F3: Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 25. In this chapter will feature the singles matches. Who'll come out on top? RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. Also Melanie Tora, Ophelia Sorrel and Team SPIR are owned by me while Senka Linwood is owned by MountainKing312 and Decode9 owns Diana Mirai and Akane Shidou. With that said Let's Get Started.
Volume 3-25: Singled Out (Part 1)
The night waned on as Team JNPR was currently asleep all but one person as Pyrrha was still suddenly wide awake with still something on her mind and she knew she can't ignore it any longer. The red head got up from her bed as she got herself dressed in silence trying not to wake up the others.
After getting dressed she pulled out her scroll and send a message to Cinder but she noticed that Cinder had already sent her a message before hand.
"Are you ready?" The message read.
Pyrrha took a breath and typed a message to Cinder.
"Yes. It's time." Pyrrha typed and sent the message.
Pyrrha walked toward her door as if to leave. Before she did she looked back at her teammates, the very same teammates that she got to know and cherish especially Jaune. She never thought she would exactly fall in love with the blonde but she found the confidence in herself to ask him and that was all it took but now she felt like she was betraying him by not telling him what is truly going on but she didn't want to risk Jaune getting involved so she had no choice but to keep him in the dark.
She turned the door knob to leave the room and went to go meet up with Cinder well knowing where to go. Apparently Glynda knew what was happening and meet Pyrrha outside her team room.
"Evening Miss. Nikos." Glynda greeted.
"I take it Ozpin sent you to fetch me." Pyrrha said as Glynda nodded.
"Yes and we must not keep him waiting." Glynda added as the two walked toward Ozpins office. As they approached the elevator leading to Ozpins office they noticed that Cinder and Rieka were their waiting for them to arrive though the latter of the two with a stern look on her face.
"I still think this idea won't work. Whoever these people are will figure it out eventually that the powers of the Fall maiden was split." Rieka said voicing her concern.
"I understand that you are concerned but this isn't our choice to make. It belongs to them to decide." Glynda added but also showing some concern as well.
That was when Cinder spoke "I know that you're wanting to protect us but right now we can't waste another moment." Cinder said before looking toward Pyrrha again.
"Pyrrha. I know that your mind is made up but I have to ask. This is your last opportunity to back out. Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this? I won't blame you if you choose to back out." Cinder said.
Pyrrha took a moment to consider what to do. Part of her wanted to leave and never look back and forget this never happened but another side of her says differently that she can't turn away from when someone is in need no matter who they are.
"Honestly... you'll never truly be sure that your ready for anything. Even now I'm trying to keep myself together from running away and not looking back." Pyrrha started but she still stood firm.
"However I refuse to run away when I know that I can make a difference. When I know that no matter what happens I'll face it head on even if it means... making the ultimate sacrifice" Pyrrha replied.
"As future huntresses we have an obligation... to try." Pyrrha said with vigor.
Cinder smiled at Pyrrhas resolve "Well put Pyrrha. Let us go then." Cinder replied as the two entered elevator toward Ozpins office as Rieka and Glynda waited as they watched the elevator ascend to Ozpins office.
"They both have grown since their time here." Glynda replied.
"Yeah... but even then will they be enough to tip the scales in our favor?" Rieka said as the two decided to leave them.
=RWBY=
The elevator door opened as both Cinder and Pyrrha exited it as Ozpin was already standing waiting on them.
"Miss Fall, Miss Nikos. I presume you coming here means that you've made your descision." Ozpin started.
"Yes sir." Cinder replied.
Ozpin then gestured them over to the same wall that had the hidden elevator as it opened. The three entered it as they descended to the vault below. The door opened revealing the long coridor as the three walked toward the end of it with no words exchanged between them with Ozpin leading the two. They finally reached the end of the hall where the machine sat in total silence as if waiting to be used for it's purpose. Ozpin approached the machine and pulled a lever on it which turned on the machine activating its functions with a resounding hum.
Pyrrha gulped nervously but she stood firm knowing what had to be done.
"Now then Miss Fall if you'll enter the one on my right and Miss Nikos my left." Ozpin replied as the pods opened.
"Miss Nikos since you'll be recieving half of the maidens power I have a bit of a suggestion. Allow its power to flow through you and connect with your aura. If you struggle it won't make an easy transfer." Ozpin replied.
"So basically you want me to relax." Pyrrha replied.
"Yes." Ozpin nodded as Cinder entered her pod as it closed sealing her inside.
Pyrrha looked at the pod for a moment before standing firm as she too entered the pod making sure her back was flat against it as it closed.
