Chapter Thirty-Eight

'Cardin, I need to talk to you,' I say as we enter the stadium again.

'Ok, but we'll miss Yang's fight if we don't hurry.'

I open my mouth to object, but there are too many people around us, and they all seem to be looking at me. One guy wearing an Atlas uniform catches my eye, and he actually grins at me.

'What?' I snap.

Apparently he was just waiting for an opportunity. 'That was a killer fight!' he gushes.

I open my mouth to tear him a new one, but Cardin smiles back at him and the idiots actually fistbump before the dude drifts off into the crowd.

'What the fuck?' I mutter.

Cardin shrugs at me. 'What?'

This is too weird. I follow Cardin into the stands, shaking my head. We lost. We lost in a way that could only have been more humiliating if we had been set on fire. We got thrown into the air like puppies on the wrong end of a skipping rope. But people are looking at me and I can see the respect on their faces.

It's still not my biggest problem, though. These mood swings are terrifying me. I've only just recognised the pattern. It's infuriating, under the fear: I had actually entertained myself thinking how weird I must look to those I heal, but I had never made the connection, never wondered why. I had chalked it up to my own natural moodiness. But this… it's not normal. It's not natural.

I can't control myself. I keep lashing out, I keep getting depressed… I falter to a halt as I realise why these thought patterns feel so familiar.

This is how I was when Violet died.

I look into the arena. Yang and Weiss are standing there, waiting for their opponents to appear. I look away.

Maybe it's not my Semblance. I'm absorbing injuries. I'm absorbing the damage to the Aura, I'm absorbing the pain – can I be sure it's not just my sense of empathy kicking in?

It's possible. In fact it's humiliatingly obvious. Not helpful, though. Either way I can't use it! If it's something wrong with my Semblance I can't change it. If it's something wrong with me, then I still can't change it. I can't change it without turning into a sociopath!

I glance at Cardin. I want to tell him. But… he looks so happy, so content. His team's out of the running and he's still cool with it all. This is where he dreamed to be. This is the first step in becoming the person he needed to become. The world has worked itself out for him. He's strong, he's free, he's happy.

Suddenly I miss Vacuo, desperately. Not Violet, not the people – I miss the place. I miss the sun, I miss the hills, I miss the heat. I miss the burnt expanses. I miss feeling like I could breathe.

'I'm losing my accent, aren't I?' I say out loud.

'Probably. Why?'

'No reason.'

'Okaaaay…' He gives me a sceptical look. 'If you want us to stop messing with you about it, you can just tell us, you know.'

'I know.'

Cardin nods respectfully, then adds, 'But really, we're missing your girlfriend's fight.'

Weiss and the hat-wearing dude are having some sort of conversation. I can't tell what he said, but whatever it is, it's enough to fire up Yang. So, potentially anything from a sexual invitation in relation to her underage sister to a comment on the weather. Then his Faunus partner says something, and Yang starts looking furious.

'How hard is it to not pick a fight with every single person you meet?' I ask bitterly.

'Ok, one, I have no idea what you're talking about. Two...' Cardin gives me a raised eyebrow. 'Seriously, Russ? Seriously?'

Shit, he has a point.

Weiss and Yang aren't doing well, but there's still time. They haven't made many mistakes, but the other team is good. Apparently this is what actual military training will get you: an understanding of how to use the terrain to your advantage against foes who - I personally think - are much stronger than you.

Weiss finally puts her glyphs into action and starts bouncing off the dude like she's a ball in a pinball machine. He staggers, straightens, and then - fucking multiplies.

'Son uvva bitch,' Cardin mutters. 'Fuck, you were right about there only being one type of Semblance in this Tournament, weren't you?'

'This really supports my "Yatsuhashi was just messing with Coco" theory,' I agree, temporarily distracted.

'Shit, Weiss is going to lose,' Cardin says sadly.

