7

Chapter 7

The Anti-Huntsmen Part I

Every so often, Blake snuck a glance to her left.

They were at their usual spot on the rooftop. With a book in his hands and a drink by his side, it was routine for her to see Shirou show up. It was only when he had other obligations with his team or working on something at his desk did he ever break that habit.

At some point, she began to mirror him by bringing her own book and drink.

A part of her was at a loss as to why she kept returning to the roof.

The fall gusts would always blow at her pages and made the nights chillier. By all accounts, it was better to be inside snuggled up in a blanket and a hot drink in her own bed.

Yet – she still found herself out here in the cold with him once more.

Ruminating on it now, Blake realized she enjoyed his company. Knowingly or unknowingly, they made an unspoken agreement to not pry into each other's past. Neither of them wanted to divulge anything about themselves; where they came from, who they were, or why they decided to attend Beacon.

To her belief, she had the best reasons to keep quiet about herself.

No one needed to know where she came from.

No one needed to know who she was and most importantly know what she did.

All anyone needed to know was that she was just some regular girl that went to an academy to learn how to be a huntress. And Shirou provided that escape for her. Most would see it as some sort of game or challenge that she was playing hard to get and goading them to try harder to discover her secrets.

But not the boy next to her.

He never once asked, pried, and strangely enough even appeared curious. Shirou always gave off a sense of tranquility. Yet, there were moments where she thought he would give in to his curiosity. However in the end, he would always tilt his head and smirk.

It almost felt like he was playing a game with her; taunting that he harbored something far bigger than her.

And so periodically, she would have moments of vulnerability of succumbing to her own curiosity. Where she wanted to break that unspoken agreement. After all, if she started to pry into his past then that meant it was fair for him to pry into hers. And her fear would always consume her desire to truly get to know the boy. It was a slippery slope knowing that one thing could lead to another and thought of being exposed…

She closed her eyes and sipped at her lukewarm can of tea.

Sneaking another sideways glance, she caught him staring up to the stars as usual. For a moment, his carefully guarded mask slipped. A flash of exhaustion and longing that spoke of a mystery. Blake was itching to ask what was on his mind. Just before she could say anything, Shirou wiped away any sign of weakness and exhaled out. However, his shoulders still appeared heavy as if whatever burden he carried refused to go away.

Like a wraith that would not stop haunting him.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. Maybe one day, if she got to know him more, she could entrust him with her secrets and he could trust her with his.

She couldn't stop the rueful smile that crept up on her. Perhaps that was the reason why she was always sneaking off to the rooftops with him. They were alike in so many ways that it almost made her blush.

And so with a shake of her head, her lips parted breaking the silence.

"So Shirou…"

"…are you excited about tomorrow?"

I regarded her briefly, "Not really."

Her bow twitched as she tilted her head. "How come? Everyone in our class has been anxious about tomorrow morning." A small grin appeared on her face. "If I'm being honest, I've been looking forward to it myself," confessed Blake. "It's kind of exciting to see how far we've all come."

My eyebrow popped up. "It's only been a little over a month."

"Yeah so?" She shrugged. "That's still more than enough time to see how things have changed."

"True," I conceded. "I guess I never really put too much thought into these things."

"How come?" asked Blake. "Bad experience?"

"Ha," a huff of amusement, "nothing like that. I have better things to do than showboat. There's more to life than dancing on a stage for the entertainment of others."

"Wow," she deadpanned. "I am so going to tell Pyrrha what you said tonight."

"Go ahead, be my guest. If anything, she would more than likely agree with me. Why do you think she's here at Beacon and not at Haven?"

"I…" her mouth snapped shut. Her eyebrows furrowed together in thought at my question and her shoulders sagged once she came to her own conclusion. "I see…"

"So while we're on the subject of how we are feeling about tomorrow. I've noticed that Ruby has been putting you and your team through the ringer."

"Yeah," winced Blake. "It's been day in and day out for us. No rest in-between to prepare everyone for tomorrow. She had us working on all sorts of things to make us, and I quote, 'The bestest super-ultra-rad team' for the exam."

I shook my head, "Bestest super-ultra-rad team huh? Yeah – that sounds like Ruby."

"So – what about you? What have you guys been up to?"

"Oh you know, we've been doing this and that," I closed my left eye.

"Har-har," Blake laughed with fake enthusiasm as she leveled a glare. "You're so funny Shirou. I am dying of laughter. I want you to know that if being a huntsmen doesn't work out then you should go into comedy."

"Hmm… You know I always thought I was pretty funny and-"

"No," she flatly cut in. "That was a joke and so are you."

"Pot calling the kettle black," I returned. "And here I thought you liked a good mystery Blake.

"I like it when it's interesting and not annoying," she answered scathingly.

"Then you're free to go whenever you please," I gestured with my head to the door behind us.

Her arms crossed her chest as she rolled her eyes. "Is this how you treat your friend that got you tea tonight?"

"Excuse you," I coughed, "if I remember correctly, you still owed me from that one time." I sniped back as I took a sip.

Blake's glare narrowed in intensity for a split second before it fell apart when she cracked a grin. She covered her own amusement by taking a drink herself as she giggled. After a while, she calmed down and sighed in relief. "Well, I suppose it's time I headed back inside. Need to get as much sleep as I can. Will you be heading in too?"

"Mmm – I think I'll stay out for a little longer."

Her face flashed in disappointment. "Alright then," she held out her can between us. "A toast to good luck to both of our teams."

I stared at her coolly before tapping her can with mine and downing my drink.

"Goodnight Shirou."

"Goodnight Blake."

"Good morning everyone," greeted Glynda Goodwitch.

Blake softly shut her book as their professor strolled up to the stage. Her teammates quieted down along with the rest of the class. Every first year were present including some of the upperclassmen. Some of the upperclassmen were seated higher up in the stands while the others stood at the railings to be closer to the action. She was unfamiliar with a majority of them, but recognized a brunette with bunny ears down below with her team.

"Good morning Professor Goodwitch," they all chorused back. A small smile formed on the instructor's face as she approved of their response.

"As you all know," she began, "as Huntsmen-in-training, you will be required to perform missions from the academy to accrue valuable training and work experience before you are recognized as fully fledged huntsmen. With that said, since you are first years you will be placed under supervision of either an experienced huntsmen or a working associate of Beacon before you are allowed any independence. Traditionally, we do not allow any teams to go on missions until the first semester has been completed. However with today's exam, we do allow one exceptional team to be placed ahead of everyone else."

The energy in the room spiked as the students chattered excitedly at her announcement. For first year students, missions were a valuable commodity as there were only a limited number available to them. It was further limited by the fact that there were only so many experienced huntsmen and working associates who had the time and patience to provide mentorship.

Missions were often seen as great ways to showcase to the professors that a team was ready. They were ranked based on the complexity and difficulty of the objectives, and could range from a simple investigation to outright Grimm horde exterminations. However, because most huntsmen missions were inherently difficult, it was rather uncommon to see older huntsmen or even third-party assistance aiding newer teams.

And once they factored in the mortality rate, it was a rare sight to see any fledgling huntsmen team go on their own.

"And so today, I will be evaluating your performance against other teams." The professor's stern tone quieted the class. "Your objective will be to eliminate your opponents. We will be using the standard Mistral Tournament format to match teams. That means while you won't be matched against everyone, you will be paired against teams with a similar score after each match. Therefore – by the end of the class we will have a winner with the top two teams fighting for first place."

She tapped her tablet and a large holographic screen was projected above her.

