THE STEL STORIES Part 2: The Fall of Beacon

Chapter 9 - A Twisted Turn of Events

We made it back to our dorms later that night, tired and sore from the days fighting, Scarlet and I just wanted to sleep.
However, a knock on the dorm doorway had us groaning and getting up to answer it.
"Are you guys ok!" Gambit asked as we opened the door to see his and Ambers's worried faces.
"I'm fine" I reply before pointing at Scarlet, "This Guy took the bigger beating".
"Nothing I can't handle," Scarlet said with a grin but winced when Gambit tapped his nose.
"You had us shitting bricks," Gambit said folding his arms, only for Amber to shove past him to wrap Scarlet in a hug.
"My poor kids" she exclaims, getting a raised eyebrow from Gambit "I was in tears when I saw how badly beaten up you were, don't ever scare me like that".
"Yes, mum" joked Scarlet but hugged her back. I turned back to Gambit and asked "I saw you with the other huntsman getting Marcus down, is he ok?"
"He's a little banged up but he has been expelled for his behavior" Gambit answers a dark look in his eyes, "I may have had a general chat about true honor with him too".
I smiled grimly then asked, "And Ying? What about him".
Gambit smiled, "He actually asked me to tell you to meet him tomorrow night at your quiet spot".
I nodded, feeling another wave of sleepiness hit me, Scarlet on my right yawning away as well.
Gambit chuckled, grabbed Ambers's arm, and said "Come on hun, let the boys rest they had a big day".
Amber pouted a lip at him, then they wished us goodnight, allowing Scarlet and I to finally get some sleep.

We slept right through to the middle of the next day.
When we woke, Trillium and Eclipse updated us on the Vytel Festival.
Team RWBY had also got into the finals, Yang was to fight another student called Mercury today.
Meanwhile one of us had to fight another Atlas student known as Penny the next morning.
The winner of these fights would face off in the final to determine the winner of the tournament.
We nominated Eclipse to take that position, mainly because he wanted a chance to take on Yang since they had been training and competing against one another.
Scarlet spent the rest of the day relaxing and recovering, Eclipse staying with him whilst they strategized.
Meanwhile, Trillium and I made our way to the arena again to witness Yang and Mercury's fight.
On the way to the entrance, I heard a voice call my name from behind, and I turned to see Ying running toward us.
"Hey Cous," Ying said as he arrived next to us, "How are you feeling?"
"Pretty good, lil sore and tired, and won't be using my semblance any time soon" I replied. Using that full-force form had seriously weakened my Auras energy, making any use of my semblance tiring.
"Yea fair" Ying replied, I noticed he was now wearing casual attire, brown shorts, and an orange shirt with a blue long scarf.
Ying noting my observation smiled sadly and said "I left Atlas academy, I wasn't happy with my team and the standards there any longer".
Trillium to my right chuckled, muttering an insult about Atlas that only I could hear, earning a shove from me as I said to Ying, "Sorry it came to that, so what are you gonna do now?".
"Probably head home, do some local security work maybe" Ying replied with a shrug.
I nodded, most huntsman in training usually did become security or men for hire if they couldn't graduate fully.
"So Ying", Trillium cut in, "Any advice on this Penny girl?".
Why hadn't I thought of that, this Penny was an Atlas student after all, and who else to ask than an ex-student?
However Yings next words cut any hope.
"No clue," he said, "She was fairly new to the academy, to be honest, I don't recall seeing her in any classes at all".
"Interesting," Trillium said quietly as he pondered this mystery student and her origins.
"Well, I'm sure Eclipse can handle her, especially since he wants to fight Yang badly" I joked.
Trillium chuckled and Ying smiled.
We continued walking in, I updated Ying on Scarlet's status, letting him know we didn't blame him once, any guilt on his face going as I said it.
We took our seats in the crowd, chatting and waiting for the match to begin.
The fight was going to be interesting, Yang and Mercury were both brawler-style fighters.
Yang with her shotgun gauntlets punching hand-to-hand combat style, Mercury with his shotgun boots and kickboxing fighting style.
They were parallels of one another.
As the fighters arrived at the stadium cheers erupted and Trillium, Ying, and I all sat forward ready for a show.

