Edited as of (1/9/2020)
PB: Da-Awesom-One
RED VS. BLUE
-Reika Murasaki-
"Ben? Remind me..."
I brought up a free hand, sweeping it against my shoulder before tapping the index finger home against my skull along the edges of my mask near my temple. A few further small motions and complex gestures as simple as breathing worked across my digits, each one picked up by a pair of startlingly green orbs, addressed for meanings open and subtle.
A raised shoulder, the finger moving to twirl about through the air. My other hand moved to adjust its current position, gripped securely about my partner's leg as he dangled dangerously high above in the branches of the Emerald Forest. My smaller frame, perched precariously on a limb's edge, had little difficulty maintaining my balance, even with him kicking and struggling weakly in my clutch.
His Aura sputtered, metal arm hanging limp and useless like so much dead weight. Most of the fight - and a rather vast amount of stuffing besides - had been beaten clean out of him after Maxine and Yang had moved on, leaving me to finish up the young rogue. A mercy, maybe? Or more likely they wanted the real prey; the lion's share of the glory...
'Typical...' I thought, shaking my head as a swing almost clipped my side while I hadn't been focused. The bandit fell back with a groan, the strength needed to swing himself up fading, or so it seemed. A swift toe jab to the ribs made sure, my fingers resting only so long until the retching ceased before leaping back into signing motion.
"...What was the point of this...again?"
"Eh... Good-ack... Good question," he croaked, trying to look up at me from his upside down position through the folds of his verdant cloak, smirking through a heady mask of bruises that he still somehow managed to make look distinguished in that mysterious way of his. "W-wanna say... and this just might be the concussion talkin'... but it started as one of those team buildin' exercises. Thinkin' Psycho or Rosie thought it up. Bit of friendly competition, y'know?"
"..." An exasperated look, and a few swift sweeps of my hand in protest.
"What? You try refusin' the kid when she get's herself a notion. Damned impossible, I tell ya!"
A game. One of the oldest and most beloved of group competitions. A battle of strategy, aggression, and endurance that had permeated the culture of all Kingdoms. Beloved by the direct and the sly alike, with variants and styles of play known the world over, from the sands of Vacuo to the ice wastes of Mantle.
Capture the flag.
Two flags in particular, Blue and Red placed on opposite sides of the Grimm-filled environment boxed in on all sides by cliffs and canyons.
Two teams of individuals split from three separate groups, all eager to win by stealing the other side's prize, and secure it at the ruins at the forest's heart. No holds barred, nothing to lose... The battle would be arduous, petty, and destructive. Much of the woods and the Grimm population having been devastated as result, but things were nearing the final stages as attrition and raw power played their course, as they so often did.
Red Team would be victorious, but the Blues had not faded graciously...
Ben been particularly... difficult, setting little traps and ambushes along the borders of the Red's territory, until finally having been captured at the last. Maxine had taken special offense for some of his scent-based trickeries, his punishment for defiance obvious and harsh in equal measure.
'All for some dumb game too... It's driving people insane.'
"Then ya see, Blondie and Valkyrie got in on somethin' or another, as they usually do. Bets and underhand deals makin' it all interestin'-like..."
Yang and Nora had boasted, claiming their team would be victorious. Something both sides had taken offense to, and so they'd gone and sweetened the pot. Or perhaps the blonde was simply still sore about losing those tickets earlier in the semester.
"Both of 'em bet dinner and pastries in Vale on the loser, then all the little dealings and such... And here we are." Because of course we were, with financial security hanging in the balance. Even so...
"Yes..." I nodded obviously, jostling the man roughly, much to his obvious discomfort before shrugging. "But why are we here?" I emphasized the gesture, motioning from myself to him.
"Pfft... What?" He raised an wry brow, flashing teeth in that way I both found endearing and utterly infuriating. "Had somethin' better to do today?"
"..."
"Heh. Thought so."
He was right, of course. Nail on the head, foot in the hole... well my foot in his solar plexus fit to emulate a speeding truck anyway. The floor splashing wetly as most of his breakfast wound up down there. Not too pleasant, but that's what he got for his teasing. One of us had to maintain standards.
"S-sooooo, uh... Don't s'pose I could convince ya to back down here, Partner?" His puppy-dog eyes shown were bright and shimmering with genuine tears, lips quivering in that bloody irritating manner that made hearts melt. A look that he had perfected across years of tribulation at the hands of his father's matronly caretaker. "Old times sake, and all?"
"No." I shook my head, my friend's consternation obvious, though I couldn't see why. That look had never worked on Ma, nor me, nor anyone, really. Benjamin Carson just could never manage 'pathetic' very well to be convincing. He was too damnably cocky for his own good. "Yang asked me to help her win. Promised me cookies, homemade. Sorry."
"Well, uh... That... Yeah, that's pretty... pretty good, actually. Can't argue against that, I s'pose." He sighed long, and almost regretfully. I almost bought it. Almost, but then I saw the sly wink. "But y'know - and I'm just sayin' - technically yer' fulfillin' that already just by bein' heEEEEEEEERE!"
Ben plummeted like a stone with a shrill cry of alarm as I released my grip and let him go abruptly. Watching the bandit turned Huntsman-in-training curse and tumble in midair for a few delightful moments, clipping or otherwise tumbling through a few outstretched branches hard before crashing headlong into a patch of thorny brambles with loud *OOOMPH.*
His Aura's protections had dove deep into the red faster than he had, according to the chiming ping of my Scroll, or so I imagined that's what it meant, if what Professor Oobleck had explained was anything to go by. Ben was out of the game, stirring weakly in his bed of bushes, and looking up at me through bleary eyes.
A flicker of guilt welled up in my breast like a weight, but one shrugged off easily enough.
Ben had been cocky, splitting away from the rest of his team, leaving Jaune and Weiss in an untenable position. He probably thought he'd be able to pull a fast one with his usual antics. Still, he should've known it wouldn't work, and maybe, just maybe this defeat would...
'...Wait a second.'
Something new flickered at the edges of my Aura-driven awareness. Something I'd been too focused on Ben to pick up before. Something that threatened the game... But before I could do more than tense with the revelation, I noticed from a distance the look of glee and satisfaction written across my friend's smug expression.
A face familiar, and always the worst thing to see when he wasn't on your side. One of the few things that truly unnerved me.
Funnily enough, that was also the moment I happened to notice the string of cylindrical Dust charges tucked into the folds of my yukata, just barely peeking out from where he'd tugged the fine string line with his earlier swipe, and taken it with him as he'd fallen, making it my fault somehow...
...How very typical.
'Oh, this is just...!'
-Weiss Schnee-
"...entirely unfair!" I stamped my heel, the sound muffled by the booming roar of the explosion lighting up a good portion of the treeline far off in the distance.
Twin chimes echoed from behind, signaling both Benjamin and Reika's removal from the game proper, their Auras diminished, and their positions marked. Still, even with her down, Blue Team had lost Carson in the bargain, with little to show for it, now standing outnumbered and outgunned.
"This whole silly game! The teams are wholly unbalanced!" I continued on in a fury, rounding on the assembled group joining me on the cliff side. Professor Oobleck had laid out a picnic blanket, of all things, sipping at a thermos calmly. Pyrrha and Jaune were seated together beside him, munching on sandwiches, and looking distinctly uncomfortable. "It was hardly even sporting from the start!"