Ozpin then went into the process of readying the machine as he pressed the appropriate buttons to activate it. On the screen it showed Cinder and her Fall maiden powers on the left screen adjacent to Cinders pod along with a heart monitor to keep an eye on her and on the right screen was Pyrrha and her vitals as well. With everything ready Ozpin took in a steady breath before letting it out.
"Are you two ready?" Ozpin questioned.
Cinder gave a thumbs up to him while Pyrrha only nodded.
"Alright I'm starting the transfer." Ozpin said as he pressed the button.
The machine roared to life as a glow came from Cinder's pod as it was drawing out the fall maiden powers. However Cinder's body was already feeling the effects as she roared in pain from the machine taking her power as her body spased from it. Ozpin monitored the heart monitor as it suddenly quickened.
Pyrrha suddenly felt a rush of power coming into her body as she tried to not cry out as she tried to relax herself squeezing her hands into fists her nails threatening to break skin. Opzin watched the amount of the maidens power depleting from Cinder's body and flowed into Pyrrha, but what worried him was that it was only a forth of the way finished and Cinder's body still spased as her heart monitor was quickened.
"Cinder! I know it hurts but try to hold out a little bit longer!" Ozpin shouted.
Whatever Ozpin said must've gotten through to Cinder as she tried to prevent her body from spasing out but she didn't know how much longer she would last.
After what seemed like hours for the two but it was only ten minutes Ozpin pressed another button to stop the process seeing half of the maidens power was depleted from Cinder.
Ozpin went over to where the pods were and pulled a lever causing the pods to open as Cinder fell in a heap but Ozpin managed to catch her before she could hit the ground. She was covered in sweat as it dripped from her face as her breathing became fast.
"Easy. Slow your breathing." Ozpin said trying to sooth her. Cinder was able to control her breathing but she was rather tired from the experiance.
Pyrrha emerged from her pod also rather exhausted from the experiance but she was able to catch herself so she didn't fall. She opened her eyes and almost immedately she could tell something was different as she looked at the reflection from the glass. A bright orange flame surrounded her left eye. Meaning the transfer had worked, she now has half of the fall maiden powers.
"It worked professor." Pyrrha confirmed.
"Yes. For now you two must head back to your dorms and be ready for the challenges ahead." Ozpin suggested as Cinder collected herself and walked with Pyrrha back the way they came.
Silently Ozpin prayed that he made the right choice.
=RWBY=
Meanwhile at the now empty arena Coco was still going their the arena network for potential targets but so far she was coming up empty as she view many of the videos that were taken throughout the day. She then stopped as she paused at Team RWBYs battle and while she would want nothing more than to kill off that little twerp Ruby their was no guarantee that Ruby would fight in the next round.
Weiss with her glyphs would make it much difficult to catch her off guard and Blake's speed and quickness would make her hard to hit. However she came to the fourth member of the team Yang. Her quick tempered attitude and physical strength would prove to be difficult but she could use this to her advantage and put another plan into action.
She got up from her seat and proceeded out of the room before whipping out her scroll and called one of her teammates.
"Fox. I have a job for you. I want you to listen very carefully. Also inform Yatsu about this plan." She said as she began explaining what her next plan was and from the sounds of it it wasn't going to be pretty.
Morning came as the teams were waking up as Star and her team were up and prepped for the singles round.
Rina for once had a bright smile on her face even though that today is officially her birthday even though they had the party just yesterday.
Star stretched her arms out and letting out a relieved sigh.
"Good morning everyone." Star replied.
"Well this is it. The singles round are finally here. Then after this will be the finals." Pepper replied.
"Though we have to get through this first. So who wants to take care of this round?" Star questioned.
The group looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Star.
"You take this one Star." Iona replied.
Star was surprised at this notion looking at her teammates "You are you girls sure." Star added a little shocked.
"Yeah. I think you can handle this. Beside I'm sure you're just itching to show off your skills on your own." Pepper added.
Star thought about it a little bit and she decided to at least give it a shot as she nodded her head in agreement.
"Okay. I'll win this match for the team." Star said actually excited for the match.
"Cool. Than we better get going. We don't want to miss the airship to it." Rina added as they all exited toward the airship to take them to the arena.
=RWBY=
Mercury was pacing back and forth waiting for his team to come to the airship but he was also worried about Cinder after last night when Pyrrha brought her back to the room. She told them that she was fine but Mercury figured out what happened that night. Cinder explained that it was a fail safe plan incase something happened to her.
Mercury sighed as he felt a tap on his arm as he looked to his side with Neo looking at him with a worried look with her umbrella unfolded to block the sun out.
