Why hello there everyone Darman700 here,
I know it had been a long time but a lot of unfortunate events have happened and now the case with the Corona virus, well things have not been so swell. I want to tell you guys that I was diagnosed a few weeks back with it I came out form work and because the company had decided to close until new orders, we all had to take the test, well 3 of us came out positive. I was asymptomatic, I had no symptoms and felt okay but I was a carrier, I lived like 3 weeks in a hospital it was living hell, I also saw people who weren't as lucky as me who did have symptoms and they were suffering.
I wanted to share with you my readers this because I care for all of you, please hear out what your country, states and local doctors say. This is no game, I had death on one side of the door and only luck, my family and reading your reviews to keep me smiling. A few days ago I was cleared, I had gotten better until all the traces of the virus were out of my system, I am one of the lucky ones that was able to live out, please everyone take care and know that I give you all my best of wishes be safe take care of your loved ones and stay indoors unless completely necessary to leave.
I wanted to share with all of you my experience and to let you know that I live, I lived and will do my best to keep on living, I have a lot to make up for and to you guys as well.
So, without further a due:
Chapter 11: Vytal Festival Pt.2: Development and Trinity… Enjoy…
"There is a calm before the storm…
There is a smile before tears…
There is reality before dreams…
And there is no sound… Before the end…"
Ruby stood on the cliff where the tomb of her mother was. She looked out into the horizon and traced her lovingly gaze back at her mother's grave.
"Hey mom," she began.
"I know it's been a while since I came. A lot of things happened and it's kept me a bit occupied." She smiled before continuing.
"The Vytal festival has begun and tomorrow I have my first match. I know we will win; I have the best team and friends I could ask for." She formed a fist in front of her chest as she spoke that last statement with determination.
"I also met Sora. Remember the dreams I've been telling you about? Well…they turned out to be more true than I thought them to be. So yeah, he exists…and I can't seem to come up with a way to tell him that I know all about him -or at least a lot about his adventures- without sounding a bit too weird." She grimaced, remembering the many ways she had practiced with her team on how they were going to cut the news to Sora.
"I know I have to tell him eventually…it's just that I really don't know how. I'm afraid he'll take it the wrong way and get away from all of us. I'm also afraid that once I tell him, he'll just disappear the same way he arrived." She looked out into the horizon once more.
"Ruby!" A voice called out to her, she looked stunned to see that her father was waving at her with their dog Zwei.
"I gotta go, Mom. I'll tell you how everything turns out in the end." She placed a rose on the top of the grave.
"Wish me luck!" she said as she ran off towards her dad.
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Sora was currently heading towards the Amity Colosseum where Ruby and her team were going to have their first team match; he was excited to say the least. They told them about some of their battles outside of the school, and he wanted to see them in action. He was glad that he could see them go all out in the tournament.
On his way to his destination, he was admiring the stands of food and souvenirs surrounding the gardens of the school. He could see that many other people wore different clothing -than the ones he had seen around in Vale- all around him. He also noticed that some people had animal like attributes from bunny ears to snakeskin to a lizard's tail. He had seen his fair share of worlds out there, and seeing all of that throughout his adventures made Remnant feel much more familiar than at first when he arrived.
"So how are you enjoying the Festival?" A voice behind him said. He turned to see that Professor Ozpin was standing beside him looking at the surroundings of his school.
"Oh, hi Professor. So far it's been nice, it has been a while since I enjoyed a festival to be honest. I've always been occupied doing other things." he said in a soft tone.
Ozpin smiled at the boy. "Cheer up, Sora. This festival is not meant to be spent reminiscing the past. Just for a moment enjoy yourself to the fullest, but also remember to stay sharp. You do have your match with Qrow to think about after all." He reminded him with a small smile.
Sora smiled back. "Of course, how could I forget?"
"I do hope your training session with Winter went well," he said as they began to walk towards a ship to take them to the Colosseum that was currently floating above the school.
"Yeah… it did actually…" Ozpin sensed a problem.
"Was there a problem? Did something happen?" He wondered. Winter seemed fond of the boy; he didn't think she'd have it in her to hurt him.
"Well, I wouldn't say a problem, per se…but I was wondering if it's necessary to have been born here to have an aura?" Sora asked with curiosity. Ozpin gave the boy an amused expression and laughed a bit making Sora slightly blush.
"Yeah, I guessed it was a stupid question…" he said chuckling a bit.
Ozpin shook his head. "Forgive me, Sora. I did not laugh at the absurdity of the idea because it is not. It's just that this morning Winter came by asking me the exact same thing."
Sora looked at the professor with wide eyes. "She did?"
Ozpin nodded. "Yes, she came by asking if it was possible to unlock your aura. Given as you are bound to get into a fight with Qrow, she was worried that he would not pull back his punches and give you a nasty wound."
"Oh…I see, and what did you tell her?" he asked genuinely curious.
"I told her that given your circumstances, it is unknown if it can or will actually work, but I promised her I would see to it that we gave it a try." He promised the boy.
"Really?!" Sora asked, enthusiastic at the idea.
"Yes, come by my office later on. Preferably before you go to bed, I'll see if we can activate your aura one way or another. Now go get on that ship, if you miss it, you'll be late for the match." He signaled the ship that was preparing to lift off to the Colosseum.
"Thanks Professor, I'll pass by later on today. See you!" He waved Ozpin goodbye as he got on, and the professor watched the ship take off until it was a tiny dot getting close to the Amity Colosseum.
"Well, I presume you wish to speak to me in private." Ozpin said without turning around.
"You have many things to explain to me, Ozpin." Ironwood said firmly as he had also looked at the ship that took the boy to the Colosseum.
"Yes, well…why don't we go to my office. I do have much to tell you." Ozpin said as he turned around and began to walk towards his office with Ironwood in tow.
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"Welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Sora heard over the intercom yell out.
"We are coming to you live from the Amity Colosseum!" the voice continued. Sora looked around in wonder, though he also felt a little out of place for he had no one to sit with, and though he hated to admit it, it did remind him that he's alone here.
"Sora!" He heard a voice call out to him.
He turned to see that Pyrrha was coming along with another girl and two other boys.
"Oh, hi Pyrrha!" he waved back and allowed her to cut the distance between them.
"Are you here to see the tournament?" she asked.
Sora nodded. "Yeah, I'm actually here to see team RWBY. I promised them I would see them in action."
"You know Ruby and her team?" she asked him, but before he could answer a pink flash came running at him.
"Who is this handsome young fellow here?" The other girl -who was wearing collared black vest and a pink dress- said looking at Sora a bit too close for comfort, making him take a few steps back.
"Uhm…" Sora looked to Pyrrha who had a look that said 'Sorry.'
"Nora, you're scaring him," one of the boys said. He was in a dark green long-sleeved tailcoat. He grabbed the girl by the back neck of her shirt.
"But Ren! He's the first guy I've seen Pyrrha talk to outside of you two! What if he's her-" She was going to finish the sentence but was cut out by the other boy.
