Before lunch the next day, Weiss took the time to show them all how to connect their scrolls to a single conference call. Smit had been worried that it would be some overly complicated process, but it ended up boiling down to accepting a call from Weiss like normal. She would use some easily accessed yet rarely used option to add people one at a time until everyone was connected. Smit still didn't quite understand why they needed to practice or know how to set one up himself, but decided it wasn't worth questioning.
Then, as if it wasn't already simple enough, Weiss made them all connect before they even left Beacon, leaving their scrolls on mute for the time being. To prevent people talking over each other, the plan was to use the conference call more like walkie-talkies, only unmuting long enough to say what they needed to say. Yang insisted on being on the call, even though they doubted the school viewing party would be a hotbed of criminal activity. Ruby worried about Yang being around all the other students so soon, but Cardin, of all people, had found them during lunch and asked if Yang wanted to watch with his team.
Told them he wasn't that bad. A lot of the school still kept their distance from CRDL, seeing them as nothing more than the bullies they'd been before, but Smit knew better. Sure, Cardin was still a bit of a jerk at times, but usually, he was just overreacting or falling back on old habits. Smit still wasn't sure what caused the change in Cardin, but he figured it would be pretty hypocritical to hold the boy's past over his head, given Smit's own struggles. Sure, Cardin had picked on just about everyone and been a vindictive butt crack, but Smit hadn't been a perfect angel, either.
Compared to him, Cardin was a saint. Lilly gave me a second chance, even when I'd done worse. Cardin deserves a chance, too.
Speaking of Lilly, Smit couldn't complain too much about his assignment. The teams knew better than to put him anywhere else. If this illusionist ever found out they were on to him, Smit was certain they'd target Lilly. Knowing that, there was no way Smit was leaving her alone, even if all four members of CFVY sat nearby, split into two pairs to guard each side of the Beacon seats in case someone approached. Having an extra excuse to stick by Lilly's side didn't hurt either. He only wished it came under better circumstances.
Despite how hectic the last couple of weeks had been, even before the whole criminal conspiracy thing, their relationship had actually been going really well. They'd spent a lot of their free time together at the Festival, and Lilly seemed to be getting more comfortable around him. Despite the weight of the afternoon's fights, the pair had accepted an invitation to breakfast with her family. The brief distraction seemed to help cheer Lilly up, even if her dad kept shooting questioning looks at her. They promised to have dinner with her parents after the Tournament before hastening back to the dorm to prepare for their secret mission.
"Lilly and I are in place," Smit announced over his scroll. They'd broken off from Ruby at the top of their section, while Randi and Honey split off to circle around to the Shade section. There wasn't any official designation for each school's section, but they tended to cluster for the most part due to familiarity. The schools had mingled a bit as the Tournament went on, but after yesterday's debacle, few strayed from their respective institution. "Everybody in place?"
"Blonde Bombshell standing by."
"Yang, I thought we said–"
"Crimson Crusader on overwatch." Smit abandoned his attempt at corralling the rambunctious sisters. Really, there was no need for code names. If anything, calling out something like that would only draw attention. The goal was to lay low and catch their target unawares. As long as Ruby focused on her task, they'd be okay. As the fastest of their group, she would need to rush to inform someone if they found anything. Originally, they'd hoped to warn Ozpin in his booth, but he was nowhere to be seen. Ironwood was still at the arena, though, overseeing the entire event from Ozpin's booth so he could direct security from a central point.
"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.
And he really did love her. He'd never been one to believe in love at first sight or other such nonsense, but then, they'd known each other for most of a year already. During that time, they'd been around each other almost constantly. Relationships took time to develop, but they'd had more than most couples. Working out, sparring practice, classes, meals...heck, they lived in the same room. Most days, they spent more time around each other than apart, especially now that they were actually dating. He felt confident they'd had more time together in the past month than some couples had in a year. Besides, even if they'd only been together for two weeks, his feelings for her had been growing well before then, so he felt a little more justified on the timing.
Of course, he wasn't quite ready to admit all of that to her, yet. He'd let it slip once – back when he'd first met her parents – but she either didn't notice or decided not to say anything. Her father certainly caught it, judging by the way he narrowed his eyes at Smit for a moment. While Lilly went off with him to throw away the trash – something Smit was fully aware served as a cover for him to talk to her alone – Smit had gotten Mrs. Azura to give him their contact info, saying he wanted to speak to her husband man-to-man. Asking permission to date his daughter seemed old-fashioned, but Smit felt Lilly was worth facing down the intimidating man and making his intentions clear. Really, he just wanted the man's blessing, as he fully intended to date Lilly with or without his permission, but Smit knew how much Lilly looked up to her father. Winning him over early would help prevent issues down the road.
