Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

Watts's fancy new scroll rig got its first big test run, in the form of... Qrow placing a very quick and direct call to Raven.

"Hey. You should come look at this."

He hung up, not expecting anything more than Raven doing the same and remembering how it used to piss her off when he hung up before she could. Ha. Good times. Even better when he got Taiyang and Summer doing it too.

He was standing in the academy's main foyer, taking a good long look around at all the nothing.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Decades." She corrected before a low sigh escaped her mouth. "Alright then, since you want to know so bad. From what I hear, you lot didn't exactly have a pleasant encounter with the Red Masque. His latest silver-eyed follower, but far from the first. He likes to collect them, ya see. It's been said that silver eyed people were destined to live the life of a warrior. That they were fated to be the best of the best...and he's never been one to let talent go to waste. Why destroy a life when you could make use of it? The best of the best? That's one tool you don't throw away when you can make use of it. Which brings me to the Grimm Reaper." Tock slouched even further into her couch.

"Dunno if the Masque was in any way inspired by the Reaper, and I don't really care. She too was a masked scythe-wielder, as you might have put together from Qrow's blunt question earlier. The Grimm Reaper, they called her. Not because she was renowned for slaying Grimm, but because she was infamous for working with Grimm. She was one of his, yeah? She was out there serving his will...and in this case, that meant hunting down and slaying every huntsman or huntress the bitch could find. Hence Grimm Reaper. Can't say how many she managed to kill before we met...or in the years after. Hell, I don't even know if she's dead or not yet. I like to hope so." She growled, complete with a fierce scowl and a downing of more drink.

"She made her way to me, of course. One of the toughest and longest damn fights of me life. It ended with her leaving me for dead near some godforsaken mountain. I don't know how much time passed between her departure and someone else showing up, but...it 'appened. She found me. Salem." Tock smirked. "A lot of the rest, it's hazy. I managed to cling to life despite the wounds I had. Wounds that would 'ave been fatal, eventually. But still, I clung to life for far longer than I had any right to. To hear Salem tell it...she'd never encountered anyone before or since who was anywhere near as determined to survive. Guess that's just who I am. A goddamn survivor." The crocodile faunus snickered.

"So like I said, a lot of it was hazy. But I remember where we eventually ended up, clear as day. The fields of gold...there was this pool, in the center. The cleanest and clearest blue water anyone ever did see, lemme tell ya. And unbelievably warm too. Not like unbearably so, but just...right. As perfect a feeling as anything could get in this world. Hard to put into words proper...but that's not the important bit. Salem dropped me in there, and it...….she saved me. Since that day, I've...not aged even a little bit. And from that day on nobody's ever managed to keep me down. Not since the Reaper." She held her flask higher, raising a drink to that.

"The headmistress had a lot of explainin' to do after that, and I reckon there's probably nobody else on the planet who knows just as much as I do about Salem's past. Well...not till you otherworld guys showed up, I guess. And to this day I can't really say if Salem saved me out of the kindness of her heart...or because she got somethin' out of it. If it was because she just needed a lieutenant that's as unkillable as she is. Someone that could stay the course against Oz, no matter how bad she was losin' that struggle. Whatever the case...I owed her big. So 'ere I stand." She gave a side glance over to the other faunus on her couch.

"So there ya go, kid. That's the story. Satisfied?"

Mercury and Emerald had so. Many. Questions.

"Sooo wait... You can't die?"

"Can we test that out?"

"Does it still hurt?"

"Seriously, you have to let us test it out."

"What're all the different ways you've died?"

"Were you in the Faunus War?"

"Could you beat her?" She pointed at Raven.

"What about her?" He thumbed to Yang.

"Her?" Vernal.

"Could you beat all of us at the same time?"

"Pfft. No way."

"Yeah, you're right."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The atmosphere in the room had already taken a turn for the murderous when Eve made her presence known, and the assembled White Fang let it show. In the next moment, so many guns were being angled around the room that at least one barrel was probably leveled in Ilia's vague direction, patrolmen below and guards posted on the scaffolding all whirling snarls around in search of the intruder.

Eve... was slower to move. She pushed off from the table, expression inscrutable as she slowly shook herself out. The way she drew Wilt a moment later was a slow, deliberate motion, her posture unwavering as she took her time turning around and spoke back.

"Peace doesn't come from the shadows."​

"No, no it doesn't." She agreed. "I'm not looking to get shot though." Despite not being seen, it was obvious that her eyes were fixed on the sheer amount of guns being leveled. "I'm looking to help try and save a few people from themselves. From the mistakes they're making, and from what I've gathered, you're looking to do the same." Ilia paused for several moments. It still felt really strange to be asking Eve, of all people, but...not like there was much choice. "So I'm hoping this doesn't have to come to violence, and that we can reach an agreement."
​

Watts's fancy new scroll rig got its first big test run, in the form of... Qrow placing a very quick and direct call to Raven.

"Hey. You should come look at this."

He hung up, not expecting anything more than Raven doing the same and remembering how it used to piss her off when he hung up before she could. Ha. Good times. Even better when he got Taiyang and Summer doing it too.

He was standing in the academy's main foyer, taking a good long look around at all the nothing.

It was only with the discipline of a true professional huntress, experienced and deadly, that she kept herself from jumping at the sudden sound of the call. It really was an enrapturing story, even though she knew a lot of the general gist of it. As soon as he hung up, Raven glanced towards Tock and decided with a slight nod that one of Salem's other lieutenants was enough to watch over this gang of kids. She immediately turned on her heel and out the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Once outside, she looked all around to determine that the street was empty, and she vanished from sight as a bird rose into the sky.

As soon as she got there... "Qrow!" She called out, jogging up to join him. "What's the matter?"
​

"Sooo wait... You can't die?"

"Uh-huh."​

"Can we test that out?"

"Nope."​

"Does it still hurt?"

"No."​

"Seriously, you have to let us test it out."

"Not gonna 'appen."​

"What're all the different ways you've died?"

"You don't want to know."​

"Were you in the Faunus War?"

"..."​

Could you beat her?" She pointed at Raven.

"...Probably." She remarked with a bold smirk.​

"What about her?" He thumbed to Yang.

"Definitely."​

"Her?" Vernal.

"...I have no idea who this is."​

"Could you beat all of us at the same time?"

"..." That one seemed to be getting some serious thought, more than any of the rest. Her eyes scanned the room, wondering how many she could take out in 60 seconds. "...Maybe?" She eventually hesitantly answered, despite their unanimous denial.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"No, no it doesn't." She agreed. "I'm not looking to get shot though." Despite not being seen, it was obvious that her eyes were fixed on the sheer amount of guns being leveled. "I'm looking to help try and save a few people from themselves. From the mistakes they're making, and from what I've gathered, you're looking to do the same." Ilia paused for several moments. It still felt really strange to be asking Eve, of all people, but...not like there was much choice. "So I'm hoping this doesn't have to come to violence, and that we can reach an agreement."

It was clear Eve was carefully turning over every word the other faunus was saying, head cocked with frown growing deeper and deeper in recognition with every word Ilia spoke. Silence fell after she was through, and what followed were a tense few seconds that each felt like lifetimes... Until Eve sheathed Wilt and turned back to the table with an amused, derisive snort.

"You idiot. You're not even her, are you? You might as well come out."

A few of the faunus looked uncertain, but all followed their commander's lead. She leaned forward with palms flat on the table, tone taking on a severe bite.

"I won't ask again."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

It was only with the discipline of a true professional huntress, experienced and deadly, that she kept herself from jumping at the sudden sound of the call. It really was an enrapturing story, even though she knew a lot of the general gist of it. As soon as he hung up, Raven glanced towards Tock and decided with a slight nod that one of Salem's other lieutenants was enough to watch over this gang of kids. She immediately turned on her heel and out the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Once outside, she looked all around to determine that the street was empty, and she vanished from sight as a bird rose into the sky.

As soon as she got there... "Qrow!" She called out, jogging up to join him. "What's the matter?

"Oh. You didn't do your portal thing." He remarked, as close to deadpan as his low-pitched gravelly voice could get. At her question, he cast his arms out side to either side of him.