"Please do ignore her, she gets carried away sometimes. I'm Jaune by the way," the boy wearing a black short-sleeved hoodie with a white chest plate said to him holding out his hand.
"I'm Sora. I'm guessing you are Pyrrha's teammates?" he asked them looking to Pyrrha who smiled and nodded at him as he was shaking Jaune's hand.
"Yeah, these are my team members. The one who assaulted you is Nora, then there is Ren the calm one, and our leader Jaune." She presented to him mentioning them one by one to him.
"Nice to meet you all!" Sora gave out his hand to Ren who shook it with a smile and then to Nora who clasped onto it with a strong grip.
Sora winced. "Howdy there! How'd you two meet?" she asked him without letting go of his hand.
"We met two days ago in the forest. I was going out to do some exercises and then she came out. We literally bumped into each other." He grimaced as her grip was still firm.
"Oh! So, you bumped into each other huh?" She looked at him up and down then gave a sly grin.
"Well Jauney boy! Looks like you have some competition!" she said to Jaune after finally letting go of Sora's hand.
Jaune looked at her with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?" Nora was about to comment but was interrupted by Pyrrha.
"Well we have to get in if we want to get some good seats, don't we?!" she said a bit to sudden and began to pull her team (mostly Nora) away from Sora.
"Wanna come sit with us?" Jaune asked him.
Sora smiled. "Yeah, that would be great actually"
"So how does this competition work?" Sora asked him.
Ren was the one to explain the rules of the tournament and that they were going to participate after this match and hoped Sora would also watch them. The young Keyblade wielder smiled at the two boys as they sat down and told them he would after getting a snack with team RWBY. They sat down and he heard the commentaries over the intercom explaining the rules Ren had just explained to him. He was looking at the Colosseum with admiration and a nostalgic expression. 'Kinda reminds me of the Olympus Colosseum.' he thought to himself.
"So, Sora? Where are you from?" Nora asked him.
"I'm a transfer student from Atlas. I came to stay here for the moment," he explained.
"Let's hear it for one of our housing teams! Team RWBY!" Professor Port -as Jaune had told him his name- presented. The crowd cheered for their team with claps and cheers.
And out of one of the entrances of to the arena came in Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake. Sora smiled as Ruby waved at the crowd, she did not look nervous at all. He waved back just in case they were able to see him.
"And now for their opposing team! Let's hear it for Haven's team! Team ABRN!" The crowd also cheered, but it seemed team RWBY had the cheers in advantage.
"Now let us see what the arena will be for the two combating teams!" Dr. Oobleck said through the intercom.
Sora could see some images appear on some screens and begin to spin until one of them stopped on a certain image. "Lava!" Prof. Port exclaimed.
"And Ice!" Dr. Oobleck continued.
Sora watched with admiration as the two halves of the arena were changed into a Lava and Ice habitat "Wow, that was awesome!" he exclaimed.
"Are you ready!?" Sora saw both teams take their stance.
"BEGIN!" With excitement in his eyes Sora watched as the teams began combat…unbeknownst to him the things were beginning to go wrong…
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"Are you sure he is in the Colosseum?" Cinder asked through her scroll.
"Yes, Cinder. I am looking at him at this very moment." Emerald reported to her.
"Good. Keep an eye on them, and if you can, follow him after he leaves the Colosseum. I want to make sure we know where he is at every moment. I do not want that fiend to get to him before we do. I'm sure he must be here by now." Cinder said to her and ended the call.
At the moment she was walking through the streets of Vale, noticing that everyone was currently occupied in the bars and restaurants looking at the match. It was her perfect opportunity to slip by unnoticed to her designated point. She took a turn in an ally and headed towards the warehouse by the docks. As she entered, she could hear noise in the darkness of the warehouse, and for a moment she felt a gunpoint at the back of her head.
"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" the voice behind her whispered near her ear.
She simply walked a bit farther and turned to look at the man who had his cane where she had felt the gunpoint. "I would advise you Roman, do that again and I may find the need to explain myself why you suddenly disappeared."
A man with dark-green eyes with orange hair came out of the shadows accompanied by two members of the White Fang wearing masks. He was wearing a red-lined white suit with long black pants. He just smiled at her. "I had to take the opportunity as seeing that your bodyguards were nowhere to be seen."
Cinder glared at him. "I do not need them in order to show you your place," she spoke in a menacing tone.
Roman placed his hands up in surrender. "Geez, take a chill-pill. I was only joking," he said not wanting to get on her bad side.
"Do you have anything to report?" she simply asked. Roman nodded and mentioned her to follow him deeper into the warehouse. As they got further in, she could see shipments and wagons loaded with dust and weapons. she smiled at the sight. 'At least he has proven his usefulness,' she thought as she continued to follow Roman to his office.
He led her to a table where some papers were stacked on and moved them aside to activate the screen that was on it. It showed them a map of Vale. "I've sent some of the mutts to check out Vale and see where Ironwood landed his ship," he began.
He circled a place near the CCT tower. "The ship is near the CCT tower when they arrived at first and hovered over the airspace. Though I think Ozpin might have told him that it would be a nuisance to the ships coming in and out of the Colosseum, so he must have moved it and landed it here. Problem is, though, there are hundreds of guards and also some Atlesian Knights surrounding the area. Any movements we try to do to get in will absolutely go noticed."
Cinder analyzed the area he was showing her. "I can manage. I'll be in and out before they can even notice I'm gone," she said as she looked at the reports of the estimated patrols.
Roman looked bemused. "If you get caught, I'm outta here. I don't like to go into battles I can't win."
Cinder leered at him. "I will need you to get the troops ready. We need to cause disturbance and havoc if this plan is to succeed. Leave and I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself"
"Alright, alright, Geez! What else do you need me to do? I have already let the city run dry of their current dust stock. The prices are over the charts, but people assume that it's because of the festival." He motioned to the window where all the crates could be seen.
Cinder's gaze went on to a certain machinery that was covered by a mantel. "And that is?"
Roman smiled. "Oh, that is our newest acquisition. Some of the animals successfully hijacked one shipment coming from Atlas a few weeks ago. I personally thought it was just a Dust cargo, but when we opened the final container three of these beauties were in there." He made a gesture through the window to one of the White Fang members to remove the mantle.
Cinder's eyes went wide. "Is that a-"
"Atlesian Paladin, yes! The newest model in fact! It does not need a driver, completely remote. That little virus of yours would do wonders on it, that is if you can enter Ironwood's ship and plant it into his mainframe." He smiled at her.
Cinder turned to leave. "Have the troops and the paladins ready. I want the assault to begin once everything is in place."
"Oh, before you leave. Let me tell you that the armada that Ironwood brought is a lot less then we had initially planned. I suggest that we separate the mutts and let them roam free in Vale along with one of the paladins. Split the forces to create enough disturbance in order to attract the Grimm she has placed around here." Roman suggested to her.