"While winning is the goal, your team will still be graded on performance. As such, even if you were to lose, it is still possible to earn passing grades. Winning or losing will only account for a quarter of your grade." A circle popped up and a fourth of it was highlighted red. "The following parts that make up the other seventy-five percent will deal with coordination, communication, personal and team aptitude, and ethics." The rest of the circle was then filled in blue, green, and yellow. "Your scoring will be at my discretion."

Another tap on her tablet and the screen changed to a list of all the first year teams.

"The standard combat class rules apply. If any individual's Aura dips below the mark; he or she is considered out. Bear in mind that teams aren't fully eliminated from contention until the last member is out." She allowed her words to settle in before resuming. "Now that you know your guidelines, does anyone have any questions before we proceed?"

The class was silent and no hands were raised.

"Since there are no questions, you now have five minutes before I call down the first two teams. Use your time wisely."

"Alright ladies, this is it!" Yang smashed her fists together. "Don't get scared now!"

Blake rolled her eyes at her partner's antics to hype the team up.

Weiss, who sat down in a seat further, sighed melodramatically. "It looks like it will be quite an arduous day since we're using the Mistralian format. Seeing as how there are eight teams in the class that means there will only be a total of three rounds played by each team. And while our grade won't necessarily suffer if we drop a round, we'll be considered out of the running for first place if we do. Ugh," she groaned, "not to mention, if we win our first match, the next one will be even harder since we'll face a team with a similar score."

"So pretty much make it or break it," surmised Ruby. "No second chances for us if we mess up."

"Man," Yang leaned back in her seat and kicked her feet up, "talk about unforgiving."

"Of course," nodded Weiss. "Mistral designed it so that only the best of the best are left. You're left little room for mistakes during a match and it's designed to increase in difficulty the further you get. And for someone like Pyrrha, she probably thrives in this type of environment."

"I mean, no sweat for us right?" Her blonde partner shrugged with a smirk. "We can deal with pressure no biggie and hang with the big dogs like Pyrrha. We know our strengths and weaknesses, plus we're all great fighters that have been practicing together for over a month. There ain't no other team that can handles us in a head-to-head match."

Blake rested her chin on her hand. "I don't think we should only be worrying about Pyrrha," she muttered.

All three of her teammates poked their heads out to stare at her. She arched an eyebrow at their questioning gazes and pointed at the person sitting next to the girl from Mistral.

"Huh?" Yang looked back and forth between her and Shirou. "Red? What about him?"

"Excuse me?" scrutinized Weiss with eyes narrowed. "Am I hearing you correctly? Did you say you're more concerned about Shirou than Pyrrha?" She questioned incredulously.

The black haired girl shifted in her seat as she crossed her arms. Lips pursed together thinly as she held back a scathing a remark. Remembering Shirou's suggestion, she decided not to antagonize Weiss for the sake of Ruby. "Yes," she exhaled hotly. "I believe that to win we will have to focus on Shirou."

"Hmm," her team leader hummed as she rubbed her chin. "You know… thinking about it now; I can see your point."

"What?" Weiss turned to her partner. "Are you seriously agreeing with her? Am I the only one that didn't forget that Pyrrha is a world renowned champion that has gone undefeated in all of her matches? That she's the top student on our class?"

"I think I can see my little sis's point Weiss," interjected Yang playing with her hair. "And well, if you think about it, you kinda have to agree with Blake."

Weiss swiveled around back to the blonde. "Is everyone out of their minds? Are we really concerned about some nobody when Pyrrha's clearly the biggest threat?"

"And that's why we should be careful with him," argued Blake. "That nobody that you are currently disregarding is also the same person that beat the undefeated champion that you hold in high esteem. Or did you forget about what happened during the beginning of the semester?"

Weiss stewed in her seat before shooting back a retort. "I can't believe it because I didn't see it for myself. We don't know how they were fighting in the first place! She could've gone easy on him so that he wouldn't feel bad for losing as the leader!"

Blake gritted her teeth at how stubborn Weiss was being.

"Hold up," Yang jumped between her teammates sensing the tension rising. "Weiss," she turned to the girl. "You have to admit that Shirou has some serious fighting power packed away. Remember that fight with Cardin? He chewed the dude up and punched holes in the guy's armor like it was paper before walking away like it was no biggie."

"It's Cardin," stressed Weiss. "And I'm pretty sure you could break his armor if you wanted to Yang."

"I mean, I guess," shrugged the girl, "but the point I'm trying to get at is that just because he looks unassuming doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. Like we know a whole load of stuff about Pyrrha because we can just go on our scrolls and look up her fights. But Shirou? We don't have anything on the guy except for maybe a couple of fights that he ends quickly and stuff that's shared from his teammates." She turned back over to her partner. "That's what has you worried right Blake?"

She smiled in relief at her partner getting her point. "Yeah."

"Blake is right on this one Weiss," said Ruby. "The rest of his team do all their share of fighting in class, but when it comes to Shirou? He's as quiet as a mouse and fights even less than Blake. That says a lot you know? And don't forget our initiation test. He killed that Nevermore in one shot!"

Weiss's lips thinned tightly and made a face as if she swallowed something bitter. "Fine."

It seemed that was the most any of them were going to get out of her as a concession.

Peeling her gaze away from her teammates, Blake snuck a glance at the boy in question.

It was an odd sight to see Shirou still dressed in his school uniform. He stood out starkly because everyone else was wearing their personalized attire. He sat comfortably with his leg propped up on the other with his arms crossed. He had his usual indiscernible expression that shut out all of the distractions around him.

Unfortunately, her gaze lingered on longer than she expected as he looked up just in time to catch her staring. Her amber eyes connected with his golden brown ones as he smirked while winking at her.

Shaking silently, Shirou turned away from her.

Did he just laugh at her?

Her Faunus ears twitched as she pretended to scratch an itch on her cheeks. Flushing with embarrassment, she also turned her head to hide her face during their nonverbal exchange. When she snuck a look back, he had already turned back to his team as Pyrrha grabbed his attention and explained something.

"Damn you and your stupid smirk," she muttered angrily.

"And that's all the time you have," announced Professor Goodwitch. Her voice brought everyone's attention back to her. "The following two teams please step down into the arena immediately: Team RWBY and Team CRDL."

"Hell yeah!" Yang shot up from her seat. An action quickly emulated by her younger sister. "Let's go kick some butt y'all!" The blonde member ushered her team out of their seats with an infectious smile.

"Alrighty! Move out Team RWBY!" ordered Ruby as she led the march. "Let's show everyone what we're made of!"

"H-Hey Yang! Get your hands off me!" fussed Weiss as Yang gripped her shoulders. "I can walk perfectly fine without your paws on me!"

Blake shook her head at their antics.

They shuffled down quickly into the arena and stood across from the other team. The professor stood in-between them observing with a keen eye.

"Are both teams ready?" she asked.

Ruby gave a thumbs up. "We are ready to rock and roll Professor Goodwitch!"

She nodded and turned to the other team.

"Yeah, we're ready," bit out Cardin as he shouldered his mace.

Across from Blake was Sky Lark who was hanging behind his leader. Meanwhile, Cardin sized up Yang who was cracking her knuckles as she gave Team CRDL a cocksure grin. Weiss was settling into her opening stance against Dove who mirrored her by settling into his own stance. And lastly Ruby with her unfurled scythe made an imposing sight for Russel who appeared slightly apprehensive.

"Very well then," her professor pushed a button on her tablet. All eight Aura meters were brought on display. "You may now begin."

"Freezer burn!" barked out Ruby as she pulled away to provide covering fire.

