head just as slowly rose up to peek over.

Nora was standing right where she'd been, her hammer resting comfortably across both her shoulders and a disconcertingly wide smile across her face. Psychotic looking, even. But now she wasn't alone. Pyrrha Nikos stood beside her. The smile on Nikos' face was decidedly more of the "smug" variety.

"..." Cinder's hands and head slowly went back down to hiding behind the desk as she gulped in fear. This had unfortunately gotten so much worse. A fact that became abundantly clear as the desk itself moved so fast she wasn't able to counter it until the desk had crushed her against one of the office walls. An explosion of flame forced it off her and sent it briefly flying back at the pair before a swipe of Pyrrha's hand swiftly redirected it to the side, letting it break one of the windows and fall to the street below instead of hitting either of them.

"A shame. I thought I'd knocked him out cleanly but--"

"Shut. Up." Cinder snarled, flames crackling to life in both her hands. The two looked towards each other and nodded before charging in unison, coming at her from both sides. Twin blasts of fire launched towards them in turn. Nora got hit full on and was pushed back from the sheer force of the impact, but Nikos was able to avoid it entirely with the kind of ridiculous roll that befit someone of her remarkable skill. Pyrrha's rifle rounds impacted against her aura, draining the little she had left bit by bit. Cinder's left hand rose up to fire another burst of flame but before she could, the sound of a grenade whistling through the air got her eyes to widen in alarm.

Those golden eyes shifted to look over to the other side and widened even more when Cinder realized that the grenade was only mere inches impacting her face. It was all she could do to throw her arms across her face before the explosive blew up and knocked her back, making a Cinder-sized dent in the wall and her aura shattering completely. The maiden laid face-first on the ground, unmoving for a handful of moments...and then her hand slowly moved to push herself up. Cinder visibly struggled to stand, but she did stand.

By the time the blinding lights in her eyes from having a grenade explode point-blank in her face were gone, and the smoke from that blast had faded away...Pyrrha Nikos clearly stood right before her, the two staring eye-to-eye. It was like she had been patiently waiting for Cinder to get up. Perhaps it was some messed up way to give a defeated warrior a final respect. Cinder wasn't certain.

But when she was firmly back on her feet, Pyrrha lashed out with a slice of her blade. Cinder refused to give her the satisfaction, the black-haired student moving to dodge. She wasn't nearly fast enough. The attack still cut along her face and the amount of agonizing pain that shot through her system was unbearable. She fell backwards onto the ground again, writhing around and rolling in suffering as her hands gripped her face. Her anguished screams would have made most anybody feel sorry for her. If either of the others felt that, it didn't show.

When her now bloodstained hands pulled away...it was with her one remaining good eye that she saw both of them standing over her. Pyrrha's face was remarkably composed and Nora...Nora seemed like she was about two seconds away from bursting into gleeful laughter.

If looks could kill, the sheer amount of hate that poured out from Cinder's right eye would have been enough to do it ten times over.

Her aura may have been gone, but she still had power left. Just from the way they were standing at ease told her they didn't realize that fact. With both unprepared, a burst of flame that exploded outward in all directions knocked them off their feet. Before they could even think about countering, another burst of fire thrust Cinder after them and she clotheslined both of them. All three of them crashed through one of the building's outer windows, and all three of them fell down onto the street below near where Roman and the others still remained.

Cinder used both of them to cushion her own fall(with a certain amount of satisfaction Cinder noticed that Nora's aura finally broke) and scrambled to her feet in an adrenaline-fueled rush. "Roman!" She yelled, some of the blood from her facial wound getting into her mouth. "Help me with--" It was at the moment she realized that there were somehow two Neos.

What the hell?​

 

[MidwayLives]

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."

The punch connected and Ruby crashed to the ground, Crescent Rose sliding out from her grasp and clattering to the ground in front of her. As she reached out to grab it, she felt a foot stomp down onto her back, straining her already strained aura even further. Was this really happening? This night had been one upset after another. First, that dual-haired shapeshifting woman, another person with silver eyes managed to take down their dragon, and on top of that? She was losing the battle to herself. What if any of those that he'd sent to aid her in the capture of the Maiden failed? She was sure she'd be held to blame for their failure. What would happen...?

~~~~

"I-Is it okay if we talk?"

"Ruby. What is there to talk about? Ah, perhaps about your complete and total failure to do as I'd asked?" He mused, his voice still as firm and commanding as it'd been back when they'd first met after Ruby left her uncle's crew to try and strike out on her own once she'd felt she'd learned enough from them. Gulping and holding up her hands, Ruby attempted to defend herself.

"I-I know you're probably mad b-but...There were circumstances...and-and..."

"Ruby. I gave you a position of power, let you lead the forces that were to undertake this task. Grimm ravaged the school and surrounding area, Atlas's 'advanced' machines turned on their users, everything was in disarray and practically handed to you on a silver platter. If you are to do anything, don't let it be coming in here and attempting to excuse yourself like a child who's afraid of being punished. It's pathetic. That's what they are, you know? Excuses. The deck was stacked in your favor, and despite those under your command or aligned with you, none of them could do what I asked of you. So, instead of taking this as a lesson, you instead chose to come see me and give me nothing but excuses."

"I-I'm sorry..."

"What is there to be sorry about, Ruby? There's nothing now that you've failed to lead us to our dream. Sure, we can try again and again, but now they know what we're capable of, what you're capable of. You're no threat to them anymore. You're a joke. An unfunny one at that."

"Wha-What?! We-We can't be giving up! I-I promised you I'd help you achieve your dream! The two of us, together!"

"....Perhaps."

"Thank you-"

"Perhaps your sister will succeed where you failed."

"W-What?! But Yang...Yang wouldn't survive in a role like this!! They'd make short work of her!! Please, Ozpin, you have to reconsider-"

"Why? You survived, didn't you?"

"..."

Rising from his seat, Ozpin made his way over to Ruby and looked down upon her, a disingenuous smile appearing on his face.

"The dream will go on, Ruby. You can be sure of that. But, I'm afraid that your role-as it was- has ended. From now on, you'll be taking orders from Yang rather than the other way around. Take this to heart, Ruby. If you'd been a bit quicker, a bit smarter, perhaps even a bit stronger, your forces wouldn't have been so completely crushed underfoot. " Ruby could say nothing as the man she worshiped and looked up to basically told her, she'd been demoted. As he started to turn away, Ruby pathetically tripped over herself trying to grab onto the back of his cloak.

"But what about Salem!? What about my revenge!?"

That seemed to earn a blip of sympathy from Ozpin as he turned and knelt down. Running a hand through Ruby's hair, she smiled. It was starting to finally feel like it'd always been. That was at least until Ozpin spoke again.

"Ruby. If you couldn't do this, you'll never avenge your mother."

Ozpin and her uncle were all she had. She doubted he'd been receptive to the idea of her returning because she'd been beaten.

~~~

She stood outside where she knew the tribe that her uncle lead to be. Gripping tightly onto the handle of Crescent Rose, she noticed a couple of the bandits eyeing her. They remembered her and she them. She'd left the group once she felt she'd learned all she could have and had her uncle's blessing to go make something of herself.

"My uncle. Bring him to me. Now."

"You were once with us, Red Masque...But you don't make the orders anymore. Get out." They hissed back at her and Ruby could feel her chest starting to rise. She'd already been handed the humiliation of her life. She didn't want to have to go on a bloody spree through this band of degenerates. Before it'd come to that however, she heard a familiar voice.

"Ruby."

"Uncle Qrow!"

He was a lot scruffier than the Qrow most were used to. His cape in tatters, he held Harbinger lazily over his shoulder. Looking out of the corners of his eyes at the two bandits, they nodded and vanished into the woods. Rushing forward, Ruby leaped at her uncle, wrapping her arms around him. Once she felt the hug was safely secure, she began to cry. "Uncle Qrow! I'm..I'm so sorry I left! The other bandits were right, I wasn't ready yet!"

