The REDS of war

Volume Three Chapter Six

The tournament was delayed, instead the matches would happen the following afternoon and evening, but the next day, Ironwood, Duke and Rei were to be found in team RWBY'S dorm with team RWBY all seated staring at the three.

"I'm sorry. But you've left us with no choice." James says to Yang.

"But he attacked me!" Yang protests.

"Believe me, I'd love to, but the fact of the matter is this, what millions saw at home, don't care what you saw, they care about what they saw."

Ironwood nods in agreement with Rei. "Yes, video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise."

"But Yang would never do that!" Weiss protests.

"Yeah!" Ruby agrees.

"You all seem like good students. And the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did. Under normal circumstances. But I believe and hope this to be nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that aren't there. Even after the fight has passed."

"But I wasn't..."

"That's enough!" James stops her from further protest. Rei sighs leaning against a desk in the room, Duke glances to Rei who shakes his head. "The sad truth is... whether it was an accident or an assault... it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you're disqualified."

Ironwood leaves the room with Duke, as Rei remains still leaning against the table.

"You guy's believe me... Right?" Yang asks her team.

"Duh!"

"You're hotheaded but not ruthless."

Everyone answers but Blake and Rei.

"...Blake?"

"I want to believe you."

"Huh?" Ruby becomes puzzled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Blake?" Yang asks.

"How can you say something like that? Yang would never lie to us!"

Blake sighs, having wished to never have to remember him. "Me and Erin had someone very close to us change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual... Little choices that began to pile up. He told us not to worry. At first, they were accidents... then it was self-defense. Before long even I began to think he was right. Luckily enough Erin was an anchor that kept me from going with his flow it's just that... This is all just... very... familiar. But you're not him. And you've never done anything like this before. So... I want to trust you. I WILL trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did."

"I saw him attack me. So I attacked back."

Blake nods. "Okay. Thank you."

"Rei?" Everyone turns to the red head.

"I'll let y'all in on something." Rei says looking out the window. My team is currently investigating Emerald. Erin says he saw her with an evil looking woman when he was still in the Fang, and I know her semblance is illusions as I saw her take Ruby's wallet back at the fairgrounds the other day, and none of us were able to see her."

"How could you...?" Weiss begins to ask when Rei lifts his eyepatch, revealing to the four girls his robotic eye.

"This eye can't be tricked like the human mind can. Even if my actual vision is tampered with, this eye can parse through real information and keep me knowing the truth." Rei sighs covering the eye back up. The only others who know about it are 'Daniel', The Teachers, Scarlet, and now you four." Rei looks at each of the girls. Weiss is horrified by the brutal scarring over the eye, Blake as well, Ruby can't even bear to look at it, while Yang stares at it saddened. "Don't feel bad for me guys, this eye is a symbol of my family. I got it after I met them as a replacement for my destroyed one." Rei smiles exiting the room.

"I think I'm gonna rest up." Yang says laying down.

"We'll get out of your hair." Blake says sympathetically.

Weiss sighs. "This is a mess."

"She doing okay?" Jaune asks as the girls close the door to their dorm.

All of team JNPR watch on from their dorm room.

"She's doing the best she can."

"I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So until they land, no one can really question him about what happened." Ruby says.

"If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask." Ren says.

"Alright then... if that's the case... Pyrrha?" Ruby says to the distracted Pyrrha who hums in response. "Be sure to win one for Beacon and make sure you and Rei meet in the finals!"

Weiss nods. "It's what Yang would want."

Pyrrha nods. "I'll do my best."

"I'll be sure to watch tonight in case any of you get picked!"

Blake shakes her head. 'Sorry, but I've had enough fighting for one year."

Weiss nods. "Ditto. Coffee?"

"Tea."

Sun and Rei were at the Arena talking about what they would do with a win and who they least wanted to face when Glossy walks in.

"All I'm saying is she's The invincible girl I wouldn't want to face her." Sun says.

"Oh please she's nothing compared to Scarlet and Glossy the person I least want to fight is that Penny chick she's strong she once pulled bullhead straight out of the sky."

The pair then went out on stage alongside Pyrrha, Glossy, Scarlet, and Penny. Rei was looking into the stands when he saw a familiar face that he knew meant trouble.

'Emerald? Gotta keep on my guard but she'll know better than to target me. So who's her target this time.'

The rest of the team were in the crowd when they saw Rei's face go from a grin to a serious frown when he noticed something they followed his gaze as did Ruby and they saw Emerald.

"Emerald's here?" Ruby asked.

Erin's eye's widen as he stands immediately. "Ruby we need to warn everyone."

Dusk nods. "Let's go."

The group of three went running into the engineering room only to see Mercury standing on his own two feet.

"Mercury?" Ruby asked.

"It looks like our first contender is... Penny Poledina from Atlas!" Ports voice is heard ringing around the arena.

Erin glares at Mercury. "What's your end goal?"

"And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

Ruby's eye's widen. "No!"

"Oooh, Polarity versus Metal. That could be bad."

Dusk turns to Erin. "That's... a death sentence for Penny..."

Erin's eye's widen. "What?"

"No." Sky says having followed the three.

'Wait Polarity and Penny's...' Rei's face falls with horror as he grabs Pyrrha's arm before walking off.

"Pyrrha, don't use your semblance, no matter the cost." He says to his fellow redhead.

"Huh?" Pyrrha's surprised face is the last thing seen before...

Chapter End.