Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

Watts watched all that unfold with a deeply unimpressed frown. "Fantastic. We get the other maiden who sided with the forces of darkness for personal gain along with the huntress with no gun to try and fight the flying lady. And Gretchen" he added, the bite leaving his tone for small moment before it came right back " If there's no one else you wish to unload on us, I'll collect my teammates and we can be on our way. Time is of the essence."

He clasped his arms behind his back and strode out the door to do just that.

By the time he'd walked out, the Raven that had just done the same mere moments ago was nowhere in sight.​

Yang watched him go with an annoyed grimace souring her minor victory, before she huffed and turned back to the Branwens who'd she'd be working with.

"So, the plan's to portal Ironwood out and bring him here, right? Is there any danger of us getting stuck on the other side? Like if the cells mess your semblance?" she asked the Raven she had even a vague desire to talk to

"...Please. Don't insult my intelligence, I'm a professional huntress, you know. I'd already planned around that. It is my semblance, do you honestly think I wouldn't have enough fine control over it to keep us from walking directly into the cell and risking that?" Raven shook her head. Though everything she was saying was with the utmost seriousness, it lacked the harshness that her counterpart liked to sprinkle into her words. "No and no." She continued, answering both Yang's question and her own more rhetorical one all the same. "I'll emerge just outside his cell, cut my way into it, free him and then be back here before any of their security even has a chance to respond."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

By the time he'd walked out, the Raven that had just done the same mere moments ago was nowhere in sight.



"...Please. Don't insult my intelligence, I'm a professional huntress, you know. I'd already planned around that. It is my semblance, do you honestly think I wouldn't have enough fine control over it to keep us from walking directly into the cell and risking that?" Raven shook her head. Though everything she was saying was with the utmost seriousness, it lacked the harshness that her counterpart liked to sprinkle into her words. "No and no." She continued, answering both Yang's question and her own more rhetorical one all the same. "I'll emerge just outside his cell, cut my way into it, free him and then be back here before any of their security even has a chance to respond."​

Yang put up her hands with a placating grin. "Hey, just making sure! Not like I ever had a chance to learn the ins and outs of how it worked from mom. Just... be careful, yea? I'm not exactly a hundred percent yet over here, so if I gotta break another rib before my aura fixes this one by jumping through that portal to save you I'm gonna be preeeetty annoyed." She said with a joking tap on her side that made her do a mostly not joking wince.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Yang put up her hands with a placating grin. "Hey, just making sure! Not like I ever had a chance to learn the ins and outs of how it worked from mom. Just... be careful, yea? I'm not exactly a hundred percent yet over here, so if I gotta break another rib before my aura fixes this one by jumping through that portal to save you I'm gonna be preeeetty annoyed." She said with a joking tap on her side that made her do a mostly not joking wince.

"You, save me? Now that's funny." Raven chuckled, plainly amused. "I'm certain a light breeze could defeat you in your condition." She glanced towards Tock as the faunus grabbed a duffel bag that had been sitting in a corner of the room, hooked it around her shoulder and made her way after Watts. "Wait up, kid! I know you're in a rush to get out there for your friend but the next train's not for a little while, so unless you plan on stealing an airship or somethin', which I'm not necessarily against, ya can take it slow."

With them going on their way to handle their thing, Raven didn't see any reason to delay further. With a swift draw and swing of her sword, a portal popped to life right in this very room. Omen slid back into its scabbard immediately after and just as quickly she stepped through it. It remained in place even as the huntress disappeared through it. Once on the other side, Raven scanned the area around for potential trouble before getting to work. "Hold on, James."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Twice in less than a minute did Qrow find himself staring at his twin's back as she departed with a clouded, wary expression, the circumstances about as far apart from one another as they could get. He carefully concealed his true feelings on his home universe's Raven taking her leave, but never gave an inch right up until she was gone, just kept affixing her with that firm, stony gaze. He wondered if it would've made any difference to her that he took no pleasure in saying that, that Yang's grin was met by a solemn nod and 'wackadoo' hand motion that felt halfhearted at best as Qrow let his eyes drift to the floor, muted by the reminder that the differences between his twin and himself truly were irreconcilable.

His attention picked back up when the Raven who didn't bring out the gloom in him so much made ready to leave, seemingly sharing her counterpart's aversion to wasting time. An eyebrow went up, skeptical and a little concerned. "You're portaling solo? You sure about that? You know, having someone to watch your back isn't always the worst idea."

With them going on their way to handle their thing, Raven didn't see any reason to delay further. With a swift draw and swing of her sword, a portal popped to life right in this very room. Omen slid back into its scabbard immediately after and just as quickly she stepped through it. It remained in place even as the huntress disappeared through it. Once on the other side, Raven scanned the area around for potential trouble before getting to work. "Hold on, James."

She was gone, and assuming she just went ahead and ignored the good advice he dispensed to her so freely (just like every Raven ever always had and always would) Qrow let only a few seconds pass before he rolled his eyes and stalked right through in her wake, content that she was leaving the door open anyways.

---

He found himself emerging onto the same scene Raven did, hands in pockets and wearing a nonchalant expression that quickly died to be reborn as one of urgency and surprise. Raven, if she even turned around to look at him, needed little illuminating as to why.

The hall they were standing in was metallic and nondescript, save for a thick sheet of reinforced glass that sequestered it from an adjacent, remarkably spacious, chamber. As prison cells went, it was far from inhumane; the furnishings were elaborate, the bookshelf well-stocked, and the hallway looking into the room had no soldiers or guard postings, presumably to afford the general some notion of privacy even when his every move was being monitored by cameras. The door in was pressure sealed, and next to it was a port for the purpose of sending through food; a tray, containing an empty wine jug and the half-eaten remains of a meal prepared by one of Atlas's top chefs, was currently set to one side of it.

The scene awaiting them meant none of those background details came across as terribly important right now. The who, not the what, of the room was what immediately demanded their focus. The man standing on the side of the glass you'd expect him to was, until recently, the indomitable General Ironwood, jaw sporting a grizzled coat of stubble but otherwise looking as regal and professional as ever even despite his confinement, and the comical look of surprise he was giving the Branwens as they appeared.

The only other figure in sight was the one who truly required their attention, though, for polar opposite reasons in that it was probably the last person either one of them wanted or expected to see. She was dressed like a leader and seated on the same side of the glass as them, no more than a few feet away really, sprawled across a chair with legs crossed in a manner that somehow blended ladylike, authoritative, and decadent together into something that was the most distilled version of all three. Simply put, she was someone with an aura, an air of self-confidence, power, and intelligence that gave the distinct impression she was someone not to be trifled with. And yet... in that moment, both Raven and Qrow got the inescapable sense that they weren't exactly seeing Weiss Schnee at her best. Figuring out why wasn't terribly hard, with a trolley carrying a few bottles of wine set out next to her, a glass in her hand that looked to have been refilled several times if one of the bottles' emptiness was anything to go by, and the hard, icy glare she affixed them both with seeming... just a little unfocused somehow.

Then it completely shattered, a hard, hilariously uncouth snort signifying the dam's burst and the unstoppable tide of giggles that came gushing out as the Atlesian councilwoman totally lost it with as much graceful restraint as she could manage, apparently just completely hammered.

"W-what a, w-w-what preposterous timing! There really is just no planning for some things!"

The last, breathless few rattles of her laughing fit were little more than a series of squeaky wheezes, Weiss apparently inebriated enough that such a delightful little coincidence was leaving her gasping for air instead of processing any of the urgency or threat she should've been. She did manage to muster up enough composure to stand a moment later, though her hip accidentally bumped the chair and sent Myrtenaster clattering to the floor where it was propped up against it, causing more convulsions in the SDC majority shareholder as she fumbled around to get it.

"Oohp! Hehe, I-I'm sorry, just—I just need a second. Ahem." She came back up, Myrtenaster now properly, if a tad unsteadily, gripped. "I'm sorry, the former general is having a drink with me right this second. I don't suppose I could convince you to reschedule your appointment for later?"

Ironwood offered his own guilty half-chuckle and tossed his cup out, shrugging. Jail was boring and the councilwoman just kept asking, even if only to try a more tactful approach to coaxing out secrets before those methods started growing brutal. He didn't see the harm in accepting one or two of those offers before it came to that. The request carried a fairly threatening edge in its own right as Weiss gave the weapon a rudimentary twirl around her wrist, though it ended with her trying to cross one leg behind the other in one of her eminent pre-combat curtsies that just led to her dangerously wobbling and holding up a hand with fingers splayed for a time-out.

"...Wait! The room's spinning. One more second while I take off my heels."

She definitely, 100% had misjudged how fast she was capable of standing up right now. As he took all this in, Qrow leaned over to his sister and whispered from the corner of his mouth.

Spoiler

"What the hell is goin' on here?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"...………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………Huh."

Suffice it to say as much as she'd thought of the potential possibilities of what she might find on the other side of that portal, of the possible trouble she could encounter while trying to get to Ironwood...this hadn't even made the list! The chances of this, they had to be under one percent even! Yet, here they stood, the twins staring down the former general and Weiss herself. She was glad she was wearing the mask, if at least to hide what surely must have been one incredibly dumbfounded expression. This had to be some weird twist of fate orchestrated by some supernatural force...or...or... She side-eyed Qrow as he leaned over. "...bad luck." There was a slight almost unnoticeable shake of her head. "That figures." She sarcastically finished that train of thought. Worst timing ever.

Or was it? She considered with a raised eyebrow before leaning over slightly herself. "Looks like a two person dinner party to me." She pointed out. As far as prison experiences went, this seemed downright heavenly. Of course. Even the jails in Atlas were overflowing with luxury. "But nevermind that. We came here to get one person...but I wouldn't exactly object if we--" She hesitated, thinking beyond the possibilities of what they could learn if they took Weiss too. One of the most important people in the kingdom, there was likely at least a few ways Atlas would be able to track her and there was no time to even think about trying to find/prevent them. They had just popped into the middle of the kingdom with the world's strongest military power, every second counted. "Nevermind again, let's just get James!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………Huh."

Suffice it to say as much as she'd thought of the potential possibilities of what she might find on the other side of that portal, of the possible trouble she could encounter while trying to get to Ironwood...this hadn't even made the list! The chances of this, they had to be under one percent even! Yet, here they stood, the twins staring down the former general and Weiss herself. She was glad she was wearing the mask, if at least to hide what surely must have been one incredibly dumbfounded expression. This had to be some weird twist of fate orchestrated by some supernatural force...or...or... She side-eyed Qrow as he leaned over. "...bad luck." There was a slight almost unnoticeable shake of her head. "That figures." She sarcastically finished that train of thought. Worst timing ever.