'Yang's still standing,' I say cheerfully. And even if she loses, at least she's one person who can't get badly injured. The thought of trying to handle Yang in the middle of one of my mood-swings is enough to genuinely terrify me, so I start to watch her trying to pummel her opponents with a light and merry heart.

And then Weiss dives headfirst into a geyser.

I stare for several minutes before a heartfelt 'Motherfucker,' slips out of my mouth.

The match ends and I watch as Yang, Ruby and Blake help Weiss into the changing room. 'Shit. Shit shitshitshitshit! Fuck!'

'Dude, I think she's fine,' Cardin says, startled.

'Uh, yeah man, I really hope so,' I babble. 'That was pretty fucking insane, Schnee, who'd've thought it?'

'Ok, you're being really weird today,' Cardin says, turning in his chair to stare at me. 'What is up with you?'

I stare at his big dumb happy face, and I make my choice. 'I'm… just pissed we lost.'

'Well chill out. I'm the crazy competitive one, remember? Stop stealing my thing, or I'll have to start writing mopey poetry or something.'

I force a laugh, turning away slightly so he can't see my hand scrabbling at my scroll. 'So that was pretty cool.' It takes a few moments, but I can feel it when I finally manage to worm a fingernail under the battery casing of my scroll and lever it off. My scroll lets out a plaintive little beep as the screen dies, and I cough loudly to cover it.

'I might let them get her cleaned up before I go down,' I tell Cardin casually. Then I hesitate. 'But what if Weiss is really hurt?'

'I think they'd have called you already if it was serious. Come on. We can wait for them outside.'

'I think we should let them come to us,' I suggest. 'We don't know how long they'll be.'

Cardin gives me another look. 'You don't want to congratulate Yang?'

I hesitate. 'Yeah... I do...' Then I opt for honesty. 'Just...not…at the moment.'

'Fucking hell, Russel, it was one fight and everyone still thought it was really good!' Cardin snaps. 'You fought a chick with knives on strings and kicked her in the stomach! I saw that team fight in the first round, so did you, they were insanely good!'

'I'm going to get lunch,' I tell him coldly, standing.

He lets out a frustrated sigh. 'Hold on, I'm coming.'

I turn on my heel and stride out of the arena. Cardin follows me, still growling under his breath. As we reach the entrance, though, someone hails us.

It's Dove and Sky, and they have Ruby and Blake with them. 'We wondered where you got to!' Sky calls. 'Let's go congratulate Weiss and Yang.'

I hesitate, but Cardin is nodding. I trail along after them, thinking furiously. I'm one of six; surely if I start to feel myself lose control I can just pass the conversation to someone else? Blake is her partner and Ruby is her sister, anyway, so they'll want to talk to her first, so that will give me a chance to regain my balance.

We enter the competitors' area. Yang and Weiss are in the med bay, and my stomach lurches, but apparently they're just making sure Weiss is alright.

Yang looks up and sees us, and she smiles, and suddenly I feel perfect.

Ruby chimes in before Yang can say anything. 'You were amazing!'

'Thank, Rubes,' she says, wrapping her little sister in a cuddle.

'That was pretty crazy, Weiss,' Cardin tells her.

She smiles crookedly at him. 'I may not be singing for a while.'

I shrug at her. 'It's not like you were that good, so no real loss...'

Weiss scoffs at me, then starts coughing. She hasn't asked me for my help. Bless her and her pigheaded pride is all I can say, but I can't listen to that and not try to help. Without even thinking, I reach over and grab her shoulder. For a moment my throat burns, and I can distinctly taste soot; though I am standing quite close to her, which might explain it.

'Thank you,' she says, sounding pleased.

I clear my throat. 'No worries.'

'Hey, you're the healer?' a new voice says.

I glance over my shoulder. It's Yang and Weiss's competitors. The girl is sitting on a bench, examining her own ankle, which has been strapped. 'What gave me away?'

'Will you heal Neon?'

'I don't need to be healed, it's only just a tiny sprain,' the girl says.

'I can heal you,' I say reluctantly.