"Ehhhh??? The entire academy's completely abandoned. Lionheart's supposed to be here. I figured everyone would be here. Which makes me feel like I'm right, and they are."

He dropped his voice to a suspicious hush.

"We're just not seein' em. You get any kind of a feeling you're being watched?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"..." That one seemed to be getting some serious thought, more than any of the rest. Her eyes scanned the room, wondering how many she could take out in 60 seconds. "...Maybe?" She eventually hesitantly answered, despite their unanimous denial.

Mercury straight up pounded his knuckles together, flashing a wicked smirk. "You sound good. Train me."

 

[MidwayLives]

"So there ya go, kid. That's the story. Satisfied?"

Tyrian listened intently, his gaze never breaking away from Tock as she spoke. Her words reached him and filled his mind with vivid images of what this 'Grimm Reaper' looked like and what kind of fights she and the Red Masque had during their service to Ozpin. The only time he'd managed to see the Masque up close was less than ideal. Her clothes were dirty and her weapon had been taken away and she was bound like any common criminal. He only wished he could have seen whatever fight Eve and her had or if they'd even fought at all. Damn that Valkyrie for taking him out of the fight! There was so much he had missed out on!

Still, listening to Tock speak made him feel warm and comfortable.

It wasn't too often he got comfortable around strangers/newcomers. The friendly and eager to please personality was little more than a front. The angry warrior who didn't want to listen to arguments was the 'true' Tyrian: formed from years of being beaten black and blue and getting little to no appraisal for it other than cold hard cash. He couldn't even tell his parents he participated because they'd take possibly being homeless over their pride and joy getting beaten up while humans watched from the stands. In a way he could see much of himself in Tock and Salem's relationship in his own with his manager: Mr. Ichabod.

The man always wore the finest suits, always white as snow which matched his graying hair. He had a bit of a limp and so had to use a cane to help himself get around and was friendly to Tyrian as an older rich man participating/owning an underground fighting circuit could be. His personal entourage of guards were made up of three faunus that he may or may not have adopted(he never confirmed it and Tyrian never asked. Wasn't really his business, he'd just be happy his kind had a steady income)and he always stuck up for Tyrian when the faunus himself couldn't out of fear of financial/societal reprisals from his manager's equally as rich acquaintances(mostly stemming from the minor like seeing Tyrian sitting in their shared VIP room to the major like losing money due to him refusing to throw a fight.)but in private he always made something to clear to Tyrian

'Tyrian, my boy, you are my greatest asset. When I pulled you from those mines it's because I saw potential in you. You've shown that I was right time and time again. But...'

'But, what?'

'The worlds we come from are different, dear boy. If I called you my friend in the open, your family would be harassed and they'd make sure it was never tied back to them. I'm human and you're...'

'A faunus.'

Tyrian hated it but he understood. Just as was the reason why everybody was forbidden about talking about the circuit, most faunus didn't associate with their managers/fans outside of 'work.' The humans never really cared for them. It was all just a game for them. Throw money and watch the circus animals fight for their amusement. Sometimes, on rare occasions, you had people who seemed to genuinely care like Tyrian's doctor and some of the girls who'd say they'd been watching his matches. But Tyrian kept them at arm's length regardless. He didn't want them to be bothered by having a faunus like him as a friend. Such was the cruelty of life coming to slap him in the face.

Another thing about his manager that'd left an impact on Tyrian was the smell that always came off him. For most humans it was either cheap fragrances or cologne. But his manager always smelled like sulfur. Tyrian made note of it and asked and was laughed off. These days, he considered it probably had to do with the old man's semblance, whatever that might have been. Despite everything however, from being 'bought' and taken away from toiling in the mines with his parents to spilling his blood for dozens of humans, some of whom were wealthier than he could ever imagine being, he never felt like a slave. Just as he'd thought after Eve spoke to him: He'd always been free.

...He missed that smell, he missed the guy, and he missed that life. Tock sharing his approach to things and serving as someone's 'enforcer' made that all too clear to him.

