LJNT

The Beginning of the End

"LET THE 1V1'S BEGIN! OUR VERY FIRST MATCH...YANG XIAO LONG OF TEAM RWBY FROM BEACON VERSUS BEGONIA EVERSHOT OF TEAM BLNC FROM ATLAS!"

"T-This is p-pretty exciting!" Lana cheered from her spot in the audience before she turned toward her role model, Lyra. "R-Right?"

"Of course. I can't wait for my turn," Lyra smiled, her eyes flecked with white. "I wonder when I'll be paired..."

That was a question that would never be answered, as nefarious forces were pulling the strings behind the scenes...

The fight progressed between Yang and her opponent. A couple seats down from Lyra and Team GLCR sat a woman in a disguise, her hair done up elegantly while she wore concealing sunglasses and a long coat. She was accompanied by two lackeys; Emerald and Mercury. Her name was Cinder Fall, and she would certainly live up to her last name.

Her actions here would completely begin the Fall of Beacon.

The fight ended, and Yang walked away smugly. Cinder smirked as she reached out her hand toward Yang...

Yang suddenly turned around to see her opponent charging toward her. Yang punched her arm forward...

But all she ended up doing was attacking someone who was already downed.

Instantly, the crowd was in an uproar, while Yang just glanced around, confused. Atlas' soldiers immediately took to the arena, escorting Yang off while also making sure Begonia was alright. The crowd's uproar only meant one thing; panic.

Panic attracted Grimm.

"Everyone, calm down," Lyra exclaimed, and while it took awhile for people to shut their mouths, they eventually did since Lyra was a public figure. "Atlas boasts the best technological medicine. I'm sure Begonia will be alright. The authorities are taking care of what Yang did. Everything will get sorted out...so please, calm down!"

"Yuh! Don't be worried. 'Ccording to my calculations..." A woman with short, green hair paused to think. Her blue eyes were narrowed in concentration. "...There's 'bout...a two percent chance Yang woulda dun' this on purpose. So obvs, there's somethin' fishy going on around here."

"Er...yeah, definitely," Lyra nodded, although she didn't necessarily agree with the strange woman's words, she wanted everyone to calm down. "Everyone, listen to...um...sorry, what's your name?"

"Zetta..oh, dearest me," her eyes suddenly began to sparkle as she looked up and down at Lyra, "thou looks...rather ravishing, exquisite as thou says, for her beauty shines greater than the stars in a dark night. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind...Oh!" Zetta suddenly paused for a long time again, making everyone look on in confusion. "I shouldn'ta said that...well. There's somethinm fishy, so calm down, dears, I'll git this'all saved in a jiffy."

"I...you know," quite honestly, Lyra didn't care enough anymore to even bother continuing to speak, so she just sighed. "Everyone, please, just calm down! Calm down..."

"Ahem..." Oobleck cleared his throat through the microphone, trying to get the festival back on track. "The next randomly generated 1v1...Pyrrha Nikos of Team JNPR from Beacon versus Penny Polendina from Atlas Academy! Please make your way down to the arena!"

The two warriors did as directed, their weapons drawn. Pyrrha was uncomfortable, her posture slumped as she looked around for Lyra. Pyrrha didn't find any solace in finding Lyra, however. Lyra lacked the warmth and compassion she normally did, only the same white flecks embedded in her eyes.

"And...begin!"

Penny was as giddy as ever, her multiple swords flying around as she fought Pyrrha. Their mobile styles complimented each other quite nicely as they all dodged or blocked. Lyra's eyes were glued to Pyrrha, completely oblivious to the chaos about to begin...

Cinder Fall smiled before she reached out her hand. Raewyn suddenly stood from her spot, her eyes glowing white as she tried to scream stop, confusing everyone around her, but her actions did nothing. The only person who needed to hear her, Pyrrha, couldn't.

All of a sudden, Pyrrha began to panic as a couple of swords flew her way, and Pyrrha activated her semblance to send the swords flying backward...

Ripping Penny into bits and pieces.

Penny's body fizzled with volts of electricity, her green eyes going blank. There was no blood, only nuts and bolts. Penny was...a robot.

Now she was gone.

A massive amount of cries or outrage fell from the arena, some calling for justice for Penny, others claiming Atlas of cheating in the arena by deploying a robot. Pyrrha stood with her emerald eyes wide as she fell to her knees, a mortified look on her face. Even through all the chaos, even though they were seated on opposite sides, even though the voices continued their screams, Lyra only heard one thing;

Nico's anguished scream.

Her face was contorted in pain as she made her way down from her seat and to the arena. She cradled Penny's remains in her body as Nico cried and screamed, whilst Pyrrha just sat there. Lyra jumped out of her seat before she scrambled down to the arena.

"PYRRHA!"

Then it came.

The Nevermore.

It screeched loudly as it broke through the arena, only causing more panic as it landed on the arena floor. It's wings flapped wildly, sending anyone who was standing near it backwards. Lyra flew backward, but she dug her axe into the ground to stop herself. As a Nevermore claw swiped forward at Pyrrha, Lyra launched herself forward to block the Grimm with her axe. It's overwhelming power was a lot for even Lyra's strength, so Lyra whirled her axe around, slamming her blade into the Grimm's claw. Blood squirted as Lyra's axe remained embedded, and it waved it's claw around, sending Lyra flying across the arena.

Nico remained still, over Penny's remains as she cried. Tanya and Janelle were still making it down to the arena as the Nevermore advanced toward Lyra, who was still getting up-

Pyrrha jumped in, blocking for Lyra even through her pain. Together, the two warrior celebrities started the fight against the large Nevermore, and with the other Huntsmen and Huntresses, including that woman Zetta, the Nevermore was slain.

Down below, Beacon was being overrun as Atlas' soldiers were hacked and turned on innocent civilians while Grimm terrorized the city and people.

"Lyra...I...I killed someone," Pyrrha's voice broke. "I..."

Lyra didn't have any words, she just engulfed her sister in a wordless hug.

"Lyra, Pyrrha!" Ozpin's voice resounded as he walked over to the two. "Come with me. It's time. The rest of you...you have the choice to defend Beacon, or to run. No one will judge you. Now, we haven't a moment to waste. Let's go!"

The two sisters looked at each other and nodded, before they took off into Beacon's vault.

The Fall of Beacon had just begun.