Here we are for the first chapter of 2020, slowly but surely. This is actually going to be the first story that actually does the Vytal Festival and the tournament and… well, what comes after. It should be a learning experience, and I know it isn't going to be the first time nor probably the last time I wrote this particular arc.
BH coming up eventually! -CrowSkull
That, Destiny Fated Black, Detective Grimm, and possibly another future story if I get the lifetime to do it.
Beta & Co-Writer- CrowSkull
A Tale of Two Heroes
Chapter 51- Round 1
"And Begin!" Oobleck yelled through the speakers.
Team BRVO moved immediately, the guy with the trident-like weapon and another with a saber, similar but slightly shorter than what Winter would use, remained in the middle while their other two teammates ran out to the sides, most likely they were planning an ambush of sorts.
"Mike, Ash!" Hector called out while pointing at the members that spread out, without hesitation in a second both Michael and Ashley ran to intercept them, all the while Hector and Reggie prepared themselves and walked toward their two other adversaries while Michael and Ashley engaged the two attempting to surround them.
"Ready?" Hector asked Reggie, he had a hard tone, but with more of a daring spirit.
"Do you even need to ask?" Reggie replied, smirking with excitement as he held his volcanic axe over his shoulder. Another second passed, and both of them began to sprint. After just a few seconds they were clashing with them. Hector had zoomed by at ridiculous speeds trying to directly superman punch his first opponent in the face, using his semblance at a low level just in case his body wasn't truly ready for its effects once again. The guy with the oversized trident noticed and backstepped, aimed at him, and from it fired three lasers that converged into one laser. Hector blocked the laser with Ivory and surged through with Ebony, both of his opponents had to work together to deflect the punch with brother their weapons. They were surprised at his strength, and they were forced apart as Hector broke through their guards and separated them. He landed far and slid against the ground, staring at them as they turned their attention to him now being several meters apart.
The guy with the trident recovered and regained his posture and was immediately attacked.
"What's up man!?" Reggie screamed as he descended on him with a powerful overhead strike. Trident boy gritted his teeth as he held the staff of his weapon above his head, barely blocking it and struggling under the metal-mans weight. The one with the saber also appeared to strike Reggie from behind with a slash, but just before the impact Reggie's back turned into metal, making the blade bounce off his skin just in time for him to leap away right as his leader came back swinging, melting the snow he stepped on and giving out a fiery aura around him. Hector forced the saber wielder away from his friend while Reggie battled the guy with the trident. He went for a couple of swings with his axe and prepared a molten downwards strike. The trident user stabbed the ground and from below came an ice formation, the axe collided with it and the resulting explosion separated both of them, along with a small explosion of steam, the guy with trident skidded back while Reggie stood atop the crater they created, he took the chance and sent a wave of fire at Mr. Trident, who appropriately dodged and fired a giant laser at him. Reggie himself blocked the laser with his axe and held it.
He blocked for a couple of seconds before the Trident guy had to stop, either do to ammo or overheating.
"You got some tricks eh?" Reggie challenged. The guy simply smirked and beckoned him with his hand as he twirled his weapon in his hand. Reggie dashed forwards and kept up his assault with wide continuous swings, moving with his own momentum and never stopping for a second, both attacking and deflecting the trusts that his opponent tried to use, he was trying to take advantage of the trident's reach and it was working. Well, as much as it would have if Reggie hadn't been able to attack and defend with his swings, but it gave him the desired breathing room.
They continued their fast-paced battle while on the other side of the middle of the arena, Hector was swinging quick punches and uppercuts and hooks to catch the guy with saber with great speed and head. He had blocked him twice, but even then the saber shook and winced with each punch blocked and by the third his weapon almost flew out of its owner's hand, the movement and opening it created was enough for Hector to slam his fist into his stomach. After feeling the air being forced out of his lungs, his opponent got pushed back and had to roll off the ground to recover. Though as soon as he stood up and cracked open one eye, Hector was already on him again. Forcing himself through the pain, he dove to the side to avoid a punch that would have made a human-sized hole in the ground with his body. He tried to counter at that moment, but Hector proved too quick. He had a second to breathe, but that second passed quickly.
From there he stopped to try to block and just deflected when necessary and dodged whatever he could. It was almost too much, all the attacks, with precise footing and good side maneuvers and dodges, Hector realized he was fighting a fencer, similar to Weiss' way of fighting. He's seen the style in action before, but wasn't an expert on its movements and wasn't going to pretend that he knew everything about every style of weaponized combat. However, he had someone that he could compare his opponent too. Robert Urra. It was much more stylish and slow, but it was something he could take reference too. One major difference was that he couldn't really keep up with his enhanced speed and strength, he didn't really have the same reflexes and even more, Hector had learned, and now he knew how to fight people like that. He wasn't the helpless boy he was at the beginning of this new adventure, not anymore.
