Note: So, I had this idea for a violent-Raven-intrusion-in-the-big-RWBY-CMEN-dust-up, and while that may still happen regardless (obviously altered to reflect the many, many bombs that have been dropped), recent events honestly present even better reasons for Raven to physically intrude and throw a wrench into the works of many. So here's quick-and-dirty one-shot that came to me, might do more with it, might not. Haven't decided.

I do not own RWBY. Please review, comment, or criticize constructively. Most of all, enjoy.

Snatch-and-Grab

Surrounded by Atlas soldiers and robots, Yang was led across the arena. The crowd was still jeering, hissing and booing at her, in utter turmoil, but Yang could barely hear them. All she could hear was Ember Cilica firing, the shattering of Mercury's leg, his painful begging of why she'd done that. All she could see was the footage, Mercury standing stock still, lips closed, her turning on a dime and blasting a round through his leg without the provocation she'd sworn she'd seen and heard. But even more than that, she could see the faces of her teammates. The looks on Blake, Weiss, and Ruby's faces… Ruby.

A familiar, dull whooshing sound hit Yang's ears, a sound that transformed into a even more familiar high-pitched mix of whistling and whining, and her heart stopped short as she realized what was about to happen. She turned towards the stands, towards RWBY's seats, seeing the other three empty, Blake and Weiss futilely running and shoving their way through the crowd, following a trail of rose petals that was still fluttering to the ground. She could hear a voice, over the roar of the crowd and the noises playing over and over again in her head. A voice so fraught and going so fast, that she was sure no one but her could ever even hope to understand it.

"YANG!YANGIDON'TCARE!THATCAN'THAVEBEENRIGHT!IKNOW YOUWOULDNEVER DOTHAT WITHOUT-" Ruby was slowing down as she got closer; they'd both learned the hard way growing up what happened when she tried to give tackle-hugs at full speed. Unfortunately, her slowing down also made her visible to people who hadn't spent over half their lives getting used to visually tracking people with super speed. The robots all stopped short and shifted position, bringing their weapons higher but not aiming at anything. But a few of the actual soldiers… raised their weapons as she got closer. Yang could see Ruby's tear-filled eyes widen, see her terrified face grow even more so as she started to try and stop herself. Yang knew it was a terrible idea, that she wasn't doing herself any favors, she'd just dig this awful hole even deeper. But instinct took over. Someone was threatening Ruby. Those men were pointing guns at her baby sister.

She could feel the fire flare up, hotter than it ever had before. Feel her hair start glowing like a stretched out, blazing sun, feel red seep into her eyes. She started moving towards the soldiers, reaching out, but keeping her weapons condensed. She honestly wasn't sure what she wanted to do; if she wanted to knock their guns clean across the stadium in pieces, their guns that they were pointing at her sister, who was starting to draw up short as she saw what was happening; or if she wanted to rush up to them, get them and Ruby to stop and calm down before something even worse happened. Though that would be challenge at this-

Something jabbed into her side, which exploded in pain. The rest of her body quickly followed as electricity arced over her. She consciously did everything she could to let the fire die out, to rein in her semblance. She'd only get stronger as she got hurt, and this definitely hurt.

"YANG!" Ruby was screaming again, starting to move again, and the soldiers were raising their guns again, walking forward and starting to shout at her. Yang groaned, more out of frustration than pain, though pain played a big part nonetheless. Her gaze, slowly getting blurry from involuntary tears, fell and she dropped to her knees, her hands steadying her against the arena, electricity still pouring out of the prod. She looked up, saw that Weiss and Blake had finally caught up, were between them managing to hold Ruby partially in place if not exactly back. Movement in the stands caught her eye, and she could see Team JNPR running to assist their friends. She managed the smallest of smiles. Ruby'd be alright without her. She had friends to-

A boot descended and cracked against her head, driving her to the ground. But at least she'd been pushed off the prod. Which she could blearily see was starting to descend again. Ruby screamed her name again, this time more angry than scared. Then a flash of red swept through her view, the sound of metal whirling through air, through metal, through flesh and bone hit her ears. She saw the hand holding the prod, and the forearm it was connected to, fly off from the soldier in a blast of red. She could just make out a new visage in the middle of the soldiers and robots. A short black and red robe, a giant cylindrical scabbard loaded with vials of Dust. She could make out a flowing mane of black hair, and as the woman turned, the Nevermore skull mask that covered her face, that almost-but-not-really-at-all concealed the blazing red eyes beneath it.

