A New World on her Shoulders

by Flagarach

Instead of stopping Torchwick's dust robbery Ruby finds herself preventing an attempted kidnapping of an SDC official. As a result Ruby is offered to join Atlas Academy by Ironwood, Vale is seen as too dangerous for a Schnee, and Penny finds herself part of an actual huntress team. Back at Beacon Yang tries to make a team out of three (former) criminals. Now has a TVtropes page.

18. Chapter 3-1

It has been a week or two since team Scorpio and team Vibrant met, and now both teams are joined together for lunch. Although, it's not exactly a meeting of Vibrant and Scorpio:

Both teams still have the friends they made at their academy, and they don't want to neglect them just because of a foreign team with family on them. No, both Ruby and Yang had a better idea: Introduce your friends to your sister's team! Team Vibrant introduced the members of Juniper to the Atlesians, while Scorpio introduced teams Carrot and Regal to the Valeans. All these groups get along surprisingly well, and as a result lunch is eaten in a massive group. The only one of those twenty missing is Ilia, currently seated with her lover and the rest of Indigo.

In the midst of all these team interactions Ruby is quietly eating her lunch. Or to be more precise, her store-bought lunch. Unlike Atlas Beacon doesn't put much value in the students being able to cook. Heck, the dormitories of Beacon don't even have a proper kitchen! No, all three meals of the day are served in Beacon's cafeteria, much to Ruby's dismay. It's not that the food is bad. What they serve here is at least better than what they serve at Atlas Academy, but it's not great either. It's just… meh. Ruby does respect the cafeteria ladies, who have to make decent meals for hundreds of students, but why can't she just make a meal for herself and the rest of Scorpio somewhere?

…

Oh, wow. It now dawns on Ruby that she's missing her own cooking. Ruby fistpumps once in recognition of her awesome cooking skills!

Ruby looks around the table, where the 19 students of their teams have divided themselves into smaller groups. On the far left of the table is her partner Weiss, RGAL's Gaia and CROT's Romy, who are joined by VYBA's cat faunus Blake. It is Romy who is telling her story, while the other three are listening as if spellbound. Ruby decided to tune in to what Romy is telling:

"And I was, like, 'O Julian, Julian! Where are you now, Julian? I foolishly left your loving letter on my nightstand, where any maid could find it and hand it to my father. And with me here in Vale I cannot keep our love secret!'"

Ruby lets out a sigh, realizing that she is listening about the least interesting of all subjects: Love. To be fair, Ruby has to admit that when it comes to love stories Romy has probably got one of the most interesting ones: The Atlesian metalworking industry is almost complete divided between two companies: Joulie Industries, belonging to Romy's father; and their mortal enemy, Roccocorp, whose heir is Romy's lover. A love between these two rivals would be unacceptable, but it gets worse when you take the class conflict between the families into account: The Joulie family was nobility back during the monarchy and never forgot their blue blood, while the Rocco are as nouveau riche as the Schnee.

A true forbidden love… but love nonetheless. Ruby doesn't get why the other girls are so interested in it all. Why can't they tell any good stories, like about slaughtering grimm? Now that would be fun to listen to!

"And then?" Weiss asks, intrigued. She is completely into the story, listening keenly. Then again, it's only because Ruby knows that her partner is somewhat of a romantic at heart as well. Though Weiss would never admit it, Ruby has seen enough evidence that her partner secretly longs for a romantic fairytale wedding.

Weiss' eager question gets answered by a smirking Romy: "What do you think? He immediately set off to sneak into our mansion! Not only did he evade my family and all 57 members of our staff, he also climbed up the walls of the inner court to my room. And my room is on the fourth floor! Oh, and did I forget to mention that he doesn't have his aura unlocked? He did it all with the power of love!"

Okay, Ruby has to give it to this Julian: He's an absolute mad lad! Doing a stealth mission into the territory of your most heated enemy? Climbing on the outside of buildings without any protection or boost from your aura? That sounds awesome! Why couldn't Romy elaborate more on that?

The other listeners also sound impressed by Julian, though it is more towards Julian's power of love than his sneaking skills. Weiss and Blake let out "Ooh"'s, while Gaia can't help herself from letting out a high-pitched "kyaa".

"I know, right?" Romy continues, equally excited by her boyfriend. "Such a heroic action, when I go back to Atlas we might even go beyond second base, If you know what I mean."

Okay, blegh, too much information! It's getting a bit too lovey-dovey in that corner of the table, so let's tune out of whatever they say. Maybe there's something more interesting going on at other parts of the table.

Ruby's eyes next gaze upon a different group: Ciel, Tidus and that quiet guy from JNPR, Ren. They calmly eat their food, sometimes speaking about their strait-lacedness and how they need to be the sensible person on their team.

Hm… Ruby can't exactly deny that. Team Scorpio has two rather straightforward and sensible people in Weiss and Ciel. However, when push comes to shove Ciel will stay stoic and strait-laced while Weiss, well… when she gets into something she gets way too much into something.

The two guys are of the sensible type as well. Tidus is even more serious then Ciel, and while Ruby doesn't know Ren all that well yet she's pretty sure that he's the type who gets dragged around by his team's wacky antics. It's strictness all around there. In fact, get Weiss to lead them and you can make strict their team's name. Be it as STRC or SRCT, team Strict would be the most rule-abiding team in the history of the four academies!

But anyhow, Ruby would like to leave team strict alone unless strictly necessary. If she were to enter then it would likely be three people using Ruby as an example of why they need to be the sane man of their team. Let's look somewhere else. Third time's the charm, as they say!

Ruby next looks at Robin, who is talking with the blonde guy… ah, Jaune, yeah, that was his name! They both have a clipboard in hands, each asking the other questions:

"So…" Robin begins, "Leader of your team, but sometimes uncertain if you're the one deserving that spot?"

"Pretty much all the time, yeah." Jaune confirms, both males checking a box on their clipboard. "Only member of the team without a semblance?"

"Unfortunately, yes." It was originally thought that only the ladies of RGAL had semblances, but a month ago it was discovered that Ace has a very subtle physical boost semblance that's always on. It explains why he's top scoring in the physical examinations. "I can fight decently well on my own, but sometimes that lack of special something makes me feel inadequate."

"I know, right? It's just makes you feel really generic at times." Both guys nod at that, and Jaune continues the list: "Okay… you're dating your partner?"

"…" This time Robin stays silent. His relation with Laura is only on best friends level. "No, it seems like that's a difference between us."

"I don't think so." Laura interrupts. She was quietly eating her food next to Robin, but now she has to speak up. "I have told you many times before that you are my partner. Not merely as teammates, but as one for life. I am attracted to you, and I expect you are too."

Wait, did Ruby just witness a love confession? Okay, while this is really sweet it's supposed to be dinnertime, not lovey-dovey time. Romy's love story was enough! Ruby will only congratulate Robin after dinner, okay?

"Huh." Robin is equally surprised by Laura's confession, flustered and unsure of how to respond. "You… huh. I mean, I… I did not expect this. I mean, I've never been good at noticing love, and thought our relation was more like siblings."

Laura looks somewhat frustrated by those words, but before she can interject Robin continues speaking.

"But there's no denying that you are a wonderful woman. I don't know how it will end up, but I'm willing to give love a try." Robin turns back to Jaune, the blonde equally surprised by these developments. None of the guys expected a new couple to come out of the blue. "Huh, I guess we are both dating our partners."

"Well… ehm, congratulations." Not sure what to say Jaune ticks off another box on the list, and goes to the next. "Moving on, do you ever feel like you're playing second string to your sister team? I mean, sure, team Juniper's really cool, but it's Vibrant who gets to do things like crazy motor chases and foiling White Fang robberies."

"Only to Scorpio." Robin agrees. "It's saying enough when the strongest grimm we and Carrot fought were giant nevermores and beringels, while those people from Scorpio already helped kill a leviathan!"

Ehehe… that is true. As Ruby overhears that she can't help but softly chuckle a bit. Yeah, her team has probably had the craziest adventures of all Atlas freshmen. Then again, with two high-class ladies and a literal secret government project on your team it's only logical to find crazy stuff on your path.

