Chapter 10
"That's crazy! You and Ozpin were in on it all along, and Cardin had no idea!" Jaune said with surprise. He and Pyrrha were on the dorm rooftop talking about everything that happened behind the scenes. It was a short but complicated story that tied into how the headmaster helped to bring some sense into the Team CRDL leader.
"I wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but the professor was very certain there was still some good sportsmanship in Cardin. Of course, we couldn't guarantee what would happen if his scroll battery didn't die." Pyrrha stated. Jaune was not sure how to take it at first, if Pyrrha wanted Cardin disqualified or not. Whatever the case was could be, Jaune was glad that his teammate was no stressed about it anymore.
"I think everything turned out fine. Now we can kick back and sleep good tonight." Jaune said as he looked up at the sky.
"That reminds me, does Vinnie need to stay with us for one more night?" Pyrrha asked all of the sudden.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I haven't seen him at all today, but I have a strong sense that he'll need a place to stay again." By a mere coincidence, Vinnie appeared on the scene.
"I thought I'd find you two up here. I must say it gives us a very scenic view of the campus." He said to the young students as he took a seat next to Jaune.
"Hey Vinnie! Did you get to watch our games earlier? So far, we're still on a solid streak." Said Jaune.
"I sure did. You've got three points now, Jaune! As long as you maintain your focus, it'll all play out just fine." Vinnie assured his favorite chess buddy.
"I told Jaune that you're more than welcome to stay with us again for the night. We already prepared the sleeping bad again." Pyrrha insisted.
"Awesome! I knew I could count on ya'll to help a brother out. I'll be down in the room getting ready for bed." Vinnie said with gratitude.
"Hold on, Vin. You'll need a scroll to open the lock. I'll help you get in." Jaune said.
"Oh, that's fine. I already- ahem. I mean, yes please. That would help." Vinnie corrected himself before could blabbermouth about Watts' scroll.
"It's getting late, anyway. We should all go back inside." The redhead said to her leader and the hustler. The trio got up on their feet and went back through the exit, making their way back to the room of Team JNPR.
In Team RWBY's dorm room, Blake was quietly reading her favorite book Ninjas of Love while Weiss was looking over her notation sheet from round 3. Ruby and Yang were playing a casual game of chess, with Zwei eagerly watching on the side.
"That was a very good game we had, Yang. You really like to get aggressive with your knights, don't you?" Said Ruby.
"It's all part of the fun. I figured it would be best to attack with the cute little pony when given the opportunity. On the other hand, you saw through me plan and punished me big time." Yang said cheerfully. "Oh, by the way, you're in check." Ruby moved her black king to safety from the white knight's attack. Yang then followed up with her Queen sliding down into the back rank, ending the game. "Checkmate."
"Good game." Ruby said kindly to her sister. Weiss and Blake both leaped out of their spots and attempted to brandish their weapons, only to realize that they were completely unarmed.
"We really need to come up with a new name for our move." Blake said regretfully.
"Well Yang, at least you still got some good moves. I know you can win tomorrow." Ruby said to her sister.
"I'll give it my all. Seriously though, it would be cool to win both games in one day. That'll put me up to two points. Speaking of which, how did the two of you do last round?" Yang asked both the faunus and the heiress.
"I had a close game against Mercury, but then I blundered the game away." Blake answered. "It's incredible how only one bad move in the endgame can determine the result so easily. Oh well, you get what you get on any given day."
"I drew against Penny in round 2 and defeated Velvet in round 3. I still have a chance for first, but only if I score two more points." Weiss stated.
"I know you can do it, Weiss! As your greatest BFF, I will give you the biggest good luck hug to help you win tomorrow!" Ruby cheered as she darted over to her teammate to give a tight hug.
"I am dying and screaming in the inside." Weiss whispered to herself as her left eyed twitched in annoyance.