"You worried?" Mercury asked as Neo nodded.
"Yeah me too but for now the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens." Mercury replied.
However it didn't seem to make Neo worry any less but then she noticed Team SPIR approach them with Star leading the way. Neo noticed and rushed at her girlfriend as she jumped toward her wrapping herself around her waist.
"Whoa! Did you miss me that much?" Star asked the shorter teen as Neo nodded happily.
"So where are the others?" Star questioned.
"Cinder and Emerald should be here. We're just waiting on them to arrive." Mercury said.
Pepper couldn't help it but her tail started swaying a little bit.
"Did something happen to Cinder?" Star questioned worried about her friend.
"Not sure. She wasn't feeling good when she came back with Pyrrha yesterday." Mercury answered.
Iona cupped her chin in thought "Why was she out with Pyrrha? More importantly what were they doing out so late?" Iona asked.
Mercury knew why but he didn't want to tell them till the time was right.
Stars ears perked up as she heard footsteps coming toward them seeing Cinder and Emerald coming toward them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Are we heading to the arena?" Cinder questioned.
"Alright then lets get going." Iona said as the two teams headed toward the airship which took them toward the arena for the singles round. However Neo remembered that she'd forgot something back at the dorms.
She gave Star a nudge a moment getting her attention.
"Something up Neo?" Star asked that was when she noticed that she forgot her weapon.
"Did you forget your umbrella?" She said as Neo nodded. Star simply smiled at this .
"Alright just go grab it and meet back up with the rest of us okay." Star said as Neo nodded and headed back to the dorms quickly as the rest of the group headed to the arena.
=RWBY=
The two teams landed and quickly departed from each other as Star and Mercury were heading toward the waiting room to wait to be called up.
"Well Mercury this is it. The singles round. You nervous?" Star questioned.
"Yeah but I'm sure we'll be fine." Mercury added.
"And hey if we end up facing each other. Let the best person win." Star said holding her fist out toward him. Mercury did the same as there fists pounded together.
"Yeah but don't think I'll go easy on you." Mercury added as the two headed into the waiting room. In the room Yang, Penny, and Sun were their along with one other member of the another school.
The person is a young girl about seventeen with a light tan skin tone with dusky rose hair with gray-blue eyes. She wears a red and white jacket over a white shirt with blue tracksuit pants and a distinctive black beanie that is covering her left eye. Shes also wearing a large black scarf and red canvas sneakers. On her back with a brown strap for easy carrying is a sniper riftle that is mainly grey and blue but with black muzzle on the end with the an attached scope at the top.
She seemed to be chatting with Sun about something before she turned and notice them come in.
"Oh you must be the others." The girl replied.
"Yeah and who are you?" Star questioned.
The girl only huffed but Sun intervened "This one here is May Zedong. She's part of Team BRNZ." Sun introduced.
May looked over to Star almost examining her before she spoke up.
"So... you must be Star Azure. I'll be looking for to taking you on." May replied confidently.
"I look forward to it." Star replied almost wanting to face May one on one.
Penny also observed the remaining combatants in the room before making a respone.
"From what I've concluded their's a possibility that you'll face each other in the following match up." Penny added.
"Oh c'mon you can't be that accurate." Yang joked.
"I'm usually never wrong about things like this." Penny said confidently before the intercom buzzed.
"May Star Azure and May Zebong please report to the staging area. Repeat Star Azure and May Zedong to the staging area." The intercom said before turning off.
"See. Just like I said." Penny replied as Star and May exited the room and headed seperate ways toward the staging area as Star checked over her weapon before taking in a breath as she focused on this round.
"You can't lose this. Do it for the team." She thought as she headed toward the arena.
=RWBY=
In the arena the crowd was waiting in anticipation for the next match to begin.
"Welcome everyone to the singles round. In this round only one member of each of the remaining teams can participate in this round. Now let us introduce the following fighters." Oobleck announced.
From the right side May Zedong came out with a rather calm look with her sniper rifle at the ready.
"From Shade Academy. Representing Team BRNZ the sharpest desert sniper May Zedong!" Port announced as May gave a sutle wave to the crowd.
Then from the left Star Azure came out as she whipped out Kitsune as she got into a battle stance.
"And from here at Beacon. Leader of Team SPIR Star Azure!" Port shouted as the crowed cheered for the competitors.
The rolette appeared over them as it started to randomly selecting the battlefield for them. It suddenly stopped on a desert dune and a picture of a snowflake.
"A battle on an ice and desert landscape. Wonder how these two will handle it?" Oobleck questioned.
The two stared at each other as they were waiting for the battle to begin.