'Don't worry about it, my Aura is already dealing with it,' she says dismissively.

'Ok,' I say with considerable relief.

'What, you aren't going to start taking shots at him for healing a Schnee?' Yang demands, crossing her arms.

The guy frowns. 'I don't have to justify myself to you, blondie.'

'You want to take that tone of voice, you better explain yourself,' Cardin says warningly, stepping up next to Yang.

'I don't need you to protect me,' she snaps at him.

'As a matter of principle I'm going to anyway,' he says curtly.

'Flynt here has a problem with the Schnees,' Sky tells us coldly. Flynt stares at him, startled, and Sky gives him a sharp smile. 'I heard you in the Arena. Apparently the fact that Weiss's dad drove his out of business means he can hold it against her.'

'Sky, I don't want to-' Weiss begins.

'That's crazy!' Ruby says, staring at Flynt. 'How is what her dad did her fault?'

'He drove my father out of business!' Flynt yells. 'That Dust shop was his life!'

'But that isn't Weiss's fault,' Blake says. Her tone is heavy with meaning, an expert talking about something they have a passion in. Ruby and Yang actually settle down, as do Sky and Dove. I think it actually serves to make Cardin and me angrier, though. Blake didn't hold a grudge, so who the fuck is this joker to?

There's only one answer, so Flynt decides to avoid the question. 'Look, I said her saving her partner was a gutsy move-'

'Oh wow, thank fuck she's got your approval,' I say sarcastically. 'Imagine how fucking empty her life would be without it.'

'What I feel is none of your business.'

'Here's a tip on how business works: there's competition,' Cardin says, his tone deeply sarcastic.

'It's amazing you can stand so straight with that fucking chip on your shoulder,' I add.

'You wanna go?' he yells.

I give him a fierce grin. 'Blow me.'

The Faunus girl slides off the bench and in between us. 'I'm pretty sure if we fight they'll kick us all out,' she says firmly.

Weiss grabs Cardin's arm. 'Stop it,' she says firmly. 'I'm used to people - seeing my family when they look at me.' She turns to stare at Flynt with incredible dignity. 'I appreciate my father's business practices are less than ideal. I intend to change the direction the company is taking, as soon as I get a chance.'

'You don't have to defend yourself to him,' Cardin snaps.

'He's right,' Flynt says, sounding genuinely remorseful. 'You shouldn't have to.'

There's a moment of silence, then the Faunus girl laughs. 'Geez, what are they feeding you at Beacon? You're all crazy, but in, like, the best possible way!'

'She's not wrong,' I say thoughtfully.

The Faunus girl laughs again. 'I can't wait until the end of the Tournament. The after-party should be wild.'

'Y'know, I sent you a couple of messages,' Yang says a few minutes later. CRDL, RWBY and JNPR have met up at that noodle booth that Yang's so fond of. Ruby, Dove and Sky are analysing the fights, Ren and Blake are talking books, Pyrrha and Jaune are talking about their families and trying to pretend they're not falling in love and Cardin and Weiss are...hmmm...talking about their families, in a very quiet way.

I make a show of checking my scroll. 'Huh. Looks like it's broken.'

'You should fix that,' Blake tells me, overhearing.

'No shit.'

'No, really. If Ozpin wants to talk to you, that's the only way he's got of finding you.'

'Uh… I'm actually probably going to quit as medic, you know.'

I try to say it casually. I fail spectacularly. Everyone breaks off their conversation and swivels to stare at me.

'Any reason?' Ren asks.

'Sure.' I take a sip of water.

'Are you planning on sharing it with us?' Yang asks tartly after a moment.

I give her a bland look. 'No.'

Funnily enough, I decided that honesty might be the best method. In a sense. If I told them not to ask, they probably wouldn't. If I tried to lie to them, I think they'd realise in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

'Any reason for that?'

'It's my own business.'

And then I see Yang's face and I wonder if I haven't made a tactical mistake after all.

'I kind of have to disagree,' Cardin says, giving me a squinty-eyed look. 'What gives, Russel?'

