Im gonna put a chapter here lol
Chapter 33
Pride Before the Fall
"I'm sorry, but you've left us with no choice."
After the disaster that was Yang's tournament fight with, Ironwood, as the head of the tournament's security, was forced to deal with the situation. To do so, he gathered Team RWBY in their room to figure out how he would deal with them several of his droids outside to guard the room and ensure no one got in.
"But he attacked me!" Yang shouted angrily, sitting on her bed.
"Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise," Ironwood retorted, pacing the room and refusing to make eye contact.
"But Yang would never do that!" Weiss shouted, sticking up for her friend and teammate.
"Yeah!" Ruby shouted in agreement, standing next to her sister for support.
"You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did... under normal circumstances," Ironwood said, finally turning to face Yang and the rest of her team. Ruby knew where this was going and sat back down, she and the rest look distraught. "What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight is past..." he finished rolling his right shoulder.
"But I wasn't-" Yang said, but she was cut off by Ironwood.
"That's ENOUGH!" he shouted, silencing all of the present students. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you are disqualified."
Despite Yang knowing that she had apparently done something 'wrong', at least according to those around her, being told that she could no longer compete hurt her. But sadly, she understood, looking to the ground in both sorrow and defeat. Ironwood, knowing he'd done his job, turned and left, taking his droids with him.
"You guys believe me, right?" Yang asked, just wanting to hear that someone was on her side right now.
"Duh!" Ruby shouted, her decision having been made at birth. They were sisters, and nothing was going to change that, especially whatever fluke happened up in Amity.
"You're hotheaded, but not ruthless," Weiss said, making it clear that she was on Yang's side too.
Yang looked around the room, realizing that one person hadn't spoke, that person being none other than her own partner. "Blake?"
Blake, instead of offering her support like the others, turned away, causing Ruby and Weiss to look at each other in shock.
"I want to believe you..." Blake muttered, still facing away from Yang.
"Huh!?" Ruby shouted, Weiss looking equally distressed beside her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked loudly.
"Blake?" Yang asked, clearly hurt. At this point, it was evident that she was doing her best not to cry, but even then she wasn't doing too hot, a few rouge tears in her eyes.
"How can you say something like that?" Weiss shouted, seeing Blake look to Yang for a moment and then look away. "Yang would never lie to us!"
"I had someone very dear to me change," Blake said, turning to Weiss with a sigh. "It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. This is all just... very familiar," she said, now looking Yang right in her tear-laden eyes, many pushing their way down her cheeks. "But you're not him. And you've never done anything like this before. So... I want to trust you. I will trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did."
"I saw him attack me," Yang said, wiping the tears fro her eyes and composing herself, "so I attacked back."
"Okay," Blake said, closing her eyes and smiling before look back at Yang. "Thank you."
"I think I'm gonna rest up," Yang lamented, laying down on her bed.
"We'll get out of your hair," Blake said warmly, standing alongside the other members of RWBY before heading out and closing the door, but now before seeing Yang curl up in defeat.
"This is a mess..." Weiss groaned, shaking her head.
Hearing voices outside of the room now, Jaune peeked out of his room to find RWBY standing outside their door, aside from Yang of course. "She doing okay?" he asked quietly, not wanting to strike any nerves. The rest of JNPR followed him out of their room.
"She's doing the best she can," Blake said, leaning against the wall.
"I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So, until they land, no one can really question him about what happened," Ruby explained, lamenting that the only lead to figuring out exactly what happened down there had left not only Beacon, but the Kingdom as well.
"I had a feeling I wouldn't like the general," Link said, those present turning to see him.
"Hey, Link," Ruby said quietly, not feeling at her best right now.
"Honestly, he's lucky my uncle isn't here," he continued, leaning against the wall. "I'm one thing, but he would have torn Ironwood apart for disqualifying anyone, regardless of the reason. One of the few things I can say might be a good quality of his..."
"Is there anything he could do for Yang?" Weiss asked, a bit hopeful.
"No," Link said, sighing. "He may be strong, but he has next to nothing in the way of political power. I'd be willing to bet anything he could kick Ironwood's ass, but that would only go so well with the military circling the place."
"It's a shame, too, as we really don't think Yang did anything wrong," Weiss continued. "Ironwood sat there grilling her with armed guards sitting outside the room, and she still maintained her innocence."
"I have no doubts that hothead did nothing wrong," Link said, pushing himself off of the wall. "I may not have gotten to know her too well back at Signal, but if these past couple semesters have taught me anything, that's that Yang's got a heart of gold. She wouldn't hurt anyone that didn't deserve it."
