A.N: So, first, a big announcement. Last month, I announced the publishing of my first original novel: Age of Heroes: The Hero and the Disciple, in eBook format. Well, I would also like to announce that for anyone who prefers a hard copy, hard copies are now being offered as well! So, if you've enjoyed my work here, I encourage you to check out my original material as well!

I'll also be changing my pen name on this site to reflect my new status as a published author. From now on, when you're trying to find my profile, keep your eyes peeled for Author Nicholas Drew

Okay...so this took longer than I thought. I'd say sorry, but honestly, writer's block is a pain and we all know that. Also, after dealing with Volume 7, I'm realizing just how crappy RWBY's power-scaling is, which is going to make writing any RWBY based fights a pain. All the same, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter because I think it turned out well in spite of everything.

Chapter 19

Sound of Silence

Ninjas of Love and Hate

Zaku Abumi hummed thoughtfully at the sight of Blake Belladonna. "Well damn," he said, "a cat girl? Now I've seen everything. Usually you see one of those in Master Jiraiya's Makeout Paradise: Cat Girls Edition."

Blake gave Zaku a weird look. "Makeout Paradise: Cat Girls Edition? That...there's no way of misconstruing that. It's smut. It's pure smut."

"Don't judge me." Zaku folded his arms. "Like you've never thought of it. Nothing pisses me off more than holier than thou chicks like you. Everyone gets the itch sometimes. No way in hell you haven't."

Blake blushed hotly at Zaku's crude behavior. "You sick bastard!" She yelled. "I'll have you know that I would never read anything along those lines!"

He must never know. Blake thought to herself. He must never know about Ninjas of Love. I've kept the contents of that book a secret for the longest time. The only one who could possibly know is Yang, and Yang sticks her nose in everything.

Indeed, Yang Xiao Long was watching Blake with a look of utter confusion on her face. "Is she serious?" Yang wondered. "I've seen the books she reads. She has no right to criticize that guy for reading...whatever the world Makeout Paradise: Cat Girls Edition is."

"Why...what's wrong with the books Blake reads?" Ruby Rose wondered. "I mean...they all just look like sappy romance novels. I mean, the Man With Two Souls? Howling at the Moon? No thanks. I'll take my cool comic books with all the action over that any day of the week."

Yang sighed. "Ruby," she said, "I'm so glad I've never had to police you about this kind of stuff. Other than...well, everything else, you were an easy little sister to raise."

And I'm glad you'll most likely never need it. You'll probably never find out that beneath her prim, proper, stoic behavior, Blake's a bigger perv than I am. Yang deadpanned inwardly.

Blake brandished Gambol Shroud at Zaku. "Now that you've made things personal…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I've made things personal now?" Zaku looked at Blake in disbelief. "Wow, and here I thought I was gonna get punished for attacking my own comrade. But making things personal? Sheesh. You are something else. Are all the girls from your world as uptight as you are? I pity the poor bastards that are stuck with you lot if that is the case."

"No, we just have enough self-respect not to read degrading smut!" Blake shot back. Still very red in the face due to embarrassment and how much of a big fat lie that actually was. "Why would I be upset you blasted your own comrade when you just thinned out the competition you fool? Besides, questioning my honor and self-restraint is a far bigger sin! What, you think that I'm nothing more than a beast in heat?!"

"Not what I said, but whatever." Zaku sighed. "Okay, we're done here. You need to shut up before my ears start to bleed from all your preaching."

"Here we go! Slicing Sound Waves!" Zaku yelled, firing his signature attack at Blake.

Blake easily avoided the 'slicing' portion of Zaku's soundwave attacks. However, as she was surrounded by the 'force' of Zaku's attacks, her ears suddenly began twitching uncontrollably. Blake instinctively let out a scream of pain as she fell to her knees. "What...what the…" she grit her teeth in pain.

Even Zaku was surprised by what had happened. "Wait...what?" He looked at Blake in surprise. "You dodged the attack...and you're still hurting? That doesn't sound right…"

Zaku then noticed Blake's cat ears twitching and laughed. "No way!" He immediately realized what was happening. "No way! No way! No. Freaking. Way! Those things act like actual cat ears? As in, they're super sensitive to sound? Oh my God! That's too damn funny!"

"Blake!" Yang and Ruby yelled in concern.

