Chapter 9: Battle Against a True Pawn
Rainier disappeared in a blur, Shinai backstepping quickly, Shi En ripped from its sheathe.
The silver smear that heralded the Vacuoan rounded the center platform, flanking the samurai with absurd speed, his purple eyes widening in surprise as he turned on his heel, lifting his blade to guard against any incoming attack.
The faunus, instead, leapt into the air, over Shinai's head, silver claws coming swiping down brutally, only missing as the samurai's katana lifted at the last moment, sliding the attack away, Rainier tumbling across the ground before shooting back to his feet.
The Vacuoan gave his opponent no time to recover, dashing back in, now nearly invisible with his speed, leaping up and spinning through the air, sending a kick at Shinai's face. The samurai deflected the blow away, teeth gritting together as he watched for any opening whatsoever.
Rainier didn't even hit the ground, his cannon firing and sending him back at the leader of SOUL, corkscrewing in the air- and passed his opponent, one hand reaching out and grabbing the loose cloth of Shinai's shirt. The faunus' feet touched down softly onto the ground, the huntsman using the momentum and extra force to hurl the samurai away.
Shinai hit the ground rolling, popping back up to his feet, katana held at the ready, face pulled up in a grimace. Across the platform, his friend rose completely to his feet, standing stiffly, pale yellow eyes accusatory.
"You're pulling your shots, samurai!" The Vacuoan barked. "Make this interesting, would you?!"
The samurai twirled his blade, face schooling itself back into its usual cool veneer. He let out a breath- and disappeared.
Rainier immediately leapt upwards, dodging the massive cloud of smoke amassing beneath him, gaze searching intently for his opponent. Like a blur of his own, Shinai's gauntleted hand rocketed from the purple smoke, grasping onto the faunus' ankle and dragging him back down, slamming into the tile below.
The Vacuoan's cannon fired, both huntsmen leaving the ground and flying back through the air, the samurai a short few feet behind. Rainier landed first, twirling quickly on his heel- right to the view of Shinai's boot soaring towards his face, backstepping to avoid it smoothly.
The samurai immediately sliced down with the waiting edge of Shi En, catching his friend cleanly across the chest. He struck out with his boot again, missing as Rainier ducked lowly, turning on his heel and taking Shinai's other foot out from under him. The leader of SOUL's shoulders had hardly hit the ground before he kipped back up to his feet, katana slicing through the air and narrowly missing his opponent.
The faunus, for his part, grabbed onto his opponent's wrist, tossing him away again with a spin- and then met Shinai in midair, seemingly appearing in front of the samurai in a heartbeat, Wolf's Claws colliding with his midsection, cannon firing, the impact sending Shinai hurling away again, narrowly avoiding sliding off of the main platform, katana buried into the ground to stop his momentum. His purple gaze quickly looked up to Rainier's face, more calculating than injured.
The Vacuoan took the opportunity to look up to the billboard high above- then gasped, face falling.
"You- CHEATER!" He roared, pointing up angrily at the duo's portraits- to his yellow aura bar; and Shinai's still very green bar, barely dented. "So that's how you did it, hm?! You cheated?! You rigged the game?!"
Shinai's gaze shot up to the billboard, face still nonplussed. "Are you just going to sit there and whine about it, wolf?"
"What… are you talking about?" Shinai called out to his friend, rising to his feet.
The Vale huntsmen's eyes all shot to the large screen in question, frowning at the duel lime-yellow bars of aura.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Lance asked out loud to no one in particular.
"Daria?" Ruby asked quietly, looking at her friend.
The diminutive huntress in question's face had fallen in horror. "Oh no." She whispered.
"Daria?" Jaune echoed. "What's Rainier doing?"
"And, seriously, he was fast- but this? I can't even follow him anymore!" Lance added, throwing his hands up.
"What's happening to Rain?" Weiss continued on, voice stern.
The leader of DRGN bit her lip, shaking her head slightly. "He's… he's got this. He's okay, guys… I… think."
Rainier let out a bitter laugh, marching towards his rival, beaming smile not hiding the fury burning in his eyes. "Ohoho! I'm going to send you back to SOUL on a stretcher, my friend!"
Then he was gone again.
Shinai hissed in a breath as he whirled around, Shi En held at the ready to defend from the ridiculously fast faunus- only for Rainier to reappear in a rush of wind inside the samurai's guard, coldly furious gaze meeting Shinai's own cool visage. The Vacuoan's fist came up to bury itself into the samurai's ribs, the breath rushing from his lungs as he slid away.
Rainier dashed forwards to push his advantage, leaping and sending a spinning kick at the samurai, metal meeting metal as Shinai's bracer came up defending against the blow. The Vacuoan fell, hitting the ground, before immediately shooting back up, flipping horizontally, sliver claws aiming for the crown of Shinai's head. The samurai side-stepped the attack, Rainier landing onto his hands and knees- Shi En's point coming crashing down, narrowly missing, burying the steel blade into the tile as the faunus rolled away.
Shinai's katana slid out of the ground smoothly, twirling in a gleaming arc towards his opponent's midsection. Rainier, though, spun on his shoulders, silver claws kicking the blade away, before he pushed off the ground, kick aimed at his rival's face, hitting cleanly, the samurai soaring away with the aided impact of the cannon shot.