Blake bent her knees and pushed herself back moving away from her team as Weiss formed a glyph. A torrent of ice shards shot out and peppered the ground at Team CRDL's feet. All four jumped and dodged away giving time for Yang to cross the distance.

"Heya boys!" winked Yang as she cocked back her arm.

"Move!" gasped Cardin and dove away from the blonde.

Yang roared as she punched the iced floor with her gauntlet. The area exploded as a thick, white cloud covered over half of the arena.

"Agh-!" One of them coughed. "I can't see anything!"

"Boss, what do we do?!"

"Where'd that blonde chick go?!"

As Blake fell into position, Yang delivered a haymaker that sent one of the males out of the cloud. Dove tumbled across the ground with horror sketched on his face as he landed right in front of Blake. Unsheathing her weapon, she grasped the ribbon, and spun her weapon around before throwing it. The sword pistol hybrid wrapped around him and with a sharp tug pulled him towards her.

"Wahhh-! Guys help!" he cried out. "I'm getting GAHCK-!"

Her heel smashed squarely into his mouth. She noted her boot left an imprint on his face as her kick sent him barreling to the other side of the room. With another sharp tug, she freed her weapon, and slinked away quietly.

"I'm sick of this stupid fog!" roared Cardin. "RAGH-!"

His mace quickly smashed down into the floor. The explosion blew away the fog in one blow and when it cleared he stumbled for words when Weiss blitzed in. "Russel move!"

Assisted by her glyphs, Weiss skated across the floor with grace as she dodged through their attacks. She skirted around their formation and pierced right through Russel's guard with ease.

"AGH-!"

His Aura softened the blow, but the momentum behind Weiss's strike was enough to blast him into the air. Getting caught flat footed, Russel smashed into the wall of the arena, dropping his Aura by half. Before he could fully pry himself out, Blake appeared before him with Gambol Shroud wrapping around his arms and chest.

"Ahh-! Come one! Give me a break!" he cried as he realized the situation and desperately tried to free himself.

Using both her hands to pull, she yanked Russel toward her. Propelling herself towards Russel with the help of her weapon, Blake aimed a kick at Russel's face.

Realizing where Blake was aiming for, Russel cried out, "No, no, no! NOT THE FACE!" he squinted his eyes shut.

Blake grinned and obliged his request by lowering her aim.

"WAIT- WAIT- GO FOR THE FACE!" Russel's cry cut short as his mind exploded into oblivion as he felt unimaginable pain. "W-Why there?!" he squeaked as he crumpled to the ground in fetal position.

Every boy within the arena cringed as phantom pain swept across every male. "Ouch, that's just cruel," someone commented out loud.

"Dude… my balls hurt for some reason," another winced.

"The absolute savagery of that girl…" a third whispered as Blake yanked her weapon back with a flourish.

"Damn it" Cardin cried out. Blake couldn't help but smirk at seeing the normally arrogant fool stamp his foot into the ground in frustration at how his team was being manhandled. Growling as he smashed his mace on the ground to vent his frustration, Cardin turned to his last remaining teammate. "Sky! Get those two idiots up! Circle Schnee and get rid of her! Then go after that pipsqueak of a leader! I'll handle the blonde and black haired chick."

"Oh? Yang smirked saucily as she placed a hand on her hip. "You think you can handle me and my partner tough guy? Why don't you come on up over here and show me a good time huh?" Just to add insult to injury, Yang motioned forth with a come hither gesture followed by a wink.

Blake rolled her eyes at Yang's taunt.

Meanwhile Cardin was incensed at Yang's antics. "You damn annoying bitch!" He charged with his mace raised and roared a guttural battle cry. "I'll show you not to mess with me!"

"Ho-ho! We're onto nicknames now huh?" smiled Yang as she charged forward priming Ember Celica. "Alright then carrot top!"

Cardin swung overhead with both hands which Yang neatly sidestepped before punching with her left gauntlet.

"Gonne have to do better than that!" Yang sang as she retreated back into an orthodox stance.

Cardin enraged by her taunt, decided to swing another blow and overshot due to his anger. His left flank was exposed which Yang capitalized on the opportunity. She pounced on his mistake and delivered a lightning quick one-two hit combo. Despite his Aura blunting the worst of the pain, Cardin still gasped out as the air was knocked out of his lungs.

Blade biding her time allowed her partner to play with Carding while searching for the optimal time to strike.

"Come on big boy! Two punches from me and you're gassed out already?" taunted the blonde.

Roaring out with renewed vigor; Cardin squeezed out his dust trigger and used the explosive momentum for a backhanded wide sweeping arc. Yang retaliated by swaying away from his mace before snapping out with a kick to his arm and redirecting his weapon.

"Gonna have to do better than that carrot top!" she jeered as she struck out with her fists.

Like a mallet tenderizing a slab of meat, her fists whaled viciously into his armored torso. Cardin realizing the danger, crossed his arms to cover himself and backpedaled to avoid the onslaught of fists. Yang pressed her advantage and gave chase as she slowly overwhelmed Cardin. When his arms covered his head and obscured his line of sight, she dropped low and swept his legs. He flailed his arms clumsily as he floated in the air for a split second.

"Later alligator," winked Yang.

"GUH-!"

She punched him in the face and separated him from the rest of his team. With Cardin isolated, he had no way of regrouping with his team.

"Bumblebee!"

Sensing the moment and hearing the command, Blake kicked off and blasted forward towards Cardin. At the same time, Yang also sped towards Team CRDL's leader. Before Cardin could recover, he found himself caught between a black blur and yellow wave that smashed him from both sides.

"Ah shit…" cursed Cardin.

Even before she spotted him with her eyes, Glynda Goodwitch could smell the distinct aroma of coffee from a mile away.

"Quite the performance," mused Ozpin as he walked up to Glynda.

"Oz?" She kept her eyes trained on the fight as she acknowledged his presence. "Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting with the council?"

"To my surprise we actually concluded early," Ozpin answered. "So with my schedule cleared up, I thought I would stop by to see how the students are doing. And well," a chuckled escaped, "I can see that one team is certainly making their mark."

His comment was actualized as Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna pincered Cardin preventing him from retreating.

She frowned in disapproval. "I'd appreciate it if you kept your jokes to a minimum. I would appreciate it even more if you would let me do my job in peace. Trying to keep track of two teams and grade their performance is no easy task. So if you don't have anything constructive to add…" her voice trailed off.

He held his hands up including the cup of coffee. "Apologies, "I'll keep my comments to a minimum."

She could feel his eyes on her as she typed rapidly with one hand. Deciding to ignore her superior, Glynda turned back to her notes. She appraised both teams in terms of their weaknesses along with their strengths. While teamwork was always necessary, how a team reacted to changes was what differentiated a good team from the best.

After a few moments of typing, Ozpin decided to comment offhandedly. "I see Miss Rose's team has been improving at a remarkable rate since their formation. Wouldn't you say so?"

The blonde haired professor hummed in agreement. "Team RWBY has exceeded my expectations. It seems that they overcame much of their internal disputes and were able to execute team maneuvers with ease. Case in point, much of Miss Rose's direction has rebuffed Mister Winchester's counters. Team RWBY dictated the pacing of the match from the start and prevented the other team from being able to respond effectively. Miss Rose has certainly done her homework for herself and the team."

"Truly," Ozpin agreed as he took a sip from his mug.

Ozpin observed with a sharp eye as he analyzed how well Team RWBY was performing. The fact that Ruby Rose could utilize each of her teammate's individual strength to leverage different combinations was rather advanced for a first year. Add to the fact that they could perform them with ease spoke about the endless amounts of practice it would require to get to that level.