Or was it? She considered with a raised eyebrow before leaning over slightly herself. "Looks like a two person dinner party to me." She pointed out. As far as prison experiences went, this seemed downright heavenly. Of course. Even the jails in Atlas were overflowing with luxury. "But nevermind that. We came here to get one person...but I wouldn't exactly object if we--" She hesitated, thinking beyond the possibilities of what they could learn if they took Weiss too. One of the most important people in the kingdom, there was likely at least a few ways Atlas would be able to track her and there was no time to even think about trying to find/prevent them. They had just popped into the middle of the kingdom with the world's strongest military power, every second counted. "Nevermind again, let's just get James!"

A shoe hit Raven in the face, or more accurately bounced off her helmet as Weiss awkwardly managed to slip one foot out followed by the other, appearing fully intent on besting the two of them in her socks.

"You will do no such thing, you brute."

Now that they were off, it was plain to see those heels definitely added a few inches, She took deep, grounding breaths, a few flicks and thrusts of Myrtenaster swishing through the air while she calibrated moving to her current sense of balance and coordination.

"I can't believe what I'm actually witnessing! More machinations by our enemies in Vale! Whatever will the city think when I leak this footage- oops!" A flourishing twirl of the rapier around her palm proved too ambitious, sending it skittering across the floor again as Weiss clapped both hands over her face to cover the ensuing piggy snort, bending at the knees and completely failing to fight off her giggle fit's second advance. Qrow switched his stare back to Raven again, hand on his hip and one brow raised in askance.

"Thiiiiiiiis is uncomfortable for me. How 'bout I rescue James and you make sure this chick doesn't hit her head or something?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

A shoe hit Raven in the face, or more accurately bounced off her helmet as Weiss awkwardly managed to slip one foot out followed by the other, appearing fully intent on besting the two of them in her socks.

"You will do no such thing, you brute."

Now that they were off, it was plain to see those heels definitely added a few inches, She took deep, grounding breaths, a few flicks and thrusts of Myrtenaster swishing through the air while she calibrated moving to her current sense of balance and coordination.

"I can't believe what I'm actually witnessing! More machinations by our enemies in Vale! Whatever will the city think when I leak this footage- oops!" A flourishing twirl of the rapier around her palm proved too ambitious, sending it skittering across the floor again as Weiss clapped both hands over her face to cover the ensuing piggy snort, bending at the knees as she failed to fight off the giggle fit's second advance. Qrow switched his stare back to Raven again, hand on his hip and one brow raised in askance.

"Thiiiiiiiis is uncomfortable for me. How 'bout I rescue James and you make sure this chick doesn't hit her head or something?"​

"Fine!" Raven hurriedly agreed, 110% eager to get out of here as soon as possible. She rushed for Weiss while the councilwoman was still in the middle of that laughing fit, aiming to drop her to the floor entirely with one well timed strong punch. After that she hunkered down atop the prone woman, briefly thinking about what she'd just drunkenly said...and apparently deciding that the cameras capturing any of this wouldn't make the situation substantially worse. Raven's solution to making sure the chick didn't hit her head...was to repeatedly thwack her in the head with the blunt hilt of Omen until she was unconscious.

Sometimes the straightforward approach was the best one.

Definitely all about being certain that Weiss couldn't make an attempt at attacking or follow them or call for help and absolutely not about the shoes that had just been thrown her way like that.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Nobody could stop her.

She didn't exist to be imprisoned like this. She'd already been trapped for a week or so by Eve and then thrown in a cell as if she were a common criminal. This wasn't the reason she continued to breath and live.

No, that was to be by his side.

He was her one and only. He was her friend!

Leaving a trail of maimed guards in her wake, The Masque tried her best not to kill too many if she could avoid it. Mostly because of what the other Yang had told her.

'Stay here and be good for Auntie Salem and when we get back, you can tell me what's so good about Ozpin, okay?"

"....If only you'd come back sooner."

The Masque was free and now that she was? Nothing would stop her from getting back to his side.

"I'm coming, Ozpin!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Fine!" Raven hurriedly agreed, 110% eager to get out of here as soon as possible. She rushed for Weiss while the councilwoman was still in the middle of that laughing fit, aiming to drop her to the floor entirely with one well timed strong punch. After that she hunkered down atop the prone woman, briefly thinking about what she'd just drunkenly said...and apparently deciding that the cameras capturing any of this wouldn't make the situation substantially worse. Raven's solution to making sure the chick didn't hit her head...was to repeatedly thwack her in the head with the blunt hilt of Omen until she was unconscious.

Sometimes the straightforward approach was the best one.

Definitely all about being certain that Weiss couldn't make an attempt at attacking or follow them or call for help and absolutely not about the shoes that had just been thrown her way like that.

"Wait, WAIT, I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY FIRST EXCUSE ME-"

The heavy patter of footfall approaching was enough to refocus Weiss's attention, at least to a degree, and a subtle glyph bounced Myrtenaster back into her grip just in time for the last few steps of Raven's charge. She laughed triumphantly as she thrust the weapon out hilt-first, lightning dust canister glowing and firing a thin beam of yellow coloration from her fingertips that...

Curved right past Raven's head, veering off course into a wild, spiraling tangent down the hallway as Weiss managed a doleful blink or two right before Raven's knuckle cracked her in the nose. The sharp intake of breath and protesting yelp were, to her regret, rather typical of someone in her wealth class, but the restrained grunt and cold, furious eyes that awaited the huntress when she knocked the councilwoman on her back were less so, Weiss apparently disgusted by the crudeness of it all more than anything as Raven found her grip on Omen caught and struggled against with deceptive levels of strength coming from the smaller woman. And despite everything, Weiss was still laughing, though there was a spiteful, superior hint to the teeth she was baring now. "...My... my... maybe it was hasty of me to assume your daughter was the thug of the family..."

As weird as that was on so many levels, Qrow wasn't intent on wasting time either, and was standing parallel to Ironwood by the cell entrance as he tried to figure a way of opening it. If the soldier felt at all perplexed by the inanity unfolding then he didn't show it, simply awaiting his freedom with militant anticipation and hands clasped behind his back, incarcerating the man and stripping him of his rank having done little to put a dent in his air of righteous authority.

"Qrow."

"James. We've never met, by the way."

"I was briefed on the situation. Put your sword through the food slot."

Qrow's frown tightened skeptically, but after a moment or two he complied; Ironwood gripped Harbinger tight using his organic hand, caught the blade tip on a nook in the side of the port, and swung his bionic arm in like a hammer, striking the pommel with enough force to rattle the entire cell. The blade tore through the structural weak point and came jutting through the door in a shower of sparks, allowing Ironwood to plant his foot against the glass and start slowly prying the door off, applying torque to the weapon as Qrow grunted and pushed from his side.

"So it's that easy to bust out of an Atlesian cell? No wonder you let so many crooks slip away over the years."

The critique seemed to go over, or under, Ironwood's head. "This kind. Only someone who studied the design's schematics could exploit it. Just had to wait for the chance."

"Uh huh. Looks more like you were having tea parties with the other side."

"I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but she comes here every evening to question me. About Fria, the winter maiden." His tone didn't betray what his own opinion on that was, though he'd known miss Schnee a long time and knew full well she didn't keep the busiest of social hours. "I was relieved to hear Winter managed to extract her. Siding against her sister... it couldn't have been easy."

That was a feeling his tone did betray, the light twinge of regret that Qrow couldn't help but note proved there still was a heart beating somewhere in that tin chest. Weiss, on the other hand, just gave a scorned roll of the eyes.

"Ugh, how sentimental. Can I tell you a secret between us girls?"

She sat up. Raven couldn't help but notice that the struggle for leverage she'd gradually been winning was no longer a struggle at all, Weiss overpowering the grip like it was nothing as she peered over the huntress's shoulder and leaned in close to her ear, both to make sure the plan's other half was in position and stop Raven from seeing the wispy, pale-blue energy starting to leak from the corners of her eyes until she felt the temperature start to drop, breath coming out as mist through her mask.

"Getting my slow, sentimental sister to show me where Ironwood kept his maiden was literally the first thing I did. And the reason I've been spending so much time talking to this bore of a man..."

She let the sentence hang and her eyes lid with a devious smile, watching as the figure who had descended from the ceiling and let the bolt she 'missed' Raven with earlier strike him in the chest was submerged in a yellowish glow. A particularly elaborate glyph was already formed beneath him, the face of a clock with hands spinning as it imbued him with its hastening energy.

"...is because I knew he was your only way into my kingdom, you rube."

---

Miss Schnee's schemes reached a level of machiavellian that he felt was ill-suited to him, personally. For someone with such a reputation, he was a remarkably simple man. He had simple talents, simple pleasures, and one very simple request from the councilwoman he was only too happy to oblige, considering it gave him the kind of chance to exercise those talents and pleasures he was rarely afforded these days.

Hiding himself in the ceiling crawlspace had, again, been simple. Lowering himself down with the silent grace of a spider on its thread was simple. Letting lady Schnee's projectile strike him had been oh so terribly simple.

And with the power coursing through his veins right now, what came next was the simplest task of them all, as Weiss's hidden enforcer crossed two blades before him and prepared for one brief, furious sprint.

'Furious' being the operative word.



Qrow was about as quick as they were supposed to come, but he barely had time to process the yellow-streaked blur that gusted past him with a shower of footsteps that clattered so closely together they were almost impossible to distinguish. It was all he could do to spin around in response to Ironwood's eyes widening with alarm as he caught a glimpse of whoever dashed by, the hallway completely empty by the time he wrenched Harbinger free with another spark shower that finally pried the door open enough for James to start squeezing out. His thoughts tried to play catch-up amid their confusion, and it only took a couple of seconds for him to widen his eyes and turn towards where he needed to be, but by then-

---

The man who erupted from the portal in Tock's living room was definitely not a relative of theirs.

He didn't stop to speak, threaten or analyze. He didn't stop at all. Clad in a simple black tee and cargo pants, he tore through the crimson gateway like a Grimm being spawned from their world of darkness, only his was a dimension of violence, one of lethal intent and cold, murderous rage, all of which he brought to bear against two sisters who frankly had never felt such hateful malevolence pour off something that wasn't a Grimm before. His sprint's frenzied arc made Yang his first target, and the blonde felt a series of glancing cuts and slashes best described as what the inside of a blender felt like rake all the way up and down her body at absurd speeds, in serious danger of shredding however much of her aura had recovered by that point in a matter of seconds if she didn't find a way to guard against it before a knee slammed into her gut exactly where it felt the most tender.

