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"How about a kiss for good luck?" I asked.
"Do you need one?" Weiss leveled.
"Sure," Ruby leaned up and kissed me. She shot Weiss a look. Weiss sighed. She also leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.
"Let's freaking go," I pumped a fist and censored myself.
"Still yucky," Garnet decided.
"We'll just have to keep doing until you don't find it yucky," Ruby bent down to Garnet's level. "Now let's go Cloud! Whahoo!"
I stepped out into the ring. I rested my sword on my shoulder.
"Here comes the professor from Beacon. He's been tearing his way through pools and the start of bracket." A voice boomed around me.
"Yeah I've been looking forward to commentating one of his matches and I'm glad we have the opportunity. Me and you Braun." A woman's voice came back.
I rolled my eyes a little. There wouldn't be much to comment on.
"Here fighting the good professor is Gelb now Gelb he's a veteran. Everyone knows what he's capable of. He's fast he's strong but he has never had that extra special edge to consistently make top eight or top four."
"Well we'll see. A fresh mindset. A fresh season. We'll see what he can do but I got to tell you. I saw the professor fight a little before and it didn't even look close. I'm not saying Gelb can't do it but he has a serious trial ahead of him."
Gelb, as he was called, was taller than me by a couple of inches. He had armor and a yellow jersey under brown hair and soft green eyes. He wielded the battle ax. And he swaggered into the ring with it on his shoulder easily enough.
I took him in and let my eyes flicker up and down his person.
"And now we're just waiting for the whistle… and… there they go. They are off. Gelb is moving with his typical flash."
Gelb was on top of me in a heartbeat. He moved quickly in a straight line such that he appeared to be in every place between us at once for a moment before stopping just ahead of me and bringing his ax down. I closed to the side in a short hop and let a blade beam loose at him as I hovered around him to dodge. He shrugged off the projectile and came at me with his ax again in a sideways swing. I deflected and stepped inside and swung from low to high into his chest and knocked him into the air. I juggled him once. Then twice. Then I floated in front of him and tried to spike him into the ground but he flashed to the terrain and looked up at where I swung into air. I lowered my blade so it was underneath of me and floated to the ground away from Gelb.
"No fist bump coming out of these two. Think that they have beef?" Braun asked.
"I think for Gelb it's sort of like 'get out of my ring and go back to teaching. You don't belong here.' A bit of disrespect being shown to the latest combat professor. Or it could be mind games. Let's see how the professor handles it."
I drifted back to the ground with my sword angled beneath me safely and as soon as I touched the floor Gelb flashed over to me in a tremendous two handed swing. I met him and floated back above him and delivered two punishing strikes to either side of his body from where I floated over him. He backed up immediately and I calmly set down on the ground again one foot after the other. I leveled my sword at him. His ax drifted in my direction. I flew at him way over his head like I was finishing a triangle between us and I kept my sword angled down at him the whole time. I kept both hands on my weapon and the tip pointed downwards as I hovered over him. He didn't jump up at me and try and bite so I drifted back along the path I carved and landed gently again. I floated at him tractionless. I pivoted and swung my full blade at his chest. He grunted as he blocked the sliding forward tilt attack. He tried to counter attack but I just floated away and blade beamed at him. He tore into the slow moving projectile and shed the energy like water.
"The professor is playing this really safely."
"So safe. Gelb hasn't had the chance to touch him. Can you imagine Gelb getting knocked into losers before top thirty two."
"That doesn't happen. You just don't see that."
"Go daddy!" Cherry called and then giggled from the sidelines. I could hear her bubbly little laugh all the way from where I drifted back away from Gelb.
Gelb flashed at me and this time it was his pure movement that tripped me as he slammed into and through me. He knocked me into the air and swept his ax up into my back from where he launched me. He attacked me before I could give my little princess a wave on the sidelines.
He tried to follow up but I floated even higher out of his range. Then I drifted back towards the ground and he tried to meet me there so I floated upwards again. I could wait and stall. I fell to the ground suddenly in a rush and as I did I put one hand on the holy and the other on the back of my blade and pushed upwards so it caught Gelb in the chest. Then I rematerialized above him and spiked him hard into the ground with a furious downward thrust. He rolled along the ground but I chased him and swiped my sword at shoulder height. I knocked him to the ground again and almost out of the ring but he flashed at me. That movement, that super speed, it could only be his semblance.