Rainier dashed away again, meeting his opponent halfway across the platform- only for the samurai to disappear into smoke again, shrouding the huntsmen in darkness. The faunus grit his teeth with a growl, waving the smoke out of his face as he whirred on his heel- only for the bite of Shi En to rip into his side, before-
Poof.
The smoke came anew, the faunus making to leap away to the rest of the platform- stopping in midair as a hand grasped his ankle, bringing him back down, and then back into the smoke with a-
Poof.
Shinai fell through the billowing tower of purple, katana slicing across the prone Vacuoan's back, rolling across the ground, then back to his feet, bottom of his boot catching Rainier across the face, the faunus stumbling backwards- and nearly falling from the platform to the outside below, the audience sucking in a breath.
The Vacuoan never fell though, Shinai's free hand reaching out and grabbing him by the front of his shirt, hurling him back through the smoke to the center of the platform on the other side.
Rainier sat up with a scowl. "Yes, the great hero, Shinai! Never one to let a fight end without honor- but you and I both know not even the great Shinai Kyani is this resilient!" He barked, gesturing wildly back at the billboard high above, shoulders rising and falling as he huffed with indignation, fury, and… embarrassment.
Shinai marched from the smoke, purple eyes lighting up in indignation of his own, the tip of Shi En crashing against the tile, a glower painted across his face. "How dare you?! You question my honor?! I have fought and trained for my entire life to achieve what I have! And you dare?! You know not the first thing of honor!"
"Post fight stress..." Ruby muttered under her breath, staring with narrowed eyed confusion at the combatants below. No one but Daria heard the quiet huntress, though, in the midst of the roaring of the crowd- the shorter huntress pursed her lips, hands clenched into fists as she searched her friend's eyes for anything.
"Guys?" Nash asked quietly, curled into his seat and looking... distinctly afraid. "Is Rain gonna hurt the Cap'n?"
"No-" Oracle said quickly. "They... just... got some stuff to work out." She finished, voice not quite confident of her words.
Lance gave her a furrowed-browed side eye, gritting his teeth as he stared at his friends.
Shinai marched from the smoke, purple eyes ice cold as he stared at his opponent, the tip of Shi En tapping against the tile. His face was stonily still, lips pulled in a tight, unimpressed line; not a drop of sweat falling across his skin. He raised a bored eyebrow. "If I was cheating- would it matter? Do you think you could actually beat me?"
The faunus roared in fury and charged forwards again, leaping into the air, then crashing back down, gripping the samurai's face tightly in one hand and, with all of the might he could muster, hefted him up to slam him back down into the ground with the cacophonous shattering of tile, dust flying into the air.
Shinai, though, immediately twisted from his position, wrapping his legs around Rainier's outstretched limb, and twirled, sending his opponent slamming backfirst into the ground. The samurai expertly rolled to his feet, heavy swipe of his katana aimed towards the faunus' throat, missing as Rainier's Wolf's Claws came up, booting the blade away, before spinning on the ground, looking to take Shinai's legs out from under him. The samurai leapt, tucking his knees into his chest, and swiped with his blade as he came down, carving a decent rivet into the silver of Rainer's leg.
The Vale huntsman didn't let up, grasping onto said offending limb, and teleporting away, reappearing in the air, swinging wildly, the faunus crashing back down to the tile below-
Only to land on both feet, and, with a scowl, leapt back upwards with a cannon shot, meeting the falling samurai in the air, claws swinging at Shinai's ribs. The samurai caught the limb with his sword hand, lashing out with the heel of his palm, crashing it against Rainier's nose with a satisfying crunch. The Vacuoan recoiled before reaching up with his other leg, crashing his knee into the side of his rival's face, both huntsmen gaining speed as they fell faster and faster, careening towards the earth below.
Finally, the faunus extricated himself from the hold, spinning so that he was above Shinai- and planted both feet into the samurai's chest, lashing out and firing with his cannon, sending the samurai careening down towards the tile below, a massive cloud of dust flying from the impact.
Rainier roared in fury as he fell, corkscrewing faster and faster- catching a glimpse of Shinai's wide, purple eyes, and the grimace planted onto his face- before impacting with a raucous explosion.
The gathered teens watched in varying degrees of shock at the massive dust cloud enveloping the center platform, the majority of their eyes shooting towards the remaining members of DRGN.
"Daria!" Oracle barked. "What the hell?!"
"I don't know!" The girl in question snapped back, scowling at her friends.
"I've never seen Rainier raise his voice, not even at me, or even at the White Fang," Blake muttered. "This… he sounds like he hates Shinai."
"I…" Pyrrha began, looking completely unsure of herself. "Daria, how long has Rainier been talking about Shinai? Has he ever talked to you about Shinai?"
"I… he first mentioned him to me before the tournament began."
"But?" Jaune prodded.
"…But I… think that this thing's been going on since nearly the school year began."
"So this… hate-boner's just been festering for nearly a damn year?" Lance asked, leaning forwards and frowning.
"I didn't know it was this bad!" The short leader of DRGN barked back. "He- he talked to me about needing to face Shinai but- I didn't think he'd lose it like this."
"Guys." Gail said quietly, pointing back to the battlefield below.
Rainier stumbled to his feet, scowling in fury, jacket lost somewhere on the battlefield, looking for any sign of the samurai at all, wheeling around as he tried to see through the cloud of dust.