But he could never go back. His parents told him as such and his manager too when he DID try going back.

~~~
​

"..." That one seemed to be getting some serious thought, more than any of the rest. Her eyes scanned the room, wondering how many she could take out in 60 seconds. "...Maybe?" She eventually hesitantly answered, despite their unanimous denial.​

Tyrian listened to her address Mercury and Emerald's questions with eagerness all over his face.

"You asked me if I'm satisfied...."

Tyrian let his tail unravel, finally feeling comfortable enough in Tock's presence.

"My partner, that lovely man over there,(he waved to Hazel),said it earlier but.."

He balled his hands up into fists.

"I....I won't endanger this mission for my own personal satisfaction but when this is over, I want to see that experience in action! I want to fight you! I doubt I'd beat you but I'll have been happy to see what decades of experience is worth when the one who has it hasn't lost their edge."

Fighting another faunus and through one he saw bits and pieces of himself and the life he missed so much. The very thought made him happier than he'd been on the train ride here.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

It was clear Eve was carefully turning over every word the other faunus was saying, head cocked with frown growing deeper and deeper in recognition with every word Ilia spoke. Silence fell after she was through, and what followed were a tense few seconds that each felt like lifetimes... Until Eve sheathed Wilt and turned back to the table with an amused, derisive snort.

"You idiot. You're not even her, are you? You might as well come out."

A few of the faunus looked uncertain, but all followed their commander's lead. She leaned forward with palms flat on the table, tone taking on a severe bite.

"I won't ask again."​

"Yeah, well, I tried to explain that to others and it didn't go so great. Excuse me for being cautious." Ilia spat back, straightening out of her crouch to stand up fully. A second later her skin and hair shifted away from the dark black and to her usual colors, revealing her position. She stood there in silence a bit longer to make sure nobody would shoot at her before she dropped down and started to stride for the table, her hands held above her head to further deescalate the tension.

"Now, this might be hard to believe but I'm not...exactly from this world."
​

"Oh. You didn't do your portal thing." He remarked, as close to deadpan as his low-pitched gravelly voice could get. At her question, he cast his arms out side to either side of him.

"Ehhhh??? The entire academy's completely abandoned. Lionheart's supposed to be here. I figured everyone would be here. Which makes me feel like I'm right, and they are."

He dropped his voice to a suspicious hush.

"We're just not seein' em. You get any kind of a feeling you're being watched?"

"I didn't want to risk the chance that somebody else could have jumped in and have a straight shot to the others." She offered in explanation for that before she finally glanced around. "The whole place, empty? That's...it can't be right. They..." Raven fell silent, just looking around the place with hyper-observant eyes. "...Yes. I have that feeling. We should get out of here."

"Little too late for that." A voice seemingly came out of nowhere and both of them could hear the cocky smile in that voice. "Hey, new girl, you can drop your thing now." Assuming Neo did, a bunch of people suddenly popped into view, completely surrounding the Branwen twins from every direction. Pyrrha, Nora, Jaune, Ren, Blake and some of her Shadow Fang people, Neo, even Leonardo standing up top and overlooking it all. And...

Spoiler

"...no...." Raven felt herself shrinking away from the withering glare from her daughter.

"We were looking to get all of you at once, but...you know, it can't hurt to take care of a couple of you beforehand." Nora laughed, Magnhild balancing on her shoulders. Raven looked around further and despite being surrounded, she felt like there were still more eyes watching her than the ones she now could see. "So..." Without warning, Valkyrie lunged, aiming to bring the hammer down and crush two birds with one stone.
​

Mercury straight up pounded his knuckles together, flashing a wicked smirk. "You sound good. Train me."

"Kid do we really 'ave time for that? More importantly, do I look like a teacher ta you?"
​

"I....I won't endanger this mission for my own personal satisfaction but when this is over, I want to see that experience in action! I want to fight you! I doubt I'd beat you but I'll have been happy to see what decades of experience is worth when the one who has it hasn't lost their edge."

Fighting another faunus and through one he saw bits and pieces of himself and the life he missed so much. The very thought made him happier than he'd been on the train ride here.

She shook her head, but it did seem that she was open to the idea, judging from the smile that emerged onto her face. "Fine, kid. You want a spar after all this? I'm game."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Yeah, well, I tried to explain that to others and it didn't go so great. Excuse me for being cautious." Ilia spat back, straightening out of her crouch to stand up fully. A second later her skin and hair shifted away from the dark black and to her usual colors, revealing her position. She stood there in silence a bit longer to make sure nobody would shoot at her before she dropped down and started to stride for the table, her hands held above her head to further deescalate the tension.

"Now, this might be hard to believe but I'm not...exactly from this world."

"I know. Skip to why you're here." She bluntly revealed, head swiveling to affix those eyes that were hidden but no less potent than the crucifying stare of the violent bull faunus Eve had been acquainted with. There wasn't any warmth to her reception of the chameleon, but oddly no spite or aggression either; simply a thoughtful, brooding frown, lower lip curled as she shook her head and motioned for her to put her hands down like it was stupid.

Eve... honestly never really had a problem with Ilia. She once almost even considered them friends. Then Blake had the same effect she seemed to have on literally everyone, something Eve's paranoid nature immediately picked up on, and regardless of who the first offender was the unspoken tension in the air started to harshen their dynamic until they simply had little to say to one another. They both ignored it and did their work, but both were actively aware the other was ignoring it, too. Awkward was a mild word for it.

As for this dimension-hopper, she was reserving judgment.

"...It's alright." She added after a moment, not unkindly. Not all that kindly either, but hey.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Little too late for that." A voice seemingly came out of nowhere and both of them could hear the cocky smile in that voice. "Hey, new girl, you can drop your thing now." Assuming Neo did, a bunch of people suddenly popped into view, completely surrounding the Branwen twins from every direction. Pyrrha, Nora, Jaune, Ren, Blake and some of her Shadow Fang people, Neo, even Leonardo standing up top and overlooking it all. And...

"*Frustrated huff*"

Neo didn't really have much of a choice on whether or not to be here. The alternatives were being tortured horribly or this. She liked to think that when she wasn't accepting fistbumps from backstabbing bitches, she was pretty on top of the game so she chose the latter. But whatever Ozpin's goals were for this world, she couldn't have cared less. She had two goals in mind and nobody was gonna stand in her way of achieving them.

One: Get revenge on her goody two shoes other. Neo had to admit that she was skilled, Neo would probably even put her at where she'd been back when she played her own world's blonde bimbo for a utter buffoon in their first fight. Still, Neo had taken that former level of skill and leaped past it. Right to the point of being able to score hits on a maiden(before said maiden pulled out the figurative big guns, anyway. Still counted.)This time, she wasn't tired and didn't have a welt the size of a grapefruit on her forehead. She'd make her other pay for what she'd done and she'd make her watch as she...

Two: Stole her man for lack of a better way of putting it. Stealing her Roman, maybe? The plan was simple enough in Neo's eyes. Off or incapacitate(she much preferred offing)her other and take her place long enough to convince Roman that she was the Neo of this world. It'd mean suppressing her desires to have fun which this Roman and Neo seemed to lack. But...she'd manage it....if just for a chance to see Roman again.

....Which meant having to play nice with these tools(especially the one who'd made a fool out of her back at Beacon) AND a 'evil' version of that damned blonde. With the slightest flick of her hand for effect, the illusion was gone revealing the threats that lined up to face Qrow and Raven. Ah well, it seemed a fight was about to go down and she'd have to focus on that. For Roman and revenge.

But, mostly, y'know, REVENGE!!!!
​

"We were looking to get all of you at once, but...you know, it can't hurt to take care of a couple of you beforehand."

"..."

A muted giggle was given at Nora's threat. Along with a showman's bow for the role she'd played thanks to her semblance.

She didn't give the slightest of fucks about any of these people, but she had to admire when somebody knew what they wanted: and what this Nora wanted was a fight. Back where she called home, Neo had been....less than eager to throw down with Raven, let alone her brother. Which was another reason why she was so glad for Nora's enthuasism! Go get em, tiger! Tire em down a bit and then Neo would go in for the glory kill!~

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I know. Skip to why you're here." She bluntly revealed, head swiveling to affix those eyes that were hidden but no less potent than the crucifying stare of the violent bull faunus Eve had been acquainted with. There wasn't any warmth to her reception of the chameleon, but oddly no spite or aggression either; simply a thoughtful, brooding frown, lower lip curled as she shook her head and motioned for her to put her hands down like it was stupid.

Eve... honestly never really had a problem with Ilia. She once almost even considered them friends. Then Blake had the same effect she seemed to have on literally everyone, something Eve's paranoid nature immediately picked up on, and regardless of who the first offender was the unspoken tension in the air started to harshen their dynamic until they simply had little to say to one another. They both ignored it and did their work, but both were actively aware the other was ignoring it, too. Awkward was a mild word for it.