'Gives?' I say. 'I just don't want to play doctor anymore.'

Cardin and Yang both give me close looks, then they actually turn and share a glance for a moment. They're joining forces! They're joining forces against me! This is bullshit! Before they have the chance to realise their alliance, I turn to Weiss and say, 'That geyser thing was pretty cool, Weiss.'

'I'm just glad it worked.' Weiss is toying with her noodles. 'It wasn't proper form, though.'

Yang laughs, but Weiss doesn't. She's clearly thinking about something.

'I guess it doesn't matter,' Dove says, trying to lighten the mood. 'How many geysers do you get in the real world anyway?'

'Lots,' Weiss says shortly. Her reaction is so out of character that the booth does their clockwork doll thing again and turn to stare at her. She flushes, but doesn't flinch away.

We all finish our noodles in a very awkward state of silence.

'That was weird,' Dove comments as we walk away. RWBY has hung back; Weiss and Ruby aren't done with their lunch.

'I hope she's not letting that jackass get to her,' Cardin says.

'Dude, you cannot seriously think Weiss fucking Schnee needs your protection,' I say incredulously. 'I get that you felt you had to stand up for Yang 'cause she's a friend, I get that the whole chivalry thing probably works a treat with Serena, but I think that's probably because she doesn't have the power to manipulate time and space.'

'Neither does Weiss,' Dove says, unfazed by the insult to his sister.

'Yet,' I say darkly.

Cardin grins sheepishly. 'Uh, yeah. I guess. And actually Serena sort of shoots me down when I try and protect her. So… honestly I don't know where that came from.'

I turn and give him a sharp look. He blushes and avoids my eye, but Sky and Dove are also closely scrutinising him.

Still, he was patient enough with me today that I decide to return the favour. 'So Yang got through, that kid Coco fought got through, and that dude who's crushing on Blake. Anyone else look good?'

'There's your little red-headed friend, of course,' Dove says maliciously.

I groan. 'Don't remind me. I'm pretty sure she wasn't even trying towards the end.' But neither was I. I quickly shift my mind away before the guilt makes me throw my noodles back up.

'She's a weird one,' Dove agrees.

'I liked her,' Sky says. 'She seemed very sweet.'

'Too good for this sinful earth,' Cardin says mockingly, jostling Sky. Sky pushes back and a few pedestrian scatter as they start wrestling. Cardin's in a weirdly good mood lately.

I hope nobody else has realised that it's because we've been spending so much time with RWBY.

Dove and Sky are clearly desperately in need of some alone time, so Cardin and I hit the gym. As we pump weights, I start to pump him about what's on my mind.

'So… You and Weiss, huh?'

I shouldn't have said that just as he's starting a bicep curl. He drops the weight and it almost lands on his feet. 'What? No!' he says guiltily, then looks around to see if anyone has heard us.

I've actually lured us to a quiet corner of the gym on purpose. Now I tilt my head at him. 'Relax, dude, I'm just curious.'

He looks sheepish. 'I just… I never see Serena, and when I do, there's never anything to talk about.'

'I've seen you guys a couple times,' I say, trying to be non-judgemental. 'I thought you were talking alright.'

'Yeah, but that's only because we don't know anything about each other's lives.' He concentrates on stacking weights. 'Look, I'm not trying to push the poor-little-me button, but seriously, I've only ever been a rich single child. I'm starting to feel like we don't have conversations as much as we do exposition.'

Now it makes sense. 'Ok, I get it,' I say. 'Whereas you and Weiss kind of had similar lives.'

Cardin shoots me a grateful look, then his face falls. 'I'm not going to do anything,' he says bluntly. 'She's pretty wrapped up in that blue-haired dude. But it's like – at least now I kind of know what I want, I guess. So maybe I can find it somewhere else.'