Star closed her eyes, took a breath in before letting it out as she opened her eyes focusing on her opponent.
The buzzer rang out to signal the start of the round. The moment that buzzer rang Star charged forward toward May who has yet to move but gave her a smirk. The moment Star got close she swung at May aiming for her sides to do damage but instead of doing damage she actually went straight through May like she was a ghost causing Star to trip over herself.
She used her momentum to roll back onto her feet as she looked back toward May who suddenly seemed to disappear like she wasn't even their.
Star began looking around immediately trying to find her opponent trying to use her ears to pinpoint her. A very loud shot rang out as a purple beam suddenly hit her on the back of her shoulder. Star turned around to try and find where the shot came from as she kept her eyes open. Another shot rang out and Star had little time to actually react to it as she barely dodged the shot but it only kicked up sand where Star was originally.
"She's trying to confuse me so that way I can't find her." Star thought as she tried to come up with another plan. Her first idea was to get out of the line of fire. So the only way she could that was to use her semblance. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on her semblance then opened her eyes as she felt a sudden rush of power came out and with it a blizzard suddenly surrounded her.
To May she had a lock on her target through her scope but then all of a sudden Star was covered by a flurry of snow which did obscure her vision... or so her opponent thought.
"You can try and run." May started but she lifted the other side of her beanie showing her other eye which showed a bright amber eagle eye.
"But you can't hide from my sight." She said switching to her left hand to hold the gun while her right hand on the trigger and took her sights on Star as she could see her plain as day.
She smirked as she pulled the trigger and fired into the blizzard toward Star.
Star dodged the dust bullet but just barely as she wondered how her opponent was able to get a shot at her.
Meanwhile in the waiting room Yang was watching how the fight was turning out.
"Looks like things are going smoothly. She's probably shooting wildly into that blizzard Star made." Yang said with a smile.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. If theirs one thing about May. She never misses a shot." Sun replied.
However Mercury wasn't convinced "I don't know even shooting into a blizzard like that is rather a tough shot. Even for someone else we know." Mercury said referring to Ruby.
"Just watch and you'll see what I mean." Sun said confidently as the fight continued on.
In the stands as the remaining members of team RWBY and SPIR watched as the fight continued as they noticed fired into the blizzard this time hitting its mark as Star was suddenly flung out of the blizzard just from the impact of the blast.
"C'mon Star get your head in the game!" Pepper cheered.
"Kinda hard to when you opponent is a sniper. They rely on long ranged attacks and percision accuracy. Talk about a deadly combination. Especially since her opponent is from Shade Academy." Rina replied.
"Don't worry I'm sure Star will figure a way to deal with this sniper. Don't forget she went to school in Vacuo too so she can handle whatever May can dish out." Iona said confidently.
"Well she better come up with an idea and quick otherwise your team won't be advancing any further than this." Weiss added.
Back on the battlefield after getting blasted from the shot Star began evading May attacks and tried to get a pinpoint on where she is as more shots rain down on her.
"Okay I think I've had just about enough of this!" Star shouted as she switched to her weapons gun mode and her dust crystal to that of a green crystal. Star then jumped into air and aimed toward the ground and pressed the trigger firing a blast of wind which not only launched Star further upward but it also kicked up dust all around which even managed to obscure Mays vision as the dust managed to get into her eyes temperarily blinding her.
This time she had managed to see a small flicker of light that seemed to reflect off Mays scope giving away her position.
"Gotcha." Star thought as she smirked not going to let her opponent out of her sight. This time with well knowing where her location is she adjusting her position in the air and fired her grappling claw at a nearby stone as it hooked onto it pulling Star toward her opponent.
Finally getting the dust out of her eyes May noticed that Star had managed to pinpoint her location and was currently heading toward her direction. May put her beanie down over her left eye again and proceeded to try and find another area to snipe from. That would be the case if Star hadn't landed nearby.
Now finally in front of her opponent Star could finally get an upper hand in the fight as she began to take a swing at May. However May decided to reveal another function of her rifle as she weilded it from the barrel as the stock of the rifle extended a twin bladed axe as she held it up to defend herself from the attack.
Their weapons clashed as they tried to gain the upper hand on the other as May tried to push Star back but the fox faunus didn't budge as she actually shoved her away in order to get an opening to attack as she struck May but like last time the moment she attacked the girl her weapon went straight through her at it suddenly disappeared.
But unlike last time Star was ready as May charged at her right side but Star sidestepped her leaving an opening for a solid blow sending May flying into Stars side of the battlefield right into an ice crystal knocking a good chunk of her aura.