In a flash Hector rushed him, but only reached halfway, feinting his punch with Ebony and shooting a projectile of flaming energy from it instead as he reeled it back, his opponent didn't expect it but to his credit he deflected the shot the best he could with his saber but ultimately he got caught by the follow-up liver punch that caught him hard. The saber guy rolled with the punches and kept himself in the fight as he started to take action instead of waiting for Hector to move and continue his relentless assault. He would move or jump back or to the side, avoiding Hector's punches. But despite his adaptation, Hector developed his own unpredictable way of fighting which would abuse his own speed to circle around him, always moving and always flanking him with a punch and a shockwave or dust attack from either Ebony or Ivory, the saber user became frustrated, and thus became more aggressive and tried to get at Hector with multiple fast slashes in a desperate attempt to halt his opponents momentum.
Hector blocked or backstepped himself and in one exchange he rushed past his opponent and spun around with heel kick that swept his legs out from underneath him. Tripping him into the air and sending him prone on the ground with another punch, he was about to take advantage of it but the saber rolled with a slash and caught Hector by surprise with a slash to his Aura. The first direct hit. Still, Hector wasn't that phased by it and continued to move up, he exchanged a few clashes until his opponent tried to step back, but then he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards him using his other arm for an elbow to the gut, continuing with a back fist and spinning around pulling him even closer for a new move, his used his Kaio Ken and the energy it had differently, he moved his palms together, heat and flame forming within them as his gauntlets enhanced his next attack
"Kaio..." He whispered as he spiraled, finishing the pull and stretching his hands into the guy's center mass, it would be a devastating hit. If it had landed.
"Ken!" He yelled, but just at that moment his opponent turned to mist and appeared several meters back. Hector widened his eyes as he took in the information. A dodging semblance, more far-reaching than Blake's it seemed though similar to Ashley's. However, the guy looked exhausted, not for using his semblance, but for all the punishment he had taken before that. A mistake, a semblance like this would have given him trouble if he was at full strength and stamina still. Hector looked over to his teammate as they both had a silent agreement to take a breather for a few seconds and soon realized that trident guy was also trying to hold Reggie back the best he could, and the initial confident sure-faced that saber guy had was replaced by a fast breathing concerned look as he realized.
'Stallers' Hector thought to himself, they were just waiting for the rest of their team to pull up the rest of the plan they initially had, but they must have underestimated team HAMR by a very big longshot. They weren't in the top three of the first years for no reason after all. As much as the stallers were good, they couldn't compete with Reggie or Hector and wouldn't last much longer. Even if they were straightforward they were more skilled than some people might think, and the same came for the rest of the team if they thought that team HAMR was straightforward and would just do their own thing with how fast they moved… well, to be fair they would be right, but they knew how to work off each other now, how to turn things around and be creative when needed, and generally how to make things work. An unpredictable way of fighting, with perfectly described their leader.
"I think you underestimated us a bit too much, buddy," Hector said with a confident smile as the fiery red aura around him became fully visible. "This may sound cliche, but I'm not even going all out right now."
He couldn't hear it, but he swore he saw the lips of his opponents move along with the term 'Shit' in his voice. He hoped that his teammates would come through, because he didn't know how much longer he could hold this guy back.
Quickly he would find out, Hector was on him once again in a second after all.
'This was a terrible idea,' He thought as his body shook as he blocked a punch. They were at a serious disadvantage now.
Michael had found soon enough the opponent that he was up against, he had tried to set himself up on a small snowy hill with his weapon, a curved greatsword combined with a battle rifle, it was modified and it had space for a grenade launcher, it was a good distance weapon with deadly possibilities.
'They were going to probably try to bombard us from different angles' Michael thought. He used his Kusarigama and chained himself to the ground next to his opponent and pulled, almost like a grappling hook he dashed immediately towards his enemy in one swift leap. He entered with his chains spinning around at medium range just to hit the gun and prevent it from shooting in his direction, the member of Team BRVO shifted his weapon into sword form and engaged Michael, parrying and blocking the chains and blades. He moved to attack but Michael's barrage of chains kept him from making headway. Michael used only one chain to whip his defense and used the other in a wide swing, tripping him and making him fall to one knee, he rushed him in that instance, using his chains at short range in a couple of quick loops, hitting him a couple times with light attacks and then getting in close with the sickle part of his weapons, doing some quick slashes and making his opponent flip over him to gain some distance. He tried to counter but his sword couldn't really maneuver on the short-range that Michael had locked him into.
