"Aaaaaaand...WELCOME BACK TO THE 35TH VYTAL FESTIVAL TOURNAMENT!" Declared a boisterous voice. "Live from the kingdom of Vacuo, I'm your host, Peter Port, joined by my good friend Professor Bartholomew Oobleck!"
"Doctor." Oobleck corrected his coworker. "And welcome indeed! We have some exciting matches lined up today! This is day one of the doubles round and already we've had some *ahem* explosive matches."
"The best kind of matches." Port interjected. "And this one should prove to be just as impressive! Leetah Matte and Rani Sage, representing team LVDR of Shade take on Apollo and Artie Celeste representing team AAER of Atlas! Now, Barty, is it true that twins tend to make some of the best huntsmen partners in Remnant?"
"Not always the case, but it certainly is for the Celeste twins. We saw a little of their synergy in the "teams" round, but now they only have each other to rely on, and the results should be spectacular!" Oobleck responded.
"Well, enough talking then! Let's get into the match!" Port exclaimed.
Two pairs of students stood across each other on center stage, waiting for the match to begin. Rani's tail lashed back and forth in anticipation, proudly displaying her Faunus trait as it displayed the emotions her face would not. One would imagine her massive sword cumbersome to anyone, but she wore it as if it were an extension of her body. Leetah, on the other hand, looked daintier than her teammate, and seemed to make small jingling sounds with every movement she made (courtesy of the many trinkets sewn to her clothing). She herself was not a Faunus, but her physique and movement would suggest her to have feline origins.
On the other end, stood the Atlesian twins. Apollo's long purple coat with gold lapels and majestic sword sheathed on his back made him look almost regal, but light red hair pulled into a ponytail, and the mischievous glint in his carmine eyes would infer him to be a scoundrel of some sort. Always next to him stood his brother Artie, silent, attentive, ready to fire a shot from his trusty bow at a moment's notice. His attire's green color scheme contrasted his brother's and the messy blonde hair and striking purple eyes would never give anyone the idea the two were even related. Cheers around the stadium echoed as the stage began randomizing itself.
"You boys promise not to go easy on us?" Leetah purred, putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward with a coy smile.
"Wouldn't dream of it, ladies." Apollo said.
"Then show us how weak the comforts of Atlas have made you." Rani taunted.
Artie cocked his eyebrow and turned to his brother, his hands moving quickly in a silent message. Apollo nearly choked on his laughter, infuriating Rani. "And what is so funny?" she demanded.
"Nothing." Apollo chuckled. "With the big talk and big sword, Artie's just wondering if you're compensating for something."
Rani's eye twitched with barely repressed rage. "WHAT?!" she screamed.
"Rani no." Leetah muttered.
"Rani yes." Rani growled.
The four biomes selected, the stage was divided into a desert oasis, a cybernetic structure, an icy wasteland and a lush forest. Leetah smirked at the appearance of the desert while Artie's face brightened at the forest biome being selected, the archer barely being able to contain his excitement.
"Easy, Robin Hood." Apollo warned his brother, humor in his voice. "Let's not flash our cards just yet."
"FIGHTERS READY!" Oobleck's voice rang out. Apollo and Rani mirrored each other's movements reaching back for their swords while Leetah rocked back onto her heels and Artie rolled his shoulders.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"Separate them." Leetah said to Rani with a wicked grin. The momentary shock in the twins' eyes told her the strategy would work.
"BEGIN!"
Leetah moved with incredible speed as she threw herself into Artie, dust glittering behind her as she knocked him into the biome behind him. Apollo moved to aid his brother but was stopped by Rani's massive sword blocking his path. A kick to Apollo's face informed him that Rani would not let him anywhere near his brother. Quickly recovering, Apollo slipped the shield he carried off his shoulder and unsheathed his sword, blocking the next blow with the shield and slashing at Rani.
Artie and Leetah tumbled to a stop in the desert biome, both managing to recover from the collision with grace and agility. The second Artie was on his feet, he reached back for an arrow, nocked it, and fired at Leetah, all in one movement. Leetah shifted out of the arrow's path and rolled onto her feet, kicking up a cloud of sand to blind Artie. The loss of sight was momentary, but enough to make Artie lose track of Leetah. The dust settled and Artie looked back up to see Leetah smirking at him. He nocked another arrow and fired, the arrow sinking into the girl's chest just before she flickered out of existence.
"Back here~!" Leetah's voice purred behind him. Artie pulled several arrows out of his quiver and slammed them into the sandy turf below, cutting his firing effort in half as he turned and fired another arrow, only to yield the same result. "Hehe, nope~!"
"Bartey, what's better than a beautiful and deadly huntress?" Port asked.
"What, Peter?"
"Several beautiful and deadly huntresses."
"Precisely! Miss Matte's semblance allows her to create copies of herself to confuse her enemies. One hit destroys them, but they can deal quite a bit of damage if her opponents let them."
Artie was getting sick of being taunted, and was about to lose it seeing yet another clone of Leetah tauntingly shaking her hips at him…without a sound. Didn't she jingle? Something clicked in Artie's head as he heard jingling behind him.
