Chapter 21: First Round
Volume 3: LIFE
Wish me luck...
If you're watching over me...
I will do my best...
I promise you...
Viola...
Emin placed the picture of Team SLVA in a frame next to his bed, adjusting it so that it sat perfectly. He then grabbed his jacket from his bedpost and pulled it over his bandaged arms, before walking to the foot of his bed and picking up the shuriken, Eclipse Star, that rested against it, and attaching it to his back.
He then walked over to the door and grabbed the handle. He froze for a moment, preparing himself, before taking a deep breathe, exhaling slowly, and twisting it.
He opened the door and stepped out, with the phantom echoes of jeering, booing and insulting plaguing his mind.
RWBY
"And welcome back to our next exciting match of the Vytal Tournament!"
The announcement rang out loud and clear across the stadium and the sky surrounding it. Amity Colosseum. A true marvel of engineering as the magnificnt giant dome suspended itself in the high sky, the giant Dust crystal underneath it glowing with a strong light as it made energy to keep said dome floating.
"As will be the case throughout this tournament, I am your host, Peter Port." The Professor spoke into his microphone overlooking the combat arena. "Of course, I am also joined my associate, Professor Bartholomew Oobleck."
"Thank you for the formality." Oobleck smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And thank you to all viewers patient enough to make it through the commercial break."
"If you're only just now joining us, the last match was between Team RWBY of Beacon Academy and Team ABRN of Haven Academy, with the result being Team RWBY's victory." Port detailed. "Now for this round, we have a very special team participating from right here at Beacon."
"That's right, Peter." Oobleck nodded. "This Beacon team is only comprised of three members, practically unheard of! The reason being is that two of its members are already qualified Huntsmen. Their leader, however, is indeed In-Training. This Team is none other, then Team SEA of Beacon Academy!"
"Meanwhile, their opposing Team is hailing from Shade Academy in Vacuo." Port continued. "This is, Team MDNT, who are actually a very successful team in Shade, they have an excellent track record of missions completed despite being In-Training."
"Sounds like this is going to be an interesting match indeed." Oobleck said.
In the corridor leading to the arena, Emin listened to the announcements with a worried expression.
'I'd never thought I'd have to face Oli's team in the first round.' He thought. 'She definitely was strong when I fought her, and now we have to face her entire team! And at a time like this...was this really the best time?'
"Hey." A reassuring hand fell on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Azure giving him a kind smile. "You'll be fine. If anyone can do this, it's you."
Emin smiled lightly. "Thanks, Azure."
The two of them walked out into the arena, Emin noticeably hunching over from the cheers that resounded out...mixed in with some jeering and booing.
"That's him, isn't it? The Catalyst?"
"I heard that he's the one who called a giant Grimm that destroyed Vale."
"You evil monster!"
Unfortunately Emin's hearing had got incredibly good after years of picking up on whispers about him. It was easy to hear the nasty comments, even among all the noise.
"Screw them all." Azure hissed, loud enough for Emin to hear. "They can only see what gets slapped in front of their faces. You and I know all the reasoning behind it, so we're all that matters."
Emin nodded as they stood outside the biodome, looking over the vast expanse of white flooring.
"Without further ado, let's...hey, hold on a second!" Port suddenly called out. "Team SEA, an already 1 less team, is missing a member!"
Emin and Azure stared to the right of them to see an outline in the air of an absent Strawberry, as the spiritual leader turned to his male Guardian. "Where's Strawberry?"
"She was right behind me when we left the room, said she just needed to sort some papers out." Azure shrugged.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Everybody looked back at the entrance as Strawberry Peach came running out, balancing a stack of papers in her arms. "I'm here! I'm here! I'm he-AH!" She suddenly tripped and fell flat on her face, causing the papers to fly into the air. "Aaaaaahhhhh! Noooooooo!"
"Strawberry, are you okay?" Emin asked.
"Don't worry, Emin, I'm fine. But my paperrrrrrs!" She whined.
Emin looked up at the papers floating around, before his arms distorted into multicoloured sparks that shot into the sky and began snatching up the individual sheets, before returing to normal as Emin now held the stack in her arms. "Here you go."