The two further grisly cracks that blow elicited told him all he needed to know, and he used the fistful of Yang's hair he'd snatched at some point in the whirlwind to swing around twice and pitch the blonde through the portal at the speed of a javelin, the entire exchange over and done with in about a second. Even without the lightning dust filling his old bones with vigor he would've been frighteningly, horrifyingly fast, and there was no pause to assess his surroundings or evaluate Ruby, nothing except the transition from his first target to his second as he bore down on the relic-wielder in an instant. His chilling, red-eyed glare communicated nothing of their assailant's identity or motives save that he hated them, hated them more than she or Yang had ever hated or been hated in their entire lives, and barring a miracle they were both going to be dead within a few seconds.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Wait, WAIT, I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY FIRST EXCUSE ME-"

The heavy patter of footfall approaching was enough to refocus Weiss's attention, at least to a degree, and a subtle glyph bounced Myrtenaster back into her grip just in time for the last few steps of Raven's charge. She laughed triumphantly as she thrust the weapon out hilt-first, lightning dust canister glowing and firing a thin beam of yellow coloration from her fingertips that...

Curved right past Raven's head, veering off course into a wild, spiraling tangent down the hallway as Weiss managed a doleful blink or two right before Raven's knuckle cracked her in the nose. The sharp intake of breath and protesting yelp were, to her regret, rather typical of someone in her wealth class, but the restrained grunt and cold, furious eyes that awaited the huntress when she knocked the councilwoman on her back were less so, Weiss apparently disgusted by the crudeness of it all more than anything as Raven found her grip on Omen caught and struggled against with deceptive levels of strength coming from the smaller woman. And despite everything, Weiss was still laughing, though there was a spiteful, superior hint to the teeth she was baring now. "...My... my... maybe it was hasty of me to assume your daughter was the thug of the family..."

"...…" The spite and insult in that look, those words...it made Raven even more incensed than she already was after being hit by a pair of freaking shoes. She pushed back with all she could as her teeth gritted together. How can someone this small be this strong??? By all rights it didn't make sense.​

"Ugh, how sentimental. Can I tell you a secret between us girls?"

She sat up. Raven couldn't help but notice that the struggle for leverage she'd gradually been winning was no longer a struggle at all, Weiss overpowering the grip like it was nothing as she peered over the huntress's shoulder and leaned in close to her ear, both to make sure the plan's other half was in position and stop Raven from seeing the wispy, pale-blue energy starting to leak from the corners of her eyes until she felt the temperature start to drop, breath coming out as mist through her mask.

"Getting my slow, sentimental sister to show me where Ironwood kept his maiden was literally the first thing I did. And the reason I've been spending so much time talking to this bore of a man..."

She let the sentence hang and her eyes lid with a devious smile, watching as the figure who had descended from the ceiling and let the bolt she 'missed' Raven with earlier strike him in the chest was submerged in a yellowish glow. A particularly elaborate glyph was already formed beneath him, the face of a clock with hands spinning as it imbued him with its hastening energy.

"...is because I knew he was your only way into my kingdom, you rube."

"...What?!!?" Forget the strength required to struggle so much against the older huntress, Weiss in that moment revealed the depths of a strength that just plain boggled the mind. Her surprise and confusion in addition to that strength kept her unmoving for a few moments as Weiss leaned over to her ear, every word painfully heard with absolute clarity. She...she knew where the maiden was, that... "...n-no." She stammered out, her mind already suspecting, thinking about the words that Weiss had not explicitly said and where that freakish strength could possibly come from. She felt her fears confirmed with the cold around her, the next breath exhaled came out in a tangible mist. "No no no..." Raven pulled away just then, leaping back to gain some distance and draw Omen into a full combat stance. This had just gone from simple to so much worse.​

Qrow was about as quick as they were supposed to come, but he barely had time to process the yellow-streaked blur that gusted past him with a shower of footsteps that clattered so closely together they were almost impossible to distinguish. It was all he could do to spin around in response to Ironwood's eyes widening with alarm as he caught a glimpse of whoever dashed by, the hallway completely empty by the time he wrenched Harbinger free with another spark shower that finally pried the door open enough for James to start squeezing out. His thoughts tried to play catch-up amid their confusion, and it only took a couple of seconds for him to widen his eyes and turn towards where he needed to be, but by then-

So so so so much worse.

"HURRY UP!" Raven roared at the two before she lunged at Weiss, swinging her blade in a series of measured strikes.​

The man who erupted from the portal in Tock's living room was definitely not a relative of theirs.

He didn't stop to speak, threaten or analyze. He didn't stop at all. Clad in a simple black tee and cargo pants, he tore through the crimson gateway like a Grimm being spawned from their world of darkness, only his was a dimension of violence, one of lethal intent and cold, murderous rage, all of which he brought to bear against two sisters who frankly had never felt such hateful malevolence pour off something that wasn't a Grimm before. His sprint's frenzied arc made Yang his first target, and the blonde felt a series of glancing cuts and slashes best described as what the inside of a blender felt like rake all the way up and down her body at absurd speeds, in serious danger of shredding however much of her aura had recovered by that point in a matter of seconds if she didn't find a way to guard against it before a knee slammed into her gut exactly where it felt the most tender.

The two further grisly cracks that blow elicited told him all he needed to know, and he used the fistful of Yang's hair he'd snatched at some point in the whirlwind to swing around twice and pitch the blonde through the portal at the speed of a javelin, the entire exchange over and done with in about a second. Even without the lightning dust filling his old bones with vigor he would've been frighteningly, horrifyingly fast, and there was no pause to assess his surroundings or evaluate Ruby, nothing except the transition from his first target to his second as he bore down on the relic-wielder in an instant. His chilling, red-eyed glare communicated nothing of their assailant's identity or motives save that he hated them, hated them more than she or Yang had ever hated or been hated in their entire lives, and barring a miracle they were both going to be dead within a few seconds.

"!!!!!!?" If it weren't for her incredible speed, Ruby felt more than sure right then that whatever had just hit Yang like a hundred mile per hour trailer truck(that was also on fire) would have easily been repeated on her. As it were she just narrowly avoided the same fate, at least for a few moments, vanishing from under the incoming blow and shooting out of the room as fast as she could go, scroll already in hand and calling mid-sprint. She answered instantly, holding up it to her ear. "Hullo--" "HELP!" Ruby interrupted, yelling so loudly into the scroll that the faunus recoiled, pulling the scroll away. "SOMEBODY'S HERE, WE NEED--" That was all she managed to get out before the call cut off with a pained yell as even with her speed the mystery man caught up and silenced her. Tock's eyes flashed with alarm and she dropped her duffel bag to the ground, her scroll following after to land safely atop it, the croc already turning and sprinting like hell back the way they'd gone. A matter of minutes, MINUTES, and things go to shit without her???

Already weakened from the earlier abuse, Tock's front door burst off its hinges as she kicked it open. It would cost her some lien for repair but she honestly didn't give a damn about that. As soon as she entered, her sprint came to an abrupt halt as she caught sight of the frankly imposing man. An imposing, familiar and completely hated man. Yes, she had been involved in that nasty war...and so much of what this man had done back then...they were among the most terrible things that occurred during it. Yet despite the hate for the man and the concern for the other two huntresses, neither of those were expressed in her face as she spoke.

"The Butcher of Solitas."

She'd long hoped to get a chance for this. And if it went as she imagined it would...so much more than her door would be on the repair bill.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Qrow had a difficult decision to make.

On one side of the portal were his nieces, both fierce and capable enough warriors that he was past the point of thinking they needed to be babysat. But they were facing down an unknown, someone quick and skilled enough to slip right by his notice before he could do anything about it, and it wasn't as if he'd be thrilled about the prospect of either of them facing off with Tyrian Callows back home even after all the time and growth they'd experienced since the first go around. There were some threats they just weren't ready for, some killers who'd been walking the world and honing their craft longer than either of them had been alive. Both were remarkably advanced warriors with powerful semblances, but those things made poor substitutes for experience when they were equally applicable to an older, wiser enemy who'd carved out their path through the world long ago.


But then, there were some threats nobody was ready for.



There were beings walking the earth who defied sense, reason and description, and who could attain levels of power that made things like experience and guile almost completely irrelevant. As a thin mist swirled and cold winds started to howl, despite their being on the deepest level of some Atlesian prison complex, it became apparent to Qrow that they were in the presence of one such being now, and the dumbfounded, desolated look on Ironwood's face as he leveraged enough of a gap to finally squeeze out would've been in equal parts comical and tragic as he realized the situation was far worse than he'd been led to believe.

Weiss was sitting up with a wry, simpering smirk, apparently reaping vivid enjoyment from the control she had over the situation and everyone in it. Blue curls of energy trailed from the corners of her eyes as the temperature continued to drop, by now uncomfortably chill to any who hadn't grown up in the frigid skies of Remnant's coldest continent like she had, fractals of ice beginning to crystallize on their metal weapons. Her cheek rested on her palm in a tolerant, dismissive way, but the sight of Raven taking up a stance against her even with the full knowledge of how outmatched she was had her roll her eyes as her hands dropped to her side, and the mist started to coalesce and swirl around her.

And Weiss started to levitate.

She was still new to these powers, but they felt right. Like they were her destiny. Her birthright. And although new, through dogged training and sheer force of will she was taking to them far faster than anyone could ever have anticipated. She simply raised a hand towards Raven as the huntress prepared to charge, a cold, calculated look of indifference settling over her as all the mist swirling started to coalesce and solidify into shards of ice.

"You people have no idea how screwed you actually-"

Then the Yang Xiao Long of another world was flung through the portal at high speeds, and because she was new at this and still way too inebriated to be doing it she just watched with fascination that turned to surprise and slight dread as the blonde meteor got bigger and bigger from where she was hovering. "Oh."

They collided with such force Weiss got torpedoed out of her floating and sent tumbling down the hall in a heap, which in her nigh-loopy state of finding everything hilarious had her giggling and cooing with sincere admiration.

"Ohhhh, your hair is simply to die for! I wanna fall asleep in it."

She rubbed a few curls against her cheek as if it was a scrap of velvet. However inane a sight it was, the prospect of his niece having a maiden to contend with made Qrow's mind for him, and Raven felt a hand on her shoulder as he tried to dissuade her from attacking further. "Take James and help Ruby! If we're not back through the portal inside a minute just close the thing, we'll meet you when you get here!"

---

"The Butcher of Solitas."

She'd long hoped to get a chance for this. And if it went as she imagined it would...so much more than her door would be on the repair bill.

There was nothing really to the look the man gave Tock as she burst in, no eyepatch in sight as the advanced cybernetic component replacing his left eye whirred gyroscopically while it scanned her. The results of that scan yielded nothing but a sideward glance of cold, stern indifference, Carnelian standing over Ruby's fallen form and cleaning off a sword with one hand while the other held the relic.

"Some have been known to call me that, yes."