He did have one trick, however, as he landed hard on the ground he shifted his weapon and turned it back into a rifle and fired the grenade launcher directly at Michael, the explosion making him separate from him. He assumed that it was a direct hit and patted himself on the back, but quickly cursed and prepared himself to continue as the dust dissipated Michael had formed a green shield around himself. He didn't suffer any sort of damage other than a very small amount of aura being drained due to his semblance activation. To make things worse, Michael smirked at him through the shield and beckoned him to continue with his free hand. His opponent gritted his teeth and fired at him again after shifting his weapon back into its battle rifle form, the bullets bounced off the shield and after realizing it was useless he once again shifted his weapon and shot the grenade launcher. Explosions were made and dust was kicked up, and as it was going down Michael dashed right through it. His opponent firing at him and him blocking with one small shield and swing one of his Kusarigamas at the same time, blocking and attacking from his long reach.
He could tell that his fame was recognized as his opponents struggled with his chains. If it wasn't for Pyrrha's very handy semblance to control the magnetism of metal, he might have been taken a little more seriously at the beginning. With a couple of quick attacks, he struck his adversary across the thigh, chest, his arm and then wrapped his chain across his midsection, with a quick pull the member of team BRVO was pulled and swung into the air, but recovered mid-air and descended down at Michael with a downwards swing.
Michael jumped back and dodged and blocked the attacks even as his opponent became more aggressive. He ducked one attack and took it as his opportunity, he slid under him and with his chain pulled his leg, pulling him, then sickled him at short distance and made the distance again with two wide swings of his chains, his opponent barely blocked them, but got caught by a surprise third across his face. Michael closed the distance and after two quick slashes, he wrapped a chain around him, pulling him towards him, blindsided him with one of his sickles and then a combination of a pull and kick threw him into the air.
The member of team BRVO was taking a beating, but he still had his grenade launcher, but Michael stopped him with a quick tiny bubble shield, that pushed him more into the air, just to be smacked down to the floor with a heavy swing of his chain.
'Oooh,' The crowd... cheered? Michael didn't particularly care about what others thought but they seemed entertained, he also didn't go too overboard. Just completely out skilled and overwhelmed his opponent. He looked at the center of the arena, a lot of snow starting to get carried and obscuring his vision, but he could see Reggie and Hector handling things well enough, and as expected Reggie was laughing as he fought. But he didn't see Ashley, but he guessed she must have been farther away with all the mounds of snow blocking his vision. There hadn't been a major plan beyond 'intercept'. But he guessed he might as well make a team regroup, and so he wrapped his chains on his still barely with Aura opponent's legs and flung him to the center of the colosseum, himself jumping right after him. His aura would be drained enough for him to be disqualified in the next attack, but if the crowd wanted to see a show, he'd give them a show he supposed.
Ashley followed her opponent across a field of white, and occasionally had to duck when they fired their guns at her. A gauss rifle with a shotgun function. This person didn't have a melee weapon like so many others she knew had, it was just a gun with multiple functions. Ashley cursed herself for deciding to go after this one, it was really not up her alley considering the fact that she had lower than average levels of aura. Also, she wasn't the best equipped for a range fight and the guy was a good shot, anytime she got close she had to jump away, lest she be blasted by a shotgun.
'Honestly, Mike should have been the one to face this bastard…' Ashley thought as she took cover behind a mound of snow she hoped was dense enough to block shots, she had to think of something to make the distance, she peeked carefully, wondered how her opponent didn't see her, he was in the middle of the field looking for her. Ashley thought as she saw her hair mix in with the snow… and saw how her skin almost did the same.
"Hm…" Ashley smirked as she realized he always spotted her the moment she jumped out of hiding, and now she had an idea.
Her opponent checked his gun for a second and wondered where the dog faunus had gone, but seeing as she wasn't coming out to play he decided he might as well snipe the people at the center of the stage. But just then he saw it, her blue hoodie once again going high into the sky, he instinctively shot at it. Trained reflexes made him bring his rifle up to his face and take aim, the bullet fired and pierced straight through his opponent, at first he feared that he had pierced her aura, but was confused when the hoodie flopped around by the shot and waved along with the wind until it landed gently on the ground.
"Oh, fuck." The member of team BRVO cursed right on cue, out of the field of white a nearby mound of snow exploded as Ashley barreled through it, masking her movements with the snow and finally getting a good hit with her dual blades, several in fact. She started by sliding and kicking his leg, making him fall and be a momentary victim of several slashes of her swords, he aimed his gun and shot a shotgun blast to get her away from him but she backflipped to avoid the shot, almost fading in with the snow if it wasn't for her darker colored pants, it was enough for her to loop back around into the mist of white and attack him from another direction.