"Ah, Emin, you are my saviour, as always!" Strawberry beamed, taking the papers.
"What on earth are you doing bringing those papers here?" Azure sighed.
"I couldn't leave them in the room in case someone stole them! These are top secret!" She emphasised, carefully resting them on the ground.
"After this, I'm telling Ironwood to give you a briefcase or something." Azure sighed, tapping Chaotic Order on the papers.
"I'll just leave them outside the biodomes, I figured they wouldn't get stolen with cameras everywhere." She figured, before chucking a seed down that quickly spouted into vines that tied the papers up like a bow. "Right, sorry about that, now let's go win this thing! Go, Team SEA!"
"Right, uh, if that's everything, we'll activate the biomes now." Port announced as the white domes sunk into the ground, followed by a rumbling as a giant wasteland filled with broken, rusting, twisted metal rose up in front of Team SEA. Peering across the orange rocks, they could see the other half of the battlefield was completely metal, with several large tubes containing hovering green crystals in them dotted around the area.
"And the two biomes are Wasteland and Lab. An interesting combination to say the least." Oobleck noted.
"This will just make it an even more interesting match!" Port declared. "Now the two teams are entering the arena."
Team SEA stepped into the middle of the arena, facing Team MDNT.
"Hey, Emin." Said boy looked up at Oli. "Listen, we've been trying to stop everyone picking on ya. But you know how Vacuo is."
"Don't worry, I'm okay." Emin assured her.
"Still, that doesn't mean we're gonna go easy on ya!" Titian said. "Who'd have thought we'd be fighting in the first round, though?"
"Titian, you could try to be a little nicer." Bruno sighed. "Though, he is right. We don't plan on losing!"
"Definitely..." Was all Nhema said.
"Sounds fair. We're not gonna pull any punches either." Azure nodded.
"Get ready to feel the fulln strength of Team SEA!" Strawberry declared.
Emin pulled Eclipse Star off of his back and extended its blades in preparation.
"Alright then!" Port called. "The match will begin in 3...2...1...START!"
As soon as it began, Emin threw Eclipse Star skyward, the shuriken doing a U-turn and stabbing itself in the ground right in front of Oli's feet, as she was trying to run away. Emin instantly turned into a spark of pink and green pixels that flashed over to it and reformed in order to grab his weapon, pull it out, and swing at the opposing leader, who jumped back to dodge it.
"Wow, you got on me fast...that's annoying." Oli mumbled.
"You're a sniper. It would be bad for Azure and Strawberry if you managed to run and find a good vantage point." Emin explained as he held out his weapon.
Oli shrugged. "Fair enough. Guess this is round 2 between us then." Quickly, she aimed Golden Flash at him and fired, though Emin was expecting it and turned into a yellow and violet spark that zipped forward as the bullet flew past him and caused a large explosion on the ground where he previously stood, as he charged forward and materialised in front of Oli to swin the shuriken blades downward, forcing her to block with the barrel of her gun.
"And this time, we'll win." Emin nodded.
Oli smirked slightly. "You can try." She threw him off and went to slam him with the edge of her weapon, but he once again turned into a spark and began zipping around her, disorientating her.
Meanwhile, Azure found himself in the Wasteland area, looking around cautiously. Suddenly he heard a scream from beside him, and saw the girl, Nhema, flying towards him, blood-red hooks in her hands. He quickly extended his arm out and gravity intensified, slamming her into the ground.
"Thought you could get the jump on me, huh? Suppose this type of area is similar to your homeland isn't it?" He asked her, as she only glared up at him with angry eyes, causing him to flinch. "Geez, what's with that look? Did I kill your pet goldfish or something?"
"Raaaaaahhhh!" Nhema gave off an almost inhumane roar as she jumped backwards out of the reach of Azure's Semblance and behind some rocks.
"Oh no you don't!" Azure aimed his staff and fired a torrent of water so powerful it blasted the rock to smithereens, only to find out she wasn't behind it. "She moves quick..." His eyes began scanning the area, looking for any sign of her. "What's this feeling I'm getting? Feels like I'm being hunted by some kind of animal!"