It was a far cry from the scathing, emphatic tones one might expect such a reviled figure reserved for his enemies, downright cordial for how casual it was. His next act was stranger still, as he turned his back on Tock and simply began a slow, relaxed stroll for the portal, having taken what he came for and appearing completely uninterested in dealing with her.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

They collided with such force Weiss got torpedoed out of her floating and sent tumbling down the hall in a heap, which in her nigh-loopy state of finding everything hilarious had her giggling and cooing with sincere admiration.

"Ohhhh, your hair is just to die for! I wanna fall asleep in it."

She rubbed a few curls against her cheek as if it was a scrap of velvet. However inane a sight it was, the prospect of his niece having a maiden to contend with made Qrow's mind for him, and Raven felt a hand on her shoulder as he tried to dissuade her from attacking further. "Take James and help Ruby! If we're not back through the portal inside a minute just close the thing, we'll meet you when you get here!"

"But..." She started, tearing her gaze away from the sight of Weiss doing...that and looking towards Qrow instead. The look on his face had her just fall silent, whatever refusal she had been about to say going unsaid. She nodded after a moment, but before he could pull away, she grabbed his wrist in turn. "You better." She declared, the tone of her voice promising that if he didn't get back through or meet them later, she was absolutely going to kick his ass...technically big brother or not. There was a brief hesitation before she stepped away, dashing for the portal. "Move it James!" She bellowed, thinking she wouldn't have to physically drag him through but if she needed to, that's what she did.​

There was nothing really to the look the man gave Tock as she burst in, no eyepatch in sight as the advanced cybernetic component replacing his left eye whirred gyroscopically while it scanned her. The results of that scan yielded nothing but a sideward glance of cold, stern indifference, Carnelian standing over Ruby's fallen form and cleaning off a sword with one hand while the other held the relic.

"Some have been known to call me that, yes."

It was a far cry from the scathing, emphatic tones one might expect such a reviled figure reserved for his enemies, downright cordial for how casual it was. His next act was stranger still, as he turned his back on Tock and simply began a slow, relaxed stroll for the portal, having taken what he came for and appearing completely uninterested in dealing with her.​

Oh, this motherfucker.

Every faunus alive owed him a debt of blood for the worst of his actions, and now that she proved to be lucky enough to have a chance of cashing in that debt...the bastard wasn't even giving her the time of day. He is goddamn walking away like he's goin' for a stroll in the park! The sheer fucking nerve! Without a single yell or howl or any sound other than her footsteps, she ran forward after him, both Chronos and Meridian at the ready and swinging in for the back of those legs of his with one sword from either side. She wasn't the only one who attacked in that moment, either.

As soon as Raven dashed through the portal, she came almost face to face with the guy. A lesser huntress or someone faster than she was, like Ruby, would have likely literally ran headfirst into Carnelian. But she didn't. She pivoted just enough to keep from slamming into him, using her current momentum to spin into a slice of Omen that, unlike Tock, aimed higher. For his throat.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Oh, this motherfucker.

Every faunus alive owed him a debt of blood for the worst of his actions, and now that she proved to be lucky enough to have a chance of cashing in that debt...the bastard wasn't even giving her the time of day. He is goddamn walking away like he's goin' for a stroll in the park! The sheer fucking nerve! Without a single yell or howl or any sound other than her footsteps, she ran forward after him, both Chronos and Meridian at the ready and swinging in for the back of those legs of his with one sword from either side. She wasn't the only one who attacked in that moment, either.

As soon as Raven dashed through the portal, she came almost face to face with the guy. A lesser huntress or someone faster than she was, like Ruby, would have likely literally ran headfirst into Carnelian. But she didn't. She pivoted just enough to keep from slamming into him, using her current momentum to spin into a slice of Omen that, unlike Tock, aimed higher. For his throat.

Tock's dash in and tandem slices provoked nary a reaction from the militant gentleman, who was even whistling a jolly tune to himself as he made his way up to the portal at a leisurely pace. The relic hung from his belt by now, twin officer cutlasses with triggers denoting the archaic vibrosword family looking more like they belonged in a display case than at the side of this remorseless, blase killer. Tock's own blades swung in close enough without the general acknowledging her in any way that she was sure they were going to strike home. It would've taken an absurd feat of coordination, an almost prescient awareness to avoid it with his back freely given.

And yet.

The man's feet suddenly swept up in a leap what seemed like an instant before contact, and he parried Omen between his own blades without flinching even as his boot lashed back to smash its heel into Tock's throat, all of which occurred at what seemed like the same exact moment. The next wasn't any more promising, a devastating haymaker thrown by Ironwood as he charged through the portal ducked with the insulting ease of a gymnast as Carnelian's careful footwork sent him sliding a few feet away, clearing some space. He rolled out his shoulders, gently tapping the side of his head.

"My semblance involves just a dash of telepathy. By reading your surface thoughts I can anticipate exactly where and when your next strike's coming, and by the time you've made your move I'm already avoiding it. And this eye of mine, well, let's just say it's quite the technological marvel. I'm processing things at eleven times the rate my original one ever could, even in my prime. So come at me as a group or person by person, you won't be able to land a single hit. I'm telling you this to make it sporting; Now would you like to know why you can't win? Because it's got nothing to do with either of those. They just help things along."

He crossed both swords at his chest, bionic eye whirring as it started to emanate a harsh, distracting crimson, like a laser pointer beam shining directly into each of their eyes.

"It's because I'm the last living embodiment of something this world forgot. And that's this; Life isn't fair. You think you'll win because you're brave, you have ideals, you have a noble cause that makes it feel like destiny itself is on your side. Well, before we get into this I'd just like to make it perfectly clear that I don't care. I'm going to take you apart anyway, piece by piece, and there's not a damn thing any of you can do about it. Concepts like destiny, hope, prayer, they're nothing more than a string of pitiful delusions made up to divide the weak from the strong. Here's the brass tacks of it: we humans were put on Remnant to fight. We share our dominion with a species that is hostility incarnate, and we're about to reach a tipping point. People just can't face up to reality these days, and the reality is we are each and every one of us born in war. The only war that matters; two sides, humanity and Grimm. You know which side's gonna win that war?"

He smiled, a dark, threatening leer that cut through the shadow falling across his face.

"It won't be the side with all these chipper little notions like destiny, and hope, and prayer. No, it'll be whatever side's strongest. So that's what we're going to do, lady Schnee and I; Reforge the world into a shape that's strong. Into something that can win. A world where the strong thrive, and life's whatever you take with your own two hands. No free rides, no delusions. And you punks, you wailing children with all your naive little ideas about what's right and fair and just... I'm afraid you're standing in the way of that. Between a soldier and his duty."

His chuckle was almost grandfatherly, yet still carried that ominous, foreboding air. He rubbed the muscles near the back of his neck, loosening out the stiffness there with a bit of a grunt.

"So come die. My back's starting to ache."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The man who erupted from the portal in Tock's living room was definitely not a relative of theirs.

He didn't stop to speak, threaten or analyze. He didn't stop at all. Clad in a simple black tee and cargo pants, he tore through the crimson gateway like a Grimm being spawned from their world of darkness, only his was a dimension of violence, one of lethal intent and cold, murderous rage, all of which he brought to bear against two sisters who frankly had never felt such hateful malevolence pour off something that wasn't a Grimm before. His sprint's frenzied arc made Yang his first target, and the blonde felt a series of glancing cuts and slashes best described as what the inside of a blender felt like rake all the way up and down her body at absurd speeds, in serious danger of shredding however much of her aura had recovered by that point in a matter of seconds if she didn't find a way to guard against it before a knee slammed into her gut exactly where it felt the most tender.

The two further grisly cracks that blow elicited told him all he needed to know, and he used the fistful of Yang's hair he'd snatched at some point in the whirlwind to swing around twice and pitch the blonde through the portal at the speed of a javelin, the entire exchange over and done with in about a second.

Yang couldn't have been ready for that if someone had literally told her that it was going to happen and gave her an hour to prepare for it. Not in the state she was in. Her aura was still there, but so much of it was focused on healing that she didn't even get a vague ping of danger off of it before the blur that exited the portal had already ripped most of it to shreds and turned the two fractures into breaks. She cried out in painful surprise, a sound that carried all the way from Mistral to Atlas.

Then the Yang Xiao Long of another world was flung through the portal at high speeds, and because she was new at this and still way too inebriated to be doing it she just watched with fascination that turned to surprise and slight dread as the blonde meteor got bigger and bigger from where she was hovering. "Oh."

They collided with such force Weiss got torpedoed out of her floating and sent tumbling down the hall in a heap, which in her nigh-loopy state of finding everything hilarious had her giggling and cooing with sincere admiration.

"...Ow. Weiss. Nice to finally meet this you." she mumbled through gritted teeth.

The impact with Weiss did the rest of her aura in, and it shattered across her form even before they hit the ground again in a heap. Yang still didn't have the vaguest idea what had just happened to her. She wasn't even entirely sure it had been a person that attacked her and not some new grimm, or ghost, or demon. All she knew was that she was in a lotta pain, in the den of the enemy, and that her little sister was still stuck in a room with that monster, and the only thought in her mind was what she was gonna do about it

She heard the twins' exchange, and that made the decision for her. If they had the other guy, then that meant she had to make sure Weiss didn't add herself to the problem. Not exactly a short order. On her best days, Weiss was the only person on Team RWBY who really gave her fits in sparring matches, and from her couldn't-be-much-closer view she could tell this weiss was older, and probably more dangerous. Whereas she just had two busted bones get even more busted, had her aura drained before she could even think the word 'semblance', and still couldn't completely open one of her bruised eyes. Were she a betting woman...

...she'd still bet on herself, because Ruby getting hurt, by Weiss, was something that Yang Xiao Long would've tore a mountain down barehanded to stop, aura or no aura.

"Ohhhh, your hair is simply to die for! I wanna fall asleep in it."

She rubbed a few curls against her cheek as if it was a scrap of velvet.

"Yea?" Yang said with a wry grin despite the pain. She cocked her head, the strands brushing against the side of Weiss' cheeks in a curtain of gold "Then why don'tcha."

There was one part of Yang that wasn't hindered by the lack of semblance, and while her hair was all up in Weiss' face, yellow painted fingers suddenly latched around her neck with the whir of gears and electronics with as much force as Yang could muster, attempting to choke the air from the maiden's lungs as she suddenly sat up and tried to twist herself to plant a boot on Weiss' dominant arm to keep Myrtenaster out of reach. Through whatever cold, fire, electricity, or whatever else the maiden tried to do to free herself, Yang grit her teeth and forced herself to keep steady through the pain as long as she could while her gaze whirled towards Qrow with the most violent, scared, and furious glare he'd ever seen on his niece's face.

"Go SAVE MY SISTER!"