"I think I've got a good grip on your semblance. You can create a mirage of yourself to take the hit and then you attack from a distance with your weapons rifle mode but not very good when attacking up close." Star added.
May got herself up trying to gain her footing but due to the slickness of the ice she lost her footing. She tried again to get her footing this time using her weapon for leverage. This time she was able to get her footing as she readied herself for another go as she turned her weapon back to its rifle mode as she pointed her weapon at Star.
Though Star could tell that she was struggling to stay upright which she used to her advantage as she charged forward. May took aim and fired but due to being on the ice the recoil from just one shot made her almost slip up from firing the shot. Star easily dodged the shot as she continued forward as she switched back to her weapons grapple mode but this time aimed it directly at May and fired it.
The claw managed to hook itself on Mays lower chest as she was dragged forward at Star causing her to loose grip of her weapon dropping it where she was. Once she was close enough she heavied May over her head letting the hook go allowing May to be flown into the air.
Stars clawhook returned to her as she fired it again this time at a large pillar pulling toward it but instead of landing on it she twirled around the pillar and launched herself at the falling May returning her weapon to its staff mode. She pressed a button on it encasing her weapon in a bluish green aura as her dust crystals mixed.
She pressed another button to fire a combination of wind and ice causing a storm of ice shards to bombard May with several shards as the wind shredded her up as well as her beanie flew off her head due to the wind. She hit the earth with a resounding thud as shards surrounded her then Star landing safetly when Mays aura finally shattered.
"Its over! Star Azure of Team SPIR moves on to the finals!" Oobleck announced as the crowd cheered. Star went to check on her opponent making sure she was okay.
"Hey you okay?" Star asked as she helped May off the ground. When she helped her up that was when she noticed Mays left eye was far different from the other seeing the bright amber eagle eye.
"Yeah I'm-" May started but then noticed that her beanie was missing as she slightly panicked. She quickly covered her left eye as she looked around for it. She noticed that it wasn't too far away as she picked it up and immediately put on and over her left eye. She retrieved her weapon and without another word walked away from the arena.
Star was slightly confused at what happened but she didn't pondered it too long as she had to leave the battlefield so the next match could begin.
=RWBY=
Pyrrha watched the first match come to close as she tried to focus more on learning how to use her newly acquired power. She concentrated on that power that dwells within her as she closed her eyes and concentrated. As she opened her eyes the flames on her left eye emerged activating her maiden power. She then focused on her left hand as a fireball appeared in her hand but then dissapate like nothing followed by the flames on her eye.
"You're doing it wrong you." A womens voice rung out as Pyrrha jumped and readied her sword and shield as if to defend herself.
"Whoa. Easy their kiddo. I'm not going to hurt you." The women said as she stepped out of the shadow revealing Raven. Pyrrha immediately relaxed realizing who it was.
"Oh you must be Yangs mother." Pyrrha said looking over the women a moment.
"I can certainly see the resemblance." She added.
"Yes. I'm Raven Branwen-Xioa Long. Just call me Raven." The older women introduced herself.
"Of course. Though may I ask what are you doing here?" Pyrrha questioned as she sheathed her sword and shield.
Though a rather thoughtful knowing look was on the older women face before spoke.
"So... Oz actually did it to you huh?" Raven asked knowingly which seemed to confuse Pyrrha.
"What do you mean?" She questioned.
Raven crossed her arms staring at the red head "Giving you the fall maidens powers." She said before shaking her head "No... more like half of it right." She added which seemed to surprise Pyrrha.
"How'd you-" Pyrrha started.
"Know. Let's just say I know Ozpin from experiance." Raven added.
Suddenly Pyrrhas maiden powers started reacting wildly as her left eye erupted with power.
"No no no. Calm down." Pyrrha said trying to calm her powers.
Raven only sighed as she turned around to leave "If you can't learn to control your maiden powers then things are only going to get tougher for you down the line of life. I suggest that Cinder women shows you how to control it." Raven said as she walked away.
Almost immediately Pyrrhas power seemed to get itself under control as she dismissed it.
"Okay just what was that? Do maiden powers become uncontrolable at times or is their more to them that I don't know about." Pyrrha thought but didn't want to dwell on it to long as she decided it was best to find her teammates and watch the next match that would be happening next.
F3: And that is part 1 completed. Part 2 is next. So far Star and her team has moved on to the next round. The next match will be Team RWBYs Yang Xio Long and Team CMNs Mercury Black. Wonder how that's going to go? Also make sure to follow this story for future updates. Also let me know what you guys think in the comments about my story. With that said this has been Fireuser3 and I'm out.