Cinder nodded. "I had thought that Ironwood would be more hardheaded and not listen to Ozpin, but I guess he won out in the end. We'll have to do with what we have. I trust you'll have everything ready by then?"
Roman nodded. "Just do your part, and I'll do mine."
Cinder was leaving when she stopped once again. "By the way, where is your little doll? Seeing as she got you out of the prison in one piece. Remind her that we do have our match coming up after team JNPR." she asked looking around.
Roman grinned. "She's around, just a little shy. But worry not, she will be there." Cinder stared at him for a moment and then she left leaving the man alone in his office.
After a while Roman spoke out. "You know you don't always have to hide when she's here."
A small girl came out of the darkness with a parasol wearing a white tail jacket with a pink interior and one wide broad tail, brown pants, black gloves, and black and white boots with very looking high heels. Her hair color was pink with brown and some traces of white in-between the pink side. Her eyes were also one of each color, one brown and the other pink.
The girl came to him and gave him a look that clearly said, "I still don't trust her."
Roman sighed. "I know, Neo. Just play along with them, we have to get this job done right so that we can leave and head out to new horizons."
Neo nodded at Roman and took one of the papers that was on the table. She turned to Roman and gave him a questioning look. "You're wondering how far along we are on the plan?" She nodded at his question.
"Well the virus has been planted on the CCT network and we have all the communications in check -except for some private ones- but Ironwood doesn't seem to have made any connection to any network here in Vale. So, we are going for some drastic measures and heading straight for his central computer on his ship. Too much of a gamble, if you ask me, but little Miss Witch there seems to be in a hurry for some apparent reason and is going to head out towards the ship during JNPR's match, hence why she suggested to the organizers that they switch the matches to give her time for the 'other' member to arrive -meaning you-" he explained to her as he went to sit down on his chair taking his hat off.
Neo followed him and leaned her backside on the edge of the table, taking his hat and putting it on herself, smiling at him. 'Like the look?' her eyes asked him.
He chuckled. "Looks a lot better on you, but that one's mine," he said as he reached out to take it but she dodged him and went on looking at the papers.
After a while she took out her scroll and looked for a picture while writing something on it. She gave the scroll to Roman and he saw the picture of a young boy that was in running shorts and a white t-shirt. The note Neo had written on it said, 'It's because of him that things are getting sped up.' Roman frowned and looked up to her.
"Are you sure?" She nodded while taking back her scroll.
"Who is he?" he asked her, but she shrugged and shook her head.
'Don't know, but Salem wants him. I heard them talking one night, and she even sent Tyrian.' she said with sign language.
Roman found this to be very strange indeed. "Find out what you can about him, but don't let the others see you." Neo nodded.
"We need to find out why the 'Queen' wants this boy…" he said looking at the picture that Neo had sent him.
Sora was in for more trouble than he had ever thought possible…
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"You guys were awesome!" Sora exclaimed in excitement as the girls were walking beside him.
Team RWBY emerged victorious in their battle against team ABRN and, as promised, Sora was treating them to a snack during the break they had between their battle and JNPR's battle. Apparently, it had been switched out so that it could go second to theirs. As soon as they would have their fill on the snacks, they would immediately go back to see the match.
"Aww we weren't that great, were we?" Yang said with a grin.
"Really you guys were great!" Sora said as he turned to Ruby.
"You never told me you were the leader."
Ruby blushed in embarrassment. "Well…I didn't think it was actually necessary."
"Yeah well, my sis is the leader. It is named after her." said Yang with pride in her tone like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Sorry, guess I didn't put much thought into it." He smiled at them as they kept on walking.
Weiss smiled and smugly said, "I guess now you have seen our difference in combat ability, huh, Sora?"
Sora folded his hands behind his head as they kept on walking. "Well, you guys certainly have a lot of skill, mostly a lot of trust. I was also amazed by the way Ruby just called out names like 'Bumblebee' or 'White Rose' and you guys knew what to do. I know that requires not only experience but also a lot of trust, and that is something amazing you guys have," he said as he grinned at her.
Weiss looked at him with a shy blush. "Well-yeah, of course…even though Ruby can be a dork sometimes-"
"HEY!" their leader shouted from the insult.
"She does have her good points, though on some very rare occasions." Weiss continued.
Sora smiled before finishing his comment in a smug tone, "But I think I can still take you on."
Weiss stopped in her tracks and sharply turned to him. "Excuse me?! Did I hear you correctly?!" she spoke irritably as she jabbed her index finger into his chest.
Sora just chuckled. "Yup! I think we're pretty evenly matched."
Weiss turned red in anger, though before the Schnee could explode Ruby intervened. "We'll get our match after Uncle Qrow's and then see. Right guys?" she said as Weiss just huffed and kept on walking.
Blake looked at the exchange with a worried gut feeling. 'Well I for one believe him…' she thought to herself.
Yang nodded and turned to see a familiar face walking by. "Hey there, Em!"
Emerald was walking along with Mercury. They stopped and turned to face them. "Hey there, Yang! Saw your guys' match. Good battle."
Yang smiled. "Thanks, though I thought your team was up after ours?"
Emerald looked down in embarrassment before answering her question, "Yeah, sorry about that. We had to switch spots with team JNPR because one of our team members is late. I just hope she arrives on time or we will be disqualified by default."
Yang winced at that. "Ouch…that would not be nice, but I'm sure she'll get here on time. I'm looking forward to your match." Yang told her as she winked.
Emerald smiled. "I won't go all out so that you can find a weakness for our match."
Yang grinned and raised her hands as if she was caught committing a crime before responding in a playful tone, "Guilty."
The green-eyed girl turned to look at Sora. "And this is?"
Yang looked guilty. "Oh! Sorry about that. This is Sora, he's a transfer student from Atlas. He's here to stay in Beacon."
Emerald came up to him and held out her hand. "Emerald, nice to meet you Sora. The gloomy guy in the back is Mercury. We're from Haven Academy."
"Nice to meet you Emerald, Mercury. I'm Sora." he smiled at her and shook her hand.
"Are you going to participate in the tournament?" she asked innocently.
"Nah, I don't have a team. I'm just gonna enjoy the festival and then get on with school stuff." he said to her.
"Ah, I see. Well I do hope you can see our match and hope you enjoy it," she smiled at him.
Sora nodded. "I'll try to be there rooting for you guys!"
Emerald nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Well I'd like to keep on chatting, but we have to go check if our girl is here. I'll see you around!" she said as she walked away and waved goodbye.
Sora nodded at them and watched them leave. "Hurry up, slowpokes! I'm starving and spikey here said he was going to pay!" Weiss shouted at them impatiently from a ramen stand and they all felt a shiver go down their spine. 'A hungry Schnee is not a happy Schnee.' Sora said to himself wondering if Winter also had this temperament.
As they walked up to the stand, they did not hear Mercury's question to Emerald. "Did you place it?"
Emerald smiled and called Cinder. "I placed the tracker, Cinder."