Qrow said nothing at first or even seemed to return the hug. "Why did you come back?"

Looking up with fresh tears in her eyes, Ruby sniffled. "W-What..?"

Qrow gazed down at her, his eyes piercing and his gaze as cold as ice. "I said.." Breaking off the hug, he gave Ruby a sharp kick to the ground. "Why did you come back here? There's nothing for you here, kid."

"Uncle Qrow, please! I-"

In a moment faster than Ruby could realize what'd just happened, Qrow had moved his blade and pointed it right at his niece. "Don't give me any bull. You came here after you ran away, I told you that if you wanted to stay you needed to earn it. You did. Then when you felt you were ready, you up and left. Now, what, something happens and you come crawling back to us? I thought i'd raised you better than to grovel, kid." Even after he was finished speaking, Harbinger wasn't removed and his grip on the blade's hilt seemed tense. Ruby slowly held up her hands. "Please, Uncle Qrow! You don't understand! I-I have no one else to turn to!"

Qrow looked down at his niece and she looked up at him.

"I don't care."

He pulled Harbinger back and hoisted it aloft his shoulder once more. "Get up and get out of here, Ruby." Scrambling to her feet, Ruby's continued pleas fell on deaf ears. "If you come back here again..."

"Uncle Qrow!"

"I'll deal with you myself."

With that he walked off, leaving Ruby alone to cry in despair.

~~~

No...No, she couldn't surrender. She'd have nobody, NOTHING, if she did! She may as well have just died! At least with that, there was the promise of eternal slumber. Eternal peace. Whenever she was forced to kill someone, she hoped that'd be the case. Except for those who didn't deserve such luxuries. Even in the ever after. If she gave up now, she'd be throwing away everything that she'd worked so hard to achieve. Her living with her uncle, her training with him.

Even the day she met Ozpin and he promised her of a better world. All she'd have to do is be his right hand and help him whenever he needed it.

To surrender would be equivalent to pissing all of that way for her own skin. But as a person, 'Ruby Rose', had lost her value from the day she was born. 'The Red Masque' was all anybody ever cared about. Except for when he talked to her. Smashing her artificial hand into the ground, destroying the tile, she growled as she started to push herself up, despite the pressure on her back. "I...Won't....I refuse....."

I'm not his pawn...!
He is the one....
The only one who ever gave my life meaning!
But how could the likes of you ever understand that!?

Turning her head to glare at her counterpart once she'd sufficiently pushed herself up, she snarled. "I'd rather DIE than surrender to SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!!" Bursting forward in a trail of rose petals, she scooped up Crescent Rose and continued forward, shifting it to it's rifle form as she went. Even if she was occupied with this, she had to have faith in those he'd tasked to work alongside her. This mission wouldn't fail, it couldn't fail! Skidding to a stop, Ruby took aim and glared down her 'good' counterpart. One part of her still did desire to be friends. But the rest of her knew it'd never work out. They were simply...too different.

"I won't let his DREAM DIE HERE!!!"

*BANG BANG BANG!*
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Qrow folded his arms and watched with growing sympathy to his once-stoic frown as he reminded himself (not for the first time) to try and be a little more sensitive in situations like this. Old habits. He gave a soft huff and closed his eyes.

"Guess I can't... Dream-Yang."

There was something more earnest in the way he delivered that jab, as if to serve as a reminder that no matter how bad things seemed or how crazy, the two of them together were better off than either of them had been five minutes ago.​

She laughed despite literally everything else about the situation, and jabbed at her uncle with her elbow. "Oh please. If this was your bad dream, then instead of evil Blake we'd have like, evil... Clover. Or something. But I'm glad you're here for me, Dream-uncle." She didn't really know any of her uncle's friends outside of her dad, and that really wasn't a road she wanted to take her brain down after this mess. Except for all the people who kept betraying them or running away, like Lionheart or her mom or...

Yea, this was a bad thought trail. At least Ironwood was proving to be a cool enough guy! Or was working on it anyways.

"Whoa whoa, hey. I wouldn't dream of it," he said with a sheepish itch of the head, recognising that tone and feigning ignorance as to why she'd even make that clear in the first place. He watched with a sort of awkward satisfaction as Yang dumped a mirror image of the person who'd almost ruined her to the floor, having to imagine this was kind of a personal moment for her.

As far as he knew, after all, the Adam Taurus they were familiar with was still out there somewhere.

"But I ran into a few of those masks she's wearing on my way over here, and they weren't friendly. So I hope you have something in mind to hold her with if she wakes up. Blake's a good kid, but she's not the person you want left in a position to surprise you." He added more sagely, slipping his hands into his pockets. Times like this what he wouldn't have given to be one of Ironwood's goldenboys with their stupid gravity bolas. He turned without further preamble to start leading the way, trusting Yang to guard the rear and swinging a hand back to casually unsheath Harbinger in case something came at them from the front.

"That's... fair." She eventually sighed out with a begrudging frown as she looked over at the faunus across her shoulder. She was sure if she could get this Blake to sit down and have a conversation they'd figure something out, but they had to get to a place that'd be safe, and if Blake woke before that... She looked around for a few seconds, before her face lit up. "Ah ha! One sec lemme WHOA-"

Qrow folded his arms and watched with growing sympathy to his once-stoic frown as he reminded himself (not for the first time) to try and be a little more sensitive in situations like this. Old habits. He gave a soft huff and closed his eyes.

"Guess I can't... Dream-Yang."

There was something more earnest in the way he delivered that jab, as if to serve as a reminder that no matter how bad things seemed or how crazy, the two of them together were better off than either of them had been five minutes ago.



"Whoa whoa, hey. I wouldn't dream of it," he said with a sheepish itch of the head, recognising that tone and feigning ignorance as to why she'd even make that clear in the first place. He watched with a sort of awkward satisfaction as Yang dumped a mirror image of the person who'd almost ruined her to the floor, having to imagine this was kind of a personal moment for her.

As far as he knew, after all, the Adam Taurus they were familiar with was still out there somewhere.

"But I ran into a few of those masks she's wearing on my way over here, and they weren't friendly. So I hope you have something in mind to hold her with if she wakes up. Blake's a good kid, but she's not the person you want left in a position to surprise you." He added more sagely, slipping his hands into his pockets. Times like this what he wouldn't have given to be one of Ironwood's goldenboys with their stupid gravity bolas. He turned without further preamble to start leading the way, trusting Yang to guard the rear and swinging a hand back to casually unsheath Harbinger in case something came at them from the front.

Yang, for her part, found her progress impeded almost immediately as, of all things, a hand grabbed her ankle the moment she went to step away. Looking down brought her face to face with the figure of her nightmares once again, albeit groggy and struggling weakly to push herself up with her other hand. The minor detail of the crack Yang left in her mask meant she could see one of the faunus girl's steel-blue eyes, flared wide with far too much anger and determination for someone who probably needed as much medical attention as she did.

"I—won't—let—you!"​

Yang took a second to let her breathing resume a normal pace after Eve snatched her ankle like a starving zombie, staring at the faunus. A swirl of uncomfortable emotions spun inside her about this weird not quite Adam Taurus, a vicious foam on top of black well of anxious worry she had at the situation in general.

Anger that she even existed, that Adam of all people was given some sort of second lease on life, and that, somehow, it'd put Blake against her, made her something she hadn't been.

An ugly bit of satisfaction at seeing her enemy in such a state, crawling, disheveled, trying to pick a fight she wasn't in any state to win anymore.

A bit of pity, seeing such a proud warrior struggle like that

and most frustratingly, understanding. Knowing that if this had gone the other way, if her uncle hadn't have shown up and she guessed wrong, that would be her there, watching someone else take Blake, and desperately afraid that they didn't have her best interests at heart. That they weren't what she needed. Or worse, that they were, and that she wasn't.

"...I won't let anything happen to her. I promise."

It was said without malice, one last reassurance that she was sure wouldn't mean anything to the faunus, but felt obligated to give regardless.

Then she kicked her in the head with her free foot, and only felt a little guilty about how good it felt. She let shook her head and put Blake down before snatching Gambol shroud and examining its ribbon. a minute of wrapping, twisting, and tying later, and she bounded up to her feet and shook her shoulders before she shot her uncle a grin. "Right! now we can go." She stated with all smiles and confidence. Had to get her head in the right space before they found her little sis, who knew what she was dealing with? She couldn't be a mess when that reunion happened.

 

[MidwayLives]

Then she realized it was probably just someone who could also disguise themselves with their semblance. Why they'd chosen Neo, random beacon student extrordinaire, as their target and Roman as their prey, she didn't know, but there was two things she did know; that she thought she finally understood why she'd suddenly become the enemy of Atlas grunts everywhere, and that Roman was in danger. And as confusing as today had become, there was one thing Neo would always be sure about: If Roman was in danger, she'd get him out.

Which was why Neo got a flying kick to the head, by Neo. She landed with her trademark silence borne from a look of determination despite how bruised and disheveled she looked, the look of anger in her eyes briefly broken as she shot Roman a wan smile before she focused on her double

This had been a strange feeling at first. Normally, the two got their fun by picking on others and reveling in their misery(and the profit it tended to rake in!)but a genuine hug? Born out of worry? Neo still wasn't 100% how to feel about that. But she was sure that a foot to the face wasn't going to be pleasurable. Pushing Roman aside-but still holding his hand til the last possible second-and letting go of his hand and bringing up Hush as the sole of her counterpart's foot would have otherwise smashed into her face. Skidding back and taking a moment to realize what had just happened, she could feel the confused yet happy feelings from just a moment prior starting to ebb away in favor of a wash of anger.

Her hand never gripped the handle of Hush so hard before.

No, no! If she let herself get too angry, it'd be clear to this Roman that he wasn't HIS Neo.

Letting out a muted sigh to calm herself, she smiled and looked over to Roman who'd fallen not so gracefully on his butt after Neo let go of his hand. Gesturing over to Roman's actual Neo, she twirled a finger around the side of her head indicating that this chick was nuttier than any candy bar. Just a total psycho if you wanted her two cents. Wrapping the same hand around her neck and giving it a mock shake, she also implied that she'd been choked. All part of a plan for the enemy to likely try to getting closer to Roman once his loyal companion was out of the way.

Roman had spent a lot of time with Neo and understood the gestures and what they meant to get across. Sparing a glance over at the Neo who had just 'saved' him, he did note the bruises all across her face. Likely earned as part of a brawl, maybe...Glancing back to NotHIS!Neo, more than likely it'd been earned as a result of her getting too cocky while trying to choke out or otherwise incapacitate his Neo! Rising to his feet, Roman looked between the two and NotHis!Neo rolled her eyes. What would it take to convince him that she was his and that dirty bruised ice cream cone needed to take the hint and split town while she still had all of her limbs and internal organs in working order.

"Neo...and Neo....I...I don't get it..."

Hmmm, while she was sure, the two would end up coming to blows. Maybe another figurative knife in the back would work to earn this Roman's side. Shifting to take on the form of the Atlas soldier, she held a finger to her throat and sloooowly dragged it across before pointing it dramatically at the other Neo.

"She...killed Atlas troops....? No, no way!"

As the soldier seemed to 'shatter', NotHis!Neo was left nodding with a sad look on her face. To be set upon by a brutal killer was such a horrible thing. More so when they took on the form of his beloved companion! Patting Roman on the cheek and flashing him a warm smile of her own, she made it clear to him. She'd protect him no matter what.~

​

If looks could kill, the sheer amount of hate that poured out from Cinder's right eye would have been enough to do it ten times over.

Her aura may have been gone, but she still had power left. Just from the way they were standing at ease told her they didn't realize that fact. With both unprepared, a burst of flame that exploded outward in all directions knocked them off their feet. Before they could even think about countering, another burst of fire thrust Cinder after them and she clotheslined both of them. All three of them crashed through one of the building's outer windows, and all three of them fell down onto the street below near where Roman and the others still remained.

Cinder used both of them to cushion her own fall(with a certain amount of satisfaction Cinder noticed that Nora's aura finally broke) and scrambled to her feet in an adrenaline-fueled rush. "Roman!" She yelled, some of the blood from her facial wound getting into her mouth. "Help me with--" It was at the moment she realized that there were somehow two Neos.

What the hell?

Truth be told, Roman still didn't have the best of grips on what exactly was going on.

One of his Neos was...not her? One of them-if it wasn't even Neo-had gone and murdered Atlas soldiers?!

Well...if they did end up fighting...,heh, it'd be over him right??

Before he could voice any protests, he literally screamed as Cinder crashed down near them with two other people. One of whom she'd been beating up and the other Roman didn't recognize. He really needed to pay attention more.

"EHHHHHH!?! CINDER, LIKE, YOUR EYE!"

Okay, okay, less worrying about that, more worrying about helping his friend. Taking aim at Nikos, Roman opened fire. All while shouting over his shoulder.

"Hey, uh, if you two wanna fight it out, that'd be great!"