As for this dimension-hopper, she was reserving judgment.

"...It's alright." She added after a moment, not unkindly. Not all that kindly either, but hey.​

"...Oh." Okay, that was a whole thing she didn't have to get into. That worked for her, she really wasn't sure she could properly explain it even if she tried her best. "It's like I said. I want...no, I need to help Blake. The Blake of this world and the other me as well. I've seen who Blake works for, I know what he plans. I...was in the room when they went over it. I've seen how far Blake has gone." Ilia's eyes roved over to the scar around her wrist, pain clearly reflecting in her eyes and the spots on her skin changing color in response to the emotional turmoil within.

"The path she's walking, the journey she's dragging the other me down...it'll end violently. Thousands, maybe even millions would die if it went his way. Countless fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters..." The chameleon shook her head sadly. "This Blake's poisonous words have my counterpart believing that our parents would have been proud of her doing this. I know that she's wrong. There's nothing to be proud of in that much slaughter. Nothing good in inflicting the same pain that both of us went through after we lost mom and dad." Ilia exhaled, steeling her voice.

"Blake has to be stopped, they all do. And after she's stopped...maybe I could get through to her. She's not the Blake that I know from back home, but...there must be part of her deep inside this one. I'll do whatever I can to dig it out. As weird as it is, I figured that if I found you, I'd find an ally. Was I right?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I didn't want to risk the chance that somebody else could have jumped in and have a straight shot to the others." She offered in explanation for that before she finally glanced around. "The whole place, empty? That's...it can't be right. They..." Raven fell silent, just looking around the place with hyper-observant eyes. "...Yes. I have that feeling. We should get out of here."

"Little too late for that." A voice seemingly came out of nowhere and both of them could hear the cocky smile in that voice. "Hey, new girl, you can drop your thing now." Assuming Neo did, a bunch of people suddenly popped into view, completely surrounding the Branwen twins from every direction. Pyrrha, Nora, Jaune, Ren, Blake and some of her Shadow Fang people, Neo, even Leonardo standing up top and overlooking it all. And...

"...no...." Raven felt herself shrinking away from the withering glare from her daughter.

"We were looking to get all of you at once, but...you know, it can't hurt to take care of a couple of you beforehand." Nora laughed, Magnhild balancing on her shoulders. Raven looked around further and despite being surrounded, she felt like there were still more eyes watching her than the ones she now could see. "So..." Without warning, Valkyrie lunged, aiming to bring the hammer down and crush two birds with one stone.

"...Heh."

To his credit, Qrow made it look like keeping his unflappable cool in the face of all those familiar mugs popping up wasn't even hard. He pantomimed a few slow, faux-shaken turns with comically wide eyes as the illusion unraveled itself around them, hands half-raised and shaking.

"Whoooaaaa-ohhhh-oohhh. Scary." He rasped with mock fright, letting his gaze settle on the Valkryie first with a disaffected frown. "Nora. Never was sure if you were done growing or not. Now I'm sure."

It was subtle, but the tail end of his little spin put him right next to his sister; he casually placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned on it, allowing most of his weight to bear down gently on the grip. Her reaction to the one in the room he definitely wasn't even gonna try and process for a hot minute hadn't gone unnoticed. Looking at that other Ruby had been hard, but there were enough differences for him to make the distinction in his mind. The Red Masque looked like someone his niece would have nightmares about.

That... That just looked like Yang. And that was somehow far worse.

He didn't let that betray his cool facade, meeting Nora's cocky smirk with one of his own.

"Yeah, real special. 'Cept for how you just blew your entire ambush and still have no idea where the Spring Maiden even is, you stupid runt." He allowed that last, goading emphasis to be accompanied by a little ancient huntsman wisdom of his. A simple, tried-and-true method of baiting pretty much any variation of hothead.

Nora pounced, and he let his smirk become a grimace as he gave Raven's shoulder a hard squeeze before the grip, and the weight, vanished with a flapping of feathers, Qrow banking on the sensation being enough of a stimulus to snap her out of whatever effect Yang was having on her and follow suit. If that initial part of what constituted Qrow's flimsy idea of a 'plan' in this scenario went off, a tandem of birds swerved around the arc of Nora's hammer and made a beeline up for the window Qrow had left wide open on his way in, just on the off chance something like this happened. Well, it turned out that chance wasn't off, but on. Very on.

The two soared through the opening and into the air above Haven's courtyard, and in that fleeting moment, eyes on the horizon, Qrow had to acknowledge it would've been so easy. To just beat his wings and continue flying, for the two of them to make the kind of clean getaway they hadn't had to pull off side by side in years.

Except... he knew they couldn't do that. Just as much as Raven probably did. They could've picked up a tail. Led the entire ambush right back on top of the others, when they really weren't ready for it. Given those bozos a chance to reset the trap somewhere else, or used their expectation of the same trick to change tactics. There were too many ugly variables. So the way he saw it, there was only one way for this to go. He was to blame for Raven being in this mess anyway.

Qrow shifted back to human form and dropped into a graceful skid across the courtyard. Assuming Raven did likewise and dropped with him, he wasted no time in grabbing her collar and yanking her close.

"Go tell the others, I'll make sure you ain't followed, you're a liability with Yang here, and if you even try to argue with me this time I swear on our old man's grave I'm gonna KICK YOUR PREACHY EMO ASS UNTIL YOU TURN INTO A BIRD, YOU GOT THAT?! GO!"

He gave her a light, though firm, shove just to drive the message home, and if she opened her mouth to give any kind of a response he was long gone before it reached him. His feet pelted against the paved cement, hand whipping back to grab Harbinger and pull the trigger back, and overall his departure from the building lasted mere seconds end-to-end as he absolutely annihilated a portion of the wall, chunks of plaster and rubble flying everywhere. He stood in the opening as the dust cleared, tattered cloak flapping and Harbinger draped confidently over his shoulder in scythe mode as he stared down the absolute ass kicking he was about to get with a totally composed smirk. A hand came up to slick back his bangs.

"So."

Spoiler

"One at a time, or all at once?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Oh." Okay, that was a whole thing she didn't have to get into. That worked for her, she really wasn't sure she could properly explain it even if she tried her best. "It's like I said. I want...no, I need to help Blake. The Blake of this world and the other me as well. I've seen who Blake works for, I know what he plans. I...was in the room when they went over it. I've seen how far Blake has gone." Ilia's eyes roved over to the scar around her wrist, pain clearly reflecting in her eyes and the spots on her skin changing color in response to the emotional turmoil within.

"The path she's walking, the journey she's dragging the other me down...it'll end violently. Thousands, maybe even millions would die if it went his way. Countless fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters..." The chameleon shook her head sadly. "This Blake's poisonous words have my counterpart believing that our parents would have been proud of her doing this. I know that she's wrong. There's nothing to be proud of in that much slaughter. Nothing good in inflicting the same pain that both of us went through after we lost mom and dad." Ilia exhaled, steeling her voice.

"Blake has to be stopped, they all do. And after she's stopped...maybe I could get through to her. She's not the Blake that I know from back home, but...there must be part of her deep inside this one. I'll do whatever I can to dig it out. As weird as it is, I figured that if I found you, I'd find an ally. Was I right?"

"...Sure."

Eve's eventual reply may have seemed comically short spoken, even clumsy, when it came in the wake of so impassioned an appeal as that, and Corsac even gave her what looked like an irate glare behind her back for ruining the moment. Those who had any kind of real understanding of her, or even of Adam Taurus, knew otherwise. Whatever their shortcomings, shared or not, they both knew how to communicate plenty without saying much. It was probably what originally hooked Blake, quite frankly. That air of gothic mystique, like the darkly heroic lead in one of her romance novels. She always kind of liked that reading of it.

To everyone else, she was fully aware she probably just appeared dismissive. Really, there was just no way in hell for someone like her to really build on anything Ilia had said or add to it. They clearly had the same intentions both in mind and heart. For her, that was good enough.

She stepped around the table and toward Ilia, extending a hand. She cocked her head.

"You seem nervous. Like you've been practicing this. I'm not the type who turns away a faunus in need. Let me guess, the guy you knew was?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Heh."

To his credit, Qrow made it look like keeping his unflappable cool in the face of all those familiar mugs popping up wasn't even hard. He pantomimed a few slow, faux-shaken turns with comically wide eyes as the illusion unraveled itself around them, hands half-raised and shaking.

"Whoooaaaa-ohhhh-oohhh. Scary." He rasped with mock fright, letting his gaze settle on the Valkryie first with a disaffected frown. "Nora. Never was sure if you were done growing or not. Now I'm sure."

The overwhelming levels of mockery coming from the man, plus that dig at her height...it wasn't enough to quite rid Valkyrie of the cocky grin she wore, but her eyes were noticeably much more angry than they had been. Her teeth were gritted tightly together just behind that smile. You're going to regret every. single. word.​

