A dying Arc's wish.

26: Broken

Jaune: It was around noon when the finals were upon the combatants. The last doubles match had been completed, and all the selected finalists were summoned to the stage for the first selection. Unlike previous matches, there would be no time to prepare for the upcoming match. Once the combatants were selected, they would immediately begin the fight. Jaune braced himself for the randomizer to show himself, but instead it lined up with Yang and Mercury. And as the combatants left the stage, the platform opened up to reveal a lighting setup that shown over the two fighters. Once the match began the crowd would be in for quite a show. And for the most part the fight was spectacular to watch. Yang and Mercury fought aggressively with their own fighting styles. Punches, flying kicks and storms of bullets filled the arena until Yang was declared the victor. However, that was when something went wrong... After the match was over Yang stopped next to Mercury and shotgun blasted his leg severely injuring him. Shock and horror enveloped the entire crowd as soldiers and Atlas knights surrounded the huntress ordering her to stand down. No one knew what possessed Yang to do this, but she was immediately put under house arrest for interrogation while Amity Arena halted any further fights in the meantime. Soon after Yang was done being interrogated by General Ironwood, the teams went to team RWBY's room to see if everyone was okay.

Jaune: "I'm sorry to hear that." He said after Yang explained how she was eliminated from the tournament. "It's hard to believe you'd lash out like that."

Marilyn: "I agree with Blood Boy." She spoke up while leaning against the door frame. "Maybe you were just under a lot of stress or something."

Wendy: "Hallucination." She said simply.

Yang: "I didn't hallucinate." She replied. "I know I saw him try to attack me."

Weiss: "And we believe you, but something just doesn't feel right with all this."

Jaune: "Agreed, I've spent a lot of time training with Mercury. I don't think he's the type of guy to attack out of spite."

Pyrrha: "Regardless... A lot of people are scared and in shock. And until we hear back from Mercury there's no telling what really happened on the field."

Ruby: "You don't think Yang's going to be kicked out of Beacon, do you?"

Darrian: *Grunts* "There's no point in worrying about it now. What's done is done, all we can do now is try to calm ourselves down and move on."

Wendy: "Agreed." She said with a blank expression. "You already told us what happened, all that's left to do is wait and hope for the best."

Nora: "Yeah, and hey there's still a chance we can win the tournament for our school. We do have our fearless leader after all."

Blake: "I'm pretty sure I've had my fair share of fights for today." She said as many others started to agree.

Sussie: "Then why don't we take some time to go relax? We seem to be in need of a change in atmosphere."

Weiss: "Yeah, I think that'd do us some good." She said as everyone cleared out of the room save for Yang and Zwei.

Ruby: "Hey, Jaune?" She said stopping him in the middle of the hallway. "Do... you mind if we talk for a moment?" She asked hesitantly as she noticed Pyrrha silently giving her a thumbs up.

Jaune: "Oh? Sure." He said with a reassuring smile. "Want to talk outside? I think some fresh air ought to help."

Ruby: "I'd like that." She replied as the two went towards the rooftop while everybody else went to the fare grounds. Jaune and Ruby stood side by side as they watched the sun start to set into the evening.

Ruby: "I like your mask by the way." She replied looking at the gold and silver mask on Jaune's face.

Jaune: "Thanks, I got it as a gift earlier."