Waiting for their opponents to exit, the two first year students moved to their positions. Jaune gave his sword a little twirl as he separated Crocea Mors, expanding the shielth. He glanced over the orange-haired girl's shoulder and smiled a bit. Ren had procured a small 'Go Jaune!' flag from somewhere, Nora had her arms up with yellow pom-poms though she wasn't dancing and Pyrrha was on her feet, standing at the physical barrier and grinning widely at him, green eyes sparkling far more than teeth ever could. Yeah, that was pretty encouraging. He didn't know where team RWBY was, but was sure that three out of four would be cheering for Penny, while the last one would be quiet(ly cheering for Penny).

"Sal-u-tations! I hope we have a good match!"

"Me too. Don't hold a grudge after I beat you."

That got a competitive grin from a freckled face before Penny summoned her eight swords to float behind her. The two barely paid attention to the sound of Peter Port giving the starting signal. Jaune charged at the girl, bringing The... Stand out of his mind as his opponent stayed in place. Her attacks might have been effective while moving, but they were better when she was rooted to the ground. Jaune aimed to make it hard for Penny to stay in one place. The rapid, very strong impacts on his kite shield nearly bowled the blond over but he managed to regain his footing and resolved to not let those impact fully next time.

Penny used two of her swords to pull backwards, increasing the distance between them as Jaune swung his sword through the space she'd previously occupied. It was a good thing he had a second pair of legs to keep from falling after that overextension. Seeing the eight swords coming in from his right side this time, Jaune narrowed his eyes. There was a faint glint at the ends of them... he couldn't make them out rightly. Still, he had a second pair of eyes and arms for this sort of thing.

Moving the full two meters away from him, Jaune's Stand made out what normal human eyes could not. Grabbing the eight wires in one hand, the giant pulled, Penny letting out a squeak as she stumbled forward. The subsequent clang that rang out as kite shield punched arm sounded louder than it should've to the Arc. But this was a fight, not an exhibition. He could ask what was going on later. His Stand gave another pull.

Penny's fist impacting on his shield, not something to repeat either. And that was definitely not the sound a bare fist should make when hitting a shield, no matter how strong your aura was. Or maybe her Semblance allowed it? Either way, Penny regained control of her swords from Jaune's Stand and switched them to a longer ranged form. Knowing a gun form when he saw one after spending so long at Beacon, Jaune collapsed his shielth to make dodging easier. The green lasers that shot out, four at him and four at seemingly nothing, made him recall his Stand. She could see it?

At least keeping the weak beams away was easier than it would've been had Penny decided to end the match there. It would've been child's play to use that giant beam from the docks, but that would've punctured more than one shield most likely. Small mercies.

Jaune entered close range and found out something interesting. It seemed Penny was unable to use the two different forms at once. All sword or all laser pointer, good to know. Still, being so close made being hit easier for both parties. Jaune might have been able to dodge or deflect the swords if Penny just went with normal swings and stabs. But no, she had to get fancy. The spinning shield turned the pointy ends towards him, a buzzsaw went around her, and then the swords went to launch her back again.

'Nope!' Jaune jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Penny's stomach as she was catapulted backwards. The orange-haired girl squeaked again, not expecting that. The move left them rolling a bit, and Jaune found himself stuck face to chest by the eight actually very thin and probably very sharp wires. At least none were wrapped around his neck. Looking up at Penny, the Arc found himself a little curious why she seemed to be trying to blush but failing. Most people would just blush in this scenario. Still, Jaune had a way out.

The wires snapped suddenly before the blond got on one knee, and puts his sword's point at her neck. "Yield?"

Penny went a little crosseyed looking at the tip. It wasn't touching, but that could change easily. "...I yield."

Jaune nodded and moved his sword back into the shielth, standing up and holding out a hand to his defeated opponent. Penny smiled as she lifted herself up with his arm, nearly sending him down. How much did she weigh?!

He watched the bits of wire still connected disappear into Penny's back while shaking hands with her, looking her in the eye. "Good fight."

Penny grinned. "Thank you! I enjoy-enjo-jo-enjo-" The backpack opened again, eight swords popping back out as Penny's eyes turned red. And then she tried to crush his hand. Losing your own hand to an invisible chop would make turning bones into dust a little hard.

Jaune staggered back a bit, looking at the circuitry confusedly before rolling away. The eight stabs into the floor told him it was a good idea. Jaune drew his arming sword back out, expanding the kite shielth while watching Penny warily, his Stand floating silently.

Pyrrha sprang into action as soon as she saw Penny take her swords back out. Ren and Nora's rocket lockers with their weapons were only seconds behind hers. NPR ran to join up with their leader after collecting their equipment, though Pyrrha hesitated long enough to read a message. Gritting her teeth, she looked between Ren and Nora and Jaune, and the exit to the skyport, still filling up with civilians and other Huntsmen. The White Fang agents scattered around had been taken out quickly, but they served their purpose along with that ominous speech.

...

Decision made, she started to run again.

Jaune parried another sword, blocking a laser with his shielth before having his Stand punch a fifth incoming blade away. They might have broken easily, but Penny replaced her weapons just as quickly as he could break them. In this battle of attrition, it wouldn't be him winning.

A whistling sound caught his attention a second before a grenade impacted Penny's side, the one-handed android stumbling to a side in surprise and some pink smoke before Jaune was reinforced. "Hey, Jauney! Looks like you need some help!"

"Thanks, guys!" Two bursts of sidearm fire and a few rifle shots rang out as Penny growled a bit, face twisting into an ugly expression as she formed a quickly spinning shield of three swords. It quickly turned into something far more dangerous. Jaune grit his teeth and had his Stand summon two framework versions of his kite shielth, the golden constructs managing to block the giant green beam far more effectively than Jaune had anticipated.

The green beam suddenly went upwards, breaking through the shields around the arena just as a giant Nevermore pecked through. The Grimm's head went into a puff of smoke, killing it quite a bit quicker than a capital ship could've hoped to. Pyrrha ran into the fray with her partner, pink explosions and green bullets zipping passed them to rock Penny and impact on her swords. Ren's shots wouldn't make any of them break without concentrated effort on his own, but it certainly made breaking the weapons easier on Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha.

Penny roared out as she switched back to the blade configuration with all eight swords, slicing down at the champion and her partner. Against a polarity Semblance, they were useless. Pyrrha didn't throw Penny around, quite literally as she had the ability to do so, because working her power like that was both wasteful and she was fighting with Jaune at her side. A Jaune that was employing his invisible giant's attacks, given Penny was being rocked by more than their slashing attacks.

Nora and Ren looked at each other, feeling a little useless while their teammates were so close to the target. They silently agreed it was a good thing team RWBY wasn't here, Ruby would not have been able to fight her friend and constantly trying to reason with her likely wouldn't have worked. ...or it might have. Maybe resorting to violence first hadn't been the best of ideas, but considering the circumstances...

Jaune grimaced a bit at the sudden oil jet that hit his pants after Pyrrha pulled Milo out of Penny's chest. "...come on. Let's go see what the city's like."