"Did you see that falling up air into the down air?" Braun asked. "That was one hundred percent safe. Did you see that positional advantage? Amarillo?"
"Wow," the woman, Amarillo mumbled back. "With his speed and range that falling up air could have set up into anything and he went with the spike. Talk about a king of the two piece combo."
When he flashed at me I caught him in the regular 'x' and partial box of the cross slash and flung him back. My semblance activated and blue flames wreathed around me.
"What's this? A breaker state?"
"The professor does have a breaker rating. He does. Let's see what he can do with it."
I hovered forward and brought my blade down in an enormous helmsplitter. He blocked with his ax but sank into the ground a little. The flames reached out around me and I felt the power in my veins. It was bursting to be used. I landed and swept in a half turn and brought my blade from low to high. It sent him skidding back but he blocked it again. I landed and jabbed with one leg. He caught me by the leg and picked me up by the back of the knee to pull me off balance. I rotated in midair. I blocked his ax swing and it sent me flying back from the strength of it while I hovered upside down.
I landed on my feet easily enough and turned with a flourish of my sword while the flames still wrapped around my body. He flashed at me but I parried his ax blow and floated a knee under his ribs. He bent over and I slammed the massive handle of my weapon into the back of his head. I caught him and tossed him airborne by the scruff of his neck. I pursued him into the air and delivered all eight hits of the octaslash in an upwards diagonal fashion that carried Gelb airborne and higher above the ring. When we reached the apex of my slashes I brought my sword down in a massive forward air which spiked him to the ground. He hit the ground and rolled to the side just before I slammed my blade down onto him like a meteor from above.
He rolled to his feet and I danced at him like flowing water. I brought my blade around my body and he blocked it. I took two actual steps and two solids swings at his ribs from either side. I finished it by drifting backwards like I was retreating before hitting him with a Limit Break blade beam. I combined the flurry of attacks into the backwards low to high aerial I was fond of.
"He can't get away. He can't get away from Strife's punish game."
"Yeah there's just no escape. It's just… it's just the kiss of death from this swordsman," Amarillo agreed.
"Look at this. There's no room and these are some big arenas. There's no room for Gelb to escape and breathe. He just can't get away. He can't get out of disadvantage. Look he's still not out of it!"
I chased with my personal favorite baseball swing. I caught him and put him into a tumble. I pursued by dragging my sword through the ground and into his chest. I finished by popping him into the air with an upwards aerial. He knew what was coming and tried to dodge in midair by twisting but I hesitated until he was done and caught him with a massive forward aerial with both hands. It spiked him hard and out of the arena. It was a double knock out.
I landed and pulled him to his feet. He took my hand and I helped the larger man up. I gave him a pat on the back and walked away.
"Alright. The professor helps him up. Gives him a pat on the back. We all know what it means. Good luck in the loser's bracket because, yeah, that wasn't even close."
I walked back over to my family.
"You didn't need the kisses," Weiss accused.
"But I wanted 'em. What's wrong with that, darling?" I leveled back.
She rolled her eyes.
"You're such a honey," Ruby purred up at me.
"So I can have another one?" I pleaded.
"Of course," Ruby leaned up and I bent down for her to kiss my cheek.
"That's that good stuff," I sighed. "Weiss? You want in on this?"
She rolled her eyes but stepped up and kissed my cheek. I quickly turned my head and caught her lips. She smirked into the kiss as I pushed into her.
"You're such a cat about how you like your affection. 'Come here, come here, come here. Get away, get away, get away.' At least Ruby is like a little puppy about it."
"Am not," Weiss squawked.
"You think I'm a puppy?" Ruby pressed.
"You are," I hummed down at her. "And you Weiss want to give out kisses but it's too undignified. So you make me beg."
"I like making you beg…" Weiss trailed.
"I love making you beg too," I returned huskily enough that she blushed and looked away.
"Cloud, kids," Weiss reminded.
I just growled absently with a note of hunger on my lips. I'd take her so hard later. I wanted to get behind her and pull her hair. She fucking loved when I got behind her and pulled her hair. It made her wet and clenching. It was delicious.
I shifted a little in my pants. But only a little. I bent to hide it some until it could dissipate as such things were want to do.
I glanced around at my children. I gave them a swift count. "Where's Nebel? The bathroom?" I asked.