Robin doesn't seem to mind it too much, as he continues on with his next question: "Favorite snack? Let's say it together in 3… 2… 1…"

"Chicken nuggets!" both guys reply at the same time, their excitement over the snack lacking any of the maturity expected of an academy student. Ruby rolls her eyes at the two boys who are acting like bigger children than Ruby herself, and that's saying something! Let's see if there's someone else doing something interesting.

Hmm… There's another quartet here who are engaged in conversation. Her friends Otto, Penny and Cordelia are talking with Pyrrha Nikos.

At the moment it is Otto who takes the word: "I must say, miss Pyrrha, I did not expect to meet someone of your fame here at the academy. It's still hard to believe that someone like me is sitting at the same people as you people-"

"Stop that, Otto." The one interrupting the faunus is his team leader, Cordelia Leir. She's not too happy that Otto is doling out such adulation. "There's nothing worse to receive than flattery through words. Someone of her fame got enough of that pointless chatter to deal with, so don't add to the pile."

Cordelia is speaking in her usual blunt way, not mincing words with any unnecessary compliments or tact. Ruby has long since accepted it as part of Cordelia, seeing it as one of those quirky personality traits that make you unique. And besides, her straightforwardness makes her quite the concise commander, the perfect leader for team CROT.

Pyrrha also has no problem with Cordelia's harsh words. She tries to defuse the situation with her usual kindness: "It's not a problem, Cordelia. I'm used to people speaking like that. And Otto, here at the academy our background doesn't matter. We're all equal students here."

"Yes, I think that you're all phenomenal!" Penny says innocently, speaking the truth in her usual honest manner. "You are all skilled huntsmen-in-training. The fact that you two are not participating in the tournament does not diminish your quality!"

The last part was addressed to the two members of Carrot, who are not enjoying that honest assessment. Especially Cordelia is annoyed by Penny's unintentionally harsh words. "Please, don't remind me of it. I've doubled my training ever since that announcement to make up for my lack in skill. I don't need one of the participants giving me such pitying comfort."

Otto is also slightly bummed to be reminded of his team's failure to participate, but he isn't as negative about it as his team leader. He has a different explanation: "I don't think that we are that poor in skill, miss Cordelia, but that we were unfortunate to be amongst this year's freshmen. I think that it's clear to see that this year has some talented students." Otto looks at both Pyrrha and Penny as he says that, using them as his examples: "We have miss Pyrrha, four times winner of the Mistral Regional Championship, and there's miss Penny, the undisputed champion of Atlas Academy. I think that few other schoolyears can boast about such a selection."

"On that I agree." Cordelia says with some level of praise, a rare event for her. "I look forward to seeing these two facing off in the tournament."

Penny is in full agreement with Cordelia. "It will be my pleasure to duel you, Pyrrha." As she says that her eyes shine with seriousness. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you will lose. Now that I have friends relying on me failure has become unacceptable."

At those words Pyrrha lets out a small chuckle. "I must say, it's a long time since someone issued a challenge like that." Someone this confident in beating her is something Pyrrha hasn't seen in a long time. Even Yang, the second-best freshmen of Beacon, knows of the struggle that is the fourfold Mistral champion. Though it's not befitting for a champion Pyrrha really hopes that Penny will be able to deliver as much of a challenge as she claims. "It is unfortunately still uncertain if team Juniper will participate in the tournament, but I look forward to the opportunity to cross blades."

Ruby smiles at how well her teammate is getting along with Pyrrha. Though Ruby was originally not sure what to think of the girl to whom Ruby once played sloppy seconds in Weiss' eyes, Ruby is glad that Pyrrha turned to be a really nice girl. That's not at all what Ruby expected-

A loud bump rattles Ruby's table, causing her to look to her right for the cause of that sound. It was the sound of Ace and Yang's elbows, sitting at the table's end as they've locked their left hands and readied themselves for an arm-wrestling competition. A match between Yang's flesh and Ace's iron, who will come out on top?

"All right, listen up!" Energetic referee Nora shouts, her boundless energy perhaps making her a bit too loud, "I want a nice, clean match! Feet on the floor, elbows on the table, and no dirty tricks! Understood?"

Both Yang and Ace nod, showing grins as they prepare themselves for this epic battle. Both are the strongmen of their team, with a strength semblance to boot. This is going to be a match for the ages!

"Come on sis! Show him who's the real ace!" Ruby cheers, choosing family over friends. Yang seems to hear that, as her focus doubles. Both contestants are ready, and when Nora gives the start sign both sides do their best to knock the other down. Yang is visibly struggling, though Ace is looking surprised that the technology of his arm is pushed to the limit.

Slowly but surely Yang manages to further push Ace's metal arm, and after a second or seven she manages to slam metal against wood. Yang scraped out a victory, and Ruby can't help but let out some cheers. Yang pumps her fist in the air, claiming the victory.

"Not bad." Ace says, looking impressed that someone managed to beat his metal arm. He isn't done though, and now puts his flesh arm on the table. "How about a rematch?"

"Oh?" Yang says, intrigued. He really dares to go for a rematch, and now against Yang's stronger arm? "I'm sure there's simpler ways to be humiliated, but be my guest."

Both sides get ready once more, Nora still acting as the judge. Upon her signal the two starts clashing again, c-

*bump*

And that's a near-instantaneous win for Ace. Yang looks confused by this sudden difference in strength, while Ruby kind of expected this. Yang is strong, and her semblance [Burn] turns her into an incredible powerhouse upon taking damage. Yang's maximum strength is much higher than that of Ace, but unlike him it isn't always on. Ace's semblance, the so-called [Super Soldier], may only increase all the physical capacities of his flesh to the human limit, but it is always on. Yang doesn't stand a chance.

Yang doesn't know that, so she immediately wants a rematch. The result? Well…

*bump*

And the one after that:

*bump*

And that's three. Seeing Yang lose like this is enough to make Ruby wince, not enjoying her sister's frustrating losses. Perhaps Ruby should focus on someone else.

There is just one person who hasn't been in any of the previous conversations, coincidentally sitting across from Ruby: The adopted kid of her half-sister's mother, which is enough for Ruby to be another sister, it's Vernal Branwen! At the moment she's lazily looking at her scroll, not talking to anyone.

Eye contact is made between the sisters, and Ruby starts to smile in anticipation. "So, sister…"

"Stop that."

"What kind of fun sisterly bonding do you want to do tomorrow? I've got some ideas!"

Vernal looks at Ruby with an air of lethargy, before steeling herself for discomfort. After a deep breath she is ready to break apart this enthusiastic idiot's idea. "Okay, first of all: I'm not your sister."

"You're wrong about that, but continue."

"Secondly, your definition of 'fun' is not fun at all!"

"Aw, whatcha talking about, Vernal?" Ruby casually shrugs off the accusation, listing off everything that they did: "I mean, we've had a lot of fun when we went to the arcade hall, right?"

"Perhaps if we weren't banned from that place because of Nora and that colossal teddy bear façade. That was an unpleasant and unnecessary fight."

"Fair enough." Ruby does remember how scary Nora can be when she starts to sulk. It's easy to see how that experience could've been ruined. "But didn't the escape room make your brain twist and turn in joy?"

"It made my brain twist and turn, yes, but only because I had to convince my group that 'eating Jaune' is not the intended solution to the puzzle!" Vernal recollects furiously, still annoyed by her group. That Romy and Gaia came up with that idea is one thing, but how the hell did someone as serious as Ciel agree with those two? "Also, we're still banned from that place because some team leader collapsed the building with her 'Punch everything' solution!"

Yeah, Ruby recollects her sister's rampage as well. "How about the soccer game?"

"We broke the only ball we had within the first two minutes."

Right. Uhm… "…the movie was fun, right?"

"'The Huntsman Rises' was not worth waiting in the cold for two hours because nobody could decide which movie to watch!" Vernal shouts out in annoyance, several members of the table now looking at her. "If it wasn't for Jaune and the rest of Juniper having tickets for that movie we probably wouldn't have done anything but bicker the entire day!"