"It might serve you well, Miss Schnee, to practice a tad more trust in your teammates' abilities. Especially as they're still fighting." The History teacher waited a few long moments before speaking, his voice clipped with its usual speedy rhetoric. The accusation in the tone was aching, the chastisement clear enough. "Fort Castle, the Atlesian Accords, and even the Mistrali Renaissance. Greater odds have often proven the precursor for many of the more outstanding victories seen throughout history."
"And the more outstanding defeats," I pointed out, some part of me appalled to be debating a teacher in such an indelicate manner. However, a larger half was railing against this obvious miscarriage of chance and fair play that Yang was now enjoying. The jezebel had, by chance of all things, assembled a formidable team to her banner, and that miscreant Joel had let it go with nary a complaint! "Yang, Maxine, Reika, and Pyrrha, all in one team, with Ren and Ruby running interference!?"
Four of admittedly the most aggressively-gifted students in frontal engagements out of our whole class, along with a mind like Ruby's and Ren's flexibility even if their teammates didn't have a mind to exploit either. They'd still do well in just about any setting.
In a game like this, however, where direct strength posed so much of an overriding advantage...
"As I told you before, Miss Schnee, the brackets for each team were determined at random," Oobleck replied simply, his Scroll somehow appearing in his hand in a blur of green and disrupted pixels. "The only limiting factor was that partners could not be placed together, promoting variation and inspiration behind new ideas. An entirely fair and unbiased process."
"We had Jaune, Professor. Jaune!"
"Hey, c'mon, you don't have to make it sound so...!" Said knight's mud-splattered cheeks flared red as he struggled and failed to defend himself under my glowering scrutiny and twitching nerve. Pyrrha smiled kindly as ever, setting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and whispering something in his ear. "I-I mean... Yeah, sure. But, hey, I got Pyrrha out, didn't I!?"
The redhead blushed scarlet at that, turning away swiftly, as if to avoid looking at her oafish partner. And I couldn't blame her embarrassment. Not one bit.
"Jaune, you were the bait. That was the whole point," I countered, exasperated with the fact I had to explain something so simple. "And if you hadn't bungled that much, I'd still be in the game! We could be winning this!"
"Perhaps, but it was an inspired and effective tactic, nonetheless!... If crudely executed in the retreat." Those gleaming spectacles flicked to stare at each of us in turn, only... when had he gotten to that ledge several yards distant? His lean figure posed heroically on an outcrop, staring into the great horizons beyond. "Being able to ascertain and play to your opponent's weaknesses and vulnerabilities is crucial for forming a counter response." He brought up a finger, tapping his head before sipping from the thermos once more. "To determine the threat Miss Nikos posed, and act accordingly. Oh, I will most certainly have to commend Mister Ambrose when the exercise is concluded! Thank you for the reminder, Miss Schnee."
"Um... Actually, Professor, Ben was the one who came up with the idea." Jaune raised his hand unnecessarily, the lack of confidence glaring in the way he kept looking back at me, as if afraid I'd bite his head off. Really, the nerve... "But Joel was the one who gave me the pep talk. I didn't think there was any way it should've worked, but it did! Just like he said!"
And it really shouldn't have, in my professional opinion. In fact, given that we were sitting here, mulling things over, it most certainly did not work!
A desperate, overly simplistic ploy, requiring so many chance circumstances and things to go absolutely to script. An idea I'd only gone along with because... Actually I wasn't quite sure why, exactly.
Looking back, it seemed so foolish, even then. Reckless. But then Joel had started talking, with that annoying bandit chiming in every so often with some annoying point or quip. Back and forth, back and forth, and the whole mad gambit had seemed somehow sound.
AMBR. That whole team was a bunch of con artists, criminals, maniacs, and... and...!
I clenched my fist, and tried my best to compose myself; to bear some dignity.
I succeeded... I think, Jaune still shrinking away from me into Pyrrha's space, yet she seemed so shocked she didn't even try to stop him. Her mortification was clear in her own flushed expression, even trying to smile it off. Such a shame, to be saddled with such a dolt for a partner and leader...
Professor Oobleck, for his part, hesitated at the correction. His face was inscrutable for nary a moment, before his smile returned with a swift nod almost too fast to catch. The usual pep in his step redoubled with a vengeance.
"Ah-ha! A team effort, then? Splendid work! Stupendous!"
"It's certainly... something," I muttered, looking back towards Blue Team's section of the forest, narrowing my eyes at the sounds of pitched combat echoing from the vicinity of our makeshift stronghold.
Dreading the outcome of what was to come, even if all had gone completely right, I knew fully well what our flag guards likely had still to face.
Frankly, I didn't envy my teammates and what they must be enduring. Not one bit, especially given they had to contend with...
-Nora Valkyrie-
"Bwaahahahahaaaa!"
T'was the fourth hour of the great struggle of Red vs Blue...
Sadistic cackles split the air, mixing with the heady rattle of automatic fire, Dust rounds raking across the top of my impromptu cover, forcing me down low, and almost tearing the elaborate woven headdress of flowers and reeds from my head, along with... well, my head. It was my attempt at camouflage. Ben had even signed off on it, saying it looked distinguished.
Not so much now. Shredded wood shavings were flying willy-nilly in a thick, choking fog, and yet Maxine still kept up the insistent pressure.
Reloading with one hand, her Semblance snapping an apparently endless supply fresh clips home from her belt while the other kept up the staccato with her Cerberus' other gun in rapid bursts.
The scenic little brush-covered hillock Blue Team had decided to grace with our flag reduced to a no man's land of shattered tree trunks and gouged earth cast apart by Dust detonations. Jagged stones pointed upwards towards the sky like the fangs of some great monster in the books Ren used to read to me before bed.
"Suck Dust, Blues! Got plenty for ya right here! Bang, bang, bang, bang, baaaaaaang!"
Fit to character, the Dog Faunus wasn't even bothering to try and find a new angle on them, seemingly content with ripping a hole through the makeshift barrier, no matter the cost in ammo, rather than deigning to go around it or force an opening. Something that I knew she could probably manage with ease if she got riled up enough, having already tossed this log and a half dozen other massive pieces of scenery as is near the onset of the intense fighting.
Trees, boulders, a stunned Ursa, which had actually been somewhat impressive, before she ripped right through it moments later. These obstacles remaining were each of her own making, as though she cared. Maxine enjoyed the challenge of digging out her prey, which she could most certainly do.
Neither me nor the Huntsman propped up battered and bruised beside me were going anywhere. Not with two other skilled Huntresses-in-training, and a handsome-er... special Huntsman-in-training waiting alongside her. Waiting for their chance at the cerulean tapestry fluttering at the hill's peak.
Beautiful... Proud... I'd give it all for that flag... THE flag. For the glory of Blue Army over those silly Reds.
"C'mon! C'mon! C'moooon!"
The Faunus paused her assault just long enough to spread her arms wide in challenge, eyes wild, and fangs baring a wicked white through the smoke with a growl stirring behind her teeth. She stood proud, like some bloody avatar of combat, spattered head to toe in gore red warpaint that she'd managed to acquire... somehow. Her hair clotted into matted locks that clung to her face, clothes splattered and torn with the macabre trophies from her victims hanging from her belt.
Cracked goggles hung with a strip of green cloak, a few blonde hairs, and a ravaged shoe...