~~~

As Roman turned his attention towards helping Cinder(he was really the only one who could...), NotHis!Neo watched him go and sighed again. Seeing her Roman-or at least some other version of him running off to help Cinder rather than her made her angrier than she realized a person could get. But, oh well, maybe Roman would truly accept her if Neo....ugh....helped Cinder once she dealt with the one pressing problem before her. Looking over her younger counterpart, Neo's eyes narrowed. Who did this littler bitch think she was sticking her nose in HER business? Sure, Neo may have possibly ruined her day and or life, but so what?

HER Roman had gotten EATEN. EATEN AND THEN BLOWN UP. All while she was forced to watch as the winds took her wherever they may. A life without him had been rough from the start and now, Cinder seemed to consider her no better than a henchman. Something that made her blood boil. So, she didn't care what it took. Unless this other her was willing to cooperate and either deal with the mess that her older self had left for her or get along with her then there was no dancing around what needed to be done...

"..."

 

[MyrtenRose]

No...No, she couldn't surrender. She'd have nobody, NOTHING, if she did! She may as well have just died! At least with that, there was the promise of eternal slumber. Eternal peace. Whenever she was forced to kill someone, she hoped that'd be the case. Except for those who didn't deserve such luxuries. Even in the ever after. If she gave up now, she'd be throwing away everything that she'd worked so hard to achieve. Her living with her uncle, her training with him.

Even the day she met Ozpin and he promised her of a better world. All she'd have to do is be his right hand and help him whenever he needed it.

To surrender would be equivalent to pissing all of that way for her own skin. But as a person, 'Ruby Rose', had lost her value from the day she was born. 'The Red Masque' was all anybody ever cared about. Except for when he talked to her. Smashing her artificial hand into the ground, destroying the tile, she growled as she started to push herself up, despite the pressure on her back. "I...Won't....I refuse....."

I'm not his pawn...!
He is the one....
The only one who ever gave my life meaning!
But how could the likes of you ever understand that!?

Turning her head to glare at her counterpart once she'd sufficiently pushed herself up, she snarled. "I'd rather DIE than surrender to SOMEONE LIKE YOU!!!" Bursting forward in a trail of rose petals, she scooped up Crescent Rose and continued forward, shifting it to it's rifle form as she went. Even if she was occupied with this, she had to have faith in those he'd tasked to work alongside her. This mission wouldn't fail, it couldn't fail! Skidding to a stop, Ruby took aim and glared down her 'good' counterpart. One part of her still did desire to be friends. But the rest of her knew it'd never work out. They were simply...too different.