As Lilly likely ran through more plans in her head, Smit recalled his scroll call with Mr. Azura Wednesday evening before the party. Tomorrow, he'd come up with some excuse to slip away from the team for lunch so he and her father could meet at a small diner near their hotel. There, he planned to admit just how serious he felt about the man's daughter and endure the likely grilling that followed. If all went well, then after dinner with her parents that night, he and Lilly would take a walk through the same park he'd confessed his interest in only a few weeks ago. They'd stop at the same bench as before and he'd come up with some random speech about how happy he was with her, ending with him dropping the weighty word upon her. Whether she felt the same right now didn't matter, but he needed her to know exactly how serious he felt about her before they reached the end of the year.
Wow, Lilly's right. I am really sappy sometimes. Probably a little selfish, too, if he was being honest. They wouldn't see each other until just before the next school year started, when he came back to Vale a week early, so he'd have plenty of time to get over it if she decided it was too much for her. It also meant he wouldn't go insane planning his big moment the entire break.
Unlike yesterday, the finalists didn't trot out to await the selection roulette, likely hiding in the nearby tunnels or something instead. Bringing them out without a winner from yesterday would probably just stir things up. Every reporter would have a field day pointing out the new addition from one of the Haven teams that lost in the doubles round. Smit vaguely recognized the picture Lilly showed him in a news report that morning. Some upper year student from the doubles round that had fought well but lost when his partner got eliminated early. He'd probably do better in a one-on-one fight and had sent the odds makers scurrying to update the standings. Smit had heard that some people complained they should be able to recast their early bets due to Yang's elimination, but it seemed no one had such luck. Hard to complain to the authorities that your gamble should be amended because you bet on someone who they eliminated. Even if they weren't so busy with the protests and increased Grimm activity, Smit doubted the authorities would get involved in such a dispute.
Refuse to pay the winners, and the courts would levy a huge fine against you. Maybe even charge you with fraud and throw you in jail. An internal struggle about the specific rules, though, hardly warranted outside involvement.
"Honey and I are in place." Randi's voice interrupted Smit's thoughts, drawing Lilly's attention as well. "Found a spot with a friend from Shade. Close to Haven, as well. Nothing else to re–"
"Something's up," Ruby interrupted, then waited to make sure no one else was talking. "Emerald's here."
"Emerald?" Weiss quickly questioned. "I thought her team went back to Mistral yesterday."
"That's what I heard," Ruby confirmed, echoing her report to them the previous day.
"Maybe the reports were wrong," Honey chimed in. "Is the rest of her team here?"
A brief moment of silence ended with Ruby's updated report. "Negative. Just Emerald."
"Where?"
"Front row of Haven, near the middle," Ruby replied to Randi's question. Smit focused on the approximate location, locating a familiar splash of green rather than looking for the girl herself. Smit wondered how Ruby had spotted her so easily, but figured she must be used to scanning things in the distance, given her long-range weapon.
"Maybe she stayed behind," Honey tried, even though it was clear she doubted her own attempt. "Most of the reports focused on the fight. They could've gotten that part wrong."
"It's possible," Weiss allowed, "but as Mercury's partner, she should've gone with them." Emerald had been the one to rush out when Mercury got hurt. The idea that she'd let him go back to Haven without her didn't add up. "We still need you on standby in case something happens. Keep an eye on her, but don't be too obvi–"
"Eep! She sees me! What do I do?"
Smit could picture Weiss's resultant face palm to go with the soft thud from the other line. "Great," Weiss growled in frustration. "Just...try not to freak out. We don't know if she's involved yet, but it's the best lead we've got." Weiss quickly pivoted to giving instructions, voice void of any emotion as she doled out orders to the two teams. "Ruby, make your way to Ironwood. Keep your scroll handy in case we get more information."
"On it," Ruby responded before going silent, evidently carrying out her task as the selection roulette screens began to spin.
"Randi, you and Honey try to make your way to Emerald. Distract her as best you can. But remember, this is just a hunch. Do not do anything to arouse suspicion." Randi agreed before setting off to her task. "Blake will stay on the line while I try to reach Goodwitch."