Vernal shouts this a bit too loudly, and their neighbors at the table hear it as well. The one who is actually interested in that fact is the leader of Regal, now looking at Jaune with wonder. "Wait, you're a fan of the 'Huntsman' trilogy as well?"

"They're my favorite movies!" Jaune proudly proclaims.

"Mine too!" And the two team leaders high five once more, having found another thing they've got in common.

Ruby on the other hand is wondering where it all went wrong. If all the activities were considered failures… "Was there nothing you found fun?" Ruby asks dejectedly.

Vernal would like to say that that is true, but to be honest there was one thing that she enjoyed:

"The boardgame was fun." That 'Remnant: The Game' thingy proved to be rather enjoyable, much to Vernal's surprise. That was perhaps the one thing that is worth repeating.

Ruby on the other hand has completely different memories of that event: "You played Mistral is such a way that everything we tried to do was countered and what we did play was obliterated by all the board wipes you played!"

"I know." Vernal says as if it is matter of fact. "It was fun."

Ugh, filthy control players. No, board games aren't fun with those kinds of dull tryhards. With that idea impossible that leaves Ruby with no activities that both sides find fun. With her out of ideas perhaps it's time to flip the problem around.

"Well then, sister dearest, perhaps you want to make a suggestion?" Ruby says, looking expectantly at Vernal. "What do you want to do together? You've got to have some hobbies, and I will try my best to get to know all of them."

Vernal has the experience to know what people like Ruby really mean with that: "You're going to pester me until I suggest something, aren't you?"

Ruby nods at that, smiling mischievously. "See? It's like we're sisters already!"

"Fine." With a groan Vernal gives up on her usual tactics. This hyperactive bundle of joy can't be contained with the usual methods, so she'll come up with something new: "Next Saturday, nine in the morning. Edge of the Emerald Forest, just the two of us. Bring your weapon, and don't be late."

"It's a date!" Ruby says as she snaps finger guns at Vernal. It didn't go exactly as planned, but Ruby has a date! Well, not a 'date' date, Ruby's not interested in that with Vernal, just a friendly hangout with a friend… you know what she means! Tomorrow is going to be awesome!

The next day Ruby is up early from excitement. Why shouldn't she be? Vernal is finally offering some sisterly bonding out of her own volition. Okay, mostly Ruby's volition, but at least part of it is because Vernal wants to. And that's something that should be celebrated!

Yang unfortunately cannot join them, as the Beacon students have an extra lesson today. Although, it's obvious to basically everyone that this "lesson" is the announcement of the Beacon teams participating in the tournament. And when you consider that Vibrant is the best freshmen team in Beacon, well, the result will be obvious.

So obvious in fact that Vernal decided to skip the lesson, just like many other Beacon students. Only the team leaders need to check off their team's attendance list, which means that Yang is stuck for an hour there.

Oh well, it's not like Ruby can't have fun without Yang. She's been doing that for the last five months, so why stop now? Meeting new people and befriending them will never be Ruby's specialty, but she isn't the complete wreck she was five months ago!

Ruby follows Vernal's instructions to the letter. She heads for the Emerald Forest in her red-and-black combat outfit, Crescent Rose holstered at her back. The exact location where Vernal wants to meet is at the fringe of the Emerald Forest, at the bottom of one of the cliffs leading to the academy. Grimm are pretty much devoid there, none daring to enter territory that is kept clean by professional huntsmen. It's the perfect place for two huntresses in training to meet up.

It doesn't take long for Ruby to find her new sister leaning against one of the trees in the forest. Vernal is dressed in her combat outfit as well, her sawed-off wind and fire shotgun blades drawn and ready. She notices Ruby walking up, and gives her a short nod.

Ruby replied to the nod with a wave, sprinting up to Vernal until she's almost in her face. "Hey there, sister! What's up!" Vernal doesn't reply to that, instead making a final check to see if her weapon is in proper condition. With Vernal not talking it's up to the younger girl to continue speaking: "So, what kind of fun activity are we going to do?"

Now Vernal does reply: "What do you think?"

Ruby takes a single glance at the surrounding forest, knowing what lurks inside of it. Honestly, that question is a no-brainer: "We're at the edge of the Emerald Forest while armed and ready. I think we're gonna do some proper huntress duty and hunt!" Though now there is a question popping in Ruby's mind: "Wait, are we hunting a specific grimm? Out here you have beowolves and ursa, boarbatusks… maybe we're going to hunt a giant deathstalker or nevermore. What exactly is the target?"

"You."

…

"Eh?" Ruby looks surprised by Vernals blunt statement. You? What does she mean by tha-

*Slash*

Ruby jumps back reflexively as she gets attacked by one of Vernal's blades. The slash manages to ruffle her clothes, but it fails to reduce her aura even the slightest bit.

"What was that about?" Ruby shouts out in confusion as she takes several steps back. Why did Vernal suddenly attack her out of nowhere? Normally sisters don't strike out against one another without proper warning!

Vernal on the other hand has no problem with attacking someone else with a surprise attack. It does behoof both girls if Vernal at least gives an explanation to why she did so, so Vernal explains her policy: "In the Branwen tribe we only respect strength." Vernal gets in combat position, her Sun Shang and Sun Xiang aimed at Ruby. "You want to call me sister? Then show me that you have the power to do so!"

Ah, it's like that. It reminds Ruby of shows like Huntsman x Huntsman or Lyrical StrikerS, where the protagonist only becomes friends with an opponent after defeating that person in combat. In that case it's time to knock Vernal into the friendship circle!

Ruby slams Crescent Rose into the ground, firing a shot or two at her enemy. The shots get parried with little trouble, and Vernal decides to take the offensive. She aims the gun barrels of her twin weapons at Ruby, firing several times while closing the gap between the two fighters. Ruby accepts Vernal's proposal of close combat, parrying Vernal's bullets while running at her opponent as well.

When Vernal is at the edge of Ruby's striking range Ruby swings her weapons horizontally, planning to utilize her scythe's advantage in reach over Vernal's wind and fire blades. It's a dangerous strike, but Vernal can't help but let out a cocky smile.

To Vernal a weapon like Crescent Rose is exactly what she likes to see her opponent wield. A high-caliber sniper scythe? Blame it on misfortune, Ruby, but your weapon is exactly the thing that Vernal likes fighting against. The most common humanoid enemies that the Branwen tribe has to face are Mistral guardsmen, who are all equipped with a military standard white tasseled arquebus halberd. In other words, both Ruby and those guards wield a polearm-rifle.

Vernal blocks Crescent Rose's shaft with one of her weapons while continuingly pressing forward. A polearm's ideal range is at the tip. Get past that and within their guard and they're basically helpless. With one wind and fire blade keeping Crescent Rose at bay Vernal can openly strike with the other one.

Ruby on the other hand is looking quite unimpressed with Vernal's tactic, seeing right through it. Get within Ruby's guard? That's the entire plan? Seriously? Not only is that tactic way too obvious, Ruby can see two other problems with Vernal's plan: First of all, while the user of a long polearm weapon like Crescent Rose has trouble striking the enemy at extremely close range the only way someone can take advantage of that is if they have an advantage in mobility. And no matter how fast Vernal is, she can't keep up with Ruby if she uses her semblance and a recoil shot to backdash quickly towards a more favorable range.

Secondly, Crescent Rose is a scythe. Not a fancy war scythe with the blade in line with the shaft (though Crescent Rose can unfold into one of those), but a proper classic scythe with the concave blade facing inwards. And if Ruby dashes backwards while Vernal is in between weapon and wielder there is only one thing that can happen:

"Guah!"

You get hit. Crescent Rose's blade strikes Vernal in the back, The first proper blow of this battle. Ruby then fires off another recoil shot to dash further back, increasing the pressure on Vernal's back and thus dealing more damage. Vernal only gets out by firing at Ruby with the shotgun parts of her twin weapons, and while Ruby dodges to the side along with her scythe Vernal still manages to get a small percentage of her opponent's aura down with that shot.

The damage doesn't hinder Ruby that much, though, as she renews her assault with momentum from her semblance. With swings coming from seemingly every direction she forces Vernal to dodge or parry the scythe, using her advantage in speed to set the pace for the fight.

