"Penny and Neopolitan versus Ruby and Weiss" announced Professor Goodwitch as she read the match decided by the computer program.
This sparing class was two-on-two matches using the assigned partners. Unlike the previous matches, for this one the professor's voice hitched on the first two names. As cheers of 'pink!' morphed into a chant from Nora and Coco, the professor watched Penny and Neo make their way to the stage, her typically passive smile fell to a tight line. Her right eye twitched, her mouth threatened to become a scowl, and her free hand, not holding the scroll, tightened its grip on her crop to reassure her that some order still remained in this world.
Nora's enthusiastic chanting put her on her feet, while her partner echoed her words and smiled from her seat. The volume of the two was softened by the murmurs working their way through the other students, a mix of anticipation, fear, and desire for blood expressed more in the tone than the innocuous words they spoke. Penny took care to hold her head high, she smiled at her adversaries, nodded to her team mates left behind, and took her position beside her partner. Neo was not less poised, simply no more than any other occasion, as she twirled her parasol and judged her foes for the day.
This quiet grace was off-set by the excitement from Ruby that mirrored Nora's, beside Weiss's calculating determination. Pink battling red could be a considered a war of hue, a civilized conflict of noble purpose. Fortunately for the audience, the two teams were on friendly terms and such formality or restraint would not be tolerated, which Glynda Goodwitch would soon realize and come to regret.
"Begin." said the professor with a hint of resignation.
Ruby was first, her weapon unfolding as she charged ahead.
"Wait!" called Weiss, intent on a planned strategy. Ruby had no intention of hesitating, something Weiss knew better than to expect, so she followed behind her leader.
Penny dodged the red blur.
Momentum carried Ruby to the end of the stage before she could slow herself.
Weiss shifted to the side, holding her rapier for a direct attack before aiming it at the floor, forming ice spikes.
Neo had dodged in the same direction as Penny, now directly in Ruby's path.
Ruby struck out, using her long reach instead of speed.
Neo moved to spin out of the way, but slid on the rose petals and fell to the floor.
Two large knives struck out at Weiss.
Neo kicked at Ruby's legs in retaliation, but the effort went unnoticed as the latter jumped toward Penny.
Using two glyphs, Weiss propelled herself off the floor, then to the fallen Neo.
Penny blocked the scythe with her arm to the rod
Neo rolled then rose to her feet.
Penny jumped back, intending to retreat to a ranged distance, in effect missing a shot-propelled slash of the scythe.
Switching again, Weiss aimed fire at Penny while Ruby jabbed the sharpened butt of her weapon at Neo.
Penny blocked with a spinning shield of blades.
Neo shattered, appearing two metres behind with her parasol open and resting on her shoulder.
Ruby laughed as she stepped forward and swung the short, spiked end of her curved blade at Neo, missing easily. "Come on! I know you two are better than this! You haven't attacked once!"
Weiss took the moment to stand still, sizing up the competition. "tch, it's not like we have landed a single hit, Ruby. How about we try this my way?"
"Fine" acquiesced Ruby, her weapon lowered in temporary defeat.
Penny, knowing better than to let the pause go wasted, pulled two blades from behind Ruby and Weiss closer while sending a barrage of them from the front.
Ruby parried the ones directly from Penny by spinning her weapon, hoping back and to the side enough to miss the blade from behind she had not noticed.
Weiss captured the frontal assault with a glyph, dropping the halted blades to the floor as the one behind her sliced her arm.
This did quite a bit to anger the heiress; she set a glyph behind and above Ruby, and another underneath Neo.
Neo noticed she could not move as she watched Ruby jump back to the airborne glyph and be launched towards her.
Penny ran forward, blocking the rocketed, revolving, red registrant.
Neo closed her parasol and charged Weiss, or more correctly, aimed to charge past her and pull her back using the curved handle.
Weiss parried, expecting a frontal assault, although it forced her to step back.
Ruby spun to the side and landed on her feet, crouched.
Penny kept five blades as a spinning shield and sent the remainder from their various places on the floor at Ruby.
Neo ducked to dive behind Weiss, but was met with another blow, forcing her to parry.
Ruby shot behind her, using her crouch and the extra momentum to dodge by way of bowling into Neo, who was sent sprawling.
"Neo!" called Penny, who turned to retreat to her partner's position.
Weiss blocked Penny before two paces were completed, rapier wielded in the hand whose shoulder was not dyed red. "I didn't forget about you." she said, anger for her injury not the least bit concealed.
