At last we've reached the Vytal Festival. I have more to say at the end. Sorry for the short chapter though, even though the chapter count is at around 7,000 words.
Reviews
GhettoPeach1: Lol, I didn't even notice that until you pointed that out.
Rocketmce: Thanks!
ZENxRaider23: Thank you. It's nice to hear that at least someone understands.
Sheploo: Possibly.
LoneReader101: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
halo is bad ass: No, I enjoyed your last comment. It gave me an idea. So thanks.
Jack54311: I did consider it, however I was afraid of ruining the image of the 2 that I decided to just play it safe. I may do something more intimate in the future, but for now I like where their relationship is at the moment. However, I've considered doing a one-shot that details what would've happened if they hadn't been interrupted. It'd most likely be smut. However I'm not sure if I will actually ever do that.
Legionnas: I never considered doing something like that, but since you brought it up I might. However, I make no promises.
Nathan: I have, and I plan to.
Darkromdemon: If I do choose to, It will not be for some time. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
The Adventure of All: I plan to eventually give him something like that, however it will certainly not be a one time use weapon, as that seems extremely inefficient to me.
RadarWithCheeze: And your comment made me burst out laughing.
Remnants Reclamation
"That was pretty cool." Riley commented after team RWBY's match had finished.
"Meh. It was alright. I've seen better." Azure said with a shrug.
John shot him a look of annoyance. "Do you have to give us your opinion about everything, Azure?" John asked.
Azure put a hand to his chest. "Of course! What kind of world would we live in if I didn't voice my thoughts?" He asked with feigned offense.
John rolled his eyes and said, "It'd be a lot quieter, that's for sure."
"Stop that, now look around. Do you see them? I can't see them. Damn, I hate crowds." Gemina complained. The two teams had agreed to meet at the fairgrounds, but the enormous amount of people was making it more then a little difficult to find them.
"They're close. I can hear them." Riley said, her bat ears twitching slightly as if to prove her point.
John looked around in an attempted to spot his girlfriend and her team. As he did, he took in some of the other details around them. Birds flying through the air, the inciting aroma of the festival food, people happily milling around, Atlas soldiers patrolling the fairground with their weapons. When he saw the soldiers he briefly wondered if he should have asked Hallow to provide some Sentinels for protection for the festival. Of course though he would've had to do so secretly. Which kinda diminished their ability to provide defense.
"Oh! There they are!" Gemina exclaimed and pointed in a direction. John shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked over. He saw a familiar green-haired girl talking with his girlfriend and her team.
"Well? Let's go then." Azure said before leading them towards team RWBY.
When they got into range, John was able to make out their conversation. "So yeah, looks like me and Merc are moving on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald asked.
Ruby put a hand up to her chin and tried to change her posture to one of authority. Key word: Tried. "Well, as leader of this team I've thought long and hard about this decision-"
"We put it to a vote." Weiss cut Ruby off with a deadpan expression.
"Uh, yes but uh, I'm the one who decided we should put it to a vote." Ruby said as she tried to gain back an aura of authority.
"We voted for-" Blake started, but was cut off when John spoke up behind them.
"Is it really smart to give away details to a potential opponent?" Everyone turned around to see him and his team walking up.
Ruby threw the remains of her leader personality out the window and instead replaced it for something resembling a love-struck puppy as she ran up to John and hugged him tightly. "John! Did you watch out match!? Did you see me!?"
John laughed and pecked her on the lips. "I did. You were amazing. As usual."
She blushed and smiled embarrassingly. "Stop that. Your embarrassing me."
John gave her a cheeky smile. "That's the point, rose."
"Soooo?" Emerald looked between the two. "I'm guessing you two are dating?" Emerald asked.
John snorted. "Was it not obvious?"
Ruby slapped him on the arm as a result of his reply. "Be nice! Emeralds our friend."
"Sorry." He said.
Emerald nodded. "Alright. So who are you guys taking to the doubles round?" Emerald asked sounding eager to get back on the topic.
