Yang and Blake whoop CRDL's butt in a training session and gain some unlikely admirers, prompting them to do what any sane and rational person would do in this situation- pretend to date!
In the words of past me: I still can't believe this turned into a fake dating AU.
Chapter 1Weiss still didn't think there was anything wrong with the solution, it was working right?
Blake would rather that they pick a different strategy of dealing with it- why did they listen to Weiss again?
Yang just wishes her sister and Weiss were a little bit less meddlesome when it came to her love life- especially when it involved her own, very attractive, partner.
And Ruby? Had Ruby known exactly what was going to happen when she suggested Blake and Yang fo match against CRDL- well…
She probably wouldn't have changed a thing. It would all turn out alright in the end.
She hoped.
The Beginning of it All- Glynda's Sparring Class
"C'mon sis! Kick their butts!" Ruby paused for a moment, as if remembering she should probably cheer on her other teammate too, "You too Blake- show 'em who's boss!"
Blake turned to her team leader in the stands shouting down at them and gave a sarcastic wave of thanks, catching Weiss rolling her eyes at her hyperactive partner before shouting down her own words of encouragement.
"Remember their weaknesses- we went over this you two, don't screw it up." Okay so it might have been the Schnee brand of encouragement but at least she was trying. It was certainly an improvement on past attempts- clearly positive reinforcement was not a thing in the chilly halls of Schnee manor. Blake's smile turned genuine as she acknowledged her friends.
"Thanks Ruby. And Weiss, I suppose."
Beside her Yang was limbering up, deploying and collapsing Ember Celica to check for issues with her weapon. Judging by her double fist pump, the final deploying of the gauntlets, and her smile widening as she noticed she was being watched, there were no issues with her precious weapons. Blake gave her own weapons a customary once over, not that Gambol Shroud was ever going to be ill maintained- having Ruby "Weapon Nut" Rose as your team leader meant that weapon maintenance was a mandatory, twice a week team activity. Still, she smoothly cycled her weapon through its forms before resheathing it- starting with her weapon sheathed was an unsettling reminder of Adam but it was habit at this point- a habit that had served her well. She was brought out of her thoughts by a light hip bump courtesy of Yang, who was grinning in anticipation of the fight.
"Ready to kick some racist ass, Belladonna?" Her partner's enthusiasm was infectious as Blake found herself smirking back while raising her own hand for a high five.
"I think you'll find I'm always ready, Xiao Long."
Yang slapped her hand before stepping back smirking appraisingly, catching Blake off guard.
"Seems like I am finally rubbing off on you Blake."
Blake's eyes widened, not at her partner's words, but at the slightly flirty tone she'd said them with. Shrugging it off as just Yang being Yang she was distracted from lingering on it by Glynda's call for both teams to ready and turned to face her teacher, consequently missing her partner's double face palm and muffled self-chastisements.
On the opposite side of the area stood CRDL- not Blake's favourite people by a long shot. They were irritating and short tempered on a normal day and today they were bristling at the injustice of- once again- being picked to be the testing team against fewer numbers.
"I can't believe we have to fight the bimbo and the emo."
So, Dove could speak, Blake had been wondering about that. It had been a real possibility for a while that he'd managed to get into Beacon solely relying on hand signals and grunts, but apparently, he wasn't a mute. And he never even went for the easy Faunus joke; he must be scared. Or already working on pre-fight damage limitation- maybe he assumed that by not reminding the two of them that they were racists they would have a better chance of getting out of this not seriously maimed. Blake smiled slightly; Team RWBY remembered exactly how CRDL had reacted to the reveal of her heritage and they were not going to forget it any time soon.
Of course, it was Dove's leader who tended to do most of the talking, so she could be forgiven for the assumption of his muteness, and once again Cardin did not disappoint when he opened his stupid mouth.
"Is the princess to scared to get her hands dirty? Not ready to take on real men? What about your leader- fell off her bike once the training wheels came off?"
Ah Cardin- with wit like that who needed sleeping pills?