It seemed our blondes had paid their price, or more likely the Faunus just had a type...
"Get down here, and take your murder like a man, Ambrose! Stop hiding like some... Woah!"
The Faunus cursed fit enough to make a sailor blush, leaping for cover as a cylinder trailing pink smoke launched itself from the top of the hill. Its downward arch rapidly carried it towards the Faunus' position, rattling the ground beneath us enough to set the rubble bouncing at our feet, and set up a fresh plume of pinkish debris. But I knew from experience that it had sounded wrong, muffled somehow. Or, more accurately, by someone.
Maxine had used her Semblance to direct the projectile aside, and smother the explosive force under her own overwhelming pressure, as though that were fair. And of course, doing so just made her all the madder as a result, if that were possible... which it most definitely was.
"Ooooh, you're just asking for it now, Vakyrie! You can't stay up there forever!"
"Just watch us, Red scum!" I called back with a daring laugh of my own, ejecting the spent grenade casings with a determined scowl of defiance, and refusing to dwell on the fact that this was my last drum clip, or that I could just make out a glimpse of rose red amidst the tree tops.
Ruby, hood drawn over her own painted face, was sighting down the length of her Crescent Rose, waiting for her moment.
"She's right you two! It's over!"
Yang's voice echoed over Maxine's growling, the blonde extricating herself from smoldering brambles.
Her eyes were still burning red hot, and the scowl ever present after an accidental bit of static backlash from Joel had left her golden mane poofed out broad like some kind of deranged poodle gone rogue through a bonfire. A primary reason for the AMBR Team Leader's current barely conscious state, his white locks stained thick and matted with dirt and pond scum from an attempted drowning.
He'd probably need to cut it, too, given the missing patches. Just one more unintended casualty in this regrettable war of former allies...
"Nora, you're the only one still fighting, and we'll get up there eventually, one way or another!" The threat punctuated by cracking knuckles, loaded shells, and something that sounded suspiciously like crackling embers. "And Joel, when we do, you should know you'll be enjoying a rather special relationship with my fist!" Her voice lowered, seething and harsh between the trees. "And trust me when I say it will be intimate."
"Or, um... You could just give us the flag, right!? It's a game! Just a game!" Ren, wonderful and merciful as he so often was, called from somewhere behind us. Drenched in sweat and tree sap, he was leaning up gasping against a fallen trunk, struggling just to remain upright... The war's trials weighed heavily on so gentle a soul. "Nora, just give them the flag! Winning isn't worth all this...!"
"Who gives a damn about a stupid flag!?" Maxine's snarling declaration trampled all over my Partner's protests. Carmine-hued orbs stared hungrily at the peak, where she no doubt smelled her prey, the underslung blades of her guns gleaming in the half light. "Weeks of waking up early for morning practices! Hours mucking about with stupid study sessions! No sleep, no fun, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag! It's payback time, 'Team Leader!' You think you're hurting now!? Oooooh, just you wait!"
"...N-Nora?" Eyes widening, I turned to my fallen friend as his hand clapped to my arm. Joel was barely stirring, barely conscious, having taken the brunt of Yang's full attentions and Maxine's manias. All of it was my fault. If I'd only been stronger, if I'd not pushed so far ahead in that last assault... "Whatever you do... Please don't let them take me alive..."
"It won't come to that, Joel! I promise! Just hang on!" Was music was really playing in the background, or was that just the tinnitus? Either way, it seemed like something ripped straight from a movie... Awesome. The brave young beauty, pinned down... "I know things look bad, but we can't lose hope! Even if they still have Ruby and Ren out there."
"Just... Just need to give Ben's plan a little more time."
He blinked, groaning weakly as he looked about at the heights of the freshly christened 'Castle Valkyrie,' name pending, though 'Nora's Nook' and 'Magn-hold' were also strong contenders. T'was a small and not too pretty ridgeline, but it was mine. And she would hold.
For Blue Team. For all that was decent and true...!
"You're right... It'll work. We just... just need to believe. But how...!?"
I opened my mouth, noting the pause, and the glimmer in his gaze as he looked from his hand to my face, then back again pensively.
"Joel?"
"Nora... I need you to hold me."
...wut.
WUT!?
"J-Joel!? Wh-wh-what are you saying!? I can't! What about Yang, and then there's...!"
My heart skipped a dramatic beat in its tender innocence. How could it not in the face of so bold a request so utterly unexpected. My friend's expression inscrutable, serious.
But no! No, he couldn't actually be...!? No, no, I had eyes only for another. Not that anyone could possibly tell; I'd kept it close to my chest, and it wasn't like Ren and I weren't 'friends.' Maybe not 'more than friends,' even though I wanted... But that didn't mean...! Or did it?
No, definitely not, even for a love having bloomed upon the darkness of this gritty battlefield of friends and enemies both. But what if?
It wasn't like AMBR's Leader wasn't attractive in his own ways. All those muscles like Ren - more even - and then the way he listened closely when I talked, like Ren. Then there was his face... Okay, maybe that wasn't quite like Ren's, but no one was perfect, right? Except for maybe... But I could learn to care for a man like Joel Ambrose, yet still... I couldn't possibly betray... Though to deny a dying soul a last bit of joy. I had to... But Ren...?
If Blue Army was to fall here gloriously upon this hill, let it be to the song of a romance played out in...
"Nora?... Hey, Nora!"
I blinked the hearts from my eyes, face only breaths away from a startled and rather distracted Ambrose. Of course, he had an excuse, my weight pinning him to the log helpless, with Magnhild discarded carelessly to the side. My hands on his shoulders When had that...?
"Uh... What... What are you...? I just meant hold on to me. I... I had an idea..."
His eyes refused to meet mine, I saw, mumbling something incoherent under his breath that sounded kinda funny. Another language? Like growls made musical. Was that a thing? Must be...
"Oh... Oooooooh."
I eased back, flinching apologetically as the motion exacerbated - funny word from Benny, there - the mottled bruising across pleasantly solid shoulders and arms.
Huh... Comfy. Had to admit, I could see what Yang was always gushing about in the locker rooms after sparring matches.
"So, that was what you... Hmm." I brought a finger to my chin pensively, or in an attempt to look pensive. Ren sometimes made such things look so effortless. Just another thing I'd have to ask if we both made it back home from the line... "That makes more sense. Kinda disappointing actually."
"Yes, of cou... Wait, why? What did you think I meant...?"
"Doesn't matter!" I cut off the probing question sharply, the moment for caring passed in favor of war. The war we needed to win, to protect our Flag... "Out with it! Those dirty Reds'll be on us any minute now! Anything that might help me BREAK THEIR LEGS would be greatly appreciated."
"...Dini'la..." Joel muttered the strange word seemingly without thinking, staring back at me as if I were the one gone insane and not the whole world around us.
This... This was the only thing that made sense; something a Team Leader should understand.
Maybe I should be the one to lead AMBR to a new age of glory as Team Lead... no, Queen! Maybe I could...!
No. Nope, then I'd be separated from Ren, and we couldn't have that...
"I don't... Why're you all taking this game so... soooo...!?"
His eyes drifted towards the beautiful crown hanging askew across my head, the twin streaks of dirt beneath my eyes, and maybe... just maybe the blue cape I'd made from a ruined hoodie, and a fair amount of love... mouth gaping a moment before pursing with something akin to resignation.
