Betty sighed nervously as she slipped her blue wig back on her head. She and Qrow were currently heading to Strange Coliseum to begin their investigation. The short Construct was nervous, and even though she would admit it, she still felt as if her self-appointed mission was an urgent one. Kumu was capable of agreeing with his master. After all, both Construct and companion had a bond with one another.
It didn't take long for the two to finally reached the coliseum. Upon arrival, Qrow was surprised to see a group of Atlas soldiers marching around the building, two of them standing beside the entrance. He was even held aback by the sight of Kuro being petted by Fluttershy, who was accompanied by Steven and Connie. The forty-something-year-old man looked at the artificial girl with a raised eyebrow.
"I forgot to tell you about that..." Betty said with a shrug.
"Doesn't matter..." Qrow sighed in response. "We're already here. Let's go."
With that, the two stepped out of the car and made their way to the coliseum, Qrow stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shirt as he walked. But as soon as they got closer to the building, five of the Atlas soldiers turned their heads at them and began to march. It made Betty and Qrow stop moving as soon as the soldiers surrounded them, pointing their silver guns at them in defense.
"Identify yourselves!" One of the soldiers ordered.
"It's alright, men!" A voice of a woman called. "It's just a few acquaintances of ours."
The soldiers in white immediately stepped away from the duo, who were later met by the sound of high heels approaching them. When Betty and Qrow turned their heads to where the sound was coming from, they found themselves staring at the face of a familiar snow-haired woman dressed in a white coat that exposed her upper arms and a blue buttoned-up sweetheart neckline shirt with white pants and black gloves and boots. It was the face of Winter Schnee, who walked up to them with her hands behind her back.
"Winter..." Qrow said, giving the woman a stoic glare.
"Qrow..." Winter replied, exchanging the same expression.
"You two know each other?" Betty asked, perplexed of the adults' familiarity with each other. She suddenly grabbed the attention of the Atlas specialist.
Qrow, noticing the woman's gaze on the disguised Construct, he said, "Winter, I have a big explanation of this." He made a gesture at Betty. "This is-"
"Amber Lightvale, a student at Delta Heroes Academy." Winter suddenly disrupted. "We've met."
"Actually, I was going to say-" He was interrupted again when Kumu shushed him from his master's shoulder, giving him a look as if to say, "Play along!"
"Ms. Schnee," Betty said with a formal bow. "You may be wondering why a grizzled man like Qrow is here during the Strange Games and I can explain everything if you-"
"I'm not expecting an explanation from you, child." Winter said before turning her blue gaze to the older man. "I'm expecting one from you."
"It's a long story, Ice Queen." Qrow replied with a shrug. "But to shorten it, little "Amber" and I came to investigate something."
That was when Betty froze. Has he gone mad?! She screamed in her mind. Is he really exposing our plan to an Atlas specialist?! What an idiot!
From her shoulder, Kumu gave out a quiet growl of disappointment and rolled his eyes. Luckily, Winter didn't detect it, nor did she bother to. Her eyes were primarily focused on Qrow at the moment.
"What is there to investigate?" The specialist questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"There has been a list of suspicious activity happening around the coliseum." Qrow explained before pointing his red eyes at Betty. "Amber here was one of those people who have been detecting it lately. She's the reason why I'm here."
"And so I noticed." Winter nodded slightly.
"So, you know what's going on?" He raised an eyebrow.
"One of the Atlas soldiers and a player for the Strange Games have been attacked by a mysterious figure earlier." She explained. "There was no evidence of his appearance except for a note that was left behind. A healer from Delta is currently tending to the two and four of the Youth Members took the note."
"Where?" Betty wanted to know.
"That is only for the grownups to know, child." Winter turned her gaze to her. "So, why don't you go back to your fellow classmates and mind your own business?"
"Excuse me?" She glared, folding her arms over her chest. "I came here to investigate too!"
"And you're too young to understand."
"Now, now," Qrow stood between the two, extending both his arms at both girls. "Let's not fight. I'm sure there's plenty of room for us to find out what's going on-" His speech was suddenly stopped when he found a thin blade beneath his chin. That blade belonged to a sword that was owned by Winter.
"Atlas doesn't require your help at the moment, Qrow Branwen." Winter growled. "It would be easy for us if you leave."
The air suddenly fell into silence as the two adults got attention from the civilians who were walking by. Betty watched as the Atlas specialist pulled her blade away from her cohort's neck before slipping it back into his sheath. Qrow raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before he put both his hands up and walked three steps backwards.
"Alright," He begrudgingly said. "I'll go and leave it to Atlas then."
"Qrow!" Betty quietly growled, only earning a smirk and a wink from him. With that, her facial expression turned into a look of surprise and confusion.
With a firm nod, Winter turned around and began to walk away. As the two grownups parted ways, Qrow suddenly pulled his sword from his back and flicked it until its blade revealed two shotgun-like barrels that fired a set of white projectiles at the specialist. Detecting this, Winter swiftly dodged the fire, turning around to face him in the process. Meanwhile, Steven, Connie and Fluttershy turned their gazes away at Kuro and at the two armed adults. The civilians even let out loud gasps when it happened. For Betty, all she could do was glare at the grizzled crow Morpher.
"Qrow, what are you doing?!" Betty growled again, and she got his attention.
"Stand back, pipsqueak." Qrow whispered, giving her another wink. "I'm getting us a way in."
"So," Winter gave the man a glare. "You want to play that game? Well, I'm happy to oblige!" She unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him.