Their taunts failed to have any effect on their targets as Yang just laughed them off and put Blake's thoughts into words.
"Wow Cardin, been thinking those up for a while now? I hope you didn't strain your brain too much, we can't have your IQ dropping into negative numbers.
Blake let out a slightly undignified snort at that one, drawing Yang's blinding grin her way, it was her turn to throw the boys off their game- what was the point of a good fight if you couldn't get a bit of a dig in there?
"Ruby felt it would be unfair to have the whole team fight- besides they got all their training done wrestling Zwei into his bath last night, really tired them out y'know? They thought any fight against you guys was going to be less… how did they put it Yang?"
"Less exhausting? Straining? Testing? …Worth their time?" Yang popped in, ticking her suggestions off her fingers as she spoke. Blake turned back to their fuming opponent with an uncharacteristically cheery smile, infuriating them even more.
"Right. Any of those will do. Take your pick or come up with more; we certainly did."
Glynda chose that moment to stride up, cutting off whatever poor imitations of a comeback CRDL could have hoped to respond with- it was a mercy really, and Blake had a sneaking suspicion that Glynda was looking forward to this fight more than usual. Of course, it was only a hunch- fuelled and fanned by the almost constant smirk that appeared on the professor's face whenever she mentioned CRDL's name.
Yes, just a suspicion.
"Alright teams, remember that the aim of this combat exercise is twofold: CRDL- remember you are a team and you should work together like a team. Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long: this exercise is a test of your abilities against more numerous and more armoured foes." Not necessarily smarter though, but Blake and Yang both nodded at their teacher's stern words, both their grins being replaced with more serious looks as they prepared themselves for the fight.
"This match will last until one team is completely knocked out. Remember that once some's aura has fallen below the limit they are out," she punctuated this with a stern glare at both teams, "and they are not to be attacked."
CRDL once again plastered smirks across their stupid, dumb faces, urgh so predictable. Blake flicked her eyes to her partner who was crouching in her starting position, ready to launch forward and blindside them while she flanked them.
"3."
Yang grinned.
"2."
Dove and Lark began to look worried.
"1."
Blake grabbed the hilt of Gambol Shroud.
"Begin."
The Stands- Glynda's Sparring Class
"This is gonna be awesome!"
There wasn't much that could excite Ruby Rose as much as watching people spar. Well, apart from getting into fights herself and maybe cookies. Weiss rolled her eyes and looked back at the ring, hoping that: one, Yang would remember her advice and two, she would actually use it. Blake was the more strategically minded one of the partnership but whether she could reign in the blonde was a different fight entirely.
It was common knowledge that one of the only people on campus more easily angered than Yang was Cardin- a fact that Blake and Yang were 100% ready to take advantage of. Hopefully. Once he was angry he made mistakes- going so far as to take out one of his team members when CRDL fought Pyrrha. Team knockouts were exactly the thing Blake was supposed to be goading him into with her shadow clones and having fought against them herself Weiss knew how frustrating the Faunus' incredible mobility could be. An easy way to get in his head.
While Cardin was easily the strongest person on Team CRDL, the fastest was definitely Russell- who was also probably the most strategically minded on the team. However, in hand to hand combat Yang dominated the competition, a couple of solid punches should get him on the back foot and hopefully take him out of the running- factoring in a couple of blows from Cardin's mace to charge up her semblance before finishing him off.
And last and most definitely least, Dove and Sky, who may be in the running for the most useless Hunters in Beacon considering their general incompetence and terrible weapon choices. Weiss was honestly considering buying them new weapons just to shut up Ruby's complaining- she had taken their basic and, shock horror, non-transforming weapons as a personal slight.
Actually, Dove and Sky hadn't really been factored into the plan that much, Ruby had just assumed that Blake or Yang, or maybe even Cardin, would take them out at some point throughout the match. A pretty safe bet.
"Begin."
