Myrtenaster crashed into yellow metal, sparks mixed with lingering Dust. Weiss could feel the heat wafting off their battle, could see the resolve mixing with sadness in the faunus's eyes and wondered, not for the first time, why Velvet had ever left Cardin bully her.

Considering how she was doing now, it should have been the other way around.

Weiss flicked the chamber and thrust her weapon down, fire bursting from the blade and surrounding them in light. Nervous eyes flickered to the side, before Velvet leapt forward, dropping down and smashing both feet into her legs, briefly shifting gravity to the side.

Before her head could greet the floor, two feet smashed into her stomach, batting the heiress into the ceiling with all the grace of a drunkard. Her vision clouded, reducing Velvet to little more than a brown blur before she was ripped from the roof. (Belatedly realising that she was in the roof)

This was why she didn't normally fight CQC experts. They were usually far more agile than she was, and it was difficult to block an attack when there was another from the other limbs.

Velvet's next attack ripped her from her thoughts, and she realised that she had somehow stood up, and was hoisting her sword up to deflect two legs coming down at her. (Was this girl a huntress or a pinball?) Metal greaves grinded against her weapon, sparks flying around her like a volcanic storm. Her arms shook under the exertion, and it wasn't long before her knees hit the ground, air rushing upwards.

Velvet landed next to her, her legs already rocketing towards Weiss's head. The heiress rolled to her right, casting a glyph to push herself farther away. She used the same momentum to get her feet under her and lift herself up, just in time to block Velvet's outstretched legs before they smashed into her head.

The bunny gained an uncharacteristic frown, and backed away from the heiress. Weiss felt her lips rise, and drew back her sword, the blade glowing an eerie crimson. A glyph rose to life beneath her feet, pushing her and her blade forward, screaming towards her opponent like a wraith rising from the grave.

Her blade connected with something, but it was not flesh and bone. Rather, it was a glowing blue sword—more accurately, the outline of a sword, held by a shaking, but determined faunus. Weiss's eyes traced the lines, following them until she saw a large, flat hook at the tip of the blade.

This was going to hurt, wasn't it?

Myrtenaster's handle slipped downwards as the pressure on it grew. Weiss drew the sword away, and ducked under the sudden blue blur above her head, watching as a few stray strings of hair were sliced off.

A similar blur appeared above her head, and she pushed against the ground to roll herself out of its path. The ground shook at its impact, plucking a discordant note from her shaking bones.

Her feet met the ground uncertainly, as if the ground would reject them and allow gravity to pull her through. Weiss's teeth met, both sets warring against each other, and she threw up an array of glyphs at her front, all angled towards the faunus in front of her. Myrtenaster's chamber spun towards light blue, and she pushed the energy through her body and out the snowflakes around her.

Shards of ice, large and sharp, flew from the white glow, screaming towards Velvet with the fury of a blizzard. Weiss saw her eyes widen, and her hands fly to her weapon, blue dots surrounding her hand. The shards grew too close, and Weiss couldn't see anything.

Until orange flames erupted from the young girl, burning away the ice like a volcano in the artic. Weiss's jaw dropped, wrenched back into place by a gout of flame aimed straight towards her.

Her weapon came up on instinct, more ice to counter the flames, the two old enemies eager to renew their ancient battle. Velvet's weapon—a copy of Oobleck's odd thermos—spewed flames like a chainsaw spewed sawdust. Her own weapon, already drained by the battle, strained under the pressure, the blue glow growing dangerously dark.

Eventually, the flames stopped, but there was no time for rejoicing. Weiss felt, rather than saw, the first bullets hit her legs, raking upwards towards her neck. She threw up a shield, but already she could feel the bruises grow across her skin, claiming each inch as its own territory. Velvet's weapon—Coco's minigun, rendered in a blue lines—barely even paused as it continued to fire, aiming on destroying her shield through sheer volume of fire.

Weiss rammed her weapon into the ground, countering Velvet's attack with a blast of wind that traveled through the floor and erupted under her feet. The faunus went flying up to the roof, gun scattering off into tiny blue stars. A similar blue surrounded her hands, and sharp, leering claws dug into the roof, allowing Velvet to crawl along its surface and towards the heiress, staring at her as dumbfounded as could be.

…Could she go back to fighting pigs now? Please?

Velvet dropped down from the ceiling, slashing her arms across Weiss's chest. A shield rose up to stop her, but with added power of the fall, her weapons tore straight through it and sent the heiress flying across the room, slamming into the wall with all the grace of a bowling ball.

Her whole body ached, every muscle, bone, and tendon stretched past its breaking point. Arms and legs were little more than gelatinous masses at this point, barely able to stand up to air pressure, let alone gravity.

Within seconds, her suffering was interrupted by the red and black form of Ruby, sliding into a similar position next to her, gouges running down her sides. (Thankfully, the red was from her outfit alone) Silver eyes flickered to Weiss's chest, watching as her lungs struggled to pull in air.

"This isn't working," Weiss wheezed, turning her own eyes to meet her leader's.

"No kidding," Ruby said, before pushing herself to her feet. "Have any—ow—ideas?"

