Amity Coliseum, Above Beacon Academy (Doubles Round 1: Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black VS Jacob Frye and Evie Frye)
The crowd's cheers grew louder once the fighters had reached the center of the arena.
Each and every spectator rose up in a standing ovation, cheering on their favored fighters. Some sat calmly, snacking while they did so, while others stood up on their feet and raised their arms in excitement.
While the team rounds were very exciting, the doubles rounds kicked it up a notch by pitting pairs of the best fighters to battle it out, making it all the more intense.
As both pairs of fighters stood opposite one another, the roulette began to spin, deciding the biomes to be set for the match.
"Emerald and Mercury of Haven!" Rebecca announced to the crowd, encouraging a combined cheer from the crowd. Mercury stood with a laidback posture, his arms crossed with a confident grin. Emerald stood with a hunching stance, glaring at her opposition with a determined grin.
"Versus Jacob and Evie of Beacon!" Shaun continued, spurring an equally spirited reaction from the crowd. Jacob stood confidently, his left arm propped up against his hip while the other hand lazily grasped a kukri blade. Evie on the other hand, was calm, her eyes scanning her opponents analytically while leaning with both hands on her cane.
All around the two pairs of fighters, the roulettes stopped, but this time, four different biomes were revealed instead of the two from before. On one quarter of the arena, the scene of a ruined town was revealed, followed by rocky geyser fields, with hot water spewing from the ground.
Opposite the two biomes, a section of the floor was opened to reveal a grasslands biome, with a single tree sticking out of the tall, brown strands of grass. Beside it, a forest biome was revealed with numerous trees blocking out the sunlight with the overshadowing canopy.
In the center of the ring, Jacob leaned forward and locked eyes with Emerald. Gazing downwards toward her revealing top, he gave a sly grin as his eyes glinted sinisterly under his top hat. "Hey, love the outfit, girl." He said to her smoothly.
"I'll try not to get blood on it." Emerald snarkily replied, prompting Jacob's grin to grow in excitement.
"Hm… Hope you're ready to be disappointed, then." Evie threw back, her voice dripping with coldness and light amusement as she flipped her weapon in her hand, her fist clenching around the handle as she raised her hood.
"We won't be the ones bleeding, missy." Mercury hummed with a laid back and sassy tone of voice, crossing his arms with a pretentious grin on his face.
"Ooooh… I like these two already…" Jacob replied with a toothy sneer.
"Three!" Shaun began, prompting both teams to prepare themselves.
"Two!" Jacob and Evie looked to each other, silently agreeing on their battle plan as their minds began to devise tactics at a rapid pace.
"One!" On the other hand, both Emerald and Mercury stood calmly, seemingly passive. However, their eyes were just as cold and frighteningly filled with killer intent as the twin Assassins, staring down their opposition menacingly.
"Begin!" The announcer said, kicking off the match. Emerald and Mercury did nothing, and slowly walked backwards.
The two fighters kept walking until eventually, they obscured themselves in the tall grass of the savannah biome, their cold glares plastered on their faces.
Seeing this, Jacob nodded to his sister, who repeated his gesture and turned her cane into its rifle mode, inducing the cheers of the audience.
Evie then clenched the trigger, causing the weapon to spew bullets into the grass, mowing away at it until it was cut short and smoking. The stream of bullets cut through the grass, even hitting the energy field protecting the audience, causing some spectators to yell out in alarm when the bullets hit the shield right in front of them.
However, the twins gasped in surprise to see nobody among the grass, as if their opponents had disappeared entirely. Jacob raised his dual knives while Evie held up her rifle, ready to shoot at the first thing that moved.
Jacob gritted his teeth as he attempted to block out the crowd's noise, his ears scanning his surroundings for his opponents. Evie did the same, tapping her cane against the floor in an attempt to pick up any footsteps nearby.
"Above you!" Arno hurriedly called out from his seat, but barely audible enough for the twins to hear. Looking above them, Evie's eyes widened to see Mercury rapidly closing distance between them, his legs positioned for a powerful ground slam.
Thinking quickly, Evie raised her cane up, blocking Mercury's attack as his boots weighed down on her weapon. Pushing the silver-haired teen off of her, Evie quickly drew her blade from the cane and attacked back with a stab aimed at him, only for him to flip backwards and land gracefully on his feet.
Jacob attempted to tag him with his revolver, only for Mercury to break into a sprint, dodging gunfire from both twins, using his boots to block incoming bullets with a series of kicks.
Jacob gritted his teeth in annoyance, reaching into his belt to pull out a handful of throwing knives, flicking four in Mercury's direction, only for him to jump off of the ground, skillfully dodging each one in mid-air and kicking one back at the Assassin, causing him to raise his bracer arm to block it, his Semblance dampening the damage.
"He's good!" Aveline exclaimed, causing her friends to nod in agreement.
"Yeah, but where's the girl?" Her friend, Shao Jun asked, watching the fight closely, her eyes narrowing at the kicking combatant as her mind raced, drawing lines.