"Actually, John makes a good point. We shouldn't give away any information to a potential opponent." Weiss said.
"Aw, come on guys. I told you that me and Merc are going to the doubles round. Isn't it only fair that you tell me now?"
"She's right." Ruby nodded in agreement.
"It's me and the princess." Yang said.
"Heiress." Weiss corrected with a glare.
"Well, if me and Mercury see you down the line don't think we'll go easy on ya." She said with a smile.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang said.
Emerald turned to John and his team. "So any idea on who you guys are sending to the doubles round?" She asked.
"We aren't sure yet." Gemina said instantly, causing Emerald to blink at the suddenness.
"Alright. Well we're gonna go and catch some more fights." She said and turned around.
Ruby waved and yelled, "Have fun!"
Emerald waved back. "See you later!"
Just a few seconds after they had walked away, Gemina said, "I hate her."
The members of RWBY looked at her in surprise. "What? Why? Emerald's nice." Ruby protested.
Gemina just shook her head. "I don't care. There's something about her and I don't like it. And my double would agree." She said, referring to her semblance.
"Wait... don't you control your double?" Yang asked with confusion. To which Gemina only replied with a shrug, which in turn only succeeded in making her more confused.
As Ruby opened her mouth again, John interjected. "I admit, there's something fishy about her. But I don't know what." That was a lie. Every one of his Alphas began feeding him their irritation and anxiety at the sight of Emerald. Strategos said nothing more then, "Keep an eye open when your around her." Before going silent. He honestly didn't see anything wrong with Emerald though. She seemed fine to him.
As everyone conversed, no one noticed Aries stealthy creeping away from the group. The Crawler climbed atop a nearby building and moved to chase after the quickly retreating pair of individuals.
Aries soon neared, and was able to make out what they were saying.
"-It's the heiress and the bimbo." The green one spoke.
"Hm. Alright. At least now we know who we're working with." Said the grey one.
"Yeah, no thanks to that double semblanced rat bastard. He almost convinced them not to tell me."
Aries growled at the insult to his master, but only continued following from behind and above.
"Aw, come on. He doesn't seem like such a bad guy."
"Why do you say that?"
"Anyone who can beat you and makes your job harder is good in my books."
*SLAP* "OW!"
She growled. "Even to this day I don't know why Cinder recruited you."
"Because I get the job done. And was hitting me really necessary?"
"Yes. Now let's get going. Cinder's waiting for us." She said, ending their conversation before they walked away.
Aries growled and hunkered down atop the building. "This. Problems. Master." Aries limited speech was funneled to the minds of his fellow Alphas, and the three of them consented their agreement.
"SHOULD WARN HIM. NEEDS TO KNOW." Harpy supplemented.
"No, we cannot. We have no way of proving that conversation occurred, even if he trusts us enough to believe our word. John has only just recently begun his recovery, and his mind is finally moving into a state of peace. Speaking to him of this conversation would only cause him angst." Strategos spoke.
"Then we must solve it ourselves." Remus said, which was surprising. The Soldier seldom talked, even to them.
"Trust. Misuse." Aries whined.
"It may be a misuse of his trust, but our master cannot afford to have such worries on his mind. Not during such a time when he should be preparing for the tournament, and not if what 135 Unhallowed Curator said to us earlier is true. If it is, then his mind must be at it's peak, ready and alert for any problems that arise. He must not be distracted. Therefore it is logical that we deal with this ourselves. We can alert him if we find anything significant."
"BUT DIFFICULT FOR US. EASIER WITH HIM." Harpy pointed out.
"A condition we will have to face and overcome."
"Situation. Dislike." Aries protested.
"CONCURRED."
"I realize the situation we are in isn't favorable, but we must do this. Our master must be focused for what comes ahead, and what could come ahead. But this is an enigma that must come to light, and we are the only ones capable of doing so."
"BUT WHERE TO BEGIN?"
"Room?"
"A logical place to start."
"CONCURRED."
"The two. Connections? False Maiden?"