As the fight goes on Vernal gets more and more irritated. Her plan to get in close to pummel Ruby from within her guard is a complete and utter failure. No matter what Vernal tries Ruby manages to keep Vernal a scythe length away, just out of Vernal's blades range. The only time her blades struck Ruby was when she threw one against Ruby. Though the hit was good Vernal was forced to move out of the way to catch her weapon again, preventing any follow-up attacks. And considering that the second time Vernal tried to use this technique Ruby simply parried the blade back means that this trick only works once.

Ruby has dealt the most damage thus far, but Vernal does manage to get a few licks in. Unfortunately for Vernal that damage comes pretty much entirely from her bullets, which will run out eventually. When they do the current equilibrium will be upset even further in Ruby's favor. Heck, the fact that Vernal manages to keep up is only due to tenacity and resourcefulness, because everything else favors Ruby:

Striking distance, mobility, offense, flow… with Ruby's speed semblance she's in control over these factors of the fight. Vernal loathes to admit it, but Ruby's obviously a cut above the average huntress. Unlike the average polearm wielder Ruby uses the momentum of her swings to her advantage, continuously moving around to keep the pressure up.

Ruby continues to swing her scythe offensively, but her mind starts to wonder. There's a niggling question that only Vernal can answer: "Hey, Vernal, why are we doing this here? I mean, we could've hired a training room at the academy. Wouldn't that have been much easier?"

Damn this girl! Vernal is exerting herself to match Ruby's tempo while that girl has the gall to waste focus on questions? Don't you dare look down on Vernal, Ruby! Vernal is going to let her actions speak louder than words, and dole out punishment through the answer to that question:

Crescent Rose comes down with great force. Under normal circumstances Vernal would either dodge or parry the blow. She would not receive any damage if she were to do that, but Ruby could continue using her weapon's momentum to keep up the attack. No, that won't do. Vernal grits her teeth instead as she catches the scythe in-between the two crescent blades of Sun Xiang. Vernal feels pain and a slight loss of aura from the impact of that blow, vibrations of the mighty swing she stopped rattling through her arm. How such a young girl like Ruby can swing such a heavy weapon with this force is a mystery to Vernal, but what she does know is that she finally put an end to Ruby's momentum. Ruby is forced to readjust her stance, which is time for Vernal to answer the question.

"I choose when and where I fight." Vernal loathes to admit it, but in the empty training rooms of the academy Ruby might actually win. On Patch Ruby probably was trained in combat on open fields. It shows in the mobility of her combat, which is slightly constrained by the forest they're in. If they fought in open space then Ruby's position would be even more advantageous. Also, Vernal has trained her entire life within the forests. It's clear what kind of edge this gives Vernal: "Also, home field advantage."

With that said she throws her free wind and fire blade into a nearby tree, cleaving through it at just the right angle to make it fall towards Ruby. The huntress in red is forced to dodge backwards while Vernal uses the opening to disengage, retrieving her thrown weapon and jumping up into a nearby tree.

Now that there is a large amount of space between the two combatants Vernal decides to take this battle in a different direction. Instead of trying to get within Ruby's optimal range she's trying to stay out of it. She throws Sun Xiang with great power at Ruby, turning it into a large projectile.

Though there is a spinning blade coming from above Ruby isn't that worried. It's not that difficult for her to redirect the weapon to her side, preventing Vernal from easily catching it back.

However, Vernal doesn't need to catch it. The wind and fire blade flies straight back to its wielder, who catches it without trouble. It's an improbable move, but not an impossible one. There exists a material that allows for such abnormal flight patterns:

Gravity dust. Ruby recognizes the technique behind it. Put gravity dust crystals in two different weapons, attune the crystals to one another and then you can activate the dust to make the weapons attract each other. Presto, you've got weapons that return to the hand when thrown! It's not uncommon for people with a twin set of weapons to use that type of dust for increased ranged options. There's about half a dozen people within Atlas who use similar kinds of double throwing weapon. Two use a pair of axes, one chakrams, one with two giant shuriken… Vernal's weapons are uncommon but not that unusual. The only thing missing is the characteristic purple glow of gravity dust, but that can easily be hidden by one of the opaque parts of her weapons.

Ruby can't let Vernal keep taking potshots at her from within the trees. Crescent Rose turns to its sniper mode, and Ruby fires back. Vernal dodges the shot, jumping from her tree branch to another nearby. Ruby keeps up the pressure with her bullets, sometimes chopping the tree down instead if it's thin enough, while Vernal keeps throwing her weapons.

Vernal wants to change the battlefield to within the trees, but Ruby refutes that tactic. Hopping between treetops is not the best way to make use of Ruby's speed, and Vernal already admitted that the forest is a terrain advantage for the older girl. Both Ruby's semblance and her scythe prefer the mobility of open plains and solid ground, so there's no need to move up there and hop from tree to tree.

With neither side willing to commit to the other's preferred battleground the battle is stuck in an impasse. Both sides manage to do a little damage with some glancing blows, but neither side has the advantage. If they continue battling like that then it will take a long, long time before there is a winner, something Ruby pleads towards Vernal:

"Come on, Vernal, this is going nowhere! Neither of us is going to beat the other if we keep away from each other!" Ruby loudly speaks out her complaints, but that's not the only thing she has a problem with: "And why are you throwing wind and fire blades anyway? Wouldn't it be more effective to wield chakrams instead?" Because seriously, wind and fire blades aren't meant to be thrown! It's as weird as Ruby using Crescent Rose as a projectile!

Vernal raises an eyebrow at that slightly intriguing statement. Yang was right, Summer's kid knows her weapons. And if that's true, then she probably figured out the gravity dust trick as well.

In that case it's time for Vernal to step it up a notch. She jumps out of the tree and lands about two dozen feet in front of Ruby. She throws both her weapons with great energy, one to each side. Sun Shang and Sun Xiang draw a beautiful arc, the point of intersection being on top of Ruby's current position.

Ruby takes a moment to observe the path of the blades as well, calculating their path and coming to the same conclusion. This is a pincer attack from both sides, difficult to parry and for many probably an impossible feat.

But it is not without weakness. Ruby lets out a smirk as she realizes that. Vernal's ability to dual wield is impressive, but unfortunately for her Ruby's used to fighting this kind of opponents. Two weapons may be impressive, but Ruby usually duels Penny's duodecuple wielding! A pincer attack is nothing compared to Penny's omnidirectional attacks!

Furthermore, Vernal is unarmed now. Penny always made sure to keep one or two swords in reserve for any possible counters, but Vernal has thrown all her weapons, a fatal mistake! Without hesitation Ruby charges at Vernal, planning to take care of the opening. Even if Vernal's skilled at weaponless combat she's probably not on the level of Yang or Ciel. This will be a piece of cake with Vernal's wind and fire blades being behind Ruby-

"!"

Impossible! Those blades that should intersect multiple feet away from Ruby are still aimed at her neck! The arc they draw is changing, as if they're homing in on her. Two surprise attacks that now strike from diagonally behind her, from a throw that defies any form of rhyme or reason. Or to be more precise, the move is impossible even with gravity dust.

Caught off-guard and trapped between the pincer attack of Sun Shang and Sun Xiang Ruby needs to exert herself to block these strikes. A wide swipe from Crescent Rose manages to redirect the two weapons behind her, Ruby only barely avoiding any damage at the cost of her body now being wide open. Her weapon is held awkwardly behind her, and her limbs are occupied for a brief moment. She is defenseless.

However, so is Vernal. She has no more weapons to wield, and needs to retrieve both of her wind and fire blades. Vernal isn't armed, and Ruby isn't ready. In other words, the attack has ended in a stalemate. In a few brief moments the battlefield will go back to normal.

But Vernal disagrees with that notion. She has moved right in front of Ruby, and she has more attacks. She throws a straight punch, aimed at the face. It's the same boxing technique as Yang uses, making it clear who Vernal got her pointers from. Ruby is not able to dodge it, the fist hitting her nose straight-on.