It was easier not to look at Weiss while she did this anyways.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Tock's dash in and tandem slices provoked nary a reaction from the militant gentleman, who was even whistling a jolly tune to himself as he made his way up to the portal at a leisurely pace. The relic hung from his belt by now, twin officer cutlasses with triggers denoting the archaic vibrosword family looking more like they belonged in a display case than at the side of this remorseless, blase killer. Tock's own blades swung in close enough without the general acknowledging her in any way that she was sure they were going to strike home. It would've taken an absurd feat of coordination, an almost prescient awareness to avoid it with his back freely given.

And yet.

The man's feet suddenly swept up in a leap what seemed like an instant before contact, and he parried Omen between his own blades without flinching even as his boot lashed back to smash its heel into Tock's throat, all of which occurred at what seemed like the same exact moment. The next wasn't any more promising, a devastating haymaker thrown by Ironwood as he charged through the portal ducked with the insulting ease of a gymnast as Carnelian's careful footwork sent him sliding a few feet away, clearing some space.

...The general's infamous reputation, many of the stories she'd heard, even as far-fetched as some of them sounded...they didn't do the man enough justice. Anyone who could do that to the three of them, one huntsman and two huntresses with more than a century of collective experience between them all, certainly was not somebody to take lightly. But that kick to the throat and the rest, it didn't deter Tock in the slightest. Fear wasn't a word that existed in her life. No amount of dodges from this old bastard was going to change that.​

"My semblance involves just a dash of telepathy. By reading your surface thoughts I can anticipate exactly where and when your next strike's coming, and by the time you've made your move I'm already avoiding it. And this eye of mine, well, let's just say it's quite the technological marvel. I'm processing things at eleven times the rate my original one ever could, even in my prime. So come at me as a group or person by person, you won't be able to land a single hit. I'm telling you this to make it sporting; Now would you like to know why you can't win? Because it's got nothing to do with either of those. They just help things along."

"Good!" She growled, sharpened teeth bared dangerously. "You'll see your defeat comin' and ya can even 'ave the whole bloody thing recorded for yourself, your family and anybody stupid enough to be friends with a pain in the ass like ya. Hell, i'm sure ya can pass it around your whole damn academy as a lesson in asshole arrogance costin' ya!" Tock wasn't having any of this bullshit.​

"It's because I'm the last living embodiment of something this world forgot. And that's this; Life isn't fair. You think you'll win because you're brave, you have ideals, you have a noble cause that makes it feel like destiny itself is on your side. Well, before we get into this I'd just like to make it perfectly clear that I don't care. I'm going to take you apart anyway, piece by piece, and there's not a damn thing any of you can do about it. Concepts like destiny, hope, prayer, they're nothing more than a string of pitiful delusions made up to divide the weak from the strong. Here's the brass tacks of it: we humans were put on Remnant to fight. We share our dominion with a species that is hostility incarnate, and we're about to reach a tipping point. People just can't face up to reality these days, and the reality is we are each and every one of us born in war. The only war that matters; two sides, humanity and Grimm. You know which side's gonna win that war?"

He smiled, a dark, threatening leer that cut through the shadow falling across his face.

"It won't be the side with all these chipper little notions like destiny, and hope, and prayer. No, it'll be whatever side's strongest. So that's what we're going to do, lady Schnee and I; Reforge the world into a shape that's strong. Into something that can win. A world where the strong thrive, and life's whatever you take with your own two hands. No free rides, no delusions. And you punks, you wailing children with all your naive little ideas about what's right and fair and just... I'm afraid you're standing in the way of that. Between a soldier and his duty."

"Tch. And people actually call ya no-nonsense. Un-friggin-believable. Do the types of people your kingdom breeds out in droves have an off switch for the 'I like to hear myself run my mouth' function? Cause lemme tell ya, it is wearin' pretty thin real damn fast." She shook her head several times as she glared. "Ya think that you're the only one in the world that's special like that? You ain't. That I can't give as good as I get in a fight? You're dead wrong. That you're an example of one of the strongest, the only one here who can win? No." Her yellow eyes narrowed to slits. "You ain't."​

His chuckle was almost grandfatherly, yet still carried that ominous, foreboding air. He rubbed the muscles near the back of his neck, loosening out the stiffness there with a bit of a grunt.

"So come die. My back's starting to ache."

There was a shimmer of lightish-green that ran across the croc's whole body in that moment, before she rushed forward at speeds that rivaled those of Carnelian himself when he'd handled Yang and Ruby. The stopwatch at her waist went unused in favor of her just mentally counting out every second, doing her best to let that thought dominate her mind and simply let the fighting instinct honed over decades guide her offense/defense instead. If the bastard wanted to poke into her skull and hear her counting that bad, he was free to do so. "TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!" She shouted in defiance, one of her swords going in for a stab with every bit of force she could muster, aimed squarely at that glowing bionic eye. Raven dashed forward again a second or two after Tock did, Omen now a light blue in color as she swung it repeatedly, so that any parrying moves only ended with his own weapons frozen solid, intent to give the two of them the time to capitalize on it.​

 

[Indolent]

Both Rainart siblings were concurrently involved in something, whether it was a heartening exchanged that needed having or the emergence of a backbone to stick it to an abhorrently obnoxious individual.

Tyrian only gave a sheepish frown.

"Sorry."




Tyrian swayed from side to side and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"Sorry. Standing still for too long gets me antsy..."

Wrapping his tail around his waist, Tyrian gave it a delicate petting. "When we argued before, things didn't end on the best of notes. Feels like he got the impression that I'm just some battle-hungry brute." Tyrian looked idly up at the sky. "Well. He wasn't entirely wrong about that."

Pulling his right hand out, Tyrian turned towards Hazel and held it out for a fist bump.

"I'll do what I can. I'll see if he wants to talk when we head back in."


Whether or not the bump was reciperoated, Tyrian went eerily silent at Hazel's request.

A stray gust of wind blew past, brushing Tyrian's wild mane.

"Hazel."

Tyrian oddly enough took a seat on the ground, his back once more to Hazel as he gazed up at the sky.

"I'd seen lots of faunus come and go during my time there. Some looked old enough to be my parents, hell, maybe even my grandparents. Some abused themselves and others were just doing it for a paycheck. But it was always more than that to me. It was a chance to be myself. To stand proudly and declare..."

He held his arms off to the side as he laid down flat on his back.

"I am Tyrian Callows! This is MY choice! MY life!"

A smile appeared on his face not too long after.

"No matter how many times some of the humans running the place insulted me or pushed me around, I never let it ruin the spirit of why I loved that place so much. The crowd cheered for me but I couldn't have cared less. For once in my life I had a chance to do something I loved. Even today, not many faunus get to say that." Hopping back up and cracking his neck from side to side, Tyrian turned back towards his partner and smiled up at him.

"I won't go back. It was never about the place but the feeling it gave me. Now that Ichabod's gone, well, I ain't got no reason to go back. ...If there was anything to go back to." Tyrian didn't know how thorough the White Fang had been but he doubted there'd been many survivors. "All I'll say is that Ichabod's killer is still out there walking around, free as can be. If it turns out that Eve knows who did him in or she was the one to do it, well..." Tyrian let that sentence trail off, his implication clear.

"....Til then, I'll be with you. That's a promise."

This time? Tyrian was the one who gave the hug.

"Got anything else you wanna get off your chest? I'm all ears."​

Hazel slowly turned his head side to side as he uttered these words without any trace of malice, "Don't be sorry. Be better. I know you can do so much more." Even having said these words, he still returned the fist bump with an aloofness to it, as if it was muscle memory that compelled the limb forth instead of instituted thought.

"Arthur's probably not going to want to talk about it now. So you might have to force it. That... requires tact--" He frowned, a single brow raising as he peered down to the faunus in consideration. "--A careful handling, a conscious effort to not react to whatever comes of that. Yes, this probably is a conversation for later. We'll have time." He sighed before he alleviated the connotation of the act that crept into his features with a smile that grew broader, more meaningful as he extended both arms for the faunus's shoulders following the hug.

"Again, I appreciate you telling me all this. Doubly so that you won't return to that life... and I will help you find your friend's killer. Whether it's the White Fang leader or otherwise, I'll help. I have to confess, I think it will be an experience I need. To see that side of the world I would normally not travel in."

“Who are you again? No, don’t answer that. I don’t care. Why don’t you just sit down and shut up? Stay out of it if you know what’s good for you.” ​

Oh what the flip, this chick is so high on herself. Hasn't she said some variation of that like three times now or something. That's probably her epitaph in the foreseeable future, the horrid woman. 'I DON'T CARE I DON'T CARE'. She's scary but urgh she makes me so angryyyyyy-- calm down Gretchen. She's not your fight, these definitely much nicer people from the other world have her in hand--- errr, better watch that around Yang.

Wow, that Qrow stuck to to her! What an awesome uncle...

She knew all that followed wasn't totally in her defense, it was all more significant than that and she didn't take it to heart. She knew she spoke abruptly out of turn and possibly regretted it in some part, deigning to not worsen the issue by keeping her mouth shut and in a way, she was glad she had. She wouldn't know how it would have turned out if she had rebuffed that challenging prompt. Still, she didn't simply wasn't cowed, electing to return the greatest stare she could muster, penetrating and rending as the gaze of an angered, petulant toddler. Brosel simply flipped the bird but maybe the bird didn't recognize the weasel equivalent. Regardless the situation was reined in well in hand and...

It probably didn't surprise anyone that Yang's morose demeanor broke into a small yet ever so smug grin as Raven stalked off, a grateful nod shot at her uncle for choosing niece over twin in that little argument. She really did think that it was a good idea to send the maiden they had to confront the other maiden and all, but it wasn't the biggest reason she'd made the suggestion. Raven had eighteen years to decide Yang was worth her time. She had all of Haven to make the right choice and side with the good guys. And at the very end, when it had all played out, she gave Yang the relic and ran off again. It didn't matter that it was Yang's idea; she still chose her own hide over family.

If she thought she could just show up here, with something she needed just as much as they did, and think that it'd all be bygones? She had another thing coming. Yang thought she was doing an excellent job keeping a lid on herself being in the same room as her, despite all the backtalk. If she got stuck traveling with her all the way to Atlas, she was pretty sure she'd be committing her second murder.

Watts watched all that unfold with a deeply unimpressed frown. "Fantastic. We get the other maiden who sided with the forces of darkness for personal gain along with the huntress with no gun to try and fight the flying lady. And Gretchen" he added, the bite leaving his tone for small moment before it came right back " If there's no one else you wish to unload on us, I'll collect my teammates and we can be on our way. Time is of the essence."

He clasped his arms behind his back and strode out the door to do just that. Yang watched him go with an annoyed grimace souring her minor victory, before she huffed and turned back to the Branwens who'd she'd be working with.

