Why have two mediocre fights and create two completely disposable teams nobody gives a crap about when you can have one great battle between two teams that hopefully everybody likes? I get that canon Volume 3 was struggling with crunch time, but if they had to leave out the fights, it should've been the two pointless ones in New Challengers. So I took the one part of that episode that was kind of funny (Neptune's fear of water), the one part of it that was kind of interesting (Nora's semblance) and scrapped the rest.

And hopefully, this continued to feel like a fight with stakes. Sun has something to prove as a Faunus, and his team has a reputation to uphold the same as Team JNPR.

And hopefully, it feels like both Sun and Jaune are half-decent strategists here. Sun recognizes a weakness in Pyrrha and tries to exploit it, and Jaune sees a way to use Neptune's weapon to his advantage and tries to use that. And hopefully, he doesn't seem too mean-spirited shoving Neptune in the water and attacking him.

And if the audience responds to Pyrrha beating two skilled opponents armed with weapons her semblance doesn't work on and not even taking a hit is "oh my gosh, she's so OP, this is total bs, nobody can beat her, this is ridiculous"… Good. She's the invincible girl. That's the point. At least she's not beating an entire team in one hit.

And just a nice little feel-good moment. Just a nice moment of Pyrrha and the rest of Team JNPR choosing to celebrate Team SSSN's hard work and trying to set an example.

"SCHNEE!"

As Winter screeched to a halt at the sound of her commanding officer's voice, Qrow's red eyes glowed briefly, and her heel snagged a piece of damaged cobblestone. The Atlas specialist flailed in a feeble attempt to preserve her dignity, only to face plant right at Qrow's feet.

"Y'know, I hear some boots come with detachable heels." the alcoholic smirked down at the young woman as she tried her hardest to murder him with her eyes.

"Go on."

Qrow shrugged as the elevator containing Winter Schnee descended behind him. "Honestly, I don't know much more about what's going on than you three. Sounds like the false maiden and the one who infiltrated this office are the same."

Goodwitch nodded, "but nobodies been able to get a good look at her face, so we still don't know how to find her. We don't even know what she was trying to get from this tower or if she got it."

"And since we've seen this woman help Torchwick with his dust robberies, it's not too much of a stretch to assume that she and Torchwick's little stunt in Downtown are related." Qrow continued.

"A stunt which failed." Ironwood supplied. "With no small amount of help from your nieces."

Qrow rounded on him. "Did they fail? Even if Barty and the girls hadn't spooked Torchwick into jumping the gun, he planned to lead the Grimm through a single choke point in a city with the Atlesian air fleet parked on its doorstep."

"So it was an ill-conceived plan."

"I hate to deflate that ego of yours, Jimmy, but Torchwick hasn't avoided capture all these years because Vale lacks men of your incredible competence. He's lasted this long because he doesn't do 'ill-conceived.'"

"Then why hasn't he escaped from prison yet? Why hasn't the false maiden made any moves since the Breach?"

"Gee, I dunno, maybe because she's biding her time and laying low! She's discreet, which is what we should be doing, not flaunting massive air fleets for everyone to see!"

"Discreet wasn't working." Ironwood placed his scroll on Ozpin's desk and brought up a hologram of his massive fleet. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."

Qrow shook his head. "You're here because Ozpin wanted you here! He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!"

"And, I am grateful."

"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."

"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength."

Qrow couldn't help but laugh, "You... You think they're scared of your little ships? You should know by now that she doesn't fear anything. She creates fear."

Ozpin spoke up, "So you believe that She is the cause?"

Qrow considered his words for a moment "…I know that Torchwick didn't just suddenly make the leap from crime lord to terrorist on a whim. I know the White Fang didn't choose to work with him because of his charming personality. Whatever's going on, it's not over, and a few airships aren't going to stop it."

"That's enough, Qrow," Ozpin interjected. "James did what he thought was best, and if he hadn't, the damages likely would've been much worse."

He then turned back to Ironwood. "Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that they didn't get exactly what they wanted from the Breach. And Qrow's right, if our problem were so simple as to be fixed with military might, I'd have had you scorch every ounce of Remnant not inhabited by human's years ago."