"No he's right…" Weiss started with a half turn which quickly turned into a full spin. "Nebel? Sweetie?" She called out.
"Where'd he go?" Ruby wondered. "Did he wander off? Why?"
"Let's split up and look for him," I decided. "I'm going to check the locker rooms and exits."
I left immediately for the locker rooms. I scoured them but found no sign of my son. I held out my scroll and waited for a text from Ruby or Weiss saying they found him in the bathroom or something. Nothing. I felt my anxiety increase. Then by the exit a flash of white hair holding a woman's hand. She had dark skin and green hair and patiently led my son out of the colosseum. She was short with a pair of sickle like blades on her back with criss crossing straps.
I recognized Emerald Sustrai immediately. I shoved my way through the crowd to where I last saw my son's white hair.
"Shouldn't we wait for Daddy?" Nebel asked.
Emerald said nothing and looked down at my son with narrowed eyes. My son bobbed his head in agreement at whatever illusion he was under. I took my sword and hammered Emerald in the back. I knocked her down a flight of stairs. My son jumped at my appearance and looked down at Emerald and gasped. "Mommy Ruby?" He asked.
"No. Get behind me son," I ordered. He started to move as Emerald slowly got to her feet. She drew her weapons and glared up at me. "You touched my son," I accused.
"You took everything from me," she leveled back. "Cinder. Mercury. My whole life. You took it from me."
"You knew the ball game you were playing," I shot back. My son shuffled behind me.
"Daddy what's going on?"
"Nebel. Meet Emerald Sustrai. She's an illusionist. She has a vendetta with me. An old enemy."
I lowered my sword at Emerald. She raised her sickle machine guns. The crowd panicked and split up screaming in an attempt to get away. People were trampled in the chaos as I stood above Emerald.
"How did you know I was here? With my family?" I asked.
"It was in the news. Your participation in this tournament. Beacon's combat professor. It was a big deal," she informed me. Her eyes narrowed. Mother appeared as an enormous specter above us both. I cast a blade beam at Emerald hard enough to throw up concrete. She had to roll to the side and the illusion collapsed. I took a single step that carried me twenty feet and caught Emerald by the wrist. She pulled but may as well been trying to move a mountain. I slowly started crushing her aura with my immense strength. She tried to bash me with her free hand but I met it withy blade.
"Cloud!" I turned my head to see Ruby. She was pushing her stroller and looking down at me with wide eyes. I knew she was unarmed.
I turned back to Sustrai. "I suppose it was easy enough to put my son under a delusion. And then just lure him away from his mothers. Am I right?"
"I would have gotten away," Emerald glowered. "I nearly got away."
"You did," I agreed and I applied more pressure to her wrist. I activated my semblance and squeezed her aura hard enough that it depressed under my touch. "You know what has to happen now. Don't you?" I asked.
"Cloud don't do it!" Ruby shouted. I didn't even turn to look back up the carved steps to the massive entrance to the colosseum. I ignored her completely.
"You're going to kill me now. Aren't you." Emerald mumbled. She couldn't break my grip and I parried her slash again.
"I'm going to kill you now," I agreed.
"Cloud you don't have to!" Ruby called out. I crushed through Emerald's aura until her arm snapped at the wrist. I was so strong now. And I had a grip on her. No illusion she could do could stop this. In fact, Ruby behind me might be an illusion.
I could only act.
I spent my Limit Break. I yanked Sustrai towards me at the same time I stepped back. Then I stepped in with my blade while she was stumbling towards me. I bottomed my blade into her chest and picked her up off her feet and brought her up into the air then down into the ground such that she was impaled and mounted in the concrete on my blade. She choked blood up into the air.
I stepped back and away. I turned my head up and around to see Ruby's face crowned in horror. Weiss joined her and her mouth dropped open as they both stared down at me. My children looked shocked. They shouldn't be. This is what I really was. I was a creature that slew other monsters. And once I had my hands on Emerald I wasn't about to let go. Not until she died. She was too dangerous.
My children watched blood run down my sword to the concrete. Weiss quickly gathered them up and pulled them away. She grabbed Nebel and her stroller and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. I warned them that I would shock them once they dragged my kids into this world and against my enemies.
I warned them. They knew what I'd had to do. They knew that I'd done it. What else was there to say. The beast inside my chest bed itself down for a nap. I stared at Emerald's body and listened to approaching sirens.
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-WG