Mercury vaulted over Evie, who attempted to swing her sword into her, only for him to land behind her, flipping into the air to dodge a swing from Jacob, kicking into Evie's sword as he rose in the air.
Coming down, he slammed a kick into Jacob's back, only to be knocked back as Jacob raised his arm to hold him back before delivering a powerful punch into the gray-haired teen. Thinking quickly, he shot his grappling hook into him, the blade piercing his leg.
Reeling him in, he prepared to stab into Mercury with his kukri, but Mercury prepared his other leg, coiling it back, making contact with the blade while firing a shell from his boot, repelling both fighters off of each other.
Noticing Evie behind him with her rifle, he jumped up again as she began firing bullets, soaring towards the girl, landing a boot on her rifle as she raised it to block his kick, only for him to push off, attempting a flying kick on an approaching Jacob, hitting him in the face. But Jacob managed to grab his foot, holding him in place for a slash along the throat followed by a reeling punch.
Mercury quickly recovered, grabbing onto Evie's shoulder to stop his momentum before slamming a boot into the back of her trigger hand, pushing the gun's barrel against her brother's torso. But Evie reacted quickly, knocking an elbow into his side, slamming her cane grip into his cheek and landing a stab into his shoulder.
Jacob attempted a few shots on him with his pistol, only for Mercury to flip backwards, firing off wind dust rounds as he moved. Evie and Jacob easily blocked the shots with their respective weapons, but their eyes widened to see Mercury seemingly breakdancing on the floor, firing off round after round from his legs, forming a swirling cyclone of wind energy around him.
Firing a shot at the twins, the orbs of energy circling Mercury immediately followed, heading straight for the two Assassins. Gasping in shock, Jacob immediately ran in front of Evie, raising his arms to brace for impact.
As the shots hit Jacob, he could feel the force pounding down mercilessly onto him, his aura resisting the shots thanks to his Semblance. He felt no pain, but it didn't stop his boots from inching backwards from the force.
Dazed, both twins looked ahead to their opponent, only to see him gone. But then, Evie felt a rush of wind blow past her head, and jabbed her cane behind her, only to find Mercury's boot digging into her stomach before kneeing her in the chin, knocking her back.
As he moved to attack Jacob, Mercury spun his heel in the direction of his face, only for the gangster to raise an arm to stop his leg, moving in with his kukri and aiming for Mercury's chest.
Mercury quickly countered by attacking with his other leg, but Jacob intercepted the attack by slamming his fist into Mercury's leg, knocking it down and following up with a shot from his revolver, hitting Mercury in the head.
Staggering backwards, Mercury shook off his daze, seeing Jacob come in, his blade drawn back to slash against Mercury's chest. Gritting his teeth, he jumped up with a spin, striking the sole of his boot against the blade and kicking it away and striking Jacob up the chin, knocking him back and sending his hat flying.
Evie began to recover from Mercury's assault, shaking her head. But suddenly, a chain flew from the forested area, wrapping around Evie's waist. With a sharp yank, Evie found herself soaring towards the trees, but she didn't panic. Instead she smiled softly, knowing she had found Emerald's location.
Throwing down a smoke bomb, the small pellet exploded into a thick layer of smoke, obscuring Evie's form. As the smoke cleared, everybody looked in surprise to see Evie completely missing. Smiling in victory, Jacob turned his attention back to Mercury.
"You've got some guts, kicking off my hat like that." Jacob snarled at his opponent, slipping on a pair of brass knuckles while raising his hood over his head.
"Heh. You'll be losing a whole lot more than that once I'm done with you." Mercury replied, his boots readily positioned on the ground as he assumed a boxing stance.
Yelling loudly, both teens rushed each other, their eyes locked onto each other with intense killer intent in between them as they rapidly closed distance with each other.
Jacob threw a fist at Mercury while Mercury jumped up with a kick, both of them striking each other and clashing with one another. The sheer force of the impact was enough to send a powerful shockwave out, but both fighters stood in place, both only focused on defeating the other.
Jacob jabbed with his other arm, which Mercury blocked by raising his arm and counterattacking with a kick, but Jacob grasped the incoming leg and pulled Mercury in for a staggering head butt. Mercury could feel his skull shaking from the impact, jarring his senses momentarily and sending his eyes rolling back into his head as he coughed out droplets of blood.
Stunned, Mercury began to fall backwards, but Jacob still wasn't finished. The Assassin slammed a fist into his chest, knocking him down on the ground before bouncing him back up, leading Jacob to punch him again, shooting him towards the geyser fields.
Coming to his senses, Mercury looked up to see Jacob leaping toward him, locked in a familiar stance. His legs were curled to his stomach, his hood low over his eye line and his arm coiled back with his palm open. From his wrist, his hidden blade was deployed, ready to stab down on his neck.
Thinking quickly, Mercury kicked his legs up, meeting Jacob's blade as he felt the small sliver of steel punch through his aura and stab through his leg.
Jacob raised an eyebrow in confusion. The blade should have pierced soft flesh, but instead he felt no such thing. It felt solid, almost... metallic.