"I won't let his DREAM DIE HERE!!!"

*BANG BANG BANG!*

"..."

It hurt. Not the sniper shots, which Ruby countered with her own sniper fire. With impeccable aim, each of dark!Ruby's bullets collided with hers with the characteristic sounds of metal hitting metal ringing through the air, the various pairs grinding to a halt in mid-air before clattering uselessly to the ground.

Seeing another version of herself that would go to such lengths for this dream, that was what really stung. That she was walking this journey. A journey where she was doing what she thought was right, no matter what it would cost her or anyone else. That path...it wouldn't take her anywhere good. Even worse...it really was like looking at her reflection, but there was more there. In some weird sorta way, this Ruby reminded her of Yang. That stubborn determination Ruby heard echo so clearly in her darker self's words. A promise to see this through to the end, whatever that end would turn out to be.

"I...I'm sorry to hear that." Ruby admitted, shooting forward in a blur shortly afterwards, swinging Crescent around in a whirl of attacks and finishing in her trying to hook the other's legs and yank her off her feet before Ruby threw a kick aiming to knock that sniper scythe out of her hands and follow up with another punch to the face.
​

"I wonder if-" she used her now free hand to fish out her scroll, and tried contacting Ruby again.

The call was ignored because yeah.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Before he could voice any protests, he literally screamed as Cinder crashed down near them with two other people. One of whom she'd been beating up and the other Roman didn't recognize. He really needed to pay attention more.

"EHHHHHH!?! CINDER, LIKE, YOUR EYE!"

Okay, okay, less worrying about that, more worrying about helping his friend. Taking aim at Nikos, Roman opened fire. All while shouting over his shoulder.

"Later! Worry about it later! This BITCH--" Golden eyes narrowed in a piercing glare. "-isn't on our side!" She yelled back, biting down on the extreme pain. She was quick to make sure the auraless Nora was down for the count by kicking her in the face. That was all Cinder managed before Pyrrha shield bashed her, pushing the maiden back. That same shield rose to block Roman's shots. When they ceased, Pyrrha lowered the shield, inadvertently revealing the smile on her face. Cinder was running on fumes at this point, and it seemed the only other opponent on the field she had to face was...Roman. Pyrrha liked these odds.

In the blink of an eye, her shield was thrown and struck Roman right in the neck. By the time it rebounded back, Pyrrha was close enough to catch it, slinging it back onto her arm and pivoting into a lower stance to deliver a forceful kick to Roman's solar plexus. At the same time her shield blocked Cinder's flaming fist before the punch could come anywhere near connecting, giving the fall maiden a confident smirk just to provoke more anger and further unbalance her.

 

[Gus Gungus]

She laughed despite literally everything else about the situation, and jabbed at her uncle with her elbow. "Oh please. If this was your bad dream, then instead of evil Blake we'd have like, evil... Clover. Or something. But I'm glad you're here for me, Dream-uncle." She didn't really know any of her uncle's friends outside of her dad, and that really wasn't a road she wanted to take her brain down after this mess. Except for all the people who kept betraying them or running away, like Lionheart or her mom or...

Yea, this was a bad thought trail. At least Ironwood was proving to be a cool enough guy! Or was working on it anyways.

He gave a short, raspy-- yet sporting-- laugh at that, acutely aware in that moment that Yang had never met a single one of his friends outside the Atlesian specialist before. In his defense, they usually weren't really a family crowd.

"Ah, but he's already evil. I'm just waiting for him to slip up and show his cards."

If nothing else, one of their little routines was enough to keep him from thinking too much on what else might've been different about the scenario they now found themselves in, all the dark turns an upside-down world could've taken.

Yang took a second to let her breathing resume a normal pace after Eve snatched her ankle like a starving zombie, staring at the faunus. A swirl of uncomfortable emotions spun inside her about this weird not quite Adam Taurus, a vicious foam on top of black well of anxious worry she had at the situation in general.

Anger that she even existed, that Adam of all people was given some sort of second lease on life, and that, somehow, it'd put Blake against her, made her something she hadn't been.

An ugly bit of satisfaction at seeing her enemy in such a state, crawling, disheveled, trying to pick a fight she wasn't in any state to win anymore.

A bit of pity, seeing such a proud warrior struggle like that

and most frustratingly, understanding. Knowing that if this had gone the other way, if her uncle hadn't have shown up and she guessed wrong, that would be her there, watching someone else take Blake, and desperately afraid that they didn't have her best interests at heart. That they weren't what she needed. Or worse, that they were, and that she wasn't.

"...I won't let anything happen to her. I promise."

It was said without malice, one last reassurance that she was sure wouldn't mean anything to the faunus, but felt obligated to give regardless.

Then she kicked her in the head with her free foot, and only felt a little guilty about how good it felt. She let shook her head and put Blake down before snatching Gambol shroud and examining its ribbon. a minute of wrapping, twisting, and tying later, and she bounded up to her feet and shook her shoulders before she shot her uncle a grin. "Right! now we can go." She stated with all smiles and confidence. Had to get her head in the right space before they found her little sis, who knew what she was dealing with? She couldn't be a mess when that reunion happened.

...Though he did kinda blame it for his instincts being distracted enough not to pick up on that before it happened. He watched the scene play with hand tight on his weapon and eyebrow cocked in curiosity, unwilling to count the White Fang's champion out as a threat on the virtue of reputation alone, however clear it was that she was in no position to stop Yang anymore.

As for Eve, many things went through her head in that final exchange. Everything Yang was imagining had the chips fallen in the other direction and more, the fear that the last time she saw the one she loved would be her being spirited away in the arms of someone else, all the outrage and spite she felt towards the huntress for just not minding her business and letting her do this, for refusing to keep her nose out of it. A furious, heedless denial of the fact that she was beaten as her free hand grasped around blindly for her weapon, an eery reflection of the behavior of the Taurus in Yang's memories during his final moments, the man who literally threw himself on a sword rather than let Blake go.

The emotion that proved dominant in the end, however, and which very much wasn't an accurate reflection of the Adam she knew, was the fear. The faunus's visible eye was wide and glistening with it after Yang gave that final assurance, not on her own behalf, or even for the threat to what she had with Blake; for the girl herself. On the deepest, most entrenched level of the maelstrom of emotion that was her brain, she was just terrified of what might happen to Blake from here, that she'd finally come to understand the full consequences of her abandonment on her partner's psyche, been ready to make it right, only to be rendered powerless to stop some complete unknown quantity from taking her away.

The finality to Yang's tone provoked a noise from the faunus that, while still angry, was clearly far more of a sob than anything else, and as she realised her grasping hand was never going to reach Wilt's handle she let it curl into a frustrated, quivering fist. For a moment she just slumped like that, helpless to do anything but hold on to Yang's ankle, the great Eve Taurus forced to her knees before a human yet again.

Then she slammed her fist into the marble floor, broken aura be damned, and threw her head back with an untethered scream.

"GET AWAY FROM H-"

The final, and most crucial, thing to go through Eve's head was Yang's boot.

Qrow watched all that play out with an expression suggesting he didn't know whether to comment on it or not, eventually rubbing the back of his head with a thoughtful frown.

"...Ever hijack a bullhead before?"

---

Five minutes later.

"Manta Eight-Zero, repeat, Manta Eight-Zero, come in, you-"

He mashed a few buttons until he figured out which one turned off the radio on this thing, one or two of them making their technically-not-stolen-because-this-was-a-crisis transportation rock in worrying fashion.

"Yeah, okay. I can fly this. Just oooooone or two differences from the older models. Besides, I fly all the time."

He appeared to be convincing himself moreso than Yang.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"..."

It hurt. Not the sniper shots, which Ruby countered with her own sniper fire. With impeccable aim, each of dark!Ruby's bullets collided with hers with the characteristic sounds of metal hitting metal ringing through the air, the various pairs grinding to a halt in mid-air before clattering uselessly to the ground.