Immediately Yang boosted straight off to scatter CRDL from their position; being aggressive and ending the match as fast as possible was the best option for winning- dragging the match out would only let the greater numbers win by attrition. As expected the boys split, Cardin and Dove dodging left while Russell and Sky leapt to right, the latter losing his footing and falling to the ground.
Yang chose to follow to the right.
Sending off a blind shot at the boy on the ground to keep him down for longer, the blonde turned to the dual wielding opponent next to her, who had recovered from the initial shock much better than Sky and was now on the attack. Yang easily dodged the first swing of his knife and sunk her fist into his stomach as he passed- knocking the wind out of him and taking a chunk out of his aura, while throwing him to the ground for a moment of respite that was quickly ruined by Sky lunging at her with his polearm. A quick shot from her gauntlets allowed her to leap backwards to plan her next attack while also getting herself out of range of the long weapon. Sky, in a rare moment of intelligence, continued to press the attack as he forced Yang backwards but his offensive only lasted until she grabbed the polearm and gave a tug bringing him into her range.
On the other side of the training ring Blake took on the other members of CRDL, deftly weaving in and out of the flailing boys, slicing with both parts of her weapon while she summoned clone after clone to launch off and distract her opponents. Cardin was already getting angry and poor Dove was getting the brunt of it- the close quarters nature of his sword and his slow reactions left him well acquainted with the business end of his leader's mace. Eventually he managed to stumble out of the fray, ending up somewhere between the two fights trying to get his bearings.
While her tactic was working, Weiss could see Blake's approach wasn't going anywhere fast and clearly, she could as well. A sneaky foot sent Cardin sprawling and allowed her a quick look around, formulating a plan in her head as she gave a shout of "Yang!" throwing Gambol Shroud at her partner, "Trip!". The blonde's head flicked from the weapon being launched towards her to Sky standing next to her and then to a stunned Dove tripping backwards in the middle of everything and made her decision. She ran towards Dove.
As she ran, Gambol Shroud flew past her and wrapped itself around Sky's waist, his eyes widening comically as he realised what was happening. The line went taught as Yang reached Dove, who only had a moment to try and understand the situation before a golden gauntlet smashed into his face, knocking him out cold as he flew towards the wall.
*Bzzt*
The ribbon of Blake's weapon caught on Dove's body and swung Sky towards Yang, the arc of his swing bringing him neatly in range of spectacular clothesline as she stuck her arm out to catch him, interrupting his unexpected backflip with a shotgauntlet powered punch to send him face first to the ground.
*Bzzt*
"Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark are both eliminated." Glynda's amusement was well suppressed, but Weiss could pick out the hint of a chuckle from her instructor- it seems like the referee might not be completely unbiased.
Quickly unwrapping the ribbon from her groaning opponent on the ground, Yang jogged over to her partner to group up. Even sitting in the stands Weiss could hear the terrible joke she inflicted on Blake and consequently the rest of them.
"Do you think Dove enjoyed his trip?"
Ruby booed while Blake looked amused.
"I'm sure we can get a review and rating for the Yang Express after we finish up the rest of his team."
Ruby booed louder.
Blake and Yang ignored her.
"You want to take Russell?" Yang stuck her thumb at the boy who was breathing heavily as he clutched his stomach, "I could use a little boost and I think that mace is the perfect pick me up."
"I'll never get over how weird your semblance is," Blake looked over her shoulder at Cardin, who was now running towards them with a very unpleasant look on his face, and blanched, "Of course I'll take Russell. Have fun with Cardin."
Both girls took to their new opponents with relish, as double daggers clashed with sword and sheath and mace was deflected by gauntlets. Each fight was now between similar weapons, making it a matter of pride who won. Yang and Cardin's match was a no holds beatdown as they traded blows and shots that went straight for each other's weak spots, each one chipping at way at the other's aura. However, it was Russell that went down first, unable to counter Blake using Gambol Shroud to keep him at a distance before closing the distance for an aura shattering blow from her two weapons.
*Bzzt*
"Russell Thrush has been eliminated."