It was subtle, but the tail end of his little spin put him right next to his sister; he casually placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned on it, allowing most of his weight to bear down gently on the grip. Her reaction to the one in the room he definitely wasn't even gonna try and process for a hot minute hadn't gone unnoticed. Looking at that other Ruby had been hard, but there were enough differences for him to make the distinction in his mind. The Red Masque looked like someone his niece would have nightmares about.

That... That just looked like Yang. And that was somehow far worse.

There was a sharp intake of breath at the touch, tearing her eyes away from staring at the ground to looking at Qrow. Her daughter, she just...couldn't look at right now. There was a slow, almost imperceptible nod from Raven. Her head was back in the game, as was to be expected from a true professional. They were surrounded in an ambush, this was not the time for personal feelings to put her off balance. "Thanks." She said under her breath, eyes roving around the room and gauging all the threats as any proper huntress would have.​

"Yeah, real special. 'Cept for how you just blew your entire ambush and still have no idea where the Spring Maiden even is, you stupid runt." He allowed that last, goading emphasis to be accompanied by a little ancient huntsman wisdom of his. A simple, tried-and-true method of baiting pretty much any variation of hothead.

Nora pounced, and he let his smirk become a grimace as he gave Raven's shoulder a hard squeeze before the grip, and the weight, vanished with a flapping of feathers, Qrow banking on the sensation being enough of a stimulus to snap her out of whatever effect Yang was having on her and follow suit. If that initial part of what constituted Qrow's flimsy idea of a 'plan' in this scenario went off, a tandem of birds swerved around the arc of Nora's hammer and made a beeline up for the window Qrow had left wide open on his way in, just on the off chance something like this happened. Well, it turned out that chance wasn't off, but on. Very on.

Nora came in, the swing came down......and the floor underneath shattered on impact, the two targets no longer there. With an raging yell that let out some of the anger she could feel building up inside, the crime lord whirled around on her feet, Magnhild transforming in an instant and a grenade absolutely obliterating the window the pair had just flown through. "You think you're getting away?! NO! We're going to beat the everloving CRAP out of you and force you to reveal where Spring is! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" She roared.

But there was no sign of Nora giving immediate chase, and no further angry yelling. Ren stepped up, one hand moving to grip Nora's hand...and for a moment, all color was gone from the two. Valkyrie's anger seemed to evaporate in an instant as she took a deep breath and turned to her enforcer. He was giving her an expectant look and she nodded back. "Right, right. Can't let anger get the better of me. Thank you, Ren." He always knew what she needed, and right now a calm, level head was exactly what the doc ordered.​

Qrow shifted back to human form and dropped into a graceful skid across the courtyard. Assuming Raven did likewise and dropped with him, he wasted no time in grabbing her collar and yanking her close.

"Go tell the others, I'll make sure you ain't followed, you're a liability with Yang here, and if you even try to argue with me this time I swear on our old man's grave I'm gonna KICK YOUR PREACHY EMO ASS UNTIL YOU TURN INTO A BIRD, YOU GOT THAT?! GO!"

There was a brief startled look when he yanked her in close like that, but by the time he was halfway through speaking it had subsided. There wasn't many things that could surprise her, but that? It did the trick. And by the time she opened her mouth to speak, to reply back just as fiercely that she wasn't going to run...that she wasn't going to leave a family member when they needed her, not again...he was already gone, smashing through the wall back into that room. Her stare remained fixed on him for a while longer. Muttering good luck would have just been utterly the wrong thing to say and nothing else came to mind, so it was that a silent Raven turned away to listen to what he advised and--

--Raven's eyes widened in alarm in an instant, Omen in her hands immediately intercepting the incoming blow. Her instincts had been right, there had been more than the ones she'd seen back there watching. She should have seen it coming, she should have expected it...but for some reason or another, she simply had not.

As quickly as one Qrow had ran off, another had charged in. "Little brother." She snarled, her disappointed red eyes glaring into his from behind their blade lock.

"Sorry, sis. They made a better offer not so long after you and the rest were gone. What can I say, the promises Valkyrie can make? They're very persuasive. Turns out a crime lord has a lot to offer a bandit king whe--"

"Shut your mouth. You're not sorry at all." Raven frowned, pushing against Qrow's blade to force him back. "I'm not sorry either." Before he could ask what she could have even be sorry for, the question was answered as she kicked him square in the chest and knocked him back. She was back on him immediately, sword swinging down to meet his, their single combat in the courtyard beginning. The two Branwens were moving so fast that she doubted any of the students would have been able to keep up as they zipped throughout the courtyard.​

His feet pelted against the paved cement, hand whipping back to grab Harbinger and pull the trigger back, and overall his departure from the building lasted mere seconds end-to-end as he absolutely annihilated a portion of the wall, chunks of plaster and rubble flying everywhere. He stood in the opening as the dust cleared, tattered cloak flapping and Harbinger draped confidently over his shoulder in scythe mode as he stared down the absolute ass kicking he was about to get with a totally composed smirk. A hand came up to slick back his bangs.

"So."

"One at a time, or all at once?"

"...You came back. Alone. Man, you must really want to lose." Nora shrugged. She wasn't against that at all. She glanced left and right, looking expectantly at both Ren and Neo.

"I say all at once!"

Valkyrie bellowed, charging yet again with an overhead swing to slam the bird into the ground as Ren likewise fired upon Qrow, leaving Neo to do as she pleased. Neither Pyrrha nor Jaune charged or even moved from where they stood, but they weren't staying out of the fight. His hand was on her shoulder, a white glow surrounding the spot. Pyrrha smiled, not moving a single inch as she concentrated and with the power of her semblance greatly magnified, the confident huntsman found it basically impossible to resist the forced downward tug of his weapon as it embedded itself in the ground. And if he tried to pull it back, he only found that prospect as difficult as so many had found in attempting to remove the sword Caliburn from the stone.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...Sure."

Eve's eventual reply may have seemed comically short spoken, even clumsy, when it came in the wake of so impassioned an appeal as that, and Corsac even gave her what looked like an irate glare behind her back for ruining the moment. Those who had any kind of real understanding of her, or even of Adam Taurus, knew otherwise. Whatever their shortcomings, shared or not, they both knew how to communicate plenty without saying much. It was probably what originally hooked Blake, quite frankly. That air of gothic mystique, like the darkly heroic lead in one of her romance novels. She always kind of liked that reading of it.

To everyone else, she was fully aware she probably just appeared dismissive. Really, there was just no way in hell for someone like her to really build on anything Ilia had said or add to it. They clearly had the same intentions both in mind and heart. For her, that was good enough.

She stepped around the table and toward Ilia, extending a hand. She cocked her head.

"You seem nervous. Like you've been practicing this. I'm not the type who turns away a faunus in need. Let me guess, the guy you knew was?"​

That quick of an agreement was unexpected, but Ilia wouldn't say it was unwelcome. Despite herself, and despite knowing what she did of the man Adam Taurus eventually turned out to be, the chameleon couldn't help but look up towards the taller bull with a relieved smile. Her eyes shined with hope that maybe, just maybe...the two of them could get Blake to see sense, to realize how far she had fallen before it was too late.

"...Yeah. I did." She admitted to having practiced the speech. "Many times. I was worried that you might...I'll be honest, I was somewhat expecting that talk to go on for much longer and get way more unpleasant. Which all comes from the you that I know. Adam. Which I shouldn't be holding against you...sorry about that. He's not you, and you're not him. Not from what I see."

For starters a big difference was the one thing it took all her willpower to not accidentally reveal via her skin or her spots changing colors to reflect it.

Eve Taurus is way too uncomfortably attractive, like what the hell. ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...You came back. Alone. Man, you must really want to lose." Nora shrugged. She wasn't against that at all. She glanced left and right, looking expectantly at both Ren and Neo.

"I say all at once!"

Valkyrie bellowed, charging yet again with an overhead swing to slam the bird into the ground as Ren likewise fired upon Qrow, leaving Neo to do as she pleased. Neither Pyrrha nor Jaune charged or even moved from where they stood, but they weren't staying out of the fight. His hand was on her shoulder, a white glow surrounding the spot. Pyrrha smiled, not moving a single inch as she concentrated and with the power of her semblance greatly magnified, the confident huntsman found it basically impossible to resist the forced downward tug of his weapon as it embedded itself in the ground. And if he tried to pull it back, he only found that prospect as difficult as so many had found in attempting to remove the sword Caliburn from the stone.

He just let go as Harbinger felt like it was getting heavier, watching its curved point dig into the floor with a nonplussed frown and a half-shrug as Nora came charging in, hands slipping into his pockets as he gave the criminal a listless 'what are ya gonna do'. That was just his luck.

But he was still the luckiest person in the room right now.