Ironwood shook his head and smirked, "You'd be greatly overestimating our resources. Not to mention Remnant's environmental ability to survive such an act."

Ironwood sighed. "Then what do you suggest?"

"I suggest we find our guardian."

"Well, a professional huntsman like myself is expected to get results as soon as possible."

"Of course, they also expect good results," Ruby muttered at that comment.

Qrow glanced at his niece's downtrodden looks. "You both know what happened at the Breach wasn't your fault, right? You can always do better, but you had a pro with you, and he couldn't stop the train. If Ironwood had had his way and sent an army, the White Fang would've seen him coming, and the results would've been just as bad, maybe worse."

Yang groaned, "but we still got our butts kicked. And from the looks of things, Torchwick was just the tip of the iceberg."

"You girls are either very perceptive, or you know even more than you should" Yang nervously glanced over to see him smiling fondly despite the apparent reprimand. "But you're right. Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed; it's stopped completely. No White Fang activity around the city. You cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his."

Yang looked at Ruby, "You... know the General?"

"Hey, I know everybody to some extent. Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team that graduated Beacon!"

He smiled as he brought out his old team photo to show the girls, "Hah, Team STRQ... That's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day."

Ruby grinned, "Well known for crummy fashion sense!"

"Hey, we looked good!" Qrow chided defensively, "And I have a number of inappropriate stories to back that up! But, I'll save those for when you're older."

He quickly pulled the photo away, noticing Yang's focus on her mother.

"Anyways, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style."

He thought for a moment at the door and then turned, "Look, just remember that you're still learning. And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far, but only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward."

"If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress!" Winter grinned wryly. "Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist!"

Weiss looked away. "I don't need his charity!"

"But you do need his money, don't you?"

"What!? How did you know about that!?"

"Lucky guess. I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military."

Weiss blanched as a thought occurred. "He hasn't-"

Winter shook her head. "It was long before he disowned me. He would have a hard time justifying disinheriting you over your choice of school. He didn't disown me until I truly insulted him."

There was a small hint of disgust as she reflected on the experience. "So, what have you done this time?"

Weiss thought as she felt relief wash over her. "Well, that's the thing: I'm really not sure! I went to pay for lunch the other day, but the card didn't work!"

"How embarrassing."

"I know!" she realized her sisters patronizing too late. "Well, it was! Why would he cut me off like that?"

"Perhaps so that you'd stop avoiding him and call home."

Weiss gritted her teeth and gave the summoning another attempt.

Winter put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Emotions can grant you strength. But you must never let them overpower you. Especially not if you intend to keep your inheritance."

Weiss turned back to Winter as the glyph faded.

"It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can call him, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself."

She considered for a moment, "I know I sound bitter about it, but I don't regret losing my inheritance. Our family's legacy is more than money."

Weiss nodded, "I know. But it isn't just warriors either. I want to embody everything that makes the Schnee family great. Like Grandfather did.

Winter smiled sadly. "That's a worthy goal. But I worry that father will make that impossible for you."

She then smiled more warmly. "It's time for me to go."

The two sisters embraced.

"It was really good to see you, Winter."

"Until next time, sister."

Omake: Because I'm feeling cheeky.

An amusing thought occurred to Weiss as she walked Winter back to her ship.

"So, this is probably a ridiculous notion, but I could've sworn I heard someone call your fight with Ruby's uncle a 'lover's quarrel.'"

She laughed gleefully, not noticing Winter's faltering steps. "I mean, that's ridiculous, right? You're not even 25, and he's got to be in his early 40's at least!"

"Still not old enough to be my father."

Weiss shrank a little bit at Winter's tone.

Winter looked down at Weiss in full military mode. "Were I interested in being courted, and were he to sober up and act like an adult, I could do far worse than Qrow Branwen, regardless of any age gap between us. But I am not interested in courting at this time, and he remains a childish alcoholic. Thus you needn't worry about any odd unions between ours and your partner's families at this time."

She then returned to her ship, thanking the lateness of the night for concealing her flushed expression.

Weiss knew her sister was telling the truth as she'd never known her to lie, though she couldn't help but notice the inclusion of "at this time."