"Grrrrr!!!"

Step for step, shot to to shot, blow to blow. Her other matched her in nearly every way. It was aggravating! She'd gone through the toughest training to get to where she stood today! What did this other her have?! What did she have to sacrifice to get to where she stood!? As there was a dull in the firing, Ruby grit her teeth and simply screamed. "RAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
​

Seeing another version of herself that would go to such lengths for this dream, that was what really stung. That she was walking this journey. A journey where she was doing what she thought was right, no matter what it would cost her or anyone else. That path...it wouldn't take her anywhere good. Even worse...it really was like looking at her reflection, but there was more there. In some weird sorta way, this Ruby reminded her of Yang. That stubborn determination Ruby heard echo so clearly in her darker self's words. A promise to see this through to the end, whatever that end would turn out to be.

"I...I'm sorry to hear that." Ruby admitted, shooting forward in a blur shortly afterwards, swinging Crescent around in a whirl of attacks and finishing in her trying to hook the other's legs and yank her off her feet before Ruby threw a kick aiming to knock that sniper scythe out of her hands and follow up with another punch to the face.

Prepared this time, Ruby sidestepped and jumped back, blocking with her own weapon when she needed to. All while scoffing at her other's words. "No. You're not. If you were..." Ruby jumped up to avoid the attempted hook of the leg. The incoming kick still managed to knock her weapon from her hand. But as she touched down, she grabbed the arm that the incoming fist was attached to and reared back her mechanical hand.

*THWACK*

Seeking to crack her counterpart in the face as hard as she could, she tried to keep a tight grip on her arm to keep her from going anywhere. "Then you'd understand why I can't give up! Him, my uncle, neither of them would accept me if I lost! But you don't get it, you don't get a DAMN thing!"

Letting out a feral sounding shout, Ruby still hesitated on giving her 'good' other another punch. As she looked into her eyes, she realized. That at one point her eyes had looked that innocent, so full of hope. For all her heart was telling her to wrap her artificial hand around Ruby's neck and crush her throat, another told her no.

She listened.

Whipping her counterpart to the ground, Ruby rushed over to yet again retrieve her weapon. "I...I won't kill you. Get out of here! GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Slipping Crescent Rose over her shoulder, she took one more passing look at her twin...Closing her eyes, she burst away, towards all the noise that Cinder's fight had cooked up.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Later! Worry about it later! This BITCH--" Golden eyes narrowed in a piercing glare. "-isn't on our side!" She yelled back, biting down on the extreme pain. She was quick to make sure the auraless Nora was down for the count by kicking her in the face. That was all Cinder managed before Pyrrha shield bashed her, pushing the maiden back. That same shield rose to block Roman's shots. When they ceased, Pyrrha lowered the shield, inadvertently revealing the smile on her face. Cinder was running on fumes at this point, and it seemed the only other opponent on the field she had to face was...Roman. Pyrrha liked these odds.

In the blink of an eye, her shield was thrown and struck Roman right in the neck. By the time it rebounded back, Pyrrha was close enough to catch it, slinging it back onto her arm and pivoting into a lower stance to deliver a forceful kick to Roman's solar plexus. At the same time her shield blocked Cinder's flaming fist before the punch could come anywhere near connecting, giving the fall maiden a confident smirk just to provoke more anger and further unbalance her.

"One thing after another...."

First, he'd lost track of Neo when all of this went down. Then he got told by some freaky girl(who looked a lot like the Red Masque come to think of it...) that he was DEAD! Or well she knew that he was dead, which didn't exactly make him feel any better! Then when Neo finally shows up she isn't alone and now two Neos are duking it out and Cinder's only help is...him.

Roman usually always got what he wanted as a kid. Came with the innate charisma.

But unlike some of the other kids he'd met in his life, they'd unlocked their semblances and weren't anything to be messed with. Well, most of them anyway(looking at you what's left of Cardin's team...)and yet here he stood. He wasn't huntsman material. He'd known that from the getgo. But he hadn't joined up here with any aspirations to help save the world. He'd known this was Neo's goal, her dream and he wanted to be by her side. Through it all, through thick and through thin. As the shield hit him in the throat, his aura vibrating, he fell back, just in time to earn himself a kick to the chest that sent him rolling back, his hat falling off and Melodic Cudgel clattering to the ground.

"No.."

Cinder was fighting like her life depended on it. Hell, she'd even lost an eye! AN EYE! Roman tended to hide one of his with his hair but that was an aesthetic choice! AN AESTHETIC!

Letting his hat stay where it'd fallen, Roman exhaled and grabbed his weapon. Watching as Pryyha deftly blocked an incoming punch from Cinder, Roman clicked a button on the side of Melodic Cudgel and whipped it forward, the 'hook' of the cane lashing out akin to a grapple hook to try and click around their opponent's ankle and yank her off balance. "Semblance, smehbelance! I'm not gonna stand by and let you body my friend!"

NotHis!Neo saw all this going down out of the corner of her eye and glared. From where she was from, the redhead was little more than a pile of ash. Or so she'd been told after the fact. But not only had she thrown that shield at Roman, she kicked him too....​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Prepared this time, Ruby sidestepped and jumped back, blocking with her own weapon when she needed to. All while scoffing at her other's words. "No. You're not. If you were..." Ruby jumped up to avoid the attempted hook of the leg. The incoming kick still managed to knock her weapon from her hand. But as she touched down, she grabbed the arm that the incoming fist was attached to and reared back her mechanical hand.

*THWACK*

Seeking to crack her counterpart in the face as hard as she could, she tried to keep a tight grip on her arm to keep her from going anywhere. "Then you'd understand why I can't give up! Him, my uncle, neither of them would accept me if I lost! But you don't get it, you don't get a DAMN thing!"

Letting out a feral sounding shout, Ruby still hesitated on giving her 'good' other another punch. As she looked into her eyes, she realized. That at one point her eyes had looked that innocent, so full of hope. For all her heart was telling her to wrap her artificial hand around Ruby's neck and crush her throat, another told her no.

She listened.

Whipping her counterpart to the ground, Ruby rushed over to yet again retrieve her weapon. "I...I won't kill you. Get out of here! GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Slipping Crescent Rose over her shoulder, she took one more passing look at her twin...Closing her eyes, she burst away, towards all the noise that Cinder's fight had cooked up.

Her fist flew in, ready to...get caught. Uh-oh. This is gonna suck. Ruby got rocked by that punch, but the strong grip ensured she stayed put. She winced in anticipation of a follow up strike, but one never came. Ruby cracked one eye open to see what was going on. Nobody else had come to her aid, no, it was more just...her doppelganger simply hesitated to follow through. Instead she threw her to the ground, went for her weapon and attempted to make a break for it. Despite the double's angry demands to leave her alone, it barely took Ruby a second before she was speeding right after, firing shots with Crescent straight ahead at her other self to slow her down.

"You think I don't understand, but you're the one not getting it if you think I'm just going to STAND by and let you continue to do ANY of this!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No.."

Cinder was fighting like her life depended on it. Hell, she'd even lost an eye! AN EYE! Roman tended to hide one of his with his hair but that was an aesthetic choice! AN AESTHETIC!

Letting his hat stay where it'd fallen, Roman exhaled and grabbed his weapon. Watching as Pyrrha deftly blocked an incoming punch from Cinder, Roman clicked a button on the side of Melodic Cudgel and whipped it forward, the 'hook' of the cane lashing out akin to a grapple hook to try and click around their opponent's ankle and yank her off balance. "Semblance, smehbelance! I'm not gonna stand by and let you body my friend!"