Poof.
The faunus quickly ducked the swipe aimed at the nape his neck, Shinai overextending himself ever so slightly, purple gaze meeting Rainier's yellow, filled with understanding-
The Vacuoan's claws collided with the side of Shinai's face, a gunshot breaking through the silence. The samurai flew through the air like a bullet of his own, tumbling wildly as he attempted to right himself-
To no avail, body soaring over the edge of the platform, falling to the outside below… only to jerk to a stop, a hand gripping his ankle tightly, then went tumbling back to the center platform. He pushed himself onto his hands, staring at the back of Rainier, the faunus' shoulders slumped.
After a brief moment, the Vacuoan turned, marching back towards his opponent. "I thought you were the greatest. I thought you were the most talented, the most skilled! You were my mountain to hurdle, my dragon to slay! You were my triumph! And yet, here we are! I'm the villain, and you- you're the godsdamned hero, here to stop the frenzied Vacuoan faunus. It's-" He trailed off as Shinai rose to his feet-
Looking totally poised, stance resolute, face still its stony expression, purple eyes ice cold.
Looking as if he hadn't been fighting for more than a minute.
His scowl found its way back to Rainier's face, fists clenching at his side. "If it's the last thing I do at this school, I'm the only one walking away from this."
On cue, the two huntsmen began marching back towards each other, slowly picking up speed, before charging forwards in near unified sprints.
Rainier struck first, twirling to the side, Wolf's Claws sent towards Shinai's midsection, missing as the samurai caught the limb, spinning both he and the faunus away. The Vacuoan fired his cannon, freeing himself from his opponent's grip and sliding away. They dashed towards each other again, the samurai swiping downwards with Shi En, only for the blade to get pushed down towards the ground, silver claws of the faunus forcing the tip of the blade against the tile, the heel of his other foot swinging through the air to crack against the samurai's jaw, sending the Vale huntsman stumbling away.
They both righted themselves quickly clashing again, Rainier sending out a flurry of kicks with both legs, crashing them against the outside of Shinai's arms, the samurai grunting from the blows as he did his best to defend himself from the onslaught-
Before finding an opening, ducking so that the faunus' natural leg hit the base of his neck, brushing the blow off as much as he could, free hand reaching up to latch onto the offending limb, and spun, crashing Rainier face first into the shattered tile below, cartwheeling over his fallen opponent, then quickly swiped at the back of the Vacuoan's neck, the force of the blow sending the faunus back down onto the ground, sliding several feet away.
Shinai immediately charged after him, Shi En held at the ready- right into the soles of Rainier's feet, the faunus shifting so that he was balanced onto his hands, leaping upwards and kicking out at his opponent's face, a cannon shot sending the samurai tumbling up and away, flipping through the air.
Rainier spun to his feet, moving to charge forwards- and stumbled. He looked down at himself and growled in irritation.
"You stupid meat-suit, don't quit now," He muttered, flexing his muscles and hopping in place, trying to shake the pain and exhaustion from his limbs. "Just a little longer."
His gaze turned to the billboard high above, to Shinai's still bright yellow bar of aura, and his own dangerously orange bar. Resolve flooded back through him, and he grit his teeth together determinedly, dashing away again.
Shinai looked up quickly at the telltale rush of wind that heralded Rainier, the airborne faunus glaring down at his rival before forearming him stiffly as he fell, the samurai turning with the blow- then continued to turn, using the extra momentum to spin around the Vacuoan, Shi En swiping out against his opponent's back smoothly.
Both huntsmen turned on their heels in unison, dual kicks flying through the air- both hitting their marks, mirrored attacks crashing into the other's jaw, gazes meeting again-
Furious gold meeting detached purple.
The two slid away from each other, a few yards away, then immediately stepped back towards one another, mirrored fists meeting their targets, the ground beneath them carving away into a small crater from the brutal impacts. Rainier recovered first, leaping up and planting both feet into Shinai's chest, firing and sending the two huntsmen soaring away from one another, falling towards opposite sides of the center platform.
Agonizingly slowly, they began to pick themselves up to their feet, gazes meeting again; Rainier's form slouched as his adrenaline began to wane, pain and exertion taking him. And Shinai; still poised as ever, tip of his katana coming down to rest against the tile, cool purple eyes uncaring.
And yet, a smile slowly began to claim Rainier's face, and his form relaxed, the faunus leaning back in his more trademark nonchalance. He lifted a finger and pointed at his rival coyly, wagging it side to side. "You can stand there all you like. You can feign disinterest, talk your trash," His grin widened, tension flooding from his face. "But we both know that I've taken it to you! You're hurting just as much as I am! Play your games all you'd like, Mr. Kyani-
We both know that we. Are. Equals. If I'm to lose this fight, then so be it; I've still won."
Shinai stared back in his pure stoniness, unflinching from the words sent his way.
And as Rainier blinked, the samurai went from standing straight, and proud, unblemished from the fight-
To hunched over just the same as the faunus, face a mask of exhaustion, using the tip of Shi En to hold himself up rightly as he could, shoulders rising and falling with his huffs.
Rainier blinked again, surprise coloring his visage, and his gaze shot back to the billboard high above; to his and Shinai's matching dark orange bars. He swallowed hard as he turned back to the fight, shaking his head, one hand placed to his temple as a splitting headache began to overtake him.
