97

Chapter 97: Change In Venue

"And you're sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Yang let out a sigh as she kept counting bullets, allowing a bit of aggravation to slip into her tone. "Yes, Ruby, just like the last two times I told you. I need to speak to Raven alone."

"But why, though?"

Oh, great, Yang thought, her eyes turning skyward. We've graduated from puppy-dog eyes to puppy-dog whine. She turned away from their shared workbench, meeting Ruby's eyes as her sister stood right behind her. Weiss and Blake remained huddled around their scrolls on their bed, hunting through potential supervised missions and pretending not to be hanging on to every word. All three were dressed in civilian clothes, their skirts and jeans a stark contrast to Yang's typical battle attire.

Yang grimaced at the look in Ruby's eyes, being reminded of one of the few not-really-problems with them being Mated to the same people: it was hard to hang on to her irritation when she could feel just how Worried and Concerned her sister was for her. "One, this is between me and Raven. Two… Sis, you know me. Me and her are going to talk, then something's going to piss me off, I'm going to scream and yell something stupid, half of which I won't even mean, and…" She let out a tired sigh. "You don't need to hear me say that crap again."

Ruby's brow pinched in confusion. "Again?"

Yang looked down, shame on her face. "You remember my big fight with Dad when you were nine?"

Ruby flinched back as her emotions dived, making Weiss and Blake's heads snap to her in worry. "You're… still mad about that?" she asked in a small voice, looking hurt.

Yang's eyes blew wide, realizing her mistake. "Hey, hey!" She rushed forward, pulling Ruby into a crushing hug. "Not at you," She murmured softly. "Never at you."

"But-"

"Never."

Ruby stood stiffly for a moment, then relaxed into the hug, to Yang's relief. "I don't like this," she muttered into Yang's shoulder.

Yang smirked. "I ain't exactly jumping for joy either, sis."

Blake shot Weiss a concerned look. "Do we want to know?" she asked the sisters apprehensively.

Yang gave Ruby one last squeeze before releasing her, giving Blake a grim grin. "Ruby can give you the details later if she wants, but the short version? Raven and Summer leaving made things… frustrating growing up. One day when I was eleven, things boiled over, me and Dad got into a huge fight, and I… I said some things I thought I meant until they were out of my mouth. Both to him… and to Ruby."

"Which is why I don't get why you want to do that again," Ruby grumbled.

"I don't want to, Ruby," Yang sighed. "But… It's me. One way or another I'm going to get pissed off. I'm going to run my mouth, say something I don't mean and-" Yang stopped herself with a deep breath. She gave Ruby a tired smile. "You already had to listen to my venting years ago, sis. I've ripped Dad a new one, and Uncle Qrow after him. Now it's Raven's turn. And to her credit-"

Yang paused, pulling out her scroll and looking over Raven's last text for the dozenth time. An odd conflicted half-smile teased at her lips.

We've got a few days before life inevitably throws us another curve ball. We haven't really talked and I'm sure you got a lot on your chest. If you want, we can spar and talk, give you a chance to get it all out. Any questions you have, I'll answer. Whatever you have to say, I'll listen. I know it's been a long time coming.

"-I think she gets that."

Ruby looked like she still wanted to argue… but then her shoulders slumped, the fight in her slipping away with a deep breath. "Fine. I don't like it, but… it's your choice." She tried for a weak grin. "Just… however bad it gets… remember we're here for you?"

Yang's returning grin was much stronger. "Trust me, I know. In fact…" Her eyes drifted, splitting her focus between Ruby and her girlfriends. "Did you three figure out what you're going to do while me and my mom knock the snot out of each other?"

Weiss shot her an unimpressed look, ruined by her reluctant grin. "Charming." She rolled her eyes at Yang's laugh, smile widening. "And, yes, we did. We'll see a movie, walk through the park, then find somewhere for dinner afterward." She hesitated briefly, shooting Ruby and Blake an apprehensive look. "But are you sure you want us to go on a date night without you? Us having fun while you're… not… I'd think we're being insensitive if it wasn't you who suggested it."

"It's not being insensitive, it's being smart." When all Yang received were unconvinced guilty looks, she sighed, staring them down with her hands on her hips. "Look, I know you three. You're all worrywarts. I love you for it, but I know that if you three don't go out and do something while I'm fighting Raven, tell me you aren't all just going to stay huddled in here watching through the Link like some kind of paranoid vigil until I come back."