Smiling, Mercury fired off a shell from his boots as he kicked Jacob off of him, snapping the blade off from his gauntlet. As the gangster rose up again, he spat on the ground and rubbed his gauntlet-clad knuckle against his lips.
"Tired already? I'm barely sweating." Mercury haughtily taunted, despite feeling drained of an ample amount of his own energy.
"Heh. Y'know, I feel like we could've had a nice chat over a pint." Jacob chuckled bitterly, grinning as he felt his aura flicker against his skin.
"Weirdly enough, me too." Mercury admitted with a subtle tone of sincerity as he sneered through gritted teeth, his aura crackling in silvery flashes all over his body.
"If I had met him when Dad was alive, just maybe... we could have even been friends."Mercury thought to himself, only to shake these feelings off when they sprinted towards each other, madly yelling with adrenaline and raw energy pumping through their veins in a final charge to the bitter end.
Meanwhile...
Emerald cursed under her breath when she felt her chain lose all its weight and her opponent.
Moving through the canopy, she looked desperately to her left and right in an attempt to find the Assassin.
Once she found her, it would be easy to focus her Semblance on Evie, but she knew she couldn't make it obvious, or else the plan would fail.
Looking down from the trees and onto the battlefield, Emerald could watch as Mercury duked it out with Jacob, both of them whaling on each other mercilessly, with incredible aggression and with a hint of insanity.
Mercury hammered kicks onto Jacob relentlessly, but the Assassin made every attempt to block his hits, throwing rapid punches of his own, breaking past the silver-haired boy's defense sparingly as his legs managed to keep his fists at bay.
Mercury slammed his foot into the rocky ground, causing stone chunks to blow up from the ground. Mercury then kicked several rocks Jacob's way, only for him to raise his arms and rush Mercury.
Grabbing him by the collar, Jacob rammed his cranium against Mercury's, stunning him before kneeing him in the gut, knocking the air out of him as he gasped in pain.
But before he could finish him with a punch, Mercury propped his feet against the gangster's, kicking off with shotgun shells from his boots, pushing Jacob backwards into a nearby geyser.
"You cheating basta-AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!" Jacob exclaimed as the burst of hot water and steam blasted against his body, throwing him into confusion as he staggered around blind.
Shaking his head, Jacob attempted to recover, his eyes fogged up from the burst of steam. But once they cleared, he could only watch as Mercury came in close with his leg raised. Throwing a punch in front of him, he gasped to find that all that he hit was thin air.
Smacking himself mentally for losing focus, Jacob sighed in defeat as he felt a metal boot smash against his skull.
Meanwhile...
Emerald opened her eyes, feeling the mild pain throb from her brain. She cheered silently, knowing her Semblance had worked.
"One down, one to go." Emerald thought to herself.
Scanning through the treetops, Emerald searched for the remaining twin.
Suddenly, she felt a chill rise up her spine, feeling all of her senses screaming at high alert. Gasping, she swung one of her kusarigama blades behind her, only to feel Evie's hidden blade crashing down on her aura, pushing both of them down to the ground below.
Reaching the ground, Emerald quickly got up, firing her guns at the Assassin. "How the hell did she get behind me?!" She thought to herself as she watched Evie dash to the side to dodge her assault, pulling out her own rifle as she came in closer.
Growling in frustration, Emerald flicked her firearms in her hands, causing their blades to flick out as she rushed Evie.
The Assassin did the same, drawing her sword from her cane, the blade telescoping and extending, clashing with Emerald's.
Raising her cane, Evie blocked Emerald's counterattack and used this opportunity to send her knee into Emerald's side, causing her to gasp for air.
Swinging her cane up, she flicked a switch on the blunt weapon, causing a sickle blade to extend from it, cutting up against Emerald's chin, leaving her open for a slash across the chest.
Panicking, Emerald swung her blades horizontally towards Evie, who blocked them with her weapons, and thinking quickly, Emerald focused once more, harnessing her aura into her brain.
Evie suddenly flinched to hear somebody approaching her from behind, and swung her sword behind her and hit Mercury, who had his leg extended toward her, but her eyes widened to see nobody an instant later, almost as if he was never there.
Suddenly, Evie felt Emerald's blades rake across her back, before she felt the bullets pepper into her body. Getting up, Evie fired her grappling hook at Emerald, who barely had time to react before Evie slammed the blunt end of her cane into her skull, causing the mint-haired girl to stagger in a daze.
"What just happened there?" Was that my mind playing tricks on me?" Evie thought to herself as she landed more hits into Emerald, bludgeoning her over the head with her cane and alternating with the inner blade, chopping down her aura level rapidly.
"D-dammit! I'm sorry, Cinder." Evie thought to herself, deciding to rely on her last resort. Instantly, she closed her eyes and summoned the last of her mental capacity for a final assault.
All of a sudden, Evie felt her senses enter overdrive, a blindingly bright flash covering her eyes and her ears ringing loudly with a high-pitched screech filling her brain, causing her to yell in agony and causing her to stagger across the ground, completely dazed and confused from the mental attack.