"Qrow, we're in public!" Betty began to raise her voice, but he didn't listen.
Winter started off by rushing to Qrow and attempting to stab the man in the face with the thin blade of her sword, but he kept on dodging as he looked at her smugly. Then, he blocked her sword with his own and the two stopped for a short period of time. Without warning, the two adults began to clash with one another, sword against sword. Blade against blade. The loud sound of their weapons filled the air as the civilians watched their battle with a look of shock and awe. Some of them even had their phones up and recorded the fight.
With a look of disgust, Betty watched as Qrow had his sword fight with Winter, watching him dodge her attacks and swiping his own weapon at her, only for her to do a back flip in order to avoid his sharp blade. In his purse form, Kumu wore the similar look as his master. Due to this, he rolled his eyes as if to say, "This is stupid..." Then, he detached himself from Betty's shoulder and flew to the coliseum unnoticed by the crowd.
~~~~~
In the third floor of the coliseum, Nat and Thorax were sitting at a table near the glass window with their gazes pointing to their screens when the Inkling turned her head to the left for a brief moment. When she turned her pink gaze back to her phone, her head suddenly shot up and her eyes went wide. With haste, she turned her head to the left again so she can look out the window.
"Dude," Nat said, tapping the changeling's arm with the back of her hand before pointing out the window. "Look!"
Initially, Thorax raised an eyebrow at the light blue Inkling before his head looked to where his friend was looking. His breath hitched and he blinked twice when he noticed a dual outside of the building. It was Winter, the Atlas specialist, and she was clashing with...Qrow Branwen? "What the heck?!" Was all he could say.
~~~~~
The outdoor crowd let out a series of gasps and shouts as Winter summoned a white glyph which she landed on. Looking up, she saw Qrow coming her way, ready to strike her with his sword. She was quick enough to block the attack with her own weapon before the palms on both her hands began to show smaller glyphs, which used a strong force to push the older crow Morpher away from her. Qrow rolled on the brick ground before throwing his sword and anchoring himself so he could stop rolling. The two opponents stopped for a moment, giving each other looks as Betty approached the older man.
"Qrow, this is completely unnecessary!" The short Construct growled into his ear.
"Berate me another time, kiddo." Qrow replied before pushing himself back to his feet. "I'm kinda busy right now."
"This brawl has to stop right now!" Betty shouted. "This is not what we came here for!"
"Alright, alright..." He nodded. "Just be patient and give me a moment with Ice Queen."
"Ice Queen?! What is it with you and nicknames, huh?"
Qrow didn't have the time to answer, for he and Winter dashed to each other and clashed again, not before the snow-haired woman pulled away and summoned another white glyph below her. It sent her flying until she landed on top of street light. With a glare aiming at Qrow, she began to leap from one gray street lamp to another as the older man pursued her, putting his weapon into gun mode as he fired tirelessly at her.
"Whoa! Look at that!" A chubby man in a red, white and blue cape, cargo shorts and a white tank top shouted with enlightenment.
"I should've went to someone else..." Betty grumbled as she massaged the bridge of her nose.
Before Winter could jump to the next street light, the heel of her right boot was struck by one of the projectiles from Qrow's weapon, tipping her over until she began to fall. The Atlas specialist managed to catch herself by summoning a white glyph her feet landed on. With a growl of frustration, she placed both her hands on the handle of her sword before it made a clicking sound. The entire crowd of humans and Strange Ones gasped in awe when her sword was split in two, now having two blades in her hands.
Stabbing the ground with one of her swords, a large glyph appeared beneath her feet before white images of birds flew around her. Pointing her other sword at Qrow, she commanded the birds to fly to him. When they did, the grizzled man blocked his face with his arms as the transparent white birds flew past him. Later, he let his guard down, almost falling off his feet as he swiped his sword at some of the birds that flew beside or over him.
When the birds were gone, Winter made a loud shout and dashed all the way to Qrow, who kept on smirking as he watched her get closer. But before she could, an orange swipe of fire cut past them, making the Atlas specialist skid her feet until she came to a stop. The crowd groaned when it happened. For Betty, she was left silent.
"That is quite enough!" A familiar voice of another woman shouted.
Qrow and Winter turned theirs heads to find Toriel approaching the two fighters with both her hands clasped together and hanging below her waist and a stoic expression on her white face. Standing by her side was Ironwood, who wore the same face as her. Once they got closer, both sheathed their weapons.
"Ms. Dreemurr, General," Winter said with a formal bow. "Forgive me for the disturbance. I was-"
"No need for an explanation, Schnee." Ironwood said, holding his hand up at the specialist.
"Qrow," Toriel said with her gaze at the crow Morpher. "What's the reason for your presence?"
"Just a little investigation, Tor." Qrow replied before pointing his head to the left.
Raising an eyebrow, the goat Monster turned to her right to find an irate Betty glaring at the man with crossed arms, her right foot tapping the ground and a mask of anger.
"I see." Toriel nodded, understanding. "If that is what you are here for, then I must let you pass since your nieces are a part of Delta." Putting her face closer to his, she whispered, "There has been strange activity going on today, and I figured Betty would go to someone like you. I trust you both."
"Thank you." Qrow said with a hand on his chest and a nod. "Please excuse me, the pipsqueak and I have work to do."
With that, the older man began to walk up to the building with Betty following his tail, though he was still glaring at him. But she was later stopped by Winter, who gave her a stoic glare.
"Be careful around Qrow." She said. "He can be unpredictable."
"I figured." Betty replied before she continued to follow the man into Strange Coliseum.