"I just wish that stupid general would realize that..." Ruby lamented, walked forward and leaning against Link, the huntsman in training pulling her close and comforting her.
"If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask," Ren said, offering JNPR's support.
"All right then," Ruby said, turning towards him in Link's arms. "If that's the case... Pyrrha?" she said, turning to the ace of JNPR.
"Hm?" she mumbled, stepping forward to hear the leader of RWBY better.
"You be sure to win another one for Beacon, okay?" she said, doing her best to put on a brave smile.
"It's what Yang would want," Weiss said as she nodded in agreement.
"It's the least we can do for her," Link said, turning towards Pyrrha. "We're the highest seeded competitors now. We might as well fight like it."
"I'll..." Pyrrha said before swallowing her nerves in the hopes of coming across as confident, "do my best."
"I'll be sure to watch tonight in case you're picked!" Ruby cheered, a little of her confidence back.
"Come on, let's go get something to try and cheer Yang up," Link said, nudging Ruby to follow him. "Does she like chocolate?"
"She does, yeah, maybe we can have some when we watch the matches!" Ruby cheered, hoping to get her sister out of the dumps.
Pyrrha, still unsure of her whole predicament, turned to go back into her own room, her smile fading as she did.
"Sorry but, I think I've had enough fighting for one year," Blake said, shaking her head.
"Ditto," Weiss said, smiling weakly. "Coffee?"
"Tea," Blake said in return, smiling at her white haired teammate.
The collective group left, JNPR filing back into their room with Jaune only closing the door once he was sure they had all left. Pyrrha still looked rather upset, and they all remained silent until...
Nora. They stayed silent until Nora. That honestly feels like a given at this point.
"You heard the lady! No more moping around!" Nora shouted right in Pyrrha's face, startling her before scooting to the other side of the room, now wearing over the top workout clothes. "We gotta get your butt in shape for the big fight! It could be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be the most important fight of your entire life!" she shouted, doing many rapid speed workouts and finishing with holding a massive barbell, sweating and pointing expectantly at Pyrrha.
"Um..." Pyrrha mumbled, feeling an eerie sense of deja vu. Why did this feel so familiar...?
"Nora's right," Ren said, astounding everyone with his ability to agree with the hyper hammer user. "You can't let your concern for Yang hold you back. You need to focus. You'll be defending the honor of Beacon Academy."
"Of course," Pyrrha said with a nod, as she understood that much. "I-"
Ren, additionally proving that he could be pushy, produced a large glass of a suspicious green liquid that bubbled on its own. "This blend of herbs and vegetables is filled with nutrients vital to your body's well-being."
"Oh, that's-" she said, accepting the glass, though Ren held up a hand to stop her.
"Please, there's no need to thank me," he said with a sincere smile.
"Thank you?" Nora said as she looked skeptically at the green liquid bubbling within the glass. "Ugh, that looks like slime from a lakebed!"
"Algae contains numerous spectacular properties," Ren said, taking the glass from Pyrrha and holding it up to Nora. "See for yourself."
Now, Nora was willing to experiment with nearly any food she was offered, and as such took a small sip of the goo within the glass. Unsurprisingly, she did NOT enjoy this drink and spat it out, grabbing a garbage can and dry heaving in the corner. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? Ugh..."
"Me? You're the one that wasted perfectly good juice," Ren said calmly yet sternly.
"We're supposed to help Pyrrha, not poison her!" Nora shouted. Ren, crossing his arms, turned his nose to the side and away from this injustice.
"There was absolutely nothing wrong with that," he said.
"If it looks the same coming up as it does going down, then there's something wrong!" Nora retorted, her hands on her hips. Honestly, she may have a point...
Amidst their senseless bickering, they didn't see that Pyrrha's expression grew more and more sorrowful, though luckily someone did.
"Hey, how about we all get some fresh air?" Jaune said, getting her attention as he put his hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw him smile warmly at her.
OOO
Yang, still in the dorm and feeling sorry for herself, watched as JNPR marched past in the courtyard outside, all of them looking rather happy with one another. Nora and Ren walked in front, Nora being as hyper as ever. Thus, by process of elimination, Jaune and Pyrrha walked behind them.
"Hey there, firecracker."
Yang half expected the voice in the doorway behind her, and as such she refused to turn around to face Qrow as he stood in the doorway with arms crossed. No, instead she simply leaned forward, as she had a feeling he would come. "Hey, Qrow."