"It's a possibility. But the aura signals of their other member is only similar, not identical. However, that could be either a result of the missing halves, resulting in frayed outputs. But the energy output of the maidens are still similar to many other people on this world, so it could be pure coincidence."
"PATH COULD BE DANGEROUS."
"Perhaps. Nonetheless, we must do this. For John at the very least. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"AGREED."
"Agreed."
"A noodle stand?" Azure asked incredulously.
"Hey! This place is great!" Yang said. She had led them to a red stand with a older man behind the counter.
"We're here. We might as well give it a try." Gemina said with a shrug. Everyone sat down at the stand, each team on one side.
"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." Yang said. The man reached behind the counter and produced a rather large bowl full of noodles, and slid it over to Yang, who smiled.
"Ooh." Ruby inspected Yang's meal before saying, "I'll take the same." The man instantly gave her the same as Yang, and John had to wonder if she'd even eat it all. The bowl alone was bigger then her head.
"Do you have anything with low salt?" The man nodded, producing another bowl of noodles and slid it over to Weiss.
Blake simply nodded to the man. The man rushed back into the kitchen for a few minutes, the sound the sounds of clattering and sizing could be heard. He produced a bowl of noodles, but with several fish on top. Blake practically started drooling.
When it was John's turn he said, "Whatever you recommend." He just gave him a bowl of noodles that looked no different from Yangs.
Everyone else ordered, but before any of them could take out their wallets Weiss held up a card.
"Aw, Weiss. What's the occasion?" Yang asked.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round. I'll even pay for yours." Weiss said to John and his team as she handed the man her card.
"Heh, benefits of being friends of a rich girl." Azure smirked.
The man threw Weiss's card back at her and pointed to the machine. It said, 'CARD DECLINED.'
"What!?" Weiss said in shock. "How can my card be declined? I was barley into my monthly allowance."
Blake tried to stealthy sneak away her food, only for it to be taken away. "Nooo." She whined in defeat.
"Maybe I can help?" Everyone looked and saw team JNPR walking towards them, and Pyrrha had her card out.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried out in glee.
"Aw, you don't have to do that." Yang said.
"But she could." Blake quickly said.
"Well, after a match like that, I think you've earned it." Pyrrha said.
"Sure. But you don't have to pay for ours. I got it covered." John said and pulled out his own card.
"Ooh, when did you get into the money?" Yang asked slyly with a grin.
"I didn't. But if I'm ever in desperate need of money, I can always have Hallow just make me some." He said.
Yangs face quickly lost her smile. "Wait. You can do that?"
John shrugged in response. "Probably. If the Forerunners were able to make entire planets, I'm sure that they'd have something that could replicate our currency."
"That's not really a good thing to do. It's basically stealing." Blake said.
"I know, I know. Which is why I'm going not going to do it unless I absolutely need to. And even if I do, I won't make so much as to unbalance the economy. Just a little bit here and there. Besides, I can afford to pay for my teams meal right now anyways. And I don't plan on Having Hallow make any lein any time soon." John said.
"So do you think you could make me some money to supe up my motorcycle?" Yang asked.
Nora gasped. "Can you buy me a buntchload of pancakes!?" She cried.
"OOH! And maybe so I can get some new parts for Crescent Rose!?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Ruby! You are not using counterfeit Lien! And neither are you two!" Weiss scolded.
"Awww." Yang and Ruby wined and sunk back down in their seats.
Meanwhile Nora put on a defiant face. "Ha! You can't order me around! You don't have the power!"
"Nora, your not using fake Lien." Jaune said.
Nora's defiant posture shattered and she looked at Jaune in betrayal. "But fearless leader-"
"No Nora."
"Ren! Help! He doesn't understand!" Nora begged and latched onto her teammate.
Ren calmly looked at her and said, "No fake Lien Nora."
She wined and slowly sank to the ground.
"Alright, alright. Let's eat already." John said ending the conversation.
John felt thoroughly stuffed, almost like he'd pop if he moved. The analogy brought the memory of popping infection forms just a week ago. It felt like so much time had passed since then.