"So, the plan's to portal Ironwood out and bring him here, right? Is there any danger of us getting stuck on the other side? Like if the cells mess with your semblance?" she asked the Raven she had even a vague desire to talk to

"And Gretchen!" She repeated Watts' mention of her but with more of an excitable bend to it, as if the occasion merited it especially. But she said nothing else further, falling in line without an iota of disapproval present in her gait as she doled out a hearty wave to the others who stayed behind. She hoped she'd see them again.

Presumably Watts collected his two teammates via a prompt of their scrolls, eliciting a reaction from the H in the Team by way of indicating towards the T to join the others. "Seems like it's already that time. For Cinder."

And following the end of that warm exchange was a matter of minutes before everything seemingly went wrong.

"!!!!!!?" If it weren't for her incredible speed, Ruby felt more than sure right then that whatever had just hit Yang like a hundred mile per hour trailer truck(that was also on fire) would have easily been repeated on her. As it were she just narrowly avoided the same fate, at least for a few moments, vanishing from under the incoming blow and shooting out of the room as fast as she could go, scroll already in hand and calling mid-sprint. She answered instantly, holding up it to her ear. "Hullo--" "HELP!" Ruby interrupted, yelling so loudly into the scroll that the faunus recoiled, pulling the scroll away. "SOMEBODY'S HERE, WE NEED--" That was all she managed to get out before the call cut off with a pained yell as even with her speed the mystery man caught up and silenced her. Tock's eyes flashed with alarm and she dropped her duffel bag to the ground, her scroll following after to land safely atop it, the croc already turning and sprinting like hell back the way they'd gone. A matter of minutes, MINUTES, and things go to shit without her???

Already weakened from the earlier abuse, Tock's front door burst off its hinges as she kicked it open. It would cost her some lien for repair but she honestly didn't give a damn about that. As soon as she entered, her sprint came to an abrupt halt as she caught sight of the frankly imposing man. An imposing, familiar and completely hated man. Yes, she had been involved in that nasty war...and so much of what this man had done back then...they were among the most terrible things that occurred during it. Yet despite the hate for the man and the concern for the other two huntresses, neither of those were expressed in her face as she spoke.

"The Butcher of Solitas."

She'd long hoped to get a chance for this. And if it went as she imagined it would...so much more than her door would be on the repair bill.

Both Rainart siblings exchanged glances before Gretchen sprinted after the crocodile faunus, deftly avoiding the clasping hands of her elder brother who grunted in annoyance at her habit of running in unawares. He would have indicated towards Tyrian, a silent imploring to watch over his sister as he ran at a much slower pace back for the hideout.

Gretchen might not have had the decades experience of perfecting cross-country running that Tock had but she was right on her heels and came to a sight that, comically so, ended the whole sequence of whom was more terrifying than the last. The absolute raw hatred wafting off this man, this General Carnelian was so palpable even if it wasn't directed for her that it gave her pause. "Eeep" It was so pure it was like a ball of lead formed in her gut, liquefying and encasing her legs down to immobilize her by way of one of the purest form of emotions there was to experience. Fear. The staff in her hand quaked before she gripped it with her free hand, trying to eke out a semblance of a foundation. But it was absolutely a Herculean task, paralyzed, as she witnessed the unfolding attack. That was until Brosel bit her in the shoulder, the frenetic stoat captivated by the absolute fear of losing the person he cherished most due to her inaction and it was with a yelp she was brought back.

Back into action with the transformation of Dearth into its crossbow form as she flitted away from the entrance of the apartment to support Tock. Oh, she knew that Hazel was gonna be right about this one. She was most definitely likely going to die if she wasn't careful.

 

[Indolent]

Two cymbals 'appeared' in Neo's hands and she went to clap them together but stopped short of actually doing so.

A fight right here and now would have been too noisy. Getting mixed up in a brawl with these goody goods would have only ruined Neo's whole reason for following them here.

​

A fleeting glance was all she gave, the slightest quirk of the lip the only indication given that suggested the bizarre illusion of Neo's registering in her mind as she deigned to focus elsewhere.

It was a facade she displayed with expertise, as she chose to exercise her characteristic pettiness by reacting to the mocking, the personage of the Emerald standing before Neo transforming into a mimicry with a psychedelic bend to it.

​

"*dismissive snort*"
​

"I really will wreck you, you know. You're already caught in my semblance~" Said in only the sweetest, most irritating way she could muster, a byproduct of all her time feigning friendships and relationships with people compounded by her severe distaste for the cheery, cotton-candy sweetness in life. Perhaps the inflection was undermined by the animatronic monkey having done the speaking.

The cymbals clanged, turning transparent before disappearing.

"..."

...What was actually waiting for her back home? Not friends, not anybody she particularly cared about.

....Were her intentions on protecting her other-self entirely because of their shared love for Roman or just because....she had nowhere else to go?

"... My god, you're actually troubled by this. I'm pretty good at reading people. Sometimes I wish I wasn't. You know what, I don't care. This isn't the place for me but maybe it is for you. If you're hell-bent on following through with this bizarre mission you've given yourself, then work with me. I want them to succeed, you want to protect yourself; our interests align with separate outcomes. I'll scratch your back and you'll use a back scratcher for mine. De--"

The illusion shuddered as Emerald's focus fell elsewhere, Emerald's true position momentarily revealing itself. Her words rung out from above Neo, originating from there apparently.

"Something's happening to them. Quick, your window is closing."​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Again, I appreciate you telling me all this. Doubly so that you won't return to that life... and I will help you find your friend's killer. Whether it's the White Fang leader or otherwise, I'll help. I have to confess, I think it will be an experience I need. To see that side of the world I would normally not travel in."

Tyrian simply smiled and nodded his head.

Truth be told, he didn't think he could take Eve in a straight up fight. Experienced and tough as he believed himself to be, Eve was something else entirely. He needed to be ready whenever he faced her or whoever Ichabod's murderer was.

The fact that Hazel would be by his side made him that much more confident.
​

Both Rainart siblings exchanged glances before Gretchen sprinted after the crocodile faunus, deftly avoiding the clasping hands of her elder brother who grunted in annoyance at her habit of running in unawares. He would have indicated towards Tyrian, a silent imploring to watch over his sister as he ran at a much slower pace back for the hideout.

Gretchen might not have had the decades experience of perfecting cross-country running that Tock had but she was right on her heels and came to a sight that, comically so, ended the whole sequence of whom was more terrifying than the last. The absolute raw hatred wafting off this man, this General Carnelian was so palpable even if it wasn't directed for her that it gave her pause. "Eeep" It was so pure it was like a ball of lead formed in her gut, liquefying and encasing her legs down to immobilize her by way of one of the purest form of emotions there was to experience. Fear. The staff in her hand quaked before she gripped it with her free hand, trying to eke out a semblance of a foundation. But it was absolutely a Herculean task, paralyzed, as she witnessed the unfolding attack. That was until Brosel bit her in the shoulder, the frenetic stoat captivated by the absolute fear of losing the person he cherished most due to her inaction and it was with a yelp she was brought back.

Back into action with the transformation of Dearth into its crossbow form as she flitted away from the entrance of the apartment to support Tock. Oh, she knew that Hazel was gonna be right about this one. She was most definitely likely going to die if she wasn't careful.

"Gretchen! Hold on!"

Tyrian's warnings fell on deaf ears as he followed his partner's younger sibling inside.

The man standing there froze the faunus in his tracks.

This was...

The man that his parents spoke of with such hatred, the likes he'd only ever seen them reserve for other humans like Ichabod. The things that he'd done were seen by the faunus community alike as simply unspeakable. Tyrian had never really given too much thought to it personally. After all, a man was just a man. He wasn't unbeatable or a living nightmare. Besides, when he spent days in and out beating up his fellow faunus, he felt it voided him a right to speak on their behalf.

Staring at this man though, it chilled his blood.

Tyrian had beef with humanity, he just did a better job at hiding it.

Carelian was the whole sum of everything that his people hated about humanity. So, how was it fair? How was it okay that humans like Ichabod who Tyrian never held any ill will towards was cut down and this bastard kept on ticking?! As his entire body seemed to tremble, every instinct was telling him to turn tail and run. He didn't stand a chance here. For the first time in his life...

Tyrian was....scared.

"No..."

He couldn't just walk away. Not again. His parents had forced him to walk away from his life in the ring. Ichabod ended up dead months later. He should have been there.

Feeling a shooting pain in the bandaged up wound on his side, Tyrian grit his teeth. He SHOULD have been there!

....Well, he was here, and he refused to stand by. Even if it meant his imminent death was near.

Raising his gauntlets, they slid open to reveal the barrels as he opened fire.​

 

[MidwayLives]

It was a facade she displayed with expertise, as she chose to exercise her characteristic pettiness by reacting to the mocking, the personage of the Emerald standing before Neo transforming into a mimicry with a psychedelic bend to it.

​

"I really will wreck you, you know. You're already caught in my semblance~" Said in only the sweetest, most irritating way she could muster, a byproduct of all her time feigning friendships and relationships with people compounded by her severe distaste for the cheery, cotton-candy sweetness in life. Perhaps the inflection was undermined by the animatronic monkey having done the speaking.

Legitimate surprise of the monkey aside, Neo rolled her eyes again and mock-yawned.

Emerald was probably right, that didn't mean Neo had to give a damn.
​

"... My god, you're actually troubled by this. I'm pretty good at reading people. Sometimes I wish I wasn't. You know what, I don't care. This isn't the place for me but maybe it is for you. If you're hell-bent on following through with this bizarre mission you've given yourself, then work with me. I want them to succeed, you want to protect yourself; our interests align with separate outcomes. I'll scratch your back and you'll use a back scratcher for mine. De--"

The illusion shuddered as Emerald's focus fell elsewhere, Emerald's true position momentarily revealing itself. Her words rung out from above Neo, originating from there apparently.

Neo tapped her chin in thought and eventually shrugged her shoulders.

Seems like they'd mostly be operating from the shadows anyway, the company-smug as it was-could help pass the time-
​

"Something's happening to them. Quick, your window is closing."

Damn it!

She'd been keeping an eye on them this whole time, what could have happened??? Had Ozpin grabbed somebody with a teleporting semblance??

Tucking her scroll away and gripping Hush tightly, Neo turned towards Tock's home.

...Great.

She shattered.



Rushing in alongside Tock was none other than the Neo who'd been following the group since the whole Haven debacle. She didn't know who this old guy was or what he wanted. But Neo could tell from the number of people trying to attack him that one thing was clear:

He needed to be dealt with.

