STAGE 03: Divide and Conquer

Lelouch followed Moss, Gwenn and Robin as they stepped out of the forest. When they emerged, they were greeted by eight other students- Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and the hammer wielding Huntress, Nora Valkyrie.

However, before the students could get to knowing each other, Jaune pointed upward. "Uh, guys? That thing's circling around..."

Lelouch looked up to see a giant Nevermore and couldn't help but think back to when he first arrived in Remnant. He recalled how Glynda had dealt with that Nevermore and wondered if he could do something similar- he didn't know what his Semblance was and wasn't sure if it would be anything like Glynda's, but if he could get enough Dust in the air, he could pull off one of those 'runes' she had conjured.

As Lelouch was deep in thought, there was a crashing noise from the forest- two, to be precise. The Deathstalker from before was actually still alive, and there was a massive Boarbatusk joining it. Moss grimaced. "Are all the Grimm in this forest overgrown?" he asked. Jaune looked back to the oncoming Grimm and gulped nervously. "Oh, we're gonna die..."

Moss brought his sword to bear while Robin reloaded her weapon. "We'll hold them back, you guys head to the cliff." said Moss.

"You sure about this?" asked Lelouch, waiting behind while the others ran to the cliff. Moss nodded as the Deathstalker and Boarbatusk approached from the woods. Lelouch changed the Dust in his staff and joined the nine students fending off the Nevermore. The others were jumping from ruined pillar to ruined pillar, unloading on the avian Grimm but having no visible effect on it. Lelouch tried launching Dust blasts at it, but the Nevermore easily dodged his attacks. "This is useless!" shouted Lelouch as the students regrouped to figure out how to take the Grimm down.

Ruby looked to Weiss. "I have an idea." she said. A plan was formed: Yang would bring the Nevermore down to the ground, Lelouch and Weiss would freeze the Nevermore in place, and Ruby would use her Semblance and Weiss's Glyphs to drag it up the cliff side.

"Is this gonna work?" Lelouch asked incredulously. "It will as long as Weiss can make the shot."

"Hmph, can I?" Weiss said snobbily. "Can you?" asked Ruby, oblivious to Weiss's sarcasm.

"OF COURSE I CAN!" blurted Weiss. Lelouch stepped back to clear the way as Ruby cocked the rifle part of her weapon and Weiss launched Ruby airborne with a crimson Glyph. Lelouch watched in awe as Ruby ran up the cliff with Weiss's Glyphs giving her the boost needed to drag the Nevermore by its neck with her scythe blade, capping it off by decapitating the Nevermore at the top of the cliff.

"Well, that was a thing." said Yang. Lelouch could hear Robin and Moss walking up, having dealt with the Grimms from the forest. "What did I miss?"

"...a lot." said Lelouch, still processing what had just happened.

After a long, arduous climb up the cliff face, all the students of Beacon were assembled before Ozpin to decide the teams. Lelouch knew he'd be on the same team as Moss, but the other students in his group were unclear. He thought Weiss would be a good compliment, as they both used Dust to fight. Blake would be a good tactical choice, as she could take down targets from hidden positions. Pyrrha seemed like an extremely competent fighter as well.

"Lelouch Lamperouge, Moss Brenin, Robin Zaldun, Gwenn Firain, please come forward."

Lelouch stepped forward with the others. So they were going to be part of his team? He could work with this.

Ozpin continued. "You retrieved the Black King pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Marigold-"

Lelouch watched as a screen with their faces spelled MRGL out. He was worried Ozpin would've picked something like GLMR (Glimmer), but he was fine with Marigold.

"-lead by Moss Brenin."

With that, Lelouch felt like a rug had been yanked out from under his feet. How did Moss get the leader position? Surely, it was Lelouch was the strategist of the group! He'd be much better as leader of Team MRGL!

Lelouch wanted to speak up, but bit his tongue and clenched a fist at his side. It was frustrating, but he'd just learn to deal with it.