He may have never been good at talking, but he was an expert at listening. He pressed a button on his bow and pulled an arrow out of his quiver, the tip glowing red. He saw the clone in front of him, but he focused only on his sense of hearing. A slight jingling on his right and he fired in that direction without even looking. The arrow collided with the real Leetah, exploding upon impact and knocking her away into the ice biome.
"Oooh, that's gotta hurt." Port said.
Apollo was having trouble with Rani. He'd always been slow, hence the shield he carried with him. If he couldn't dodge the blow he'd block it. But with Rani it was easier said than done as his shield colliding with her blows sent shockwaves through his entire body. He backflipped away into the cybernetic biome, quickly finding that his feet wouldn't touch the ground.
"Whoops! Looks like Apollo's having trouble with the anti-gravity biome, eh?" Port said.
"Yes, and while it doesn't make for a very practical environmental obstacle, it is an entertaining one." Oobleck commented.
Apollo frowned as he tried to right himself, a vicious cry echoing in front of him. Apollo looked up time to see Rani charging at him, fangs bared. Her attack crashing into him knocked the wind out of Apollo and pushed him further to the edge of the arena. Crap! He was going to sail out of bounds!
"Yeah, no. We're not fighting here anymore." Apollo thought, sheathing his sword and bringing the scabbard in front of him. He folded the grip down and in to turn his weapon into a shotgun, aiming behind him and firing. The recoil of the gun sent him flying in the opposite direction, causing him to crash into Rani and knock them out of the biome into the forest. Rani flipped onto her feet, Apollo sailing past her, unsheathing his sword and twisting the pommel to turn it into a spear. He planted the spear into the ground and used his body's momentum to twist around and kick Rani away.
Leetah sprang to her feet, seeing Artie running at her. Looking at a patch of blue dust crystals among the ice, she broke one off, crushed it under her foot, and her outfit changed from red to blue, glittering with an icy flare. As she moved, ice crystals were flung in Artie's direction, making him roll out of the way. Hiding behind an ice wall, Artie twisted his bow and pulled it apart into two separate daggers, pressing buttons on both hilts to turn them into pistols. He came out from behind cover and fired at Leetah. She shimmered away as the shots hit her, a giggle coming from his left.
"Heya." She said. Artie turned to fire at her but was blasted by an icy wind followed by a kick to the chest that knocked him off his feet. He slid on the ice, his head colliding with an ice mound, dazing him as a buzzer sounded.
"And that eliminates Artie Celeste!" Professor Port shouted.
Apollo's head snapped over to where the two had been fighting and up at the scoreboard that displayed each fighter's aura. Artie's sat at 10/100, the minimum being 15.
"No, you don't." He breathed, racing to the ice biome. He slid across the ice on his shield over to Artie's side. Raising his shield to block Leetah's projectiles, his hand glowed as he placed it on Artie's head.
"C'mon, Artie…" He muttered, eyes on the scoreboard. His own aura decreased as his brother's increased. When both were at 30/100, he stopped and pulled his brother to his feet. "This is why we stick together." He panted. Artie nodded and reassembled his bow as Rani joined Leetah's side.
The boys left the biome as Rani passed Leetah a green crystal. Leetah crushed the crystal and her attire turned green as Rani charged the twins. Artie whistled to Apollo and signed to him, prompting the swordsman to stop and raise his shield over his head. Artie performed a handspring and landed on the shield, jumping as Apollo's push reached its peak. Leetah's spin conjured a gust of wind, knocking Apollo off his feet, but Artie was already airborne, three arrows primed to fire. Rani raised her sword to block them, but the electricity stored in them electrified her sword and shattered her aura. Leetah drew her dagger as the buzzer went off, clashing blades with Apollo, the two smirking at each other as they reached a deadlock.
"NOW!" Apollo shouted. The stage started shaking. Leetah looked over to the forest at the large vine coming at her. It barely missed Apollo as it slammed into Leetah, pushing her out of the ring.
"And that's the match!" Oobleck said, vine withering as Artie dropped his semblance. "I…think. Please wait for official ruling."
Apollo and Artie high-fived each other, but were interrupted by an enraged scream.
"CHEAT! DECIEVER!" Rani shrieked, pointing at Artie as Leetah held her back. "HE WAS ELIMINATED!"
Apollo shrugged, avoiding Artie's scolding glare. "I guess we'll wait and see?"
"Ladies and gentlemen," Oobleck said. "The referees have ruled Artie and Apollo Celeste the winners of this match, as the rejuvenation of aura by usage of a semblance abides by tournament rules."
Leetah smiled, bowing respectfully. "Thank you for the fight." She said.
"Thank you for being wonderful opponents." Apollo countered, he and Artie bowing back.
As they turned to leave Rani glared after them, blood boiling.
"...Never turn your back on an enemy!" she shouted, grabbing Leetah's dagger. Apollo turned and saw her charging him, too slow to respond.
"MOVE!" Artie cried, pushing Apollo out of the way. Apollo fell as Rani sliced Artie's cheek open just as three clones of Leetah tackled her. The crowd gave a horrified gasp as Apollo scrambled over to Artie.
"Are you ok?" he asked, ready to heal him. Artie muttered an affirmative, blood sliding down his face as Rani was dragged away by Shade Security.
Leetah stood in stunned silence. This was the first time something like this had happened at a Vytal Festival…and wouldn't be the last.