RWBY: The Resonant Rōnin (Discontinued)

Chapter 64: Pomp and Circumstance

Third Person P.O.V.

As the sun begins setting over the mountains around the abandoned Dust mine, four trucks drive up the road to the mine entrance, and Amity Colosseum floats toward the mine. Two people are lying with binoculars somewhere in the area. Their binoculars bear the same symbol as the pin. They both gaze up at the colosseum, before the one on the right resumes looking through his binoculars.

Soon after the trucks arrive at the mine entrance, Y/N, Team RWBY, Coco, Velvet, Nora, Pyrrha, Cinder, Emerald, Neo, M/N, Qrow, and the Ace Ops walk outside. Marrow looks at Clover and then attempts to put on a more serious demeanor. Ruby, Coco, and Nora come together to gaze in dramatic admiration of the Ace-Ops, while Y/N, Cinder, Emerald, Neo, Velvet, Pyrrha, Blake, Weiss, and Yang watch the three with wide eyes.

"Aaaah!"

Coco walks over to Clover's side.

"You guys were incredible!" She switches to being in front of Clover as she talks. "You just knew exactly what to do!"

Clover chuckles and smirks as he says, "Well, Ace-Ops are hand-picked to perfectly compliment one another. So we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind."

Marrow walks over with a confident smile.

"Some of us are all asset, zero liability." He poses with a salute and a grin, looking at Coco. Elm scoffs, catching Marrow's attention. He moves over to her, leaning in to confront her. "Wha-- Yeah? Think I've got some liabilities, Elm?"

Elm says, "Your brains, for one."

Clover, Elm, and Harriet laugh, and Marrow groans and pouts. The former three walk away.

Vine says, "You did ask."

Vine walks away, and Nora approaches Elm with wide eyes and a smile. Elm looks at her.

"Hi. Do you need a new best friend? Our pair name can be..." Nora's eyes spark with pink electricity, and she lifts her hammer into the air with both hands. "THUNDER THIGHS!!!"

Harriet watches this with a sigh, and Ruby runs over to her.

"Perfect complementary teamwork. Oh, yeah, I want to have my friends' backs just like that." Harriet raises an eyebrow.

"Friends?" Elm laughs.

"This isn't the schoolyard, kid."

Behind Elm, Nora is still posed with her hammer in the air.

"Thunder Thighs..."

Pyrrha walks over, lifts the currently stiff Nora under her arm, and walks away. Y/N and Ruby's teammates join her.

Yang says, "But, I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn't it?"

Harriet says, "We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two." Y/N raises an eyebrow.

"So are you willing to throw them aside just because the job calls for it? Relationships with others are the most real thing about all of us."

She turns and walks away, leaving Team them to look on sadly as Y/N narrows his eyes.

Clover says, "Speaking of the job..." Further down the way, Ironwood is talking on a communicator. He gives a brief order to a soldier, who walks away. "Duty ever beckons. You all hang back a second."

The Ace-Ops walk over to Ironwood. Ruby watches with a sad sigh, then looks away, thinking. She then gets an idea, smiles and hurries over to her teammates.