Another shorter chapter this time. I do however promise that once we're past a one or two more events from Volume 3, things will be branching off as I turn to focus less on Team RWBY and more on some individual stuff for Frost. It will however have to get more crazy before things start to get...better? I really can't see that as being a good way to describe it considering how V3 ended, and I don't plan on altering any of those events in the slightest. Sorry for those of you that might have been hoping for happier stuff. On that note, here is my newest chapter.

"I can't believe we're already up to the last chunk of the tournament already." Frost said with a sigh as he leaned back on his cot with his arms crossed behind his head. "To be honest, it feels like these last few days have been a complete blur considering how many matches they've crammed into them amidst all of the other festivities."

"It's been interesting, that's for sure." Blake agreed as she watched Yang doing some stretches on the dorm floor.

The blonde had been like this for the remainder of the previous day after their doubles match, as well as the majority of the current day in anticipation. For a team of first year students to make it this far was already a huge boost to their confidence, but Yang was even more pumped up due to the opportunity she would now have to go up against some of the best Hunters-In-Training from across Remnant. Hopefully this fight would end up being more controlled than the fight against Team FNKI.

"I don't know why you're trying to warm up so much, Yang," Ruby stated as she watched her sister with a wide smile. "You're gonna be fine! You've got this whole thing in the bag!"

"As much as I imagine your sister appreciates the vote of confidence, Ruby, it won't help her at all if she gets complacent. She may end up going against Pyrrha after all, and we all know who would have the advantage there." Weiss stated with her arms crossed as she put her scroll away. "Besides, the final matches will be starting soon, so we should start making our way over now to avoid getting Yang disqualified for being late."

"Aw, come on Weiss," Yang began as she proceeded through a rep of pushups. "Leave Ruby alone, she's just trying to be a cheering squad all on her own is all. It's harmless." The blonde directed her attention towards Ruby next, "Weiss IS right though, Rubes. These are some of the best fighters in Remnant, so I gotta make sure that I'm on top of my game so I can knock 'em all down."

"Well she's not lacking in confidence herself, that's for sure." Frost snarked from his cot as he got up with a stretch of his own. "We may as well start heading out now, I wanna make sure we've got prime seats to see any of the smack downs that are gonna happen. I don't know about any of you aside from Yang, but I've been looking forward to this part for a while." Frost paused as he put a finger to his chin in thought as he spoke aloud. "I wonder what the terrain will be like for the fights. They did 2 fields in the team fights and 4 fields in the doubles round, so does that mean they're gonna cram as many fields as possible in for the 1 on 1 matches?"

"I doubt it," Weiss stated as she got up and started walking towards the door. "The other rounds were more about testing your ability to work together and synchronize your attacks, so these fights will be more a test of pure skill on the part of the individual fighters. It will more likely be an open terrain for fighters to have free range of movement and attack range."

"Now," the heiress began as she pulled open the door while motioning out with the other hand, "Can we please get a move on before they make another late announcement like they did for Team JNPR?"

"Ouch, Weiss. Low blow." Nora stated from the opposite end of the hall as Team JNPR themselves could be seen leaving their own dorms to head towards Amity Colosseum as well. "Save the trash talk for the actual fights, huh?"

"I didn't mean it like-" Weiss started with a huff before Ren silently raised a hand to calm her.

"She's only playing fun, Weiss. Please don't encourage her." The calm boy said as the two groups gathered into the hall and started making their way out.

"Aw, come on Ren! The trash talking is the best part!" The spunky redhead declared as she proceeded through her rant. "We get to throw insults at them, they throw them at us, one of us ends up winning in the end leaving the other sad and defeated in the mud, the winning side starts gloating, the losers start getting mad and yell back, and then everything turns into a giant mess of emotions where no one is friends anymore!" By the time she was done, Nora had once again gone pale and depressed like when the two teams had spoken before Team JNPR's fight against Team BRNZ.

Frost shifted away from the now moody girl for a moment as he leaned over towards Blake. "Is this a normal thing for her?" He whispered so that only the two of them would hear his words.

Blake chuckled slightly as they passed through the doors of the dorm building and started walking to the landing pads where ships waiting to take them to the Colosseum sat patiently. "Only on rare occasions. She got like this too when she was trying to give a pep talk for their fight against Team BRNZ a couple days ago. It'll pass."

"Remind me not to let her give motivational speeches when something big is on the line then."

"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Professor Port declared as his voice carried across the stadium to everyone cheering for the final fights.

"Break a leg, sis!" Ruby screeched out as the others turned to look at her for a moment.