When it came to his semblance, Qrow Branwen had never really felt like he hit the genetic jackpot. There were two sides to the curse of misfortune he brought wherever he went, though. The involuntary, impossible-to-control kind, the side of it that took things out of his hands and polluted his every waking moment, had cost him family, friends, loved ones more times than he cared to count. That was what happened when he was trying to ignore his semblance.

Then there was the other side. The side he was entirely positive Ruby and Yang hadn't even seen yet, because no way in hell would he run the risk of even thinking about doing it with someone he cared about in the immediate vicinity. It was what happened when he actually used his semblance as a semblance. When he poured his aura into it like fuel.

With the sea of enemies about to swarm him, he couldn't think of a better time to bust that old card out, and the way he stomped the floor as Nora came charging in was outright insulting in how casual it was. The floorboard reacted like it had been secretly loose the entire time, pivoting down on his end and up on the Valkyrie's end to swing into her jaw with a nasty crack. He didn't waste any time following up on the frankly ridiculous maneuver while she was off balance, the best way he could see how.

Nora had a ringed knuckle smash into the bridge of her nose in just the right spot to be disorienting even with aura, stepping forward with a couple more devastating rights and lefts before a heavy boot slammed into the heister's solar plexus, meant to send her flying across the room and into a Ren who found his feet slower to respond than they should've been. Come to think of it, every single one of his shots had missed, and Qrow hadn't even looked like he'd been trying to avoid them. Must've been the proximity to his girlfriend.

"You got it. Next?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

That quick of an agreement was unexpected, but Ilia wouldn't say it was unwelcome. Despite herself, and despite knowing what she did of the man Adam Taurus eventually turned out to be, the chameleon couldn't help but look up towards the taller bull with a relieved smile. Her eyes shined with hope that maybe, just maybe...the two of them could get Blake to see sense, to realize how far she had fallen before it was too late.

"...Yeah. I did." She admitted to having practiced the speech. "Many times. I was worried that you might...I'll be honest, I was somewhat expecting that talk to go on for much longer and get way more unpleasant. Which all comes from the you that I know. Adam. Which I shouldn't be holding against you...sorry about that. He's not you, and you're not him. Not from what I see."

For starters a big difference was the one thing it took all her willpower to not accidentally reveal via her skin or her spots changing colors to reflect it.

Eve Taurus is way too uncomfortably attractive, like what the hell.

"Hmm."

Eve's voice was musing, even scrutinizing as her offer of a handshake seemed to send the chameleon faunus into some kind of trance, holding her eyeline for several seconds until it became too uncomfortable to do so even with the visor. Were Eve's eyes always that big under her mask? Why was she just staring at her like the mute kid? She cleared her throat with authority and turned away, lowering the hand she'd extended to place it and the other flat against the operations table once more.

"Don't be so sure. You definitely remind me of Ilia... when she wasn't following Blake around and telling her whatever she wanted to hear. Seems like she's been getting a lot of that lately."

Fennec approached with a questioning cough. "...This... makes for a good segue, my lady. How do you intend to retaliate against Sienna's declaration? We've never entered open war with another faction of faunus before."

Eve scoffed, her smirk completely mirthless. "And we're not going to. We retaliate by standing in her way, as many times as it takes for her to get the point. We avoid them... and let our brothers and sisters still under Sienna's spell decide for themselves who truly has the best interests of all faunus at heart."

Fennec's reaction was one of muted surprise, but he bowed and slinked away with a final glance at Ilia. Eve still didn't turn.

"You should know, Blake sees us as the other side now. She'll never allow herself to be persuaded by someone she considers an enemy. I plan on taking her back to her parents in Menagerie so they can figure out the best way of helping her, by force if that's what it comes down to. And it will be."

Her fingers drummed against the flat surface.

"...So you've seen him. 'Ozpin'."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You got it. Next?"

"Not. So. Fast. You must-" Nora started as she pushed herself up and off Ren. "-not know who you're dealing with, if you think a little thwack on the chin and some bar-room punches are enough to put me down." Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the weaponless Qrow. Sparks of lightning began to crackle around her at seemingly random spots. The sensation of her strength increasing was always a pleasant one and she flashed a grin that promised to deliver a lot of pain before she took off, heading right for Qrow again. But she wasn't the only one this time. As Nora came rushing in from one direction, Yang dashed forward herself from the opposite direction, shotgun gauntlets extending out.

Ren jumped to his feet yet again, opening fire to keep Qrow distracted as best as he could. Off to the side, Nikos focused on the rounds as they launched out of his firearms. Somehow every round had missed just a few moments ago, something that was not lost on mistralian champion. She did her utmost to magnetically direct each round so that they actually struck true this time as the two bruisers closed in. Magnhild swung in from Nora's right and the shotgun gauntlet on Yang's left hand swung in unison, the two intending to combine their striking power in one powerful move to send Qrow blasting through one of the walls of the main foyer and into the room beyond it. A rapid volley of grenades and explosive dust rounds quickly followed if that worked.
​

"Don't be so sure. You definitely remind me of Ilia... when she wasn't following Blake around and telling her whatever she wanted to hear. Seems like she's been getting a lot of that lately."

"...RIght. Well, I hope you don't remind me as much of him as I apparently remind you of the Ilia here." That wasn't all bad news though. It did give support to what she had suspected when she had tried to talk with her counterpart. Other Ilia, she could be reached with genuine effort...and if Blake was not present.​

"You should know, Blake sees us as the other side now. She'll never allow herself to be persuaded by someone she considers an enemy. I plan on taking her back to her parents in Menagerie so they can figure out the best way of helping her, by force if that's what it comes down to. And it will be."

Her fingers drummed against the flat surface.

"...So you've seen him. 'Ozpin'."

"......" That, on the other hand, was a statement she had dreaded to hear. "I...know." Ilia admitted, painful as it was to do so. Words alone, simple persuasive tactics to get through to Blake...they wouldn't be enough. "Her misguided resolve, it's..." She struggled to find the right words to use before she shook her head. "She's so committed to seeing the kingdoms burn that I don't think anything is off limits. He, Ozpin...he ordered her to slice off my hand as a test of loyalty. She didn't even hesitate to grab a sword." The chameleon absently rubbed at her scarred wrist with her other hand. "But even so, I'm not going to give up on her. No matter what it takes, and no matter who calls me a fool for continuing to try to find a way."

"So yeah. I've seen him. He wanted to torture me, figure out what was going on with these intruders from a different world. He's....he's honestly a nightmare incarnate. Everything you would expect from a description like that. I'd say I'd rest easier if I never saw him again, but...it's not true. One glimpse was enough. He'll be haunting my dreams for a long time."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Not. So. Fast. You must-" Nora started as she pushed herself up and off Ren. "-not know who you're dealing with, if you think a little thwack on the chin and some bar-room punches are enough to put me down." Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the weaponless Qrow. Sparks of lightning began to crackle around her at seemingly random spots. The sensation of her strength increasing was always a pleasant one and she flashed a grin that promised to deliver a lot of pain before she took off, heading right for Qrow again. But she wasn't the only one this time. As Nora came rushing in from one direction, Yang dashed forward herself from the opposite direction, shotgun gauntlets extending out.

Ren jumped to his feet yet again, opening fire to keep Qrow distracted as best as he could. Off to the side, Nikos focused on the rounds as they launched out of his firearms. Somehow every round had missed just a few moments ago, something that was not lost on mistralian champion. She did her utmost to magnetically direct each round so that they actually struck true this time as the two bruisers closed in. Magnhild swung in from Nora's right and the shotgun gauntlet on Yang's left hand swung in unison, the two intending to combine their striking power in one powerful move to send Qrow blasting through one of the walls of the main foyer and into the room beyond it. A rapid volley of grenades and explosive dust rounds quickly followed if that worked.

PAIN!
...Is your reward for being near me!
FATE!
...Won't be your friend when I'm around!

"Just thought you might wanna take a little breather before I embarrassed you again." He tossed back with insultingly low levels of concern, a practically masochistic grin on his face as he watched Nora charge up. He figured Ren was gonna keep doing what Ren did best and play support from the sidelines, so it was with an unassuming glance around that Qrow stooped over and picked up a support strut from the wreckage of his entrance, bending the thin bar to gauge its tensile strength. This'd do.

BLAME!
...Me for the tragedies that follow!
GRAVE!
...The situations that surround!

His aura washed over the object, infusing it with a momentary crimson glow that faded and amplifying its sturdiness as he gave it an expectant whap against his hand. Ren's projectiles struck truer this time, not entirely thanks to his own doing, but somehow with just casual flicks of the wrist Qrow was able to deflect every single one of the bullets that came his way like a champ, leaving him just enough time to bow as his next challengers came in.

