Let it be said that Robin Steel absolutely hated her sister, Columbia. Whether it was because of the fact that nearly everyone else loved her older sister or the fact that Columbia had disappeared five years ago and left Robin to fend for herself, she couldn't say. Abandonment does leave an impressionable mark on a 17 year old. May be that's why, as the crowd roared her name, she felt a small twinge of pride, finally she wasn't being—
"Give it up for the little sister of the legendary Columbia Steel!"
Too late, she spoke too soon. The unseen announcer had already said what she had feared. The idea that the her opponent was going to be fighting a younger version of The Great ColumbiaTM had been planted in the audience's mind as they roared even louder. Robin stood in her corner of the arena clipping her helmet and armor on, her weapon laying on the floor next to her glinting in the stage lights that illuminated the arena.
It wasn't anything fancy, the arena, just a small little box that could contain two fighters or a fighter and a medium-sized animal. Nothing like the students over at Beacon had for their Vytal festival, no Robin could only dream of fighting in an arena like that. Her battles were saved for underground where she fought for faunus eyes only, after all they were the only ones who would really accept her fighting skills. Humans and faunus were separated by one thing only, their features. Faunus possessed shared characteristics with that of animals, whether it be cat ears, tusks, tails, you name it. The feature that had made the Steel sisters so recognizable were their shared pig snouts replacing a normal human nose. Robin had also made out with a pair of sizable canines that jutted out from her lower lip, hence the mask.
After affixing her steel kneepads and shin-guards she was ready and lofted her weapon up onto her shoulder. Lovingly Robin ran her thumb across the handle of the brushed steel mace she had named Migrare. Made all by herself with money she had saved up from odd jobs around the city of Vale. Her best stint was working for a Dust store until it was robbed by the White Fang. For all the good they claimed to do for faunus they sure seemed determined to give faunus a bad name.
Swinging the mace by her hip she looked around the crowd, she couldn't see them too well saving for a few spectators in the front on account of the lights that made the floor of the arena glow a bright white. Giving a salute to the crowd she began her waltz around the ring waiting for her opponent to be thrust into the ring.
"And now, her challenger… Titus Obsidian!"
A tall wiry man stepped into the arena dressed in black from head to toe, his eyes as pitch as the night of a new moon. Both opponents made their way to the center of the ring, as was customary before each fight. Robin examined her opponent, making careful mental notes on his stance and armor. He wore lightweight clothing and walked with a tall posture, the man dwarfed Robin in comparison. Obviously he would be focusing on quick attacks and did not anticipate to get hit. With a small smile Robin grasped the man's forearm as the referee called for the match to begin. Both opponents headed to their corners and prepped.
Robin took a breath before squatting into her starting position, her weapon hoisted close to her chest with the silver globe of the mace hanging just in front of her face. A smirk was hidden by her helmet as she saw Titus begin to swing a small blade on the end of a thick rope. This guy was in her element, she was the home team.
"AND FIGHT!"
With a yell Robin immediately ran forward towards her opponent, her mace aimed for the man's arms. Injure the arms and the crowd will still have a show and she would still have a win. The man easily anticipated her aim and launched his blade towards her face. In response, Robin dropped to her knees and slid underneath the loose blade and under the man's legs. Hooking Titus's leg as she went by he hit the floor with a thud. Immediately she switched directions and attempted to pin him down before she was thrown off , landing back on her side of the ring. Quickly she recovered noticing that the rope had hardened into a staff with the same blade at the end.
With smile she twisted the bottom of her mace and the silver globe expanded, letting loose a string of iron chains. Twisting it back the globe shrank back to normal size with new spikes jutting out of it. Placing the handle in her left hand she began to swing the now flail like weapon, increasing the radius of the circle as she walked closer to her opponent. The ball grazed the floor sparking as the spikes dug into the floor. She always gave the audience the same show each time and every time she heard the same vicious roar from the crowd as she advanced on her victim.
Suddenly he was gone. Blinking in surprise her even swing of the flail faltered for a split second. Her smile dropped and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The guy was probably using his semblance which probably was some sort of invisibility or cloaking or whatever. She saw a silver flicker out of the corner of her eye and a sudden burst of pain bloomed from her waist.
Reacting quickly she swung the flail in the general direction of the strike and stepped back into a defensive position. She drew in a sharp breath as she felt the cut deepen ever so slightly. Without even looking down she knew that her signature blue top was tinged with a deep maroon, she really needed to invest in more armor.
"Come on out and play..." Robin called out, hoping that she could at least draw a response out of the guy. "...Come on Titus, would this be more fun if it was face to face?"
She let the radius of her circle grow wider, hoping it would catch on something attached to an invisible man. Looking at the ground she saw the metal floor of the arena flicker for a moment. Bingo, they guy could make himself invisible but he couldn't make himself intangible, thus leaving a shadow.
"You can't keep this up for long..." she trailed off again keeping an eye on the shadow. It stilled and she knew he was preparing for an attack. Then she saw the same glimmer, the blade of his weapon aimed for her back. Robin kicked her leg up and dodged the attack while pinning the pesky blade to the floor. Titus flickered back into existence for a moment and she saw the launching of a second roped knife. Where was he getting these?
Leaning back, she dodged the second easily and launched her flail at him aiming square for his chest. Smiling as she felt the dull thud of the metal against his chest. Letting go of the first knife, Titus flew back hitting the cage surrounding the arena. Dancing around the chain of her flail, Robin wound it around her arms are back while keeping in time with the momentum.
As the ball swung around her she tried to bloc the majority of Titus's attacks as he dragged himself back up to his feet. She felt a few slices to her arms and legs that she missed blacking, but now her adrenaline was pumping and the cuts felt barely anymore than stings. Spinning on her feet with the grace of a season ballroom dancer she unwound all the chains from her body and began retracting them. Soon there was no more than a foot of chain left and distance left between her and Titus.
He thrust both knives out in a last ditch effort only to have them tangled up in Robin's foot of chain and yanked out of his hands and tossed across the arena. Retracting the last of her chain she aimed at the man's legs to knock him down once more. Titus dodged with a bloody smile as he managed to flip himself over Robin, using the wall as support.
Making a dash towards his discarded weapons Robin lazily pointed the smooth globe of her mace at him before pressing a button on the hilt to launch it at him. The spiked ball hit him in the calves and with a quick swing from Robin it wrapped itself around his ankles and one last yank from Robin was all it took to bring Titus down.
The next few minutes were always a blur, but Robin knew the next few events by heart. The alarm would sound for the fighters to stop fighting and a winner would be declared. She would get her prize money for the night and be invited backstage to clean her wounds and meet her adoring fans, which usually consisted of this one faunus boy Coop Bronze. Then she would limp her way home, a small one studio apartment in the bad part of Vale, and sleep off her wounds until the next night where it would start all over again.
Only tonight was different, as she was ushered back stage she saw Coop as usual, hard to miss him on account of his antlers. Taking off her helmet she waved at him while combing the other hand through her inky black hair.
"R-Robs! They saw her! She's here!"
Her smile faltering at the sight of her best friend's distress she stopped walking for a moment to look at him, copper hair disheveled and bottle green eyes wide with excitement.
"Who are you talking about Coop? Who's here?" Robin questioned grasping his shoulders hoping to calm him down.
"Your sister, Columbia, she was here tonight."