He once again got faked out as Ashley kicked up more snow, faking a run in, and then jumping from the other side, striking his back and doing a flying roundhouse to the side of his head. It knocked him down but the guy quickly recovered and started to shoot his shotgun in all directions in desperate hope of landing a single shot on her, all to no avail, he just ended up wasting ammo. Ashley moved closer as she dodged the hail fire of pellets and this time her opponent didn't have time to notice and turn his weapon to shoot at her, but he hid did have precious seconds to respond, he blocked her blades with his forearms and tried to force her back, but Ashley disengaged one her blades and used it to slash at his midsection, the guy winced tried to hit her back and to restrain her hands, Ashley kicked him twice on the side before he got a hold of her wrist. But Ashley used her own weight. Dropping down and flipping the guy over her and freeing her other blade.
She used with a couple of quick strikes and got her opponent across the head, he was dizzy and losing the grip on her wrist, she freed herself and slashed with both blades, striking his legs, then sides and once downwards across the chest, her foe attacked using the weapon he had as a club instead of a firearm and swinging wildly, it was clear that he didn't train how to fight without his weapon. Ashley ducked and blocked the attack, once she restrained the gun, she did one more barrage of quick slashes and finished it with a kick to his knee and flying flipping kick to his head. It knocked him away and separated them, he was almost in the red percentage of aura, but he was still kicking. Ashley was definitely better than him at the close-up and personal game, but she still didn't want to find out what a shotgun or gauss shot would do to her if he got a good shot on her body.
His opponent got way faster than she thought, he, in fact, rolled with her kick and immediately shot at her, in that time, in that fracture of time she felt it would be all or nothing. So she used her semblance for the first time this fight. She used it sparingly just to get out of the line of fire and close to him again, appearing as a streak of white and blue as she dodged the bullets easily as if they were stuck in slow motion. Her opponent looked almost panicked when he barely saw the moving blur move almost in an instant behind him, closing the distance once more in less than a second. Ashley felt like Ruby would have been proud of her, or jealous. She slashed at his legs, and feinted an attack his side, only to have a blade instead thrust into his face. His Aura protected him but that meant that his aura was all about done. She took a glance at the gauges, only to see that he still had a few percent left to play around with.
She kneed him on the stomach, and with four quick slashes and three kicks to his side and stomach made go closer to the middle of the arena, he managed to get separated from her enough for one final gauss rifle shot, an all or nothing attack. But once again she became a White-blue trace and moved behind him, he didn't understand how she was so fast, she looked exhausted before, but now enough she was kicking his ass. He never seen a semblance like hers before, no matter what he did or how fast his shots were, and he knew they were fast, he was the one to design them himself, it just wasn't fast enough for her. With a heel kick to the side of his knee and then a one scissor slash to push him into the center of the arena, the slam to it knocked his aura beyond the red.
"Oooh there goes Mister Orion, and now only two members of team BRVO are still standing, think they'll pull through Bart?" Port said through the speakers.
"Well if they want to they better stand up fast, they are looking sluggish at the moment and if they don't do something quickly they will face complete annihilation!" Oobleck replied.
Ashley then looked to the center of the arena and saw how Michael was already there, his opponent defeated and only Hector's and Reggie's remaining. She felt a drop sweat running by the side of her head due to her semblance. She probably could use it one or two more times, but she was still strong enough to join them in the middle. They still had their entire team together, and they seemed to outmatch their opponents by a decently sized margin. Honestly, if it were allowed she was sure just Hector and Michael could have done well enough on their own. But she wouldn't tell them that, they could figure it out themselves and she got to boast about how she beat her guy before her leader did.
Hector pushed his opponent back with a shockwave to the ground and got him closer to the oversized trident guy, which he assumed to be the leader of the opposing team. Now they were fighting a more proper two versus two. They both looked out of breath, but their auras still held, they were very good stallers, but even that wasn't enough. Their plan fell apart very soon when Hector saw another member of Team BRVO arrive, slamming down into the center of the arena, his aura dropping into the red and nearly to zero. He was followed by Michael, who rolled his shoulders and nodded to him as Oobleck went on to announce his opponent's defeat. Then almost right after that, the other member of Team BRVO came from a different direction, already unconscious. Soon enough, Ashley joined them, she looked tired but as far as her aura went, she still had about half left, if not a little less.
Now their opponents looked both defeated and scared, they still maintained their fighting stance, there would be no forfeits.