The sound of that "no" got her to glance over. Huh. He was back on his feet quicker than she expected he'd be. No matter. The grappling hook shot forth...and didn't get anywhere close. It simply froze midway, hanging suspended in the air. At the same time, Pyrrha pulled her shield back and grabbed Cinder by the wrist of the arm she'd punched with, wrenching Cinder in close. Right into a rising knee strike to the underside of her jaw. The poor girl was knocked out for the second time that day, her body instantly going slack in Nikos' grip. With a sneer, the redheaded warrior simply tossed Cinder aside. The unconscious maiden rolled right along until she came to a stop with the back of her head unknowingly lying atop the prone Tyrian. The blood from her eye wound dripped down to join the blood pool that had already accumulated from his own stab.

That much done, she turned back to Roman. His little hook, still frozen in place, got her to snicker in amusement. "Surely you could do better?"

Pyrrha stood there awaiting his response, eager to see what he would say or do and allowing him to make the first move.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Red eyes suddenly cracked open, the only sign of life the lying down woman showed after what felt like hours. Not that there was anyone to notice. The feeling of the cold wooden floor below her was enough to send shivers through her whole body. She was on her feet in an instant, one hand gripping the handle of her sword just in case. The sound of her movement was the only noise she heard, apart from a light breeze. In the faintly foggy darkness, her eyes almost seemed to glow. Her head turned to the right, and she could just barely make out the shattered glass of a broken window scattered across the floor. The messy remains of a bed sat in one corner, a dresser propped up next to it. She took a few steps closer and a fingerless gloved hand reached out, running an index finger over the dresser's surface. When it pulled away, that finger was now considerably covered with dust. Idly she rubbed the dust off, now turning her head to the left.

More pieces of furniture, resting there. Largely untouched, with one exception. The broken chair that looked like it been knocked or thrown over. All of them looked like nobody had attended to them in a very long time.

Wordlessly she stepped out of that room, emerging into the main area. The moonlight streaming in revealed she was on the second floor of this place. It was difficult to see with just that pale light, but with a squint she could make out more of the same. Broken furniture, ridiculous amounts of dust lining every surface, shattered glass littering the floor and a faint fog drifting in through a few busted windows. As she made her way down the stairs to the first floor, one of the steps gave way, revealing the wood itself had rotted away. Once down there, her head turned to glance both ways again. The sight of a frame jutting out from underneath a couch caught her eye and she strode over, bending down to pick it up.

Like everything else, it was so covered in dust she initially couldn't even see the picture that was inside the frame. But once that dust had been wiped away by her thumb...

"What." She almost dropped the picture just from sudden shock. It...was them.

Without another word, she turned back around, her head now turning more hurriedly than before as she looked through the home. Yes, she could see it now. Beneath all the dust and damage, it was...she shook her head in disbelief. How could this be? This place had only just been as vibrant as ever. He wouldn't have had it any other way. Raven made her way for the front door...or at least the doorway where the front door had once been. She strode over the unkempt grass, taking a dozen steps before she turned back to face the home. Yes. With this view, she could confirm it even more. This was his house on Patch. Or it had been, once. Long ago judging from the state of it.

It didn't make any sense.

"Tai..."

In a blink her sword had been drawn, swinging off in her usual manner when she used her semblance. But no portal popped up, only serving to increase her confusion. She was only drawn away from looking at the empty space where it should have been by the sound of snarling behind her. A quick look over her shoulder revealed glowing red eyes that put hers to shame poking out of the bush near the edge of the treeline. Raven scoffed, looking back towards the home. A beowolf rushed out, eager for a meal. For its effort, it was rewarded with a nonchalant backwards slash that cut the grimm in two. It was so beneath her she didn't even bother looking at it begin to fizzle away.

Not with something more important to figure out. Something was amiss here. Why it was so, she didn't know. But she could find out.

She disappeared, and a bird rose up into the moonlit night sky.​

 

[MidwayLives]

The sound of that "no" got her to glance over. Huh. He was back on his feet quicker than she expected he'd be. No matter. The grappling hook shot forth...and didn't get anywhere close. It simply froze midway, hanging suspended in the air. At the same time, Pyrrha pulled her shield back and grabbed Cinder by the wrist of the arm she'd punched with, wrenching Cinder in close. Right into a rising knee strike to the underside of her jaw. The poor girl was knocked out for the second time that day, her body instantly going slack in Nikos' grip. With a sneer, the redheaded warrior simply tossed Cinder aside. The unconscious maiden rolled right along until she came to a stop with the back of her head unknowingly lying atop the prone Tyrian. The blood from her eye wound dripped down to join the blood pool that had already accumulated from his own stab.

"What the..."

Of all the luck in the world, she just had to have a semblance that let her manipulate...what metal? Sure, perfect timing. No matter how hard he pulled or whether or not he tried recalling Melodic Cudgel's hook, it wouldn't budge. With his weapon 'frozen' as it were, he couldn't even fire it anymore. It was facing the wrong end for that. Without even touching him, she'd managed to entirely disarm him. He felt totally helpless as he watched Cinder's body crumple to the ground. Personally, he thought that Cinder was too fierce for his liking. He'd never be able to stack up to someone like her. Raw power, smarts, he felt she had it all. But as this chick showed, there was always some tougher, someone with the right strategy to make even the greatest person's strength obsolete.

What could he do...?

Raking his brain for thoughts, advice, anything, he paused on one.

For the briefest of moments, his mindscape took him back to Mount Glenn. The day that it happened. When he'd seen what had become of Neo's parents, he stood by his friend's side all through the night and even through the morning, not leaving her once. He was no huntsman. He was just a kid who had the whole community wrapped around his little finger. But when his home came crumbling down around him, he did the only thing he could have: he tried. Whether or not it was successful? Well, given that there were currently two Neos battling it out behind him, he liked to think so. Cinder, Watts, Tyrian, they'd all been taken care of. Whichever Neo was his friend(really, they both seemed friendly enough minus the nose-breakage and the fighting, it was hard to tell) but he couldn't rely on her to bail him out this time.

To save not just Cinder but her team, maybe even Beacon if he didn't temper his ego...

It was all up to him.
​

That much done, she turned back to Roman. His little hook, still frozen in place, got her to snicker in amusement. "Surely you could do better?"

"Nope."

Roman looked down at his gloved hands. If he was being honest, he left the fist fighting up to Neo. He wasn't one for street fights or rough scraps. He preferred to do all that kind of business a fair distance away. Not that he was exactly incompetent, just a style preference. Still, it'd be sheer idiocy to deny how skilled his opponent was. She'd gone through Watts and Cinder like they were nothing. He wasn't going to stand much of a chance, if at all. But that didn't matter to him. Looking over his shoulder at the Neos, Roman sighed and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm really in it now, Neo. Sorry for making you have to clean up another one of my messes. If we get out of this alive, I promise I'll make it up to you..." He murmured aloud, softly but hopefully loud enough that the Neos would pick up on it even while mid combat. Placing his right hand on his hip, he smirked at Prryha. "You know, I think you've got me pegged. I mean, this is just me spitballing but I get the impression you don't think much of me and you'd be right! I ain't much of a fighter. More of a 'big picture' kinda guy. Huh. Never really been proud to admit that til now, really. Wow. Making big moves tonight..." Chuckling softly, he continued.

"You're going to beat the tar outta me, that's a fact. But if I just let you have your own way, who knows what'll happen? So, do us both a favor and prepare yourself, okay?"

Roman kicked up his hat and grabbed it, flashing his opponent a grin.

"Because I'm coming for ya.~"
​

Pyrrha stood there awaiting his response, eager to see what he would say or do and allowing him to make the first move.

"Okay Roman, let's look over the odds here. Odds are she pulverizes you and then does whatever evil plan she's got while the Neos are preoccupied. FIghting....eachother...man that's still weird-Focus! She's underestimating me and that pisses you off-pisses ME off. I'm Roman friggin Torchwick! The one who does the underestimating is ME! Still, she did take down Cinder, one of the toughest people I know. Maybe even tougher than Neo if I really think on it. So the odds are pretty stacked against me." Roman thought, sweat running down his face despite his boastful confidence.