"So… how long has this fight been going on?" he asked.

"Less than a minute," answered Glynda.

Ozpin paused from taking a sip. "Really now? A minute?" he spoke with a hint of disbelief. "I thought the fight had been going on for a lot longer."

"It would've ended sooner if not for Cardin's innate ability to tank a significant amount of damage with his Aura."

"Hmm… if they were to end the fight soon they might actually do it," he muttered.

She turned towards him briefly to question what he was talking about when a pained cry alerted her back towards the arena.

Team RWBY was finishing off the last two remaining members of Team CRDL.

Russel having just received a brutal slash from Ruby's scythe depleted what little remained of his Aura. The decisive blow sent him crumpling to the ground clutching his chest in pain. And soon enough, Cardin found himself fending off against four people.

Yang staggered him with a nasty haymaker that rattled his head. Blake pounced on the opening and stabbed her blade against his Aura. The sound of glass shattering signaled the end of the fight as Cardin collapsed.

"Winner – Team RWBY!" announced Glynda.

"Well, well, well," Ozpin mused off to her side as she stepped down. "They actually did it."

"Well done you four," praised Glynda.

Blake and her team turned to see their professor descending down the steps with the headmaster trailing slightly behind. She watched as her team leader hopped in place with a bright smile. Even Weiss was unable to hide her satisfaction over their first victory as Blake could feel the smugness roiling off her partner Yang.

"It's been some time since we've had such a dominant showing. It's clear that the four of you have trained diligently this past month."

"In fact, your performance managed to break a school record," added in the headmaster.

One of her eyebrows arched in surprise.

"Wait? Record?" repeated her leader. "There's a record? For what?"

"Fastest time for a match," answered Ozpin looking at the confused faces.

Ruby's eyes glowed. "No flippin' way!"

"Professor Goodwitch," formally addressed Weiss. "May we perhaps… be able to inquire as to what our time was compared to the original record?"

Their combat professor turned her tablet around.

"NO FRICKIN' WAY!" screamed Ruby.

"Aww hell yeah!" Yang pumped her fist. "That's what I like to see!"

Weiss practically preened at the sight. Her posture straightened, head held up high, and nose pointed up. "Thank you Professor Goodwitch. This is quite excellent to hear!"

"Cool," was all Blake said.

One the left, the time read: one minute and one second.

One the right, their time read: fifty-five seconds.

"Really Blakey? That's all you have to say? Just cool?" Her partner swaggered up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Girl, I'm gonna have to teach you how to actually play it cool and not act cool."

"Yeah," she said plainly and brushed her arm off. "And no thanks."

Yang booed and was about to protest before their professor coughed loudly into her hand.

"With that out of the way. Please vacate the arena floor, we need to have the next match going if we want to be finished by the end of the day." The blonde professor shooed them away with a look.

Blake settled back into her seat feeling pleased about the result of her team's match.

Yang and her sister were off to her right performing a secret sister handshake as they complimented each other's performance. Weiss was lavishing in the limelight as much as she could taking great satisfaction in seeing the buzz that their team created.

Discretely using her other ears, all Blake could hear was about her team and the new record they set.

Even Pyrrha complimented their team.

Everyone except for one person.

Shirou sat there looking nonchalant as usual. Arms crossed, sitting relaxed, and looking bored with the class. The news about his friends setting a new record for team elimination didn't even faze him.

"Settle down everyone," her professor hushed the class. "With the arena floor cleared and reset. I will now be calling down the next two teams." The conversations silenced as all the students listened in with anticipation.

Blake secretly hoped that the next team to be called down would be Shirou's team. A part of her was excited to see how they could match up to her team. The other part of her was worried at the sheer nonchalance of Team SNPR's leader.

"Team CLDN and Team CRMN, please step down into the arena."

Blake slumped in her seat in disappointment. Resting her chin on her hand, she blew at a strand of hair.

Looking at how eager both teams appeared, Blake hoped the match wouldn't take too long.

She was wrong.

The match between Team CLDN and CRMN went longer than anyone had expected. The two teams immediately separated into individual skirmishes with teammates helping each other sporadically. As the fight dragged on, it became a battle of attrition as neither side was refusing to the back down. In the end, Team CLDN scraped by with a victory after they backed up CRMN's leader in a corner.

After the arena was cleared, Professor Goodwitch called down the next set of teams. Blake's hope that Shirou's team would be called was dashed when another set of classmates made their way down to the arena.

History repeated itself as the fighting devolved into a match of stamina just like the previous match. One-on-one fights with no real sense of coordination between the teammates. She hadn't even bothered paying attention to the names of the teams that were fighting.

"Winner – Team MGTA!"

Blake exhaled, "Finally."

"Man – the past two fights have been an absolute slog. No one wants to lose today huh?" commented Yang.

"Can't really blame them," said Ruby. "They're fighting to not lose rather than to win. Instead of striving for the low percentage tactics, they're just trying to outmatch them with pure skill. Plus you run the risk of revealing your team's formation and tactics, so it won't be as effective in the next round and no one wants to do that."

"I don't know," Yang stretched her back before hearing an audible pop. "Kind of boring if you ask me."

"I agree with Yang," Weiss chimed in. "If this is all the teams have to offer then I am confident in our team winning today."

"I wouldn't say that just yet," muttered Blake. "We haven't seen what Shirou's team has in store for everyone."

Weiss blinked owlishly. "O-Oh yes, my apologies, I completely forgot about Pyrrha's team…"

Blake gave her an annoyed look at how Weiss referred Shirou's team as Pyrrha's. Before she could retort, their professor interrupted by calling out the final teams for the first round.

"Team GOLD and Team SNPR, please make your way down to the arena."

All conversation immediately ceased.

A majority of eyes trailed the girl clad in bronze armor. Her red hair and sash swayed as she descended down the stairs. With her shield and spear secured on her back and confidence born from years of experience, Pyrrha made quite an imposing figure as she made her way to the arena.

With each step she took, whispers followed.

Pyrrha Nikos was a legendary figure to her fellow peers. A girl that built a near legendary run in the Mistral tournament circuit. She was the model figure that every young child aspired to be. Strength of a raging fire, swift as a coursing river, and mysterious as the dark side of the moon. She was the picture perfect champion that everyone held with the highest regards.

For Blake, it was absurd at the level of fame that Pyrrha amassed in a few short years.

She couldn't help but be amazed at how easy Pyrrha was able to deal with the crowd. The students at the school showered the girl with unbridled love and praise no matter what she did or where she was.

However – as everyone's eyes were trained on one redhead, Blake had hers on another. The one that was just as, if not even more, important than Pyrrha.

Shirou Emiya led his team from the front. Maybe it was due to all the time she spent with him, but his plain outfit left a vivid impression on her. As he walked, his unbuttoned jacket trailed behind him like a mantle.

"Like what you're seeing Blake?" whispered Yang into her ear.

Blake jumped in her seat. Startled at being caught staring by her partner. Though clamped teeth, she bit out a staunch denial. "Of course not. I was just seeing if we can gleam any information off of Team SNPR!"

"Oh?" Her partner's grin grew predatory. "Was I mistaking that lingering gaze for something else? I mean a girl might have some funny ideas staring at a man like that."

"You are totally interpreting everything wrong Yang." Blake could feel a blush creeping up on her face.

"Suuure," said an unconvinced Yang. "I must be misinterpreting that lover's gaze of yours."