"Oh, you guys are here, awesome. Now, are we ending this with the team HAMR special?" Reggie asked all of them.
"We have a team HAMR special?" Ashley asked.
"I actually think we don't," Michael said. Hector thought for a couple of seconds, and then an idea came to his head.
"Well guys, I think we are about to make one, we launch, and then we toss," Hector said, with hand gestures going to the directions of their opponents, and then back at them. They discussed Launch and Toss before, but they never actually have done them.
"Just that?" Michael asked.
"Okay, golf ball too,"
"Oh, we are going hard, I love this!" Reggie shouted, they got information and in a second they were executing their maneuver. What remained of Team BRVO tried to stop them, but they were only two people. The one who has been mentally dubbed 'trident guy' used his semblance and launched what could be called a sonic bomb in their direction and the one dubbed 'saber guy' tried to rush them. Michael made a shield around all of them, protecting them from the booming explosive sound.
Using that as their cue, they began the launch phase. Hector grabbed Ashley by the forearm and Reggie jumped in a tiny bubble shield made by Michael. The next second passed and Hector threw Ashley and Michael propelled Reggie towards their opponents.
"Yeeehaw!" Reggie yelled at the top of his lungs. He was launched at the saber guy while Ashley was sent towards the trident guy, the saber user vanished in a cloud of mist and Reggie flew past him, the saber guy thought he avoided everything but the Michael rushed him and pushed him back towards the trident guy.
While this was happening, Hector hung back and focused, charging up his power as he prepared to finish the fight. Right when he felt as if he was about ready, something itched in the back of his mind. He knew this feeling, the cold of the snow, the burning cold at the tips of his limbs, it made him remember something. Though he clearly remembered that he was never in a snowy area as vast as this before, he still remembered. It may not have been his, but it still affected him. He couldn't tell who it was, a dark-haired person, was bleeding out on the ground in the arms of one of their allies. He remembered being sad, feeling helpless, with all the power he had he still wasn't able to save her…
His eyes opened and they were a crimson red. His flames burned hot and his aura melted away the snow around him to such an extent that he felt his feet touch the actual floor of the arena itself.
As this went on, Ashley worked her best, she locked the trident with her swords and kicked her opponent in the face while flying, he didn't go down but Ashley flipped over him, and sliced his back, making him turn. While he was staggering, Michael used his chains to hold the saber of his enemy in place, he used his sickle to cut at him twice and used his chain in an uppercut swing, letting go of the saber and pushing him to Reggie, who batted him with his axe towards the guy with the trident. Ashley used her sword to lock the trident again, and then a wild idea formed in her head and before she knew it she was running up and proceeded to drop-kick the guy in the chest, strongly enough to disarm him, and make him fly and collide mid-air with his teammate.
They didn't fall, after a brief moment of confusion they realized they were both in a bubble shield made by Michael, the shield held them up and Reggie moved closer to them, they realized they were about to be batted again inside this ball they were in, saber guy tried to use his semblance to escape but he couldn't get out, his semblance wasn't teleportation exactly, there were limits to it. He was trapped. Reggie moved in and with a massive swing and sent the ball towards Hector, who had been all this time readying up his semblance.
As soon as the shield came close, flames erupted from Hector, purely red flames. He forced his palm into the ground and an explosion came from below him, it partially shattered the ground and push the shield ball into the air in a sea of flames, Hector then flew out of the flames in jump and lined himself above the ball to punch it straight down.
"Kaio Ken!" Hector yelled with just the right amount of rage.
"Kaio- wha-" The saber guy tried to say before Hector punched the ball into the wall of the arena, the ball itself flew by in the blink of an eye, it smashed himself on the wall and disappeared, it protected the people inside, but they still were out of the arena and completely dizzy and out of aura. Like the rest of their team they were defeated, and all without taking out a single member of the opposing team.
'And with that explosive finish, Team HAMR moves to the doubles round!' Oobleck said while the crowd cheered. It was quite the show after all.
Hector huffed and shut his eyes, making himself calmer so that it could be easier to shut down his semblance. He heard the crowd gasp as Reggie proceeded to round up Michael and dip him, then kissed him. The blonde boy pushed his boyfriend away with a furious red blush, but it was clear that he wasn't angry about it. After chuckling a little bit, Ashley walked up to him, still tired and flushed from all the fighting, and nodded to her.
He gave her the high five she offered, but couldn't help but feel like something was off. They won the fight, his team and friends were happy and cheering, but the fact that nothing went wrong was oddly nerve-wracking for him. It may have just been him being paranoid, but it was for good reason.