Normally I would make a crack about how common impossibly wealthy, stunningly gorgeous, insanely powerful Huntresses are, but that would be like curb-stomping a kitten. He looks so sad. 'Cardin, whoever you find will be lucky to have you,' I say with as much sincerity as I can muster.

He shoots me a grateful little grimace, but I can tell I haven't exactly helped. Cardin wants what he can't have, maybe for the first time in his life, and it's hurting him.

'Are you going to, y'know, end it with Serena?' I ask eventually.

'I don't know,' he admits. 'I don't have anything else to do…' Cardin peters to a halt and I know he's seen my face. 'I don't mean it like that,' he says hurriedly. 'I just mean – uh…'

'Ok, I gotta be honest,' I say firmly, 'I think dating a girl when you don't really like her is a bit of a dick move.'

'Well, you're not the one dating the girl,' Cardin says, firing up.

'That doesn't make it any less of a dick move.' We glare at each other for a couple of seconds then I look away. 'Whatever,' I say. He knows what I feel, and really, it's not my business. 'Good luck either way, man.'

'You really should fix your scroll,' is all he says in response.

'You're not the boss of me.'

'Kind of am.'

'Shut up, Cardin.'

He hesitates. 'So want to tell me what's up with you?'

'Shut up, Cardin.'

He shuts up.

I arranged to meet Yang at the fairgrounds that afternoon, before the single rounds. I'm surprised she didn't blow me off, actually, given how badly lunch turned out. I'm glad she didn't, though: the market turns out to be beautiful, all of the stalls lit by coloured lanterns, the shadows soft and velvety and the grass, which is slightly damp, like it's been scattered with stars.

It's a day of weird moods. I expect Yang to be mad at me, but she's shrugged off lunch, and when I meet her she just grins at me. I raise a pleased eyebrow. 'What's put you in such a good mood?'

'I just can't wait for tonight!'

I watch her beam and my heart skips a beat. 'I can't wait to watch you.'

Her face softens and she turns to me. 'I'm sorry about you and Dove.'

'Eh. Best team won. Actually, that redhead said she was a friend of your sister's. She was super weird, so I believed her. Does that make me a bad person?'

Yang throws her head back and laughs and I grin at her delight. Hand in hand, we wander among the stalls.

'So what are you going to do if you have to fight Blake's boyfriend in the finals?' I ask.

Yang shrugs at me, all rippling hair and confidence. 'Beat him. What else?'

I grin. 'What if he beats you? He's tangled pretty well so far.'

Yang smirks. 'He's going to have to do better than that to beat me.'

'Imagine if Blake ended up having to fight him.'

Yang bursts out laughing. 'I think they'd just let their clones do the fighting.'

'It'd be pretty insane, though,' I say thoughtfully. 'I actually reckon Sun would win. He hits harder than Blake.'

'I think Blake would win if she used Dust,' Yang says. Then she makes a tiny little face.

'What?'

'Oh… the guy we were fighting. He kept taking shots at Weiss because her father forced his father out of business.' She shakes her head. 'What sort of person blames someone for what their family did?'

I shrug at her. 'Tonnes of people. How many wars would there be if people didn't carry chips on their shoulders? I think it's just human nature.'

'I just don't understand it.'

'You're talking to the wrong person,' I say casually. 'My parents didn't leave any enemies. Neither did my granny. You should ask Cardin.'

'Cardin?' Yang looks startled, and after a minute I realise that she has no idea who Cardin's father is. People don't; Papa Winchester is, after all, a behind-the-scenes kind of guy.

'Sure,' I say instantly. 'If anyone knows about holding dumb grudges it's him.'

'Y'know, I know you're lying,' she says, grinning.

I'm totally taken by surprise. 'Aah… what?'

She wags a mocking finger at me. 'That's not what you were thinking when you mentioned Cardin.'

I must look like a fish. 'I used to be able to lie,' I say mournfully after a minute.

Yang laughs. 'Sorry. But I think you've lost your touch.'

I leer at her. 'Want to find out for sure?' I ask in the sleaziest voice possible.