"Still....What choice do I have?"

Spreading his feet apart and hopping from foot to foot, Roman took a deep breath for all it was worth.

"Might be the last time I get to do that, circumstances pending. Maybe they'll keep me on life support for being so heroic, heh. Roman Torchwick, a hero. Yeah, right...."

Enough thinking! Time to act! Rushing forward, Roman sought to throw a flurry of punches. One of them had to at least land, right??
​

 

[MidwayLives]

Her fist flew in, ready to...get caught. Uh-oh. This is gonna suck. Ruby got rocked by that punch, but the strong grip ensured she stayed put. She winced in anticipation of a follow up strike, but one never came. Ruby cracked one eye open to see what was going on. Nobody else had come to her aid, no, it was more just...her doppelganger simply hesitated to follow through. Instead she threw her to the ground, went for her weapon and attempted to make a break for it. Despite the double's angry demands to leave her alone, it barely took Ruby a second before she was speeding right after, firing shots with Crescent straight ahead at her other self to slow her down.

Some of the shots missed, others hit. Ruby could see the cracks in her other's aura. From battling the Grimm/Atlas grunts to her skirmish with Neo and now this? She'd been through the wringer and back. She could feel her breaths escaping her quicker than normal. She was quickly approaching her limit and while others might have been worried, even shocked at that revelation? She had....the opposite reaction.

She was furious.

Furious at herself for being so weak and furious at her other for being so damn persistent. But then, it made sense didn't it? Although their life experiences were vastly different, they'd been through so much and it hardened them. They wouldn't give up no matter what obstacles stood in their path. It was part of why she couldn't bring herself to outright murder her counterpart. It just wouldn't have felt...right. As another shot pinged her, she rolled across the street. The loudness of the noises and the proximity meant two things.

Either reinforcements(for either side) had arrived and the tide of the battle was turning. In what way, she couldn't have guessed. Perhaps it had to do with whatever strange reasoning brought her doppelganger here. Or that she'd been found and Ruby refused to let her attention be preoccupied by anyone other than her. Pulling up a panel on her artificial arm, she flicked a couple of switches and the palm of the hand slid down to reveal some kind of chamber within the prosthetic. As her other closed in, Ruby panted and huffed.

"You're right...Neither of us fully understand the other. We've lead two completely different lives. But...I'm sorry. I can't let you interfere in mine anymore..." Turning towards Ruby, she pushed her cape to the side and fired some kind of projectile from within her arm. It was small enough, around the size of an average baseball. the exterior was black and charred looking as though it were made out of obsidian and the interior was a bright orange with a glowing white center. Bringing her flesh and blood arm in close, she spoke.

"Goodbye..."

The projectile began to crack and simmer before....

*BOOM!*

The explosion had some kinetic force behind it. But not enough to do more than knock Ruby off her feet. The real power behind it was it's blinding factor. Having factored in the speed that both of them had, the explosive she'd fired had enough power in it to cover all around them with a shining white light. Even having shielded her eyes, it still stung somewhat but there was no time to waste. The effect wouldn't last for long and the time it'd take to reload her arm would be too much. Unwrapping the bandages on her hand, Ruby burst forward and swung her arm inwards, hopefully splattering Ruby's face/eyes with a healthy dose of blood. Keep her blinded for just a bit longer. Closing her mechanical hand into a fist once more, Ruby pounced seeking to straight tackle the other Ruby to the ground.

This had to end and it'd end NOW! She wouldn't-couldn't kill her but she'd leave her broken and bruised body behind!​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Nope."

Roman looked down at his gloved hands. If he was being honest, he left the fist fighting up to Neo. He wasn't one for street fights or rough scraps. He preferred to do all that kind of business a fair distance away. Not that he was exactly incompetent, just a style preference. Still, it'd be sheer idiocy to deny how skilled his opponent was. She'd gone through Watts and Cinder like they were nothing. He wasn't going to stand much of a chance, if at all. But that didn't matter to him. Looking over his shoulder at the Neos, Roman sighed and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm really in it now, Neo. Sorry for making you have to clean up another one of my messes. If we get out of this alive, I promise I'll make it up to you..." He murmured aloud, softly but hopefully loud enough that the Neos would pick up on it even while mid combat. Placing his right hand on his hip, he smirked at Prryha. "You know, I think you've got me pegged. I mean, this is just me spitballing but I get the impression you don't think much of me and you'd be right! I ain't much of a fighter. More of a 'big picture' kinda guy. Huh. Never really been proud to admit that til now, really. Wow. Making big moves tonight..." Chuckling softly, he continued.

"You're going to beat the tar outta me, that's a fact. But if I just let you have your own way, who knows what'll happen? So, do us both a favor and prepare yourself, okay?"

Roman kicked up his hat and grabbed it, flashing his opponent a grin.

"Because I'm coming for ya.~"

Somewhere vaguely half-way through that speech, Pyrrha yawned and looked down towards her wrist as if she had a watch on. By the end she was even condescendingly tapping away on said imaginary watch. "You talk too much."​

Enough thinking! Time to act! Rushing forward, Roman sought to throw a flurry of punches. One of them had to at least land, right??

They didn't.

Every punch he threw was avoided with the least amount of motion possible, as if she didn't want to waste too much energy dealing with this clown. Before this farce could continue, she just released the magnetic grip she held on his weapon, the hook now resuming its flight through the air. The only problem being it hooked his leg instead of hers, yanking him off his feet. Once he hit the ground, that was followed by her shield smacking into the back of his head and a kick to his face. Her attempt to take pity on the guy and stop him from embarrassing himself any further.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

It was small enough, around the size of an average baseball. the exterior was black and charred looking as though it were made out of obsidian and the interior was a bright orange with a glowing white center. Bringing her flesh and blood arm in close, she spoke.

"Goodbye..."

The projectile began to crack and simmer before....

"What is--"​

*BOOM!*

The explosion had some kinetic force behind it. But not enough to do more than knock Ruby off her feet. The real power behind it was it's blinding factor. Having factored in the speed that both of them had, the explosive she'd fired had enough power in it to cover all around them with a shining white light.

"Darn it!" Ruby yelled in frustration, stumbling backwards more from the blinding light than the force of whatever kind of crazy flashbang thing that had been. She had no idea where she was stumbling now. She swung out with Crescent a couple times on instinctual reflex when she thought she heard her double approaching, but hit nothing except air. However, whatever that thing had been, its effectiveness clearly wasn't built to last. Already she could see her vision balancing out--​

Unwrapping the bandages on her hand, Ruby burst forward and swung her arm inwards, hopefully splattering Ruby's face/eyes with a healthy dose of blood.

"..." Something warm splattered all over her face, temporarily keeping her blind for the couple more seconds it would take her to react like a proper huntress and wipe it away from her eyes-- "oh no its in my mouth ew ew ew gross what the heck did you hit me with?" Ruby stammered, coughing a few times to try and spit it all out. That distraction was all her double needed.​

Closing her mechanical hand into a fist once more, Ruby pounced seeking to straight tackle the other Ruby to the ground.

This had to end and it'd end NOW! She wouldn't-couldn't kill her but she'd leave her broken and bruised body behind!

Ruby lost her grip on her weapon and hit the ground like a sack of confused potatoes, Crescent Rose clattering to the ground without her holding it up. She couldn't see but she could feel, and realizing that her double was on top of her, Ruby gathered all the blood and saliva she could before spitting where she imagined her counterpart's face was.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

---

Five minutes later.

"Manta Eight-Zero, repeat, Manta Eight-Zero, come in, you-"

He mashed a few buttons until he figured out which one turned off the radio on this thing, one or two of them making their technically-not-stolen-because-this-was-a-crisis transportation rock in worrying fashion.