Blake gave her a withering stare that would've left Shirou impressed.

"Ugh," Yang made a face, "that look you're giving me reminds me of his. Have you been secretly hanging out with Shirou or something?"

"We've all been hanging around Shirou," she shot back.

"Ugggh – yeah you have totally been hanging out with Shirou in secret," accused the blonde. "When and where huh?"

"No I haven't," lied Blake.

"Totally have," persisted Yang.

"No, I have not-"

"Hey you two," hissed Weiss. "Can you both quit your bickering? The match is about to start!"

For once, Blake was thankful for Weiss budding in with her usual temperament. Yang backed off, but a partner of her knew that Yang was not going to let this go so easy. Despite the stereotype, Yang was rather perceptive on even the smallest of details and could easily pick up on subtle things.

"I'm watching you." Yang made a motion with two fingers to her eyes and jabbed them at her partner.

Blake rolled her eyes and moved her attention to the match.

The two teams squared off each other.

"Are both teams ready?" asked the professor.

"Yes ma'am," responded Gamboge, Team GOLD's leader.

All eyes turned towards the other team. Shirou's left hand rose into the air and bright blue energy crackled from his palm. Lightning crackled as it formed into the shape of a large matte black bow. His weapon floated in front of him for a moment before he clutched it with a vicelike grip. When he tugged on what was supposed to be the string. A metallic groan squealed as the arms protested at being bent.

"What the hell?" Yang said in shock. "A metal bow?"

"It's just… a regular bow. It's made out of metal, but other than that. It's just a bow," scrutinized Weiss. "I don't see any place for Dust to be loaded in either. And where are his arrows?"

"If he can make a bow then it's safe to say he can make arrows," explained Blake.

"AHHHH-!" Ruby screamed in her seat. "That's so cool! I'll never get tired of seeing him do that! I wanna learn how to summon my scythe out of thin air like that too! Shirou!" she yelled his name. "Teach me please! Take me as your student!"

"H-Hey you dork!" Yang wrestled her sister back into her seat. "Chill out sis! You're causing a scene here!"

Weiss soon itched in to subdue her partner. "Now is not the time for you to be fawning over his weapon Ruby!"

Blake couldn't help but rub her forehead. "You guys are a bunch of dorks."

"You may now begin," announced the professor.

Like the hammer of a gun snapping forward, Team SNPR exploded into action.

Nora leapt forward to the center of Team GOLD raising Magnhild like a battle standard over her head. Her biceps bulged as she bellowed out a mighty roar when she swung. "RAAAGH-!"

"M-Move!" Gamboge shrieked at the oncoming blow.

Blake couldn't tell whether her eyes were deceiving her. Nora moved so uncharacteristically fast that it took her a moment to process if she was hallucinating. Most people knew that the orange haired girl was built for power and strength. While aggressive, Nora lacked the speed to chase the more agile members of their class. Rather, the hammer-wielding orange haired girl usually relied on Ren to bog them down enough for her to close the gap. So to witness her rocketing out of nowhere and blitzing the other team down was rather shocking.

"What the crap!" blurted out Ruby. "I didn't know Nora could move that fast!"

"Well I'll be damned, I've never seen that girl haul ass like that," spoke an amazed Yang. "Well… maybe except for food, but in a fight?" She shook her head. "Shirou must've been working her to the bone to get her that fast."

Magnhild crashed down like lightning. The ground cratered upon impact shaking and cracking the foundation of the entire arena. A giant plume of dust was thrown up into the area along with chunks of stone raining down from above.

"Ignore her!" Gamboge coughed. "Focus on Pyrrha Nikos! If we get her first then we can-"

His words died in his throat as a red comet pierced the veil of dust. With her spear in front of her, Pyrrha took no time to launch herself at Gamboge. Panicking at the sight of the Mistral champion, he scrambled to bring up his defense, but was too late.

"GAHCK-!"

Pyrrha struck true as she twisted her body to get past the hasty defense. Twisting her upper body, she added torque thereby increasing her thrusting power.

In two moves, Nora and Pyrrha separated Gamboge from the rest of his team, singling him out.

Blake leaned forward trying to process what just happened. Without any prompt, Nora and Pyrrha had successfully divided the team into two. Glancing over to Shirou, she saw him materialize arrows as he began casually shooting into the cloud. Her eyes widened when she noticed one person unaccounted for. Even from her view, she failed to spot Ren in the arena.

"Boss!" yelled out Ochre as she and the remaining members of Team GOLD burst out of the cloud. "Damn it! Lavender, Dianne! Take out that hammer girl and then help the boss with Nikos! I'll keep the other two busy!"

For Team GOLD, their sole objective was to eliminate Pyrrha. The momentum was squarely with Team SNPR, as Team GOLD were still trying to regroup. Both Gamboge and Ochre realized that if they somehow were to eliminate Pyrrha, they could then reverse the entire situation and swing the match to their favor.

If they weren't able to beat Pyrrha in skill, they could exhaust the champion in a battle of attrition.

It would have worked if Nora and Pyrrha were by themselves. Due to their tunnel vision, they completely neglected factoring in Shirou and Ren. Even in the thick of combat, his bow continued to groan was he continuously pelted arrow after arrow at Team GOLD with unnerving accuracy. With each shot, the Aura meter for all the members of GOLD dropped sharply.

"Well I'll be damned, that bow really is metal," muttered Yang as she saw an arrow fly through the air at speeds too fast for her to track.

Shirou deciding that it was time to end the match packed in extra energy into his next shot. He took his time aiming his shot as the dust shifted. He tracked his target and steadied his breath. His arm made minute adjustments to his aims before he exhaled and releasing his grip. The arrow pierced through the cloud completely dissipating it before slamming into Gamboge.

"AGH-!"

"Gamboge has been eliminated." Professor Goodwitch announced as Gamboge's aura dropped instantly to a sliver.

"No way…" whispered a shocked Ochre.

"What," said someone stupefied.

"What the hell just happened?" asked confused.

"No seriously! What the hell kind of bow is that?!" another demanded answers.

The fight shifted faster than anyone could expect. In the blink of an eye, Shirou halted any momentum Team GOLD could garner and effectively ended the match for Gamboge.

Before anyone could react, Nora slammed her hammer into Dianne. "Dianne has been eliminated."

Without missing a beat, Team SNPR continued to systematically pick apart Team GOLD. Ren, who for the entire match was virtually invisible, ambushed Lavender who was distracted at seeing two of her teammates eliminated in quick succession.

"Lavender has been eliminated."

The venerated Invincible Girl worked her magic on the final opponent. Twirling her spear with ease, Pyrrha practically danced around Ochre who failed to keep up. Parrying Ochre's saber, Pyrrha bent her knees low and unleashed a flurry of strikes.

Blake quickly turned her eyes to Shirou and saw him notch another arrow unto his bow. Being positioned directly behind Pyrrha, he readied his firing stance and pulled back. When they heard his bow groan at the peak of his draw, all four girls couldn't hold back from shouting in shock as he released his arrow.

"Wait, hold up! He just tired at Pyrrha!" accused Weiss.

"He wouldn't dare!" shouted Yang as she clambered to feet.

"Shirou you're a mad man!" yelled Ruby.

With almost superhuman reaction, Pyrrha tilted her head to the side at the last moment allowing the arrow to harmlessly fly by.

Ochre's eyes widened at the sudden view of an arrow zooming straight towards her head. She brought her arms up to hastily block the projectile with her gauntlets. However, even with her hasty block, the force behind the arrow was too great and knocked her arms up. It left her torso completely exposed allowing Pyrrha to thrust her spear straight into her abdomen.

