Chapter 31…
The sounds of squeaking hinges and shutting doors echoed throughout the locker room as Mauve and Sage prepared for the doubles round. Mauve was in the process of securing her weapon sheathes to her back while Sage was double checking his equipment.
It had been a few days since Team MARS' "off" evening in Vale and Mauve had not eased up on the training. Although Sage would openly admit that Asher and Rust had wasted an evening of valuable time, it had been a welcome respite from the brutal conditioning he had been put through.
Sage's mind wandered to thinking about Honey. She and her team had been victorious during the team round, pummeling a group of boys from Haven academy. He felt a little bad when he thought of her, his increased training schedule prevented him from seeing her as much as he would like.
"You alright there Sage?" Mauve inquired, fiddling with her harness.
"Huh?"
"Your eyes looked all glassy… it was weird."
"I'm fine." Sage grumbled, lacing up his boots. "Just got lost in thought…"
"Anything interesting?"
"Was thinking about Honey, actually."
"Oh." Mauve paused, looking a little unsure. "Is everything alright between you two?"
"Great!" Sage answered. "It's just… I haven't seen her a whole lot the past few weeks, training for the tournament got in the way…"
Mauve looked down at her boots, ears flicking erratically before she looked up again. "I'm sorry… I think I'm responsible for that happening."
Sage held up a hand to stop her. "S'fine, her team has been training too, don't beat yourself up."
"Have I…?" Mauve looked down again. "Have I been pushing the team too hard? That was the position Rust took… even Asher went along with him."
"You bumped up our training, it was necessary." Sage sighed as he shut his locker. "But it's been a little incessant… you could stand to lay off a little."
"I suppose." Mauve huffed. "I'll keep that in mind for the future. Are you ready to go?"
"Let's not keep them waiting."
Sage and Mauve did a final check of their equipment before walking out of the locker room. The two stood in the entryway to the coliseum, awaiting their entry cue which would be given by Port and Oobleck.
"Today ladies and gentlemen we will have a spectacular showdown between several Beacon students!" Oobleck's odd-sounding voice reverberated. "What say you Peter?"
"Why yes!" Guffawed the voice of Port. "An incredible and unorthodox match up!"
"Who do you think we'll fight?" Sage yelled to Mauve over the din of the announcers.
"Who cares!" Mauve laughed. "We'll make mince meat of them!"
"On one side there will be Mauve Tempesta and Sage Bulwark from Team MARS!" Called Oobleck, the cheering of the crowds shaking the stadium and bolstering Sage's confidence.
"Yeah!" Sage chuckled, feeling braver. "Whoever they are… they'll be sorry!" The wolf boy grinned, getting a grin out of Mauve in return.
"Versus Honey Aurum and Vermillion Fiamma from Team VHLT!" Shouted Port, another rousing cheer from the crowd shaking the stadium. Sage paled considerably at the realization that they wouldn't be fighting complete strangers.
He had just complained to Mauve about not getting to see her as much… there was something very ironic about all this...
Sage turned his gaze back towards Mauve, reeling when he spotted the lynx girl sporting a look of barely concealed laughter. If it had been anyone else in this situation Sage might've laughed too.
"Lets not keep them waiting." Mauve mimicked with a grin before striding out into the coliseum. Sage followed her into the shining lights, his feet moving but his mind still a few steps back.
Their opponents were already waiting for them in the center plaza of the arena. Vermillion was standing around casually, blue eyes sharp and her bastard sword resting on her shoulder. Sage had seen the weapon up close before but had never noticed the fire dust gems embedded in the hilt. Sage already knew that Vermillion possessed a fire semblance and he could only guess that the gems helped her channel her pyromancy.
Honey wasn't nearly as nonchalant as her leader but offered Sage a warm smile that lit up her pretty face. The wolf-boy made note of the golden gladius that hung off her hip. He had only seen her fight a few times and wasn't fully aware of her capabilities.
"You' expecting to win Tempesta?" Vermillion joked, flashing a smile at the smaller form of the lynx girl.
"Yeah!" Was Mauve's response, arching a silver eyebrow in mock confusion. "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"For you… absolutely." Vermillion grinned. "Me… not so much…"
Mauve snorted and Vermillion laughed.
"I'm uh…" Sage called out. "I'm gonna throw out a preemptive apology for any… unpleasantness that may occur in the next few minutes."
"Accepted!" Honey called back with a smile.
