Chapter 35: Arrangements - First Round
The gang took a look at the tournament brackets on a holographic screen to see who's facing who in the first round. Scanning the rows, Gris and Matt found that they might face each other in the next round since their brackets are right next to each other. Everyone else is scattered on the board as well even some of the people they met. More looking and they found a few people they didn't expect. "Wait, Kala you're in this as well," Gris said in surprise eyes still searching the board.
"Surprise, I guess," Kala said, "I was going to tell you but i forgot."
"Well let's all do our best," Matt said, "Besides, we got people rooting for us."
"Right," Gris said grinning brightly.
"If we end up really fighting each other," Ruby said to everyone, "no hard feelings, right?
Everyone nodded and went to prepare for the fights. As they prepared, Blake approached Gris and said to him, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Sure go ahead," he said ready for anything she'll ask.
"Well, first off, about Adam, when did you meet him," She began, " And second, and this might seem a little off but do you mind if I called you," She blushed, "Darling?"
Gris blushed at the latter but quickly answered, "As for Adam, it was after you left the White Fang since he mentioned you leaving them, I guess I might've known a bit about you but i didn't know how you looked like," He smiled fondly as he continued, "Also, you can call me whatever you like, Blake." She blushed a little more and nodded with a small smile.
He smiled at her as the intro to the tournaments began. Everyone turned to the screens to see the arena as it came up on display. The arena looked a lot like a marked area at least a few acres large. It seems to display an urban sprawl with small patches of brush as obstacles in the arena which came off as odd for many of the combatants and spectators. Gris smiled broadly, it was perfect, he is used to combat in urban and forest areas so this was right down his alley. "I wonder how much time it took to even prepare this," Ruby asked to no one in particular.
"I think a few months," Gris answered anyway, "Give or take a few weeks."
"Wait," Blake said, "Remember that construction site we guarded a while ago? That arena could be what we were guarding."
"Now that you mention it," Gris said stroking his chin, "It makes a lot of sense."
"Well," Matt said with growing anticipation, "Let's see if guarding it was worth it."
"I wonder how we are getting in," Weiss wondered.
Looking close as the arena showcase panned to the side revealing some sort of launchers as Gris remarked, "Well i think that answers your question."
The first fight of the round began as the first two contestants are shown on split screens. The two contestants stand on the launchers as a countdown began. Gris recognized these sorts of launchers before, "Oh i see, these use some sort of piston system to launch the person foreword and into the air. You'll survive as long as you have a good landing strategy."
The round ended quicker than expected as the thinner one with a flame rifle took down his opponent very quickly just by taking potshots at them. Even Gris was impressed by such skill that boy displayed. Kala was up next against a taller guy it took a few minutes to get her to the launch but she was ready. Everyone watched as she was launched into the arena, her baton switched to gun mode which is a machine gun. "She has quite the ability," Gris explained as they watched, "She could make herself soundless to any ears. She could sneak past anyone no matter how close she is in proximity to the person or creature."
The screen shows both Kala and her opponent converging on a corner as Matt said, "She's not gonna go for that kind of attack."
As if on cue, Kala hangs back and moves a bit to the side to get a better angle of attack and aims her gun at the corner. As the man rounds the corner, she opens fire on him. In that moment, her opponent's aura meter was cut down by half as the guy took cover. In pursuit of the man, she switches her weapon to its baton mode, but it seems to have recently been modified with a blade and a gun barrel.
"Well that's new," Gris commented while they watch her fiercely attack her opponent without giving him a chance to fight back. Kala slashed and shot at her opponent relentlessly. The match was over fairly quickly and both of them were transported back on fast ships. The rest of the fights went by just as quick especially with team RWBY and even Sun and Penny until it made it to Matt's fight. Using his inhuman speed, Matt darted to his opponent's location following his scent but covering it up by making his movements seem more "human-like" by moving almost aimlessly yet purposefully to his opponent while preparing to ambush. Matt found a spot and waited for his target, aka his opponent, to pass by. When he did, Matt sprung out hammers out and engaged into intense combat. Dodging and smashing, Matt nearly struggled to land a few hits on his opponent as, despite being taken by surprise, the opponent fought with surprising experience. A close match, as it was, Matt pulled through victorious and was quickly transported out along with his opponent.