The buzzer distracted Cardin, allowing Yang to roll out and get close to Blake for the final fight.
Cardin seemed confused as he looked around, apparently unaware that the rest of his team had been knocked out. He was the only one left- his team lay scattered about the training hall cradling their aching injuries- and now Weiss could see the black and yellow pair look at each other deciding exactly how to finish this. Yang's crude hand signal indicated exactly what one she wanted and it seemed like Blake was excited to try out the move on a live subject- judging by her grin anyway. Ruby caught on to what they were doing immediately.
"Ohmigosh they're setting up for 'Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee'!" Weiss couldn't stop her reflexive eye roll at her partner.
"You do realise that the only thing dumber than team attack names is excessively long team attack names? Never even minding you getting excited over them."
Ruby narrowed her eyes at her partner, "Dumb, says the girl that got excited over her new 'E-Z glide handwriting pen' when literally every pen is the same." Weiss recoiled like she had been slapped across her face.
"Ruby Rose take that back right now! That is completely incorrect! Everyone knows-"
Pyrrha leant over to the pair, interrupting their argument, "Maybe you two want to leave the argument till later and focus on the move that I know they have been trying to get right for weeks?"
The pair blushed and turned their attention back to the rest of their teammates down in the ring, circling their last opponent. The key to this move was disorienting the target until they had no idea where the next hit was going to come from, in this case achieved by Blake and her shadows. She ran in, flipping around the slow mace wielder, once again avoiding his cumbersome swings while Yang stood back, waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Then Blake left a shadow right in front of Yang before flipping backwards over her partner's head, giving the perfect setup for her to go crashing through the shadow clone, taking Cardin by complete surprise- having expected another slice from Blake's sword rather than the explosive fist courtesy of her fiery partner. He had no chance of staying up after that.
*Bzzt*
"Cardin Winchester had been eliminated."
Glynda emerged from the shadows where she had been standing for the duration of the match, lightly smiling at the black and yellow pair, a pair that were celebrating their win with their usual exuberance- well, Yang's usual exuberance, Blake simply smirked gleefully at the audience of their smackdown victory.
"With a total knockout, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long win the match- excellent team work you two, I don't think I've seen to partners as in-sync as you in a long time, although," Glynda regarded the victorious duo over her glasses, "Your impromptu chat in the middle of the fight could have been dropped."
Yang's smile fell as she pouted at the stern professor, "Aw, c'mon Professor, we were clearly discussing the strategy going forward- puns don't discount the fact that I told her I would go punch Cardin and that she should probably take out Russell," she locked her fingers together, "Synergy."
Naturally Glynda looked to the calmer of the duo but sadly it seemed that Blake was in one of her "Be A Bit Of A Shit Moods", as Weiss had decided to name them after the fourth incident where the Faunus' facetious remarks had wound them up in detention/almost jail/actual jail. Despite Blake's arguments otherwise, while she didn't start things, she tended to just escalate situations because she, ironically and of course meant in a completely not racist way, couldn't hold her tongue.
"Of course it was a strategy meeting Professor- any witty banter exchanged was solely because we are just too hilarious to contain it for a full-" she checked the time- "five minutes."
At that, the professor cracked a smile. A smile that dropped quickly when one of CRDL groaned from his position on the floor- reminding her of the shambolic (in Wess' opinion anyway) performance of the losing team. She turned to berate them for their complete lack of team coordination, spatial awareness and general strategic planning. It was almost as entertaining as the match itself, lasted almost the same length too, until it was cut off by bell signalling the end of the class.
The victorious Team RWBY left the gym for lunch, high on wiping the floor with the annoyances of CRDL in the second best beatdown of sparring class; Ruby in the lead dissecting the match like any good strategist, Weiss berating her partner for focussing too much on the "cool moves" and Blake and Yang strolling along content behind the bickering pair. A completely normal post-match situation then.
They were, however, completely oblivious to the unintended consequences of their fight, consequences that would become apparent very, very soon.