"Fine, it's fine. I'm just thinking maybe you and I could just... Right, understanding the earlier confusion now. That's on me."
"Shush!" And he did. Oh boy, he did. This wasn't a time for regrets, but action as the bullets continued to fly. "Thunder Buddies? You... You're serious, aren't you? You really wanna try it again?"
Amazement and shock ran equal course in my tone, and for good reason. White Knight, Milk & Cereal, Crimson Lotus, Guns & Roses, Freezerburn, Mad Dog... Just a few of several cross-team formations Ruby had proposed. The youngest student at Beacon worked tirelessly with the aid of AMBR and JNPR's leaders to inspire their teammates to come up with a few different variations to add to their playbooks.
One never knew after all when the teachers - or life, for that matter - might just throw a sweeping curve-ball into tactics, after all. Even Weiss had to admit to the sense in that thinking, even if she wasn't so impressed that it had come from Jaune's mouth, and not her own leader's. Pyrrha, on the other hand, had been absolutely beaming, watching her Partner take in the praise.
And so we'd practiced, gathering whenever time between study and whatever else allowed or working separately in pairs to surprise our friends with the results. Yang and Blake's Bumblebee had been spectacular, their coordination overshadowed only by Reika and Ben's own Partners in Crime. Years of working as a pair gave the two former bandits an effortless rapport in a fight that could change with a wave of a finger or a wink at the right time.
Something I'd tried to copy with Ren, because of course best friends should have their own language, though without much success. The concept was harder than it looked, Reika not exactly the most consistently understood teacher.
But anywho... Thunder Buddies... Now that particular little combo of Nora Valkyrie and Joel Ambrose had been left to gather dust on the shelf ages ago, deemed too dangerous even by its creators... at least on Joel's own end.
Only AMBR and JNPR had born witness to the first and only attempt, and had subsequently vowed never to see it used again after, well... after the 'incident' left more than half the vast sparring room in tatters, and sent half the participants to the sick ward for days afterwards. Whole sections of the stands were shattered to pieces, and Professor Goodwitch had needed a whole week to reassemble the arena floor itself.
My Semblance, High Voltage, produced and converted electrical energy into my muscles directly, or so it was explained once... I forgot by who. A doctor, I think.
Anyway, all that was really important was that it made me really, really strong if I focused. Plenty strong enough to send Grimm soaring, or pummel them into the dirt all on my own steam... or charge, or whatever...
And that was just me. When someone provided the electricity... And given Joel's own Semblance in tandem with mine, the idea behind it had been sound. A golden match up. But for execution's-sake...
"When else? Just be sure you can handle it this time," Joel chuckled with a shadow of his earlier confidence, a smile that wasn't quite as calming as my own partner's. Too wild, that was for sure, but fun... Definitely fun. One that only widened as he looked to the flag and back to me. "So let's, uh... Let's go wild, eh, Nora?"
The catchphrase sounded half-hearted, and if I'd been in a better state of mind, I might have picked up on the mounting hesitation as he held out a quivering hand sparking with tiny cerulean motes of static cling.
But I wasn't, already snatching hold of the proffered limb, and sighing as I felt the familiar stirrings in my gut as electricity began to flow between the two of us in a steady constant stream one couldn't emulate chewing on a Dust crystal.
I'd tried that once. Not the tastiest, but it had done the trick, even it had left me with cramps for hours. This was better. This - this sensation - was more a rumbling hunger I'd never expected.
Kinda sorta like eating a big meal, only to find you somehow still had room in your stomach to spare... Way more room. Sooooo much room. And you'd expect it to feel heavy, somehow, weighed down, but if anything I felt lighter. As though I'd be able to kick off the ground, and fly if I wanted. Why I was almost tempted to do just that... But I had a mission, and with this boost...
And then Joel's face grimaced as though in pain, letting loose the real deal. It's effect was immediate, like getting struck by lightning all over again, only rather than instantaneous...
"I..." A sigh slipped through rigid teeth, my whole body shuddering under what was most definitely the biggest sugar rush of my short life. The thrum of everything booming in my ears... "I'M...!"
-Maxine Argus-
"...not so sure about this, guys!"
Snarling, I shot a glare up at the rosie little runt playing spotter.
"Both of them. They've moved out of my line of sight! Almost like they were... Huh?"
"Like they were what, Rubes!?" her bimbo sister called, frowning deeply. Something she didn't do very well, her face not quite built for it.
And then there was Ren, the wretched, er... wretch, not helping matters with all that panting and dry heaving.
Seriously, if his stamina were so bad, how did he even manage to keep up with that living sugar high of a partner? Why wasn't he spilling his guts over how to stop her if he was so tuckered, or at least firing off his...
Right, I'd used one of his StormFlowers to brain the little heiress mid-flight, needing something heavy to throw. And it wasn't as if he was using it much. The other had pinned Arc in place upside down over that cliff side, until Oobleck had deigned to come down and rescue him.
So yes. No guns... Doubly worthless.
"I-I think... They looked like they were, uh... hugging, maybe? I can't see too well."
Weird how I could practically smell the blush across the younger girl's face as she spoke. The expression was obvious, even without that hormonal waver purring in her throat. My mind envisioned the heated cheeks well enough beneath that cloak as the little Reaperette fidgeted on her perch all bothered and whatnot.
And then there was the sister to contend with. Xiao Long looked as if she'd just swallowed something sour.
"What!?"
'...The hell? Is it suddenly getting hotter, or... Oh, right.'
Huh. Didn't think Valkyrie was Ambrose's type. Or that he was the sort to... Well, either way, I certainly didn't envy him before. Definitely not starting now.
I needed to focus. The game was almost ours, and with it sweet, sweet vengeance. I couldn't afford to waste a good opportunity.
I mean, how many times can one say they'd had free reign to beat the ever living pus out of an annoying, over-committed Snowhead, and with permission from a teacher, of all things?
Beacon Academy... What a dysfunctional hell pit of learning this whole venture had turned out to be. And against all expectations, I frickin' loved it... Well, most of it, hence the desire to show Ambrose an exciting new place he could use the stick in his ass.
"I... I don't thing I can get off a clean shot!" Rose added after a long moment, mastering herself and what she was supposed to be doing, given this game had been HER idea. If I could find it in myself to focus on the mission, she definitely could... At least, I imagined so. Coolness under pressure.
That was supposed to be a Leader-ish thing, wasn't it? Though given Arc's earlier performance, I supposed even that assumption might be somewhat suspect. My hand drifted towards the shoe I'd claimed off the blonde's still-twitching carcass.
The fresh start to a new collection maybe... Just maybe? But first things first...
"Make it dirty, then, I dunno! Don't much care either, so why don't we just charge 'em? " I spat vehemently, not caring if that Trapper jerkface could hear it. I quivered under the heat building in my chest, even as I gave Cerberus a hearty smack with the side of my head to clear both.
All those fleeting little distractions cleared abruptly with the sharp pain, the scents of the prey the only thing that mattered now.
Pancakes and storms. Static and syrup... Such a weird and exciting combination that I'd love to sink my teeth into. If only...
"Grrr... Bah! Not like Valkyrie could go and take all of us out, even with those boomers of hers!"
My eyes flicked towards Ren, who shrank back nervously under the gaze like something I'd kicked... Thank the gods he wasn't on my team proper. What that bubbly little demon saw in the man, I'd never understand. Sure, he could act the cool, calm sidekick, but a little backbone might well have been appreciated.