Vegas' face fell in shock, golden eyes widening as he gripped the bar in front of him tightly. His gaze snapped over to Emerald's own exhausted eyes. "What is happening?!" He hissed through grit teeth, seething in quiet rage.
Cinder's burning eyes locked onto his own, and her voice cut through his earpiece with cold finality. "It's over. The wolf gave up. Let it go, Gold. There are other fights."
He huffed, beginning to tremble for a long moment, before shooting to his feet, storming from the stands to the backstage halls, blood falling between his fingers, hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. He'd barely rounded the corner before he turned on his heel, punching the wall with all of his might, cracks spider-webbing from the impact as he let out a roar the melted into the crowd's own.
Rainier began to walk closer to Shinai- then stopped halfway. He bowed with a flourish, swaying slightly in place before righting himself. He sent the samurai another grin. "Very good, my friend! Shall we?"
The Vale huntsman rose to his feet, cracking his neck to the side, bringing Shi En back up with a twirl. "Never. Question my honor again."
And he nodded irritatedly once.
The rivals rushed towards each other again, Rainier gliding over the tiles with a beaming grin planted onto his face, meeting in the center of the platform, dishing out a flurry of blows to one another-
Rainier planting a kick to Shinai's ribs, Shinai immediately countering back with a slice to the small of the faunus' back; the Vacuoan turning on his heel, letting loose an onslaught of punches, the Vale huntsman blocking and countering, before going on his own offensive, the duo going back and forth as the crowd rose to a roaring boiling point.
The two huntsmen collided forearms with one another, the force of the impact sending them sliding away. Shinai brought his blade back up with a flourish, swinging towards the base of the faunus' neck swiftly. Rainier brought his claws up faster, booting the offending limb away, before turning on his heel, the claws of the mechanical limb careening towards the samurai's own throat in a whirlwind backwards kick. The Vale huntsman lashed out with his forearms again, slamming them into the silver armor of the weapon, sending it back down towards the ground.
Rainier spun the opposite direction, point of his elbow nearly making contact, before Shinai ducked it- and ate a vicious angled headbutt to the nose as he rose back to his feet. The faunus immediately followed up with a more successful elbow to his friend's sternum, getting him to double over slightly, before following up with a vicious uppercut. The Vacuoan took the opportunity to leap into the air, his sneaker first meeting the same spot as his elbow, and then twirled, Wolf's Claws meeting Shinai's jaw as a cannon shot separated the two again.
The faunus fell to the ground, the samurai tumbling away from him, both laying in the shattered debris of the platform, the crowd cheering loudly enough to mask any sound on the battlefield far below.
Ever so slowly, the two warriors began to push themselves to their knees, bodies quaking in exertion; Shinai on one knee, trembling arms using Shi En to right himself; Rainier simply on both, leaning backwards as he looked to the night sky above in exhaustion. Their gazes rose and fell to each other respectively, and a smile claimed itself anew across the faunus' face.
He lifted a finger, chuckling quietly. "One last time?" He asked quietly, face awash with anticipation.
Shinai stared at him for a moment; before shaking his head, enunciating back as obviously as he could. "This," He gestured between them. "Isn't over. But…" he bowed his head. "…One more time."
The two huntsmen shared one last deep breath, and then shot to their feet like matching bullets- and charged towards each other; Shinai with Shi En held to the side, at the ready, and Rainier disappearing in a vague blur of movement.
As quickly as they met in the center of the platform, they had passed each other with the briefest sounds of contact.
The two huntsmen huffed in exhaustion as they stared passed the edges of the center platform to the crowd beyond, gazes simply taking in the colosseum around them, purple and yellow eyes awestruck for the moment; their back towards each other, the arena falling into a bated hush.
Slowly, Rainier's head dipped, shaking from side to side. He grinned broadly, face one of satisfaction. "Well played, Kyani. Well played."
And then he collapsed onto the ground.
"YOUR WINNER!" Professor Port called out in a roar. "SHINAI! KYANI! OF VALE!"
The crowd exploded into a new round of excitement, the Vacuoan crowd letting loose a torrent of streamers to the center platform below, the vast majority of which matched the silver of Rainier's gear.
Shinai stared forwards for a moment, tension and adrenaline rushing from him; before collapsing face first himself, barely conscious, the crowd continuing to roar in complete approval. After a long few moments, he slowly pushed himself back to his feet with the aid of Shi En, trembling in place for a moment, before beginning to lurch back to the arena's backstage halls.
And then he stopped, turning over his shoulder to look at the form of Rainier, muscles quaking as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, then spun to land onto his rear, sitting quietly as he looked around at the raucous crowd with teary yellow eyes.
The samurai turned on his heel, and began to stumble towards his opponent. Rainier didn't look at him as he approached, not even acknowledging him as Shinai sat down next to him, the crowd's roar beginning anew in respect to the two fighters.
Shinai and Rainier stared out at Amity Colosseum quietly for a moment, before the samurai reached over, wrapping an arm around Rainier's head, and pulling him into a one-armed hug.
"...Well fought, Platina." The samurai said huskily, voice wavering with tire.
Rainier pulled away, looking at his rival warily- and then smiled. "You as well, samurai."
"We will be having words about your conduct in this fight."
