"Ladies and gentlemen! For battle three of the Vytal Tournament's second round, please welcome Lycana Addams and Cedric Wood, from Shade!" Professor Port announced.

The two walked into to stadium as the audience cheered. The pair seemed to be from completely different eras. Lycana was a tall, slim girl, whose obliques, chest, and thighs were covered in silver armor. The rest of her body, from knee to neck and elbow, was covered by what looked like a black cycling suit, with lime green at her shoulders and sides. Her black hair had a single streak of light green flowing from each side of her hair part. Her rather long face carried a confident grin as she looked up to the crowd and waved.

Cedric seemed to be eternally hunched over, leaving the otherwise tall, strongly-built man at just under Greyson's height. His shaggy brown hair fell past his shoulders, and matched with the brown cloth that wrapped his forearms and lower legs. He wore heavy-looking grey armor on his shoulders, abdomen, and legs, but the rest of his body, apart from the obvious exceptions, was uncovered. Atop his head sat a horned, furry helmet, styled to look like the mounted head of a grimm deer.

He already held his weapons in each hand. From their position, Greyson and Azure could tell they were tomahawks.

"Powerful, not graceful. At a disadvantage against swords. Might be thrown," Greyson muttered, trying his best to work a last-minute strategy into his mind.

"...And from Beacon Academy, please welcome Greyson Skye and Azure Ozeen!" Professor Port continued. Music began to play as the audience's cheer turned into a deafening roar. An electric guitar riff played over the loudspeaker, drowning out even the audience. After a build up, every few seconds, the crowd from Beacon Academy would chant "THUN-DER!" to the booming beat of a drum. Kita eagerly waved her new official Greyson Skye poster, which had gone on sale only an hour after Team GRAE's first battle.

"You've become quite the celebrity, haven't you?" Azure teased, hopping into her place in the middle of the arena.

Greyson took it all in. Standing here, with the world watching. The crowd exploding with cheer and chanting along to a theme song when he entered the ring. This was what he wanted. He had no idea if he would get the chance to fight Pyrrha again. Even when he tried to use foresight, that much was cloudy.

What he did know, is that right now, he was a hero. A role model. Someone who stood out from the crowd.

Eight holographic screens popped up around the arena. They scrolled through the various biomes until settling on four: Arctic, Wetlands, Mountains, and Forest.

A flash of lightning lit the arena from on top of the mountain, immediately followed by a clap of thunder. Greyson looked to the top of the mountain, then down to his rubber gloves. He smirked as he realized just how lucky he was to have a future-predicting semblance.

"Well, Mr. Thunder," Azure continued lightheartedly. "What's the plan?"

"They want thunder, so I'll give it to them," Greyson reasoned. He lowered his voice, leaning into Azure. "Hold them off, I'll make it to the top of the mountain. If I get some electricity, I should be able to win."

"Hey!" Lycana called. "Good luck. Friendly match, correct?"

"Right. Good luck to you too," Greyson replied.

The timer counted down from sixty. With each second, Greyson's heart beat harder. The buzzer sounded, and immediately Greyson sprinted away from the center. He began to scramble up the rocky face as fast as possible.

"Cedric. Keep her busy," Lycana coolly ordered, gesturing him toward Azure. She jumped, using an explosive shot from her scoped, mechanical rifle to to propel her into the forest's treeline. Without a word, Cedric jumped into the air, slamming his tomahawks down on Azure's Moonbow. She strained to block the forceful attack, then pushed outward. Azure pulled Moonbow apart, transforming the weapon into two short swords.

"Powerful, not graceful," Greyson's voice echoed in Azure's mind. She parried each of Cedric's powerful attacks, letting herself be pushed backward, deep into the wetlands biome. His blows came with immense strength, but were easily redirected.

Greyson climbed up the rocky face as quickly as possible, unfazed by the several lightning strikes and deafening thunder. As Greyson reached for a jagged rock jutting out from the rocky face, a gunshot echoed through the arena. The hold shattered, sending chunks of rock into Greyson's face.

Greyson closed his eyes, and managed to pull himself up slightly with what foot and hand holds he had. Another shot destroyed the rock below his right foot, and he nearly fell.

Azure sprung backward from a particularly powerful attack, and transformed Moonbow into bow form. She shot a beam of ice dust at Cedric's feet. Standing in a shallow pond, his legs became encased in a frigid ball of ice. His lower body was immobilized, and his aura began to drain from the sheer cold.

Azure twisted Moonbow's handle until settling on fire dust. She took a second to line up her shots, then fired a flurry of fire-enhanced arrows into the trees where Lycana perched. The canopy instantly set ablaze, and Lycana was forced into the open.

Using Azure's break in focus to his advantage, Cedric threw one of his tomahawks at Azure with intense power. The weapon caught her shoulder, dropping her aura fifty percent and knocking her to the muddy ground.

Another gunshot echoed through the arena, and the ice at Cedric's feet shattered. He jumped into the air, poising to strike down hard on Azure with his one remaining tomahawk.

He was intercepted by a bolt of lightning, which depleted the rest of his aura instantly. Thunder boomed throughout the arena. Greyson stood intimidatingly atop the small mountain, electricity still arching off Nimbus.