Whatever it was, and whenever it happened. He and Robert played their parts. Ozpin and Ironwood were much more prepared than they were in the original time. They knew what was going to happen, so that meant that everything should be okay. Or at least he that was what he told himself.
Ashley grabbed his arm and snapped him out of it before he could think about it any further, they were already congratulated and they had to get off the stage now. Right, Hector let her pull him away. He still had the rest of the tournament to worry about, and while he was down here, he knew the ones he trusted were going to keep this kingdom safe.
Pyrrha felt… odd, she didn't know how to describe or explain it. Thankfully, after the transfer process was completed, she didn't become a different person as she feared. Instead, it was more like feelings, emotions, the things that made up a person mentally. She was still herself and she still had all of her memories but she felt older. Like she's seen things and knew what they were as if she lived with them her whole life.
She felt fear when she first walked out, then she felt the odd sense of satisfaction of feeling alive, she soon realized those must have been Amber's emotions after Ozpin brought up the theory. After that certain things spiked certain emotions, at first her teammates made her feel a bit of caution, but very quickly it turned into a nice warm feeling as she- her? Grew fond of them, certain food spiked some interest, and fights… fights both made her feel more powerful, and also scared and reserved.
She had been told how Amber had been ambushed, and she assumed part of Amber still felt afraid of something happening to her, she could also tell her to remain calm, her own emotions seemed to calm Amber's emotions when these things happened, and in return, Amber's emotions became a sort of instinctive guide on how her new powers worked. There were also times when Amber was quiet, Pyrrha didn't know if those emotions knew that they weren't exactly alive, but sometimes they lied dormant, now was one of those times, and she wasn't proud of it but she felt scared. Knowing that Beacon was most likely going to be attacked, that Vale could be attacked, and that she had been meant to die… it made her feel paranoid.
"Are you alright Pyrrha?" A voice asked her, Robert's voice. Ever since she had gotten the powers of the Maiden, she had need to practice a bit to control them properly, Ozpin himself was very busy lately, but other than him Miss Goodwitch and by extension Mister Urra, they were some of the best users of semblances in terms of control in Beacon, and Miss Goodwitch knew a lot with her time spent with Ozpin. She knew how to guide her while Robert helped. Their training session had ended and now she was about to leave, her team, after all, was going to enjoy part of the festival, but she didn't know if she could enjoy the festival when it in itself was in such danger.
"I… I don't know, I feel like, that may be the festival should be postponed or canceled or warned or…" the words failed her.
"I know," Robert sighed. "I feel the same, I even asked the same but… the moment that happens people will rile up, their negativity might not be enough, but it would be all that they need to start a different kind of chaos, one we might not be able to predict." Robert said sadly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "At least with everyone here on Amity and in the festival, they're all in one spot and we can protect them much with much more ease than if they were scattered all throughout Vale."
"We're stuck then," Somehow she knew Amber agreed with her. "we are in a constant worry of what might happen and even then we don't know exactly what they will do or how, we are-" Pyrrha felt like continuing, but Robert stopped her.
"Pyrrha, listen to me, yes we are not in an ideal situation, but we are not as bad as you might think. I know you are afraid and I know we haven't been the best with you telling you so late, forcing you to make a choice and… well…" Robert struggled with his words. "Well, you what would have happened. But I want you to listen to me this, okay?" Robert asked, she nodded.
"In that future, nobody knew what was going to happen, it was a surprise attack that caught everyone by surprise, but this time it's different, we know we are in danger, we have taken steps to avoid people dying, we have the entire force of Vale, it's Huntsman and more in guard, all of you have also improved tremendously, from almost a year I have seen all of you improve in the ring and become better fighters. We have Hector, Ozpin, General Ironwood, and his entire fleet… me, and I would like to say we also have you. You didn't have the Maiden powers in that future, but now you do… When I said that your future is now your own, I meant it, you are not predetermined to die, or to be any different from before… you just are able to use magic now." He explained the best he could, knew his explanation had a few issues on his mind, but it was still true that they were more prepared than originally. Much more prepared.
"I know…" Pyrrha felt Amber's confusion, of course, she didn't know everything that happened before or now, but with her memories, she was able to piece it together. "I heard that Team HAMR won their fight, as did RWBY."
"You did too," Robert was quick to change the topic with her. "Good job with that, they never stood a chance."
"I… used my powers on accident," Pyrrha admitted guiltily.
"We noticed," Robert chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Glynda said that the powers would be like your semblance, just another weapon for you to use. The official story is that you started dabbling with dust and it didn't mix well with your semblance. And before you ask, yes it would have ended pretty much the same way if you had not become the maiden."