"Seriously?" Qrow grit his teeth in frustration. "Of all the matchups Blake could've gotten, she gets in a fight with the one guy who can exploit the fact she's a Faunus?"

"Wait...I don't get it," elsewhere, Naruto Uzumaki was watching the fight with the familiar Sound Genin in confusion, "why's the cat girl struggling with this guy?"

"Naruto," Sakura Haruno spoke up, "her ears are real! As in, she's a cat girl! If those ears are real, there's no doubt they're as sensitive to sound as actual cat ears are. That means, high-powered sound attacks like that Sound Genin's attacks are especially effective against her!"

Sasuke Uchiha hummed in acknowledgement. "Seems so long ago when that guy was actually a threat to us." He mused. "And yet, he's actually a major threat against whoever this cat ninja is."

"Really?" Naruto was shocked at this. "Oh man, that sucks! Those sound attacks were disorienting enough as is! Like what that mummy guy did to Choji back in the Chunin exams! But if her cat ears are sensitive to sound attacks, he's got the upper hand, even though she's got him beat in everything else!"

Back in the labyrinth, Zaku continued to laugh at his newfound advantage. "Damn," Blake groaned as the horrific ringing in her ears finally came to an end, "damn, that hurt. That hurt so badly."

"Just one blast from my Slicing Sound Waves and you're already reeling? Oh man, and to think you charged me with the intent to win the fight, too. You were confident you were going to win because you approached me!" Zaku cackled. "Man, you must feel so stupid right now!"

"Oh shut up," Blake growled, "just because you hit me once, doesn't change anything."

Zaku grinned. "Want to stress test that?" He taunted. "I'm game. Let's freaking do this!"

"Slicing Sound Waves!" Zaku yelled once more, blasting Blake once more with his signature attack.

This time, the Slicing Sound Waves hit Blake, seemingly slicing her in half. Zaku's eyes widened, thinking he had accidentally killed her in a tournament where killing was not allowed. Then, Blake's body faded into the shadows. "Gah, seriously, a shadow clone? No, there was no Chakra? Oh hell! You mean to tell me that people outside of my world can use techniques similar to the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

Zaku grit his teeth in frustration. "Ah, son of a bitch." He cursed. "I don't have any decent sensory abilities either. My attacks are purely destructive. If I had Dosu with me, I could at least figure out where the bitch went. Then again, Dosu would probably have my ass for shooting Kin in the back with my soundwaves."

Elsewhere, Blake Belladonna panted slightly, hidden behind a labyrinth wall. She could still feel the ringing in her ears slightly. Her body tensed and winced with every single ring. "Damn," she muttered, "damn…"

"It hurts, it hurts so badly." Blake continued. "Damn, Aura or not, it doesn't change the fact my faunus ears are still incredibly sensitive."

"Okay, how can I fight him then?" Blake wondered. "The sooner we eliminate the required amount of competitors, the sooner everyone who's left can move onto the elimination rounds. That is the number one priority."

"And besides, my friends are watching." Blake noted. "Around them...I can't afford to look bad. Not after all we've done to reunite...after I abandoned them...I'm not going to be left behind by them in this tournament. Not after all of that."

"So...I need a new plan."

Meanwhile Zaku grinned as an idea came to him. "Well then," he said, "if this is how it's going to be, I guess I'm just going to have to flush you out my way. Why the hell should I use Dosu's way of flushing people like you out? I'm me, after all!"

"Slicing Sound Wave!" Zaku yelled as he began firing powerful soundwaves at random, blasting nearby areas on the off-chance he would draw out Blake to finish her.

Blake winced. Even though she had managed to put a good distance between herself and Zaku, she could still feel the force of his soundwaves, ringing in her Faunus ears. Damn, Blake thought to herself, this is going to be difficult...and my ears are probably going to ring for days after this. However, my resolve is still set. I'm going to win against this opponent. I'm going to defeat this man, and I'm going to move onto the elimination rounds...where my friends will no doubt join me.

Blake readied Gambol Shroud. I'm at least at a decent distance where even though the attack still makes my ears ring and wince, I can at least move and continue fighting. So, that means as long as I block out the pain...I can fight at a range.

"Where are you?!" Zaku yelled. "Get your ass out here and fight me, pussycat!"

