Chapter 36

Author's Note: First of the next few random chapters coming out since I'm in Europe after a 12-hour flight (jetlag's a bastard). Really loving how the story's coming along, hope you all enjoy this chapter!

"Ugh." Jaune put his sword to his forehead as their argument came to an end. "Nora, just… hit them with the hammer."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Brawnz Ni, the leader of team BRNZ, exclaimed.

Before any of his team could react, Nora leaped in front of them and with a grin smashed her hammer into them, sending them flying to splat against the forcefield. The crowd's initial complaining of the lack of fighting towards the end of team JNPR's and BRNZ's fight gave way to cheers and a few winces as the team slid down with their limbs at angles that they really shouldn't be in.

"And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout, literally!" Port announced before he leaned forward in his chair. "Can someone go make sure they're okay?"

A few minutes later, Michael groaned as he lugged one of the members of team BRNZ to the medical ward. "Ugh. For a skinny guy, you're really heavy."

"Hey…" Nolan Porfirio protested before he winced as he hopped on one leg. "Are knees supposed to bend like that?"

"Nope," Michael replied, without looking. He really didn't want to look. "Let's just get ya up there."

"Hey… why do you sound like that blonde Faunus from Haven? Sun Wukong?" He asked him. "Are you related, somehow?"

"Nope," Michael replied again. "And don't ask me how."

"Yeah. You look nothing like him. He's way more handsome."

"Want me to drop you?" Michael glared at him.

"No! No, just… You know what, I'll shut my mouth."

Michael nodded. "Yeah, let's go. His fight's gonna start soon, actually. And I do not intend to miss it."

"Team NDGO of Shade is certainly a crowd favorite, but these lovely ladies are going against some of the toughest, testosterone-filled teammates we've seen so far! I'm of course talking about… Team SSSN!" Port announced.

Team SSSN, led by Sun Wukong, strolled out into the arena with waves and grins to the cheering crowd. They definitely had a following, if the girls holding up signs with their faces was any indication. Although Sun's one just had a picture of his abs, he didn't care.

"Sun Wukong and his team are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and although he'll be representing the Mistral Academy of Haven, I'm sure his friends and family back in Vacuo will be cheering him along!" Port continued.

"Good, I'm on time!" Michael stumbled forward and leaned against the railing, panting for breath. Ryan handed him a drink while Jeremy grinned before looking back at the fight.

"Good luck, Neptune!" Weiss called, cupping her hands.

Neptune looked up and grinned as he waved at her.

"Check out the competition." Sun nudged him.

He turned to find Team NDGO watching them with almost bored expressions. Normally, he would probably shoot them a grin and address them with a flirt or something, but he just nodded back at them.

"You're not flirting?" Dew Gayl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'm already taken," Neptune replied, shooting another look to Weiss.

"Huh. For a second, thought you were a playboy or something."

"I get that a lot." Neptune sighed before he pulled out his weapon. "But that's not happening. I'm loyal to my girl."

"Surprisingly," Sage muttered.

They were interrupted by a brightening light above them, which turned out to be a miniature sun as a desert biome rose behind Team NDGO.

"Alright! Home field advantage!" Nebula Violette laughed.

"Don't get too cocky! That's my turf too!" Sun called to them.

"I hope I don't get sand in my shoes," Scarlet muttered, looking at his footwear.

"Be cool, man. And also, you definitely sound like Gavin."

"The bird guy? Is now really the best time to point that out?"

The second biome was selected, and an ocean biome rose with its own sandbanks and even a sunken pirate ship rose behind them.

Neptune's face morphed into one of total fear, down to his eyes, which dilated as he froze. Something which a few of the audience members noticed.

"Uh…" Ruby looked at her teammates. "What's wrong with Neptune?"

"Oh no…" Blake had a hand to her face before she looked up. "Neptune's… afraid of the water."

Jeremy choked on his drink. "B-But his name's Neptune! How-?!"

"3, 2, 1, BEGIN!" Oobleck announced from the commentator's box.

Immediately, Neptune shot past team NDGO to stand on top of the mountain in the desert biome.

"Neptune, what are you doing?!" Sage called out.

"Uh, you know, just… gaining the higher ground!" He called back.

"On the enemy's side?!" Sun yelled.

"They would never expect it!"

"He's not wrong." Dew shrugged.

Nebula sighed before giving her first order. "Open fire!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Michael sat on Blake's armrest and leaned in. "I refuse to believe it. I REFUSE. Neptune's afraid of water?! Seriously?!"

"You guys weren't supposed to know!" Blake whispered, embarrassed. "I should have kept my mouth shut…"

"Okay, that's weird in itself, but why are you so hooked onto that fact?" Yang asked.

"Neptune, in our world, was an old god from an ancient civilization of people called the Romans," Jeremy explained with a snigger. "And he was the god of the ocean and water."