He looked around and saw that everyone else had cleaned their bowls as well. Even Ruby. Though John was slightly worried by how nauseous Jaune looked.
"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked.
"Of course. It'll give us energy." Pyrrha said, followed by an enormous burp from Nora.
Jaune face planted on the counter and said, "If I barf I'm blaming you."
Azure groaned in agreement, his large bowl of empty noodles comically covering his head, which was laid on the counter.
"OH! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora got a sadistic look on her face and looked around for potential targets.
"Nora, that's disgusting. But if you do feel the urge..." Ren trailed off.
"Got it." Jaune held up a thumb.
"Oooogh. Kill me now." Azure groaned as Riley took the bowl off his head.
"Hey Azure, isn't it funny how my girlfriend, who is both younger and smaller, can stomach more then you?" John asked mockingly.
Azure simply, and calmly, held up his hand, and flipped John the middle finger. John just snorted and laughed.
"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha said and stood up.
"So, you guys think your ready?" Ruby asked.
"Of course! We've got a world renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me... Jaune! We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barley yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!" Nora finished, and John couldn't help but feel a little bad for his similarly named compatriot.
"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked.
Jaune shook his head. "She's not wrong." He said slowly.
"I'm kidding! He knows I'm kidding. The worst that can happen is we lose, then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we wont be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, me and Ren have no parents so we have no home left to go to, and we'll officially be renamed team loseiper." By the time she finished her face was blue and she copied Jaune, slamming her own head on the stand.
"So, yeah. We're feeling pretty good." Ren said calmly.
Pyrrha put a hand on Jaune and Nora comfortingly. "Don't fret. If anything we should look forward to fighting with actual guidelines and not... Well, murders."
"Yeah, don't sweat it. We've all faced way worse before." Yang added.
"Let's see." Blake held up her hand. "Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath." She counted off her fingers.
"And an army of alien parasites hell bent on galactic domination and consumption of all sentient life." John said as he held up his hand.
"...Okay, John wins." Yang pouted.
"Plus, all that happened while we were still in training! Imagine what it'll be like when we graduate." Ruby gushed with a look of anticipation.
"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss muttered under her breath.
"You should call the credit card company and see whats going on." Gemina suggested.
The conversation was abruptly halted when Aries jumped onto the stand and knocked a number of bowls off the counter. The Crawler turned to John and barked a few times. It then rattled the orange spikes on it's back and pushed its feelings into Johns mind.
He tilted his head as he was able to put together exactly what the Crawler was asking permission for. "Really? Well, if you want to then go ahead. Just don't cause any trouble." He said.
Aries trilled happily and nuzzled his hand, then jumped off the stand and ran off, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
He let his eyes trail after the spot the metal dog vanished, his mind racing with possible reasons as to why Aries would suddenly be acting so differently.
"What was that all about?" Yang asked, bringing him out of his daze.
He turned his gaze to her and said, "I don't know. He just asked to go and run around. It's odd though. He, nor any of my other Alpha's have ever asked to leave."
"Ooh, maybe they're making you a surprise party?" Nora suggested.
He gave her a look. "I really don't think they'd do that." He deadpanned.
"So then what do you think he's doing?" Ruby asked.
John though for a second, then shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe I'll ask later."
An announcement rang through the air before anyone else could speak. "Would team JPNR please report to the stadium to prepare for their next match? Like they were supposed to several minutes ago?" John recognized the voice as being an annoyed Dr. Oobleck.
"Well, that's us. We'll see you all after the match." Pyrrha said and led her team away, somehow none of them at all concerned by the fact that they were late.
"Good luck!" Ruby cried after them.
"Really? Just like that? No rush? Do they not realize they're leaving thousands of people waiting?" Gemina asked after they were gone, simultaneously reading Johns thoughts aloud.
"Eh, who cares. Come on, we should some seats before they're all taken." Yang said and walked in the direction of the stadium, everyone else agreeing and following behind.