Ow, That hurts! Ruby staggers backwards, her hand grasping where she's been hurt on reflex. If she didn't have her aura up that would've been the cause for a nasal fracture! The only comfort is that Vernal isn't on Yang's level when it comes to punching, as Ruby's sister punching an auraless guy is enough for an instant knockout. Strength, technique, speed… Vernal is lacking in all those qualities. The only thing she has going for her is that she isn't holding back.

Although, maybe she's also beating Yang out in tenacity. Vernal isn't stopping her assault, following up with a punch to the gut and striking at the neck. Both blows hit Ruby, but Vernal's fourth punch misses as Ruby jumps backwards.

Ruby managed to evade Vernal's punch, but she gets hit again when both of Vernal's blades come flying from behind and into her back. Those weapons should be lying down on the ground motionlessly, but as if by magic they flew into Ruby's back. After ricocheting off Ruby they fly back towards Vernal's hands, who is ready to press the offensive once more. Ruby will have none of that, so she cuts a nearby tree down to create a natural obstacle between the two fighters. Vernal is forced to jump back, giving Ruby the moment to question her enemy:

"Okay, what was that about?" Ruby says with frustration, annoyed by the attacks that make no sense. "How did you move those sawed-off wind and fire shotgun blades back to your hand?"

"What are you talking about?" Vernal feigns ignorance, playing up her innocence. "Do you mean the gravity dust?"

"As if!" Ruby shouts out, "What you're doing defies physics!" Because while the rules of physics might seem lazy, they do tend to be somewhat consistent. The only way to break physics is with aura or a semblance, and this certain isn't the former. That leaves the latter, meaning that it's Vernal's semblance.

The ability to make objects move against the laws of physics. The only reference Ruby has is the telekinesis that Beacon's combat professor uses. Hang on, does that mean? Can it be? Did Ruby figure out Vernal's semblance?

"Oh oh oh!" Ruby excitedly proposes her guess: "Is it a telekinesis semblance like professor… uhm, professor… y'know, that tall blonde lady?"

Vernal's semblance is like Glynda Goodwitch's? Too bad, that's incorrect. Her semblance isn't as grand as that. Then again, as far as semblances go those two do have a few things in common, meaning that Ruby is the second person at the academy to have some idea of Vernal's semblance. Vernal isn't sure whether to acknowledge Ruby's intuitive skills or lament those of her team's, because it appears that Ruby figured out more about Vernal's semblance in 5 minutes than the rest of her team in 5 months.

Despite Vernal being impressed with Ruby's intuition there's no need to give any answer other than "Wouldn't you like to know?". Why should Vernal give Ruby the details on her semblance? That's crucial information that could decide the battle. No need to hand it out all willy-nilly.

"Argh!" Ruby says with frustration. "I just got to figure it out myself then!" And beat it out of Vernal if necessary!

Both fighters go at each other once more, Ruby forcing Vernal to fight at close range. If her semblance really is telekinesis then Ruby would prefer not to give Vernal the chance to throw other stuff at her. This focus on staying close allows Vernal to sometimes slip within Ruby's guard and strike with her weapon. Vernal gets a few good hits in, though Ruby dodges just as many blows.

Vernal has successfully gotten into Ruby's mind with her secret semblance, but this mental advantage is not enough. Ruby's beating Vernal in weapon mastery, and gets the lion's share of the hits in. The small advantage in aura Vernal build up with her punches is quickly dissipating, and soon it will be Vernal who's at an aura disadvantage!

Vernal tries to come up with an advantage she can exploit for victory. Ruby has speed in the bag, and Vernal isn't certain if she can overpower someone who so vigorously lumbers a massive weapon like Crescent Rose around. One possibility is to outlast Ruby, as strong as the girl is the energy needed to swing that massive weapon that well must be tremendous. Heck, the weariness of battle is already visible on Ruby's face.

Then again, Vernal is tired as well. Besides the fatigue from the blows she's already taken and the tricks she had to exert herself for she's also had to cautiously maneuver over tree branches, with was mentally taxing for her. Both sides will reach their limits soon, and Vernal will not last much longer than Ruby.

In that case Vernal should take advantage of the difference in weaponry. Ruby has an advantage when Vernal is at the distance of the Crescent Rose's blade, but Vernal has better attack options literally anywhere else.

At the moment the distance is in Ruby's favor, who can easily control it with her speed. Vernal is forced on the defensive while Ruby launches a whirlwind of attacks. The Branwen bides her time until she has the opportunity to strike, which is… now!

Ruby comes in with a diagonal strike, swinging from the bottom right to the upper left. It's a move that creates momentum, the first strike that forces Vernal on a blocking string. Of course, if Vernal isn't forced to block and the move whiffs completely then Ruby is wide open. Taking half a step backwards just before Crescent Rose hits should be enough to put an end to Ruby's offense.

If this happened during combat classes then Glynda would be commenting on Vernal's tactic. The teacher would even call it a good idea. If Vernal can dodge at the last second then Ruby will be wide open for a counterstrike, even a speed semblance won't allow someone to escape unharmed.

Vernal acts out her plan, taking half a step backwards before Ruby hits her. However, if Glynda were here she would call the execution sloppy: Whether through exhaustion, lack of experience or fear of risk Vernal decided against dodging at the last moment, instead stepping back half a second before Ruby comes in contact with Vernal. Against most opponents this would be of no difference. Even someone like Sky Lark from Cardinal would not be able to take advantage of that mistake. Ruby on the other hands calls this situation something else:

"Gotcha."

Ruby unfolds Crescent Rose into its war scythe form, increasing the reach of her weapon by half a step. The blade of her weapon is on path to hit Vernal once more, who is moving Sun Xiang to block the strike. In Vernal's eyes this poor execution led to the loss of the offensive, but Ruby isn't done yet!

War scythe form not only changes how the blade part is oriented, it also changes where the rifle part is aimed. The gun is always aimed opposite from the blade, and with the blade aimed towards Vernal that means that the gun is facing the opposite direction. Ruby fires one gravity dust bullet, creating recoil and increasing the swing speed of Crescent Rose. Vernal can't catch the blade as it slips past her guard, slamming into her side.

That blow reduces Vernal's aura significantly, but she can still mitigate some of the damage with proper disengagement strategies. However, that would be the same as admitting defeat. Vernal instead forgoes all defense for a last reckless gamble where she throws both of her wind and fire blades at Ruby before being sent flying by Ruby's strike.

Vernal's final throw would've easily evaded if Ruby were still fresh, but now she's just a tad too slow. She successfully managed to sent Vernal flying, but Sun Shang and Sun Xiang crash into Ruby and force the same suffering upon her that she dealt. Vernal may not have mitigated her own damage, she did mitigate the difference in damage between the two fighters.

With those last attacks both sides are knocked away, slamming into one of the nearby trees. It did a toll on both of their bodies, who stand up with some difficulty. The aura levels of both combatants have dropped to about a bit more than a quarter of their maximum. By tournament standards both of them would still be safe from elimination, but with how long they've been battling and how much of a toll this battle took on their stamina that moment is close by. Two, three strikes. Neither of the girls has the energy to continue fighting beyond that.

"Damn…" Vernal mutters under her breath, "You really are strong…"

"Aha!" Ruby's ears are still sharp enough to hear Vernal's admission. She calls out Vernal on this with what energy remains in her lungs: "You said it! You said I'm strong! Will you acknowledge me now?"

"…for a kid." Vernal adds with some snark. Ruby is about to protest, but Vernal continues explaining: "But I can't beat you without endangering myself to the grimm. I'll have to acknowledge that you're quite a bit better than average."

With that said Vernal holsters Sun Shang and Sun Xiang. With Vernal done with battling Ruby decides to do the same with her Crescent Rose. Though Ruby's body is exhausted she has a big grin on her face. Ruby has had enough interaction with Weiss to understand that Vernal's half-hearted compliment is a sign of being deeply impressed.

With the fight over it's time to get out of here. Grimm might be attracted to any negative emotions the two had, and in their current condition even a mere beowolf is a small challenge. Ruby and Vernal quickly leave the emerald forest, dragging their bodies back to academy grounds. Only the edge though, as a nearby wooden bench has become very exciting for both of them. Ruby uses the last vestiges of her power to sprint to the bench, plopping down on it as if it's the comfiest bed in the world.