Yang and Ruby laughed while Weiss sighed in response.

"Look, don't tell anyone else." Blake hissed. "It's supposed to be a secret."

"How did you find out anyway?" Jeremy took a sip from his cup.

"Um…"

Many, many months ago…

"So you're a cat Faunus?" Sun asked as he followed Blake through the streets of Vale.

"Was that not obvious?" Blake growled, taking another turn down a street. And she growled again when he followed. "Leave me alone."

"So that means that you do things that cats do, right?" Sun continued chatting, which he'd been doing nonstop for what seemed like days now. "Like, do you get high on catnip?"

"Th-That's not even…! Look, you do know why catnip is considered a drug, right?"

"You get high on catnip, gotcha. And do you also play with balls of yarn? Because I've seen some cat Faunus do that, but I could never be certain."

Blake blushed as she remembered some memories from her childhood. "N-No…"

"That's a yes, then. And water. Do you hate water?"

"You know you're being kind of racist, making such biased claims?"

"O-Oh! I'm not, really!" He jumped in front of her. "It's alright, some of my friends are weird like that! My friend, Neptune, for instance, he's a cool guy, but HATES water!"

She stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Yeah! Ocean, rivers, lakes, rain. Even puddles, he can't stand them!" Sun laughed. "So yeah, sorry about that. Uh… And don't mention it to anyone else, it's supposed to be a secret."

"Sure… But seriously, leave me alone." She spun on her heel and marched away.

Sun just followed her again. "Look, I'm not gonna stop. Why don't we stop by that teahouse over there?"

"If it will get you to stop…" She grumbled, rubbing her head. "Fine, let's go."

Present day…

"It's… a secret." Blake replied, tearing away from that memory. "But please, don't tell anyone else."

"Sure thing." Michael shrugged, looking up. "But… Whoa! Is she summoning tornadoes?!"

They looked back to see Octavia trying to blind Neptune with an attack, but he just grinned as he slipped his goggles down over his eyes before firing with his weapon. Octavia knocked the projectile out of the air but then turned to find Sun's foot flying towards her, giving a neck-snapping kick that she somehow managed to brush off.

"How?" Jeremy deadpanned. "The last time Ryan did that to a guy, he killed him immediately."

"What?" Yang stared at him before looking at Ryan, who looked back with a look that said 'Yes, I did that. So what?' He then looked back at the fight and sipped his cola.

She shifted away from him in her chair and had to remind herself that she was with a literal psychopath who had more than a few kills under his belt.

Thank god they weren't asked to fight. It would be a bloodbath.

Her thoughts were erased as she watched Dew hit back two coconuts which Sun had thrown at her. He managed to dodge them, but one smacked Scarlet in the head while the other hit a spot that made every male violently cringe.

"OHH!" Jeremy clutched his own nuts. "Jeez! Anywhere but there, woman! Fucking hell!"

"Aw, man…" Michael winced. "Think he'll be able to go to the toilet again?"

"Nuts…" Sun sighed, before dodging a flurry of tornadoes. "Uh, Neptune? Could use some help, buddy!"

"Uh, you know, uh, it would probably be better if you came over here! Yeah, I can guard this... sector! We're in lockdown mode!" Neptune replied nervously, well within the desert biome.

"What are you talking about?! There's nothing to lock down!"

"Lockdown! Right! You got it!"

"Dude! I know you're afraid of water, but you gotta-" Sun was cut off as a blue bolt hit Dew out of the air from behind him, sending her splashing into the water.

"There! I helped! Are you happy now?!" Neptune snapped, before pausing. "Also, I am not afraid of water, and I have no idea what you are talking about!"

Sun looked back to see the three remaining members of NDGO positioning themselves for their final charge. "NEPTUNE!"

"OKAY, FINE! Just… get out of the water!"

Sun leaped back to the edge of the coast, where Neptune crept forward. He changed his weapon from its rifle form to trident, but slowly tiptoed his way to the water.

"For god's sake, you're making a fool of yourself!" Sun exclaimed. "Just do it! You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of Weiss, right?!"

That last statement made Neptune paused for a millisecond before he leaped up and - with his eyes closed - stabbed his trident into the water.

There was a zap as electricity shot through the water, and in a few seconds, it was over, with team NDGO hunched over in the water from the electric shock of his weapon.

The crowd started cheering at team SSSN's victory, while Sun and Neptune shared a chest bump and started dancing.

"And with that, Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round!" Port announced to the stand, before turning to Oobleck. "You know what I call that victory?"

"Shocking?" Oobleck joked.

"No. Well earned!" Port replied, before shooting him a disgusted look. "What you said is stupid."

Oobleck frowned, quickly turning off their microphones as Geoff and Jack broke into loud laughter next to them.