"Not all of us, anyway. And all we need's Ambrose's skull... I mean the flag in hand. Yeah... Yeah, that's right."
"They're planning something, whatever it is. Full charge sounds best," Xiao Long agreed wholeheartedly, smacking a fist to her broad chest. Doubtless still smarting to take a piece of Ambrose same as I was for split ends inflicted.
Pettier motivations, sure, I supposed, but so long as she was game...
"Full frontal. We take the hill, put Nora through a few trees, and take that white-haired monster in the bargain."
Burning red eyes caught mine as my hackles raised, the tone warning and placating in equal measure... How that could be possible was anyone's guess, given the clack of her gauntlet's reloading echoed moments later.
"By the by, first round with Sparky's mine, Max. You can play with whatever's left afterwards when I'm done with him."
"Like hell you will," I said in stern reply, rather calmly I might add, and proud of it, too. The denial bearing with it only minimal growling, with Cerberus' barrels coming up only a fraction. "He's my partner, Xiao Long, boy-toy or no. If anyone's got a claim to Ambrose's stubborn ass, its me. Me."
Now that spilled as proper snarl, a few of the stray casings at my feet rattling ominously.
"And I, for one, don't share too well. Last thing I need's you breaking him 'fore I get a go."
"Well, I, for one, don't mind. Joel's rather durable, if you hadn't noticed by now." She smirked a toothy grin marred only slightly by a twitch at her brow. An expression I found myself returning, curiously enough, as she raised a shivering fist.
So much frustration over something as trivial as hair. Incredible, though I guess fidelity was playing a fresh part, too. Not gonna lie though, gods preserve me, but I was actually starting to understand what Ambrose saw in this blonde bimbo.
"I'll take the head." A statement, not a question. One I didn't bother to countermand. "Deal?"
"Deal, so long as he can still make my sorta music while you're at it." Wouldn't be much fun if the screaming was waylaid after all, the pact sealed with a fist bump. "Guess the bastard's tall. Plenty left to work with."
"What on Remnant are you two talking...!?"
And t'was on that day that I learned just how fast a man can shrivel in the face of a superior predator, much less a pair of them. Though given who he was made to tolerate on a regular basis, such was only to be expected. Walls at Beacon were pretty thin, things I heard...
'...Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes, pour that extra syrup all over my...*Pfft* Gods, spare me if anything like that filters through...'
I breathed out a sigh to settle my own reddening cheeks, thankful for the warpaint for that much. Honestly, though, the scent of submission was practically... practically...?
"Forget it. Shouldn't we be worried more about the flag, at any rate? Or maybe...?"
"Hang on!" I spoke up, surprising everyone and almost startling little Rose out of her little tree.
That, of course being her issue, my concern solely fixed on scenting the air wafting around us. Pine tar... Mulch... Decay... Smoke... Dust powder... Sweat... And swirling beneath it all...
My nose snuffled audibly in a manner some might've found embarrassing and unnatural... Fuck those 'some,' by the way. People only wished they could follow a whiff for miles and distinguish the subtlest shifts in the taste of the air itself without some fancy machine. Nothing more 'natural' than that.
Good thing, too, as it let me figure out pretty quickly that something was afoot... or something...
"Anyone else smelling...?" Right, stupid question, judging by the looks I received. Noted. "Static. I'm smelling static in the air. Ambrose's trying something. Maybe he's... No... No, he wouldn't...!"
"Wouldn't what? With the state he's in, what could he possibly... Maxine?... Ren?" Of course Lie Ren would've noticed something amiss as well, guessing along the same avenues I would be. After all, he'd been there, too. He'd seen what I'd seen. "Talk to me, soldiers! You're both white as a sheet. What's the matter with...!?"
"...Thunder Buddies..."
"Thunder whasit-now?" Xiao Long raised a blonde brow, lacking comprehension. Such blissful ignorance... Such a lack of understanding. "That supposed to be some formation, or...?"
"THUNDER BUDDIES! Ambrose and Valkyrie's team attack! The one we never showed off! Rose! I don't care what you're seeing, take the shot! Take the fucking...!"
But it was too late. Far too late. The top of the hill we'd spent the last several minutes debating how to take vanished in the middle of a powerful explosion. A deafening cacophony of pink smoke, cracking electricity, and giggling... Oh gods, the giggling. It was just as I remembered from that day in the arena, pulling myself free from a pile of savaged audience seats, glowering down in abject horror at the creature swinging Carson around as a makeshift flail...
That same creature burst from the smoke, mounted astride her hammer in imitation of some cackling witch from the fairy tales Aunt Carmen used to read to me every so often for my paintings; the ones we were expected to sell on commission lacking my usual twisted imagination. Valkyrie even bore with her a broad mantle of skin like the one in the racier, less child-friendly tales spoke of.
This one was still alive, and sported white hair and a glassy-eyed shimmer of pained focus while dangling behind her. His bared, musclebound arms were secured about the Huntress' waist by a long, flowing strip of blue.
The flag. She'd tied a sparking Ambrose about herself with their own flag, causing him to feed a continual stream of electricity that the Huntress converted with that ridiculous Semblance of hers.
And they were coming in fast. Too fast, riding the momentum of what must've been every grenade she had left.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BLUE TEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAM!"
She flipped end over end, with Ambrose lolling behind limply in her wake, soaring straight for the tree Rose had taken shelter in before most of us had really understood what was happening. The little reaper didn't even have the chance to make use of her vaunted Petal Burst Semblance to escape, too wrapped up in the sheer ridiculousness of the moment through her scope.
She'd been the threat, the fastest of us. Now she was simply gone, vanished, along with much of the broad trunk that had stood at her back.
A human shaped hole ploughed straight through in a burst of bark, pine needles, and a single sharp squeak regarding cookies or somesuch that echoed long and far through the trees alongside a pinging notification from our Scrolls.
"Ruby!" Yang started forward, fists raised, heedless of towering heights of the pine listing sharply, and Ren's fevered attempts to pull her back.
Moaning and groaning under its own weight, the core gouged out, and branches tore at the upper canopy in its rapidly quickening descent. Man-sized limbs and leaves rained down around us, my Semblance kicking forth to snatch and redirect a few hulking bough before they could crush me. The blonde brawler simply blasted it apart with a shot from Ember Celica, her face a mask of mournful fury.
"RUBYYYY!"
"Yang, she's gone! We need to get clear!"
Yes, we did, and I already was. Sprinting for cover as fast as my legs could carry me, Cerberus came together with a mechanical whine to hack through what few brambles attempted to stall my path in a pair of wild, weightless swings. I certainly didn't bother to wait for my teammate's fumbling attempts to dissuade the other from getting herself killed.
"MONSTER!"
It was pointless, the eldest sister resigned. Ren finally got a clue, and skittered into the cover of the treeline alongside me, Faunus and Human sharing a glance before beholding the scene unfolding before us now.
The giggling returned in earnest by now, Nora leaping atop a freshly fallen arbor pile, and posing confidently in her pink finery, and Ambrose's shivering carcass. Either she was very much aware that she'd just cleared several meters in one bound, or not at all, simply a queen standing atop her freshly stacked castle, deigning to look down at the dragon that dared to threaten her realm, arm raised to show the billowing crimson mantle she clutched tightly by the hood.