This allowed Emerald to strike quickly alongside Mercury, who had found the two of them fighting amongst the trees. Slashing a kusarigama blade against Evie's back, She looped the chain around the girl's neck, causing her to choke. Seeing Evie raise her rifle, she fired a shot of her gun at Evie's hand, causing her to drop her weapon in pain.
Kicking Evie in the back, Emerald launched her towards Mercury, who leapt up to deal the finishing blow, but Evie thought quickly and revealed her trump card.
Reaching for her half-cape, she raised it over her head, and much to Mercury's surprise, she was gone, vanished completely.
Landing on his feet, he cursed silently as his eyes scanned his surroundings for his opponent, backing away into the trees to hide himself from being out in the open.
Breathing heavily, he felt his heart beat like a drum as he grew more anxious. Every rustle of leaves caused him to gasp and every breeze of wind was enough to send chills up his spine.
Suddenly, Mercury could do nothing as he felt two hands suddenly, yet delicately grabbed him from behind. He tried to scream, to struggle, but it was too late to do anything as Evie slammed her hidden blade into his neck, draining him of the last of his aura before sinking back into the shadows, smashing his head against the darkness-obscured tree trunk.
Emerald frantically swung through the trees, desperately searching for the elder Frye, when she heard the buzzer sound above her. "We're down to one on one! Mercury Black is eliminated!" Rebecca announced over the loudspeaker.
"WHAT?!" Emerald yelled quite loudly in shock. She knew that Merc was an ass of a partner, but not even she was on his level of fighting skill. Seeing as how this girl was able to take him out just like that, that truly gave her a taste of what she was dealing with.
Emerald felt her heart pound out of its chest as her fear began to crawl all over her body, causing her to hyperventilate.
With this, she felt the dark dread fill her once she heard the ever-subtle noise of metal drawing as she panickedly unleashed a hail of dust from guns behind her, which Evie attempted to dodge and block with her weapons, to some avail.
However, Emerald recovered rather quickly, and focused once more, trying to cast the proper illusion with her Semblance to get away.
Evie moved in for the killing blow, but once Emerald completely hid herself from view, she saw her figure haze over before disappearing completely. Cursing under her breath, Evie activated her Eagle Vision to search for her opponent, but without success, she grabbed her cape ready to obscure herself once more to escape through the shadow she would cast.
However, she felt the barrage of bullets dig into her back before two powerful swings cut down on the last of her aura and sending her flying towards the center of the ring, unconscious.
"And with that, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" Shaun announced over the mic, leading to a combination of cheers and jeers from the crowd below.
Emerald smiled quietly, laughing hysterically to herself before falling over and collapsing from exhaustion, completely and utterly drained from the intensity of the battle.
Terraces, Amity Coliseum
Among the members of the audience, Teams ACEE and RWBY watched alongside Arno and Adé, watching their teammates' defeat.
Not too far away, Teams JNPR, CFVY, SSSN and ASHN were seated. All of them stood seated with wide eyes at the outcome of the match.
"Huh, who would've thought Jacob would go first?" Henry asked his team quizzically.
"Heh. Yeah. Kid's got guts, but at least he had the strength to back it up. Gotta hand it to him, he fought well." Coco added, her eyes locking on curiously to Jacob's unconscious body down below.
"Those other two… their style was rather… brutal, no?" the larger Assassin known as Nikolai Orelov inquired, referring to Mercury and Emerald, noting their aggressive and skillful approach.
"Yeah, it almost looks familiar…" Shao Jun noted, racking her brain for a semblance of familiarity.
"Still, I hope they're okay…" Velvet squeaked quietly, worried for their state of injury as her bunny ears drooped.
"They fought valiantly. And honorably." The muscular giant named Yatsuhashi spoke up, vocalizing his admiration for Jacob and Evie's effort.
"C'mon! Let's see how they're doing!" Aveline called out to her friends, causing everybody to get up to check up on them.
But as they left, Cinder and Jack stayed seated, discussing the outcome of the match.
"That was far too close." Jack growled, noting how close Emerald was to losing.
"But they succeeded, didn't they?" Cinder replied in exasperation, rolling her eyes.
"Tell me something, will you?" Jack asked curiously, looking into Cinder's uncovered eye with a serious atmosphere between them.
"What is it?" She asked curiously. It wasn't every day that Jack wanted to know more about her, considering his lack of interest for things unrelated to murder and torture.
"What did you see in them?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.
Cinder's expression didn't shift from its stoic indifference, but she found it to be an intriguing question all the same. All she really wanted was power, and these two were pawns in her master plan to achieve that. But then again, there were reasons…
"I don't know, honestly. One could say that… I saw myself in them." Cinder admitted, but with a cold voice that clearly emphasized her lack of regard for the matter.
Jack sat there quietly, his brow raised in confusion. "Heh. Seems that even the heartless can feel." Jack thought to himself as he rose from his seat and strolled out of the terraces.
Gazebo Café, Outside Festival Grounds, Later that evening…
Weiss sat comfortably in her chair, fiddling with her teacup filled with sweet and aromatic coffee. Opposite her sat her sister, seated matronly with her posture upright and straight as she sipped from her cup.