"Seriously, you'd think that they would be more organized on the battlefield. But nope! Instead they have a team discussion in the middle of their fight, and then Nora just hits them with her hammer. What the actual hell kind of play was that!?" Gemina finished her rant of team JNPR's... Interesting battle to say the least. All was going well, until they stopped fighting and started talking. But, the good news was that they won. Even if it was by less then conventional means.
"Alright that concludes this match. There is still one more match scheduled for today let us begin the randomization process." Dr. Oobleck said over the speaker in his usual rushed manner.
The board began spinning, and after a few seconds it stopped on two teams.
"And it looks like it will be team Jaguar of Beacon VS team Saffron of Mistral. Both teams please be ready for combat in one hour." Professor Port said.
"Oh yeah! Time to show our skills! Woo hoo!" Azure wooped and ran off.
Riley sighed, but had a smile on her face. "I'll go make sure he'll be ready in an hour." She said and ran after Azure.
"Heh. Now we can finally see your team at work. But you'll never beat us in terms of style." Yang said with a sly smirk and crossed her arms.
"Oh yeah? Just you wait. We'll make you yesterdays news." Gemina replied back equally playful.
"No way. We'll always be on today's news. No one can ever forget someone so awesome as me."
"Just watch. We'll be so awesome even your own dad won't remember you."
"I'm surprised your own team even remembers you at all when they get to look at me."
Before Gemina could retaliate again, which her mouth was already open and prepared to do, John got out of his seat, picked her up, hoisted her over his shoulder, and started walking away. "I'll see you guys after the match. Right now we're gonna go and get ready." He said, ignoring the insults Gemina was throwing at him.
"By John! And good luck!" Ruby said with a smile.
John smiled back. "Thanks Ruby!"He replied and waved before turning the corner and heading to the airship so they could grab their gear, still ignoring Gemina's fists uselessly hitting his back.
"Welcome back to the Vytal Festival tournament. If your just joining in, then you should know that we have an exciting battle in store for you. On one side we have team Jaguar of Beacon. And on the other side we have team Saffron of Mistral." Port said through the speaker.
John had his team had been preparing for the last hour. Making sure they had enough ammo and their weapons were in peak condition. John had taken the liberty to get some more binary rounds for Atomizer so he could reload faster. After all, every advantage helped.
"This is it guys. You ready?" John asked.
"I'm ready." Riley said.
"Oh hell yeah! Been waiting for this!" Azure said.
"I'll show Yang style." Gemina growled.
"That's the spirit guys." John said smiling.
The opposing team stood across from them. Two girls and two boys. One girl, who appeared to be the leader, had green and black hair, as well as a similarly colored jacket and black pants. She also had two large handguns attached to her waist. The other girl had darker skin and curly brown hair. She wore a red t-shirt and black jeans. She held her large black and red weapon like one would a mini gun. But her weapon didn't appear to fire bullets. Her weapon had a short round barrel that was glowing an angry red, and John could see a fire dust crystal inside her weapon through its side. It was probably a flamethrower. One of the guys was big, and seemingly very muscular. He had two large hammers, one over each of his shoulders. Their heads were glowing a steady blue. He was wearing a blue jacket and grey pants. The last guy didn't even appear to be armed. He was bald and wore a baggy purple sweater and pants. And no matter how hard John looked, he couldn't see the mans weapon.
The battlefield holograms began their randomization process. After a few seconds, the one on their side stopped on a picture of a cloud, and the other froze on a picture of multiple trees.
The platforms came up. The cloud one was just grey metal, but with giant fans littered over the surface. And hovering the air were small to medium grey platforms with glowing green lines covering each of them. The other side rose up to reveal a large and dense forest with huge trees.
"Riley, you'll use your semblance to disorient them. Before they recover, I want everyone to fire on them. Gemina, I want you to mine the field when they recover. Azure, you'll use your speed to separate them as well cause some damage. Meanwhile I'll get up high and cause some damage." Everyone nodded at their assigned tasks.
"3." John and his team readied their weapons.