Frost smirked to himself as Port's voice asked the other fighters to leave the battlefield. "I wouldn't mind if she broke more than that, too be honest." The white-haired boy thought to himself as a section of the field lifted up for the final match. "Too I'm not down there right now. Yang wouldn't do something like that, but I sure would considering what I know. Man, I can't wait for when I get a chance to get Neo away from Cinder." The boy then turned towards Weiss, noticing a proud little smirk on her face due to her correct assumptions about how the final matches would go. He then turned and sat back as Port began the countdown for the fight to begin.

It was a close match. The two fighters consistently traded blows as they blocked kicks and punches from the opposite person, dodging a few shots from each's respective weapons in the meantime. For a moment it looked like Yang might have had it when she knocked Mercury off balance and he was flung from the field. This moment of predetermined victory was cut short however as the silver-haired boy fired shots from both of his greaves and lifted himself back onto the stadium.

"Damnit!" Frost pounded his fist against the arm of his seat as he'd eagerly hoped that Yang would knock him out quickly. Thankfully the others just saw this as Frost getting heavily into the fight, and not as a vendetta against Mercury like he was harboring.

A few moments later, Mercury immediately turned the tide of the fight when he managed to axe-kick Yang into the field as a barrage of attacks from his boots fell in a hail around Yang, obscuring her in smoke. Everyone sat with baited breath for a moment, only to jolt in surprise when a burst of flame erupted from the cloud as Yang pounded her fists together in a burst of energy. It appeared as though Mercury's attack had been unable to lower Yang's Aura levels to the point of disqualification, and this had given her enough hits for her to activate her Semblance and proceed to wail on Mercury's vulnerable stance.

Frost looked on in confusion for a moment before realizing that Mercury couldn't break his cover to attack Yang in cold blood like he normally would, and then attempted and failed to hold in a large laugh as Yang managed to completely remove all of Mercury's Aura before knocking him flat onto the floor of the field. Everyone proceeded to congratulate Yang from their seats as Frost decided to sit back and enjoy the moment of sudden peace he felt after seeing Mercury finally put in his place in a fight for once.

The moment was short lived however, as Yang suddenly whipped around and proceeded to punch Mercury's leg hard enough for an audible cracking noise to echo across the stadium. The crowd immediately began booing and screaming in shock whilst the rest of Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Frost all looked on in shock and bewilderment. This was Yang! She may get worked up in fights, but she would never stoop to something so low as to cripple an opponent after the fight was over unless they actually deserved it.

While Frost wasn't sorry for Mercury's present predicament, he was more surprised at Yang's sudden turn of face; especially after all of the personal moments and conversations he'd had with each individual member of Team RWBY. Yang had been the last step in him finally forgiving himself for his mistakes, and even refusing to hurt him after knowing everything he'd unintentionally aided in happening. Her suddenly hurting Mercury out of the blue like this left even him speechless. Everything froze for a moment as Yang's sight turned to face her friends and team in the stands, and the confusion on her face made Frost do a double take for a moment as she looked around with realization of her actions. Something was wrong, and that was painfully obvious. But why?

As the others moved to head back to the dorm to talk to Yang and find out what happened, Frost broke off from the group as he attempted to tail Emerald and the paramedics as they carried Mercury away. He immediately snapped against the edge of a wall as they stopped at the call of another person's voice. As the group walked down the side passage, Frost quickly caught up and planted himself against the edge of the doorway as he heard a female voice speaking to one of the paramedics. His blood boiled for a moment as he recognized the new voice in the group.

"We'll take good care of both of them." Cinder stated as the two paramedics started making their way back into the colosseum. Frost immediately took the opportunity to get out of their before getting spotted by them as he hurried off to try and figure out how to deal with this new piece of information. He paused once he was in the clear down another hallway as he pounded the side of his fist against the wall for a moment.

"Damnit! I was that close to being able to tail them to wherever they're hiding between matches, and I couldn't do it without raising alarm to those medics just doing their jobs!" Frost took a moment to take a deep breath as he placed his hands on his hips in contemplation as he shook his head briefly. "Cinder's thought this through a hell of a lot more than I thought. I don't think I'm gonna be able to wait for a chance to grab Neo from them. Once things quiet down a bit, I'm going to have to MAKE an opportunity." Frost paused as he glanced out a nearby window that happened to overlook Beacon with a sigh.

"I just hope the others can try and come out of this with a positive. The four of them not being in agreement or at the very least at some sort of peace could end up spelling a strong chance at whatever Cinder's planning going off without a hitch."