Weiss was still a bit hurt from Winter's cold remarks back at the courtyard, but it was times like these that her ice cold façade melted away to reveal the kind and caring elder sister she remembered growing up with in Atlas.
Winter had also chosen an ideal spot for them to chat. It was a marble gazebo surrounded by a lush and floral garden, decorated with beautiful flowers of all kinds with dainty butterflies of all hues fluttering around them.
The interior of the café was also very beautiful. The space had no windows, instead opting for marble pillars upholding the domed ceiling, resembling a pantheon of sorts. Above the pillars, lush green awnings hung overhead, with vibrant vines stretching down to touch the sun's rays.
In the center of the structure, a beautiful fountain stood, consisting of a goblet of sorts erecting from the pool of water, in which its clear and sparkling contents flowed peacefully down into. The two sisters sat at a fancy table, which stood on legs that met at the center, curving outwards to hold it in place. Between them sat two teacups as well as a plate containing two strawberries and a croissant.
"Y-you're… leaving?" Weiss asked, almost in dismay as she heard her sister say it aloud.
"Yes. I was merely needed to direct an escort for additional units into Vale." Winter confirmed to her sister, setting down her cup of coffee from her lips and carefully placed it in its saucer, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Our last shipment was lost to an ambush… I believe you experienced an encounter with its cargo, actually." Winter added, causing Weiss to remember the weeks leading up to the festival, in which they had foiled the White Fang's plans to incite a Grimm invasion. She remembered going up against the massive Paladin suits, one of which involved eight of them to take down.
"It's fortunate that the suits you ran into were merely prototypes. Otherwise you and your friends would not have fared so well. Thank goodness…" Winter drabbled on, her mind dreading the loss her precious sister to the machines she had a hand in creating as a military specialist.
However, she looked ahead at her sister, who had a downtrodden expression on her face. She then realized what she'd said. If her sister had trouble defeating a prototype, then she must have felt her confidence shattered upon hearing it was barely even a full challenge.
Succumbing to her big sister instincts, she gently placed a palm over Weiss's, feeling herself smile upon seeing her sister's expression grow warmer. "Weiss… you've done… well here, on your own. You should be proud of yourself. I admittedly was, myself."
Weiss smiled gratefully, feeling her heart open up to Winter more. "To be honest, it was quite amusing seeing Father's face the moment you left for Beacon!" Winter added, causing Weiss to giggle lightly, remembering her father's red face and almost childish tantrum when she left. It was an image he would deny frivolously, yet an image Weiss would never forget in a million years.
"I can't wait to show him all I've learned!" Weiss declared eagerly with a smile to match, her arms crossed in confidence.
"Oh? And what do you think you've learned?" Winter inquired with a snarky grin and a raised brow.
"What do you mean? I've become better and better with my glyphs. I've even started time dilation!" Weiss retorted, her face riddled with confusion. She wasn't wrong from her own knowledge. Time dilation was difficult stuff, almost up there with…
"And what of your summoning?" Winter asked her, her hands pressed up against her chin as her elbows were propped against the tabletop, pushing her chest against the rim as her face became more firm and serious.
"And there's the kicker…" Weiss thought to herself. In all her years, she had tried, but after countless failed attempts, she eventually gave up on trying, despite Winter's excessive pushing.
"I… y-you know I can't…" Weiss whined, turning away from Winter in embarrassment.
"Don't be ridiculous. Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations." Winter noted with a hint of pride, recalling every brave hero that fought for the Schnee bloodline before Atlas came into being, including her grandfather, founder of the SDC himself.
"I've tried! It's just… It's the one thing I'm having trouble with!" Weiss argued back, throwing her arms out to emphasize her point.
Winter sighed, raising her voice once more. "We Schnees are unique. Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary, but that doesn't mean it will come easy."
Raising her arm, Winter held out her palm, summoning a small glyph to hover and spin on top of her hand. "Your Semblance is like a muscle. The more you practice with it, the stronger it will become. But if you only focus on one aspect of it, if you fail to test the limits of what is possible…"
Winter then flicked her arm upwards, enveloping the area in a bright flash of light, causing Weiss to flinch backwards, raising her arm over her eyes to shield them from the light. Opening her eyes, she saw a Beowolf standing next to Winter, but completely white and glowing with a pale blue energy. This was one of Winter's summoned, a copy of one of countless Grimm that died to her blade.
"…then you'll never truly grow."
Staring at the beast in awe, she could only imagine the potential within herself as the Grimm bent down, allowing Winter to pet it and stroke its fur under its neck, causing the wolf to growl softly in contentment.
Team RWBY's Dorm, Beacon Academy
"YOU'LL NEVER BEAT US, GRANDPAS!" Ruby yelled out at the top of her lungs, holding her weapon with both hands and clinging on for dear life.
"Heh, when was the last time you really stood a chance against me?!" Qrow responded, readying himself for a special attack.