Qrow was a little caught off guard by her response, and snorted, perhaps thinking that her response was funny. Calming himself, he asked the dreaded question. "So, why'd you do it?"
"You know why," she said, having taken a moment to respond.
"All I know is that you attacked a helpless kid," Qrow retorted, uncrossing his arms and leering at his niece. "So either you're lying or you're crazy."
"I'm not lying," she declared, glaring adamantly at her smirking uncle.
"Crazy, got it," Qrow said, sighing as he walked to the center of the room, hands in his pockets like the epitome of cool that he was.
"Who knows? Maybe I am," Yang lamented.
"And here I thought your dark-haired friend was the emo one," Qrow said as he walked, shaking his head. Wasn't really expecting that one from Yang.
"I saw my mom," Yang said, dropping the bombshell. It was obvious that it was a bombshell, as Qrow froze up upon hearing it. "I-I was in a lot of trouble. Took a pretty hard hit. But when I came to, the person attacking me was gone. And I thought I saw... her. Her sword, like the one in you and dad's old picture."
"You're not crazy, Yang," Qrow said with a quiet laugh, finally relenting as he turned towards hie niece. "That was your mom, all right. Let me guess - she didn't say a word, did she?"
"How did you know that?" Yang said, finally turning to face her uncle.
"I don't see my sister very often, but she does try to keep in touch... whenever it suits her," he groaned, apparently recalling one of those meetings.
"Wait," Yang said, shaking her head as she absorbed this new information. "You mean you talk to her? That was real?"
"Yeah, she found me," Qrow said, confirming her suspicions. "Had a tip from my most recent assignment and wanted me to give you a message."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Yang shouted, Qrow sighing as he looked out the window at the courtyard below.
"I was tryin' to wait for the right time, and this sure ain't it. But I guess you deserve to know," he said, turning back to Yang looking dead serious. "She wanted me to tell you that she saved you once, but you shouldn't expect that kindness again. Raven's got an interesting way of looking at the world that I don't particularly agree with. And she's dangerous. But you're a tough egg, kiddo. Shouldn't let this tournament thing get'cha down. You had a slip-up, sometimes bad things just happen. I say it's time you move on."
"Move on to what?" Yang asked expectantly.
"Well..." Qrow said as he leaned against the dresser under the window. "Raven let some info slip before she took off. If you ever wanna track her down, I think I might be able to help."
Naturally, this piqued Yang's interest, and she looked to Qrow with her undivided attention.
OOO
As for JNPR and their quest to perk Pyrrha up, not everything was going as planned. Despite Ren and Nora's efforts to cheer her up, they didn't go so well, with Jaune and Pyrrha instead splitting off on their own in order for Jaune to try his method. Pyrrha, having been told to wait, sat near the dining hall as the cool fall breeze blew a single orange leaf down to the ground, something which Pyrrha took fearful note of, having been reminded of the Fall Maiden and the choice weighing on her shoulders.
"Hey," Jaune said, cutting her loose from her reverie and bringing her attention to him as he offered her a nice pink cotton candy. "I-It's no green goop, but I think it still might do some good."
"Um, right," she said, finally snapping back to reality and accepting the treat from Jaune. "Thank you, Jaune."
Jaune was a little disheartened to see that his friend still seemed rather distraught, and as such his smile faded a bit. Ren and Nora came back at this moment, Nora noticing their moment as Ren was too occupied by all of the carnival food his was being forced to carry. Grabbing Ren by the shirt, she started dragging him back to the fairgrounds. "Uh... come on, Ren. Let's go back to the fairgrounds. I'll win you another stuffed animal," she said as they two left their other teammates to their own devices.
"You were the first person to ever believe in me, you know that?" Jaune asked, taking a seat beside Pyrrha and finally getting her to look at him as he laughed weakly. "Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?"
"I'm sure they didn't mean-" Pyrrha said, cutting herself off when she felt something touch her hand, looking down to see that Jaune had laid his upon her own, sitting there in shocked surprise. She even dropped her cotton candy, as there was something even better to worry about right now.
"I guess..." Jaune said, fumbling over himself as he tried to find the right words. "I'm just trying to say that... you've always been there for me... even when I didn't deserve it. And I can tell there's something on your mind, so... I don't know. How can I help?"
Pyrrha, still astonished that this was happening, that this was real, let her surprise melt away to contentment as she scooted closer to Jaune, resting her head on his shoulder. "You're already doing it," she said, smiling.