As the teams set off to their various tasks, Professor Port announced the next competitors – Pyrrha and Penny. The crowd's excitement began to build as two of the favored finalists walked out together to the center platform. The cameras tracked the two closely. Penny's smile was just a tad too friendly for such a competitive scene, while Pyrrha actually looked nervous for once. Some might've assumed it was nerves, but Pyrrha was no stranger to these sort of settings. Smit had a better idea what ate away at her.
"At least one of them knows what's going on," Smit commented as the small platform lifted into the air. Ruby had filled in Team JNPR on their discussion with Ozpin last night, knowing Pyrrha could very well be the next target. The rest of her team were sitting close to Coco and Velvet, their leader watching with a mix of fear and excitement. Smit hoped the reveal wouldn't affect Pyrrha too much in the fight, but they couldn't keep something like that a secret from her. Not when she could very well be the next target.
"True, but we don't know if she'll be able to spot the illusion or not," Lilly answered. So far, Coco and Yang had only seen the false image, not realizing something was wrong until afterwards. They hoped Pyrrha would be able to spot the illusion if she knew to watch for it, but there was no guarantee.
If Pyrrha couldn't tell the difference, then knowing the truth would only prevent her from doing something outrageous. Pyrrha knew not to react to anything after the fight, but nothing would stop her from dealing with a threat in the midst of battle. They'd already be fighting at that point, though, so Smit wasn't sure how that would change anything.
"If nothing else, though, this should prove tempting for our illusionist. Pyrrha's the last Beacon competitor." Again, the targeting of Beacon students was just a guess, but they only had so much to go on right now. Either way, they'd be watching every fight closely, but if they were right about the Beacon part, then this would be an awfully tempting target.
First time distracted Coco. Then, Yang broke Mercury's leg. Smit worried that this one could be even worse. If they couldn't stop it in time, who knows what Pyrrha might be tricked into doing. Even threatened, Smit doubted she'd do anything too horrible, but just about anything would set off the crowd after yesterday.
"We need to stop the fight!" Ruby suddenly shouted.
"What's wrong?" Smit asked, figuring Weiss's lack of an update meant she was still trying to reach the faculty.
"This matchup...it's rigged! Something terrible's gonna happen."
"Rigged? What do you mean? What's going on?"
"I...I can't connect to Penny," Lilly reported with a confused look. "I've never had that happen before. All I saw was darkness."
"That's because Penny's not human," Ruby said, voice lowered but still loud enough as she spoke directly into her scroll, likely hoping no one else could hear.
"Not human?" Smit asked. Penny was weird and all, but not that weird. Smit couldn't understand what Ruby was getting at. "Ruby, you're not making any sense. What do you mean 'not human'? What is she, some kind of robot?"
"Yes!" Smit heard a gasp from his scroll, not knowing exactly who it was but feeling their reaction was justified. "I...I accidentally found out back before the dance. She's some sort of advanced AI or something with aura. I promised not to tell anyone." Smit could hear the strain in Ruby's voice as she broke said promise.
"But if Penny's a robot..." Honey started.
"...then she won't mix well with Pyrrha's Semblance," Smit finished for his teammate, realizing just how serious the situation had become. If Pyrrha used her Semblance on Penny, she could very well kill her. Yang hurting another student was bad enough. What would happen if a competitor actually died?
"Ruby, you need to get to Ironwood now!" Smit demanded. If Pyrrha had been a tempting target before, her being matched with a girl made entirely of metal would be irresistible. It had to be the unluckiest pairing imaginable, but Smit had a feeling luck wasn't a factor anymore. "Randi, it's gotta be Emerald. Do whatever you need to stop her."
"How can we be sure?" Randi asked as the countdown for the fight began.
"The fights aren't random," Smit reasoned. "I didn't think much of Yang and Mercury, but what are the odds we'd get Pyrrha and Penny next?"
"Less than seven percent," Lilly answered, not catching the hypothetical nature of his question.
Smit chose to ignore his braniac girlfriend for the moment, instead focusing on the realization of what was happening. "The point is, somebody wants this fight to happen, and I bet Emerald is involved somehow." Mercury had played his part perfectly, it seemed. He launched a massive attack against Yang, activating her Semblance while keeping her just above elimination. At the time, he'd assumed it a mistake on Mercury's part, but what if it wasn't? What if they arranged the whole thing to push Yang to the edge so she'd lash out like that. Any other pairing wouldn't have worked, meaning they'd either been incredibly lucky getting the pick they wanted, or they'd set Yang up from the start.
"Fighters, are you ready?"