The transport was fast like the last few times so now it's Gris' turn to fight. "Good luck, Gris," Ruby said to him, "And be careful." Gris smiled at her reassuringly, "None of us haven't lost yet, I'll make sure we're all in the next round." As Gris had some distance, Blake approached him and whispered in his ear after kissing his cheek for good luck, "Go get 'em."
Gris smiled at her with loving eyes, "I will." With that, he got on the transport to his position. Upon arriving, he put his feet on the launch platform where he is visually directed and got ready for launch.
Back at the screens, a lot more people were gathered around upon recognizing Gris' figure. "It's him," One man said, "The 'Ghost' of Vale." The crowd continued to murmur but was silenced by the announcer declaring the final fight and the contestants of the first round of the tournament. When Gris' name was mentioned, a certain masked individual recognized it and watched intently.
At the launch, the countdown's beginning to wind down as Gris got ready for the launch. He braced himself as the piston launcher built up speed and launched him into the air. Gris loaded some special clips into his weapons for his landing. He straightened himself out at the peak of his arc and pointed his guns at the direction he'll land. Before he hit the ground, he opened fire in small bursts slowing and directing his decent as his guns fired specially made impact shots that explode just after exiting the barrel. He touched down on one of the buildings as he thought, 'so far, so good.'
"Impressive," Kala commented, "He must've been experimenting a lot with stuff like this." Matt nodded but everyone else looked at her as she continued, "Gris used to experiment with various munitions for his guns. You'd be even more surprised how well-made his ideas are."
Back at the arena, Gris checked below for any surprises. Seeing nothing so far, he nimbly and carefully climbed down, maintaining stealth. As he did so, he closed his eyes as he concentrated to extend his aura sensory range as he planned. Gris hid and waited for his target to get within range. At the same time, he began planning for his attack.
"Gris likes to take it slow in fights like this," Matt began as they watched him open his eyes, "Ah he's done planning and I guess his target is within range." Moving lightly on the balls of his feet, Gris steadily moved as he relocated to set up his attack. His opponent seems to resorting to move around while showing some caution as well. Meanwhile, Gris settled in a tree just a rock throw's distance from him and his opponent. The spectators at the screens are practically radiating tension as his opponent got closer and closer.
Suddenly, Gris aimed and fired his weapons from the tree for a few seconds catching his opponent by surprise. With Gris' opponent knocked down, Gris took the chance to jump down and get ready to fight. The young man got up as he raised his weapon which looks to be a saber of some sort that seems to be decaled with Dust. Gris got into a looser fighting stance than he does on any other fight, one sword over his head and the other in front while the gun barrels on each are trained on the young man and his grip is somewhat relaxed.
Matt took notice of this, "Ah, I see, he's going for that fighting style."
"What's going on," Blake asked, "What did you mean by that?"
Kala took over saying, "Gris has practiced a few fighting styles, the one you usually see is what he calls the 'cyclone' lots of spinning, quick slashing, and shooting. This stance ,however, signifies that he's going for what he thinks is his best fighting style. I think he called it 'pierriot' or something."
Everyone turned back to the screens as he let his opponent make the first move. Gris calmly stepped out of the way with a slight turn as he used the momentum to strike his opponent once as he faked a second over his head to hit low with his other. After that, he stepped back and, again, let his opponent attack. He blocked a bunch of hits while staying on the balls of his feet, keeping light. His form of attack and defense began to take shape to the group, Gris looks like he's actually dancing. Step, step, block, step, slash, side step, turn, and block. The sounds of hits landing and metal clashing each time they block become almost rhythmic. Hit, hit, block, hit, hit, step back, leap, slash. His movements became a bit more aggressive and faster than before as he knocked down his opponent's aura meter before finishing the fight with a simple kick to the temple, knocking him out cold. The audience had no idea what happened until the screen shown Gris as the victor. Everyone cheered as the transport. Arrival was mere minutes and his friends were there to congratulate him on his victory. "Wait," Ruby said, stopping the excitement, "Let's celebrate when it's over, guys. We'll give it our all."
Gris smiled at her, "Good idea, let's make it special even if any of us don't make it to the finals." Everyone cheered in agreement to this as they head for some place to rest. As they walked, Gris couldn't help but feel like he's being watched...