"Bet they've never even had a taste of a true pro!" Shay added, his eyes narrowing in for the killing blow.
"We can do it Ruby! NOW!" Yang yelled out, activating her ultimate attack, speeding towards Qrow with a fiery yell.
"Tsk…" Shay snickered under his breath, activating his secret technique. He leapt in front of Yang and made his move. Much to Yang's dismay, she dealt no damage, as she felt the force of the attack barrel back down on Ruby and herself.
With this, both of their character's health bars dropped down to zero, causing Ruby and Yang to stare in defeat as the screen darkened.
"FINISH HIM!" The announcer said in a deep and menacing voice, blood-red letters on the screen emphasizing his words.
With an evil grin, Shay nodded to Qrow, who entered a combination of buttons on his controller, causing his character to move towards the sisters'.
"NOOOOOOO!" Both of they yelled out in horror, watching Qrow's character transform into a massive King Taijitu, devouring both of the defeated combatants with a bloody crunch that tore a hole through Ruby's innocent heart.
"Soaring Ninja and Blood Hawk win! Total Annihilation! Fatality!" The announcer declared loudly, causing Qrow and Shay to smirk in victory, while Ruby was on the verge of tears, curling up into a ball while whimpering like a dying dog and Yang was about ready to burst a vein, the controller in her hands smoking from the heat she was giving off.
"By the way, don't ever call us grandpas. You'll be a part of the crowd soon enough." Qrow joked, jabbing a whimpering Ruby in the side with his finger, causing her to squeak quietly in response.
"Rematch. Now." Yang growled with a deathly tone, her now scarlet eyes glaring from behind her hair, which was beginning to light ablaze in small embers.
"Sure, if you insist." Shay sarcastically added, picking up his controller again and picking his character.
"Now, where was I again?" Qrow asked his nieces, to which Ruby jumped up to answer him, completely breaking out of her traumatized state earlier.
"You were telling us about your last mission!" Ruby chirped excitedly as Shay took on Yang in the fighting game.
Taking a deep breath, Qrow began his story. "Right… here goes. I come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I could tell somethin' wasn't right."
"What were you doing there?" Ruby gasped curiously, causing Shay to chuckle as he evaded one of Yang's special attacks.
"I needed info. Tired of fighting Grimm along the way, I decided to visit the local inn. The place was crawling with lowlifes and thugs, even a few huntsmen I could only assume had been hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs. I walked in… and that's when it happened."
"What happened?" Yang asked in shock.
Qrow's face grew dark and serious, almost as if bearing news of the apocalypse itself. "I was defeated… by the mere sight… of the innkeeper's skirt length!"
With this, Shay delivered the final blow to Yang, causing the announcer's voice to blare from the TV. "Blood Hawk wins! Total Annihilation! Fatality!"
"Bam. Best two out of three." Shay said cooly, dropping the controller like a mic.
"YOU ARE THE WORST!" Yang yelled at Qrow, causing him, Shay and Ruby to laugh uncontrollably.
"So… Uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?" Ruby asked, sitting herself onto the bed.
"Yeah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool."
"Cool for an old guy!" Yang joked, only to meet Shay's hidden blade pointed at her neck.
"Not funny, kiddo." The rogue huntsman said to the blonde, causing her to raise her arms in surrender.
"By the way, what're you doing here at Beacon? I thought Dad said you'd be on a mission for like… ever" Ruby asked him.
"Well, a professional huntsman like your drunk of an uncle here is supposed to get results as soon as possible. I should know, I've worked with him for years." Shay said he watched Qrow play another round against his elder niece.
"Heh, yeah. We're pretty much professionals ourselves…" Ruby said, leaning back onto the bed.
"Oh really?" Qrow replied sarcastically with an indifferent face.
"Psh… yeah! Watch the news sometime! We totally saved Vale when you were away!" Yang responded, keeping her eyes on the screen.
"Funny, 'cause I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train." Qrow threw back snarkily as he obliterated Yang's character in the game with his ultimate move.
"And they don't give out medals for 'almost'." Qrow continued, poking Yang in the cheek, causing her eye to twitch in annoyance.
"They do and they're called SILVER!" Ruby blurted out, causing Shay to laugh at her antics.
"Well, we took down Roman Torchwick! He's locked up on Ironwood's ship, and crime's been down ever since. That's basically a bounty mission!" Yang bragged, remembering their lucky victory after the Breach, remembering everybody showing up to fight back the Grimm.
"Sure, you may be acting like huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. Did you really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in the kingdom?" Shay asked them, raising his eyebrow and remembering a time when he thought similarly.
"Well, I did until you said that…" Ruby admitted, tapping her fingers together awkwardly.
Sighing, Qrow spoke up. "Crime hasn't dropped since Roman's arrest. It's stopped. Completely. No White Fang or Blighter activity anywhere in Vale."
This cast an atmosphere of silence amongst the group, as the four of them sat with an ominous air between them.
"You cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head's calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal skull of his…" Qrow ranted, his eyes narrowing at the thought of the general and his ignorance.