"Nicely done. All that's left is infiltrating Ironwood's ship, and all will be ready." Cinder's voice came through the scroll.
Emerald felt pride at hearing Cinder's satisfied answer. "Yes, Cinder, we still have time. I'm sure you'll be in and out before our match."
"I'm on my way as we speak. I'll be sure to wait until JNPR's match has begun to infiltrate the ship. Keep an eye on Ironwood, I don't want him coming in unannounced." Cinder said as she cut the call.
Emerald smiled and walked out into the forest…
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Ironwood has sat in Ozpin's office for a while now. They agreed to have their chat almost two hours ago, but the General received a call from Winter and one of his officers in charge and had to attend to them. When he returned to Ozpin's office, the headmaster was nowhere to be seen; the only hindrance that was in the room at the moment was Qrow. No comment was made between the two for they feared that a simple exchange of words would turn into to a full-blown fist fight.
He turned his wrist to look at the time and thought about coming by at a later on, but this meeting had to take place in order for him to convince Ozpin to let the entire feet come enter Vale. Just when he was beginning to give up, the elevator door dinged and out came Ozpin with his cane and a hot mug of coffee. Ironwood would always wonder how he maintains the substance hot and how it was always full when he had seen him drink constantly out of it.
"I'm sorry I took long, James. I had a bit of a few things to attend to," said Ozpin as he walked over to his desk and sat down on his chair while placing his cane the side of it and his mug on the table.
"I also have things to do, Ozpin, but they can wait. This is more important." he stated sternly as he saw Qrow approach to the pillar that was closer to the desk.
"I'm sure you wish to speak to me about the situation with your fleet." Ozpin said as he began to take out some documents on the screen from his desk.
"Yes, that is one of the reasons I'm here. Winter informed me that you did not wish for me to bring the entire fleet. I only complied for the time being, though if you do not give me enough reasons to believe the citizens will be safe, then you better believe me, Ozpin, when I say I will bring the rest of the fleet tomorrow." he commanded.
Ozpin sighed. "This is not Atlas, James. I am well aware that all of your towns, cities, and people are very much used to the constant sight of some Atlesian Knights as well as some small infantry members roaming your streets. But let me tell you that here in Vale the situation is different."
Ironwood allowed him talk and simply asked, "How so?"
"If you bring an army here, especially to a city and a school that has never seen an army of that magnitude walk by the streets where families walk every day, they will not feel safe. They will feel fear and uncertainty. Upon seeing such a force, the people will believe that something is about to happen, making them come out of their houses looking at every corner to see if there is danger lurking somewhere in the city. Instead of making them feel safe, you will make them feel trapped in an environment they are not familiar with." Ozpin calmly explained
Ironwood took a breath before responding to the headmaster's reasons, "Need I remind you, Ozpin, of the situation you allowed to happen on the city? Grimm invaded the city from below and caused havoc and destruction. People fear if there is danger in every corner because there may as well will be. You have allowed destructive situations to happen in Vale because of your laid-back attitude, and I will not stand for it!"
Qrow intervened. "That situation was out of our control and you know it! May I also remind you who has done everything in their power to prevent certain situations from happening all over the world and not just only here in Vale?!"
Ironwood rose from his chair and glared at Qrow. "I know all that he does for us, Qrow! But he has put the citizens in danger far too many times now!"
"Qrow, calm down!" Ozpin commanded to him.
"I understand your point of view, James. But as I have said before, I do not wish this place to be a battle ground. And the more soldiers you bring…the more it will begin to seem like it. You must ask yourself this question: Do you prefer to use your ships to aid in an evacuation in case it is needed, or would you rather have your ships carry your army while many others could have been saved by the use of them?" Ozpin calmly asked him.
As much as Ironwood wanted to yell bloody murder to Ozpin, he had to admit that the man did have a point. He did have some ships with some Atlesian Knights stationed just outside of Vale. He could also call for some more ships in case it all went to Hell, and they did need more to evacuate the citizens. Ironwood took a deep breath and to the surprise of Ozpin and Qrow he nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll call for some ships to be left on standby in case we need them."
"Thank you, James." Ozpin said with a sigh and a heartened expression.
Ironwood nodded at him, though when they all thought it was left and done, Ironwood turned to look at the television that was running on Ozpin's table -it was the match between JNPR and BRNZ. He suddenly had an idea and turned to look at Ozpin before finally stating, "On one condition."
Qrow feared what was about to come out of his mouth. "And what condition would that be?" Ozpin asked him.
"I know about the boy you saved, and I do not trust people that come out of nowhere. I want to interrogate him. By myself – just me and him – after the festival." Ironwood demanded and saw Qrow's eyes light up with anger.
"Hell NO!" Qrow shouted to him. Ironwood raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why not? You are passing him as a transfer student from my school, remember? Something in which I had not approved, and I am not neglecting it. I just want to have a nice chat with him to find out some things about him. That is all." Ironwood said to the raven.
"That is not something you can just demand!" Qrow fumed.
"I see." Ozpin simply said.
"I have a meeting with Sora later on. I'll call him after he finishes seeing JNPR's match. I'll talk to him about it then." Ozpin said.
Ironwood nodded at him and turned to leave. "Just do not turn your interrogation into an execution ground, James. He is just a boy." Ozpin said behind him.
"I'll be the judge of that." he simply said and took out his scroll, not noticing the black queen chess piece that flashed for a moment before making a call and getting on the elevator.
"The fuck, Oz?! Did you seriously just agree to handing Sora to him?!" Qrow asked exasperatedly as Ozpin turned his attention to the screen and saw that JNPR had come out victorious. He took out his scroll and sent Sora a message as well as one to Winter to fetch him in case he did not get it.
"OZ!" Qrow yelled wanting the man's attention.
"I heard you the first time, Qrow." he simply said.
"Then why the he-" Qrow began.
"Because you will be there with him to make sure he does not harm Sora." Ozpin explained.
"But he said alone." Qrow stated in confusion.
"I agreed on the meeting, though I did not agree on having him do it alone." Ozpin smiled at him as Qrow felt relief and gratitude for Ozpin's ways of choosing his words.
"So, what'd you call the kid over for?" he asked the wise man.
"Just a little experiment" Ozpin simply stated as his scroll beeped and received a message from Sora. 'I'm on my way, Professor.' He sighed; it was time to see if he really was not from his world…
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While team RWBY was currently congratulating team JNPR, Sora ran off telling them he had something to take care of something when the intercom voiced out an important announcement.
"Our dear viewers and visitors from all over!" Professor Port said.
"We have a very important announcement to make!" Dr Oobleck continued.
"For countless generations in the Vytal Festival, we have celebrated the tournament without a hinch! So, we are pleased to announce a change of pace!" Professor Port happily announced.
"Quite so! For tomorrow the day will begin not with just the doubles matches, but with an exhibition match!" Dr. Oobleck continued.
"The very first exhibition match in the history of the Vytal Festival! I'm sure many of you may wonder what makes this exhibition match so important to pause the tournament!" Professor Port stated with excitement growing in the crowd.