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" His eyes suddenly shot to the left as Nhema jumnped towards him at a blinding speed.
'She's fast!' He only had time to think before he began blocking a frenzy of strikes with his staff, sparks flying with each hit. She hooked one of her daggers onto the staff and attempted to pull it out of her grip, but was unsuccessfuly, being ignorant of how heavy it truly was, and leaving Azure to swing his staff into her side, making her cry out in pain as she was sent spinning across the ground. She quickly recovered though and became hunched over, her daggers scraping against the ground like a beasts claws as her heavy breathing filled the air.
Azure kept in his battle stance as he smirked lightly. "Well...aren't you interesting?"
In the Lab side of the battlefield, Strawberry and Titian were clashing with their weapons in their knife forms. Both of them swung with precise timing and dodged just as accurately.
"Wow...you really are good!" Titian huffed. "No wonder you're the leader. But don't think I'm gonna lose! I'm the great Titian after all! Nobody can catch me off guar-!"
"You really talk too much." Strawberry said as she swung her weapon upward, knocking the blade out of Titian's hand and making it clatter behind him.
"...Er, shall we call this a tie?" Titian suggested as Strawberry went to swing with her knife again.
But then Bruno jumped forward, swinging his large sword downward. Knowing that her smaller couldn't block it, Strawberry jumped backward to dodge it, giving Titian enough breathing room to retrieve his weapon.
"What the heck, Bruno!? I had that covered!" Titian complained.
"No you didn't, so a thank you would be nice..." Bruno mumbled.
"What!? I totally did! You know me!" Titian said.
"I know that you have a tendency to get a big he-!" Bruno was interrupted as the both of them were suddenly whipped across the chest, knocking them onto their backs.
"Don't have an argument in the middle of a fight!" Strawberry chided them as she wielded her weapon in its whip form.
"This is certainly a strong battle, everybody!" Port announced.
"Indeed. Despite being one member short Team SEA are proving to be more then a match for Team MDNT." Oobleck added, as on the screen were the statistics of each fighter, with a picture of them next to a gauge of their Aura energy. Azure's and Strawberry's had only depleted a little, whilst all of Team MDNT and Emin's gauges were steadily decreasing, now only half their full.
Bruno jumped back from Strawberry's attack and turned his sword into a bow before taking aim and firing at her, but she anticipated the long range attack and dodged as Titian fired from his gun. She also switched her weapon into its gun form and fired back at him, hitting him in the shoulder and causing him to hiss in pain as his Aura up on the screen depleted by a large chunk due to it protecting him.
Thinking quickly for the safety of his teammate, Bruno noticed Strawberry was now next to one of the green canisters. Taking a gamble, he shot an arrow at her, which she dodged again, only for the arrow to hit the canister, as it unleashed a giant green explosion!
"Aaaaaaaaaagh!" Strawberry cried as she was sent sprawling across across the Zone from the force of the blow.
"Oh! It looks like Team MDNT have made use of the exploding canisters in the Lab Zone!" Port noted.
Strawberry struggled to her feet just in time to block a dagger strike from Titian. She switched her weapon to its taser form and stabbed him with it, shooting volts into his body.
"Gaaaaaaaaah!" Titian cried, but he endured the pain and slashed Strawberry in the midsection, catching her off guard just as Bruno shot another arrow that hit her in the side, bouncing off of her body thanks to her Aura but still inflicting damage. Titian then swung again with his dagger, and Strawberry was just barely able to block it before Bruno jumped down with his sword and swung, forcing her to roll backward and stand up again, staggering from her injuries.
"Alrght! We've physically weakened her! Told you we could do it!" Titian boasted.
"Our plan was to lead you into a metal Zone like this one." Bruno explained. "Your Semblance focuses on growing plants, which you can't do here. So now that you're weaker, we have the advantage."
"Huh...guess you guys have some strategy after all..." Strawberry admitted.
In the Wasteland Zone, Nhema was dashing around Azure at such a speed that she only appeared to be a black blur, as he was forced on the defensive with only just being able to block each rapid strike, coming from different directions each time.