"I see," Pyrrha looked like she was relieved at that. "Is it okay if we stop training today?"
Robert raised an eyebrow. "I guess, why though? Do you have somewhere to be?"
"Well, I um…" Pyrrha's face went red. "I wanted to do something, with someone, before something happens… Is that okay?"
He was confused at first, but after realizing just who this someone was, he nodded his head with understanding."Hmm, I see. Can I give you advice?"
"Please."
"First, just take it calmly, remember I told you we don't know the future, don't take it as doing something to do before… possible scenarios, that would be wasting what you feel and what it means to you, do it as something else to fight for. And take it from the guy that was too much of a coward for relationships on his own world in multiple ways, you are doing great, you are actually acting upon it, and Jaune… he's a better person than most, better than me, I'm pretty sure he would give you a chance. Regardless of what happens, he's been a pretty amazing friend I assume, so just enjoy it. You have pretty good chances if you ask me." Robert finished his awkward advice. Mostly awkward because he did stumble on a couple of words.
Pyrrha looked at Robert, she was thankful for his support and advice, but she also was embarrassed about the whole idea, he had called her brave and that it was the right thing to do, but she didn't feel brave, just nervous, but she also admitted to be happy too, excited at the idea, and if she just tried to enjoy it, she actually could, she was afraid, but she wanted to just live her life far more, regardless of what was happening, her friends and the rest of the people of Remnant, she wanted to fight for them, but also to enjoy their company… Amber seemed to agree as well.
"Do you really think I have a chance?"
"He is dense, but his crush on Weiss is more or less over and if you are direct, I think you do,"
"Right… and should I tell him about…?" The obvious question she didn't speak lingered.
"Hmm… Ozpin and the rest might not like that idea, but if you ask me, I think you should tell him before they tell you otherwise." Robert's smirk told her that he would keep a secret, Pyrrha found herself more comfortable suddenly. She didn't know him very well, still didn't honestly, but save for Hector he was just about the only other person near her age who even has an idea about what is really happening with the world, and with her.
"I think it's time I go then," She said, politely smiling as she moved away. "Thank you for your comradery, Mister Urra-"
"Please, just call me Rob. Mister Urra just sounds way too formal for me."
"Robert, then." Pyrrha continued. "Thank you."
"No problem," Satisfied with their conversation, Robert let the maiden go. Ozpin or Glynda may have some words with him later about it, but Pyrrha wasn't some criminal or some object that they needed to constantly look after. She was her own person, and if she wanted to go after her crush before shit hits the fan, then she was damn welcome too.
"I see training has ended," Glynda said to him. Robert visibly cringed, that was right, Glynda was nearby, she was the one teaching Pyrrha after all.
"For today, yeah." He said.
"And I see you went out of your way to offer her advice," Glynda stated.
"I feel it's the right thing to do," Robert said, and he had that look Glynda saw very rarely on him, one that signified that he truly would stand for what he was thinking in the given instance. Glynda herself agreed in a way.
"Well I will trust your judgment, just don't put too much hope on her heart, if she likes someone of her team, any fallout, even if we all survive this could be… unpleasant, and not everyone can handle those situations maturely." Glynda said, experience clearly shows.
"She still has to try first and staying quiet is even worse in my view," Robert said.
"Because that's what you did," Glynda said. Robert groaned, she wasn't wrong, he had admitted this multiple times. "Even so I'm glad you are trying to reassure her, I just wish that you also did what you preached and managed to at least sleep well." Glynda pointed out.
"It's easier said than done…" Rober sighed, it was true, he wasn't sleeping well, he always on edge, expecting an attack at four in the morning and during the day he was constantly patrolling the stadium, looking for any sign of tampering or of any of their enemies, sometimes he patrolled with Seth, but most of the time he spent just watching, and waiting.
"Maybe, but we need you in top shape, there are plenty of people guarding the colosseum and Vale, you should take breaks, that is what rotations are for after all,"
"I'll try to do something else," Robert replied.
"No, you will, because during this time you'll do two things. First, we are gonna fix your fear of water." Glynda proclaimed.
"It has gotten better!" He rebuked.
"But not enough for you try and actually learn how to control it, you are afraid of not controlling you semblance, I gave you a solution," She said louder to him.
"That involves targets and you in a puddle of water and me trying to direct the lightning currents to specific points… it's dangerous!" Robert protested.
"I have Aura, and I can protect myself, you are just afraid," Glynda said, and Robert didn't answer, he knew she was right, and he knew that he didn't have an excuse, not a valid one at that, and he was also smart enough to know that the keeping guard excuse won't work.
"Fine," Robert said, sounding defeated.