Meanwhile, Cinder's faction was getting ready for bed while still thinking all about the tournament. The devious diva was in the bathroom while Mercury and Emerald were lying on their beds looking up at the ceiling. Between the two of them, the dark-skinned pickpocket was the angriest and least willing to talk about her day
"So, you lost to the goody-good shoes, eh? Mercury teased his partner in crime. In truth, he was still mentally sore from losing to Jaune.
"Better than losing to the dimwit you played." Emerald sneered. She turned her back towards her silver haired friend to emphasize her angry mood.
"Look, he just got lucky. When I had my queen up his grill, you could see the fear in his eyes." Mercury answered back while trying to defend his case. "As soon as I realized Jaune had the active king, I offered his ass a draw, but he didn't buy into it. I guess the boss will have to fry his carcass." In the meantime, Cinder opened the door and walked in to see her two cohorts venting off steam.
"I know you two had a rough day with Team JNPR. Make no mistake, Mercury. Your victory against the faunus was rather impressive. Think of it as your redemption for losing to the young contender."
"Wait, back up a minute. The quiet girl from Team RWBY is a faunus?" Emerald asked for clarification.
"That bow she wears should not fool you so easily, Emerald." Cinder stated. "I know from experience about those with concealed animal attributes. Of course, they all have different reasons and different methods. I know one personally and it pains me to say that you will meet him eventually. Believe me, he is someone you can never forget after meeting him the first time." Upon saying all of this, Cinder could only imagine the gnarly scorpion tail and the maniacal laughter of her inner-circle associate; Tyrian Callows. The mere thought of him made the diva cringe. "I apologize for side-tracking. We need all the rest we can get for tomorrow." All three of them called it a night and turned the lights off. Before closing her eyes, the femme fatale had one last thought on her mind.
"I can't wait to crush the boy myself. After I'm win, he'll never want to play again." Cinder whispered to herself with a wicked smile as her eyes glowed orange.
In the early morning, all of the students were invited once again to another breakfast, a way to keep their appetite satisfied before the 10 AM match. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were sitting together near the end of the dining hall, closest to the door. Suddenly, Ruby's favorite artificial friend arrived at their table to say hello.
"Salutations. I hope everybody is enjoying a good hearty breakfast." Penny greeted.
"Hi Penny. You seem very energetic today. Are you running on good batt-, I mean, energy today?" Ruby asked, while also correcting herself.
"Boy do I feel great today. The tournament has been such a wonderful learning experience. Also, thank you for a wonderful game, Weiss Schnee. I look forward to a rematch in the future."
"Likewise. I hope you do well in your games today." Weiss replied.
"Thank you for the compliment. I must be going now." Penny made her exit and left without eating, much to everyone's surprise besides Ruby.
"She's nice, but very socially awkward." Weiss commented.
"I didn't see her eat anything. Not even the bacon, the cereal, or the pancakes! Who doesn't like pancakes!?" Nora freaked.
"I'm sure Penny has some very strict diet that she has to follow." Ruby said with a wide nervous grin.
"There's a good chance the pairings will be up about an hour before the round starts." Said Ren.
"In fact, I see Professor Port putting up the bulletin board right now as we speak." Blake noted.
"I'll go take a quick look to see who I'm playing. Don't worry, I'll be back." Jaune said as he got up from his seat.
"He's definitely the most passionate player out of all of us. I'd better go check on him." Pyrrha said, getting up to follow her friend.
Jaune approached the pairing sheet before anyone else had a chance to look at it. Knowing whom he would be playing was all part of the mental preparation. The real question in his mind was whether he would be playing a friend or a foe. Jaune skimmed through the list to look for his own name as well as his own friends.