One by one, three sets of eyes left her gaze, their owners looking sheepish. "You don't have to call us out…" Ruby mumbled petulantly.

Yang snorted. "Yeah, I do. I know that's exactly what you three planned to do without even speaking to each other, and I don't want that. I know myself. I know there's a good chance I'm going to get real low tonight, and I don't want to drag you all down with me. So go have fun."

When they still didn't look convinced, Yang let out a groan, burying a hand in her hair as she thought. Defeated, she finally admitted, "Look… I'm going to feel like garbage after all this. So knowing I have some happiness to come home to…" She met their eyes, pushing past her embarrassment. "It'll help."

Blake's cat ears perked up a little. She looked to Weiss, seeing her Welcome-Surprise mirrored back in blue eyes, but a look to Ruby showed just a small smile of tired acceptance. Still, the three of them all Felt the same way. "All right then. Maybe you can come join us for dinner when you're finished?"

Yang gave a rueful smile. "I'll probably be a bit underdressed and over-bruised, but, sure." She glanced at the clock and let out a deep sigh. "Well, I should probably get going. Raven said six."

She pulled out her scroll at the same time Blake and Weiss snapped theirs shut. She had just finished sending Raven a text when she was surprised by gentle fingers lifting her chin and soft lips pressing against her own.

Blake smiled when she pulled back. "It'll be okay, Yang," she assured.

"One way," Weiss added, only finishing her words after her own stolen kiss, her cheeks pink. "Or another."

A dopey grin overtook Yang at the sudden affection. She put her arms around both girls, pulling them to her so their foreheads touched. "I know. Thanks, girls." She took a moment to revel in Blake's soft purrs before pulling back. She looked between them, grinning at Ruby's beaming face. "Make sure to treat our ladies to a good time, got it, Little Sis?"

Ruby flashed her a thumbs up. "You know it!"

Yang chuckled at her naked enthusiasm. Then she stiffened as her hair stood on end, a low rumble growing behind her. She looked back to see the rolling red clouds of Raven's portal appear behind her. She turned back to her surprised team with an exasperated grin. "Think we'll ever get used to that?"

"Nope."

"Doubtful."

"Probably not."

Yang huffed a laugh at the expected answers. "Yeah, me neither." She gave Weiss and Blake one last squeeze before releasing them. She double-checked Ember Celica and grabbed her bag off the workbench. Then she moved in front of the portal. She took a deep breath, then stepped through it-

-into pitch blackness.

Yang halted upon stepping out of the portal, stunned by her sudden blindness. The only source of light was the faint red glow of the portal behind her until it snapped shut and faded away. With no light source left, Yang blinked rapidly, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. They thankfully did, if only barely. She could just make out her surroundings thanks to the faint glow of evening light from somewhere above her. She seemed to be at the edge of a circular structure, surrounded by railings, pillars, and… seats?

"Raven?" She called out, feeling more on edge by the second. "M-Mom?"

"Over here, Yang!"

Yang jumped at the sudden voice behind her, though felt some of her tension lessen. Wherever they were, Raven at least sounded normal, if a bit annoyed and echoey. Yang turned around to see the opening of a hallway, a light source bobbing around from a nearby doorway. She carefully made her way to it and appeared inside.

Raven stood at the far end of what looked like a small utility room. The light source was the flashlight on her scroll, pointed into a large fuse box as Raven looked between it and a page of scratch paper in her other hand, muttering obscenities all the while.

"What… what are you doing?" Yang asked after a moment.

Raven glanced over her shoulder at her, then turned back to the paper. "Trying to get this old place up and running again. Thought I'd be done by now, but when Oz said 'You might need to change a few fuses', I didn't know he meant every single godsdamned-" She cut off her building rant with a harsh breath. "Could you come hold this light for me? I need both hands for this."

"Uh… sure." Yang hesitantly made her way into the room, gingerly stepping over and around the faint shapes strewn all around the room, barely visible in the dim light. Yang took the scroll from her mother, slightly intimidated as she peered into the fuse box, seeing what looked like hundreds of tiny switches, some smaller than others. "Where… are we, exactly?"