"You guys know the general?" Ruby asked, looking just as confused as Yang. They knew Qrow worked high up, but not to this extent.
"Hey! I know everyone to some extent! Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team to ever graduate Beacon!" Qrow said proudly, plucking a photo from his shirt pocket.
In the photo was Qrow and three others. On the far left was a young girl wearing a snow-white cloak, a hood covering part of her face. Her eyes were large and colored a bright silver. Her skirt was black and short black hair extended from under her hood, barely reaching her collarbone. This was Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's stepmother, at least until she... left…
Leaning against a tree next to Summer was a young man with dark tanned skin and short blonde hair. He wore a brown vest with a pauldron covering his right shoulder. This was Yang and Ruby's father, Taiyang. As a teacher at Signal and a single father of two, he had little time to spend at home, but Yang understood. After all, she had been taking care of Ruby in his place.
Between Tai and a younger-looking Qrow stood another person, a young woman dressed in black and red armor and a black skirt, her arms covered by scale gauntlets and her hair was long, black and spiky. Most notable however, was her face. With large red eyes, a rounded face and beautiful features, it was almost a spitting image of herself…
Noticing Yang's eyes widening over a particular member, Qrow sighed and subtly moved his thumb over her face, blocking it from Yang's view. "Team STRQ. That's where I met your parents. We were pretty well-known back in the day."
"Yeah, I can personally vouch for that as an understatement." Shay added, remembering Qrow's team and how much attention they attracted from students and teachers alike, half of which were from Qrow's hilarious shenanigans in class.
"Yeah, for bad fashion sense!" Ruby joked, muffling a giggle under her arm.
"Hey, we looked great! And I got a number of inappropriate stories to back that up…" Qrow said, wiggling his eyebrows at Ruby, causing her to wince in disgust.
"Ich, gross!"
"But... I'm gonna save those for when you're older. Wouldn't want your imaginations runnin' wild." He said, slipping the photo back into his pocket.
"Anyways, I'm getting too old to be hangin' out with a buncha kids. You're gonna cramp my style!" Qrow said, getting up to walk out the door, but before he did, he stopped himself, turning back towards his nieces.
"Look, just remember that you've still got a long way to go. Don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place." Qrow said before walking off.
Shay got up, but turned towards his friend's nieces, quizzical expressions covering their faces. Sighing, he spoke up. "You two, just remember… you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning, If you never stop moving forward. It was nice meeting you." Shay said with a gentle smile before shutting the door behind him to catch up with Qrow.
Gazebo Café, Outside Festival Grounds
Weiss stood in the center of the gazebo, her sword pointed at a spinning glyph on the ground. Her stance was elegant, yet her face was ridden with stress and frustration.
Beside her, Winter stood, analyzing her posture. "Excellent form! Now, think to your fallen foes, the ones that force you to push yourself past who you were, and become who you are now. Think of them, and watch as they come to your side."
Weiss' frustration only grew as she concentrated further, the glyph spinning faster, yet nothing happened as the glyph's energy began to flicker like a candle.
"I can't!" Weiss complained, which quickly earned her a smack on the head from her elder sister.
"Stop doubting yourself!" She sternly ordered Weiss.
"I'm trying!" Weiss yelled back in frustration.
"If this is what you call 'trying', then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a huntress! Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure Father would give you a nice job as a receptionist!" Weiss coldly rebutted.
"I don't need his charity!" Weiss replied, pouting with both hands crossed under her chest.
"But you do need his money, don't you?" Winter asked Weiss with a clever grin, causing Weiss to gasp.
"W-what? H-how'd you know about that?" She asked frantically.
"Lucky guess. I may have found myself in a similar situation when I joined the military. So what have you done this time?" Winter asked her sister.
"Well, that's the thing! I'm really not sure. I went to pay for lunch the other day, but my card didn't work." Weiss said, recalling the incident at the noodle shop after their first match.
"How embarrassing!" Winter responded in mock surprise.
"I know! Why would he just cut me off like that?" Weiss asked her sister.
"Perhaps so you'd stop ignoring him and call home."
Growling in frustration, Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at the ground once more, summoning her aura to form a spinning glyph into the ground. Sensing her sister's tension, Winter placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Emotions can grant you strength, but you must never let them overpower you. The way I see it, you have two choices in front of you; you can either call home, beg for his money back and explain once more why you want to study at Beacon over Atlas… or you can continue to explore Remnant. Learning more about the world and its secrets, and honestly, more about yourself." With Winter's words, Weiss finally drew a long breath, relaxing as the glyph dissipated.
Turning to her sister with both arms on hers, Winter looked at her in the eyes. "It's time for me to go now."
With this, she gave Weiss a warm hug, which the younger girl happily returned as both siblings remained in a loving embrace.
"It was good to see you again, Winter." Weiss said to Winter, happy to have had the chance to chat with her again.
"Until next time, sister." Winter said, returning Weiss's feelings. The Schnee family was far from a happy one, but the sisters still loved each other, and even felt that they were the only true family each of them had.
It was rare moments like this in which both women could relax and shoulder each other's problems, like any true family would.