'She seems to be getting faster and faster...' Azure thought before wincing as a slash nicked him on the shoulder. 'A nature that makes you more ferocious the more you battle...it's reckless, but in this situation, very effective. Luring me into an open area with her alone...you really did have a plan, Team MDNT. But we do too! And I'm not planning to lose!'
"Hah!" Azure suddenly thrust his staff into the ground and shot Dust out of it, causing a giant twister of green dust to explode out around him and propel him into the air, whilst Nhema was also caught in it and tossed skyward.
"You're defenceless in the air!" Azure stated as he made himself weightless before propelling himself forward with more green Dust, slamming her with the iron ball end of his scepter and making her crash into the ground, before he floated to the ground himself.
Out of the debris smoke, Nhema rose up, still holding her weapons, with a murderous look in her eyes. "Graaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh!" She screamed before charging straight towards him.
"Ain't that terrifying?" Azure mumbled. "Time to really give these folks a show. 3...2...1!"
Suddenly, vines burst out of the barren ground and wrapped themselves around Nhema, hoisting her up into the air as she thrashed around in vain.
"What!?" Titian gasped as they saw what had happened.
"But how? Strawberry is here!" Bruno gasped.
"I tossed some seeds behind me just as the match began." Strawberry explained with a coy smile. "I figured you guys would lead me here, so I thought I'd help out Azure a bit?"
"Th-They read that far ahead in such a short time!?" Bruno cried.
"Thank Strawberry! Now it's time for me to wow the crowd!" Azure announced as he tapped his weapon at the foot of the vines, before a torrent of fire from the red Dust he expelled exploded upwards, engulfing it in a pillar of flames.
"Gyyyyyyaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!" Nhema screamed as she was shot as a fireball into the air, whilst other smaller fireballs exploded around here like fireworks, making several audience members marvel at the display.
"Doesn't matter! Once we take you out, we'll beat him as well!" Titian said as he shot at Strawberry, who continued to dodge.
"T-Titian!" Bruno gasped.
"What is it? Kinda busy here!" He emphasised.
"Nhema is heading straight towards us!" The deer Faunus pointed upward as their teammate fell towards them like a meteor.
"Crap! I gotta beat her quick then so we can get out o-Hey!" Titian cried out as Azure had suddenly jumped over to them and grabbed Strawberry around the waist.
"By-bye boys." She waved to them as Azure made them both wiehgtless and jumped straight out of the Lab Zone.
"Oh no." Was all Titian had time to say before Nhema crashed into the lab zone, the flames bursting out and causing a chain reaction that exploded all of the canisters around them.
"Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The three of them screamed as they were engulfed in a giant explosion, dropping all of their Aura gauges on the screen to zero instantly, as they collapsed to the ground, smoke emanating off of their bodies, but not too injured.
"I-Incredible! Azure and Strawberry have taken out three members of Team SEA in one move!" Oobleck cried! "Now it's a three-on-one fight!"
Azure and Strawberry landed in the middle between the zones, and watched as Emin and Oli continued to clash again and again. Strawberry took a step forward, but Azure placed a hand on her shoulder.
"This is Emin's fight. Let's not interfere." Azure told her, and she nodded, the both of them watching on.
The spark of light that was Emin continued to zip around before shooting towards Oli and slashing at her, forcing her to block with her rifle each time. She aimed her weapon skyward and shot a green bullet that quickly exploded, unleashing a powerful blast of air that threw the spark backward. Emin reverted back to normal as he skidded back across the ground, holding Eclipse Star in its shuriken form, before running towards her, spinning it in front of him like a shield.
"That won't work on me, Emin!" Oli cried as she shot a red bullet, but Emin once again turned into a spark and shot upwards to dodge it, whilst Azure and Strawberry had to step out of the way to avoid the bullet, as it collided with the ground and caused a massive explosion.
