Note: This chapter brings up something from chapter 23 (V2 Ch.6) that's pretty important.
Pierce and Raven stood in the surprisingly drab preparation room of Amity Colosseum, awaiting their battle. The previous battle had just ended with an unsurprising victory from Pyrrha Nikos and her orange-haired, high-energy teammate. Raven hoped to bring back another victory for Beacon, but could not stop anxiety from creeping into every inch of her body. Her hands sweated as she fidgeted nervously. Her battle outfit, designed for both defense and room to breathe, was unbearably hot. She did not dare look Pierce in the eye.
"There's a reason I picked you, Songbird," Pierce said, breaking the tension in the hot, humid, concrete room. "Even if we lose, I don't regret my decision."
Raven looked to Pierce with cautious, muted surprise. Despite the surprisingly kind words, he looked as cold and serious as ever as he stretched his shoulder.
Raven flinched as the red lights outlining the doorway to the battlefield changed to bright green and a buzzer blared. "And now for our next battle, please welcome Pierce Verdi and Raven Corvis from Beacon Academy!" Professor Oobleck welcomed. The crowd's monotonous drone strengthened into ear-shattering cheer.
Pierce strode out calmly; eyes cold, focused, and fixed in front of him. Raven followed nervously, worried eyes not leaving the ground at her feet as she rubbed her opposite elbow. She took her place next to Pierce in the center of the stadium.
"Hailing from Atlas, welcome Stahl Furzen and Peri Winkle!" Professor Port added.
Raven's eyes went wide as the first name echoed through her head. She raised her eyes just high enough to look forward, and she froze in fear. The boy in front was just as she remembered. Stone grey eyes. Neat silver hair, with one long bang falling down the right side of his face. Silver boots, shinguards, armguards, and chestplate over a tight black bodysuit.
Stahl Furzen, the boy the thought she loved. The boy who drove her to the brink of disaster. Raven had not seen or heard of him since, nor did she want to.
"Woah Raven, you're still alive? Color me surprised," Stahl taunted, sweeping a single lock of his silver hair off the right side of his face. "If the Grimm didn't kill you, I was sure you would have done it yourself."
"Yes, I'm alive," Raven bitterly replied, seething with anger but trying her best to remain calm. "A-And my life is much better than it would have been if you said yes!"
"That's impossible to guess, I never would have dated someone so disgustingly unattractive as you. Your chest is as flat as your personality," Stahl continued.
Raven grit her teeth. "Y-You know, you really hurt me that day. I-I think I should teach you a little something about humiliation!" she yelled.
"Easy, Songbird. We have an audience, so don't kill him," Pierce reminded.
"R-Right," Raven affirmed, nodding once.
"...By all means, though. Feel free to beat him within an inch of his life," Pierce offered casually. "The fight's all yours. I'll take the girl."
Pierce beckoned to Stahl's teammate. She was a tall, skinny girl; much like Ezelia. She and Stahl seemed to have outfits from the same manufacturer. The only noticeable differences were the light, bluish-purple accents in Peri's suit, which matched her hair and boots. From a distance, her weapon looked to be a spear of the same colors as her outfit.
The holographic screens began scrolling through biomes, as per usual. The four were settled upon, and began to rise up from under the floor. To Raven's front-right, a peculiar assortment of dark blue blocks that floated in place, looking as if they defied gravity itself. Behind her was a grassland, and a forest. To her front-left was an urban biome, nearly identical to the one in which she spent much of her first-round battle.
Raven felt as though the timer took years to count down from sixty seconds.
Still, when the tone came, she wished she could wait just a few seconds longer.
Stahl transformed his absurdly large, one-sided, greatsword into a crossbow, and began firing thick spears of concentrated dust at Raven. Raven angrily sprinted toward Stahl, flinging the attacks aside with her shield as she approached. Stahl slashed downward with his sword, crushing concrete as Raven tumbled away. During her tumble, Raven turned her sword into crossbow form, then quickly fired three shots at Stahl, all blocked by the broad side of his sword.
He slashed again, and Raven jumped over. She deflected two more attacks before striking once. The attack was parried, and Raven was met with a brutal hit to the stomach.
Meanwhile, Peri had chased Pierce to the edge of the forest biome. He had planned to lure her into the wooded area, and swiftly defeat her much like had done to his first-round opponents. By the way she stood at the edge, with her rifle scanning the trees, Pierce could tell Peri had watched his first battle.
"Not falling for that crap..." Peri mumbled, still looking into the canopy beyond her.