Courtyard, Beacon Academy, Later that night…
Weiss sat on a bench as she saw Winter's ship ascend into the sky, the engine roaring as the aircraft flew off into the direction of the city across the bay.
Weiss waved off the ship, hoping that her sister could see her from that distance.
But just then, she turned her head to notice somebody sitting atop one of the massive arcs of the courtyard.
Running up to it, Weiss used a glyph to help herself jump up atop the structure, crossing eyes with Ezio.
"Lovely night, don't you think?" Ezio asked the heiress with a smile.
"Yes…" Weiss answered, taking a seat next to him.
"So… your sister?" Ezio asked again.
"Yes. She came for her mission but made time to visit me." Weiss answered.
Ezio grinned as he looked above him at the beautiful night sky. Bright, sparkling stars dotted a black canvas decorated with splashes of violet and indigo, with a light blue light illuminating the shattered moon above.
Looking beside him to tell Weiss to look up, he already saw her gazing upwards in wonder, her sky blue eyes sparkling beautifully in wonder, causing him to smile contently.
"Ezio?" Weiss suddenly asked, breaking from her trance.
"Yes, what is it?" He responded.
"Do yo-" She began, only to be interrupted by something vibrating in her pocket.
Pulling out her scroll, she saw that her father was calling her. Seeing this, Ezio sighed. "Do you need some privacy, or…"
However, his words were cut short when Weiss placed her palm on his with a light blush gracing her cheeks, her scroll revealing that she had hung up on her father.
"No. We could use some privacy." Weiss hummed contentedly, almost melodically in her voice as she lowered her head on Ezio's shoulder, not letting go of his hand.
"Just… let it happen. It's a rather beautiful night, after all." Weiss continued, her voice calm and soothing to his ears, causing himself to turn red as he turned back up to look at the starlit sky.
With that, Weiss could relax happily, knowing she had found comfort outside her family at last. "Maybe this could become something more…" she contently thought to herself as she closed her eyes into a peaceful slumber, feeling the warmth of Ezio's arms wrapped around her shoulder as they sat together under the midnight sky.
Up next: Never Miss a Beat!
Hey guys! Sorry for the long delay! I've started writing a new story (plz check it out on my profile), had to complete a monster load of schoolwork, but I'm very happy to be able to finish this just in time for this story's anniversary! On this day, a year ago, I created this story, but never in my life would I have comprehended that I would get 75,000 views and over 200 follows and faves! Thank you all so much for enjoying my story and staying with me to the end! Love you all! Anyways, let's talk business. I've been really confused about Blake's pairings, but I'd like to put that whole debate to rest. I'll be putting up a poll on my profile, so cast your vote if you want to tell me your personal opinion on the matter! Anyways, like always, hit the shit outta that review button, fave or follow the story to keep updated, happy Valentine's Day and I'll see you next time for a new year! BYE-BYE!
Reviews:
treyalexander63917: It's on the poll now. I'll try to do it eventually!
Omni warrior: True, but here's the thing: how do they know that Emerald and Mercury are suspicious purely based on the illusions? Also, Emerald's Semblance, I feel completely takes over all senses, so I'd imagine Eagle Vision wouldn't work. Besides, even if "red" would mark them, keep in mind that characters that did not seem suspicious in the games would remain blue.
Nothing is true: Sounds cool! I might look into that!
Guest: Sure thing, but above all, I see Connor as a compassionate type, the kind of person to put others over himself. With this in mind, if he sees Sun taking an interest in Blake, he knows that he's the kind of person that can help her be more open and he would not let his personal feelings get in the way.
The Hidden One: Like I explained earlier, there would be no way Jacob or Evie would expose them without concrete evidence that they are working with Salem. With their illusions, it does not prove anything, and they couldn't figure it out easily unless it is outwardly stated to them. Oh yeah, that would be badass but I think using an airship to break someone out of house arrest in their dorm would be a bit overly dramatic.
merendinoemiliano: Thanks for the support!
SW1103: Y'know, never actually gave it much thought. I think I'll do it in a character short.
Guest: Yeah, but I imagine Bayek's actually well past his prime by now, but yeah, that sounds cool.
CT7567Rules: Jacob uses dual kukri blades that turn into revolvers as well as a pair of brass knuckles with dust nodes at the ends. Arno has his foil, a pistol and his guillotine gun (an axe that fires mortar shells, later upgraded to fire rockets). Adé carries a machete that turns into a two-handed blunderbuss. Evie uses a cane-sword that turns into an assault rifle.
Guest: Been there, done that.
Guest: Hmm… Sounds interesting.
Cslalchemist: Thanks! No, they don't know, not yet at least…
Sam hill: Cool. Never watched Pirates of the Caribbean (except the last one) tho.
Guest: Eehhhh... don't think Achilles will make an appearance this early.
Guest: Yeah, me too.
Guest: Your patience has been rewarded, friend.
Odin beard: Oh, it will alright. Be patient.
splithaven: Lmao I literally screamed "DESMOOOND!" when she said it in Syndicate!