"Ochre has been eliminated."

Pyrrha smoothly holstered her weapons with a flourish as the last member was down for the count.

"Winner – Team SNPR!"

No one made a sound as the victors walked back to their seats.

Glynda would periodically look down at her stopwatch and the team that walked away. She stood frozen after announcing the winners as she nearly gaped at the time.

"I had heard that Mister Emiya had been rather… docile since his match against Mister Winchester." Ozpin hummed as he swirled his coffee. "A rather dominant beat down before disappearing into the background. It almost seemed like he wanted to avoid the spotlight. Now I am left to wonder the depths of his capabilities and how much more he's hiding."

"That boy is dangerous Oz," she interrupted with serious face.

Glancing sideways with just his eyes, Ozpin replied, "I know."

Glynda continued observing the crowd as they whispered about what they had just witnessed. "Team GOLD's leader is no slouch and yet we just saw that boy get eliminated in one shot. I'm willing to bet that if he didn't have his Aura protecting him then we would be carting a badly injured boy to the ER."

"Then we're fortunate that Mister Emiya knows how to restrain himself," answered Ozpin.

"Fortunate indeed," she muttered lowly. "I feel like this fight was more of a statement than anything else."

"And what better way to make it than to utterly defeat your opponents and shatter a record," he mused as he took a sip from his mug.

"Girls…" Yang broke the silence. "What the hell just happened?"

"I… I don't know," said a wide-eyed Ruby. "I really don't know what to say."

"W-What," stuttered Weiss, "b-but… my- our record." Her face fell and mouth open. "Our record is gone… just like that. We didn't even get to keep it for an hour." She came close to whining.

"I mean, records are meant to be broken right?" Yang tried to console her teammate. "But damn do I feel bad for Gamboge's team. No one deserves that much of a beating and humiliation. Shirou and his team didn't even give them a fighting chance."

"Fifteen seconds," Blake muttered to herself as her gaze followed Team SNPR.

Shirou had already returned to his seat. With his arms crossed, he seemingly blocked out all the commotion. It was hard to tell if he was either happy or pleased about his result, but she knew that he was at the very least satisfied with the outcome of the match.

The way his team set up the fight and moved with precise coordination showed that beating Team GOLD was no fluke. They knew their roles, positions, and how to react accordingly to a changing situation. At the same time they were able to deny their opponents any time to think and adjust themselves. It was almost scary how seamless the short fight was.

It wasn't just four individuals fighting, rather a team that fought as one.

"Well ladies," stretched Yang. "No time to mope! If this is what we're gonna have to face in order to win then I say we give him hell!" She punched her fist into her palm.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm Yang," said Weiss. "However I think this necessitates a more finessed approach rather than a brute force one. Team SNPR has just demonstrated their ability to coordinate well above ours. Not only that, they're not holding back at all in these engagements making sure their opponents are down for the count and then some. Ruby?" She turned to her partner. "Do you have any proposals to prepare for them?"

"Well…" Ruby settled down into her thinking pose. "I think I might have an idea."

Blake listened in on her leader.

While she could come off as childish and excessively hyper, Ruby always had a unique approach to combat that were often highly effective. After all, her leader was considered to be the youngest ever student admitted into Beacon Academy.

Yet, she was unable to shake off the uneasy feeling as she stared at Shirou.

This was not going to be an easy fight.

"Team SNPR has upped the ante," grinned Ozpin as he saw the faces of his students harden after the match.

The energy in the air shifted as people realized how serious Team SNPR were.

Subsequently the matches became fiercer as people realized the gap between themselves and Shirou Emiya's team. Team RWBY for instance had also stepped up by eliminating their next opponents even faster than before.

While everyone became more focused on the competition, it seemed like everyone was chasing after Shirou and his team. Even with Ruby and her team making quick work of Team TLSM, their time wasn't even close to SNPR ripping through their next opponents.

By the end, there were only two teams left in the running.

"I can't recall the last time I've had to repair the arena this many times," grumbled Glynda as she telekinetically raised a concrete slab back into place. "Mister Emiya and Miss Valkyrie seem to be rather extremely fond of leaving the place full of holes and craters. And it seemed Miss Xiao Long took it as a challenge by upping the ante."

Ozpin chuckled, "It's a good thing the school has you Glynda."

"And it's a good thing you're putting in that special order of tea for me right Oz?" Glynda stated imperiously. "It would be quite a shame if I somehow no longer had the energy to repair all of these damages."

He choked as he sipped his coffee, coughing briefly, Ozpin replied quickly, "Why yes! Of course Glynda!"

"Good, good," she smiled dangerously. "I'll be looking forward to that Mistral blend. I've read raving reviews of its exotic taste and aroma. Shame that it costs so much to get it at this time of the year."

"Indeed," Ozpin smiled while internally wincing. Seeing as he heard about the blend Glynda talked about was coming out of his own pocket. He was going to have to call in some favors owed to him to get it shipped before Glynda had any other bright ideas.

With a flourish of her riding crop, she replaced the last broken piece of the arena and walked away with a slight bounce to her step.

"We will now hold the final match between Team RWBY and Team SNPR. Please make your way down to the arena."

"Remember the plan everyone, we beat them to the punch!" intoned Ruby. "As long as we put them on the back foot first then we can control the fight!"

"Alright girls," Yang stretched her arms. "Let's show'em how it's done!"

Weiss took calm breathes as she stood up primly. "Calm and composed, calm and composed," she chanted to herself softly. "Make your sister proud Weiss."

Blake trailed quietly behind her team as they lined up against their opponents. As Team SNPR stood in front of her team, she suddenly felt her palms begin to sweat. It was only natural that their teams would meet in the finals. As she surveyed her opponents, the hair at the back of her neck stood up. The confidence that each member exuded made her feel even more antsy especially the look from Shirou.

There was not a hint of worry or concern on their faces. Shirou stood out to Blake even more so as he held a small smirk that was unnerving. Seeing the normally composed leader of SNPR expressing any type of emotion was a cause for concern. Her feet subtly shifted to a stance at the sight.

"Are both teams ready?" asked Glynda.

Ruby brought her scythe up. "Ready as ever!"

Shirou nodded to their professor before looking at her.

Blake froze as his golden brown eyes locked with her own. She gulped immediately disliking his predatory grin.

Shirou closed his eyes as he spoke. "Trace, on."

In either of the two matches, Blake never heard him utter a word. He would wordlessly materialize the black bow before barraging the other team with arrows. The fact that this was the first time he said anything, made her almost instinctively jump back. Only her training and the knowledge that conceding any ground to Shirou would make their fight even more disadvantageous than it already was.

The air sparked around him as visible lines of circuitry flowed down his arm and into his eyes. His hair even seemed to float as if he stood on top of a vent. When the energy spike finally settled down, Shirou opened his glowing eyes.

Although Blake had more experience than most of her peers, she was beginning to understand Pyrrha's vague hints during their first week of school. While the champion never went in-depth with their fight, she had made it clear that Shirou was an opponent like no other.

A complete monster.

Blake swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Hey," whispered Yang. She gripped her shoulder in reassurance and broke her from her thoughts. "We got this you hear me? You got my back and I got yours," she winked. "You and I are gonna wipe that smug, self-satisfied, smarmy, smug look off his face."

Blake laughed. "Yang you said smug twice."

"I know girl, he's too damn smug for his own good." Yang replied clapping her hands together. "We're gonna give him the good ol' un-smug treatment."