Without another word, he grabbed onto Shinai's wrist and lifted his arm into the air, head bowed, the crowd's sustained cheer never once dying down. After a long moment, the samurai and the faunus pulled themselves to their feet, arms thrown over each other's shoulders as they began to heft each other away from the center platform, dragging one another to the locker rooms waiting.
Shinai and Rainier rounded the corner and ran immediately into a dual one-armed hug from Daria; the short girl leaping up, grabbing onto their heads, and pulling them down to her level.
"I hate you two." She muttered, before backing up, grasping onto the faunus' hand and squeezing it tightly, brown eyes searching his own yellow in concern.
The two finalists extricated themselves from each other, standing in place as their friends all began to swarm them.
"You two- dumb, badass douchebags," Lance spat, copying Daria's gesture, planting an exaggerated kiss onto Shinai's temple. "You were killin' me out there! And you!" He jostled Rainier roughly. "What the hell was the first two thirds of that fight?!"
"Oh," The Vacuoan chuckled. "Just letting out a little bit of frustration."
"Daria's got it right. I hate you two."
Pyrrha gave the two finalists as much of a smile as she could manage, floating around outside the group of friends, green eyes heavy with… something.
Shinai opened his mouth, preparing to talk to her, before quickly being cut off-
As Nora let out a scream, charging forwards to hug both of them, lifting the two finalists into the air. "THAT! WAS! AWESOME!"
"Thank you, Nora!" Rainier squeaked. "Please put us down!"
She let them drop to the ground, manic smile still planted onto her face. "I mean, you were, like, totally insane for most of it but it was such good insanity! I thought you were going to try to kill him!"
Rainier said nothing, smile wavering slightly, a touch of regret filling his hazy eyes.
And then Weiss stepped forwards, gingerly wrapping her arms around Rainier's neck, hugging as tightly as she thought he could handle, leaning into his ear. "I'm so proud of you." She said quietly, just loudly enough for the two of them to hear.
His breath hitched, and the returned the hug, burying his face into the nape of her neck silently; simply holding her closely for a moment.
Daria took the opportunity to make eye contact with Oracle, inclining her head pointedly the couples' way.
"Oh," The gunslinger said- before her eyes widened in shock. "Oh!"
Lance grinned and threw an arm over her shoulder. "Nothing nice to say?"
"About-"
"About the captain." Lance cut in pointedly, giving her a warning gaze.
"Oh- yea, course," A grin found its way to Oracle's face, and she gave Shinai a hug of his own. "You looked like a champ out there, captain."
"Thank you." The samurai said quietly, giving her a small, one-armed hug in return.
She leaned back, and hit his shoulder. "But next time you and wolfie wanna give me a heart attack, make sure it's not with a death fight, alright?"
Ulysses' attention, however, was on Rainier, looking over Weiss' shoulder at him. "Platina," He mumbled.
The faunus looked up from his embrace, blinking at the hulking teen owlishly. "I… yes?"
The ebony-haired huntsman nodded once. "Good job."
Rainier's face began to rise in to a smile, mouth moving to form a thank you- and then he caught the knowing look in Ulysses' eye. His lips formed themselves into a tight line instead, and he simply nodded back singularly, a moment of recognition passing between the two huntsmen.
Ruby grinned broadly as she squeezed between Weiss and the faunus. "So, was that what you were talking about? Making your own breaks?"
The Vacuoan did a double take, eyes shifting to the Atlesian heiress', before back down to the young leader of RWBY. "Wh- oh! Oh, of course it was. What else?"
"I don't know," Blake muttered from her spot leaning against the wall, a smile of her own playing on her face. "Maybe it has something to do with Weiss."
The aforementioned Atlesian's face reddened. "Oh, don't be churlish, Blake!"
"And that's exactly what I was talking about." Rainier muttered to her with a coy grin.
"You're not off to a good start, mister."
Ruby blinked in confusion. "I- wha- I don't get it."
"Oh," Nash hummed. "Weiss and Rainier are kissing in a tree; k-i-s-s-i-"
"Nash." Rainier said gently.
"But it's true!"
Jaune shook his head. "You're blind to everything else in the world- except for that."
"I always know wha's goin' on with Rain and Daria."
"You're… unbelievable, little guy."
The four teams continued to talk amongst themselves for another few moments- before Rainier and Shinai's gazes met the other's.
The samurai nodded once, slowly. The faunus nodded back.
And that was all that needed to be said.
Ruby's eyes widened in shock, a tiny gasp spilling from her lips. Daria looked over to her. "Rubes?"
"Emerald's… here?" The leader of RWBY whispered, staring across the arena to the Mistrali section on the other side.
Daria frowned, following her gaze. "What?"
"I'll- I'll be right back." She said quickly, shooting to her feet and rushing from the stands, disappearing from sight.
The rest of the teens watched her go, eyes turning to Daria.
"What was that all about?" Jaune asked.
"I- she said that… Emerald was still here?"
Oracle turned to the leader of DRGN, green eyes pleading. "Daria?"
The diminutive huntress nodded, rising and following after Ruby- right into the closed door of a maintenance tunnel. She frowned and threw it open, turning the corner and marching down the hallway- following the sound of voices.
"Mercury?" Ruby called out in shock.
The rest of the remaining Vale huntsman, some having left the Colosseum before the fight began for a handful of different reasons, watched the two huntresses go.
"Lance," Oracle muttered. "Go find security."