"Well that is because it is an exhibition match with none other than our very own professional Huntsman and teacher, Qrow Branwen!" Dr. Oobleck announced, and the crowd exploded into cheers and excided shouts.
"Now I know you must all be wondering who his opponent is going to be…" Professor Port continued.
And in that moment team RWBY felt their eyes widen and their jaws drop in realization… 'No way in he-' their thoughts were cut short when Dr. Oobleck's voice interrupted them.
"Though many of you may not know him, he is a transfer student from Atlas and as we can tell he is a lone ranger whose name is Sora! And he promises us an excellent match, so be sure to be here tomorrow to watch live in this exhibition match."
In unison the entities of team JNPR and RWBY shouted in disbelief, "WHAT?!"
Sora was currently walking towards Ozpin's office when he heard the transmission and made him feel more nervous than he already was. 'I doubt that many people are going to attend. They mostly don't know me…' he thought to himself trying to calm his nerves.
As he rounded one corner, he could see that Winter was also coming up to the elevator. "Hey there, Winter! Are you going up to meet Professor Ozpin as well?" he asked as she matched his pace towards the elevator.
"Yes. He sent a message to inform me he was going to try and activate your aura," she explained.
"Oh, cool! Thanks for that, by the way. I had wondered about it, but I didn't know how to bring it up to him without making it sound kind of weird." he stated in slight embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head.
"It's nothing to thank me for. I, too, was wondering the same thing. If you're really going against Qrow you must have an aura to defend yourself," she explained as they got on to the elevator.
When they arrived at the top floor Ozpin smiled at the boy. "Sora, thank you for coming."
Sora shook his head. "No thanks are necessary. I should be the one thanking you for helping me out with this." As he saw Qrow standing next to the man he greeted the veteran Huntsman. "Hey there, Qrow! Ready to get your butt kicked tomorrow?"
Qrow chuckled and replied back, "Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing, kid. Hey to you too, Ice Queen…" He glared at Winter for some unknown reason. She summarized that they must have spoken to Ironwood and found out that she told him about Sora.
Ozpin, seeing the tension, rose from his chair and approached to Sora. "Well let's get this on the way, shall we?" he asked Sora.
The boy nodded. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Aura is a manifestation of the soul. A life force that runs through every living creature on Remnant, whether they are a meager shopkeeper or a renowned knight. We are just going to tap into your soul and see what it turns out to be." he explained to the boy.
Ozpin placed his mug on the desk and turned to Sora. "Just close your eyes and concentrate on a nice memory. I'll be doing most of the work here."
Sora smiled and did as he was instructed. He closed his eyes and thought back to the times he spent with his friends, Kari, Riku, Donald and Goofy. Upon seeing his relaxed expression, Ozpin swallowed hard and placed his hand on Sora's chest. He slowly closed his eyes, concentrating his own aura to his hand.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." Ozpin chanted, and in that moment, he believed it worked…until he opened his eyes.
Sora and Ozpin were both suddenly sent flying in opposite directions. Ozpin's back slammed onto the edge of his desk, causing the man to release a painful shout while Sora crashed unto a pillar in the room, causing the beam to shake violently and fell unconscious.
"Sora!" "Oz!" Winter and Qrow shouted simultaneously. Winter ran towards Sora while Qrow ran towards Ozpin.
Ozpin sat up and saw that the palm of his hand was burnt. "What the hell happened, Oz?!" Qrow asked as he helped him get up while looking at Winter pick up Sora.
"He's okay. Just passed out." Winter said to them.
"Rejection…" Ozpin answered.
Ozpin and Winter looked at him in confusion until he continued. "Complete rejection from the laws of this world…he does not belong here." He spoke in between hardened gasps. In that moment, the three knew that everything Sora told them was nothing…but true…
Sora felt a lot of pain when he began to wake up. He stirred in his bed and slowly opened his eyes. "I feel as if I was run over by a train…" he mumbled as he felt sore on his back. He noticed that he was back in his room and night had already fallen.
"What happened?" he asked himself as he remembered the chant that Ozpin performed to activate his aura – or at least tried to. After that, he remembered feeling an electric current cast him as far away as possible from Professor Ozpin's hand.
He sighed before releasing a sad chuckle. "Well it was worth the shot."
"Your awake." A voice said from the door as it opened.
Sora looked up to see Professor Ozpin walk into the room. He got into a sitting position as the professor came in and sat at the chair near his table.
"I'm guessing it didn't work?" he asked him.
"I cannot say for certain, though in the meantime it seems that we cannot activate your aura. It was as if your very own soul rejected the intrusion of outside interference; in this case, the laws that this world abides by." he explained to the boy.
Sora looked down in disappointment. "So…I guess I won't be able to battle tomorrow, right?" Ozpin looked at the saddened expression of Sora.
"Not quite." he answered as he took out a small device that looked like a medium sized pin.
"This is an experimental shield generator developed from Atlas. Winter went through the trouble of obtaining it after it passed the necessary tests just in case your aura did not activate." He handed out the pin to him.
"All you have to do is place it on your uniform and the shield will activate, acting as your aura." He smiled at him.
Though what happened next surprised the headmaster for Sora hugged the man. "Thank you, Professor! Really…thank you."
Ozpin couldn't help by softly smile and briefly return the hug. "No need to thank me, young man. Just be sure to give us a nice show tomorrow."
"About that Professor Ozpin, I have a request for the battle." Sora said to the headmaster.
"What may that be, Sora?" he asked the young man.
Sora smiled, and upon hearing his request Ozpin mimicked his own and nodded…
xTxTxTxTxTx
The Colosseum was full; there were people sitting in the stairs and some left standing, but to them that did not matter. They had heard the news that Qrow Branwen, one of the most famous and well-trained Huntsmen and teachers in Beacon, had accepted an exhibition match with a boy who none had ever heard about. Rumors about the boy spread like wildfire. Some say he was a relative of Ozpin, while others say he was the lost son of Qrow. Others spoke, as he was seen with Winter, that he was her student and was training directly under her and General Ironwood. The rumors kept on.
Be it as it may, Sora had gained a lot of unwanted attention. At first, he wanted the battle to be secret and only in-between them, but Professor Ozpin gave him the option to show it during the festival. What he had not been told was that the Colosseum was huge and going to be televised worldwide. Everyone in the world would be seeing the match. He also didn't know that Qrow rarely accepted a mock battle of any kind. The only ones he did with were with Winter and some very limited and few friends, though never in the Colosseum. He was in the changing room waiting to be called up while watching the transmission of the Colosseum…
"There you are!" Sora heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"Hey there, Winter!"
Winter looked at him and saw that he was wearing his combat suite they fixed.
"You look like a true Huntsman in that, you know, 'Lone Ranger'." she playfully called him as his newly acquired nickname; they had been calling him that since they announced his match.
Sora blushed and rubbed the back of his head as she continued. "Here, you almost forgot these." She handed him his gloves.