"You'll see in a second," Raven said, feeling her hand against the wall of switches as her eyes darted between them and the paper. "Okay, so I flip that one, then this one, then these two, and then…" her hand went up to the very top, grasping a wide red lever and pulled.

Cr-Clunk!

"Gah!"

Light filled the room, blinding both women. Yang squeezed her eyes tight, hearing Raven hiss. "Finally!" Blinking her eyes back open, Yang was shocked to find Raven outright grinning as she rapidly started flicking on breakers. "Now we're in business."

As Raven continued flipping switches, Yang looked around the room. It was a utility room, numerous pipes and cables running alongside the breaker box off to who knows where, but it seemed to double as a storage room, lined with carts of folding chairs and… sports equipment? "Okay, seriously. Where the heck are we?"

Raven shoved the piece of paper into the corner of the breaker box, slamming its door shut. She turned to Yang with a fainter but still present grin, taking back her scroll. "Take a look," she said, motioning for Yang to follow her out of the room.

Curious, Yang followed her back up the now-lit hall. Once they stepped out into the open, Yang's eyes blew wide. "Whoa."

Before her lay the center of a massive stadium. Wide stone and steel arches ringed the upper levels, the high stadium lights shining down on rows and rows of terraced seating. Massive monitors were spaced out on each of the structure's three levels, two excessively large ones facing each other from opposite ends of the field.

But despite the stadium's grand scale, Yang could see that time had taken its toll. Of the thousands of stadium lights shining above, half of them were either dim or dead entirely. Several of the video screens were either shattered or buzzing static, one having rusted through its mountings to crash into the seats below. Graffiti covered many of the walls, some relatively new while others seemed decades old. On the stadium floor proper, what was once a neatly manicured field was now a sea of scraggly weeds and dirt patches.

"What is this place?" Yang asked, putting her hands on the railing before them as she stared gawkingly. Despite its state of disrepair, the sheer scale of the place still inspired awe.

Raven grinned at her gobsmacked look. "This is- or I guess, was- Vale Conference Stadium. Back in the day, this was Vale's one-stop sports arena. Football, Olympics, footraces…" She looked down at the abandoned field, noting the faint lines of a white diamond. "Looks like the last thing they held was a baseball game."

Yang took in the endless seating stretching up into the upper levels, imagining them filled with cheering, screaming fans, the sheer sound such a crowd would elicit. "Cool…" She said after a moment. She turned curious eyes towards Raven. "But why are we here?"

"Because," Raven started, motioning for Yang to follow as she started walking the ring of the stadium. "Back when me and your mother were in school, this is where they held the Vytal Festival."

Yang blinked. Her eyes drifted to the graffitied walls they passed, the sketchy lines of a long-nosed man peeking over a ledge at her, the words next to it faded into illegibility. "This place?" she asked, disbelief clear.

Raven chuckled. "Yeah, they've really let the place go. Not surprising, given how they have that fancy flying arena they haul around the kingdoms now."

The image of a grand top-like structure hovering over a wide cityscape sprung to Yang's mind. "Oh, yeah. I've seen that on TV before. Uh… Amity Stadium, right?" Her eyes trailed over the vast stadium. "But… I think it's smaller than this place."

"It is," Raven confirmed. "Pretty sure that's by design. This place used to seat 60,000, but as years went on it only ever filled out during the yearly Festival. Making the new stadium smaller guarantees a packed house." They came to the door of what looked like a media box, Raven fiddling with a ring of old keys. "Problem is, they're not using that stadium anymore."

Yang followed Raven into the booth, eyes skimming over the old computer monitors that slowly began to warm up as Raven started powering up the old equipment. "Why not? Something wrong with it?"

"Possibly," Raven said as she started typing on an old beige keyboard, a few more lights across the stadium flickering on as she did. Her eyes darted across the old monitor, letting out a small snort. "Huh. My info is still here." She shook her head, going back to Yang's question. "The problem is less with the stadium itself and more with one of the men who worked on it: Arthur Watts."

Yang's brow furrowed. "Should I know who that is?"