"2." Their opponents did the same thing.
"1." John heard their friends cheering from the stands, Ruby's voice being the loudest. He smiled and gave them a small wave.
"Begin!" At Dr. Ooblecks command, everyone went into action.
The second Oobleck stopped talking, Riley let loose an ear splitting shriek. Just like the last time he had seen it, John could see the sound waves moving through the air. The opposing team, and many of the spectators, covered their ears. The shriek continued for a good five seconds before Riley cut it off.
Thanks to her semblance's effects, the opposing team was unable to dodge the hailstorm of projectiles flying towards them from team JAGR. Hardlight, knives, soundwaves, and explosives washed down on them all like rain. Some of them were sent flying through the air, while others only flinched as the offending objects bounced off their aura.
Their leader recovered quicker then the rest and started shouting orders. "Retreat to the forest!" She yelled. Her team pulled themselves together and followed her order and ran into the forest.
"Gemina! Your up!" John said.
She nodded and clicked the second trigger on her weapon. Gemina's large yellow weapon's barrel split into four pieces and into an X. Along each 'arm' was a row of the spiked explosives her gun shot. She angled her weapon into the air and fired, causing every explosive ball to shoot into the air before arcing and landing all throughout the forest. John had learned some time ago that inside each of their ear pieces was an IFF tag. The reason behind those components was so that when Gemina launched her explosives when they were set on proximity mine mode, they would read the friend tag and wouldn't detonate. But when something else went near, they would do exactly what mines should. Explode.
And explode they did. They heard several explosives going off, and John saw the other teams aura bars decrease by several points. The leader, Serenity, was at 72. The big guy, Forte, was at 85. The pyromaniac, Aliana, was at 69. And the bald guy, Alexander, was at 77.
"Alright! You guys into the forest! I'll provide cover fire!" John ordered.
"But then it'll be three against four!" Azure pointed out.
John smiled. "Don't worry. I have a replacement." He said. He sifted through his brain and found the part that allowed him to access the Promethean Relay. From it, he ordered a Knight to appear.
The aura bar on the board registered his actions before the Knight appeared, and Pr. Port commented on it. "What's this? It appears that John Midori's aura has been drained by a wopping 20 points despite not even being hit."
"Why yes Peter. I believe young John has just activated one of his semblances. It allows him to create a variety of mechanical creatures at the cost of his aura. That's right everyone, you heard me correctly. That's only one of his semblances. My student John is possibly the first person in Remnants history to have two completely different semblances. Nonetheless, 20 aura points is still a significant amount. Let's hope his investment was worth it." Dr. Oobleck said. John couldn't help but feel a bit of pride when the crowd started cheering louder when they heard that he had two semblances. Even if they were wrong.
A second later, the Promethean Knight appeared in all it's glory. It was a Knight Marshal, which was armed with a classic Scattershot. It looked no different from a regular Knight except for the subtle rise of additional metal plates on it's back.
"Alright guys, move out!" John commanded, and the three charged into the forest, followed by the giant Knight. Meanwhile John ran the opposite direction. He jumped into one of the fans and the wind carried him up into the air. He leaped out of the air stream and onto one of the highest platforms. He took a kneeling position and aimed into the forest. He saw everyone had an opponent. Azure was facing Forte, Riley was attacking Aliana, and Gemina was striking Serenity. But no matter where he looked, John couldn't see his Knight's supposed opponent. His construct was looking around for him as well, but was having just as much luck as he was. The enemy team member was no where to be seen.
John chose to temporarily forget about him and instead turned his focus to the other three. Azure was fast enough to dodge Forte, and Riley was able to deflect Aliana's fire with the soundwaves from Banshee. So John focused his sight on their leader, Serenity. He waited for a few moments until Gemina was clear, and then he fired a bolt of super fast hardlight right at her chest. She wasn't expecting the shot so it threw her off balance and she fell to the ground.
But before he could line up another shot, he heard a whooshing noise behind him. He turned just in time for a chain to wrap around Atomizer and yank it away from him and onto another platform on the other side of the arena.
