Still writing with zero repercussion on canon. Remember to tell me if I screw something up, 'kay? :D
The bell rang, and 40 students rose in a single movement for combat training. All students were soon in combat outfits, perched on the collective edge of their seats. It seemed the whole first year class had noticed the tensity in the atmosphere and were waiting patiently for whatever upcoming event was on the way.
Cammo shot a dirty look towards team RWBY, and Eido imitated her. Ahab, on the contrary, did his best to avoid any sort of eye contact whatsoever.
"Did you do the job?" hissed Cammo through her clenched teeth. The heir returned a simple nod, flashing his signature horrifying grin.
"Excellent..." She permitted herself an evil cackle. "This is our victory."
"What... did you do?" Ahab asked hesitantly.
"I screwed around a bit with Goodwitch's roster. The first four names she calls will settle our team on team grudge."
Their targets were seated right next to them, Quincy and Blake dividing the two hostile parties. Team RWBY, from ECQA's leader's perspective at least, seemed to be rather carefree about the whole thing. They were probably confident that their names wouldn't be called so soon, or that they had the upper hand in almost every possible pairing. Blake's gaze meandered over to meet his, and Ahab nearly fell out of his chair averting his eyes. Did he really have to fight... well... her? What if he lost?
What if he won?
He shook his head to clear his mind. It wouldn't change anything. This was a chance encounter between the two groups, two straight lines that would meet once and then never cross paths again.
He had to stop himself from waving a listless goodbye.
"Our first combatant today will be... Ruby Rose."
Ahab could almost hear their token female turn to stone.
"OI! YOU SHITTY BLIND BASTARD, WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?" she hissed, shaking the heir by his collar. Now it was his turn to cackle villainously.
"Wouldn't it be more interesting if they got to choose the matches? I won't be satisfied with just a stomp, you know." She spit in his face, but his sadistic smile couldn't be any more resistant to her abuse.
Ahab relaxed a bit. It would be so much easier if he didn't have to attack Blake. Maybe he wouldn't even have to fight, in case they had forgotten the bet.
Yang and Weiss gripped their innocent young leader's shoulders and began whispering, one into each ear. Her eyes seemed to spiral in confusion under the barrage of information and suggestions. Nope, they hadn't forgotten.
Goodwitch snapped her back to reality. "Ms. Rose, please pick your sparring partner. We don't have all day."
"Uuuh... Cammo?" she said, more of a question than a statement.
"See~? No problem for you, right?"
Cammo tsked angrily, but consented. She flipped gracefully over the rows of seats in front of her onto the arena, landing in a striking action pose. Ruby actually looked impressed. She really was a child.
Cammo popped out her clunky green braces and mechashifted them into a beartrap with a subtle jerk of the wrist. Ruby drew Crescent Rose from her side and unfolded it. Even without the weapon and being a few years younger than her opponent, Ruby was certainly taller and more imposing. However, Cammo was stockier, with more pronounced musculature. The outcome of this fight was unpredictable.
"And... begin!"
Ruby flashed forward, whizzing around Cammo at almost undetectable speed.
"There goes her semblance. Speed isn't something you mess around with," Eido mused.
"I know you're just waiting for me to say it but... how can you see what's happening on the field? Especially at this speed."
"Shhh... that's a trade secret," chuckled the heir.
Cammo raised her hand to block an incoming side swipe. Their weapons were both sturdy enough to ping off each other without noticeable damage, so the only thing that mattered was moving fast enough to deflect each attack. Luckily, Ruby's speed was compensated for by her habit of clearly telegraphing all her attacks. There's only so much flourish you can pull off with a weapon that huge.
The two were locked in close combat for a moment, the defender's knees almost buckling under the force of each swing, her aura chipping away very slightly with each clash of arms. They had trained for these high speed impacts for hours yesterday, but the real Ruby Rose was much more powerful than any training mechanism (specifically, an enormous swinging hammer they had set up to strike the trainee around the gut unless they could steel their arms against the blow). A few seconds went by, Ruby dancing around Cammo like a top as she refused to budge from her defensive position. She screamed an unfortunately wimpy "HIYA" and whirled her weapon around in a wide arc.
Finally, an opening. Cammo popped her beartrap into its gaping ready position and received the full brunt of the blow, sliding back a few inches. Her aura level went down a tick, but something was wrong.
Ruby was no longer moving Crescent Rose. She was stuck in the lime green jaws of Nemean Grin.
The little girl struggled visibly to pry the scythe away, but Cammo simply held her in place. She fired a few shots to boost her way out, but to no avail.
"Now, let's play my way."
"Eh?" Ruby asked, and Cammo brandished her weapon, Ruby's and Ruby herself in one single motion over her head in response. The poor Huntress crashed face first into the arena floor, but Cammo didn't let up. This was the style she wielded in the arena for years: wait, capture and capitalize.
No surprise that she was dubbed the Empress.
Ruby's aura began to fall steadily as Cammo continually smashed her into the ground. Regardless, she kept her wits about her. At the last possible moment, before striking the ground for the eleventh time, she twisted her body and absorbed the impact with her legs. However, it wasn't enough. Despite finally having both feet firmly on the ground, she didn't have the upper body strength to throw Cammo off her like the Empress had done to her. At the very least, she had broken the cycle of beating. Now to get Crescent Rose out of the beartrap...