A trophy all her own. Bait that the golden-haired blonde blundered into with a scream of unrestrained fury, her hair aflame with Aura.
Shadow boxing the air in a frenzy, she fired off dazzling explosive Dust rounds with every punch that curved and whined through the air, each one batted aside along Magnhild's spinning length to detonate harmlessly behind Blue Team's manic champion. The effect was impressive; a taunt that really set Xiao Long over the edge.
Reloading her gauntlets with practiced flair, she blasted herself forward on her gauntlet's recoil, racing towards her target with single-minded determination, and incredible aerial acrobatics. Another two bursts to change the angle of her charge on the fly, another shot the hammer-wielding queen batted aside, and then they came together.
Yang expected to buffet her opponent back with a single, powerful punch, overwhelming her in the same manner she'd pull off during one of Goodwitch's classes, throw her off balance, and launch into a frenzy of blows the opponent can't keep up with. I'd seen it before. Even felt it before more than once, to my own chagrin.
And if it weren't for Ambrose, the mumbling human battery, supercharging her foe, she might well have succeeded this time too, and taken the win for us.
But he was there, and her surprise was evident from the moment she caught sight of Valkyrie's fist closed tight around hers like a vice, having braced, caught, and smothered the full frontal attack head on. That jolly face beamed broadly with chattering teeth, just as surprised as the rest of us were by the sudden turnaround, if not quite so enraptured as the blonde she released graciously.
"Is that all?" I heard her ask the stupefied brawler stumbling back a step, eyes having blinked themselves back to lilac, and mouth gaping out a strangled groan while the bubbly bomber wound up for a crack of her own. "Really? Oh, well... MY TURN!"
I'd give Yang Xiao Long that much, she was a brave soul; undaunted. She'd clearly seen Magnhild coming up fast in a wide arc beneath her, deeming it too fast to avoid, or even hope to block, yet had refused to falter even so. Rather, she drew back her fists for another last ditch attempt to take down her opponent, mane billowing behind her in the breeze, restored in this last moment to its former luster.
No retreat, no surrender. Girl had a brass set on her, that was for damned sure. I hoped she'd take some small comfort in that when the hammer connected, propelling a newborn, golden-hued comet upwards straight through heights above to soar into fresh horizons beyond. Leaves and twigs smoldered as they fell from on high in its wake, marking the passage of a great warrior now lost to us.
Her killer admired the handiwork, hammer swinging languidly to loosen her shoulder. A terror framed in pink, gingerly patting the snowy white head that had bumbled to about her shoulder, staring regretfully at the spot his girlfriend had just rapidly vacated.
We were dead. We were so. Fucking. DEAD.
Somehow, I doubted my Semblance would've been able to shift matters, even if I wasn't already running on fumes from earlier, when I might have gone a bit overboard. I had some crackers and poppers, the Argus-brand stuff that might possibly have made a difference, but it wasn't like I had the firepower to fight my way close enough. Ren wasn't even armed, and I'd love to see his hand-to-hand take on...
...Waaaaaait a hot second.
"...need to fall back, try to regroup. She can't keep this up forever..." Ren was speaking, more to himself than to me, though he evidently thought I cared enough to listen. He took my long stare as some kind of assent to keep blabbing. "All we need to do is wait them out. Our only problem is managing... Uh, Maxine?"
I had a plan. A silly, desperate plan, even to my admittedly skewed senses. The best ones often were when they worked, and if they didn't... Try not to think about that.
Nora Valkrie was truly a terror. A terror with only one true weakness. One that, if exploited, might just give me the opening I needed. Otherwise, I'd be joining Xiao Long in her voyage among the stars.
Best to shoot for the positive, like my erstwhile teammate finally earning himself a purpose. Very positive indeed.
"Take some heart, Renny. You're gonna thank me for this later, trust me."
"I... I really don't...?" The young man started at the unexpected contact of a tender hand grasping his shoulder, a warm body leaning in nice and close. A forehead rested against his flushed face, staining it a further red with paint. My nostrils breathed in the sour scents of sweat, worry, and some sort of incense in a long draft. My crimson-hued lips curled back in a tender smile that left him flushed and flustered.
"Go get the girl."
So flushed, he likely didn't understand a thing I'd said, a whisper in his ear filled with utter conviction before the grin flashed with pointed incisors, and a keen-edged axe head. A paint stained-hand clutched at his lean arm, gripping tight to keep him from squirming away awkwardly as Cerberus' broad crimson blade snickered upwards, slaying his cheongsam from hip to collar to expose a sweat drenched chest soaked through with sap and grit.
Perfect... At least for my needs.
"M-Max, wh-what are you...!?"
"This here?... This is a good death. Be proud. Be strong."
"H-hey, wait a sec! What are you sayiIIIIIIIING...!?" His question petering off with a shrill squeal. Very manly.
My body rotated sidelong to yank him out and about from cover bodily in a twirling pirouette so abrupt, it was a miracle the limb stayed fixed in its socket. His feet dragged as I spun once, twice, using a mix of raw, desperate emotion, Aura, and a Semblance-driven grip on his boot to build momentum, and lift him from the ground.
"Hey, Valkyrie!"
"Huh?... Max, Ren?" Thrice more, and Valkyrie was turning about from the Yang-shaped hole in the canopy to face us. "Oh, there you... are?"
That manic, crackling grin slipped a fraction as she beheld the maddened dance and her partner's rather noticeable role in it, dumbstruck for just a moment. Ambrose, the human backpack, murmured a warning over her shoulder meekly before he was shrugged off. Near literally so, I might add. The ginger's lack of restraint and abject distraction were such that the gesture smacked off his forehead by accident, ringing his bell with a hearty *smack,* and setting my true partner flying off into the bushes.
Funny as hell, but I couldn't focus on that...
"CATCH!" I called out, spinning a fourth and final time, before halting the rabid motion, and abruptly launching the hapless boy face first. His boot was left behind, hanging in the air, still clutched by my Semblance. The man himself was flailing wildly towards the target like some human cannonball.
Maybe it was more accurate to call it a bolt or arrow, but cannons were loud, just like he was being now, plus way cooler. And either way, the only thing that mattered now was that my aim had been true.
Lie Ren slammed headlong into the bubbly bomber, the young woman dropping her hammer, and trying to catch him just like any good friend would. Only I'd thrown the poor schmuck way too hard for it to be so easy. The pair barreled backwards from the hit, tumbling through the dirt for several yards to settle in a ragged heap amidst a stray bed of flowers, of all things, Nora with her ridiculous crown all askew and covered head to toe in petals, Ren draped protectively across her frame.
"Nora, are you o... kay?" His hand squeezed, trying to stir some life back into his childhood friend. At least I imagined that had been the initial intention.
The reality was that his hands missed her shoulders by a few inches. And what a few inches they were. Big, soft, pillowy inches...
Let it never be said that Maxine Argus never did anyone a service.
Shimmering eyes blinked themselves open with a surprisingly delicate squeal. Jade opened blearily to meet similarly surprised pink framed by a mussed mane of dark hair, then drifted down to the oiled abs before losing themselves dazedly in the rather heated picture of the moment. All rather adorable, really. Even gave off this little *oh* of stunned surprise, and just a little hint of appreciation, mouth all agape...
"Ren?" A finger traced his chest absentmindedly. Then it all clicked after a few seconds, however, with a shrill whine, finger leaping off his skin as though burned. "I swear me and Joel, we didn't...!?"