Blake then appeared behind the Sound Genin, revealing that in the chaos, she had retreated behind Zaku. Zaku looked over his shoulder and frowned. "So this is where you were?" He noted. "Well, I'm glad you've shown yourself! Now I can end this!"

Blake then pointed Gambol Shroud at Zaku, having switched it to its long-ranged machine gun form. "The one who's going to end this will be me!" Blake declared. "If you are some kind of ninja, then I doubt your familiar with what guns can do, right?"

"Huh?" Zaku looked at Blake in confusion.

"Take this!" Blake yelled, pulling Gambol Shroud's trigger.

Zaku watched as a volley of bullets flew towards him. "So that's what guns can do?" He raised an eyebrow. "Fire...tiny little pellets?"

Then, much to Zaku's surprise, the bullets suddenly burst into flames. They were laced with fire dust. "Oh hell!" Zaku yelled, desperately weaving in and out of the flame bullets.

Blake nodded in understanding. The people from other worlds are extremely fast. She had to acknowledge that, after seeing someone like Zaku dodge her bullets. However, the flames were there for that very moment. To widen the range of her bullets and try to land a blow on Zaku.

However, Zaku was not done yet either. If regular slicing sound waves were not going to cut it, he simply had to increase the sheer force of his mighty attack. "Not like this...like hell I'm going to lose to a stupid cat like you!" He yelled.

Zaku aimed both of his hands at Blake. "I'll blow you away this time!" He vowed. "Supersonic Slicing Waves!"

And with that, Zaku fired a far more powerful version of the Supersonic Slicing Waves. Blake watched in shock as the sheer force of Zaku's shockwaves actually put out the flames coating her bullets.

Blake gasped. I miscalculated! She realized. Of course he would have a stronger version of his signature move.

"You're going down!" Zaku yelled.

This is still going to hurt like hell, but I can at least defend myself from the brunt of the blast. Blake noted, switching cartridges in Gambol Shroud and creating a clone made of earth dust. The earth clone braced itself as Blake hid behind the clone. She also instinctively plugged her cat ears, desperate to at least drown out some of the awful ringing that would follow. Above all else, she could not allow her eardrums to burst from the blast.

It hurts… She winced as the blast tore up the area around her, though she herself managed to remain unharmed thanks to her earth clone taking the brunt of it. However, it felt like daggers were stabbing into her ears. She absolutely hated this sensation. The pain. All of it.

But she was going to endure it. She had already vowed to reach the top with her friends. She could not break that promise now. Not after she had just reunited with them.

Zaku was then forced to tone down his Supersonic Slicing Waves. He could not overdo it, otherwise he would risk blowing his arms up again. The intense pain he had been in after his fight with Shino Aburame had done a number on his courage. He did not want to go through that pain again. He had to let up.

I'll cool down for a bit and blast her again. Zaku decided.

Blake found herself able to safely recover from Zaku's blast. At that moment, she decided to strike. She turned her attention to Zaku's arms, the source of her issues. I've got just the thing to put a stop to him.

Blake moved slightly off to the side and transformed Gambol Shroud into its Kusarigama form. "Take this!" She yelled, throwing Gambol Shroud at Zaku.

Zaku instinctively leaned to the side, thinking Blake was trying to impale his center of mass. However, much to his horror, he quickly discovered that was not where Blake had been aiming. He watched in surprise as Gambol Shroud wrapped around his left arm. "Oh crap!" He yelled, as Blake yanked on Gambol Shroud.

Zaku yelped in surprise as he stumbled forward from the force of Blake pulling on Gambol Shroud. Blake then propelled herself towards Zaku. She unwrapped Gambol Shroud from his arm and quickly switched it to long-ranged mood. She swapped out clips and took aim. She quickly pulled the trigger and fired.

Zaku gasped as the bullets flew towards him. He was still off balance from Blake's last move, so he could not dodge like he did before. "Crap!" He yelled, instinctively raising his arms to try and block the bullets...not the smartest idea, but what can you do when you are a guy who doesn't know about the dangers of bullets.

When the bullets collided with his arms, however, Zaku was shocked to discover them actually freeze the gauntlets on his arms upon contact. "What the hell? Ice too?" Zaku was stunned at this.

"You clearly don't know anything about versatile fighting styles." Blake noted. "In my world, fighting in a versatile manner is the only way anyone can ever hope to survive. Otherwise, you'd be devoured by literal devils."