Now.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Sober Weiss, in all her shrewd cunning and intellect, might have seen the maneuver coming. Weiss plus a bottle of vintage red did not, and the noise she made when a hand shot through the curtain of hair, closed around her throat and started squeezing was simply the type of noise Weiss Schnee hadn't made in a very, very long time. Not since the last time someone put their hands on her in such an unpleasant manner. "Nonono stop, get OFF me, get off-" Weiss's current state of heightened emotions meant whatever memories were surfacing were apparently more painful and potent than anything physical Yang was doing, and the panicked flailing of slaps that rained down on the robotic arm after the initial tugging failed to loosen its hold was pathetic enough that for a brief moment it might've had Yang questioning if this alternate version of the heiress even knew how to fight at all. She squeezed her eyes shut with a quiet whimper, like she always did, because if she just stayed quiet and waited then her father's fit of temper would pass and she could-

Wait.

What was happening right now?

Through whatever cold, fire, electricity, or whatever else the maiden tried to do to free herself, Yang grit her teeth and forced herself to keep steady through the pain as long as she could while her gaze whirled towards Qrow with the most violent, scared, and furious glare he'd ever seen on his niece's face.

"Go SAVE MY SISTER!"

It was easier not to look at Weiss while she did this anyways.

A lot of things went through Qrow Branwen's mind in the split second after Yang made her demand, having screeched to a halt with Harbinger in hand right before charging. His first instinct was to ignore it, because of course it was. Yang was just a kid trying to be brave. She didn't know enough about sacrifice to make one this big.

Except... that just wasn't the case anymore. Maybe two or three years ago Qrow would've said otherwise, but in the time since Yang had kind of flourished into a complete version of herself, or pretty close to it anyway. She was always the type of kid who was gonna grow up fast, but the more he saw her in action the more aware Qrow was that he was as trusting of her instincts as much as any huntsman or huntress he was liable to end up working with at this point; for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that she was already better than a whole lot he'd worked with in the past.

And when it came to sacrifice, anyone questioning Yang Xiao Long's credentials by now was completely out of their mind. She knew more about what that meant than he did.

All of it warred inside his thoughts over the course of that second, the urge to make an executive decision on Yang's behalf fighting against his desire to treat her wishes with the same respect he would anybody's. When it came down to it, the question his brain was asking was as simple as whether to be selfish or not.

His heart's immediate reply was that he was the wrong twin for that. And that just made his brain realize all the reasons Yang had for doing what she was doing were probably the right ones.

"Sit tight, firecracker."

There was a calming, warm reassurance to the words that he put there by choice, but they did little to disguise the hollowness he felt for what he was about to do as he melded away into bird form, vanishing through the portal a moment later.

---

"I changed my mind. I'm making you into a rug."

That was when Weiss spoke, cool, commanding and confident in contrast to the pathetic sniveling of before. She was every bit as proud of herself for bringing that bout of delirium to heel as she was embarrassed by its occurrence in the first place, and now all that was left was to do the same to the unruly ruffian who dared put a hand on her to begin with. She put her hands on the robot arm firmly, and seemed to take genuine enjoyment in locking eyes with Yang as the light trickling from the corner of her eyes flared to submerge them entirely in a brilliant, blue light.

Then her arm shattered.

Without her aura flowing through it it was little more than the finest in Atlesian steel. Impressive, no doubt, but completely insignificant next to the power she now wielded. Yang felt the cold spreading outward from the points Weiss's hands made contact all the way up at her shoulder, and even with its intensity reduced by distance it was cold, colder than anything she'd ever touched. It only took seconds for the arm to freeze over completely below the elbow, metal made as brittle as the fractals icing it over, like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. Her eyes flared up again when she pulverized it, dusting off her hands in the aftermath as if disposing of something unpleasant.

A violent gust of wind swirled through the mist, battering Yang into the wall before the mist formed and solidified into restraints that pinned Yang to the floor, flat on her back. There was something unbelievably self-celebratory about the way Weiss picked herself up, patted herself down, and approached, but she didn't stop to deliver any grandiose speech to Yang or admire her hair. Instead she closed the distance between them until she stood directly over the huntress, looking down on her with a haughty, superior smile.

Then she slowly put one foot forward and stepped down, letting the heel press against Yang's throat just firmly enough so her airflow was restricted but it'd still take about a half minute for her to pass out. She made sure Yang spent every second of it looking into her eyes, glowing and faintly lidded, smirk never fading as she watched whatever shape the brawler's struggles took right up until she felt her go slack.

---

"Tch. And people actually-"

"It seems you weren't listening!" He immediately interrupted, voice booming and authoritative enough that it was a move he could pull with just about anybody he'd heard enough out of as he sank into what by all rights looked to be an extremely rudimentary defensive stance. "I really don't care to justify any of what I just said, or hear your take on it. I said what I said as a courtesy to you all, so anyone with the inclination to run can. I admit, it's heartening to see nobody did. Maybe there's hope for this generation yet."

And then it was time.

There was a shimmer of lightish-green that ran across the croc's whole body in that moment, before she rushed forward at speeds that rivaled those of Carnelian himself when he'd handled Yang and Ruby. The stopwatch at her waist went unused in favor of her just mentally counting out every second, doing her best to let that thought dominate her mind and simply let the instinct honed over decades guide her offense/defense instead. If the bastard wanted to poke into her skull and hear her counting that bad, he was free to do so. "TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!" She shouted in defiance, one of her swords going in for a stab with every bit of force she could muster, aimed squarely at that glowing bionic eye. Raven dashed forward again a second or two after Tock did, Omen now a light blue in color as she swung it repeatedly, so that any parrying moves only ended with his own weapons frozen solid, intent to give the two of them the time to capitalize on it.

"Very good. It doesn't work that way, but very good nevertheless. What you're doing right now might've tripped me up a few decades back."

Their world was not a world built for the old. To be as old as he was in the profession he was in, having refused to shirk the warrior element of it in favor of some cushy desk job or transfer, was evidence enough of this man's prowess; here he was, well past his prime, and yet he still sought out the strongest challengers and most worthy combat every single day of his life. Every single fundamental of combat, mind, body, weapon and soul, had been mastered by this man, blended together into a single art form. His semblance had reached its apex, used and perfected inside and out until it aligned so perfectly with his movements, his way of combat, that the well-oiled machine it culminated in was absurd and terrifying.

It... was far and away the least flashy fighting style out of everyone in the room. There was something almost basic about it, nary a pose, flourish, or dizzying maneuver in sight as he curved and sidestepped around every single slash that came his way, batting the ones he couldn't aside with parries so perfect they actually kept his attackers from truly chaining together sustained offensives of any kind. Even Raven's dust use was ineffective, tactical usage of the triggers on his sword hilts producing vibrations in the blade so strong they shattered the ice before it could fully encase them.

And to top it all off, despite the fury of his movements and the fact that she was pretty sure she was moving faster than he was, Carnelian evaded every single one of her blows while talking to her, tone no more flustered or elevated than if they were sharing a conversation in a quiet room.

"See, fighting's all about the intent. Intent to protect, intent to attack, intent to kill. You can rattle off your little numbers and let your instincts try to guide you all you like, but without intent there's no fight-"

He swept low under Raven's guard, somehow able to situate himself exactly where she wasn't looking, and used her own momentum to flip her over his hip and into Tock, using the inherent clumsy awkwardness that came of being multiple opponents with no cohesion trying to simultaneously engage one.

"-not that this is much of one."

And then, just to drive home the point, he decided to focus on some of these other pests.

Raising his gauntlets, they slid open to reveal the barrels as he opened fire.

His propulsion for Tyrian was so sudden and direct it was hard to imagine he was actually going for Tyrian until he was right before him, his bullets having been expertly deflected by the blades spinning around his grasp. A sword swung in, but rather than slash ineffectively off his aura he dug the hilt into the faunus's already-bandaged side, letting blunt trauma reopen the wound there and viciously twisting his grip before he shoulder checked him and disengaged, back to his flurry with Tock when she presumably followed.

His form didn't win any points for style, but there was no wasted movement either, every single action taken to leave him in a spot more advantageous than the one he'd come from. The result was mind-boggling to behold, as he seized the chaos and confusion currently annihilating the room to duel circles around them without making it look terribly hard.

Rushing in alongside Tock was none other than the Neo who'd been following the group since the whole Haven debacle. She didn't know who this old guy was or what he wanted. But Neo could tell from the number of people trying to attack him that one thing was clear:

He needed to be dealt with.

Now.

"..."

A brief moment of concentration disrupted his melee with Tock, before a hand snatched out to close around Neo's face wherever she was really attacking from, no mind paid to any illusory duplicates prone to shattering like glass when struck. Then he threw her the fuck out the window, but the momentary distraction was all Tock needed to finally penetrate his untouchable aura and land a few strikes, the last of which sent him skidding across the room to tumble back into a half-crouch and wipe his lip with a dark smile.

"Good."

Good in that he was edging closer and closer to the portal with his target already in hand, and after a few more moments of maneuvering there'd be nothing to stop him from throwing himself through and completing the mission. He tensed his leg muscles, preparing to-

"Close it!"

No one knew where Qrow had come from, or how, or why. But there he was at Ruby's side, tilting her up and checking her injuries as he regarded the fight with a glare both grim and a little shocked. Maybe more than a little.

"Raven, close the portal now-"

Carnelian was moving before the huntsman could finish his thought, engaged in a mad sprint for the door back to Atlas, relic already unclipped and arm extended to try and pitch it the last few feet through the portal in the event sharing the trip proved impossible.​

 

[Indolent]

Damn it!

She'd been keeping an eye on them this whole time, what could have happened??? Had Ozpin grabbed somebody with a teleporting semblance??

Tucking her scroll away and gripping Hush tightly, Neo turned towards Tock's home.

...Great.

She shattered.


Rushing in alongside Tock was none other than the Neo who'd been following the group since the whole Haven debacle. She didn't know who this old guy was or what he wanted. But Neo could tell from the number of people trying to attack him that one thing was clear:

He needed to be dealt with.

Now.

"Um. Plan? No no nooooo, we'll wing it like them. Of course." The annoyance at Neo's disappearance absolutely wafted from her position on high as she jumped down to follow suit after, careful steps in concert with the use of her semblance to avert the gaze of those likely coming to join the fray through the door at the tail end.

"..."

A brief moment of concentration disrupted his melee with Tock, before a hand snatched out to close around Neo's face wherever she was really attacking from, no mind paid to any illusory duplicates prone to shattering like glass when struck. Then he threw her the fuck out the window, but the momentary distraction was all Tock needed to finally penetrate his untouchable aura and land a few strikes, the last of which sent him skidding across the room to tumble back into a half-crouch and wipe his lip with a dark smile.

"Good."

Good in that he was edging closer and closer to the portal with his target already in hand, and after a few more moments of maneuvering there'd be nothing to stop him from throwing himself through and completing the mission. He tensed his leg muscles, preparing to-

"Close it!"

No one knew where Qrow had come from, or how, or why. But there he was at Ruby's side, tilting her up and checking her injuries as he regarded the fight with a glare both grim and a little shocked. Maybe more than a little.