Nora's cheeks steamed redder than her hair as she squirmed in a puddle of conflicting emotions and instincts. A sour hormonal musk that was all embarrassment, affection, and a fair bit of panic. She was seemingly not quite sure whether to draw him closer or kick him off, hesitating, even if I could tell pretty clearly which one she wanted to win out.
Adorable, and it had the intended effects of keeping her situated, and her Aura's defenses disrupted. Being the gentlemen he was, however, Ren was attempting to steal away that choice from her.
His mind had been made up, making to leap up, with his own face fuming. To leave her be, and build some distance despite her unspoken half-objection. Given I needed her to stay in one place, this posed something of an issue. One easily remedied, the Huntsman straining to work himself back to his feet with all the care I'd come to expect from him. No sudden lurching or hasty escapes, all his motions calm and deliberate, if a bit stiff.
Oh, to be young, and a good thing he was taking his time, too. It made for an easy target, a notched cylinder cracking him squarely in the back of the head, pitching him forward like a stone unconscious. His lips smacking home against Valkyrie's... maybe cheek? Edge of the mouth, at best. Hard to tell from my angle, precisely.
Not exactly a kiss. Not one I'd have counted in my limited experience. A smooch, maybe?
Still, it served to count in the young ginger's frazzled state of mortified bliss. Downright perfect for keeping her eyes off the offending projectile rattling on the ground beside the entangled, semi-enamored pairing amidst the daisies, the object that had gifted this awkward few seconds of heaven stamped clear with my personal seal of approval.
I don't even think she noticed it. Not up until the point it detonated, anyway, with all the wonderfully destructive intent I'd fashioned it for. A concussive *BOOM* concluded the scene with a cascade of multicolored lights, dazzling streamers of phosphorescent Dust, sizzling flower petals for confetti... Gorgeous. Absolutely godsdamned gorgeous.
But not quite so satisfying as the twin chiming I heard crooning from my Scroll's speakers after the ringing faded, marking both combatant's Auras as deep in the red. Out of the game, and out of my hair.
Or they would be, after I'd paid appropriate homage to a tool well used.
"You served your purpose well, countrymen." I straightened up, and drew in a long meditative breath with eyes closed tight against the smoky malaise rising from their shared crater, Cerberus' edge resting on the ground at my side in a loose grip. "I will take the time to meditate on your worthy sacrifice for the cause, in the way of our forefathers."
The battlefield was curiously silent but for the crackling of small fires, and the groaning of nearby bodies. It was almost peaceful. Rose's mantle dangled in the wind from a far off branch. Meanwhile, Valkyrie seemed to be enjoying herself in her own personal crater, with her partner playing the role of semi-conscious teddy bear.
There I stood inert, allowing for a second the reality of the losses claimed along the way to overtake my emotions. Honoring the costs in a tidal wave of bitter...
O-kay, mourning done, enough with that dour, boring shit. PARTY TIME!
'...Now, now, now, now, now, where the fuck did Ambrose wind up?...'
Easy enough question to answer. Blast wave hadn't been so large, and it hadn't been enough to blow the former Trapper to pieces... I think?
A quick searching breath, a bit of impromptu trimming when it came to some pesky root systems, and a somewhat blunted axe found me standing over the supine body of my ailing Team Leader. His hair was stained a thick muddy brown while his body, what could be seen of it through the thick layer of grit and scorched material, carried with it a patchwork of cuts and heavy bruising streaking across pale flesh. The worst was the blow to his head, forehead showing an angry purple beneath a few spared strands of pale white.
All in all, he looked in damn fine condition for the day we'd had, clothes in ravaged shambles, with Blue Team's flag - that blighted symbol of idiocy somehow unmarred, unlike the rest of him - clutched in hand, and fluttering limply in the late afternoon breeze. So much trouble for such a thing, pretty as it was. Maybe even inspiring.
I was content to let it skitter away with the wind, stomping a booted heel down on the man's wrist, and grinding it back and forth to force his fingers loose. The sharp intake of pain hissed through gritted teeth, those stormy blues I respected and hated all at once glaring up at me defiantly.
That stolid willpower was so fit for the breaking, the anticipation of the deed enough to set a pleasant warmth filtering down my spine in waves. My legs were near to trembling, head light as a cloud.
Call me strange, call me a deviant, bur I called it for what it was: bliss. And best of all, Ambrose knew it, too.
The mounting pain was woven thick with bitter exasperation, maybe a hint of resignation to the inevitable that I found rather sweet. Foolish, but sweet that he cared enough to show it.
Touching, really, though of course, that was to be my job. Like I'd told Xiao Long: I did so hate to share.
"Heeeeey..." I buried Cerberus several inches into the loamy dirt, easing down on my haunches, taking the time to enjoy the breadth of moment properly, like I preferred.
Revenge could be a rather intimate endeavor after all, in this case especially. No need to rush matters.
Weeks suffering through all of the late-night study sessions, silly team excursions, and the general stick up the leader's ass that plagued fun at every turn. 'Don't cherry bomb the lockers, Max,' or 'Ease up on the other students, Max.' And of course 'Play 'NICE', Max.'
I nurtured that seething resentment, building that desire until it was finally sated in one sweet, tender act of justifiable payback.
So I was plenty tender, snatching the former Trapper's other struggling arm, and pinning it with a sharp knee. I leaned down so my face was only inches from his, bloody brown engaging stormy blue. I'd been wary of the few stray sparks still crackling along his bare skin, but given the situation with his Aura, they were little more than tingling spots of sensation.
Brief additions to the experience, and not so unpleasant ones at that. I imagined feeling the frustration and anger boiling in them. Impotent, helpless...
"What'cha doing there, Partner?" I crooned softly, a husky rumble thrumming unbidden in my throat.
"O-oh nothing..." Joel replied, stand offish to my subdued performance. Trying to steal the enjoyment... Petty, and much appreciated. "Just... nngh... enjoying the woods, lying... ah... lying around..."
"Lying around, eh?" I cocked my head, looking up at the canopy of verdant arbors, many of which were currently ablaze from the earlier detonation. Worrying, maybe, though not at the moment. It gave off a bit of extra ambiance. "Looks comfy. Real comfy. Nothing on those sweater pups your girl's got, I bet, but seeing as you're stuck in the doghouse... Hahaha! Wait, does that count as a pun? Did I really just...!?"
"She'd be so... proud of you, Max. Truly," he bit back sardonically in that sassy little spark that made him so fun to needle. Far better than the usual respectable, regrettable sort that made it clear he was trying too hard, the pandering of it... This was better. This was honest. "We're really... kuh... doing this, then?"
I adjusted the seating on the human's chest languidly, biting my lip at the way the motion was just rough enough to aggravate the aches and pains without going too far. Pass out once, and the game's over, the experience never quite so visceral once dulled by the waiting.
This... subject was barely lucid, especially given previous wounds. But that was the challenge. Delicacy was a part of the art process. Appreciating what had come before, but staying bold enough to add one's own mix to the canvas without muddying the picture. A smug sense of careful satisfaction was born of the knowledge that I hadn't been wrong when I'd told Xiao Long there'd be plenty left to work with when it came to the Huntsman.