"You two!" Vermillion pointed one finger at Sage and the other at her own teammate. "I don't want you two 'making love and not war." The joke made both Sage's and Honey's face redden, Mauve snickered next to Sage.
"And now let us see the environments where our contestants shall be battling!" Oobleck called out over the speaker system.
Holographic indicators flashed and randomized in spinning motions as the environments were chosen. The indicators landed on an image of a wave for one half of the arena and a forest for the other. With metal screeching and accompanying vibrations the arena floors collapsed and shifted, perfectly simulated environments raising from where concrete floors had once been.
Sage and Mauve tightened their grips on their equipment, the two of them crouching down in preparation to move.
"3"
"2"
"1"
"Begin!"
As it turned out crouching down was a good idea, as Vermillion began the fight by slamming her sword onto the ground, sending a stream of fire arcing across the floor. Sage and Mauve jumped in opposite directions as the floor where they were standing became a searing pit.
Sage grumbled and sprang back up to his feet. A whistling noise caught Sage's ear (well, ears) and he threw his shield up to stop a golden colored throwing knife. The projectile was moving so fast that Sage couldn't use his semblance and was thrown with such force that it embedded into his shield.
There was only one girl he knew that had a golden theme and she was giving him a bare toothed grin on the other side of his view screen. Sage watched in surprise as his girlfriend's gladius whirred and split apart to form a short barreled rifle. Honey was smart enough to aim for his feet, forcing Sage to slam his shield onto the ground to preserve his aura. Honey also knew what his semblance was and was smart enough to return her weapon to gladius form and charge him.
Sage winced when a bolt of lightning struck his lady friend, sending her reeling to the side. Mauve had re-entered the picture! Her clothing looked singed and she gave Sage a grim smile, suddenly pursing her lips to let out a whistle.
The whistle was a signal they had practiced and Sage reacted instantly. Crouching down and angling his shield up he allowed Mauve to jump and boosted her off in an aura and semblance infused jump. Mauve sailed through the air and converted her weapons onto their pistol forms. The lynx girl squeezed off a few shots at a retreating Honey before a massive stream of fire knocked her out of the air!
Vermillion was still a threat! The tall girl had a sour look on her face as she swiped her sword, sending streaks of fire that forced Sage into cover. Mauve's aura flickered to absorb the damage and she landed in a graceful crouch.
Mauve let out a groan as she landed and tucked into a crouch. She knew that she couldn't stay… her decision to move supported by the stream of flame that obliterated where she had once been standing. Mauve sprinted towards Vermillion but was interrupted when a rifle round sailed past her head. Whipping her gaze around to find the shooter Mauve just barely avoided another round that would have hit her shoulder. The shooter was Honey, the golden haired girl turning her weapon back into a gladius and surging forwards. Mauve switched her weapons into blades and began engaging her in combat.
Honey was far faster and far far more reactive than Mauve anticipated. Mauve's opponent had a tight grimace of concentration on her face and twisted around every strike Mauve sent her way. A painful slash to her shoulder forced the silver and purple haired girl into a defensive position, focusing on blocking Honey's blade rather than retaliating. Honey swung her blade low into a vicious upwards slash that forced Mauve to jump back…
Sage grit his teeth as a plume of flame slowed his shield charge. The green haired boy felt the heat licking the sides of his body, his aura flaring to protect him from the damage. Vermillion was playing it smart, avoiding the repercussions of Sage's semblance by using entirely flame to attack him. Sage could ricochet most objects… he couldn't ricochet a jet of flame.
Vermillion grinned. "Feeling the heat lover boy?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response!" Sage groaned, feeling more flames tickle his sides.
This couldn't be kept up… Sage couldn't sit behind his defences anymore… this was a battle of mobility…
A crazy plan came to Sage's mind. Jogging backwards to build some distance Sage laid his hand on the emergency release button of his shield. Taking a moment to block another flame stream Sage spun around. Releasing a roar of exertion Sage smacked the emergency release at just the right time to blast it in Vermillion's direction. The heavy metal shield clanked against the concrete floor of the plaza and Sage focused on the flying shield. The metal plate ricocheted off the floor at an unnatural angle and swung straight towards Vermillion.
A shocked look was present on her face when the shield made contact with her chest, making her red aura crackle as she was blasted off her feet. Sage hefted his grenade launcher and planned to finish her off when a rifle round impacted his lower leg. Sage dropped to one leg in pain and turned to see Honey off in the distance, quickly turning her rifle back into a gladius and facing Mauve again.