"The hell." Zaku muttered. "The hell kind of world is that?"

"A world of bloody evolution." Blake responded. "One that I've trained to advance and surpass from the get-go. One that I almost lost to because I've my own cowardice."

Blake rushed Zaku. Zaku tried to call on his sound techniques, only to discover the ice was blocking the holes in his gauntlets. "But no more!" Blake yelled. "From now on, I only advance. I'm going to keep moving forward with my friends!"

"And win this tournament!" Blake yelled, slashing Zaku vertically.

"GYAGH!" Zaku yelled as the momentum of the attack launched him airborne.

"And afterwards," Blake sped to a stop, sheathing Gambol Shroud, "I'm going to go back and conquer that world of bloody evolution."

Zaku landed on his back, groaning in pain. "Son of a bitch...I can't...lose like this. I was gonna...gonna…"

Zaku groaned once more before falling unconscious. "Not...fair…"

Blake heaved a sigh of relief. "Good," she said, "if that had gone on any longer, I don't know how much I could've stood up against those soundwave attacks of his. Moments like these are when being a Faunus is more trouble than it's worth."

"Zaku Abumi is no longer able to continue and is now eliminated from the tournament." Came Haika's voice.

Zaku's body then vanished. Blake found herself slumping against the wall. "I should probably rest up just a bit." She decided. "If I had to guess, I'd say we're pretty close to the end."

Just as Blake said that she heard Kaji and Daisuke speak up. And it confirmed her suspicions. "With Zaku dropping out, that means the numbers just keep dropping." Kaji grinned. "Bandages the Mummy, See-Through the Invisible Man, Inoichi Yamanaka, Ms. Goldenweek, and Pell of Alabasta. All have done their best but unfortunately it just didn't cut it in the end."

"And with all of those eliminations, that means we are drawing closer to the end of Block A's preliminary round." Daisuke revealed. "We started this prelim match with 120 possible competitors for the Urban Tier's elimination rounds. And now, we only have eight more people to cut from the block before we move on."

"Pay close attention to these final matches that decide the final spots, ladies and gentlemen. Because things are about to get even wilder!"

Blake sighed. "Yeah, well, that's it for me." She said. "I'm going to just keep...resting in the shadows here. That guy was incredibly weak...probably nowhere near at the top of this tier. But I still ran into so much trouble against him. I can't afford to pick any fights from here on out. Best to just rest up in the shadows."

From the stands, Naruto Uzumaki could not help but whistle in appreciation at Blake's victory. "Not bad, she really pulled it off." He acknowledged. "She won in spite of being at such a bad disadvantage."

"Yeah, she showed a lot of grit." Sakura Haruno nodded in agreement.

"...That reminds me, I never did get around to picking up Master Jiraiya's Catgirl Edition of Makeout Paradise." Kakashi Hatake noted to himself. "Catgirls didn't really seem like my cup of tea...though if they look half as gorgeous as that girl, I suppose I can give it a try."

"Stupid perverted Kakashi Sensei." Naruto and Sakura gazed at their Jonin-Sensei like he was a colossal disappointment.

"Still, it's too bad Ino's dad didn't make it." Sakura sighed. "I wish we realized sooner he'd be here. We should've been cheering him on."

"Yeah, it's gotta be tough on Ino knowing that her dad lost. Hopefully they get to at least chat a bit before this is over." Naruto added.

"Why don't we find Ino and see how she's doing?" Sakura suggested, making Naruto nod.

Elsewhere, Yang and Ruby both cheered for Blake's victory. "Way to go partner!" Yang cheered.

"You showed 'em, Blake!" Ruby added.

"So the kitty cat pulled it off, good for her." Qrow nodded. "Still, she's reeling from that guy's sound attacks. If she is planning on resting up and waiting out the rest of the prelims, she needs to really do a good job staying out of sight. It's just like that Kaji guy said, things are about to get even wilder."

"Eh? Why's that, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Think about it, kid." Qrow narrowed his eyes. "There are eight more people that have to be eliminated now."

"By now, people are starting to get tired from how drawn out this prelim is." Qrow continued. "That means, people will no doubt be getting more aggressive to try and end this prelim sooner."

"The final matches to decide who moves on and who doesn't...they'll happen sooner than you may realize." Qrow concluded.