"Smart," Pierce dryly complemented from a branch directly above. Panicking, Peri fired a shot at Pierce. Pierce dodged the attack with his semblance, appearing behind Peri. She turned instantly, jabbing with her spear. He dodged again, once more at his opponent's back. He slashed his weapons in an X, landing a heavy hit at Peri's back before grappling back to the trees above.
"That semblance is so overpowered!" Peri complained, threateningly holding her weapon, in spear form, at Pierce.
"Yeah, hurts both of us," Pierce admitted, sitting on the lowest branch of a pine. "Try tearing yourself into millions of pieces over and over every time you fight. Doesn't feel good."
"Then don't use it," Peri welcomed. "We can arrange that, right?"
"Probably. I don't think I really need to use it against someone like you."
"Hey, that's just-" Peri's protests were cut off by a single shot from Ace. She took the attack, which dropped her aura to just over the duel-ending zone. Peri jumped, planted her foot on the trunk of Pierce's tree, and jumped into the canopy. She attacked several times with her spear, becoming increasingly frustrated with each easily parried strike. Pierce grappled over Peri's head, firing spade into the branch the two stood upon. Peri cascaded to the ground below, and Pierce followed her down, slashing from shoulder to waist.
"Peri Winkle eliminated by way of aura level!" Doctor Oobleck announced. "Mister Verdi and Miss Corvis now have the upper hand!"
Pierce grappled to a nearby branch to watch Raven fight. Back in the urban biome, her viciously spirited battle against Stahl raged on. Stahl had landed a few successful blows on Raven, whose aura had dropped to just over half. Raven failed to leave a single hit on her opponent.
"Hey! Don't kill yourself when this is over, alright?" Stahl taunted. He slashed sideways at Raven, sending her flying into the wall of a decrepit building. She stood up just in time to block a vicious slash, and return with two of her own. She backed off a bit, firing three shots before Stahl jumped in again. Their blades became locked, and they stood face to face.
"I won't! I-I promised my mom, a-after I left the hospital! Th-That I'd keep fighting!" Raven struggled, shaking as she held Stahl's blade at bay with her own. She looked at his face. The same face she used to love, used to look forward to seeing. The face that used to fill Raven with all kinds of warm, nervous feelings filled her with nothing but hatred.
Pure hatred unlike anything she had ever felt.
"You've got that one boy now, I've heard?" Stahl said. Raven's blade slipped, and Stahl flung her backward into the ground. "Poor guy. He's not bad looking, imagine how much better he could do!"
Stahl jumped at Raven, sword raised above his head. He crushed downward, preparing to end Raven's run in the Vytal Tournament. Pierce grappled from the trees full speed, but stopped himself feet short of the battle.
Stahl was blown backward by a burst of foggy air. Through the mist, Pierce watched two translucent, lightly glowing wings unfold from Raven's back. The black wings stretched upward before settling down slowly.
Raven unfolded her hunched body into a stand unsettlingly, and glared at Stahl with an expressionless face. Her wide-open eyes were black, her irises and pupils glowing like a blacklight through the settling fog.
"What the hell?" Rusty shouted in confusion. "What... What's happening to Raven?
Ember watched intently, then turned her head to Rusty. "You know how you asked her what her semblance was yesterday?"
"Yeah..." Rusty replied.
"You're seeing it, right now. Judging by how she's moving, she wasn't lying when she said she didn't think she had one."
Raven shot toward Stahl, intercepting her confused enemy with her left wing. She planted her feet on the ground, then sprung upward into the collection of floating shapes.
Stahl made a guttural sound as he smashed into the floating block. Raven flipped him off her wing, then smashed him into the ground with her other. The three hits were more than enough to fully deplete his aura.
"Stahl Furzen is eliminated by aura level!" Professor Port announced. "The winners of the battle are Pierce Verdi and Raven Corvis, of Beacon!"
Raven stood above Stahl, eyes still glowing. She stood still, every few seconds an unnatural twitch or shiver seizing her body.
"Hey. Songbird," Pierce called.
Raven turned, eyes still empty of emotion. She took a step toward Pierce, then a second. Pierce backed off carefully, sliding his hand toward Ace's handle.
Raven suddenly crumpled to the ground, the rest of her aura depleted. Pierce ran forward to check her vitals. She was alive, suddenly fallen into a deep sleep.
Back in the stands, a confused murmur rumbled through the crowd. Nobody, outside of a select handful, knew precisely what had just happened. However, one watched more intently than all others. One face all too familiar to Greyson and Azure. Vladimir Garnett.
His heart pounded with excitement as he pulled his scroll from his pocket. He cracked a grin as he raised the scroll to his ear.
Note 2: For maximum intensity/a possibly different vibe than what you originally read the bit with, read the part with Raven's transformation while listening to "Rampaging Evil" from the My Hero Academia soundtrack!