'Maybe later,' Yang smirks. 'Until then, you're in trouble for trying to lie to me.'

'Well…' I step forwards and kiss her. 'I can make up for that.'

We kiss for a few minutes. A few passing students laugh and offer suggestions, but we ignore them. Finally Yang pulls away.

'That was fun,' she says.

'Sometimes I think you just want me for my body,' I say mournfully. She tries to kick me, but I move my leg out of the way. 'Gonna have to work harder on your foot speed if you want to beat Wukong…'

She pokes her tongue out at me. She's triggered a line of thought, though. I watch the lights ripple in her hair.

'Y'know, I don't think Beacon's system of random team allocation works. If you think about it, it doesn't actually match strengths. Sometimes it does, but only ever by accident. I'm one speedster in a team of tanks. You're sort of one tank in a team of speedsters. Every single person in RWBY can use their Semblance in battle and almost nobody in CRDL can.'

'And?'

'I just can't help but feel that if Ozpin had just taken a couple of minutes out of his day to actually plan teams, skills and talents would be much more widely balanced.'

'Probably had to get coffee instead.'

'Isn't that what he has Goodwitch for?'

Yang snorts. 'Would you ask her to get you coffee?'

'I'm not her employer.'

'Still.'

'Probably not,' I admit. 'I'd be too afraid she'd throw it into my face.'

As we round a corner, I catch sight of Octavia a few metres away. I raise my hand in a casual greeting, which she returns, then we pass out of each other's view. I wouldn't have thought about it if Yang hadn't given me a curious look.

'What?' I ask.

'I was just wondering… you've never actually told me what Violet was like. What sort of person was she?'

I frown slightly, but it's a fair question. 'I guess …she was a long-range fighter. She didn't put herself out there as much, in combat or in life. She was pretty reserved – kind of like Blake, but a little less composed. But really smart. And I guess she took things more seriously than you did.'

Yang doesn't respond, but the day is rapidly losing its glamour for me. I hasten to call back some better memories. 'I actually asked her how she and Octavia became friends once, because they hadn't gone to school together and Violet kind of stuck to the friends she knew. She told me that Octavia had actually fallen on her, and then spent six months making friends with Violet so that it wouldn't be awkward.'

'That sounds like something Ruby would do,' Yang offers.

I shake my head 'I'm not telling it well. It was funnier when…' I trail off. When Violet was alive and laughing, when Octavia was seated at the table with us, pantomiming her fall, complete with facial expressions and her heartfelt apologies that Violet, even in the retelling, kept trying to ward off with raised hands. 'Never mind. Anyway, what about the guys you've dated? What were they like?'

Yang shrugs. 'Boring. None of them ever stayed around.'

My lips twitch. 'Oh yeah? Ran out of steam?'

Yang pushes me. 'Shut up. Honestly, I think my dad scared them off…'

I burst out laughing. 'You're kidding? What did he do, pop up behind them with no warning?'

'He kept exploding things, then giving them significant looks,' Yang sighs.

I lose it, and have to lean against a wall to catch my breath. 'I'm not surprised. He seemed like that sort of guy when we met him.'

'What do you mean? You only spoke to him for ten seconds.'

Shit. 'Yeah, and he was giving me suspicious looks the whole time,' I say lightly, trying to pass it off. 'I think he could tell I was into you.' Yang gives me a thoughtful look, but I haven't technically lied.

Fuck me, what's wrong with my life? What has it come to when the best I can say is I haven't told an outright lie to the girl I'm currently dating?

'When do you want to get to the Arena?' I ask.

'We've got some time,' she tells me.

I shake my head firmly. 'You should get to the Arena,' I tell her. 'You need to get into the zone.'

Yang sniffs. 'I'm always in the zone.'

'You're always ready to break someone's legs?' I ask with a snort of laughter.

She grins. 'Always.'

'You know that's not a good thing, right?' I ask mockingly.

She elbows me. 'Speak for yourself. Some people need their legs broken. It was what we were going to do to Cardin, y'know.'