"Shit!" Mauve barked as Honey whipped around from her rifle shot to intercept Mauve's blades. "You're freaking fast!"
"Thanks!" Honey chortled, although her voice sounded warbled. Knowing that incremental changes would be a deciding factor in the fight, Mauve began focusing her semblance to pump electricity into her blades. Mauve noticed Honey wince a little bit every time their blades made contact, her golden aura flaring up to protect her hands.
Wait… was Honey slowing down? She was! Perhaps it was a little hard to see but Honey was starting to falter. Mauve watched with a practiced eye as one of Honey's strikes went a little wide, a consequence of her growing fatigue. Deciding to take a chance Mauve whipped out a kick to catch her off guard and then swiped with one of her blades, the attack making contact with her shoulder.
Honey hissed and began to walk backwards, switching from offense to defence. Mauve grinned from ear to ear and pressed further, her blades crackling with electricity.
"This was a mistake" Sage thought frantically as he sprang his sword attachment free. Sage raised his submachine gun up to block a downwards slash from Vermillion, the taller girl maintaining a sword lock and using her weight to push down. Sage yelped when the length of the blade ignited, Sage immediately disengaged and leaped to safety, whirling around to fire off a burst of rounds that crackled against Vermillion's aura. This victory was short-lived as another flame jet forced him to jump away.
Mauve was making more and more progress against Honey. Her electrically charged blades were whittling away the blonde girls aura, slowly bringing Mauve closer to victory. Mauve yelped and pushed her head to the side when Honey reached behind her and whipped a throwing knife at Mauves head, the sharp blade just clipping her human ear. Mauve snarled and whipped out a vicious kick that forced Honey away. To Mauve's surprise Honey disengaged entirely from the fight and sprinted to rejoin Vermillion.
Deciding against following her Mauve broke into her own run in the direction of Sage.
Sage took a moment to pant as Vermillion disengaged, he and the tall redhead were circling each other carefully. Air whooshed beside him and Sage readied his blade, only to find the sweaty face of Mauve peering next to him. Vermillion was joined by Honey, the blonde girl visibly disheveled and tired.
"Game plan?" Sage whispered.
"Vermillion's fire is a problem…" Mauve whispered back. "Maybe I can push her into the water? It might disable her semblance…"
Sage shrugged as he considered it. "Alright… what can I do?"
"Keep Honey busy… watch out, she's quick!"
Sage nodded in affirmation and ran at breakneck speeds towards the forested area, his grenade launcher slapping against his chest. Sage grinned to himself when he glanced back and saw a blur of yellow pursuing him, which meant Mauve was now alone with Vermillion…
Mauve reacted the moment Honey did, sprinting forwards to begin harassing Vermillion with her blades. Mauve swung her two weapons faster than the crowd could process, a visible hue of electricity crackling through the air as she swung them around. Vermillion lacked a second blade and had no shield, which allowed Mauve to sneak in hits that she had no way of blocking.
Mauve's plan was working! Vermillion was forced to keep stepping back towards the body of water behind them. Vermillion released a plume of flame from her blade that Mauve narrowly dodged, Mauve retaliated with a blade strike that forced Vermillion to the water edge.
This was it!
Mauve lashed out a kick that would send Vermillion tumbling… but everything went wrong when Vermillion clamped a strong hand on her ankle, the skin of her leg already beginning to heat up…
Sage heard a wail of distress and whipped his head around (narrowly avoiding his girlfriend's sword) to spot what had made the noise. Mauve and Vermillion were standing at the water's edge and Vermillion had a strong hand grasped around his team leader's leg. Vermillion's hand was glowing with heat and Mauve's remaining aura was crackling around the area to protect her.
Mauve would lose all of her aura if he didn't do something…
Sage snarled and jumped back, pulling out his grenade launcher as he did. Honey's eyes widened and she moved to retreat, jumping through the underbrush to avoid his accurate shots. Swathes of forest were reduced to cinder… but Sage was just trying to get some breathing room.
Realizing he had been overzealous and emptied the launcher, and knowing that he had no time to reload, Sage pulled a risky maneuver. The green haired boy pulled a grenade round off his bandolier and held back his arm, closing one eye to get a better view. Sage hurled the round as hard as he could into the stone plaza, the unarmed grenade ricocheted off the ground and flew straight at Vermillion, whacking her in the forehead and leaving her dazed.