"On it." The blonde swordsman said resolutely, shooting to his feet and marching off.
The gunslinger leaned forwards anxiously, staring down at the battlefield below, hands folded in front of her face.
"Alright, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!" Oobleck called out.
All eyes watched the billboard begin to pick the next opponents.
"It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!"
Daria rounded the bend of the hallway- and stared at Ruby and Mercury squaring off, the silver-haired huntsman smirking.
"What- what the hell?" She called out, marching forwards to step up to her friend, glaring the Mistrali down.
"Ooh…" He prodded. "Now I'm really scared. But…"
"And her opponent will be… Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!" Port called out.
Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "No…" She whispered.
Mercury tsked. "Ooh, polarity versus metal… that could be bad."
Daria looked back and from between them. "Ruby- what is he talking about?"
The criminal grinned. "Oh, you'll want to see this next part, kid. Last fight might have been a dud, but Em's got the perfect set up for this next one."
Ruby went to pull her Crescent Rose out- and grasped nothing but air. Daria similarly looked down to her belt where her Infinitas would hang, eyes widening in realization.
Mercury crouched low with a vicious, smug grin.
The crowd cheered as Penny and Pyrrha and made their way to the center platforms; Penny grinning broadly as she waved at the crowd happily, and Pyrrha, looking downtrodden, face a mask of misery, form slumped as she met her opponent in the middle.
Rainier sighed, smiling at Remy. "So what did they say?"
The older Platina grunted. "Mother's a sobbing mess. Father… he said that to tell you that you did good. And… he was proud. But that he was also concerned."
"Father? Concerned? For me? Get out."
"Oh, shut it. Just take his pride and get over yourself."
Despite the barbed words, the two faunus shared a smile.
"So? What did you think?" Rainier continued, prodding.
Remy sighed. "…I think you're an idiot for coming out here, and you could have just gone to Shade and probably won this damn thing, but… you looked like a damn good White Wolf out there-"
"I'm not taking your duties, you know that?" The younger Vacuoan said with a chuckle.
"As if. You'd piss it away the first chance some pretty girl caught your eye."
They chuckled together as they continued to march around Amity's inner hallways aimlessly. "So," Rainier began. "You're leaving, I take it."
"Tomorrow… you know, the ship's got room for two. I can take you home, for the winter, at least."
The younger faunus sighed. "I'm not sure… I'll… call you tomorrow, when I figure it out."
"Suit yourself."
"3! 2! 1! Begin!" Port's voice rang out.
"Oh!" Rainier called out with a start. "The next fight's on. I didn't even hear who it was."
"Some Atlesian girl and Nikos," Remy mumbled, massive arms crossed over his chest. "I'll skip this one. Gonna head back into town. You comin'?"
"I… no, I'm alright. I think I'm going to give my friends a call, see where they are. I'll… see you tomorrow, Remy."
The two brothers clasped forearms. "Tomorrow, then."
The White Wolf nodded and set off without another word, making his way resolutely back towards the shuttles ferrying people to and fro the colosseum. Rainier, for his part, simply leaned against the wall, a content smile painted on his face as he listened to the crowd roar around him.
Penny lifted her arms, several swords floating from her backpack to surround her, letting the blades float around her for a moment before hurling them at Pyrrha, the Mistrali huntress parrying them away, the gleaming steel of the weapons shining in the light as they twirled through the air- before coming to a stop, shooting back towards their wielder's opponent.
Mercury's smirk deepened as he stared at the two leaders. "Showtime."
Daria immediately turned on her heel, moving to run the direction she had come from as fast as she could. The killer, though, lifted a foot, letting loose a bullet that found its mark, colliding with the diminutive huntress' shoulder, sending her wheeling around.
Ruby took the opportunity to try and soar passed the criminal, turning into a blur of red and rose petals- and charged directly into Mercury's waiting kick, colliding with her midsection and snatching her out of the air. The young huntress immediately fished her Scroll from her pocket, finger raised to phone for help-
Only for another bullet to pass through it, the gunshot silenced by the crowd above. The device shattered into worthless glass, falling to the floor.
"Let's just keep this between us friends, huh?"
He looked passed Ruby- to the furious glaring face of Daria, her warm brown eyes closed.
On cue, a brilliant golden light filled the hallway, Mercury throwing a hand up to his eyes as he let out a yell of surprise and pain.
The Mistrali huntress had already turned on her heel, dead sprinting the way she came.
Pyrrha stared Penny down, javelin held taught in her hand, swiping it in broad swings, battering her fellow redhead's swords away with ease for a moment- before a sword found its way passed her guard, slashing across her torso, and getting her to somersault quickly away, javelin falling for a brief moment before shooting right back into her hand.
The Mistrali star glowered, losing herself in the fight as she charged forwards, leaping into the air to plant her boots on one of the soaring blades, falling through the air with a heavy swing of her javelin. The Atlesian ginger simply brought up a makeshift shield of swords, blocking the attack with ease, one blade peeling away to strike back at her opponent.
The slice missed as Pyrrha vaulted away, landing hard onto the tile floor, both girls backing away for a brief moment, more and more blades continuing to slash at the taller huntress, who was simply doing her best to defend against the onslaught, slowly being pushed back for a moment, before her shield flew from her back to her hand, letting her batter and parry the swords away much more efficiently.