Impossible. No matter how many high power rounds she blasted, the barrel was caught in such a way that each bullet careened off to the side. It was far more likely that she would hit a member of the audience member than her opponent with that itchy trigger finger.
Reluctantly, almost with tears in her eyes, she released the scythe.
"Wait for me, my baby~" she cried, channeling all the drama of a shoujo manga.
"Pay attention!" Cammo tossed the blade deftly into the air and raced at Ruby. Dust, how strong was she?
'A chance!' she thought, and jumped to retrieve her weapon.
All she received for her efforts was a spiked knuckleduster to the gut. She rocketed off to the side with the blow, barely managing to land on her feet. Unsteadily, she remained crouching and analyzed her opponent.
"What's wrong?" Cammo teased, catching Crescent Rose on it's descent and meshing the two halves of Nemean Grin back into beartrap form. "You won't get your baby back without getting past me."
"Wanna bet she'll get it back?" Eido nudged his partner.
"No." It was clear just who was going to win the match. Ruby wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. "But isn't the fight rather..."
"Quiet?"
"Yeah. Like the audio is muffled or something." Cammo, being adorned in all sorts of jingling and jangling accessories, from bracelets to collars to her hair ties, was barely making a sound as she moved.
"That's her semblance," explained Eido. "She absorbs vibrations in the air, and when she finds an opportunity..."
Crescent Rose spun into the air again, and Ruby dove for it. This time, she ducked and rolled around her far slower enemy, now more attentive of her surroundings. "You're not gonna get me twice with the same move!" she shouted behind her as she closed her grip around Crescent Rose and turned to the offensive again.
Cammo swung a straight right into Ruby, which she barely blocked with the handle of Crescent Rose. Even in knuckleduster mode, Cammo was still relentless in her assault. She began to press forward steadily, forcing the smaller girl back. She hadn't been trained to handle such a fearsome barrage before. Like an assault rifle, Cammo pelted her with blows.
She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to shout.
"...she releases it."
A cacophony of noise poured forth from her throat, a mashup of tinkling and the smashing of metal on metal and flesh on ground and the howling of warriors all rolled into one split second explosion of noise. It was the most deadly mixtape on earth. The sudden attack caught Ruby off guard, and she reeled under the sound which would deafen an everyday human being.
In that instant, Cammo ducked low and thrust through her shattered defenses, catching her in the gut a second time. Another blast of noise erupted underneath her chin and Ruby was sent flying backwards, keeping a death grip on her beloved Crescent Rose. Her aura dropped down past fifty percent, and suddenly the match seemed to turn around. Her brutal tactics from her days as a gladiator had come close to winning her this fight.
But it was all over. Ruby sank her blade into the ground and opened fire. Cammo ducked to the side and dashed forwards, but the petite red hooded girl was ready for it. She hopped and fired a single explosive shot, grazing Cammo's temple and propelling herself backwards. Her quarry off balance, she then charged forward and turned the momentum of the skirmish. Cammo was back in the same position as before, slowly being chipped away by Ruby's speed and agility. It would take her another minute to naturally charge up that strong a blast again, and by then she would be finished.
She deftly switched back into beartrap form and slid a single green bracelet off her forearm. The next attack struck the glass bracelet in midair, releasing the surprise inside. Vibrations shook the air right down to their lungs and Cammo spun into action. This was her only chance: breaking Ruby's onslaught and turning the tide of the fight through trickery. Dammit, those things were expensive, too. She managed to juggle Ruby's body for a few straight seconds, releasing another sound wave, but one burst of fire from Crescent Rose was enough to reset the state of the battle. They stood a few meters apart, eyed each other up, and went in for the final round.
Cammo was at around sixty percent aura. Ruby was hovering over twenty.
Ruby slid an ammo cartridge marked with a cross into Crescent Rose.
It was over before Cammo could even take a step. Next thing she knew she was down on the floor, breathing hard.
"Victor... Ruby Rose..." Goodwitch declared. "Well, that was an incredibly flashy battle, but does anyone want to try to follow after that?" She glanced at her roster. "Blake? Want to make an attempt?"
"Sure," she shrugged. Calm and collected, that was her. She didn't even seem to bat an eye at the carnage that had just taken place. "Guess I have to..." she muttered, looking back at her teammates gently pushing her by the rear towards the arena.
"And your partner?" Ahab gulped. Crossed his fingers. Crossed his toes, arms and eyes.
"How about... Quincy?"
Goodwitch seemed a little perplexed by her choice, but gave it the okay. The giant hoisted himself to his feet and tried his best to slide through the rows of students without crushing anyone.
The two silent peacemakers of their teams, forced to fight by their teammates. Eido shivered. He sensed it again. That drowning, deadly aura.
There was a monster among their ranks.
So yeah, Ruby vs. Cammo evidently ends in Ruby's favor. Not that Cammo isn't crazy strong or fast, but Ruby is seriously pure power when it comes to semblances. The green girl just can't compete. For the most part human adversaries won't be tricked the same way twice, especially a battle savvy Huntress like Ruby, so she just runs out of tricks too quickly to deal enough damage.
A word on Cammo's semblance: it's designed to make her more powerful when people are cheering or booing or generally getting excited around her. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
I tend to write action scenes like a shounen manga or something, lots of twists and what I like to think of as clever moves. Hope you enjoyed and set your bets for the next battle!
P.S. I've noticed that I get more views if I upload these chapters in the morning. Fascinating, isn't it?