“Hey, Yatsuhashi,” Sun called. “Welcome to the monkey house.”

Yatsuhashi turned. He was so tired. Using his Semblance was draining, since he rarely used it at all—and it took incredible focus to use it carefully. That and the fight with Rumpole were leaving him vulnerable. He probably wouldn’t last long in the ring if it came to that.

“Hey, Sun. Under the Crown’s mind control?” Yatsuhashi asked.

“Mind control? What are you talking about?” Sun said. He seemed the same as ever.

Yatsuhashi nodded. “I don’t want to hurt you, so I apologize in advance.”

The two of them circled each other. “Don’t worry, I can handle myself,” Sun said.

“I know you can, but I want you to think about the team this time.” Yatsuhashi cracked his neck before he got started.

“I’m my own team.” Sun closed his eyes and was joined by two glowing duplicates of himself.

Perfect, Yatsuhashi thought. I hope this works.

He looked at each of them in turn. “If you remember what I’m saying in a minute, I want you to get out of here with Velvet and Neptune. They’ll explain everything. Don’t wait; don’t try to save me.”

“Hey, eyes over here,” Sun said, pointing at his face. “These guys are just extensions of my consciousness.”

“I hoped you’d say that.” Yatsuhashi rushed for Sun.

Sun leaped out of the way while one of the clones slipped behind Yatsuhashi’s knees and the other one pushed him, making Yatsuhashi topple backward.

Yatsuhashi rolled away from them just as Sun came crashing down where he’d been standing. Yatsuhashi punched one duplicate and kicked at another, causing them to scatter out of the way.

He and Sun fought hand to hand for a while, roving all around the cage, while Sun’s duplicates taunted him and got their own hits in. Yatsuhashi pounded the ground hard enough to shake Sun and his duplicates off their feet, creating a big crack in the floor. Then he reached around and grabbed for Sun, holding on tight to his tail. He spun Sun around and around, focusing his Semblance on erasing the last few seconds of memory.

Sun picked up speed. “Whooooa!”

Finally Yatsuhashi let Sun go, and he crashed into the door of the cage—which burst open, sending him sprawling out into the crowd. Velvet and Neptune ran to his side.

Yatsuhashi saw something shiny on the floor as Sun stumbled to his feet. He picked it up. It was the crown Sun had been wearing.

When Yatsuhashi put it on his head, the crowd grew quiet.

“So who’s next?” Yatsuhashi asked.

Then someone started clapping. Yatsuhashi looked up and saw the announcer grinning and leading the applause. “An excellent show! You’ve earned an audience with the Crown.”

“I’d rather quit while I’m ahead,” Yatsuhashi said.

“No one quits in Vacuo. We have a very special treat for our final fight of the evening.”

Yatsuhashi flicked his eyes toward the crowd. Sun had recovered and he was slipping toward the exit with Velvet and Neptune. They would need a distraction if they were going to escape unnoticed. And if they didn’t go unnoticed, well … Yatsuhashi was glad to see Velvet somehow still had Anesidora with her. They’d be fine.

He turned his attention back to the banged-up door of the cage as a familiar Huntress stepped inside.

“Great,” Yatsu muttered. It was Carmine Esclados.

She tossed her bright red hair back and grinned, her sai floating just over her right shoulder.

“That hardly seems fair,” Yatsuhashi said, his eye on her weapon.

“If you wanted fair, you should have stayed out of Vacuo,” she shot back. Aggressively, Carmine strode toward him.

Yatsuhashi backed up. Using his Semblance and sending Sun out of the cage had pushed his Aura to a new low. He wanted to throw in the towel, but he had to give everyone a good show.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Yatsuhashi said quietly.

His concern was wasted on Carmine. “As if!” Carmine retorted. She swung her leg toward him and the heel of her shoe sliced Yatsuhashi’s chest, shattering his Aura. Her shoes had blades in them. Of course they did.

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 12