The black haired girl took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Thanks Yang and I got your back too."

Professor Glynda looked at both sides as each team was ready. "You may now begin."

"Thunderclap!" yelled Ruby.

Blake activated her Semblance and left a clone in her place as she dashed away to flank to the right.

Yang blasted forward. White glyphs lined her path as they accelerated her speed. Two shotgun blasts rang behind her as she boosted herself faster using Ember Celica. Like a comet, she charged headstrong towards the middle of Team SNPR.

Nora immediately stepped forward to answer Yang's charge. Her muscles bulging, Nora smashed her hammer onto the ground with all her might. The entire campus shuddered as the stone flooring erupted creating a trench in front of Nora. Chunks of rubble of all sizes rained down all around the arena, but it wasn't enough to deter Yang as she evaded the rupture by jumping onto a glyph.

Her knees bent, Yang blasted off with another jump as two more shots roared behind her.

In the meantime, Blake navigated forward. Deftly avoiding the rubble with ease as she used her catlike senses to traipse around the trenches. Glancing up at her partner, she was astounded by the speed Yang was launching herself at Shirou. With how fast she was going, there was no way he could-

"GAAAGHH-!"

And without warning, a red beam slammed into her gut. Blake's jaw dropped as she froze watching her partner get plucked out of the air and sent high up into the rafters.

As the debris settled, all eyes turned to Shirou.

He looked completely unimpressed by their decision to copy his strategy. He wasn't even fazed by the terrifying image of Yang coming straight at him with her fist cocked back.

"What the hell?!" someone coughed from the stands as dust fell from the ceiling.

"Is this guy for real?" another asked. "He didn't even hesitate!"

"Seriously, does anyone know where this guy came from?"

Even his teammates couldn't resist turning towards their leader in visible shock. He shot them a stern look and motioned with his head to stop gawking and focus on the battle. The three turned around sheepishly.

Blake quickly ducked behind a boulder when his eyes zeroed in at her direction.

"Damn it," cursed Blake. She prepared herself for the stream of arrows that would inevitably rain down, but it never came. He turned his attention elsewhere, primarily towards Ruby and Weiss. "He's playing with me," she muttered angrily. There wasn't a reason for him not to shoot her, yet he casually ignored her.

Instead, he fired off arrows almost lazily, watching with mild interest as he saw his arrows impacting against Weiss's glyphs. Her white haired teammate visibly flinched with each shot, struggling to sustain her glyphs. Next to her was Ruby who kept busy by providing covering fire to keep Pyrrha and Nora away from Weiss. The massive anti-material bullets were nothing to scoff at either as each round had the capability to pierce through Atlas-grade shielding.

However – even with Ruby shooting like a mad woman, Pyrrha and Nora steadily advanced. Always making ground each time whenever Ruby had to reload, they utilized the cover Nora originally created just like Blake. Weiss juggled between creating cover from Shirou's arrows and slowing down the two by creating ice walls as obstacles. But judging with how Weiss had to increasingly turn her attention to fending off Shirou's bombardment, Blake had to do something to relieve the pressure.

"Where the hell is Ren?" Blake called out realizing that someone was missing during the entire fight.

Her eyes darted around the arena trying to spot the last member of Team SNPR. Even with her Faunus level of senses she couldn't track him down. Her ears weren't able to pick up anything around her and she failed to spot him.

"Damn it, to hell with the plan."

She threw caution to the wind. Her teammates weren't going to hold out much longer if she kept to her role of trying to flank from behind. Originally she was assigned to eliminating Ren and then helping out Yang with Shirou. However with her partner out of commission temporarily, the whole plan was ruined. So while it wasn't the best of options, she had to do something to alleviate the rain of fire against Weiss.

Popping out of cover, she squeezed the trigger unloading the whole magazine unto Shirou.

In an instant – he materialized a short black sword, deflecting every single bullet.

"Give me a break!" Blake complained as she ducked behind her cover again reloading her firearm.

He didn't waste any time and unleashed a salvo of arrows. Crouching low, with her knees bent as Blake sped off to the side as arrows nipped at her hells. When she glanced back, her eyes widened as she observed one of them completely obliterating a boulder into fine powder.

"Got it – hiding is not an option anymore!" she joked to herself.

A red arrow whistled towards her head.

In one clean pull, she cut the arrow down with Gambol Shroud while using the sheath to deflect several more that followed. Shirou was being absolutely relentless in his resolve to turn her into a pincushion. So in turn, she was utilizing every advantage her innate traits provided her.

It was a developing into a game of cat and mouse. So far she thought she was holding up well against the never ending flow of arrows as she vaulted, jumped, and twisted her way out of danger. There was an annoyingly pervasive thought as she couldn't rely on Shirou to simply run out of arrows as he could simply make more.

"DON'T COUNT ME OUT JUST YET!" roared Yang as she rocketed out of the ceiling.

Shirou spun on his heels, pulled back on the string, and launched another red arrow at her partner sending her back to where she came from. All of it being done faster than Yang could visibly react. It was almost comically sad at how he was keeping Yang out of the fight at this point.

Using the sliver of an opening created by her partner's distraction, Blake rushed to close the distance. She spun Gambol Shroud with all her strength and threw it with a grunt. The sickle-pistol hybrid cut through the air in record time.

And then like before, his eyes snapped back to her. Without batting an eye, Shirou shot her weapon out of the air like it was target practice.

For a short moment they stared at each other. He tilted his head to the ground where her weapon laid as Blake tugged on her ribbon to pull it back to her hand. Noting just how far away she was from him, he smirked as he motioned with his head for her to start running; as if allowing her a head start.

"Cocky jerk," Blake grumbled as she turned tail. "I didn't know Shirou fought like an asshole – geez thanks Pyrrha."

The muscles in her legs tensed as she sped off again. Zigzagging through all the rubble while taking shots with her pistol when she could. Sweat accrued on her brow as she committed as much energy as she could to keep him distracted. An arrow suddenly whistled in front of her head bringing her to a complete stop. She turned towards his direction and saw him mouthed what looked like, "You're going to have to run faster than that."

That jerk-wad was taunting her!

"Damn it Yang, I thought you said you'd have my back!"

Ruby Rose was in a real pickle.

Her sister left her team hanging – literally as her sister once again disappeared into the rafters.

Her teammate Blake was doing her best at keeping Shirou busy from showering them with arrows.

Her partner Weiss now free from shield duty, did her utmost to keeping Pyrrha and Nora from closing in on melee range. She herself was pumping out rounds as much as she possibly could until Yang dug herself out. Neither of them were supposed to engage closely until Yang and Blake dealt with at least one of their original targets.

In short – her plan got ruined right off the bat.

Right from the get-go Shirou derailed their plans by knocking Yang out of the fight. Ideally, Yang was supposed to break up their formation by following Nora's example of blitzing their line. She was supposed to create as much chaos before Nora could respond. Meanwhile, she and Weiss were to provide supporting fire and keeping Pyrrha and Nora distracted. If either Nora or Pyrrha closed in on Weiss, it would have severely hampered their formation.

After Yang scattered the team, she was supposed to then immediately engage Shirou. It was agreed by everyone in the team that Yang was most likely the best suited to dealing with him one-on-one. Her natural ability to take damage and dish it straight back in melee range would have turned the tide of battle immediately. She was their ace in the whole to ensure they could fight without having to worry about getting shot in the face.

Meanwhile Blake would take care of Ren. It made sense for their assassin to take out the other assassin. Blake was the best suited at finding Ren and it made sense to root out any fear of a flank. However now, Yang was out of the fight, Nora and Pyrrha were closing in, and Blake had to engage Shirou.