Weiss shook her head, but just then, she caught sight of Yang, smashing into the wall across the room. Yatsu and Coco both stood nearby, their eyes searching for teammates, believing Yang to be finished.

Neither of them noticed the brawler as she rose, golden light spilling down her hair and onto her gray clothes, transforming them into a fiery symbol of any who dared oppose her.

Still, both girls knew it wouldn't be enough, not as outnumbered and, admittedly, out-classed as they were.

"Weiss," Ruby said, grabbing her partners hand and hauling her to her feet. (And holding that grip, for a reason that escaped Weiss until she felt energy course through her limp limbs) "Ice dragon."

"What?"

"Ice dragon!" Ruby said again, pointing towards her sister.

"Um…" Weiss cast her mind back, trying to remember where she had heard that term before. "I can't remember that one…"

Ruby's hand met her forehead, with Weiss realising what it was like to be on the other side of exasperation for once. "The glyph thing? You know, with the clock?"

"Oh! Right! I… I knew that." Ignoring her partner's snickers, Weiss turned towards their other teammate, and fired a yellow glyph under her feet.

Time to even the odds.

Coco and Yatsuhashi's gaze wasn't on Yang as she stomped towards them, eyes burning like midnight stars, hands tighter than a miser's purse. They didn't notice Weiss's glyph forming under her feet, shooting energy into her shoes and up her skin, settling within each of her cells.

They didn't notice as she started running, crossing the room almost as fast as Ruby could.

They did notice when her fist smashed into Yatsu's head, slamming him into the ground.

How's it feel now?

"You're a determined son of a bitch, I'll give you that," Coco muttered, before bringing her gun to bear. Red hot lead spewed out of each barrel, screaming past Yang's ears as she dropped and rolled past.

Coco's eyes grew, as if that would turn what she saw into something else. "How did you…?"

That was all she time for before Yang fired herself to her, slamming her elbow into her chin. Skin warped around the joint, before her opponent was sent flying across the room, straight into a computer, trapping her in its embrace.

Tips of lips curled upwards, as Yang revealed in the song of speed dancing within her heart. This was… this was amazing. Incredible, fantastic, flawless, beautiful. How did she live without this?

Thumps sounded out behind her as the jolly green giant rose to his feet. Yang never twitched as he grew closer, until he swung his sword towards her neck. Then she moved, arms curling in front of her, feet twisting her body, just in time for the blade to crash into her gauntlets.

Yatsu's face twisted with confusion, his eyes still trailing from her neck to her eyes as Yang twisted her arms, leveling both her fists and the flat of the sword. She tensed her hands, letting the trigger mechanism do its job, and fired two shots at the metal weapon.

Yatsu's grip was firm, honed by many years of battling stubborn Grimm, often knee deep in bodies.

However, there was few things on the planet stronger than Yang when her semblance was a full bore, and he wasn't one of them.

His sword went flying, cutting into the roof like a lawnmower on weeds. A hand immediately came rocketing towards her, but a simple curl of the neck was all it took for it to miss. Yang hands immediately went up, the left grabbing his forearm, the other rocketing towards his stomach, slamming into it with the force of a burning train.

As he bent down from the blow, Yang twisted herself around until she had her back to the warrior, and flipped him over her shoulder. His head came crashing down into the floor below, driven deeper by a two jab combo delivered to his…

Well, it hurt.

Bullets drilled into her torso, fired by a decidedly worried looking Coco, a thin trail of blood running down her left eye, casting furtive and pleading glances towards her teammates.

Yang threw her right arm back, pushing a shot out the barrel and towards her opponent. As she did that, something sharp crashed into her side, digging between her ribs. A snarl ripped itself from her lips, and she turned, grabbing her attacker's arm hard enough to break bones, if he didn't have his aura.

Fox looked up at her, shock draining away the colour in his skin. Despite her aching chest, Yang couldn't help but smile.

Weren't expecting this, were you?

Fox rammed his free arm towards her middle, but she twisted behind him, his arm bending in a way that looked painful. She could only imagine how it felt.

A fist connected with the back of his head, red fire jutting out from each side. Fox's face slammed into the ground, the metal crumpling under the force.

More bullets scattered to the ground in front of her, falling from Coco's minigun like hail from a cloud. Yang smirked, and ran towards the gunner, much to her clear surprise. The multi-barreled death dealer was aimed squarely at her head, but by the time the trigger was pulled, she was already gone.

Note to self: thank Weiss.

Coco's gun crumpled down into a bag, but the fight was already over. Yang ducked under her swing, kicking out her leg and slamming both fists into her chin. She could hear the crack as teeth smashed into teeth, and the jaw bounced it its casing.

The girl stared at her, dazed, before she fell to the floor in a heap of torn clothing and shredded clothes. Small drops of blood dripped to the floor, but it was nothing like the gyser that gushed from Cardin's skull all those… two or three days ago.

(How the hell did she forget that?)

Coco was out, but there was little time to celebrate before another weight pressed itself against Yang's neck. Curses flew threw her mind, all directed at herself, as she was lifted from the ground to meet Yatsu, looking decidedly worse for wear, but standing, breathing, fighting.