The crowd cheered at the expert swordswoman, the Mistrali and Vale sections roaring approvingly, while the Atlas crowd leaned forwards expectantly.
Oracle frowned, looking around anxiously. "Jaune?"
The blonde swordsman jolted, turning worried blue eyes to her. "Y-yeah?"
"What's happening down there?"
"I-"
"Pyrrha looks terrified."
"I- I don't know. I don't know."
"C'mon, Jaune, she's got this!" Nora cried out, punching his shoulder.
"She does," Ren added. "Have some faith."
"Where…" Nash said quietly, turning to Oracle with a concerned frown. "Where's Rubes and Daria?"
Daria didn't stop running, panicked brown eyes flitting back and forth from the hall in front of her, to the hall behind her, cursing under her breath as she tried in vain to remember which door she came from.
"Dammit!" She snapped as she stared into a janitor's closet, slamming the door shut in irritation before taking off again. "Come on- come on-"
She skid to a stop as the roar of the crowd spilled out from one of the doors. The leader of DRGN threw it open, rushing out to the stands beyond, wide eyes looking around at the cheering spectators around her. She whirled around, looking in vain to find her friends;
Before her eyes settled on Pyrrha and Penny far below.
"PENNY, PYRRHA!" She screamed out, voice drowned out.
"I KNOW, RIGHT?" A tanned skin teen cried back at her, goofy grin splitting his face as he shook a 'shaka' gesture at her.
Daria let out a scream of frustration as she continued to run on, dashing through the stands as much as she could, her Scroll held in hand, trying in vain to reach anybody.
And then someone picked up.
"Hello?" Rainier asked. "Where are you? Where are any of you?"
"RAIN!" She cried out.
"Daria?! What's-"
"You have to find someone- something's going down, and it's not good! The fight's are rigged, Pyrrha's going to kill Penny!"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"JUST FIND SOMEONE!"
Pyrrha spun away from the swords swinging at her, charging forwards towards her opponent, deflecting whatever blades she couldn't simply dodge, closing the distance to Penny in just a short few moments.
The Mistrali huntress let loose a flurry of slashes with her spear, the shorter redhead going flying back from the blows, Pyrrha simply batting away the blades sent her away, pushing her advantage.
Penny slid to a stop, raising her hands, several of her swords forming the ever familiar cannons around her, green lasers pooling in their midsts- before firing at the champion huntress.
Pyrrha slid around the beams of light, parrying away any swords that came to close as she effortlessly continued her offensive, javelin shifting into her short sword; a victorious smile crept across her face as she reached her opponent- and then halted, eyes unfocusing as she swayed for a moment.
The Atlesian immediately took advantage, cannons firing her into the air above the Mistrali, before falling in a blur of steel and green light, bashing into her taller opponent and sending her tumbling away.
Pyrrha rolled to her feet, sword and shield at the ready- but not ready enough, two blades flying through the air to smash against her weapons, sending them tumbling away, the huntress concentrating for a brief moment to draw them back into her hands. On a dime, she stopped the effort, instead using her polarity to send a stray sword flying back towards the Atlesian's side.
Penny smiled and cocked her neck from side to side, lifting her arms and letting a handful more swords rise from her backpack.
Pyrrha's eyes widened, though, face falling in abject terror as she stumbled away from her opponent, hands raised as if to futilely defend herself.
Rainier stared at his Scroll for a brief moment, mind whirring- before disappearing, dashing away as fast as his exhausted limbs could carry him. The faunus raced through the Colosseum's halls, ascending higher and higher, looking as quickly as he could for his destination.
The Vacuoan skid to a stop, silver claws throwing sparks up into the air as he slammed his shoulder into the door of the announcer's booth, following up with balled fists against its metal exterior.
"STOP!" He barked. "Someone- let me in!"
The door opened, and General James Ironwood glared down at the faunus.
"Platina," He muttered. "You're making a scene. What's-"
"You have to stop the fight!" Rainier cried, waving the elder huntsman off.
The Atlesian blinked. "What?"
"I- I'm not sure the specifics, but you have to stop this! It's rigged, someone or something is rigging these fights!"
Ironwood's eyes hardened. "You need to explain yourself, immediately."
"What's wrong with Penny?!"
"What?!"
"Why would Pyrrha want to kill her?!"
"I don't-" And then the General's eyes widened, turning on his heel to Port and Oobleck. "What's Nikos' semblance?!"
"Polarity?" Port muttered, holding a hand over the microphone, a frown painted onto his face.
Ironwood's face paled in realization. "No."
Oracle's green eyes widened as she turned to the leader of JNPR. "Jaune?!"
The swordsman shot to his feet, cupping his hands around his mouth. "PYRRHA!" He roared, trying desperately to get his dear friend's attention.
Pyrrha continued to back away, looking around in horror at seemingly nothing, curling into herself in pure terror. Penny smirked and threw her arms forwards, the dozen swords flying at the Mistrali champion.
The taller finalist steeled herself, letting out a scream of fury and desperation, waving her hands, a wave of thick, black energy flying from her at the swords. The blades stopped in their tracks, then turned on a dime, following the wave of energy back towards Penny, the Atlesian's green-blue eyes widening in shock.
The same black energy that surrounded the swords wrapped around her, the girl freezing in place, hunched over herself as the swords went flying wildly passed her.