Speaking of which, if Blake was Shirou's attention then where was-

Like a wraith appearing before Ruby's eyes, Ren materialized out of thin air with his weapon already in motion.

"Ahh-!" she yelped, jumping back, scrambling to avoid the downward slash.

Ren pounced on her even as she backpedaled. While Ruby was proficient in melee combat, due to the nature of her weapon, she needed space for her scythe to swing. Rend sensing her intention, refused to give any room and pressed on.

Ruby's eyes darted to her partner, noticing that Ren was quickly separating her from Weiss. Understanding what Ren was seeking to achieve, Ruby decided to create some distance of her own from Ren.

He was fast, but her Semblance was speed.

Fully confident in her Semblance, she tensed her legs before kicking off to the side. He rushed in to pursue, but caught a fistful of air as she dodged away. Her eyes glanced towards her partner who was struggling to keep Pyrrha and Nora at bay, as long as she could make it-

"HUGHCCKK-!"

Her eyes bugged out as she choked on her cape and landed on her back.

Ren latched onto her at the last moment with a vice like grip.

"W-What?!" sputtered a bewildered Ruby.

How did he know which direction she was going?!

She scrambled to get up as Ren moved in on her. She blocked his kick to her abdomen with a hasty guard, but hissed at the pain. Thankfully, to kick her, he had to let go for her cape, allowing her some room to back off.

He dashed forward sensing she was about to dash away once more to Weiss. His Storm Flower struck from above forcing her to block with Crescent Rose. The sickle-like blades attached underneath his barrels hooked onto her weapon and Ruby felt Ren pull.

"Grr-!" she growled. "You're not taking my baby from me!"

Gritting her teeth, she dug in her heels and pulled back as hard as she could. With her small frame Ruby had to exert more strength to force a stalemate. She knew it wasn't going to last long and wracked her brain to find a solution to get out of this sticky situation. Her eyes narrowed before an idea popped up causing her to brighten up. Making sure her left hand gripped on tight to her baby, she squeezed the trigger and used the recoil to try and force Ren to release his hold due to the sudden kickback.

And then to her utter surprise. Ren tossed up both of his pistols and latched onto her weapon again. He pulled the charging handle, ejecting the round in the chamber, and locked the bolt back just before slapping the magazine release and mule kicking in her the gut.

She was left stunned by the utter audacity of Ren as her arms flailed around trying to keep her balance.

Her precious High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe was torn from her hands and without even thinking, she reached out in desperation to take it back. In response, Ren sent another kick that sent her sprawling back to the ground before tossing her baby out of her reach to Shirou's feet.

"N-No…" she gasped out not even paying attention to Ren catching his own weapons.

She activated her Semblance out of panic and retreated to Weiss.

"R-Ruby?!" Weiss yelped out in surprise. Sweat matted her forehead while her chest heaved in exhaustion from having to deal with Pyrrha and Nora by herself. "Where'd you go? Where's your weapon? What happened?!"

"Ren took it!"

"He took it?" she exclaimed in confusion. "What do you mean he took it? You are Ruby Rose and you're saying he just took it from you?"

"Yes!" Ruby yelled back in exasperation. "He stole it from me and tossed it over to Shirou!"

"Well that's just peachy isn't it?" Her partner sarcastically bit back as the latest wall of ice she threw up gave them a bit of breathing room. "What do we do now Ruby? We're in a bad spot here and while I'm confident in my own skills; I don't think I can handle both Pyrrha and Nora at the same time. We need a plan and we need it now!"

"I…" Silver eyes darted all around her. Her brain working a mile a second trying to come up with something. "I…" Ren prowled at the sides waiting for his time as Pyrrha and Nora smashed through the latest ice wall. "I…"

Weiss shrieked at the oncoming opposition. "Ruby?! Hello? Anything?!"

"I don't know!" she blurted out.

"What do you mean you don't know?" fretted Weiss with worry in her eyes. "You need to know now!" She grunted as she blocked a blow from Nora with her glyph. The gravity glyph repelled Nora only to see Pyrrha engaging with a thrust. Panicking at the sight of the Mistral Champion, Weiss swiftly switched Myrtenaster's dial and blasted a gout of flame at her.

"We… I-"

The ground suddenly shook violently. A yellow blur smashed into the ground just before Nora and Pyrrha were about to engage. The fighting suddenly paused as everyone took stock of the person before them.

Yang's silhouette emerged from the small cloud of dust. With her teeth and fists clenched, Ruby knew her sister was absolutely livid.

"Yang!"

This was what they needed! They could turn the fight around now that they had their fourth member back. With her sister's reappearance, plans began forming Ruby's head again. They would need to prioritize getting her weapon back and eliminating Nora. After that they could corner Pyrrha as Yang and Blake dealt with Shirou and Ren. As long as they had Yang with them then victory could still be salvaged!

Shirou tilted his head with a curious expression on his face.

"You shoot another arrow at me," she hissed lowly. "And I'm gonna lose it."

"Uh oh…" Ruby gulped.

When her sister was pissed, she was pissed; hell hath no fury like a Yang scorned.

The Leader of Team SNPR responded with a grin. Wordlessly materializing another arrow, everyone tensed. He pulled back on the string lazily and took a pot shot at her sister that went wide by a small margin.

"Nice aim," she haughtily taunted.

His eyes gestured towards her feet in response.

Ruby followed his gaze and gasped in terror. A couple of yellow strands drifted to the ground that fell around her sister's boots. "Oh no… oh no, no, no, no!"

"You…" growled Yang.

"Wait," Ruby begged. She instantly recognized what Shirou was trying to achieve. Her sister was walking right into a trap. "Yang! You need to calm down! Wait! Stop!"

"YOU'RE DEAD – SHIROU!"

Author's Note:

Yeahhh… in hindsight I probably shot myself in the foot making that comment in my previous author's note. Suffice to say writer's block came in real hard and took a dump all over me just like North America's dreams of getting out of groups for Worlds 2019 in League of Legends.

I'll save you the drama and excuses by just saying I'm a piece of shit and I cavort around doing other activities like finally getting around to reading Solo-Leveling.

This chapter was originally almost 18,000 words long. That was just super bloated and crammed too much into one reading session. So my editor and I agreed to chop the chapter into two parts that way it can transition better into the next arc. This chapter carries the bulk of content while the next one serves both as a conclusion and transition.

I want to say that this chapter was an absolute horror to develop. There were times I just wanted to take the easy route and slap some half-assed written fights between the teams, but I always tell myself, "Is this something that I would read?" And usually the answer is no. I want to read something that I want to enjoy and sucks me into the world. I want to read characters interact with each other. I want to read a developing world with evolving characters.

Anyways, I don't want to bloat this section even more. I have a pet peeve for overly long author's notes and oftentimes I'll catch myself in the same pitfalls of making long author's notes. My editor brought up that I should just make a discord server to dump explanations, but I can be a bit stubborn about things. Plus I already take care of the Fate discord that he and I are in.

The second part of this chapter should be posted soon after I finish cleaning it up and sending it off to be cleaned and edited.

To those of you that still check in from time to time. I appreciate you greatly and know that I am always reading your messages and reviews even if I do have the tendency to not respond because I simply put it off and then forget. I'll try to do better on that part in responding in a timely matter.

As always, please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter or story. I welcome any and all critiques or comments about the chapter. If you have any questions that need to be answered or explained, please feel free to shoot me a private message.

Thank you for reading another update of this story!