'Point,' I admit. 'But still. Let's go to the Arena. I want a good seat.'

We turn a corner, and I stop dead. Onyx Quarry is standing there, examining a booth selling pocket knives. He looks up, and sees me, and his hand tightens around the knife he's holding.

'Quarry,' I say, glancing around to make sure we're in plain view. Not that that would stop a psychopath like him, but at least there'll be plenty of people to file a police report.

'Thrush,' he says. His eyes flick to Yang. 'This your piece?'

'You want to say that again?!' Yang demands. Quarry grins, scenting blood in the water.

'Ignore him,' I say to her. 'He's just sore that I beat him like he owes me money. It's just like old times, really. Remember how I broke a tray across your face that one time, Quarry? That was pretty fun, not gonna lie.'

Quarry's eye twitches. 'I remember.'

I smirk at him and start walking to pass him. 'Shame I wasn't using my Semblance back then. I could have straightened out that bump in your nose for you.'

He twitches again, but Yang is clearly boiling for a fight, and he is badly, badly outnumbered. He lets us pass, watching us all the way.

'Motherfuck,' I mutter when we're out of earshot. 'I cannot wait for that psychopath to get on the other side of the continent again.'

'Why do you keep needling him, then?' Yang demands.

'Excuse me? I'm not the one who considers breaking people's legs!'

'Yes, but I don't actually do it!'

'Yet,' I retort.

She elbows me. 'Just leave him alone and he'll go away.'

'People like him don't "go away", except in the sense that they get "put away",' I say, making quote marks with my fingers. 'I'm just waiting for him to go to jail for murdering someone.'

'Then at least make sure it's not you,' Yang tells me.

I leave Yang at the door to the contestant's room with a final, burning kiss. Wukong, inside, wolf-whistles, but I flip him the bird and finish kissing Yang. 'Hey,' I say softly, resting my forehead against hers. 'Whatever happens – leave 'em blinded.'

She grins at me. 'You know it.' Then she turns and strides into the room to wait with the others.

The seating isn't open just yet, so I go and loiter around outside with the rest of our teams. Ruby is almost hopping up and down on one foot. She's so psyched, it's adorable. Blake and Weiss aren't much better, but at least they're quieter about it.

'This is going to be so great!' Ruby crows. 'Oh man, I can't wait!'

'You didn't want to enter yourself?' I ask her.

She shakes her head. 'Yang is a much better fighter than I am. She's going to be so amazing!'

I open my mouth to respond, but then something brushes past me. I turn to check who it is, but there's nobody there.

Suddenly my scroll beeps. I check it, and frown. It's a message from Yang: a terse I need to talk to you.

I glance around. 'Hey, Cardin, save me a seat.'

He frowns. 'Where are you going?'

'Bathroom,' I say, turning to saunter off. If Yang is having nerves – though I can't imagine why – I don't think she'd want me to broadcast it.

I quicken my pace once I'm out of their sight. It's only a few corridors to the competitor's quarters. As I hurry towards where I left Yang, I pass very few people in the corridors. The matches are going to start any minute now, and there's no way of telling who'll be up first. What's Yang playing at?

The side of my head explodes in pain and I go down like a puppet whose strings have been cut. I can't think; I can barely breathe. Something strikes me again and this time I feel it, two consecutive blows that are somehow familiar.

I hit the wall, bounce off, and something lands in the centre of my back, crushing me against the floor. Nothing is making sense; I can't focus my eyes. My Semblance is screaming into action, but there's so much damage. I wasn't prepared, my defences weren't up, I was wide open, and now it feels like something has snapped me in half like a popsicle stick.

Suddenly strikes are raining down on me. I curl into a ball, trying to take them on my limbs, but whoever's hitting me knows what they're doing. They hit the back of my neck, then another impact on my temple.

My body relaxes out of its foetal position, and my eyes slide open. There's a foot coming at my face, and then all I can see are stars cascading through space, light dancing in eternity.