The crowd roared as the highly anticipated fight kicked off, blissfully unaware of the machinations at work. "Lilly, keep an eye on Pyrrha," Smit ordered, but Lilly was already ahead of him, eyes closed as she watched for any meddling. Not being able to monitor Penny meant Emerald and her cohorts couldn't target her either, making their job a little easier. Unfortunately, the matchup also spelled disaster for Penny if things went wrong.
"Ugh! There's too many people in the way," Ruby's voice griped through his scroll. "I'm gonna try and cut through the maintenance area to get around."
"Weiss is trying to reach Ironwood and Winter," Blake reported. Apparently, they'd been unable to get through to Goodwitch. Hopefully, Ruby would reach Ironwood in time, or one of the two would answer their scrolls. Winter would know how to relay a message to Ironwood if they could reach her in time.
"Begin!"
The line went silent as the teams moved to counteract Emerald's plan. Ahead, Smit watched as Pyrrha and Penny tore across the small platform, Penny sending her flying blades darting forward as Pyrrha weaved through them to close on her opponent. The crowd's cheers grew to a fever pitch as the two closed to melee, Penny's blades managing to block the force of Pyrrha's strikes despite hovering in the air. Each blow drew a spike of excitement from the audience. With all the added noise, Smit brought his scroll closer to hear over them.
"Guys, Mercu–"
Ruby's brief shout cut off with a loud bang. "Ruby? Ruby?!?" Yang's voice pierced the resulting silence, but received no reply. "What just happened? Someone needs to go help her!"
"No, everyone stay on task," Weiss replied, earning a shocked gasp from Yang. "We have to trust Ruby to handle herself. She'll run if something goes wrong. With her speed, she'd be hard to stop. If Randi and Honey can't reach Emerald, she's our best bet at stopping this."
"We must be on the right track if they're trying to stop us," Randi commented with a grunt. "Plus, it sounded like Ruby said something about Mercury. We're still trying to reach Emerald, but people aren't letting us through very easily."
As the efforts continued, Lilly started providing updates, leaving Smit torn between the two sources of information. Knowing there wasn't much he could do for the others, he chose to listen in on Lilly's details, hoping he could find something useful. "Penny's versatile, but Pyrrha's adapting already. Penny's got the lead, but only for the moment." Pyrrha and Penny dashed back and forth, blocking blows as they slowly chipped away at one another. A quick lunge and strike sent Pyrrha sliding backwards, providing a small break in the combat. "Shield's out now. Looks like she's getting serious. Penny better wa–"
"What's wrong?" Smit asked as Lilly went silent for a moment. He knew she couldn't hear him, but that didn't stop him from asking.
"What was..." Lilly trailed off. "Something's wrong. I could've sworn I saw something...like her shield and sword were distorted by her Semblance or something. It's back to normal now, but I think our illusionist is targeting her."
Pyrrha did seem a little off for a moment, staring down at her weapons, but quickly shook it off and charged back in, fighting more aggressively as she forced her opponent back, scoring several solid blows against Penny along the way to reclaim the lead. Penny stepped up her game in response, pulling her blades back around her to reveal they were each capable of firing small energy blasts – something she'd kept hidden in the previous rounds. Pyrrha avoided the barrage as she danced forward, proving just as effective against ranged attacks. Seeing her new strategy fail, Penny lashed out with a few blades, keeping the bulk near her protectively while still firing away. Those that flew forward attacked from every direction without warning, spinning toward the nimble warrior while still firing, even at point blank range. The crowd gasped with each near miss, then cheered as Pyrrha rushed forward, throwing Penny off her feet and over the edge.
Pyrrha took a second to breathe a sigh of relief as her opponent disappeared over the side of the platform, but only for a moment as Penny reappeared, flying back across the platform with a trail of green energy burning behind her. Penny had turned her weapons into a pair of rockets, hurling her back onto the arena with a vengeance. With a sudden blast, she shot up in the air, hanging there as her swords redirected and slammed her down into Pyrrha. The sheer force of her impact sent Pyrrha tumbling back, sliding to a stop before the looming end of the arena. She recovered quickly, but not quite quick enough.
Smit watched in shock as Penny disarmed the best fighter in their class with a pair of well-aimed strikes, launching Pyrrha's sword and shield in opposite directions. Her shield slipped over the edge as her sword tried to do the same to her right. Before it could plummet out of the arena, Pyrrha reached out a desperate hand, halting the blade as if by magic.