"Raven, close the portal now-"

Carnelian was moving before the huntsman could finish his thought, engaged in a mad sprint for the door back to Atlas, relic already unclipped and arm extended to try and pitch it the last few feet through the portal in the event sharing the trip proved impossible.

She missed a vast swathe of the melee that had unfolded, with whomever this man was clearly holding the advantage despite sheer numbers thrown at him. But that wasn't the focal element Emerald's eyes fell upon, it was the relic that swayed at his side, unclipping from his hands as he moved to toss through Raven's portal. Instantly, she understood the ramifications that would follow from that, that it would have made the whole mission for the good guys more than an arduous task, borderline on impossibility if the news of the coup in Atlas and the severity of the event at Haven were anything to go by.

She dispelled the illusions she bewitched those with on the way in, realizing the need for total focus upon him as her Respite jingled with the chains of it kusarigama form in her hand, both whirling before the sickles were launched to intercept Carnelian's trajectory, in a bid to snatch the relic back. Simultaneously, the General's senses received an assault on that front, a subtle shift of the room in tandem with the blink of an bionic eye and just maybe an abrupt pause to digest the chain of events. To him, in his mind's eye, it looked as if he were about to sprint out the apartment with the relic drawn, ready to be thrown past the door's frame, the portal to his back, with the silhouette of the huntsmen party to those he'd just fought nearing closer and closer, sounds of urgency and commands at their heels.

It probably didn't help that Hazel actually had made his entrance almost eerily in tandem with the projection Emerald manifested.

 

[MyrtenRose]

And to top it all off, despite the fury of his movements and the fact that she was pretty sure she was moving faster than he was, Carnelian evaded every single one of her blows while talking to her, tone no more flustered or elevated than if they were sharing a conversation in a quiet room.

"See, fighting's all about the intent. Intent to protect, intent to attack, intent to kill. You can rattle off your little numbers and let your instincts try to guide you all you like, but without intent there's no fight-"

He swept low under Raven's guard, somehow able to situate himself exactly where she wasn't looking, and used her own momentum to flip her over his hip and into Tock, using the inherent clumsy awkwardness that came of being multiple opponents with no cohesion trying to simultaneously engage one.

"-not that this is much of one."

Her face was contorted into a predatory scowl, less so at Raven being flipped into her and more so those words. The infuriating bastard was treating her like a joke! A joke! "Move, Ray!" Tock made her frustration clear as she swept the other huntress aside, so consumed by the need to repay this man for his every crime against the faunus that she had even less patience than she usually would. With the emergence of so many others contributing, Raven took a step back to disengage briefly, look over the whole of the situation.​

His propulsion for Tyrian was so sudden and direct it was hard to imagine he was actually going for Tyrian until he was right before him, his bullets having been expertly deflected by the blades spinning around his grasp. A sword swung in, but rather than slash ineffectively off his aura he dug the hilt into the faunus's already-bandaged side, letting blunt trauma reopen the wound there and viciously twisting his grip before he shoulder checked him and disengaged, back to his flurry with Tock when she presumably followed.

His form didn't win any points for style, but there was no wasted movement either, every single action taken to leave him in a spot more advantageous than the one he'd come from. The result was mind-boggling to behold, as he seized the chaos and confusion currently annihilating the room to duel circles around them without making it look terribly hard.

"NO!"

The crocodile's frustration only GREW more after watching that happen to another faunus, and not just frustration with the butcher himself. If she hadn't been delayed by Raven being flipped over like some kind of amateur...goddammit. Tock's fists clenched even tighter around the hilts of her blades, lunging right back into it.

Her experience, skill, semblance, the fact that she also used two relatively simple blades and was well versed in that style of combat, it all added up together to someone who was doing better to hold her own against the feared general than the rest could, but that only went so far. Her defense didn't waver but every offensive strike still came up short against Carnelian. Even when she allowed herself to take the hits so she could focus on attacking, with one of his blades literally bouncing off her skin, any counterattack still somehow missed. This semblance of his was an absolute pain in the ass. The beyond vexed feeling she felt only let up when...​

"..."

A brief moment of concentration disrupted his melee with Tock, before a hand snatched out to close around Neo's face wherever she was really attacking from, no mind paid to any illusory duplicates prone to shattering like glass when struck. Then he threw her the fuck out the window, but the momentary distraction was all Tock needed to finally penetrate his untouchable aura and land a few strikes, the last of which sent him skidding across the room to tumble back into a half-crouch and wipe his lip with a dark smile.

"Good."

Good in that he was edging closer and closer to the portal with his target already in hand, and after a few more moments of maneuvering there'd be nothing to stop him from throwing himself through and completing the mission. He tensed his leg muscles, preparing to-

There was a brief flash of a savage grin that a chain of blows had landed, but the grin quickly vanished when she caught sight of him grinning as well. He even called it good, but she wasn't confident if that was about her fighting prowess or something else entirely. If there was maybe a joke that she was missing the punchline of, that got him to smile like that. It became more obvious why mere moments later.​

"Close it!"

No one knew where Qrow had come from, or how, or why. But there he was at Ruby's side, tilting her up and checking her injuries as he regarded the fight with a glare both grim and a little shocked. Maybe more than a little.

"Raven, close the portal now-"

Carnelian was moving before the huntsman could finish his thought, engaged in a mad sprint for the door back to Atlas, relic already unclipped and arm extended to try and pitch it the last few feet through the portal in the event sharing the trip proved impossible.

"No!" Tock yelled again, racing forward in a frenzied dash after him. Yet fast as she was, he was just as fast and had the headstart, catching up to him was not in the cards. For a brief second she thought about throwing either Chronos or Meridian to try diverting his course, slow him down just enough so she could close the distance between them...but there was no need.

Raven jumped back into the fray right then, landing directly in front of her quickly shrinking portal to cut off the general's escape. A series of strikes followed, lightning dust shooting out with each swing of Omen in an attempt to force him back just as Emerald's weapons came in to try snatching the relic away.​

 

[Indolent]

He was so fast, it astounded the young huntress. Her experience was nil in comparison to the general's and more, with the steeled will and focus he exhibited dramatically overshadowing the fervent promise of a child's bid to change the world. Gretchen heard what he said earlier, that he had been trying to give them an opportunity to flee as a form of courtesy. Somewhere deep inside was an urging to take him up on that offer, the primordial survival instinct trying to override all else. Override her oath as a huntress and her promise as a living being. It was a pause that persisted only for the slightest of a sliver of a second, as she shook herself from it and affirmed to herself.

They couldn't let Carnelian escape with the relic and she'd be damned if she didn't contribute to the effort in preventing that much.

Which was why she attempted firing a blunt bolt, aimed for the back of his head to interfere in every respect. Only she'd fired too late, the relic seemingly already thrown to her dismay.

As for Hazel, he instinctively moved for his sister, recognizing the veterans were engaging the target and his bulky mass in conjunction with his cumbersome agility in comparison would have been a detriment. After she fired, she found a shadow looming over protectively.

 

[Gus Gungus]

Raven jumped back into the fray right then, landing right in front of her quickly shrinking portal to cut off the general's escape. A series of strikes followed, lightning dust shooting out with each swing of Omen in an attempt to force him back just as Emerald's weapons came in for the same purpose.

Between all their efforts, he... actually didn't make it through the portal in time, stranding him here. Had it not been for one, particular factor, it wouldn't have been enough.

Simultaneously, the General's senses received an assault on that front, a subtle shift of the room in tandem with the blink of an bionic eye and just maybe an abrupt pause to digest the chain of events. To him, in his mind's eye, it looked as if he were about to sprint out the apartment with the relic drawn, ready to be thrown past the door's frame, with the silhouette of the huntsmen party to those he'd just fought nearing closer and closer, sounds of urgency and commands at their heels.

It wasn't quite the reaction Emerald was expecting, Carnelian skidding to a halt with an angered grunt as he clutched one side of his head in pain, the gyros in his eye whirring frantically while they tried to parse whatever havoc Emerald's semblance was wreaking.

Then all light, sensation and sound faded, and Emerald saw something in her mind's eye.

The room was black, his eyes cold and yet somehow burning with pure and utter contempt. They glowed red in the darkness, flaring in waves that intensified what little light there was to break the gloom, sent the shadows slithering and rolling in all kinds of shapes painting all sorts of grisly scenes, memories of victories and conquests past. Some of them were screaming. A faint tune from a music box was playing, albeit one that sounded warped and distorted, as did the cacophony of babies crying that all seemed to assail her ears at once. In the shadows behind the man something stirred, something beyond the endless shadow and suffering around her, something with a defined form, teeth that frothed and ground together, and a growl that shook the 'room'.

And then came the retaliation, the man flickering a few times like static on a television before he appeared suddenly before her, never having moved his legs or raised his arms. Until now, grip tight and crushing as it lashed out around her forehead, and the moment that contact was made Emerald felt a pain that set her nerves on fire as the general violently, telepathically ejected her from his mind, his own grasp of the subconscious deeper and more disturbing than hers could ever hope to be.

Things weren't any better on the outside, though less than a second had passed. The sight that awaited her when she came to her senses was Carnelian himself, in the flesh this time, and compared to his mind's avatar he looked furious. There was nothing psionic or metaphysical about the grip that seized her throat, nor the pain she felt slam into her back as the general used her as a battering ram to tear straight through the wall and out into the night.

Relic and all.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

It wasn't quite the reaction Emerald was expecting, Carnelian skidding to a halt with an angered grunt as he clutched one side of his head in pain, the gyros in his eye whirring frantically while they tried to parse whatever havoc Emerald's semblance was wreaking.

What the hell is happening right now? Both Tock's and Raven's faces conveyed that question, staring down Carnelian in the midst of it all. The latter realized a moment or two later, but the former was still sorta lost even as the big bad man used Emerald as a human battering ram to shatter open a wall(the most major of the damage her place suffered through that fight but not the only one) and take off into the dark. An event which certainly did not have a returning chameleon jump up in fright as an outer wall basically exploded and the man ran past before a definitely not spooked Ilia could even take a good look at him. Only the vague sense of some large blur shooting by. Tock sprinted into view but stopped a few feet beyond the new hole in her place, aura fading away and bringing her to a temporary collapse as it went.

The second the faunus dropped to a knee, a bird flew overhead, taking to the skies and doing its best to try and keep sight of Carnelian as he went. He had the relic, if they let him go now...it would...it would be an outcome Raven didn't even want to think about. Neither did Tock, the croc jumping back onto her feet and giving chase to the general as best she could, lack of aura be damned. This was her chance to get the fucking Butcher of Solitas!!! Like hell was she gonna let that opportunity slip between her fingers and escape.

Not to mention the relic and Emerald too.​