Vernal takes the seat next to Ruby, and both girls take this moment to catch their breath and rest up. With both of them not going anywhere soon Ruby starts the conversation:

"I guess you've got a pretty cool younger sister, right sis?"

"I'm not your sis-" Vernal goes quiet, realizing that this is going nowhere. A smirk appears on her face as she realizes that Ruby's so-called 'sisterhood' also means something else: "Well then, I wonder what you're going to call the other six back at the tribe."

Ruby's eyes glitter like sparkles, unable to believe what she's hearing. "I have six more siblings?"

"No." Vernal bluntly puts an end to that delusion. She explains more thoroughly what she meant with the other six: "The Branwen tribe is one big family. They tend to take in orphans they find on the road."

Orphans? Vernal speaks with some nostalgia, Ruby picks that up without problem. "Wait, does that mean that you're an orphan?"

"Yeah." Vernal admits without problem, remembering her past. "Not that it matters much. I have no recollection of anything from before my time at the tribe. I don't know my birth parents, the name they gave me, or even my age."

"That's…" horrible, really. Ruby doesn't know what else to think of it. "How did that happen?"

"Fourteen years ago, the village of Sakurasou was destroyed by a grimm attack. Some days later the Branwen tribe looted its remains for valuables. Amongst the rubble was a toddler, neither crying nor worrying but silently looking at the sky. It was almost like a miracle that it was left unnoticed by the grimm."

Ruby looks somewhat amazed at that. With wonder she asks about what she thinks is the identity of the child: "That was you, right?"

It's a question so obvious Vernal doesn't need to answer it. "Raven claimed that my calmness was the first sign of my strength. The Branwen took in orphans from destroyed villages, and I was no exception. She named me Vernal, because I was found in the spring. Together with the other kids we trained to become worthy members of the tribe."

Ah. That does sound like a common orphan ploy you read about in books. The "last survivor of a destroyed village" is a cliché that quite the number of story protagonists share, apparently it also happens in real life. As for the other orphans, they probably-hang on, where are the other orphans?

"Wait a moment," Ruby says with slight confusion, "What about the other kids? Are they still too young to join the academy, or are there maybe some tribesmen already here?"

At that Vernal snorts, calling it ridiculous. "As if! The likes of us two stand head and shoulders above them! Heck, I'm pretty sure that any half of Cardinal is enough to take care of the others."

"Ah." Ruby doesn't know what a Cardinal is, but it sounds weak. If Ruby has to guess purely on what Vernal told then the others sound like they're on the level of the White Fang grunts, dime a dozen rabble.

"The only one who Raven took a special interest in was me. She taught me everything she knew. I am her protégé and second in command. She nurtured me into the warrior I am today, even if I'm pretty sure that to her I was merely the Yang she could never raise."

"Oh." That does not sound great. To live life as a replacement of someone else, and have all the hopes of that other person burdened on your shoulders… Ruby has read enough fairytales to know why that is never a source of happiness. "I… I'm sorry that happened to you. You're not upset at being Yang's substitute, right?"

Vernal looks bewildered by that question, staring at Ruby in a lack of understanding. "Why would I be upset?" Vernal can't even comprehend what Ruby is talking about. "Even if I am merely serving Raven as a replacement to Yang, that doesn't negate that without her I wouldn't be alive. I would have no life without her, so this life of mine is in service to the tribe."

While Ruby is happy that Vernal takes her status so well Ruby is still not fully convinced about Vernal's bond with her adopted mom. She does have one more niggle in her mind left to ask: "But how is Raven as a caretaker? Does she, y'know, actually care for you as you?"

"I know she cares for me," Vernal states matter of fact. That has never been one of her worries. "If she didn't, I wouldn't be the only person her se-"-mblance has connected with after she returned to the tribe. Vernal doesn't finish her sentence, brought out of whatever trance made her blabber on. She almost gave away Raven's semblance, a secret that as few people as possible should know, to the second to last person who may know this! "To think that you can put me at ease this much… Damn, you really are Summer's kid!"

Now Ruby looks with confusion at Vernal. How does she know Summer? "Why do you know my mom?"

"Raven told me some stories. Honestly, from the way she sometimes talks about her I think that Summer's the only real friend she had."

Vernal's words draw Ruby's full attention, who is now all ears. She wants to know more, and inquisitively asks Vernal if she has more stories about Summer and Raven. Vernal doesn't have the energy to say no to Ruby's persistence, so she tells what she knows:

"Well, from what Raven said you're a lot like Summer: Headstrong, hyperactive, annoyingly chipper and a brat with poor social skills." Ruby is interested to hear that, but lets out a small shout of annoyance when she realizes that Vernal's descriptions weren't exactly positive. Vernal lets out a chuckle at that outburst before continuing: In fact, your mom won Raven's respect just like you did with me. After Summer was made team leader Raven wanted to duel her to teach her her place. Summer accepted, and when they fought Summer won because Raven underestimated her. Raven may have come out victorious in most of the rematches afterwards, but by then Summer had already won Raven's respect. That was how those two became friends."

Ruby is awed by that story, and wants to hear more. Vernal complies, telling more stories of Summer and team Stark: Stark's antics to get out of dull homework by "showing off their extraordinary combat strength", which usually landed the team into detention and even more homework; How Taiyang proposed to Raven on live television after singlehandedly winning the finals of the 30th Vytal tournament by proclaiming that he's "officially become the strongest man on Remnant and worthy to marry Raven"; Summer and Raven's mission where they slew the Mosura, an almost mythical giant moth-like grimm with a wingspan of over 800 feet; Yes, Vernal has heard enough interesting stories from Raven to entertain Ruby for a long time.

"Wow…" Ruby says in amazement. "I never knew that." Sure, Qrow sometimes talked about Stark's wacky antics, but hearing what is Raven's side of the story gives it a whole new perspective. And Taiyang proposing after winning the Vytal tournament, or slaying giant monster grimm… it sounds incredible. "Stark really was amazing."

"I agree." Vernal says, her tiredness slowly disappearing and replaced by shrewdness. Her mind can properly think of wicked plans again, and Vernal has one ready: "Too bad that Stark was cruelly ripped apart."

"Eh?" What does Vernal mean with that, ripped apart? What happened to Stark?

Ruby's inquisitive nature now gets used by Vernal to spread some more dirt on the kingdom's leaders: "Didn't your father or Qrow tell you? Ozpin forced a mission onto Raven that left her as good as exiled in Mistral, with the rest of the team and a baby Yang stuck in Vale. And a few years after you were born Summer was tricked into taking a mission that was pretty much suicide by the Valean council. Team Stark was halved by the bastards of the council who probably haven't seen a grimm in their entire life."

"N-No…" Her mother's final mission, was it really that difficult? And did the council know about it? "Did the council really get mom killed?"

"That's all the councils do." Vernal says with conviction, "They sacrifice strong huntsmen like Summer to give the weak and frightened populace a few more days of ignorant bliss!"

Hey, Vernal's already trying to goad one sister into joining the Branwen tribe, why not add another one as a bonus? Even if her personality makes for a poor bandit Ruby is still better off as an ally than an enemy.

Vernal's words turn Ruby despondent. With melancholy she admits to what Vernal is saying: "I know that some things are like that. I know that huntsmen and huntresses die in the field, leaving their friends and families alone. That there are battles from which even the best huntsmen won't return unscarred. That the world is in constant danger, and every victory is a small step on the long road ahead of us. You don't need to tell me that." Ruby's words feel negative, but her resolve gets stronger with each word she speaks.

Vernal on the other hand is still trying to crack down Ruby's worldview: "Then why accept that? If the world is garbage, why seek that out? Why not find your own people to cherish and protect them instead of something as unreasonable as an entire planet?"

"My mom tried to do what was right for all of Remnant." Ruby says, now determined. "And that's why I'm here as well. To make the world better."

"As a simple cog in a machine," Vernal points out, continuing from her standpoint on the people in charge, "discarded by greedy weaklings when convenient and then forgotten."