"Oh, thanks! I don't know why I left them behind." he said as he put them on, enjoying the feeling.
"I just came to give you those and pass on a word of advice: Watch out for Qrow's semblance. It can be a bit unfair," she said as she began to walk out.
"What is his semblance?" he asked her.
She turned at the door and smiled. "Bad Luck." And with that, she left going up to the private stands.
Sora was left with more questions than answers but before he could wonder more on what Winter just told him the intercom voiced out.
"Welcome back, everyone, to the transmission of the Amity Colosseum!" Professor Port enthusiastically shouted through the intercom.
"I am most certain that in all of my time I have never seen the Colosseum so full and excited!" Dr. Oobleck continued for him.
"But we are pleased to begin the day with our very first and unique exhibition match!" they said at the same time.
"On one side, graduated from Beacon and coming out as one of the stellar teams, Team STRQ, and representing Beacon as a teacher and a professional Huntsmen! Please welcome, Qrow Branwen!" Professor Port presented Qrow, and Sora saw as the whole Colosseum erupted in applause and cheers.
'Man, I guess he is famous…' Sora thought.
He watched as Qrow made his way to the center not making much of the crowd as if he was already used to it. He remembered in the morning Ruby sent him some tips on how to fight Qrow. She also sent him a selfie image of her and her team already in the stands ready to watch his match, but that only made him even more nervous. It elevated even more when Pyrrha did the same.
"And now to welcome the other combatant!" Professor Port said.
"Though he is from Atlas, he has transferred here to Beacon to become one of our top students. Please give a grand welcome to…Sora!" Dr. Oobleck presented him. The crowd cheered and began to applaud.
Sora began to walk into the Colosseum, and as he walked, he noticed that he was nervous. But in that moment, he smiled for this very same sensation he felt inside him was when he walked into the Coliseum with Hercules. More so because he was wearing his combat outfit and it just felt right. He also remembered to place the shield generator Professor Ozpin handed to him so that he could battle without worry. Apparently he just had to activate it and clip it on his outfit. He began to feel excited; he was going to prove himself not only to Qrow, Winter and Ozpin, but to himself that he could do this.
Qrow was on the opposite side of the Colosseum just a few meters away from him. The man smiled at the case Sora was carrying. "You gonna smash me with a case?" he mocked.
Sora softly laughed. "You'll see."
"And now to set up the Colosseum!" Professor Port announced. Sora had seen the Colosseum change in the matches between teams RWBY and JNPR and was looking at the spinning images.
On his side the image stopped. "URBAN!" Dr. Oobleck said.
And on Qrow's side, "FOREST!" Professor Port exclaimed. Sora could only smile with this one; he trained somewhat in the forests of Beacon. Everyone held their breath as they saw Sora lay down his case and open it up.
Qrow's eyes widened to see that Sora with one hand reached into the case and pulled out a longsword that was a bit wider than the normal swords, though it was not as long as some longswords. The blade was platinum with white and black decorations on it. It also seemed to be made out of different parts as some divisions on the blade could be seen. Its handle was made of leather and surrounding the handle was a metallic square which seemed to be made of gold for the shine of the metal was yellow. It was a blade meant to be wielded by both hands rather than one, yet Sora took it out without effort and rested it on his shoulder.
'I wanted this blade to look more like something in this world. I could only think of the Fenir Keyblade to base it on.' Sora thought as he smiled at Qrow. "Isn't that blade a little too big for you?" he said to Sora who only smiled.
"You'd be surprised, it's the same size as all the blades I've ever used. And it's not that heavy anyway." Sora said to him. The crowd cheered on, eager to get the match started.
Sora took his regular battle stance, both hands on the handle of the blade. With his battle suit he could feel the familiarity of the battlefield and simply smile. "What's its name?" Sora asked Qrow.
The man just smiled. "Harbinger…yours?" he asked as he pulled out his blade and transformed it into the sword form.
"Trinity." Sora smiled.
"ARE YOU READY?" Both teachers asked. The crowd fell silent, and everyone in their houses and bars were completely entranced by what was about to take place.
"BEGIN!" Both professors shouted.
In a flash of a moment Qrow was on the other side of the field brining down his blade, but Sora was expecting him and moved out of the way to the side and slashed his blade upward to meet Qrow's. The blades connected and Qrow felt the strength that the boy had. He figured that Sora was strong, but he didn't expect him to be this strong, and with that train of thought he chuckled.
Qrow jumped back and returned with some slashes to the sides, but Sora blocked them all and countered some to get a few hits in, though not strong enough to make considerable damage. 'He's fast!' Qrow thought. Sora saw a window of opportunity and slashed to Qrow's abdomen, but Qrow surprised him by kicking him on his side and sending him a few feet far away.
The crowd cheered for the battle as it was getting heated. As Qrow was about to make a comment, Sora rose up in a flash and brought his blade down on him. The veteran Huntsman barely got a chance to evade it and countered it with a slash, but met Sora's blade mid-way. The battle continued for a moment on the two clashing blades faster than some people could keep their eyes on.
Then in a moment Sora slipped on what appeared to have been a rock. The crowd gasped, and Sora was surprised as well since he had never slipped in the middle of a battle since the beginning. Qrow smiled and kicked Sora into the air. The Keyblade wielder grunted and received the blow full on. Qrow changed his blade into the shotgun form and fired at Sora's falling form.
"SORA WATCH OUT!" Ruby yelled from the stands.
Sora smiled and pressed a button on the handle. The handle of the blade bended down and the blade shrunk and opened up in a diamond form, creating a shield which received all the impacts of Qrow's bullets. Sora used the shield to soften the landing as well. The crowd went wild upon seeing Sora's weapon change form. Sora got up and held the shield in his hand with a smile.
"A shield, huh? Any more tricks up your sleeve?" Qrow asked taking a breather, analyzing the shield a bit more.
"I still got a few," Sora said as he changed Trinity back into a blade and ran towards Qrow.
Qrow looked around and saw that they were now in the Urban area and he smiled. "You should watch out," he said to Sora as he began to run into a building.
"For what?" Sora said as he followed him inside. He heard Qrow's shotgun go off and felt a slight tremor from inside the house.
"For falling debris!" He heard Qrow say as the house began to crumble and fall apart. Sora's eyes widened and began to slash at some of the debris, but there were too many and he began to evade them and run out of the house.
Some small debris hit him as he jumped to the opening that was on the wall and rolled out of the house onto another building. He saw that Qrow was coming from the sky with his blade ready, and so Sora changed Trinity into its shield form and received the impact, but the construction gave under him and he went through the roof of the building landing hard onto the floor.
He grunted upon impact, but he didn't have time to recover as Qrow kept on slashing at him and giving him kicks. Trinity switched back into its blade form and he countered some of the strikes, but Sora also noticed that he was missing quite a few and tripping more often than normal. In the opening he saw he jumped far from Qrow and the Urban area with heavy breaths.