John followed he chain back to it's owner and saw the purple guy on a few platforms away.
"So there's his weapon." John thought dryly. His weapon was two chains with arrow shaped spikes on the end, and a yellow crystal inside of each spike. The reason why he couldn't see them before was because they were hidden in his sleeves.
"Where is the honer in sending a machine to fight for you?" Alexander questioned him.
John got into a ready stance. "For your information, it's actually called a Promethean." And with that, John took off sprinting. He leaped from his platform to another in the direction of his weapon.
Alexander launched one of his chains at John, but he jumped over it and rolled onto another platform. He tried launching the another, only for John to duck underneath it. Alex growled and launched them both at John at the same time. One high and one low.
John knew he wouldn't be able to avoid both of them. So just when the spikes were about to reach him, he jumped and stomped on the side of another platform. His weight caused the slab of metal to tilt and act as a shield, making the spikes hit and bounce off the bottom of the platform.
John allowed himself a smirk and continued dodging the chains until he was only a few platforms away from his weapon.
"Enough!" Alex suddenly yelled before throwing a red Dust crystal in the empty air beside nearby platform. He then proceeded to pull out a small pistol from his waist and shoot the Dust. The resulting explosion caused the platform to fly through the air and towards John.
John picked up his sniper and turned around just in time to see the platform flying towards him. He quickly switched Atomizer into falchion form and sliced the platform in half. But in doing so it gave the chain traveling behind it a clear path to him. The chain wrapped around his waist and before John could do anything to remove it, shocked him.
Aura did protect you from damage, but some effects of damage can still bypass aura. Because of that fact, the lightning crystals in the metal chain spikes caused John's muscles to spasm and contract. His legs collapsed beneath him and he laid there, twitching as the lightning dust continued to electrocute him.
This continued for a few seconds, and just when John thought that he would lose the match like that, twitching uncontrollably on the ground, his Knight came out of nowhere and cut the chain to pieces.
The shocking immediately stopped and John gasped. He took several deep breaths before getting to his feet. He glared at his opponent, who had the sense to look slightly nervous as his eyes glowed orange. A quick look up at the board showed John that his aura was at 63.
John mentally ordered the Knight to rush Alex while he opened fire with his Binary Rifle. Alex dove out of the way of John fire, only getting hit once before the Knight was upon him. Alex launched his remaining chain at the Knight, only for it to fold in on itself in a blue sphere and disappear. A moment later it reappeared above him and used it's weight to slam him into the ground on his back. The Knight shoved its face into its opponents and opened its face plate. Reveling with a metallic shriek, to everyone's equal shock and horror, a open mouthed glowing orange human skull. The Knights shriek was cut off when Alex overcame his shock and fear and punched it in the face before kicking it off him.
He got to his feet just in time for the Knight to essentially backhand him with its sword, sending him sprawling onto another platform. With the area now clear, John fired at him again. The bolt of hardlight screamed through the air before slamming into it's unsuspecting targets chest. The surprise of the shot unbalanced him. He teetered for a few seconds, and then fell off the platform and plummeted through empty air towards the ground below.
Alex attempted to recover and grab a platform with his chain, but John leaped through the air and slashed the chain apart before it could reach its intended target. Alex fell through the air with no way to slow himself.
He impacted with the arena floor with a crunch, making a small crater beneath him. He was able to look up just in time to see John's shoes get firmly planted in his face.
As John slammed his feet into Alex's face, he used his momentum to roll forwards before standing and bowing to the crowd, as if he was an acrobat that had just finished his show.
"Ohh! And it looks like Alexander is down for the count by both aura level and loss of consciousness. And in style as well." Pr. Port said, causing John to look back at Alex to see him snoring softly. He then looked up and indeed saw that Alex's aura had indeed fallen into the red zone. Meanwhile his hadn't changed from 63.
John smirked and fist pumped. "Fuck yeah! Now let's see who's next." With that, John left to see who he could help.