"Well, I wouldn't like to be that." Ruby says with a chuckle, though she's still fully serious about her beliefs: "But if necessary, yes. I'll accept that."

Vernal shakes her head at that silly idealism of Ruby. "Look, I know that at Atlas they teach you to follow orders, but that is literally what got Summer killed. I think you can do a lot better than a puppet that blindly follows orders."

"No need to worry about that, sis." Ruby says with a giggle, still getting a kick out of calling Vernal so familiarly. "I know a nice old man who taught me about the problems of blindly following orders. I've learned to recognize people for whom loyalty is more important than their own sense of justice. People like you, miss 'life belongs to the tribe'."

"…" Vernal has no answer for that. Ruby has caught out a contradiction between Vernal's words and actions. Vernal could come up with something about doing as Vernal says and not as she does, but that would be a contradiction with societal rules. Annoying as it is to admit this Vernal accepts that she lost this verbal battle for now.

Ruby thinks once more about what she said, but then apologizes for it: "Actually, no. I'm sorry, Vernal, but you blindly following orders is incorrect."

"Incorrect?" Vernal says, now genuinely confused. She is Vernal Branwen. She is a tool that gives her complete loyalty to those who are worthy of it. Foremost Raven Branwen, and followed by her daughter Yang. How can she not be someone who obediently follows orders?

"You weren't ordered to fight me, right? Or tease me and Yang? I believe I even heard Yang say that you pickpocketed some criminal. You did those things not because you were ordered but because you wished to. They're your own desires. You can't be blindly following orders, as you're doing what you want!"

Eh? What Vernal desires? What she herself wants? No, that's… that's ridiculous. There is only one will and burden for Vernal Branwen, and that is serving the tribe. Her goal is to attend Beacon at Yang's side, convince her to become the tribe's heir and eventually serve as the Yang's right-hand woman. All her "selfish" actions makes sense when you keep that in mind:

Prodding Yang was simply to discover Yang's emotional nature. Okay, she's still quite vitriolic with her partner, but that is just happenstance, right? And stealing money isn't that unusual for a member of the Branwen tribe. Then again, why did Vernal take extra risk by stealing in the middle of combat, and even taunting Torchwick with it during the battle? Sure, it was funny and quite the thrill, but that goes against what thieves do! And picking a fight with Ruby to determine if she's strong, that sounds more like something Yang would-

Oh god, she's turning into Yang. Vernal was supposed to make her partner more like herself and the rest of the tribe, but apparently this rubbing off goes both ways. Wait, is this why Qrow Branwen chose to leave the tribe? Was he too influenced by the likes of Summer and Taiyang to stay a proper tribe member?

Vernal scoots half a seat away from Ruby, seeking some distance from this menace. In Vernal's eyes Ruby might be the most dangerous being she's ever met. A few minutes of conversation causes Vernal's conviction to waver, imagine how Ruby can mold Vernal if they become close! If only there were someone to interrupt this conversation right now-

*bzzz bzzz*

The sound of buzzing comes from Vernal's pocket, interrupting the conversation. She takes out her scroll, checking for what kind of news arrived on it. Vernal looks at it for a second or two, her eyes going slightly wide upon reading the message. Ruby wants to know what's going on as well, but before she can glance a look at the screen Vernal pockets her scroll and stands up.

"Look like I've got to go." Vernal says in all seriousness, glad that she's got a legit excuse. "Yang's telling me to haul my ass over to Beacon's arena as soon as possible, and I can tell that Yang's serious about this."

With that Vernal leaves immediately. Ruby is left alone, wondering what could be so important to Yang that Vernal reacts like that.

---

Today is a Saturday, which means that there is no school for the students today. There is one exception though, as a special morning lesson has been planned in for the students of Beacon and only the students of Beacon. Although it's called a lesson, everyone is pretty certain what this lesson is actually about:

Which teams will participate in the Vytal festival?

The question is very important, yes, but many teams couldn't care less. The auditorium is only filled half-way through, many teams missing members because they already know the answer. It isn't unusual for only the team leader to be there, a strategy many of the lower-ranked teams have done.

Vibrant isn't complete either, with Vernal doing some stuff with Ruby. Vernal didn't want to come because it's obvious that they will be in. Vibrant is the strongest first year team by a long shot. While Juniper has Mistral champion Pyrrha Nikos on their team the strength of the other three keep them below Vibrant. And while Cardinal does come third there's a major gap between them and the top two freshmen teams. No, Vibrant's spot in the tournament is guaranteed.

"Students." On the podium of the auditorium stands Glynda Goodwitch, who manages to silence the student body with a single word. With everyone quiet she continues her speech: "I assume it is no secret that this 'lesson' is to discuss the teams that will be participating in the Vytal tournament. Any doubt about those choices will be dispelled today. Based on your team and individual performances the following teams will participate in the Vytal tournament: Team Ming, team Icy…"

Glynda continues to name teams, and their pictures begin to show up on the screen behind the professor. First are the members of team MING, then team YCYY, then team CFVY, and below that are Yang's friends from JNPR.

"…team Coffee and team Juniper. That is all. These four teams are guaranteed of a spot in the tournament. Eight other teams will fight for the remaining four spots in a faceoff."

Wait, faceoffs? Yang looks dumbstruck from that suggestion. Her Vibrant is probably stuck in faceoff limbo while Juniper gets a free ticket to the tournament? That's Jaune's team, for crying out loud! Jaune 'I cheated my way into Beacon' Arc, that Jaune! Why is his team getting the free ticket?!

Glynda does not give answer to Yang's inner thoughts, but instead names a new list of people. "Today at one o'clock these teams will face each other in the Arena, and the remaining four spots will be divided amongst those teams. The qualified eight will now appear on the screen:"

As Glynda says, so it happens. Rows of four pictures appear on the screen, each of a different team: Teams Aqua (ACUA), Blaze (BLZE), Cardinal (CRDL), Gale (GALE), Herbal (HERL), Rock (ROCC), Tuscan (TSSC) and obviously the four letters of VYBA finish up this sequence.

Yang looks at the board, still in disbelief. Qualifiers. Team Vibrant has to enter the tournament through qualifiers. The most awesome and badass team is put on the same level as those birdbrains from Cardinal! Yang already has no great love for Ozpin, but what in blazes is he smoking to think that that's a good idea?! Is this some form of dislike from Ozpin to Yang for not falling in line? If it is, then that's seriously bullsh-

Hang on, there's another possibility that's a lot more sensible. While VYBA is the best freshmen team, JNPR has the four times Mistral champion in their lineup. With how individualistic the Beacon version of the Vytal tournament is as well as, well, Jaune, it makes sense to limit the amount of team matches Juniper has to participate in. With Juniper directly entering instead of through play-offs Jaune only has to participate in one match instead of two, drastically increasing the chances that Pyrrha ends up in the quarterfinals.

In other words, Ozpin isn't doing this to spite Yang, it's because he's trying to obtain glory for Beacon. It's sensible, but still really bad for Vibrant in general.

Yang isn't the only person who considers the current situation problematic for their team. The other two people of Vibrant who are here also have a look of confusion and worry on their faces. Especially Blake is feeling unsure about this, turning to her leader: "Yang, what do we do?"

Honestly, there's only one answer to that question that Yang can give: "We need to call Vernal."

Yang messages Vernal to haul her ass over to the rest of the team's location, which is in front of one of the major seminar buildings. The rest of the team has to wait for about fifteen minutes before the arrival of their last member, but the team is complete once more.

Vernal comes up to the rest of the group, her steps somewhat heavy from exhaustion. The rest can see Vernal's beat up state as well: There's a few twigs and leaves stuck to her combat outfit, and her face has some traces of dirt on it. Even so her voice still has its usual cockiness as she talks:

"So… what's the occasion? Are we here to celebrate our placement in the tournament?"

A good question to answer, but not what the YBA members of Vibrant are interested in. "Why do you look all roughed up?" Blake asks to Vernal, concerned about Vernal's state. If it is what Blake thinks it is, then they have a problem.

Yang can feel the problem coming as well and grabs her scroll. She opens the team app to check out the aura levels of her team. While the YBA members are all at the maximum percentage, Vernal on the other hand… "Your aura is at thirty percent?!"