Qrow smiled at the kid. "You seem to have quite some bad luck kid," he told Sora, who simply smiled. 'Winter was right: His semblance is a bit unfair, but also to him…' he thought as he remembered some times that Qrow was hit by the same debris that hit him. Sora looked around and saw that in this area he had a great disadvantage; Qrow had a lot of experience battling in an urban area.
"Try to catch up!" he yelled to Qrow as he dashed towards the forest area. Qrow went after him, but in the moment Sora entered the forest he lost sight of him. Qrow was gently listening to any sound that came but heard nothing. After a moment he heard a hard crash and turned to see a tree beginning to fall. He jumped out of the way, but to his surprise Sora was expecting him. Sora slammed his blade on to Qrow's side barely, giving him time to block the blow with his own sword, but even then he was still sent flying a few feet away and slammed into a tree, knocking it down.
Sora didn't give Qrow an opportunity to get up as he jumped on him the second he saw him get up. Their battle continued, clashing blades and the trees getting destroyed by the force of the impact of one of them when one dodged.
Up in the private stands Ozpin was looking at the battle with a smile on his face. "Well, I have to say I am quite surprised to see Sora maintain his own against Qrow," he spoke with a bit of admiration in his tone.
Glynda shot a glare at Ozpin. "I guess he does have it in him, but I am still worried. I do hope you told Qrow to hold back a little."
Winter, who was a bit worried on how things might go (but kept her emotion from showing), chuckled at her comment. "Are you serious? This is Qrow we're talking about. 'Holding back' is not in his vocabulary."
Glynda nodded somberly. "That's what I was afraid of…" she said as she gazed once again at the battle that was still taking place.
Qrow was sent back onto the center of the stage after blocking a blow from Sora and smiled. 'At this rate we'll bore the crowd,' he thought as he saw Sora running towards him coming out of the forest, but as soon as he saw Qrow ease his stance he stopped a few feet away from him.
"I gotta hand it to you kid, you really know how to pack a punch! Way beyond my expectations!" He smiled at him. Sora tried to hide the immense satisfaction that ran though his body as he heard Qrow recognize him. But then Qrow's face turned serious.
"So, can you really keep up?" he asked as he pushed a switch in his blade. Sora saw as the gears began to move and the handle of his blade stretch out and the blade itself curve and make one of its sides a lot more shaper. Sora could only stare in admiration as he remembered that he was in front of the man who had taught Ruby, his prodigy, how to wield one of the most deadliest weapons known, a weapon that represented death itself: A scythe.
"OH. MY. GOD!" Ruby exclaimed from the benches, startling Weiss and Blake.
"What? What's so weird with that?" Weiss asked as she saw Ruby jumping up and down from her spot.
"Uncle Qrow never, and I mean never, does mock battles with his scythe. I've only seen him take it out a few number of times, and in all of those times it was a life or death situation." Yang commented with a serious expression.
Blake figured out the hidden meaning in her words. "You're telling us that he was holding back?"
Yang nodded. "Yep, and a lot. That scythe is like an extension of him, he knows how to wield and use it better that Rubs here. I'm really worried about Sora now…" she explained, and drew her attention once again to the stage.
Glynda slammed the glass wall that was in front of her in the private stands. It was a good thing that it was a reinforced crystal glass or else it would have shattered instantly. "What is that buffoon thinking?!" she shouted.
Winter was really nervous now. 'That idiot!' She was tempted to leave and head down there herself until she remembered her battle with Sora and took a calming breath. She then said, "With all due respect, if anything happens, I'll be holding you responsible, Professor Ozpin." she stated simply without looking at him who was currently holding his mug a bit tighter than usual.
"Yes, well…I'm sure Sora still hasn't provided us with all of his strength," he said, though he could not help but allow the little doubt in his voice slip out.
Back in the stage Sora wasn't sure how to approach the man in front of him now. The air around him changed drastically, and he could be more than certain that things were not going to turn out as before. Sora took a deep breath, steadied his raging heart, and calmed his tense muscles. In that moment he spaced out the audience and their echoes of excitement and concentrated on the foe in front of him.
"Bring it!" Sora simply shouted as lunged at Qrow. The man expertly dodged the blow and flipped behind him slashing his back. Sora could feel a big chunk of the forcefield destroyed in that single strike. He turned to slash him but was met with the scythe as Qrow maneuvered the blade out of Sora's hand with a gentle swift of the scythe and landed a hard kick on Sora's side to send him flying into the Urban area. He crashed into a wall that stopped his flight.
Qrow thought he had gone a little too far when he saw that Sora didn't move, but in that moment he felt something hit him in the back. He turned to see that Sora's blade had slashed him in the back and was coming at him again for another blow. Qrow jumped out of the way and watched not one but two blades head towards the fallen boy.
He saw with wide eyes as Sora was on his knees with his hands slightly raised to receive the swords, catching them masterly in his hands by the handle. "What the-!"
"If you get serious, so do I. And as I said before, I still got a few tricks up my sleeve," he said as he gestured his gloves and pulled a thin but strong string that was connected to the handles of the blades. Qrow also noticed that his once big weapon had split into two parts; two blades that had only one sharp side and a dull side where the blade connected.
"So that's why it's so wide. Dual-wielder, huh?" Qrow said as he saw the boy take a much relaxed and expert stance. He could see that the kid was by no doubt an excellent dual-wielder.
Sora got up and began to run at Qrow who prepared to receive him, but he was surprised when Sora threw one of the blades at him. He could see the blade spinning towards him and slashed his scythe upwards to block it but was met with thin air as Sora called back the blade and swiftly slid towards Qrow's unprotected side slashing at him with the other blade in his hand.
Qrow reacted immediately, and though he was hit, he jumped back and brought his blade down until Sora expertly blocked it with both swords and smiled at the man. Their blades kept on clashing and Qrow was driven back towards the woods where Sora evaded a slash towards his side and jumped up into a tree.
From his position Sora threw the blade at him but returned it before it could hit his target using it as a distraction so that his other blade could hit his mark as he threw the other blade with a slight difference in time. Qrow's aura was being depleted little by little, and Sora was beginning to get the upper hand. The crowd cheered for him, but in a blink of an eye Qrow dodged the first blade that came at him and instead of dodging or blocking it he took the hit head on.
Sora smiled at this, but when he tried to have the other blade return it did not come to him. He frowned and pushed the button on his left glove once again. but nothing still happened. Qrow got up and stood up straight with a smile. "Well that's one down," he said as he lifted the blade that Sora had thrown at him by the now cut string.
Sora just smiled. 'Yeah, kinda figured that wouldn't work for long,' he thought. Qrow began to spin Sora's blade around in the air by the sting and threw it at Sora. "I think this belongs to you!" he said as he flung it at him with all his might.
"AH!" Sora barely managed to dodge it and saw that it was impaled on a tree a little higher than he had hoped.