Emin slashed downward with his spinning weapon, but Oli stepped back and slammed the edge of her weapon into his stomach. He stood his ground and quickly reverted his weapon into its fist form, before delivering a powerful blow to her face that rattled her brain and sent her skidding back. Not letting up, Emin ran forward, dragging his weapon behind him as Oli sat up, clutching her head as an after-effect of the impact, and wasn't focused enough to see Emin jump and punch her in the gut with his fist, causing her to gasp for air. He lifted his fist to strike again, But Oli was prepared this time and rolled out of the way, struggling to her feet. On the screen, both of their Aura gauges had fallen to below half.
"The two leaders are fighting with everything they have!" Port said. "Even though Team SEA has two more leaders remaining, just the clash between those two makes it feel like their fight alone will determine everything! Don't you think so, Oobleck?"
"It may very well, Port." Oobleck nodded. "It appears that Azure and Strawberry are throwing away their own victories and betting it all on their leader to win. Soon, this match will indeed be decided."
Oli jumped back from Emin and fired a blue bullet which exploded into a wave of water, Emin made no attempt to resist it, and only dug his heels in as the water battered against him before it subsided, leaving him dripping.
"Sorry, Emin." Oli said as she loaded a yellow bullet. "I know you must be hurting...but I just don't want to lose!" She fired the bullet.
And Emin grabbed it with his giant claw, causing him to light up as electricity shocked his entire body, but he kept the bullet clenched in his weapon as he was shocked.
"Emin!" Strawberry gasped.
On the screen, Emin's gauge dropped...but stopped just before it hit the red zone.
Emin was left there panting, before he spoke. "I don't either." He looked up with a fierce glare in his eyes. "Even if everybody hates me, I don't want to lose! I don't know why but...I just don't! I want to keep winning! I..." He held his fist out as the weapon changed into its lance form. "I want my friends to see how strong I am!"
"Emin..." Oli breathed in shock, before he suddenly charged at her! She took aim, but he swung his lance and knocked her weapon to the side, throwing her aim off before he turned into a spark and slammed into her stomach, throwing her back before he turned back to normal, his gauge turning orange.
'Everybody please see me as more then a monster!' Emin begged in his head, before he swung his lance with all his might, slashing Oli across her chest, causing her gauge to drop into the orange. He then quickly sliced twice more in an x-formation, making her drop her rifle, as she collapsed onto her back from the successive strikes.
"Magnolia Majorelle's Aura has reached the red zone, which means she is out!" Port announced. "And that means, the winner of this match is Team SEA!"
there was a silence, before the crowd slowly started cheering, as Emin walked over to his opponent. "Oli, are you okay?"
"...Arrrrrgh!" She cried, making Emin jump. "...Can't believe we lost..." She sat up with a huff. "I at least wanted to get past the first round..." She then shrugged. "Ah, well...at least I lost to you, Emin."
"...Thank you?" Emin said, unsure, before he helped her to her feet, and the other members of Team MDNT joined her.
"I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning." Titian groaned.
"At least we all tired our best." Bruno nodded.
"Sorry, guys..." Nhema whispered, back to her calm self.
Azure placed a hand on Emin's shoulder. "Great job, Emin."
"Thanks, Azure." Emin smiled.
"My little Emin is the victor!" Strawberry squealed as she hugged him. "I'm soooooooooooooooooo proud of you!"
"Th-Thanks, Strawberry..." Emin gasped for air.
"Hey, let's get out of this stadium and grab a celebratory dinner." Azure suggested.
"Count me in! I'm hungry after all the work I've been doing!" Strawberry nodded.
"That sounds nice." Emin agreed.
So, Strawberry hastily gathered her papers, and Team SEA walked out victorious.
Yes, I'm finally back to this. It was hard for a while, returning to this. but I feel like I'm ready to continue. I don't know how long it will be until the chapter after this one has come out, but I already thank you for being so patient.
And, I have been saving this chapter for a reason...today is NewComer1's birthday. He is someone who has been supporting this story from the very beginning. He is the only one who has reviewed every single chapter, and I am so grateful for his support. This chapter is dedicated to you, for being there when nobody else was. Thank you.
And of course, with this new Volume, you can once again ask Team SEA questions. So if you have any, say so in the comments or in a PM.
Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are are appreciated more then you could ever know. And I will see you in the next chapter.