Chapter 26 - Pieces Fall into Place
The next day, Matt, Jason, and all other members who were in the tournament were asked to meet in the waiting room for the fifth time. Matt looked over his shoulder and noticed Emerald and Mercury watching a video of Matt taking on Cardin, showing the first time he ever used his semblance. "You know," Matt said as he tapped Emerald on the shoulder, "I don't like to use that, even if it look badass." Matt gave a little grin at his own praise. "You're semblance is powerful." Mercury replied. "I wouldn't like to go up against it." Emerald added as she gave a small smirk towards Mercury. "So, what are your semblances?" Jason asked, but was interrupted by, "Ladies and gentlemen," everyone heard coming from the arena, "the next fighters are Mercury and Emerald from Haven.". "Wait, but you already went against Coco and Yatsuhashi?" Jason asked, but then heard, "Versus, Matt and Jason of Beacon!". "But they shouldn't be fighting agai-" Jason was cut off by Matt. "Hurry up! We need to be out now!".
As they all made their way out, Matt and Jason were whispering to each other. "We need to be careful," Matt began, "I know we went flawless in our four-on-four matches, but these two took on Coco and Yatsuhashi.". "Speaking of which," Jason began to say, "shouldn't they already have gone through?". "I'm not sure. Either way, we should enjoy the fight." Matt replied, as he looked up at team RWBY, team CFVY, and team JNPR, giving them all a short wave. "What's the plan?" Jason asked. "You're on Mercury. He's up-close, so just stick with range until he gets annoyed, then rush him with combo's. I'm gonna distract Emerald until you take down Mercury, then we can take her down together.". Jason and Matt pounded each other's fists, knowing that they had trust in their plan. Suddenly, the arena began to change, making one half of the arena into Emerald Forest, while another half became Forever Fall forest. "3! 2! 1,". Jason looked over to Matt. "Let's do this, partner.". "Begin!".
Matt charged straight for Emerald, while Jason took a step back, and fired two arrows. One at Emerald to stop her from attacking first, and another at Mercury. Jason continued to fire arrows, all of different elements to catch him off guard. He fired two more arrows before Jason had to move into the Emerald Forest, and use the trees as cover to get away from Mercury. Mercury was hot on Jason's tail, until suddenly hard-electrical wires tripped up Mercury, and suddenly Jason was gone from sight, leaving Mercury to be cautious with every step he takes.
Meanwhile, Matt was taking on Emerald in the Forever Fall forest, both attacking each other head on. Emerald continued to fire her revolvers from afar, while Matt kept on dodging, but still got hit by a few. As Matt got closer, Emerald activated her sickle function of her weapon, making close combat easier for her. Emerald attempted a slice on Matt as he ran closer, only for him to slide down underneath her legs, and punched her legs, making her drop. While she began to drop, Matt grabbed Emerald's head and slammed it into the ground, giving Matt enough time to stand up and prepare for any counter attack. Emerald quickly jumped back up, and began attacking furiously, slicing Matt over and over again.
Eventually, Matt knew his aura was going to drop, so he fired his gauntlets towards the ground, giving him some time in the air. Emerald began to launch her weapon at Matt, with the grip still in her hands as the chains released the sickles. Matt grabbed onto the sickles, and pulled, forcing Emerald to him. Matt then punched Emerald directly in the jaw, launching her out of the ring. "That was...easier than expected." Matt said to himself, as he remembered Emerald and Mercury defeating half of team CFVY. "Maybe I'm just better than I thought!" Matt exclaimed, giving himself a little smirk as he saw a blast in the distance, and ran off to find Jason and aid in his fight.
Jason was hiding in the trees, with eyes on Mercury. Every few seconds, he would fire an arrow towards Mercury, while switching positions. "Enough…" Mercury said to himself as he began to spin in a freestyle fashion. He began to fire, creating a freak tornado of blasts. 'How long could he do that?' Jason thought, as he began to fire ice arrows into the center, causing Mercury to slip, breaking apart the tornado. Jason jumped down, and switched into his dual swords, and engaged Mercury in a fight. Mercury began with a roundhouse kick, only for Jason to dodge, and immediately counter attacked. Both were fighting back and forth, until Mercury let out a little laugh. "What's so funny?" Jason asked, as he turned around and saw Matt, staring where Jason was, and began to clench his fists.
-Matt's POV-
Matt watched as a spiral of shots came to an end, and new that was where the rest of the fight was taking place. When he finally got there, he noticed something very odd. Where the shots were coming from, was now, "Cardin?" Matt asked. Cardin turned around and smiled. "How the hell are you in here?" Matt continued to ask. Matt took another step closer, and noticed Cardin was standing on something, or someone. Matt struggled to see who it was at first, until he saw the hair. "Velvet?". Matt was struggling to comprehend what he was seeing. 'There's no way they're both in here.' Matt thought to himself. 'But how the hell are they in here?'. Suddenly, Cardin began to kick Velvet, over and over again, getting little whimpers out of her. "Velvet!" Matt yelled out, as his hair began to change into fully purple. "Great timing!" He yelled out, with his voice vibrating with anger, as his hair began to glow purple, showing his semblance was activated. Matt launched himself over, and let out all of his anger in one punch. He hit as hard as he could, but suddenly, just as he hit, Cardin suddenly turned into Jason, and Velvet disappeared.
-Jason's POV-
"Velvet?" Jason asked Matt, when suddenly he noticed Matt's hair change. 'Well this anger could help…' Jason thought, when suddenly, Matt hit Jason with more power than he had ever seen, which immediately sent him out of the ring, and lowered his aura to one, while Mercury just looked at the two.
-3rd Person POV-
"JASON!" Matt yelled as he realised he had just hit his friend. Matt chased Jason to where he had hit him, only to see him out of the ring. 'Screw it!' Matt thought to himself, as he jumped out of the ring as well, to check on Jason, which also forfeited the match. Jason was still conscious, but barely. "What was that about?" Jason asked in anger as Matt approached. "I-I-I thought I saw Cardin?". "Cardin!?" Jason asked. "Why would he be in here during our match?". "I don't know, I just saw him attacking Velvet!" Matt tried to respond. "You know I wouldn't have activated my semblance unless it was serious!". Suddenly, Atlas soldiers ran in, and began to escort Matt out of the arena, and Jason to a medical bay. Even though Jason wasn't seriously injured, they thought that it would be a good idea to check for a concussion. While Matt was being escorted off, he saw a tape being played of him hitting Jason directly in the face, while Matt said to himself "That's not what happened…".