Jaune, happy that he'd finally done something right, allowed himself to smile as well, just enjoying the moment with his teammate. Sadly, Pyrrha noticed yet another leaf fall and join the first, reminding her once more of the question that burned at the back of her mind.
"Jaune..." she muttered, sitting up straight again.
"Hmm?" Jaune hummed in response, looking to his friend.
Pyrrha looked for a moment at his hand on hers before pulling it back, quietly regretting her choice as she did. "I don't know what to do," she said, once more looking conflicted.
"W-What do you mean?" Jaune asked, confused. He thought he'd finally figured something out, what happened?
"Do you believe in destiny?" she asked, finally figuring out what she needed to know.
"Um... I-I don't know. I guess that depends on how you view it," Jaune said, a little taken aback.
"When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape," she explained, watching the two leaves get carried away by another breeze. "But rather... some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life."
"Okay. Uh, yeah," Jaune said, absorbing her words. "I can see that, sure."
"Well..." Pyrrha said, looking for the right words to convey her thoughts properly. "What would you do if something came along that you... never expected? Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?"
"Like what?" Jaune ask, but Pyrrha just kept going.
"Or what if you could suddenly fulfill your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?" she said, looking at him in stress.
"Pyrrha, you're not making any sense," Jaune said, leaning forward and trying to place a hand on her shoulder, though she stood and stepped away right as he made contact.
"None of it makes sense!" she shouted, cradling herself as though she were on the verge of tears. "This isn't how things were supposed to happen!"
"I'm sorry!" Jaune said, standing to face her. "Please, I-I'm just trying to understand what's wrong."
"I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress - to protect the world..." she said, calming herself down just enough and sighing. "And it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right. But... I don't know if I can do it."
"Of course you can. The Pyrrha Nikos I know would never back down from a challenge. And if you really believe it's your destiny to save the world..." he said taking a few confident steps forward, "you can't let anything stand in your way."
This was the wrong answer.
Pyrrha, looking as though she was hurt by his words, began to cry, raising her hands and covering her mouth to at least try to be silent about it.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune said, realizing he'd made a mistake.
"Stop..." Pyrrha said, turning her back to him.
"Did I say something wrong?" Jaune said as he approached, still more than willing to try to help his friend.
"STOP!" Pyrrha yelled, thrusting her hand forward in order to stop him. Due to her emotional distress, however, she accidentally used her Semblance to repel his armor, and by extension Jaune himself, into the wall behind them, cracking the was and winding Jaune. He was nearly knocked out as well, as he wasn't prepared for it and neglected to put his aura up.
It took Pyrrha a moment to realize what she'd done, turning around and seeing she was inadvertently using her Semblance to pin him to the wall, her eyes widening in horror as she reeled her hand back, dropping his barely conscious form on the ground.
"Jaune!" she yelped, watching as he fought to stay awake and aware, crying once more as he looked to her with glazed eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
"Pyrrha, wait!" he shouted, finally coming to and holding a hand up to try to stop her, but it was in vain as she ran away, leaving him there, alone, groaning in pain. "What did I say?"
OOO
"We apologize for the unexpected delay, but now it's time for the next battle!"
After RWBY's disqualifications, the tournament organizers had to work around the sudden change in the pool of combatants, and as such needed some extra time in order to fix the mess it had caused. With that problem solved, they were thus able to continue with the festival, the randomizer selecting Link Satane and Sun Wukong, both from Haven.
"Hoho! Looks like we have a battle of classmates!" Port jeered, watching on as the two made their way to the stage.
"No offense bro, but I don't remember you at all," Sun muttered scratching his head as he tried to place the disturbing face before him. "Honestly that might be for the best..." he muttered, not really liking the opponent standing before him.
"One man team, one on one schooling," Satane explained. "Big man decided that since team exercises would be wasted on me, he shouldn't waste my time putting me through them."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense..." Sun muttered, Satane smirking and drawing his sword, once again the inferior blade he was to use in place of his original one, as per D's orders.
"Boy, I don't think you're ready to see what a few semester's worth of one on one with Huntsmen does to ya," Satane said with a chuckle. Naturally, though, this was a lie, as he'd only been created not so long ago. Swinging his sword to the side and lowering into a combat pose, Sun took the hint and prepared to do the same.
"Let's go buddy, give him the business!" Neptune shouted, Sun smirking and pointing to him.
"Nothing but monkey business!" Sun shouted, Oobleck beginning the countdown.