"Good, and as for the second," Glynda said, leaving her sentence there on purpose.
"The second?" Robert asked.
"You are going to participate in the professional demonstration fights, if nothing else, you will test your skills and relieve some stress while you are at it." Glynda also proclaimed. And Robert's eyes widened.
"Ah… wait I am going to... wait what?!"
"Huh?" Jaune's face looked confused, but behind him, Ren and Nora smirked in utter satisfaction as they watched the scene before them unfold. "You want to go to Vale?"
"Yes," Pyrrha said, face burning with red. She couldn't believe she was doing this. "I want you to go to Vale with me, maybe we can watch a movie or something. I just want to spend time with you," Green eyes looked down but she steeled her will to keep going, she had to do this. "Just… you and me, together."
"Oh-" Jaune finally realized what was being asked of him and his face too became red. Nora laughed hysterically. "Y-you mean… you're asking me out on a… a date?" He stuttered.
"..." Pyrrha nodded her head, more embarrassed than she has ever been before. Finding her team was easy, they were in the stands with Team RWBY and they just got finished watching Team CFVY fight in their match. They won, of course, a second-year team had more training time, experience, and skill than any team beneath them. The team they went against were good, but they were simply outmatched. She was quick to pull her team apart for a 'talk', as she simply put it. But Ren and Nora quickly figured out what she intended to do when she took Jaune by his hands and pulled him to the side. She would have liked it if it were him taking the lead, and confessing that he like-liked her, but there wasn't any more time for her to wait.
"Oh," Jaune laughed nervously. He couldn't scratch his face like he wanted to with his hands currently being grabbed by Pyrrha's, but it was clear that he was just as embarrassed, if not more, than she was.
If it wasn't for Amber's emotions giving her some kind of confidence boost, she feared she would have passed out.
"Y-you can say no if you want," Pyrrha stammered out after a moment. "You aren't obligated to me, I'd just-"
"Sure," Jaune shockingly nodded his head and gave his best awkward smile. "Why not… I mean, I don't see any reason to say no and I had this feeling that you kept looking at me sometimes and Nora keeps laughing when I ask her and Ren just looks at me as if the answer should be obvious."
"Because it really is, Jaune." Ren finally spoke up. "If you'd just thought about it for more than a second, you would have been able to figure it out yourself."
"Er…" Jaune did think about it, he really did. He went back to the time he first met Pyrrha, and ran through the events that corresponded after that. Pyrrha saved him and became his partner, very quickly. He was only hanging there on that tree for a few minutes before Pyrrha found him. Then after initiation, he didn't notice then because he kept trying to win over Weiss, but Pyrrha, the champion of Mistral, offered to train him. Him! He just thought it was because they were partners and everything, but then they trained alone, on a rooftop, at night, with no one around, and he could have sworn he heard her gasp every time he brushed against her when they weren't training.
One thing after another, Jaune finally pieced it all together. Pyrrha stood there as the confidence slowly grew more and more exciting, he finally got it, he finally understood.
"You have a crush on me…?" He finally asked.
"Oh my God, YES!" Nora answered before Pyrrha could even open her mouth. "Jaune, are you kidding me? She's liked you since the beginning! You were just too dumb to see it. Now if I have to keep letting Ren hold me back I am going to smash your faces together and force you to kiss! Go, Go!" She began to push Jaune and Pyrrha toward the docking station. "Go on your date! Now!"
"O-Okay!" Jaune and Pyrrha answered in unison. Once Nora stopped pushing them, Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand and with her newfound confidence, pretty much dragged him to the nearest line to get on the next Bullhead down to Vale.
"It's about time," Ren commented as his partner stomped back up to him. "I was starting to wonder when she was going to make her move."
"I know right!" Nora exclaimed. "How can men be so dense?"
"Truly, it is a mystery," Ren said. "That troubles of young love I suppose, if only Pyrrha had simply confessed earlier this would have happened much sooner. A shame, really."
"Yeah… a shame…" Nora glared at her long-time partner. "If only it was that easy… not like I practically scream it at you every two seconds."
"What was that?"
"Nothing Ren!" Nora chirped and grabbed Ren by the arm. "C'mon, let's get back to the others! Haha!"
Ren sighed. Women were so odd to him, and no matter what he did, he could never understood them or their motives.
And everyone lived happily ever after… Pfft, yeah, like it's going to be that easy. Still got some more fighting to go, but for the ones that don't change I am not going to write the entire scene down, if you want to see the other fights that were mentioned you can go on youtube and watch them for yourself. I know that watching a fight that's animated go down is much better than reading it all.
Please review and let us know what you think!
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