As Azure chased Forte through the trees, he made sure to keep an eye out for any of Gemina's mines. He didn't care if she said they were safe, he didn't trust them. After all, he knew that he wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world.
In his caution of avoiding the mines, he lost sight of Forte. He cursed and ran towards where he last saw him, only to nearly lose his head when a hammer swung out from around a tree. He swiftly ducked underneath it and slid on his knees before turning around to face the hammer wielding man.
"Nice try. But a good idea." Azure smirked, but Forte remained stoic. "Now try this!" Suddenly Azure reached behind his back and pulled out four throwing knives in each hand.
He activated his semblance as everything around his turned grey and slowed down to half the speed they had been moving at. Yet Azure remained moving at the same speed. He quickly threw the knives, his enhanced speed allowing the knives to move faster then they normally would've.
As the knives neared Forte at high speed, he jumped to the side. Only five of the eight knifes managed to bounce off his aura, but not before draining it substantially. As he felt the familiar ache in his head that resulted when he used his semblance for too long, he promptly ended it.
Forte growled, and rushed him. He swung his hammer at Azure, only for him to jump into the air and causing the hammer to slam into the ground, creating a giant pulse wave as it did that amplified it's kinetic energy. He then landed on its head, and delivered a kick to his opponents face, causing him to release the hammer and stumble backwards.
Azure quickly pressed his advantage and instantly started slashing his machetes at the disoriented student. Had it not been for his aura, he would've been chopped to bits.
But as he raised his right arm for another swing, Forte's hand closed around his wrist. He tried to wrestle it out of the larger boys grasp, but his grip was iron tight. Their eyes briefly met, and Azure realized just how much trouble he was in.
Suddenly, Fortes body was enveloped in a dark blue mist that seemed to cling to his skin. The next thing Azure knew, he had been tossed into the air like a ball, and some sort of chain wrapped around his midsection before he was sent crashing through several trees. Wood splintered and cracked as he flew through four trees before making a gouge in the dirt as he landed.
He groaned, and pushed himself to his feet. "That hurt." He mumbled to himself.
"I'm sure it did." Azure looked up and saw Forte standing there with a smug smile on his face. Both his hammers were in his hands, except they were no longer hammers. Instead the long articulated handles had unlinked and turned into chains, effectively making the two weapons chain maces.
"Well, aren't you just full of surprises."
The large man shrugged. "I aim to please." He said, and then charged.
One of the mace heads came from up high, and he jumped backwards to avoid it. The impact and pulse wave threw up dirt and temporarily blinded him, just enough time for the other one to hit him in the side and send him flying.
He landed in the dirt once again, and ended up staring up at the board that displayed their auras. Forte was at 47, while he was much lower, at only 33. Another 13 points and he was done for.
He stood up and glanced at his opponent, who was charging at him. As he raised his left mace, instead of trying to avoid it, he stood his ground. He dug his heels into the dirt, waited until the mace was coming at him, then struck.
He activated his semblance, and used the slowed motion of the mace to jab the sharp end of his machete into the chain where it connected to the handle in Forte's hand. Then, with every ounce of his strength, he lifted his blade and managed to break the chain. Rendering one of Forte's weapons useless.
But before Azure could celebrate or press his new advantage, his semblance died out and a large, meaty fist gripped his neck. He didn't even have any time to analyze the situation before he found himself being thrown into the air and sent flying across the arena by his opponents one remaining hammer being used like a bat.
Azure sailed tumbling end over end through the air, before he face planted into the shield at the end of the arena with a loud buzz. He then comically slid down the shield until he fell limp on the ground.
Azure groaned, sat up, and rubbed his nose. "Well... That could have gone better."
This is not how I wanted to end this chapter, but it's how it ended up. You see, I got a really good idea for this chapter, but it was very close to the time I was supposed to post the chapter. So I attempted to get it done in time, but I couldn't. So I chopped a part of this chapter off and instead it'll be used in the next. Sorry if it's too short, and I apologize for any mistakes I've made.
Please review, and as always I'll see you next time.