'Sage you beautiful bastard!' Mauve mentally cheered as the grenade stunned Vermillion.
Mauve immediately disengaged her leg from Vermillion's hand and grabbed her weapons off the ground. Mauve switched her knives into pistols and emptied the magazine's into Vermillion's chest. The tall redhead was finished off by an aura infused pistol whip that rendered her unconscious… and completely out of aura.
Vermillion slumped back and fell into the water with a wet crash…
Mauve was about to turn and run to Sage when she realized Vermillion was face down in the water. She couldn't just leave her there…
With a cry of frustration Mauve leapt into the fake ocean to pull Vermillion out…
A surge of pain shot up Sage's left leg, making him fall to his knees in blinding pain. Sage weakly turned around to see Honey stalking towards him, her golden colored rifle clenched tightly in her hands.
Despite the competitive situation Honey had an apologetic smile on her face. She stopped perhaps two feet in front of him, her big green eyes gazing down with a somber look. "Does this count as our first fight?"
Sage chuckled at her humor. "I guess so… I just hope our next one isn't as destructive."
Honey chuckled and spared a glance at the aura boards. "Sorry Sage… but your auras still in the orange…"
"Yeah." Sage groaned. "Just kiss it better after… alright?"
"Sure thing!" Honey winked at him before she raised the butt of her rifle and whacked Sage on the head, rendering him unconscious and taking him out of the fight.
Honey's monologue had left her open. The blonde haired girl barely had the time to look up before a massive strike sent her reeling. Honey felt her teeth chatter as the electricity arced across her skin and reacted with the metal on her body.
Honey couldn't move and watched in horror as Mauve entered her field of vision. The lynx girl was dripping wet, her hair plastered to her face and her amber eyes filled with fury.
"Good game!" Mauve called. She squeezed off a shot from her pistol into Honey's shoulder, dropping her aura and ending the fight.
"My oh my!" Roared Port, his voice barely heard over the screams of the crowd. "Ms. Tempesta wins ends the fight right after assisting Ms. Fiamma! Exemplary work!"
"Exemplary indeed!" Oobleck called in support.
Mauve heard a throat clear behind her and whipped her head around to find Vermillion. The redhead was dripping wet, her braid in disarray and her make-up smeared. Vermillion clamped a hand on Mauve's shoulder and the lynx girl felt a blast of heat. Vermillion's little remaining aura glowed as Mauve watched her hair and clothes dry before her eyes.
"For your information…" Vermillion chuckled. "You can't extinguish my semblance with water…"
Mauve shrugged. "It was worth a try…"
"Eh…" Vermillion chuckled again. Mauve turned her attention to her fallen teammate only to find Honey cradling his head in her lap. "Is he okay?" Vermillion inquired.
"He's okay…" Sage groaned, revealing that he was still conscious. Sage flicked his blue-eyed gaze up to meet his girlfriend's relieved eyes. "Did you have to knock me on the head?"
Honey laughed nervously. "Sorry, guess I got carried away…"
"Come on!" Mauve huffed, pulling Sage to his feet and helping him hold up his arm. The crowd roared in celebration as they took their chance to posture. "Please the crowd first and then flirt afterwards…"
"Right…" Sage croaked, lowering his arm after a few moments and taking a seat gingerly on the cracked floor. Honey walked over to join him again, supporting the back of his no doubt throbbing head.
Mauve turned her attention briefly to the blonde girl. "You were fast back there! I didn't expect it…"
Honey smiled. "My semblance actually…"
"Speed?"
"No…" Honey waved her hand. "I have complete control over my body's adrenaline levels, I can raise and lower it at will."
"That's why you were getting tired!"
"Yeah." Honey sighed. "I was crashing… you weren't going down as fast as I had hoped."
Mauve smiled and turned away scanning the crowd for some specific people. Rust and Asher had told her where they would be seated and Mauve soon found them. Her two teammates were clapping wildly and cheering. Mauve's gaze wandered over to a different section of the arena where her father had informed her he would be sitting. Mauve found the silver haired man quickly, he had risen from his seat to give her a standing ovation, a proud smile stretching the proportions of his face.
Mauve blanched when she noticed the dirty-blonde woman sitting next to him, also clapping very politely. Even from a distance Mauve could make out her neat hair and the pretty dimensions of her face… she was wearing the same smile she always wore whenever she welcomed the team into the cafe…
It looked like her father was starting to move on after all…