Qrow took his chance and jumped at him. Sora got off the tree and saw how Qrow sliced it in two. As he got up, he blocked a blow from Qrow but received a cut to his cheek as he was now with bladeless and could not call it to him.
Sora tried and failed to block all the incoming blows and slashes that were coming at him. 'He's just to fast!' he thought to himself. He was breathing hard and was sure that in any moment the shield would fall and the bell would ring his defeat, but then he heard it….a voice he thought he would never hear again.
'You were the fastest out of all of us you know...' Sora's eyes widened. He didn't know if it was a memory or just his imagination. He knew that sometimes the mind played tricks on people when they are in dire need. But in that moment, he heard her voice, and that was all the motivation and strength he needed.
"AGH!" Sora screamed after being kicked to another tree by Qrow, but the man wasn't going to let up. He knew it was a matter of time before the bell would ring. Noticing that Sora's shield was down, he ran towards where Sora had landed, though he was met with a surprise when he felt a blow to his ribs. Qrow looked down just before being sent to the side and noticed that Sora was just by him and kicked him.
Qrow regained his stance and jumped back when he looked up to see that Sora was right in front of him brining his blade down. Sora missed his mark by a hair but kept on slashing at the man who was now on the defensive and looking with wonder at him.
'What the hell just happened?!" Qrow thought as he kept on blocking the blows. He jumped a few feet back and slammed the scythe to the ground stretching it to reveal the barrel of the shotgun and fired at Sora.
The boy jumped to the side with a speed that Qrow could have sworn was not normal. The veteran Huntsman continued his firing at the kid who was not blocking the blasts but dodging them. In that moment, Sora stood right in front of him not with a sword, but a gun in his hand, pointed at him. 'SHIT!' Qrow barely got out of the way when Sora pulled the trigger.
"Damn, Kid! That thing can even turn into a gun?!" he exclaimed as he blocked some of the bullets that Sora was shooting at him.
'If I remember right, judging by the size of the gun that thing can only hold a magnum of 12 rounds.' he thought as he blocked another blow that sent him a few feet back into the urban area. 'That'd be shot number seven. Five more, and he's going to have to reload.' he expertly thought as he went inside a building.
Sora learned from his past mistake and instead of following him, he shoots at the pillars that held the building up, but he did not expect that it had been Qrow's plan all along. 'That's nine.' Qrow slammed his torso onto the wall of the building with all his might so that it would fall towards Sora.
He jumped out of the falling building and saw Sora shoot at the building in hopes to reduce it to rubble as he didn't have time to dodge it, but…
"SORA!" Ruby screamed from her place.
"He can't dodge it, he's too exhausted!" Blake exclaimed
Sora could see that the wall was falling towards him. He tried to run out of the way, but he had exhausted himself slashing Qrow and dodging all of the gunfire that the man fired at him moments ago. All he could do was react shoot the fire dust bullets at the wall in hopes to destroy the wall before it hit him.
Sora shot at the wall…
'Ten…' counted Qrow as he prepared his blade.
'Eleven…' He took in a breath. If the wall didn't break, he would have to jump in and help the kid. He was more than sure his shield would not protect him completely against the impact of it.
'Twelve!' Qrow ran when he saw Sora fire his last shot and the bullet only made a small crack in the wall. Sora, on the other hand, didn't notice that his gun was empty. After every single shot he fired, he just stood there and closed his eyes, simply hoping and wishing that the following shot would be able to destroy the wall. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger…
In that moment, a blast came out of the gun that completely destroyed the wall and caused a cloud of smoke to emerge. The crowd saw that Qrow jumped in and they all held their breathes when they heard the bell ring. They all looked at the monitor to see whose aura had run out first, but they both had the same level of aura. As the smoke cleared, they could see that Qrow was bent down with his scythe pointed upwards with its blade on Sora's throat, but that wasn't all. Sora had his gun pointed at Qrow's head; none of them moved. The crowd held their breath for what seemed an eternity until Qrow spoke out, "Draw?"
Sora simply smiled. "Draw." He nodded as he relaxed and dropped his hand to his side. Qrow also removed the scythe from his neck and smiled. The crowd exploded into cheers and applauds.
"Damn kid, you really are a piece of work." he laughed.
Sora just dropped to the ground letting his gun fall to his side sighing in exhaustion. Qrow looked at the boy in amusement, but he frowned as he looked at the gun. 'I'm sure that I counted right,' he thought to himself as he looked back on the last blast that had come out of the gun.
Back in the private stands Winter sighed in relief while Glynda just shook her head.
Professor Ozpin, on the other hand, had a frown grown onto his face. He sensed it the moment it happened. Although he was not sure if Sora had realized it or not…that last blow was not a bullet. For the moment it came out of the gun, the hairs on the back of his head stood up in familiarity of the sensation. That…had been magic…
Ozpin got up and released a breath he didn't realize he held in. He needed to have a much-needed talk with the boy. He saw that Winter was already on her way down to the arena, feeling sure she was going to give both of them an earful. He couldn't help but smile; even though things got a little tense he was more than glad at the ability Sora had displayed at being the level of a professional huntsman. He was certain Qrow did not hold back on any of his punches and considered the possibility of allowing Sora to take some S-class missions that Qrow currently took part in. If it was Sora, the old crow would allow him the assignments as a partner.
Just as the crowd was getting up, an explosion could be heard in the distance and an alarm began to sound in the Colosseum. More explosions followed up; the people of the stands screamed in panic and frantically looked in their surroundings to see if anyone was already running out of the arena.
"What is going on?!" Glynda shouted in shock and confusion, and just as she and Ozpin were about to leave an evil laugh interrupted the comms.
"Why hello there everyone!" the voice shouted in an eerily cheery tone.
"I have come on a simple hunting mission, and I will get what I came here to find! I ask that you do not get in my way unless you wish to die!" Cackling could be heard after that threatening declaration.
"I do know that it is quite early, but I would also like to inform you that the city of Vale is currently under siege!" He happily notified as another explosion could be heard.
"By whom, might you ask? Well why don't you take a look for yourselves!" And in that moment the screens in the Colosseum changed into the view of the city of Vale. Buildings were in flames, masked figures could be seen shooting and throwing grenades at the city and its citizens.
But the most disturbing image was a fleet of Atlesian Knights and a Paladin killing the citizens and helping the destruction. More maniacal laughter could be heard through the comms. "Let the hunt…begin!" The comms went dead…and the panic began as screams of terror and despair filled Amity Colosseum…
Pyrrha's death: Not averted
Ozpins death: Not averted
Penny's death: T#mp0rary 3vad#d
Fall of Beacon: Not averted
Well how was it everyone?
I hope you liked it and I'd also like to let you know that this is my longest chapter in I have ever published in all of my stories... xD
I hope to hear from you guys to know that you are all okay and also once again I give to you my best of wishes...
Take care and I WILL see you guys soon... and sorry if the battle didn't come out so well I'm not that good with battle scenes in general but I tend to do the best I can :D
See you in the next chapter... Kudoos...
Darman700... OUT!...