The crowd roared.

Azure took a second to activate her semblance, healing much of her depleted aura. Lycana rushed in, her dust rifle taking the form of a two-handed longsword. Azure and Lycana were locked in an intense battle, blocking and parrying most attacks, trading blows in between. The range and weight behind Lycana's weapon held a small advantage, pushing Azure back until Greyson arrived.

Greyson initiated with a bolt of lightning, catching Lycana completely off-guard. As her muscles froze, Azure completed a full combo on her back. Greyson finished the battle with a few more slashes.

"Have they won?" Kita excitedly asked.

"Y-Yeah," Raven happily said. "Wow, Greyson's competing in the one-on-one tournament now..."

"Oh, good! Greyson is so strong, and an amazing leader, and good person, and-"

"Hey, Kita? Might want to chill with your Greyson appreciation," Ember warned. "Azure is a little territorial."

"That is not what I mean at all! A member of the Shrouded Fox would never separate a happily loving couple such as them! If I did such a thing, I would send Kenakuma through my heart!" Kita responded frantically. She pulled her scarf over her cheeks, hiding her reddening, flustered, face.

"Hey, good battle. Good luck next round," Lycana commended, holding her hand out. Despite her sportsmanship, Greyson could tell she was disappointed to lose.

"Thank you. And good battle to you," Greyson replied, shaking her hand.

"Cedric, quit being so surly," Lycana gently ordered. "They are not enemies. We may fight on the same side someday."

Cedric grunted and nodded his head a bit.

"He doesn't enjoy losing, it's nothing personal," Lycana explained.

"No, it's fine," Greyson insisted. "I don't like losing either." Minutes later, Greyson and Azure snuck through the crowds and met their friends on the outside of Amity Colosseum.

"Congrats, guys!" Rusty cheered. "It's lucky you brought those gloves again, huh?"

"Yeah. Really, it's lucky my semblance predicts the future. I knew I'd need these," Greyson admitted, holding up his rubber combat gloves.

"You guys both have such cool semblances. I mean, predicting the future? Healing yourself? That's awesome!" Rusty complimented. He turned to Raven. "Wait, I can't believe I never asked this. What's your semblance?"

Raven started with surprise, then looked to the floor nervously. "W-Well, I n-never really talked about it," she began. "I-It's embarrassing, but I... don't think I have one."

"Oh..." Rusty said, embarrassed and ashamed to have brought up an evidently touchy subject. "Maybe it just hasn't shown up yet, right?"

"R-Right!" Raven answered, faking enthusiasm. "A-Anyway, if you d-don't mind me asking, what's yours?"

Rusty smiled, and put his arm around his girlfriend. "That! Is a secret. Maybe in time we'll all find out my super-secret hidden power!" he remarked in a grandiose fashion.

Azure looked down at her scroll, and appeared surprised. "Hey, guys? I'm sorry this is sudden, but my cousin wants to meet up with me. I should be going right about now, actually," she stated.

"Oh, alright," Greyson said. "Tell her I said hi."

Half an hour later, Azure and her cousin, Weiss, sat across from each other in one of Vale's most upscale cafes. A glass shelf stacked full of sweets, a marble counter, and the usual coffee shop machinery sat in front of the eggshell blue far wall. The old-fashioned chalkboard menu sat on the blue wall, each of the unnecessarily expensive items written in cursive by pale blue and yellow chalk.

"It's good to see you again! I feel like we don't see each other as often as we expected to at Beacon," Azure welcomed. "Was Winter able to come?"

"No, she had to head out yesterday," Weiss sadly reported. "She did mention that she watched your first fight."

"Oh, really?" Azure asked, perking up a bit. "I had hoped to ask her in person, but what did she say?"

"Well, you know how she is," Weiss carefully replied. "But, she did say she noticed improvement."

"That's just about the best thing I could have expected," Azure said with a nervous laugh. Azure recalled Winter's stern, cold demeanor, which had only intensified after she left home and enrolled in Atlas Academy. Azure hushed her voice. "This is a little off-topic, but does she know about Greyson?"

"Everyone knows about him," Weiss pointedly remarked. "Personally? Not a big fan."

Azure's shoulders sunk as she sighed. "What does everybody else think? I don't think my parents liked him much more than you did..." she asked disappointedly.

"I like him more than most of our family," Weiss stated. "But really, Azure. You're smart, gorgeous, and, well, nicer than I am. Why him?"

"He and I just... go together," Azure said. "I don't know how to explain it. Plus, he's a good looking guy. The way his grey hair, black eyebrows, and green eyes all combine? Perfect! And I know you haven't seen him without a shirt, but-"

"Azure. Stop," Weiss dismissed curtly.

"Sorry..." Azure returned with embarrassment. Not only had she subjected her cousin to her rant, but a couple of looks from nearby tables suggested her speech was louder than realized.

Azure and Weiss's conversation lasted for the better part of an hour. The conversation did shift to Greyson every now and then, but Azure seemed to avoid the topic. Instead, she and her cousin discussed their teams, their past matches in the Vytal tournament, and what battles lie ahead.