"Begin!" he shouted at the finale of his counting, Sun immediately splitting Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang apart and spinning them wildly in order to fire shot after shot at Satane, who smirked cockily as he casually deflected each round with the blunt of his sword.
"Oh boy, bullets, woo," he muttered, walking forward through the gradually intensifying bullet hail, as Sun realized he needed to try harder to shoot this guy. Even firing as quickly as possible, however, he wasn't able to get through his guard.
Figuring that wasn't going to work at all, he moved in to try and overwhelm him with the actual weapons themselves, trying over and over to bash Satane to, you guessed it, no avail, the artificial fighter blocking every hit with the same level of ease as before. Connecting his weapons to form his staff, he tried to break through his guard by force, as getting through it with finesse wasn't going to happen. Powering through it didn't go so well either, as Satane simply bashed the attacks out of the way, using his free hand to cover his mouth as he yawned.
"You made finals like this?" Satane said in order to mock Sun, the teen getting angry and swinging once more, being blocked as usual. That's what he was expecting, and reached around with his tail to rip the sword from Satane's hand succeeding in doing just that, a gleeful smile coming to his face.
"Ooohhh!" he cheered, as this fight was getting more interesting. Sun took his chance and swung at his opponent's head as hard as he could, but his staff unexpectedly passed straight through Satane as though he weren't there.
"What the?" Sun muttered as he tried a few more times, getting the same result each time he tried.
"Heh, Semblance," Satane muttered as he casually walked towards his sword stuck in the ground, Sun still trying his best to deal, well, any damage to this monster. He failed, Satane grabbing his sword and parrying another strike before punching sun with his free hand, blasting away a significant portion of his aura and nearly sending his skidding off the edge. Luckily he was able to stay on, but unlucky for him Satane threw his sword after him, the pommel smashing into his face, both knocking him out cold and out of the arena.
"As to be expected based on his previous battles, Link Satane of Haven wins!" Port declared as the sword bounced back to Satane, the artificial Huntsman catching it and sheathing it, seriously considering flipping off the cameras on his way out. He resisted the urge, however, and left without causing any more of a scene than his easy victory over Sun would have made.
"This guy..." Link said, looking at him from the stadium seating. "He's interesting. Incredibly skilled and strong as well... And that Semblance of his apparently lets him phase through stuff. Impressive stuff, definitely."
Something on his mind, Link got up to leave, remembering Ruby saying something about having to wait in line at the arena entrance and likely being unable to make it to the fight on time.
OOO
As for Ruby herself, she was currently in one of the lines leading into the colosseum, watching the replays of Satane's match with Sun, the 'Haven student' dismantling the Faunus with absolute ease. Pouting that she was unable to watch the fight, she was at least glad that she hadn't missed Pyrrha's match, as she was really hoping to watch Beacon reclaim their pride after what had happened with Yang. Sure, Link took out the top seed, but someone 'breaking' someone's leg was a bit bigger, regardless of how much she doubted its credibility. Looking around, she saw a few eliminated teams waiting in line to head in as well, such as Team BRNZ. Sun eventually came out of the stadium, weapon over his shoulder and head hung low, sad he'd been taken out so easily. Ruby also saw Velvet from CFVY, snapping photos of everyone around. Figuring there'd probably be time before the next round, she left the line and went to approach, Velvet turning around to see her.
"Ruby, how you going?" Velvet asked, waving to the first year approaching her.
"Hi, Velvet!" Ruby cheered, reciprocating the greeting. "What're you up to?"
"Oh, you know. Just working on my photography. Do you wanna see?" Velvet said, gleefully holding her camera out to Ruby. Ruby happily accepted and looked at the photo she'd just taken of Sun, but found that only his weapon was fully in frame, head and feet apparently ignored.
"That's..." Ruby said, trying to think of the right word, forcing herself to smile, "better."
"I'm... sorry to hear about your sister. Is she doing okay?" Velvet asked cautiously, unsure of whether or not it was still a touchy subject.
"Yeah, she's fine, heh. Thanks," Ruby said, thinking back to her sister's reaction to her offer to go watch the fights with her and Link. She rejected the idea, but took the chocolates they'd offered, closing the door behind her and sitting right back down on the bed.
"I think it's just awful what people are saying about her. Yang's such a nice person," Velvet said, putting her camera away in the box on her belt.
"Well, I'm glad someone thinks so," Ruby said with a quiet laugh while rubbing the back of her head.
"Most people don't know what it's like on the battlefield. I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. If it happened to Coco, it can happen to anyone," Velvet said, Ruby perking up upon hearing that.