Ruby finally stopped struggling, could only stand and gape, as some crazy, mysterious woman with a Grimm skull covering her head dropped out of literally nowhere and… chopped the prod-guy's hand off. She whirled, smacking him in the helmet with the flat of her blade, sending him flying, his blood leaving a stark red trail on the otherwise spotless arena floor. The woman charged, with a speed Ruby hadn't seen even in Uncle Qrow, the nearest soldier, her blade flashing upwards, cleaving his rifle in two, leaving a glowing gash in his helmet. Then she spun, bringing her giant revolver-scabbard around and smacking the soldier in the head with the back end, overhanded, driving him into the ground with such force the stone shattered beneath him.

The woman completed her rotation, holding her weapon-hand out, and just like that, her sword, a red katana, was speared through the head of an Atlesian Knight at the opposite end of the circle that had formed around Yang. The woman ran, turning her scabbard around with one hand with practiced, masterful dexterity, turning dials that spun the vials of Dust contained within until they landed on a light blue Ice. She tapped a button within the handle, and the bottom of the scabbard opened and launched a great spear of crystalized Ice Dust straight into the head of another Knight, the one furthest from the woman. She leapt and reached, tearing her sword from the head of the Knight and spinning, to slice another two Knights, still bringing their weapons onto her, into at least eight pieces total. She turned again, deflecting the short blade of a charging soldier, then stepped inside his guard and drove her sword through his leg. She grabbed his head as he screamed and yanked it downwards, slamming his helmet into her armored kneecap with such force that the metal caved in. She turned again as another soldier charged her, and thrust her hand out in an palm strike. A palm strike that smashed the soldier's rifle to pieces and still had enough force to push said pieces into his chest plate, and drive said man clean off his feet into the ground hard enough to crack it.

The woman turned back to her sword, still in the now-unconscious, absolutely concussed soldier's leg, and yanked it out with a reverse grip, swinging it into the helmeted face of the last soldier, who was also trying to get in at close quarters with a prod. The blade sliced through the armor, and Ruby thought she saw a light trail of blood follow it as it cut through the length of the helm before the woman whipped her sword around, and smacked the soldier off his feet, sending him flying with the flat of her blade.

The woman turned her blade over in her hand, reversing the reverse grip, and swung it into the empty air behind her before sliding it into its scabbard. A swirling black and red portal bled into existence where she'd swung. She ran to Yang, before anyone could even think to approach her, and tossed the delirious young Huntress over her shoulder with a single hand. Then she dove for the portal.

"NO!" Ruby didn't remember screaming, didn't recall running, didn't realize that Blake and Weiss had long since let go of her in shock at the display of brutality. But she was running, was reaching for her big sister, and she saw the woman's head turn, saw through her mask her blazing red eyes that were so very much like Yang's when she got angry, as the two entered the portal and vanished, Ruby's fingers just brushing against Yang's as it faded out of existence. As it took her sister with it.

So, this, and the aforementioned "Raven comes in during a big fight between RWBY and CMEN and violently/brutally cleans the clocks of the MEN portion" idea are founded in the personal theory of mine that Raven is sort of like the Punisher, or maybe the Moon Knight, of Huntresses when it comes to dealing with human criminals and villains. That is to say, she's often much more lethal or at the very least painful and seriously crippling than any other officially sanctioned Huntress of her time. This predisposition towards extreme violence with human enemies is partly why practically all traces of her have apparently been erased following her sudden departure; it's not exactly conduct becoming of a proper Huntress, and it's also something Taiyang and Qrow didn't want to try and explain to Yang on top of the fact that her biological mother had, as far as they could tell, abandoned her almost from birth. This fic is rooted in the idea that Raven would not let her daughter get pinched for what she knows is a part of the scheme of Cinder and Co. So partly because she's probably technically a rogue Huntress and gives no craps about the law or due process (especially where her family is concerned) unless a Councilor or Academy Headmaster/mistress is literally in the room with her, and partly because she's worried that some of Cinder's minions might try and further get to Yang if she goes through any sort of processing for blowing out Mercury's knee seemingly without provocation, she just charges in and forcibly takes Yang out of Atlas custody. She, like her brother, also doesn't really like Atlas all that much. I'd like to imagine that she'd just slap some of the silly out of Burnie-Cop and Joel-Cop if they and Vale cops were the arresting officers. Though, the guys in this particular scenario were tazing her biological daughter and pointing weapons at her half-kinda-step-daughter. She's not going to go easy, whoever they are. I also took some artistic liberties with how Raven's weapon works, given that we have yet to see it in proper action and can still take artistic liberties. Basically, her scabbard serves as a two-in-one Dust infuser for her sword, and a Dust launcher of every type she can load into it (so, just every type of Dust, then).