1
White: Cinder Fall (1900) 3.0
Black: Penny Polendina (unr) 2.5
2
White: Weiss Schnee (1550) 2.5
Black: Jaune Arc (unr) 3.0
3
White: Pyrrha Nikos (1700) 2.0
Black: Fox Alister (unr) 2.0
4
White: Cardin Winchester (unr) 2.0
Black: Mercury Black (1650) 2.0
5
White: Coco Adel (1500) 2.0
Black: Dove Bronzewing (1600) 1.5
6
White: Lie Ren (1250) 1.0
Black: Velvet Scarlatina (unr) 1.5
7
White: Sky Lark (unr) 1.0
Black: Yatsuhashi Daichi (1750) 1.0
8
White: Emerald Sustrai (1450) 1.0
Black: Ruby Rose (unr) 1.0
9
White: Russell Thrush (unr) 0
Black: Blake Belladonna (1350) 1.0
10
White: Yang Xiao Long (unr) 0
Black: Nora Valkyrie (unr) 0
"Let's see what we got here. Pyrrha's facing Fox, Ren's paired against Velvet, I'm playing… Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no! Not her! Anybody but her!" Jaune bolted out the doors and ran outside in frustration. Pyrrha followed as fast as she could, and eventually caught up to her leader.
"Jaune, what's the matter? Why are you so upset?" Pyrrha quickly asked.
"See for yourself! I have to play against Weiss!" Jaune cried.
"Jaune, get a hold of yourself. You'll still be friends no matter what happens!" Pyrrha barked.
"I can't play this round! If Weiss wins, she'll think I'm a loser. If I win, she'll hate me forever!" Jaune continued to panic helplessly.
"Jaune! Look at me! It's just a game!" Pyrrha assertively said to her dearest friend. The whole situation was starting to feel like déjà vu, except this time the roles had been switched.
"But it's more than just a game! It's an eternal struggle between-."
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha unintentionally released a burst of her polarity, which blasted Jaune and knocked him against a tree trunk. The spartan ran to her friend as fast as she could, feeling guilty for her actions.
"Jaune, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-."
"It's cool. I'm the one who should be sorry for getting too carried away. I'll won't do that again, I promise." Said Jaune. Pyrrha grabbed the warrior's hand and eased him up on both feet. "Wow, your aura training did come in handy. Otherwise, that tree would've really put me in ICU."
"We only have an hour left before the fourth round starts." Pyrrha recalled. "Let's go back to the room for now."
It was about 9:50 AM when the tournament hall was filling up with the players. Jaune had already fully recovered from the earlier impact thanks to his aura level. Before Jaune entered the hall, Cardin was also about to go inside.
"Hey Jaune, I saw your pairing earlier. I think this is gonna be your toughest game yet." Said Cardin.
"I know, right? It sucks it had to be this way." Jaune said, not feeling any better about it.
"I also happened to notice you beat the guy I'm playing this round. You got any pointers for me?" Cardin asked. Jaune did not want to blatantly give away Mercury's chess strategy, but he knew he had to give some friendly advice."
"My only suggestion is to play solid and pay very close attention to what he's trying to accomplish. The rest will all come natural." Jaune advised.
"Thanks, bro. You and Oz have been a great help to me. Best of luck!" Cardin went into the hall to find his table. Jaune followed from behind and saw Weiss sitting down at board 2. After he got himself settled in, Jaune could sense a level of awkwardness in the situation, but he also didn't want to be too casual about it.
"Hey… what's up?" Jaune said, trying to improve the mood. The heiress looked up at her hopeless lover and game him a simple nod and a neutral expression. Weiss had no ill feelings towards Jaune, but she still had absolutely no intention of losing. Professor Ozpin approached the microphone to give a quick pitch to the players.
"I take it everyone had a good breakfast this morning. I am also happy to announce that we are now more than halfway through the tournament, and it has all gone according to plan. As a quick reminder, the last round will start this afternoon at 3:15. Please remember that if you need to withdraw from the tournament for any reason, you must let one of us know ahead of time; that way we know not to pair you in the upcoming round. I hope we're all clear on this, and with that out of the way, please shake hands and start your clocks."
"Good luck, Weiss." Jaune whispered. The two players diligently shook hands and started the game.