Pyrrha's eyes widened as she watched the metal strings attached to the handful of blades begin to wrap around the arms and body of Penny, her limbs going taught from the tension of the strings-
And where they wrapped, her body crumpled with ease, the grinding of metal filling the now deafeningly quiet arena.
Then Penny's body severed into two, top and bottom halves falling to the floor; sparking wires and circuits hidden within the opened wounds, the motionless pieces of the android falling to the floor amidst a rain of blades and cloth.
Pyrrha stood in pure shock, green eyes widened in horror, body going limp as she stared at the remains of her opponent, breath refusing to enter her lungs.
The pupils of Penny's eyes slowly widened, the bright green-blue tint of her irises going dark as the crowd watched on in stunned silence.
The inhabitants of the announcer's booth all watched the events below in quiet shock, Ironwood and Rainier slowly walked further into the room, staring through the glass to the combatants down below.
"She's… a robot." The Vacuoan breathed in shock.
Daria skid to a stop, standing in the sea of horrified contestants, brown eyes staring down at Pyrrha and Penny, her breath hitching as she went limp, jaw quivering as she stared on.
Across the screens of the arena, the feed cut from the view of the huntsmen, to a sea of red; a black queen chess piece sitting firmly in the middle. After a moment, the feed went back to the live view of Pyrrha and the remains of Penny.
"This is not a tragedy," Cinder called out over the intercom. "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both."
Rainier's pale yellow eyes went hard as he turned to Ironwood, the general himself gritting his teeth together. Slowly, the faunus backed towards the exit, then disappeared in a blur, descending down to find his friends.
"They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."
Gail and Ulysses stared at the screen alongside one of Beacon's walkways, dark eyes meeting before gluing themselves back to the feed from the Colosseum.
"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither."
Shinai stared at his Scroll, hands clenched together tightly, teeth gritting against each other as he rose to his feet, turning the screen off, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."
Remy's face twisted into a furious glare, pale yellow eyes staring at the screen on his ship's dashboard- and he turned the vehicle around, rocketing back towards the waiting decks of Amity.
"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark,
So I ask you: when the first shots are fired… who do you think you can trust?"
The feed cut to static, Cinder's voice disappearing.
Oracle shot to her feet, running as fast as she could to the hallways, ignoring the shocked looks of her fellow bystanders as she reached the just as quiet halls, fishing her Scroll from her pocket and desperately searching for Lance's contact.
The line refused to even ring, giving her the telltale low beeping sound before silence again. She let out a scream of frustration, hurling her Scroll away.
"Alert. Incoming grimm attack. Threat level: nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." A mechanical voice droned over the intercom.
Like one, the crowd exploded into a panic, the bystanders shooting to their feet as they tried to rush passed one another to flee the Colosseum.
Oracle shouldered her way through the mob of people, throwing punches and elbows as she saw fit, trying desperately to get back to the stadium proper.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please! There is no need to panic!" Ironwood's voice called out, taught with tension.
The gunslinger made her way back to the stands- and then turned her attention up, to the barrier forming the Colosseum's dome;
And the hulking Nevermore slamming into it- leaping up, then crashing back down, cracks forming across its surface.
"Gods." She whispered.
"ORACLE!"
She turned to the familiar voice, Lance charging towards her, throwing his arms around her.
"Lance!" She cried back. "Where are the others?!"
"I don't know- but I see the friggin' ugly ass bird up there- we gotta go!"
"Not without the others!"
Lance nodded frantically. "Yeah, that's fair!"
Gold hummed to himself, pulling his hood back over his head as he stared up at the frantically fleeing ships shooting from the Colosseum's docks; and the hulking Atlesian warships just a few hundred feet from it, dozens of smaller ships flying out to engage the hordes of grimm soaring in, the sky almost black with them, without mentioning those stuck to the ground, ripping through Vale's defenses with ease.
And then his Scroll beeped pleasantly, the criminal raising it up and answering it with a raised brow.
Staring at him, was a pale skinned girl with delicate features, one eye dark brown, while the other was a pale pink- the opposite of her hair, one half pink, the other brown. A pleasant smile was planted on her face, and she wordlessly tossed the Scroll away.
The screen raised back up- and Roman Torchwick grinned through his cigar at Vegas. "Goldie!"
The aforementioned criminal grinned back as he held his own Scroll out, beginning to stroll forwards. "Rome! How's prison been treating you?"
"Not for me, I came to realize!" The mob boss set his scroll down on a surface, revealing the comfy black leather chair he was sat in, an array of levers and buttons laid out in front of him, hands gripping a ship's steering wheel as he split his concentration between the Scroll and his current task. "But, hey! It is good to be back!"
As Vegas watched, one of the hulking Atlesian ships turned quickly- firing out a volley of fittingly huge lasers, carving through the other ships with ease, the Atlesian crafts plummeting from the sky, leaving the hijacked ship the only one left standing.
Gold grinned. "Don't have too much fun up there, Torchwick."
Roman turned his smile from the girl to his side, back to the Scroll. "Hey, speaking of, Goldie- no one ever told me; what's your role in all of this?"
Vegas looked around himself, before turning back to his screen with a shrug. "I'm going to kill as many kids as I can. Ta-ta."
He dropped the Scroll to the ground and turned his attention back to Beacon Academy, marching resolutely on with a skip in his step.