"Yeah, okay. I can fly this. Just oooooone or two differences from the older models. Besides, I fly all the time."

He seemed to be talking to himself more than Yang.

"Hey so- whoa, so uh- yeeee, HEY SO MAYBE I COULD DRIVE!" she finally managed to get out between the ship's listing back and forth. Blake had been stashed in the co-pilot's chair and buckled in, rather than letter her get tossed around in the ship, so Yang was gripping onto Qrow's chair for balance as he did his best to keep the ship level.

"I mean, I've never actually flown one, or anything, buuuut driving a motorcycle's gotta be closer to flying a plane than using-"

Her eyes shot wide as another jostle made Blake groan and stir, but after a few seconds of staring from where she was frozen in place, the faunus' shifting stopped, and the tension that had briefly left Yang's shoulders ramrod stiff started to fade.

"...than using wings, right?" She finished while she resumed scanning the chaos below for any sign of her sister.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Letting out a muted sigh to calm herself, she smiled and looked over to Roman who'd fallen not so gracefully on his butt after Neo let go of his hand. Gesturing over to Roman's actual Neo, she twirled a finger around the side of her head indicating that this chick was nuttier than any candy bar. Just a total psycho if you wanted her two cents. Wrapping the same hand around her neck and giving it a mock shake, she also implied that she'd been choked. All part of a plan for the enemy to likely try to getting closer to Roman once his loyal companion was out of the way.

Roman had spent a lot of time with Neo and understood the gestures and what they meant to get across. Sparing a glance over at the Neo who had just 'saved' him, he did note the bruises all across her face. Likely earned as part of a brawl, maybe...Glancing back to NotHIS!Neo, more than likely it'd been earned as a result of her getting too cocky while trying to choke out or otherwise incapacitate his Neo! Rising to his feet, Roman looked between the two and NotHis!Neo rolled her eyes. What would it take to convince him that she was his and that dirty bruised ice cream cone needed to take the hint and split town while she still had all of her limbs and internal organs in working order.

"Neo...and Neo....I...I don't get it..."

Hmmm, while she was sure, the two would end up coming to blows. Maybe another figurative knife in the back would work to earn this Roman's side. Shifting to take on the form of the Atlas soldier, she held a finger to her throat and sloooowly dragged it across before pointing it dramatically at the other Neo.

"She...killed Atlas troops....? No, no way!"

As the soldier seemed to 'shatter', NotHis!Neo was left nodding with a sad look on her face. To be set upon by a brutal killer was such a horrible thing. More so when they took on the form of his beloved companion! Patting Roman on the cheek and flashing him a warm smile of her own, she made it clear to him. She'd protect him no matter what.~

Neo watched as her worse half went through her whole routine, leaning on her parasol like a cane with her feet crossed and wearing a frown that was neither amused or impressed, right up till the moment she became an Atlas soldier. Her eyes widened in shock. Not that the other person had made a disguise, they were clearly capable of it since they were a face stealing lunatic who seemed very, very keen on stealing her life. But the way the disguise shifted up her form, the slight shimmer before it settled... they didn't just have a similar semblance to her.

They had her semblance.

Truth be told, Roman still didn't have the best of grips on what exactly was going on.

One of his Neos was...not her? One of them-if it wasn't even Neo-had gone and murdered Atlas soldiers?!

Well...if they did end up fighting...,heh, it'd be over him right??

She saw that look in his eyes, that glint of cocky glee amidst his obvious concern. You had to get good at noticing the little details when you were a disguise artist and prankster who couldn't talk, had to make use of every other tool you possibly could. She couldn't blame Roman for being confused, whoever this was had Neo's look down to the smallest details, outside of her clothes, but she absolutely could blame him for being a vain jackass, and the look she gave him as she put up a hand and leaned forward was as close as you could get to saying 'really?' without saying words.

Before he could voice any protests, he literally screamed as Cinder crashed down near them with two other people. One of whom she'd been beating up and the other Roman didn't recognize. He really needed to pay attention more.

"EHHHHHH!?! CINDER, LIKE, YOUR EYE!"

Okay, okay, less worrying about that, more worrying about helping his friend. Taking aim at Nikos, Roman opened fire. All while shouting over his shoulder.

"Hey, uh, if you two wanna fight it out, that'd be great!"

~~~

As Roman turned his attention towards helping Cinder(he was really the only one who could...), NotHis!Neo watched him go and sighed again. Seeing her Roman-or at least some other version of him running off to help Cinder rather than her made her angrier than she realized a person could get. But, oh well, maybe Roman would truly accept her if Neo....ugh....helped Cinder once she dealt with the one pressing problem before her. Looking over her younger counterpart, Neo's eyes narrowed. Who did this littler bitch think she was sticking her nose in HER business? Sure, Neo may have possibly ruined her day and or life, but so what?

HER Roman had gotten EATEN. EATEN AND THEN BLOWN UP. All while she was forced to watch as the winds took her wherever they may. A life without him had been rough from the start and now, Cinder seemed to consider her no better than a henchman. Something that made her blood boil. So, she didn't care what it took. Unless this other her was willing to cooperate and either deal with the mess that her older self had left for her or get along with her then there was no dancing around what needed to be done...

"..."

All her posturing went out the window around the same time Cinder and Pyrrha did, and she gasped in horror at the sight of their friend's maimed face. She started towards Cinder's side, but Roman jumped into the fray before she could. She gave him a concerned, unsure frown as he told her to stay out of it and focus on this other loony, but if he thought he could handle it...

It seemed like the other Neo caught her in the middle of that unsurety, but the instant her foot connected with Neo, she shattered, and a a kick came from underneath her doppleganger's flying strike to send her flying airborne the other way as the real Neo reappeared from the side. She didn't know if this person had stolen her semblance somehow or just, somehow, two people with the exact same semblance had run into each other, but all that meant was that she knew how to fight this bitch. Copies would shatter even if all they ran into was another copy, and if a Neo didn't shatter, then the shell game was up, and the next swing was practically free.

She'd had a miserable day, all things considered and had absolutely no outlet for all that frustration. Couldn't go to the tourney, tried to avoid fighting some terrifyingly angry blonde, didn't even fight back against the soldiers that had been firing on her for fear of hurting them.

But whoever this was?

THEY Neo wouldn't feel bad about tearing apart. She may, perhaps, even have enjoyed the thought of it.

She lowered her foot from her kick and very slowly and deliberately leaned down to brush some imaginary dust off her boot before she stood back up and twirled her parasol to rest across her shoulders, a cocky, unconcerned smirk on her face as she twisted one palm up to wave the other Neo forward, daring her to make the first move again.

Roman just getting absolutely rocked in multiple posts.​

At least until she saw that. Her smirk was consumed by a gasp of distress, and she narrowed her eyes at the other Neo in a moment of indecision. She didn't get what this girl's motives were. Maybe she was trying to get close enough to Roman to kill him rather than just... no that didn't make any sense. None of the answers she could dredge up in her brain in the few moments she was allowing herself to think on this made any sense.

But what made even less sense was letting Roman fight the most dangerous person here while she worked out some grudge match with herself.

She broke away first, dashing for Pyrrha, Cinder, and Roman's brawl. If the other Neo didn't interrupt her shift in priorities, Pyrrha found herself suddenly charged by a tiny ice cream warrior, whipping her parasol for her head-

which shattered, as the Neo appeared from the other side with a low sweeping kick-

-that also shattered, before the real Neo came down in a flying kick for the shoulder, intending to send the mistralian champion tumbling forward as Neo pivoted on Pyrrha's shoulder and twisted herself into a pirrouette to bring her boot straight into Pyrrha's chin, completing the spin with a graceful landing with one hand on the gorund for balance, her parasol conspicuously absent.