"No better time than the present, right? And this is a present, Ambrose. From me to you." A hand came down to slap his cheek, though not painfully. Not yet. There would be time for that, and I wanted him to know it. "We've got hours still before Oobleck calls this thing off. Hours yet. It's gonna be special."
"By her blood, what... What even is today!? First Nora, now...!" He eased his head back, glancing passed me, through me as if at something only he could see. That I didn't appreciate. Nor what came spilling from his mouth next mid-groan when I silently dug a finger into a nerve cluster in nagging reprisal. "Tch... Enjoy it while you can, Argus. By now you - Red Team - you've already lost. Or are about to, anyway."
Too smug. Too self assured. He wasn't supposed to look like that, and it left me with an irritating twinge of worry I couldn't stomach. He'd pay for that.
"Oh? And how do you figure that?" A question punctuated by further digging my knees deeper into the nerves, but still, he just wouldn't break... and so I chuckled to hide it.
And worse, he knew that, too, the asshole. Goodwill was officially done with...
"'Cause from where I'm standing, I'm the only one still... y'know, standing. Your team's dusted. Arc & Schnee. Carson & that pink little devil... Nice touch with Thunder Buddies, though. Impressive, that."
"Thanks. I thought so, too." His lip quirked, though again, not in response to something I'd inflicted. Or maybe it was, just not in the way I'd intended. "But, uh... Just so you know... you missed one. On your... On your count."
"Hmm? No, I didn't. Only ones that were left were you, and... and...!?"
Wait... Wait a second, he couldn't be right, could he? Blue Team was dust! Our Red wave had smeared Carson, Schnee, Valkyrie, Arc, himself, and... and...!
"No... No, no, no, no, NO!"
"Any second now... Ah, there we go. Hear it?"
For a moment, I wasn't certain what the man meant, wondering if he'd finally cracked from one too many blows to the head. But then I heard it, just barely buzzing at the ringing edge of perception. A Scroll's drawn out musical chiming alert, a victory bell signalling the end of the game. But where could that be coming from?
My hand fumbled awkwardly for my waist, tugging the irritating little device from a sleeve at my belt, and glowering wide-eyed at the sight of a congratulatory missive flashing across the holographic screen. A little victory blurb from Oobleck, with his ecstatic congratulations, tinged a vibrant painfully obvious shade of royal blue.
But that couldn't be! Not when we'd been the stronger team! Definitely not while I was still up and ready, my Aura fine...!
But there it was. A map of the Emerald Forest flashing along the overlay. The signal from the receivers sewn into both flags rang true. The Blue flag was right where I'd left it. That wasn't the issue. The Red, however, had stolen itself away from our base while we'd been distracted, traversing the distance all the way to the safe zone within the forest ruins.
"Mission... aaccomplished," Joel hissed weakly, before slumping back to the ground with a long contented sigh. "Goooo... Blue Teeeeam..."
"No, that's...! Y-you couldn't have...!?"
Frantically, I snatched hold of the human by the collar, hauling him upright, intent on smashing the answers from his stupid asshole face. On deriving some sort of fun from this debacle, some kind of meager relief. But I was too late.
Ambrose had already passed out cold by the time I'd started shaking, snoring softly with a smile on his lips. That gentle sound mocked me as I let him fall back with a rabid snarl, the satisfaction of even that much denied by the soft grass cushion smothering him like a blanket.
And there I was, left stammering all alone in a sea of inert figures. That ridiculous music filled the air until the moment I snatched hold of Cerberus, and hacked down on the blighted thing again, and again, and again, and again... But they would all be going off now.
Blue... Blue Team had won, which meant we'd messed up.
Which meant we'd lost.
"We didn't...! You, but...!? B-but that ain't fair! How!? HOW DID...!?"
-Blake Belladonna-
"...this actually wind up working out in the end?"
I shook my head in utter bewilderment, and looked to the crimson flag fluttering gently in the breeze atop a pole planted firmly in the ground, sitting at the foot of the moldering ruins where everything had begun weeks before.
The scars of those battles were still visible even now, remnants of RWBY and JNPR's battle against the Death Stalker and Nevermore. Plus, not to mention that desperate struggle with AMBR and their Chimera.
Strange, to think about all that had come after. Beacon, the Teams, pleasant outings and frantic study sessions... The friends... Companions to trust with my success.
Such in this instance. I'd doubted Benjamin's schemes at first. So many distractions and little moves that had to go right. Everything depended on Red Team's willingness to try and overpower the Blues, and rush a dominating victory in ignorance of all else. If they hadn't... Though, to be fair, how could it not?
What with a firecracker like Yang and that mad dog Maxine at the head, their voice of reason Pyrrha eliminated and out of the running, Ren and Reika too quiet to speak up, and Ruby too swept up in the fun to go against her sister and her, uh... friendly acquaintance's more aggressive personalities. Especially with those two egging the other on.
Of course it would've worked, with the right draw of a good fight, and a Team Leader to bait the hook, and a bit of subterfuge and underhanded tactics to get Yang's blood up, and work Maxine into a frenzy. All I'd needed to do was be myself: fade in the background, and be forgotten in the upheaval.
Simple matters, really, which I took to be the point.
All in all, it was downright wicked, the longer one thought about it. I almost felt bad for the other team. And to think Weiss had complained so much about the lack of firepower.
"Carson... Another dangerous, one, then," I sighed, looking about the wide field fondly, trying not to think too hard about just what kind of team Professor Ozpin had assembled at his school, especially given the trouble since.
Easy enough to do in a place like this. Without the giant monsters and subtle threat of a failing grade hanging overhead, it was actually rather peaceful, all things considered. Private, secluded, and tucked away. An excellent getaway for book time, come to think of it, if a little bit of a jaunt. I'd certainly need to tell Joel and Velvet about it for Book Club.
Even the muffled sounds of explosions, gunfire, and... squealing... Even those hadn't quite served mar the serenity of this place, no matter how crazy or out of sorts things must've gotten.
So with my loud teammates and friends still either recovering, celebrating, or commiserating, I allowed a small smile to cross my lips. Reaching up to tug my bow free, and let those truest senses breathe, I settled back against one of those plinths that had held the pieces that had brought us all together, for better or worse... Certainly better.
So surprising, that. It was nothing like before. Nothing like what he said they'd be like... My teammates. My friends.
'...We really should do more of these little outings,' I decided succinctly with a genuine purr of pleasure.
A book to hand in an instant opened to its relevant passage, a bottle of milk pulled from my belt pouch, and the not so distant howls of a furious but defeated puppy dog music to my twitching ears...
- END
A/N: Hey all, man it's been awhile since I've updated this story. Loooong while, but I've needed (and probably still need) a proper break from AMBR RtR and thought jumping back to Beacon might be fun. And it was, tough, but fun nonetheless. Start the year off right. (Also ie. watch the source material behind this chapter's title. At the very least the first few seasons, they're golden age RT)
Had a lot of projects I've either wanted to get started on, had ideas for, or simply used as diversion or something to get jotted down and out of my head. Some might have seen me posting a few of those, even another RWBY oc story that might or might not happen using some concepts a friend helped me work out.
Again, no idea when it might happen as I'd like to get a few chapters down regardless but stuff I may be considering in future, maybe even branch off. Long as I'm running with this hobby might as well jump and skip around for a bit.
Anyway I hoped you enjoyed this ridiculous little bit of fluff and thanks for all the support this last year and all the others. - Mojo