He began to lower his arms, assisting her in giving the floor a good night kiss, but before she reached her errant lover, she smashed both her hands into his, ignoring the crackle and shrill ringing tunneling through her ears.

He dropped her like a hot potato, but barely gives his hands cursory glance before he drew his sword—somehow still as clean as the day it was made—from his back, and brought it crashing down on her head.

Her arms rose, tanking the shot and sending shockwaves through her body. The flame within her roared, pure fire pulsating through her veins, raising the song of her heart to a fever pitch.

The first fist connected with his solar plexus. The next, one of his ribs. Then his kidney. Then the center of his chest, then his shoulder.

He tried to counter, slashing his sword at the top of her head, but she twirled underneath his arm and started in on his back. Each blow chipped away a chunk of the man's aura, almost visibly as her arms begin to blur.

She twisted herself under his arm, planting a fist into his armpit, and tried not to laugh at the howl that ripped from his lips, the first noise beyond breathing he'd made that night.

Her arm threw a right cross across his chest, a well-timed shot spewing hot fire across his skin and down his legs. A left cross brought the same result, and she kept alternating between her arms, kept the flame burning, kept her opponent from moving.

Then she saw an opening, his jaw leaning down, his arms dangling uselessly at his sides. She crouched down, her legs buzzing, and, like a rocket, shot upwards.

His chin met her fist first, rocking his head back until it was nearly hitting his back. A big, purple bruise in the shape of her fist grew on his skin, and he stumbled back, eyes wide, until they rolled upwards. Gravity sank its claws into his skin, pulling him down to lip-lock with the floor below.

Her own feet met the ground with a gentle phish, and she felt Weiss's glyph wear off, the world around her slowing back to its normal pace. It felt like waking up from a wonderful dream, only to realise you left the window open, and your room feels like a freezer.

She rolled her neck, twinging at the cracks it gave off. Her hands felt sore, her legs like taffy, and she was sure that if she flexed too hard, her clothes would poof away.

Second note to self: Air + Super speed + cheap clothes = Bad

More clangs rang out next to her, bringing up a small groan as she turned. Nearby was Ruby and Weiss, swords and scythe poised at a tired looking Velvet, eyes darting from her opponents to her unconscious teammates to her, prey surrounded by hungry predators.

"It's over," Ruby said, stepping forward with far too much ease for someone who threw herself into a wall. "We don't want to hurt you—"

"Much," Weiss grumbled, holding a hand to her stomach.

Ruby shot her a glare, but continued talking to the faunus. "We need your help. Your code is the only hope we have to find Blake."

Velvets' hands, curled into tight fists, relaxed, before hardening once more. "No," she said. "I'm not—I'm not going against Coco."

"Come on, that isn't a good enough reason!" Yang yelled, before softening her voice to something (almost) soothing. "She will die if we can't find her."

"I know!" Velvet's shone with fury, before tears slid down her cheeks. "I—I hate this, but I… I'm not the leader."

Weiss cast a glance over her teammates, all lying on the floor in various states of unconsciousness. "I don't think anyone's the leader right now."

"Look," Ruby said, a head-turning amount of malice dripping into her voice. "If you don't do anything, if you keep trying to fight, keep trying to stop us, Blake dies. An innocent person, an innocent faunus dies. Guess whose fault that'll be?"

"I…I…" Velvet stuttered, taking a step back.

"Yours," Ruby continued, pressing forward both verbally and physically. "Her blood will be on your hands. Do you really want that?" Her voice quieted, reaching something that Yang never wished to hear from her younger sister. "The answer is no. No you don'ot."

Velvet stared at the girl, until her eyes closed. "Okay," she breathed, just barely audible. "Okay, I'll… I'll help, just… promise me."

Yang stepped forward. "What? Promise what? Do you want us to bring these guys to the hospital? We can do that, no problem—"

"Stay away from my team," Velvet finished.

Yang might as well have been hit with a train. "…What?"

"Look around."

Yang did so, along with the rest of her team.

The room was a mess. Metal shavings, shards, and glass littered the floor, along with dozens of spent shells. (Thousands where Coco was standing) Computer monitor's shot sparks from bullet holes, corrupted text flickering across the screens.

That wasn't what caught Yang's attention.

It was the wires, dangling from the roof, and jutting from the floors, that drew her eyes. White sparks flew from their tips, landing on the floor and roof, burning through the metal.

And CFY's prone bodies, several less than an inch away.

"You nearly killed them, and… you didn't even notice," Velvet continued, but Yang wasn't listening.

Cardin was in the hospital.

That White Fang member was dead.

God knows how many people dies during the fight at the restaurant.

And now… some of their friends, fellow huntress's, barely survived a fight against them. Against her.

"Velvet, I—" Ruby said, shushed by the faunus's shaking head.

"Just… where's the computer you had running?"

"Over there," Yang said, pointing towards the device, but her eyes never moved.

How many more people was she going to hurt?

...It didn't matter.

Blake needed her.

Blake. Needed. Her.

Needed all of them.

That's all that mattered.

Right?