The glint of blonde movement in the corner of his eye told him what the plan was well enough. Pretty simple, really. Send the two who hit the hardest in to put him down fast. It made a lot of sense.

I don't mean to bring you pain!
But I will, just why,
I can't explain...

What made even more sense was not going anywhere the hell near those two without a weapon. There was a roguish glint in his eye in the very last instant the two of them came in as one, but suddenly the metal bar he'd been holding clanged to the floor where Qrow's feet had been, along with rings, necklace, and any metal objects affixed to his person. Their target was simply gone, leaving the pair of juggernauts to collide in a fashion that was way, way clumsier than it had any right to be for two lethal warriors.

I AM NO ONE'S BLESSING!
I'LL JUST BRING YOU HARM!

The bird currently bombing it across the room was already more than halfway to its target, all the speed and coordination of a huntsman of Qrow's caliber combined with the mobility and diminutive stature of a corvid. Plus, he was especially hard to get a bead on right now, bullets and assorted projectiles presumably whizzing by him by the dozens as he swooped and weaved. It was almost supernatural.

I'M A CURSED BLACK CAT, I'M AN ALBATROSS,
I'M A MIRROR BROKEN!

He was between Pyrrha and Jaune fast, intent on leaving his transformation with knee already perfectly angled to be driven into the Mistralian's face with force. That was just a cover, meant to disrupt her concentration so he could yoink the gladitorial shield right off her back, spinning to crack Jaune across the jaw with the intent of sending him flying, then follow through on the whirl to toss it at Pyrrha with... horrible aim. Like really, really bad. Or so it appeared anyway. He dashed forward to keep her too on the defensive to yank the shield back while it curved off into a wild arc, striking the main support beam for the platform Leonardo looked down from.

Crack.

The so-called 'lionheart' felt his feet shift violently as the platform started to collapse, the pillar apparently just incredibly weak in that one specific area.

SAD TO SAY,
I'M YOUR BAD LUCK CHARM!

Was it bad he always kinda wanted to do that? He smirked, enjoying this while he still could. Even he couldn't pretend it was gonna last long.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Nora had a ringed knuckle smash into the bridge of her nose in just the right spot to be disorienting even with aura, stepping forward with a couple more devastating rights and lefts before a heavy boot slammed into the heister's solar plexus, meant to send her flying across the room and into a Ren who found his feet slower to respond than they should've been. Come to think of it, every single one of his shots had missed. Must've been the proximity to his girlfriend.

"You got it. Next?"

"*amused snort*"

Neo calmly stepped to the side as Nora was tossed straight into Ren after that nasty looking punch. Seems she'd made the right decision in not getting mixed up in that initial charge. The Brawnens weren't to be taken lightly, that was a goddamn fact. Which meant that Neo wasn't going to get her hands dirty until she was arsed to do so. Watching as Nora picked herself up, Neo quirked her head and gave a clap in approval!~

*Clap*.....*clap*.....*clap*
​

Ren jumped to his feet yet again, opening fire to keep Qrow distracted as best as he could. Off to the side, Nikos focused on the rounds as they launched out of his firearms. Somehow every round had missed just a few moments ago, something that was not lost on mistralian champion. She did her utmost to magnetically direct each round so that they actually struck true this time as the two bruisers closed in. Magnhild swung in from Nora's right and the shotgun gauntlet on Yang's left hand swung in unison, the two intending to combine their striking power in one powerful move to send Qrow blasting through one of the walls of the main foyer and into the room beyond it. A rapid volley of grenades and explosive dust rounds quickly followed if that worked.

Neo opened up Hush and held it over her shoulder, the parasol giving her shade and also allowing her to watch these guys make fools of themselves. Nikos was skilled, that much was never and hadn't been in question. Neo had thought it back at Beacon and even now that if Cinder hadn't killed her in their world? If she'd been allowed to get stronger? Things could have been much, much, worse for their plans. But they weren't fighting Lil Red and her ragtag band of misifts and losers. They were the same people only instead of doing good, they did evil, the only one who seemed just as dangerous no matter which side she stood on was Nikos.

As explosions went off around her and debris fell off to the side, Neo kept her eyes focused on Qrow as he put in work.
​

Was it bad he always kinda wanted to do that? He smirked, enjoying this while he still good. Even he couldn't pretend it was gonna last long.

Phew, well that went about how Neo had expected it would have.

Shooting a brief look of disdain over her shoulder at Lionheart, Neo rolled her eyes. He'd been standing on that platform while the others charged in and got beaten back. What a dirty coward. Still, if everybody else had been tossed aside, she supposed that if things pulled through and they managed to capture Qrow, her life expectancy would take a major hit if they told Ozpin she'd just stood around and mocked them.

Ah well, it'd been fun!~

Hopping down the steps with a skip and a hop, with a little bit of pep in her step, she looked at Qrow and smiled.

*shatter!*

Neo reappeared at the top of the stairs, Hush closed up and currently being swung down towards the hunter.

"bemused giggle*"

​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"......" That, on the other hand, was a statement she had dreaded to hear. "I...know." Ilia admitted, painful as it was to do so. Words alone, simple persuasive tactics to get through to Blake...they wouldn't be enough. "Her misguided resolve, it's..." She struggled to find the right words to use before she shook her head. "She's so committed to seeing the kingdoms burn that I don't think anything is off limits. He, Ozpin...he ordered her to slice off my hand as a test of loyalty. She didn't even hesitate to grab a sword." The chameleon absently rubbed at her scarred wrist with her other hand. "But even so, I'm not going to give up on her. No matter what it takes, and no matter who calls me a fool for continuing to try to find a way."

"So yeah. I've seen him. He wanted to torture me, figure out what was going on with these intruders from a different world. He's....he's honestly a nightmare incarnate. Everything you would expect from a description like that. I'd say I'd rest easier if I never saw him again, but...it's not true. One glimpse was enough. He'll be haunting my dreams for a long time."

"Your hand?"

There was a sharp, almost demanding uptick to her tone with the question. She hadn't noticed any missing hand, and she was usually pretty good at spotting the absence of a limb given the sheer number of times she'd been the cause of one. Eve turned back around and took hold of the wrist if Ilia allowed, grip firm between thumb and forefinger firm but not roughly so as she inspected it. She traced the scar with her opposite hand's thumb, lips parted in genuine, regretful sadness at the sight of another faunus with another new scar.

"...I'm sorry. This should never have happened."

The apology was quiet, pensive, and threefold, the extremist not always as insensitive as she let on. The first was a general extension of condolences toward Ilia having to go through it, for how hurtful it must've been beyond the physical sense with the knowledge of how she regarded Blake. That much hadn't changed between timelines, it was obvious.

The second was a more personal apology from Eve to Ilia, almost an undertaking of responsibility. She'd made a vow to protect the faunus from this kind of thing. Every now and then, the fates liked to throw her a reminder that she was failing.

The third, and perhaps the most despondent, of the apologies was the one whose recipient wasn't there to hear it. The one from her to Blake. Around the time she left her, she'd only been thinking of herself; if she was strong enough to do it, whether or not she'd be strong enough to carry on alone. Things had escalated until she was forced to make a choice, and in the smog of dark thoughts she felt clouding her mind she never really considered that such an abandonment might bring about a change in Blake, might push her further into the arms of the dark impulses she'd been indulging.

It was so clear to her. She left her alone, and in that loneliness Blake had become a monster. No amount of apologies would ever be enough.

She let the hand drop and turned away, stiff as her eyes drifted back down to the strategy boards. "A bad dream is all he'll be soon enough. I'm going to kill him."

She didn't even speak the intent with much emphasis at this point, like it was just one of many things she planned to do in the imminent future.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

PAIN!
...Is your reward for being near me!
FATE!
...Won't be your friend when I'm around!

"Just thought you might wanna take a little breather before I embarrassed you again." He tossed back with insultingly low levels of concern, a practically masochistic grin on his face as he watched Nora charge up. He figured Ren was gonna keep doing what Ren did best and play support from the sidelines, so it was with an unassuming glance around that Qrow stooped over and picked up a support strut from the wreckage of his entrance, bending the thin bar to gauge its tensile strength. This'd do.

BLAME!
...Me for the tragedies that follow!
GRAVE!
...The situations that surround!

His aura washed over the object, infusing it with a momentary crimson glow that faded and amplifying its sturdiness as he gave it an expectant whap against his hand. Ren's projectiles struck truer this time, not entirely thanks to his own doing, but somehow with just casual flicks of the wrist Qrow was able to deflect every single one of the bullets that came his way like a champ, leaving him just enough time to bow as his next challengers came in.

The glint of blonde movement in the corner of his eye told him what the plan was well enough. Pretty simple, really. Send the two who hit the hardest in to put him down fast. It made a lot of sense.

I don't mean to bring you pain!
But I will, just why,
I can't explain...

What made even more sense was not going anywhere the hell near those two without a weapon. There was a roguish glint in his eye in the very last instant the two of them came in as one, but suddenly the metal bar he'd been holding clanged to the floor where Qrow's feet had been, along with rings, necklace, and any metal objects affixed to his person. Their target was simply gone, leaving the pair of juggernauts to collide in a fashion that was way, way clumsier than it had any right to be for two lethal warriors.