"Never seen her use her Semblance so openly before," Lilly commented as the blade shook briefly, before shooting back at Pyrrha. "Wow! Penny knocked it out of the air!" Lilly had no idea just how poorly things were going outside of the fight. Instead, like the thousands of oblivious fans around them, she was caught up in the thrill of the battle as Pyrrha stood helpless, watching as Penny recalled her weapons for a final push against her unarmed foe. At least nothing's happened yet. There's still time. Staying put was agonizing, but Smit couldn't abandon Lilly. He had to trust the others to get through.
"Cardinal and I are going for Ozpin," Yang reported. "Any word from Ruby?"
"Nothing. Weiss and I are gonna take a bullhead back to the arena."
"Still having trouble getting through the crowd," Randi growled, likely shoving someone out of the way based on the muffled cry of anger that followed.
"Guys, we have to hurry. If they're planning something, it'll happen s–"
"Oh no," Lilly gasped, proving Smit's words prophetic.
"Something's happening!" Smit shouted into his scroll as the crowd reached new decibels. "What's going on, Lilly?"
She couldn't hear him, but the answer came nonetheless as Lilly tried to describe whatever illusion she and Pyrrha were subject to. "There's...so many of them."
"So many what?"
"They're making Pyrrha see dozens...no, hundreds of new blades. Penny's attack looks massive!" Blindly, Lilly shot a hand out, brushing past Smit's arm before correcting and latching onto his wrist. Her nails dug in as she screamed, "It's happening! Someone stop them!"
Smit could only see eight cruel blades looming above Penny, but that meant nothing. If Pyrrha saw what Lilly claimed, she'd have to assume a finishing blow – the kind that would be overkill enough to drain her entirely of aura. Maybe worse. With no way to defend herself, what would Pyrrha do?
Time seemed to come to a crawl as Smit desperately considered the situation. Only one real option came to mind. Her Semblance. Pyrrha could control metal to some degree, which had always interested Lilly. She'd go on and on about how it was great against human foes, but kind of useless against Grimm, who didn't use any type of weapons. Randi and Lilly seemed to think Pyrrha needed to come in contact with the metal beforehand, but with all the close range fighting, she was bound to have come into contact with those floating instruments of death at some point. She'd always shown very fine control of her Semblance, but faced with so many targets, she could easily overdo it.
Not sure what she'll do, but it can't be good. Would she overpower the small number of targets and fire them back into Penny? Or would her Semblance seek out extra targets and latch onto Penny herself. For that matter, the platform they were on was metal, right? In fact, the whole arena would be susceptible if she lost control. Forget Penny. Pyrrha could doom the entire Coliseum! They needed to stop her, but with Ruby MIA, Randi stuck in a crowd, and faculty unreachable, what could he do?
The answer struck him suddenly, even if he knew he wouldn't like it. Prying free of Lilly's grip, he hopped over the back of his seat and braced himself for what was to come. His hands ached as he felt the familiar flames spark to life once more. A few students nearby noticed and pointed, but everyone else sat fixated on the scene below. With a heavy breath, Smit prepared to do something colossally stupid, knowing it had to be better than whatever Emerald had planned for Pyrrha.
This is gonna suck.
As Penny prepared to finish off a defenseless Pyrrha, the arena shield rippled, bright light shining from where fire impacted the invisible barrier. Penny's sensors picked up the commotion, causing her to draw back defensively as she analyzed the sudden disturbance. The cheers of the crowd died as cameras turned to spot the source of the sudden attack, only to watch as Smit sent another pair of fiery attacks over the heads of his fellow students to splash against the unyielding repulsion system. Each burst in a violent explosion of heat. Those sat closest dove for cover, peeking over chairs to assess the threat. Satisfied that he'd done his job, Smit raised his hands in surrender, knowing full well what came next.
The stampede of heavy boots provided the only warning Smit would get before someone bodily tackled him to the cold floor, smacking his head against the steps as those nearby scattered. He vaguely heard the shouted orders of those surrounding him, punctuated by the readying of rifles and electronic squeals of Atlas robots. His scroll, which he'd left in his seat nearby, squawked angrily at the sudden turn of events, but Smit ignored it, too focused on something far more terrifying than the girls' anger.
A knee drove into his back, pinning him as his hands were bound behind him. He never struggled, ignoring the man on top of him entirely. The accusing looks of his classmates meant nothing. He even ignored Lilly's confused and frightened eyes as she severed her connection and sought him out. None of that mattered as his satisfied grin at a job well done quickly died. Instead, he stared at the screen above, whose video feed had now been replaced by a single image.
A black chess piece on a blood red background.