"Doubtful. I barely know who he is, except for three things:" Raven held up a hand counting off with her fingers. "One, he was a genius computer programmer and developer from Atlas. Two, everyone thought he was dead after some incident with a Paladin. And three-" She looked up from the computer, meeting Yang's eyes. "He's the one who made the program Cinder was going to use to make Atlas's robot soldiers go rogue."

"...oh, shit."

Raven clicked her tongue, looking away from Yang's horrified expression. "Yep. That's about what everyone else said too. When Roman switched sides for you girls, he gave Ozpin and Ironwood a laundry list of collaborators that he either met personally or overheard Cinder mention… or that he dug up beforehand for leverage on her. On that list? Watts, evidently not dead and likely working for Salem. Everything he or anyone else on that list touched is suddenly suspect."

She let out a sigh as she straightened up, a progress bar loading on the computer screen. She turned to lean back on the desk, facing Yang. "So, cramming several thousand people, including the world's next generation of Hunters, into a floating metal box the man worked on doesn't sound like such a great idea anymore. Especially right after finding out he just tried to hack an entire army, the one that was supposed to be in the same city as that stadium next week." Raven reached into a drawer on the desk, pulling out a pair of two stretches of fabric. "Hence, why we're here."

She tapped at a small square of metal attached to one of the bands, tossing it at Yang. The blonde caught it, a small screen lighting up on what she recognized as some kind of armband. "Why's that? And what's this?"

"That can monitor a person's aura levels. You'll be wearing one, or one like it, during the tournament." Raven slipped the other band on, it resting on her bicep. "And we're here because someone needs to find out if this old place is viable as a replacement venue."

Yang followed her lead, watching as the words "BIOMETRICS DETECTED - SYNCING…" flashed across the screen. She shot her mother a raised brow. "So… you volunteered us as guinea pigs."

Raven shrugged, maybe sheepishly. "Ozpin started asking for volunteers, and much as it irks me to do him a favor, I figured we could kill two birds with one stone. Oz gets the old place stress tested-" Behind her, the computer pinged, finished with whatever had been loading. Raven paid it no mind, focusing on Yang. "-and we get to have our talk."

Yang crossed her arms, mirroring her mother. "And you thought the best way for us to have that talk is to beat the crap out of each other?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Raven just raised a brow. "If you think this'd go better over dinner or drinks, just say the word. But in my experience, when you split your focus between training and talking, the only words that get said are the only ones that need to."

Yang stared at Raven for a long moment… then groaned. "You stole that from Qrow."

Raven scoffed. "Please. He stole that from me."

Yang huffed a small laugh. "Sounds about right." She then rolled her shoulders, steeling herself. "Alright. I'm game. When do we start?"

Raven nodded, her face going blank. "Right now." She turned back to the computer, and hit 'enter'.

There was a great rumble under Yang's feet, startling her as the whole stadium started to shake. Before she could voice concern, Raven waved her over to the window. Yang watched, wide-eyed, as the overgrown baseball field started to sink into the ground, the great whirl and rumble of unseen machinery filling the air. The field sunk into the darkness, leaving a gaping hole in the center of the stadium. There was a great Thunk! from the unseen depths, the ground jolting as something massive fell into place. The mechanical rumble started anew, and something started to rise from the pit, small lights within slowly flickering on.

"Oh, good," Raven commented nonchalantly. "Looks like they fixed most of it before mothballing the place."

Yang blinked in surprise. At the center of the stadium was a mock-up of a small town intersection, not too different from the streets near her and Ruby's home in Patch. A few small single-level buildings were scattered up and down the two-lane streets, generic signs saying "Drugstore" and "Market" hanging above their doors. Old outdated cars lay haphazardly along the roads, some on their side while others were parked in the middle of the streets, their doors hanging open like their drivers had just up and run away. A single street lamp hung at the center of the intersection, its single red light blinking on and off.

"This… this looks a bit…" Yang looked out over the mock-up block, raising a brow. "...extra."

Raven snorted, leading Yang out the door, opening a portal for them both to step through. "'You never know where a fight might break out,'" she quoted with a roll of her eyes, leading Yang through the portal, the two appearing at the center of the intersection. "That's the line Oz fed us back in the day, at least. Really, it's to give the crowd some variety other than a standard ring. There's a forest and mountain biome down there too, but I figured this one had the best chance at being intact."