I AM NO ONE'S BLESSING!
I'LL JUST BRING YOU HARM!

The bird currently bombing it across the room was already more than halfway to its target, all the speed and coordination of a huntsman of Qrow's caliber combined with the mobility and diminutive stature of a corvid. Plus, he was especially hard to get a bead on right now, bullets and assorted projectiles presumably whizzing by him by the dozens as he swooped and weaved. It was almost supernatural.

I'M A CURSED BLACK CAT, I'M AN ALBATROSS,
I'M A MIRROR BROKEN!

He was between Pyrrha and Jaune fast, intent on leaving his transformation with knee already perfectly angled to drive into the Mistralian's face with force. That was just a cover, meant to disrupt her concentration so he could yoink the gladitorial shield right off her back, spinning to crack Jaune across the jaw with the intent of sending him flying, then follow through on the whirl to toss it at Pyrrha with... horrible aim. Like really, really bad. Or so it appeared anyway. He dashed forward to keep her too on the defensive to yank the shield back while it curved off into a wild arc, striking the main support beam for the platform Leonardo looked down from.

Crack.

The so-called 'lionheart' felt his feet shift violently as the platform started to collapse, the pillar apparently just incredibly weak in that one specific area.

SAD TO SAY,
I'M YOUR BAD LUCK CHARM!

Was it bad he always kinda wanted to do that? He smirked, enjoying this while he still could. Even he couldn't pretend it was gonna last long.​

The feared criminal Nora Valkyrie was no pushover. Some of the methods she used to dominate the underworld of the kingdom of Vale were things that would have forever lived in infamy, had most of them not been behind closed doors and kept out of the public eye. She'd had her bad days from time to time, but it was a well known fact to everyone from Junior and his cronies to the lowliest street pusher that going against her was an extremely poor decision, as three out of the four members of the annoying student team that just couldn't keep their noses out of her business could also attest to. Yang was a terror that rivaled that, if not went beyond it. One of Ozpin's elite chosen whose brutality was more than readily apparent in the work she left behind when called upon. Lie Ren was Valkyrie's top enforcer, basically a ninja without the training in how quietly he could materialize and his cold efficiency as an assassin. Pyrrha Nikos was a renowned champion from Mistral, easily more than capable of handling an average four man team of huntsmen in training if needs be. Once the flow really got going, she was borderline untouchable.

With all that in mind, it spoke volumes about the professional who, true to his word, was absolutely embarrassing them.

Again, not a single shot actually hit the man. The nonchalant way he deflected Ren's shots with some common metal bar...and worse, that he had the gall to crack a bow after. The loud collision of the ginger and the blonde he completely left in his dust. "Watch it, you blonde oaf!" "Shut your mouth before I break your jaw." A reply that got an incensed snarl to come out of Nora's mouth as she absolutely accidentally swept Yang aside with a backhanded swing of her hammer. The speed with which Qrow transitioned from nimble bird to full sized man in the middle of a knee strike caught Pyrrha off guard and made it ridiculously easy to steal her shield and knock Jaune aside in one fluid move...and the cherry on top of the cowardly lion falling off a much less stable platform and sliding across the floor in a way that was so comical that Nora might have laughed if they weren't on the same side.

All of that made them look like a bunch of idiots...and it was utterly infuriating. Yet before she could make a move, Pyrrha thrust an arm out to block her way and shook her head to make it clear for the other to hold back. Nikos' weapon slid into her hand and her shield soared through the air and back into her grip with practiced ease as she looked over at Neo going for Qrow. Wordlessly she broke into a sprint forward and lashing out from behind Qrow in a series of high and low strikes.

Nora growled in frustration at being told to wait.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She let the hand drop and turned away, stiff as her eyes drifted back down to the strategy boards. "He won't be anything more than dreams soon enough. I'm going to kill him."

Ilia was so surprised by the apology that she had no idea how to respond to it. Any attempt to talk about it ended up dying in her throat before it got anywhere close to being actually spoken, but the sadness evident in both Eve's face and her voice pretty much begged for some kind of response. So it was that Ilia's other hand slooooowly(in case it was refused or one of the other white fang present took offense) rose to place a hand on Eve's shoulder in a manner that was meant to be comforting, at least until the leader stepped away and turned her attention back to the board. "Do...do you have a plan on how to do that?" The chameleon asked, uncertain if she was allowed to move from where she stood.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Phew, well that went about how Neo had expected it would have.

Shooting a brief look of disdain over her shoulder at Lionheart, Neo rolled her eyes. He'd been standing on that platform while the others charged in and got beaten back. What a dirty coward. Still, if everybody else had been tossed aside, she supposed that if things pulled through and they managed to capture Qrow, her life expectancy would take a major hit if they told Ozpin she'd just stood around and mocked them.

Ah well, it'd been fun!~

Hopping down the steps with a skip and a hop, with a little bit of pep in her step, she looked at Qrow and smiled.

*shatter!*

Neo reappeared at the top of the stairs, Hush closed up and currently being swung down towards the hunter.

"bemused giggle*"

"Save it for the mirror, you weirdass mime. And while you're there you might wanna reevaluate this whole look you're trying out. Pink and black are clashing colors, sweetheart."

Qrow's attention shifted to Neo as she made her grand entrance, though he more or less sandbagged it with his typical grizzled bluntness. He'd heard about this one. They never crossed paths before now, but fleeting encounters with various members of Qrow's family tree painted a decent enough picture. From what he understood Neopolitan's semblance was kinda like a headache, a seizure, and a trip all rolled up into one. Nearly impossible to account for, no matter how skilled somebody was. An unarmed Qrow was no exception.

Creak.

But his semblance was exclusively of the 'headache' variety, for everyone involved. And when he actively used it, on top of all the skill and general competence he already had? Things had a habit of getting a little silly.

Neo probably couldn't remember the last time she stepped on a creaky floorboard, but from his understanding of her abilities and the way they might interact with his own he took that as a cue to get the hell out of dodge. The head's up meant he was already moving when Neo swung, and his palm came in to slap Hush to the side before the tip could connect with him, other arm twisting around the parasol to trap it under his arm-

All of that made them look like a bunch of idiots...and it was utterly infuriating. Yet before she could make a move, Pyrrha thrust an arm out to block her way and shook her head to make it clear for the other to hold back. Nikos' weapon slid into her hand and her shield soared through the air and back into her grip with practiced ease as she looked over at Neo going for Qrow. Wordlessly she broke into a sprint forward and lashing out from behind Qrow in a series of high and low strikes.

-and borrow a move from his niece's playbook as he heard rapid footsteps from behind, mashing Hush's button with his thumb to expand the parasol to guard his back against Pyrrha's blows. He yanked the umbrella back to try bludgeon her with it at the same time his head snapped forward to try and nail Neo with a headbutt, and there was hardly a moment for all three to adjust to the messy entanglement before he vanished yet again, crow form extricating itself from between the sentient rock and hard place before things could get too ugly for him. He didn't stay in bird mode long, shifting back to a human almost immediately and skidding to a halt a short distance away, panting lightly with exertion. He wasn't used to exerting himself like this in fights; even against enemies as deranged and psychotic as Tyrian he preferred to keep a level head, his breathing and aura consumption under control, relying mostly on pure style and skill. Those weren't gonna do him much good here.

Not that anything would. The most he could do was buy time, and he glanced between the two.

"Maybe it's not my business, but you-" He nodded at Neo. "-are being real stupid about this, kid. You know the only reason we're doing all this is to get back, right? You should be working WITH us!"

His eyes flickered to Pyrrha. "And you? Pyrrha Nikos, bigshot tournament fighter, doesn't give one guy a chance to take her on with his weapon? Aren't you a little curious?"

He grinned, eyes flashing as they narrowed.

"Or just scared all bajillion of ya won't be enough?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Ilia was so surprised by the apology that she had no idea how to respond to it. Any attempt to talk about it ended up dying in her throat before it got anywhere close to being actually spoken, but the sadness evident in both Eve's face and her voice pretty much begged for some kind of response. So it was that Ilia's other hand slooooowly(in case it was refused or one of the other white fang present took offense) rose to place a hand on Eve's shoulder in a manner that was meant to be comforting, at least until the leader stepped away and turned her attention back to the board. "Do...do you have a plan on how to do that?" The chameleon asked, uncertain if she was allowed to move from where she stood.​

"See the sword?" She answered frankly, the level of lethal confidence in her voice almost instilling the sense no further explanation was necessary. Neither she nor anyone else had reacted to the hand placement overmuch, though it did almost seem like Eve was encouraged to step away faster.

"...There's a group from Beacon Academy with overlapping goals, and a handful of faces you might recognize. Friends of Blake. From your Remnant."