"Coco?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah," Velvet said in confirmation. "She swore she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never even made it out of the geyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations, apparently."
"Yeah..." Ruby said, narrowing her eyes and looking down in thought, only to be startled when Velvet quick snapped a photo of her face.
"Oh! Sorry," she said, laughing as she lowered her camera.
Ruby and Velvet laughed for a moment before Ruby turned and saw Link approaching, waving him down over to them.
"Found you!" he said, approaching the pair. "You know, you'll get in faster if you wait in line."
"Well, I already missed the fight, so I've got a bit more time before the next one anyway," Ruby said, shrugging.
"Hey Link!" Velvet said, waving to Link. "I never got the chance to congratulate you on beating that Atlas student."
"Yeah, Umberdyne," Link said, recalling his name for her. "He was... really tough, to say the least. Honestly, I'm surprised I got up and running so quickly after taking him down."
"Right, you went down right after him, didn't you?" she said, Ruby nodding and glaring at him.
"Yeah, he tends to fight awfully recklessly sometimes," she muttered, Link shrugging beside her.
"When you gotta win, you gotta win," he said, patting her head. "Plus, you were watching, I had to do my best to impress you. What better way to do so than beating first seed!"
"Oh, he's got you there," Velvet said, Ruby sighing and leaning forward, her arms hanging in defeat.
"Can we... Can we just go watch the next fight?" she muttered, Link chuckling and patting her back.
"Of course, let's hop in line and grab some seats."
OOO
Having gotten back in line and finally making it back to the stadium and grabbing some seats, Ruby looked around in anticipation of the next round. Figuring she'd done all she could, she sat at the ready with a smile on her face.
That is, of course, until something odd caught her eye.
Narrowing her eyes to the other side of the arena, she saw a familiar face belonging to...
"Emerald's... here?" she whispered, Emerald almost sensing that she was being watched, glaring at Ruby, Ruby quickly getting up and nudging Link beside her. "Follow me, something's wrong."
He did as he was told and quickly rose to go with her, Ruby leading him to the maintenance halls. She marched forward with a determined look on her face, hearing the muffled sound of Oobleck's voice from outside.
"All right, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!"
Ruby continued walking, unfazed by the fight she was to watch, but stopped dead in her tracks when another person joined them in the tunnel, being none other than...
"Mercury?" she asked, almost unsure of herself.
"What the hell...?" Link muttered, a bit confused as well.
"It looks like our first contender is... Penny Polendina from Atlas..." Port said from outside.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked, Link looking around cautiously, as seeing someone that was supposedly on an airship back to Haven wasn't exactly a good sign.
"And her opponent will be..." Port said, the randomizer finally landing on the other selected student. "Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"
"No..." Ruby said, realization hitting her as her eyes went wide.
"Ooh, polarity versus metal. That could be bad," Mercury said snarkily, Link looking to Ruby in confusion.
"Ruby, what's up?" he asked, Ruby still glaring angrily at Mercury.
"I'll explain later, for now..." she said, reaching back for her scythe, only to find that it wasn't there. "No!"
"Don't worry," Link said, stepping forward and rolling his neck. "I don't need my weapons to make sure his legs stay broken this time."
Now, Mercury was noticeably taken aback by the threat, but sighed in relief when the door he'd entered through opened once more, Fenrir stepping through to join him.
"Oh," Link said, blinking a few times. "Never mind, this is bad..."
Outside, back in the stadium proper, the selected students stood on the platform as it rose into the air. Penny, cheerful as always, smiled widely as she looked around, Nora in the stands cheering wildly for Pyrrha. Even Ren submitted and offered a quiet 'Yaaay...' beside her. Pyrrha herself, however, didn't look excited at all, still dwelling on what she'd done earlier.
And as if everything else wasn't enough, on the rafters of Amity Colosseum stood Oni Strife himself, having reached the floating stadium completely undetected.
"Amity..." he said, taking a deep breath of the crisp, cool air. "It's been a long time since I've even seen it."
Looking at the combatants below him, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Penny. "This girl... She isn't like the others. None of my soldiers have given me any information regarding her either. Oh well, to learn about her, all I must do is wait. I've waited decades for this, I can wait a few more minutes. And then... It begins."
Crossing his arms, he watched as the timer began to count down, smiling as he knew this timer signified his time to strike.
Yeah, things are about to happen. Mercury is still there, Fenrir too, and now even Oni Strife himself is about to pull some shenanigans.
Great. Clearly, nothing can possibly go wrong, ever.
OniHelix out!