Penny trapped Weiss's weapon between two blades and spun it out of her hand, tossing it to the side. Her own blades began to collect behind her as she hurried to Neo.
Ruby rolled out of Penny's way, and ran to Weiss, excited about how she dealt with Neopolitan.
Neo was just getting to her feet, shaken but not particularly harmed.
Nora had sat down and ceased her cheering at the start of the match, pulled into her chair by Coco. Unbeknownst to her, the distance from the edge of the seat to her knees increased steadily, nearly sliding off her chair by the time she stood, leaning over the first row.
"You can do it guys! Neo! Get up! You aren't done yet, get up and kick their butts! I know you can win this. Team Pink for the win! Beat them and claim victory!" Nora shouted above the cheers and advice that had streamed from the audience for much of the match. Her encouragement was heard, Penny even stole a glance to her spectating teammates.
Penny nodded.
"Neopolitan, Nora wants us to win."
Neo smiled.
Penny turned from her partner to Ruby and Weiss, apparently in some debate about their strategy.
Neo smirked.
Penny flung two blades into position in the wall opposite their opponents.
Neo walked to the center of the stage.
Penny ran into position just a metre in front of and centered between her embedded blades.
Ruby and Weiss nodded, then both ran at Neo curving around to either side.
Both weapons hit the illusion.
Neo appeared closest to Ruby, her smirk unwavering.
Ruby swung.
Neo jumped, landed on the blade, and backflipped off toward Weiss.
Weiss attacked in a flurry of jabs.
Neo dodged most of the planned combination before rotating her parasol from her shoulder, using it to push the rapier to the side with its own momentum, and kneeing Weiss.
As Weiss fell the back end of Ruby's scythe swung for Neo's head, shattering a smug illusion.
A hum was growing in the background, now accompanied by a green light that was getting brighter.
Ruby and Weiss charged to stop Penny, each sticking to opposite sides of the stage.
Neo appeared between them and Penny, the illusion wide enough to stop them both, if only briefly.
"STOP!"
Professor Goodwitch's eyes were wide, her voice threatening enough to silence the entire class. No, most of the class. Nora's chanting of 'pink' had resumed, but now faded slowly, and the four combatants seemed to be deaf.
"Enough! Match OVER!"
This too had little effect, causing nothing more than a falter in Ruby and Weiss's progress.
"ENOUGH!" shouted the professor, her voice cracking at the volume and tinged with fear.
Without allowing this command to be ignored, purple tendrils of light reached out from her crop for each of the four students, with an extra to tackle the blades used in Penny's ritual.
Ruby and Weiss were pulled backwards, flying into the air as their momentum fought against it before landing on the floor.
Neo was yanked from near center stage and flung into the railing that separated the stage from the audience.
Penny's arms were bound to her torso, and was pulled towards the audience in such a manner that her legs were forced to stumble in that direction.
The final purple whip struck out at the top three blades, attempting to dislodge them. They succeeded, but not soon enough. The built-up energy found an outlet upwards first, before spilling forward in its originally intended direction.
The students not on stage erupted in rowdy applause and whoops, Nora even standing on her seat and punching upwards while she screamed along with her classmates. It might not have been the most interesting match, nor even the most destructive, but despite not breaking any records or bones it was not a disappointment.
The purple arms vanished, and a hand reached up to run from under one of the professor's closed eyes to her nose. Quietly, easily drowned out by the din of the class, most certainly if her calls of the match being ended went unheard, she took a deep breath and spoke two words that by some miracle where heard by every student in the room and just as surprisingly made it louder: "Class Dismissed."
Not long after, Professor Goodwitch sat at the edge of the stage, leaning her back against the short wall that encircled it in the otherwise vacant room, her scroll held to an ear.
"I ended class early today due to some, collateral damage." she said, her voice soft, not weak but defeated.
On the other end of the call the reply still possessed some mirth. "What? Why is that a probl- oh . . . OH." It had taken a moment for the headmaster to recall the faculty's preferred moniker for team PNNC. "I am afraid to ask, but I must . . ." he began to continue.
The professor answered before he put the question into words. "I think the problem was when Nora asked Penny to win." Her eyes were closed against the painful memory that kept playing in her head.
All trace of mirth foregone, compassion was all that remained when the headmaster said, "I'll bring you some tea in a moment."
"I think something stronger is in order if you ever want this class held again." threatened Professor Goodwitch.