167 Chapter 161 - Mistakes Were Made
Pyrrha heard a beep when she jumped backward while moving the iron sand around her creating a barrier around herself. An explosion went off rocking the arena sending pieces of Penny flying everywhere. Her head was mostly intact but her body was totaled.
The crowd was stunned by what they had just seen. One of the contestants just exploded.
Pyrrha lowered the iron sand shield around her with some of the sand falling to the ground. She was exhausted from hurriedly defending herself like that and wasn't prepared for something like that.
Pyrrha looked around when she looked down and saw Penny's head right in front of her. Pyrrha stares in abject horror, eyes wide and mouth agape.
'How did things go bad so fast.' Pyrrha thought.
~~~
Yang turned and noticed that Shallot wasn't there and asked Blake where Shallot went.
"He said he had to take a dump and was going to bring Ruby back also," Blake said while thinking about Shallot eating 4 tubs of popcorn then complaining that he may be constipated.
"How can he leave when the match was pretty good?" Weiss asked who looked up from the arena when they saw Penny come up and was talking with Pyrrha.
They looked like they were shaking hands when Pyrrha jumped back and covered herself in a metal barrier when Penny blew. Weiss and the rest of her teammates stood from their seats seeing this.
"What!!!" Weiss yelled out along with the shock of the rest of the crowd.
"No!" Professor Port said looking at what just happened to one of the contestants. He wasn't sure what happened but the last thing he saw was Pyrrha shake her hand before jumping back and Penny exploding.
~~~
In an Atlas laboratory, a balding white-bearded man watches the live footage on the news, his hand gripping the armrest of his chair tightly.
~~~
Ruby turns a corner and emerges from the service tunnel, only to see with her own eyes that she is far too late.
"Penny..." Ruby says before falling to her knees and she begins to cry, the tears fall as she sobs miserably.
The levitating arena is lowered back into place under the spotlights, and Mercury limps behind the weeping Ruby holding his everything, grinning widely with a couple of teeth missing at his success in delaying her before stepping back into the Colosseum's maintenance area.
Ruby tenses slightly as she hears his footsteps, but slumps forward once again as the door noisily swings shut.
~~~
In a washroom on the other side of Amity Arena, Shallot is on the toilet trying to drop a duce. The ground was shaking and people outside the washroom could hear the sound of a constipated man.
"Just come out already!!! What the hell did they put in that Wienerschnitzel Super Premium Chili Dog!!!" Shallot yelled while gripping his stomach.
After another minute he finally relieved himself when he felt that something was wrong while washing his hands. He felt his scroll buzz and looked at it and saw Da Vinci appear.
"Master, Ruby is crying..." Da Vinci said when Shallot took off flying down the hallway crashing through walls appearing right by Ruby.
"What's wrong Ruby?" Shallot asked while leaning down next to her.
~~~
Blake was about to call Shallot when she felt a spike in ki and looked and could see a wall break and something shoot above the arena stop in another hallway.
Blake looked at the spot Shallot went and thought that whoever pissed Shallot off must have a death wish.
~~~
"Broadcast, what are you doing? Kill the feed!" Dr. Oobleck said while trying not to show something so bad to everyone that's watching the tournament.
"Something's wrong! We don't have control of the cameras! We can't even stop the broadcast!" The broadcaster told him.
"What!? How is that possible!?" Professor Port said while looking at the screen seeing that it was being changed to something else.
In answer, the background behind the two teachers changes to the video feed of the sight before them tinted an ominous bright red with a black queen chess piece hovering over the scene. They turn back to the arena as a familiar voice rings out throughout the Colosseum and the rest of the world watching these events.
"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians." Cinder said over the cameras.
Several audience members look uneasy, while Jaune is seen mouth agape in shock.
"In reality, they are nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both.
Ironwood, realizing who she's talking about, grimaces and rises from his seat, marching up the steps.
"They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly destroyed by their star pupil after already winning. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference." Cinder said while thinking that she could work with this.
Pyrrha continues to stare at the remains of Penny in dread. If she reacted then she probably could have stopped what happened. It was metal and if she didn't let her guard down she could have stopped this from happening.
Lips parting as she raises a hand to cover her mouth. Then her eyes start watering, a single tear falling. Back in the fairgrounds, a gaping Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna watch the hacked screen of the Shopkeep's stall. The owner and several others including Roy Stallion are gathered nearby. Blake's expression becomes a glare as the speech continues.
~~~
Shallot who was patting Ruby's back was hearing what was being said.
"It seems that I have been too nice to them and didn't take the warning I gave seriously. They get no more chances now. They are dead men walking." Shallot said while picking up Ruby and flying over to the seats.
Shallot sat Ruby next to Yang and Blake looked at Shallot knowing that he was pissed.
~~~
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither." Cinder continued making the audience think that it was Pyrrha that did this and since Shallot did attack Mercury after the match and even beat the soldiers had them leaning toward what they were hearing.
"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces.
Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves." Cinder continued.
Ozpin watches the screen intently, The Long Memory at his side and Atlesian Airships hovering beyond his window. Amid the silence over the Colosseum as they absorb the revolutionary words, no one notices Emerald exit the stadium except for one person.
Shallot looked directly at where Emerald exited and disappeared from his spot with a black aura left behind where he was standing.
"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark." Cinder said getting into her role.
"So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?" Cinder ended her little speech and was ready to end the transmission.
All she had to do was wait for the alarm to go off along with the Grimm that should be sent since the last wave was destroyed from Salem. This was a perfect time.
~~~
Emerald was walking with a smile on her face thinking that everything was going great when she saw a black portal appear in front of her. an arm shot out grabbing her by the throat.
"Did you all think you can do what you want and make MY GIRLFRIEND CRY and I wouldn't do anything!" Shallot said while his hand tightened around her neck.
'Mistakes were made,' Emerald thought to herself thinking that this is the place she is going to die.