If yesterday's display of aggression was taken badly, todays fight was twice as bad.
It had started normally, basic combat, both Yang and Mercury matching each other blow for blow, equally skilled hits making the fight even and close.
Yang, however, got the upper hand at one point knocking Mercury down and shattering his aura barrier with a final combination blow.
It was all over, Yang had won, we cheered loudly along with the crowd and were excited to tell Eclipse the news.
Until Yang suddenly turned around and slammed a fist into Mercury's leg breaking it.
The crowd went silent in shock before chaos and booing erupted.
How could this have happened, Yang wasn't aggressive or cruel like Marcus was, she had fought honorably and had always been the funny nice girl of team RWBY.
I watched Yang closely as she staggered back, looking at Mercury stunned, watching the replay on the screen of what she did, confusion on her face as if she didn't know what she had done.
Security and medics ran onto the field dragging both of them away from the now hostile and chaotic audience.
"What the hell was that about," Trillium said later as we walked back to our dorm, we had said our goodbyes to a stunned Ying as he had decided to head home early, upset by the recent tournament events.
"To be honest I don't know," I said somewhat confused, "However I refuse to believe that was intentional".
Trillium looked at me questioningly and I continued, "She looked confused and scared by what she had done, and you could hear her defending herself and saying he attacked her, what if he had some semblance or mind trick he used on her?"
Trillium look stunned as he took my statement in and then replied: "Well they are all good theories but she will need some solid evidence and proof".
I nodded as we arrived at our dorms.
Scarlet and Eclipse, both having watched the fight from a TV in the dorm, were fully aware of what happened, and unsurprisingly had similar thoughts to us.
"But why would someone try to alter the fight results or break rules like that," Eclipse asked.
"I have one theory, but I need more proof," I say quietly.
All eyes turn at me waiting for me to continue, I pause and collect my thoughts and then drop it all on them.
"Ok so basically it seems all kinda suspicious, so we have a festival with EVERY kingdom in the one spot, including ships from Atlas military which only arrive if they are defending something, then we have not one but two incidents occur in the finals, causing stress and fear, something that attracts Grimm, and what has happened recently guys?"
"A Grimm attack just before the festival?" Eclipse asks.
"Correct" I continue, "Which we know for a fact the White Fang had a hand in".
"Please don't tell me you're onto this White Fang shit again," Scarlet said with a sigh.
I shake my head, "No, but I believe our theory that those attack plans weren't about that Grimm attack but maybe something more".
"Do continue" Trillium said, all three of them looking at me intrigued as I lay this concept out.
"Well picture this" I continue, "Lots of people gathered for an event who are already on edge after one Grimm attack, a large-scale event which has now caused more fear and panic which could easily lead to another Grimm attack, what if that was intentional, what if that attack plans we found on that mission have to do with this festival, I believe that the fights have been rigged to cause panic, to allow a large scale Grimm attack on Beacon and potentially have the White Fang and this Roman guy to cause chaos too!".
I pause, letting all these thoughts sink into my teammates, expecting to laugh at my concepts.
"You have a point," Scarlet says at last, "But we need to do more investigating before we can do anything else".
"What have you got in mind?" I ask, glad that we were all in agreement.
"Well, firstly Eclipse needs to stay focused on his fight," Scarlet says nodding to Eclipse, "just make sure you keep an eye out for any foul play and ensure you fight fairly".
Eclipse nods in agreement and says "No stress, this Penny girl is quite the fighter apparently but nothing I can't handle".
"Trillium I want you in the stands while he fights" Scarlet continues, "I want you observing the fight and the crowd, see if you can detect anything out of the ordinary during his fight and if you can prevent it".
"Good Idea, have you thought about getting PINK or RWBY involved?" Trillium replies.
"That's what I'm gonna do" Scarlets answers, "I will talk to Ruby and check on Yang, see what they have to say, also I will chat with Gambit and alert him to our suspicions".
"Good idea, Gambit can check spots that only Huntsman can get to" I add.
Scarlet nods in agreement and then asks "I assume you already have a plan for your investigation?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna search the forests and ask about town for information," I say, "See if I can get anything on this Roman or any presence of the White Fang since the last incident".
"Nice sounds like we all have our plans set," Scarlet says with a grim smile, "Now if anyone detects or finds anything alert the others straight away".
We all nod in agreement plans are ready to go, and investigations are ready to commence.
Little did we know that this would be the last time all of us would be together.
That over the next 24 hours, all hell would break loose