In RWBY's Shadow

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"Honey and I are looking for seats," Randi reported, waving to Smit from their far left. At least the madness hasn't spread to them yet. "Oh, sorry...Furby acquiring observation post." Dang it, Randi! Their name wasn't even that good. Randi doesn't have fur. Plus, naming the two after some old toy was just plain dumb.

"Blake and I are still at the fairgrounds," Weiss reported with a slight edge to her voice. Apparently, Smit wasn't the only one annoyed by the stupid codenames.

"I'm sorry, who? Didn't catch your codename."

"That's because I didn't use your stupid name, Yang!" Weiss shot back. "Now, keep the line clear unless you have something important to report."

"How are things looking over there?" Lilly asked.

"Had some protesters get out of hand earlier, but they left when security showed up. Probably went to the Coliseum to continue there." Smit could confirm that, given the sign-carrying cluster of people chanting outside when they arrived. Security kept them from blocking the entrances, but gave them pretty much free reign beyond that. Some called for the Tournament to be cancelled, but most seemed more interested in demanding answers from the Headmasters, especially Ozpin. "Will let you know if we spot anything suspicious."

The idea of whoever was behind all of this striking the fairgrounds seemed ridiculous, but none of them could rule out a change in target. Other than the Coliseum, the fairgrounds would be the biggest concentration of people right now. Given the sudden increase in security at the arena, they might focus on a softer target. None of them expected anything too violent, though. Something like the Breach would create a spike of fear and anxiety, but would give the people a common enemy, which tended to bring people together...at least for a while. More likely, if they didn't target another fight, they'd focus on increasing the growing divide between the Kingdoms. Or maybe drive a wedge between Huntsmen and civilians.

All of this assumed the negativity was a focus of their unknown villains' plot, of course. For all they knew, it could just be a byproduct of whatever they planned. The shift of security to the walls and the Coliseum could very well be part of some elaborate heist or something, in which case they'd already finished this part of their theoretical plan and might move on.

This would be so much easier if we actually knew what they were after. Instead, the teams were left to flounder in the dark. Without any idea of what they were trying to stop, the best they could do was prepare to react to whatever came next.

"You ready?" Smit asked his girlfriend after muting his scroll once more.

Lilly rolled her eyes with a deep sigh. "Ready as I can be. We've already been over the plan a hundred times. I'll switch between fighters periodically to keep an eye on both and let you know if I see anything. If you need to tell me something, just squeeze my arm and I'll disconnect."

"You ever switched it on and off that often before?" They were pretty much certain her migraines came from the clash of reality with the illusions – Lilly hypothesized her brain became overloaded trying to blend the two conflicting inputs – but that didn't mean she couldn't strain herself in other ways. Semblances had limits, after all. Worse, Smit knew Lilly was stubborn enough not to admit when she reached her limit and would keep pushing.

"Not as much as I'll need to today, but I'll be fine." Lilly pulled out her pill bottle, giving it a shake for good measure as Port tried to hype the crowd up before the Tournament started back up. "There's a small break between each match for them to choose the next competitors. I'll take that time to rest a little. Ideally, we'll catch this guy during the first fight. Regardless, my comfort is less important than catching him." Begrudgingly, Smit conceded the point, knowing better than to argue against Lilly's drive – one of the many things Smit loved about her.