Yang shook off the odd feeling from the portal, looking around the arena now that she was up close. The road tarmac was cracked in a few places due to age, and rust was slowly eating at the scattered cars, but other than that… "Not a bad setup. Could make for a fun fight."

Raven allowed a faint grin. "I'd hoped you'd think that. When you're ready to start, press the center of the screen and hold it, like this." She tapped something on her armband, making the screen glow green.

Yang mirrored her motion, her armband lighting up. She and Yang both flinched as the speakers throughout the stadium came alive in a burst of back-feeding static, sending the pigeons and bats roosting in the rafters fleeing. The static quickly cleared, letting a robotic, feminine, slightly garbled voice be heard:

"BOTH COMBATANTS READIED UP! YANG XIAO-LONG VS. RAVEN BRANWEN. BEGIN!"

On the two large screens at either end of the stadium, Yang saw her school ID photo appear with a green bar below it. On the opposite side of the screens-

Yang blinked. "Huh."

Raven quirked a brow. "What?"

Yang pointed up at the screens. "I know Dad and Qrow said I look just like you… but that's spooky."

Raven followed her gaze. The photo next to Yang's could almost be a mirror image, save for the black hair and red eyes… and the blank, borderline scowl aimed at the camera, juxtaposing Yang's cocky grin. Raven looked away with a small huff. "My school info's still in the system. Figured it'd suffice for this."

Yang stared at her mother's seventeen-year-old face for a moment longer, humming as she turned back to the woman herself. There was something… off-putting when comparing the two. At a glance, the Raven today looked nigh identical to the one twenty-plus years younger. But now that Yang could properly compare… Raven's complexion had paled noticeably over the years, the lines around her eyes growing deeper and longer. She almost looked older than she ought. to

Yang pushed the thought away, bouncing from foot to foot to ward off any nerves. "So… how's this going to work?"

Raven rose a brow. "The sparring, or the talking?"

Yang bit her lip, smiling sheepishly. "Both?"

Raven huffed another faint laugh, her lips curling slightly. "We'll follow the tournament rules. No killing blows, no intentional maiming. The arm bands will keep track of our aura. Once one of us dips below the established threshold, the fight's over."

"Seems simple enough," Yang admitted, giving Ember Celica one last look over.

"As for the talking…" Raven mulled over her words before shooting Yang an apprehensive look. "I'll be honest, Yang. I've told you just about all I can think of. If you have questions or… just have something to say…"

Yang met Raven's unsure look with one of her own. "...I don't even know where to start," she admitted quietly, her eyes trailing away from Raven.

Raven, seeing Yang's dip in mood, took a determined breath. "Then let's just start sparring. Maybe you'll find your words once we get our blood flowing."

At that, Yang perked up, her brow raising. She allowed a faint grin. "Sound's as good as anything." She settled into her boxing stance. "On your mark or mine?"

In answer, Raven reached into her pocket and pulled out a Lien coin. She held it up for Yang to see. "On 'mark'." She threw the coin high into the air and drew her katana.

The two eyed each other as they waited, each searching for an opening in the other's stance. Somewhere between them, metal hit the pavement with a faint ching!

At the same moment, mother and daughter charged at each other.

Elsewhere…

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the stars began to shine over the vast mountains southeast of the Vale capital. Far from the twinkling lights of a major city, the darkening night sky was filled with a sea of stars, broken only by the few thin clouds clinging close to the mountaintops. For the few people who lived in such a remote region, the sounds of rustling leaves and waking nocturnal creatures were commonplace, part of a lifelong routine.

A routine broken as the whine of an engine sounded above the plains. Soaring through the starlit sky, an airship cut through the calm night. It flew straight and level with no deviation, just blazing through the sky towards the glow of the city on the northern horizon. It was painted black and gray, bearing no markings other than the white symbol of a bowed beast's head, surrounded by a plain white circle.

That, and the splatter of crimson painting the inside of several of its windows.

Betaed by Covert Weapon

A/n: Been a hot minute, but for once not because of anything screwy. So that's a plus!

Truth be told, this chapter is part one of two. Not because it was running long, but because… well, let's just say the next chapter is gonna get kinda heavy, enough so that it didn't feel right to just jumble it all together.

Expect the next chapter soon, within the next week if I can get my dumb ass to sit down and focus.