Yang's outburst is followed with looks of worry from Ilia and Blake, while Vernal is looking somewhat confused. She rolls her neck, still a bit stiff from the battle, explaining her lack of aura:

"I've just had a duel with your sis, Yang. I must say, I'm impressed with how strong she is. It appears that it's not merely Raven's genes that makes your household strong."

Ilia throws her head in her hands, barely containing herself from letting all of her frustration out. With a groan she gives her opinion about the situation: "We're screwed."

Yang and Blake agree with that statement, but Vernal doesn't understand what all the commotion is about. "Okay, can anyone explain to me what's going on? Why is everyone so down? Did something happen?"

Vernal wants to know what happened? Sure, Yang will give it straight at her: "We are not in the tournament, Vernal!"

Vernal blinks twice in disbelief. "Wait, seriously? They dumped us? Us, the strongest first year team, won't participate? What, did someone here piss off Ozpin one to many times?"

Vernal tries to hide her disappointment with a wisecrack, but Yang is having none of that. She tells her partner that this is not the time for sarcasm. "We've got way too much work to do, and you're not helping!"

"Eh?" Vernal doesn't get that. Yang said that they're out of the tournament. While that is disappointing, there's no reason to work hard if there's nothing to gain. Yang can't seriously be thinking about training for the tournament that happens in two years, right?

There are some inconsistencies in Vernal's thoughts, so Ilia gives a bit more clarification: "We might still participate in the tournament." They're not out… yet. "Only half of the spots have been fixed. We have to participate in preliminary combat other Beacon teams to decide who will take one of the last four spots in the tournament."

At those words Vernal relaxes a bit. That is a lot better then what Vernal originally thought. "All you're saying is that we have to beat one more team. Should be easy enough. Why is this so bad for us?"

It's Yang who gives the blunt answer to her partner: "Because we need to beat them in a few hours, you idiot!"

"Ah." It begins to dawn on Vernal, the giant mistake that she made. She's got what might be most important fight in the duration of Beacon and she's less than unprepared for it because of her fixation on Ruby. Vernal might be a jerk, but betraying the trust of those she belongs to stings her soul. "I… I'm sorry."

The other look with surprise at Vernal, never having seen such a genuine apology from their jerk. How screwed are they if even Vernal is feeling sorrowful?

Yang scratches her head in annoyance, frustrated but not feeling angry anymore. "Look, forget it." What's in the past is in the past, no point in crying over spilled milk. "Try to rest and recover as much aura as possible, we'll take care of the rest of the preparations."

Vernal accepts that order in full seriousness, ready to do her best to restore whatever aura she can.

With about three hours to go until the match the team make their final preparations. Ilia's doing the weapon management, Blake is checking the dust supplies and cartridge, Yang is inventing battle tactics for the upcoming battle while Vernal is taking a nap to restore as much aura as possible. All of them do their best to be prepared for the upcoming preliminaries, but eventually it is time to move. Vibrant moves towards the Arena, Beacon Academy's largest combat room. There Glynda is awaiting the teams, and upon arrival of the last team she explains how the students will fight for their spot in the tournament:

The plan for who will observe the four tickets is quite simple for Beacon standards: each of the eight teams will have to fight in one of the four 4v4 team matches, with their opponent being randomly picked from amongst the other seven. It's a bit of a letdown for team Vibrant, who were hoping that there would be a first-year ticket divided between themselves and Cardinal. If they were the opponent then victory would be all but guaranteed, but Yang can't be sure if they have to face some upperclassmen.

Yang's team isn't called to participate in the first match, and also not in the second. A blessing in disguise to Yang, as it allows Vernal to slightly increase her aura level as she rests on the tribune. No, Yang and the rest of Vibrant can still rest by watching some other battles play out:

In the first match the fourth-year students of Tuscan took the first ticket at the cost of third-years Gale, and in the second match team Cardinal managed to surprise everyone by scraping out a victory against the second-years of team Rock. In other words, if Vibrant loses their match then it will be a Vytal festival where Cardinal will participate instead of Vibrant! Like hell Yang's going to let that happen!

Glynda looks at her monitor, letting out a small sigh before announcing the next matchup: "Third match: Team Vibrant versus team Aqua".

Okay, Yang's up. Gathering her team Yang heads over to the dressing room, where her team readies up for combat. They put on their combat clothes and make the final checks to their equipment.

During the dressing up Vernal asks a poignant question: "So, what's the plan?" She has been asleep for the last few hours, and didn't listen to whatever plan the other three concocted. With Vernal unaware it's up to Yang to explain what the plan is:

"As you know your aura still hasn't fully healed." Yang correctly points out one of the current weak spots of VYBA. At the moment Vernal has only recovered up to eighty percent of the usual. It's more than Yang expected, but not the maximum. While her normal aura reserves are second only to Yang within the team, at the moment Vernal's aura is below that of Ilia and Blake.

Instead of returning with a snarky remark Vernal accepts full responsibility for that mistake. "I know. My apologies, I will not let this mistake happen again."

"The current plan is for all of us to launch a quick assault on the closest member of the enemy team." Blake explains, recalling the discussion a few hours ago. "The plan is to outnumber the enemy as quickly as possible."

"Once we have the numeric advantage Yang will keep their close combat specialist busy while us three will double team one of the remaining enemies, depending on the situation." Ilia continues on, explaining how to finish the battle. "if we get to the point where we have twice the combatants left we'll wear them down with sheer numbers."

That is the plan if everything goes to plan, but Yang also has made some back-up ideas: "And in case one of you three is knocked out we'll either go for one-on-one battles if we are the better duelists or use me as point break with the remainder striking at any openings if they are too strong. Understood?"

Vernal nods, now ready for combat. With the whole team knowing the strategy Yang can't help but look with some pride at her team. They're the strongest freshmen team, a loss is absolutely unacceptable!

…Even so, the condition of the team is below perfect. Morale is admittingly still a bit low in Vibrant after learning that Juniper got the direct placement over them, and Vernal still hasn't recovered from her escapades with Ruby. If team Vibrant loses because of Vernal's lack of aura then Yang is going to be absolutely furious at her partner!

Team Vibrant walks out of the dressing room and towards the battle arena. Standing on the opposite side is team Aqua, or ACUA as it's spelled. They're what gets mockingly called a "harem team", or a team consisting out of one guy and three girls. While normally that is rather demeaning towards these teams, in this case it feels rather appropriate:

The guy of the team, Axel Zelberg if the name on the screen is anything to go by, looks like one of those generic protagonists you find in those Mistrallian cartoons. Generic appearance, generic brown hair, extremely generic sword-pistol gunblade. The only things really unique about him would be his emerald green eyes and equally green hip length cape.

Mister generic protagonist aside, the three girls also seem to go all over the spectrum in body types to fulfill a certain "niche": The short girl with a delicate body, The well-endowed tall beauty, and the one in-between that's just right.

The short girl is named Celestine Cramoisie, dressed in a classical crimson witch outfit. She doesn't come with a magic staff, obviously, as magic isn't real. The little witch of this academy instead wields a mortar lance as large as Crescent Rose, its explosive tip packed with a heap of flame dust.

The U of their team is Umbra Ford, the well-developed blonde who's an inch taller than even Pyrrha. She doesn't put her curves on display much, instead wearing a heavy suit of plate mail accessorized with yellow cloth and wielding a massive sword taller than she herself is.

The last A is Aqua Salis, the one with the more average body type. Although, average isn't right for a divine beauty like that. Yang wouldn't mind to go on a date with this girl-

"Ohoho!" Aqua laughs as she walks up towards her enemies. When she's half a dozen feet away from Yang she starts to smirk, as if she's dismissing team Vibrant. "Tremble in fear opponents, for your opponent is none other than Aqua Salis and her eponymous team!" She draws what appear to be a pair of tube-shaped water guns that unfold into fans. She uses one of her fans to hide the lower half of her face, a fan from which a small fountain-like stream of water blooms. "With my powerful semblance you might as well call me the goddess of water!"

Okay, Yang takes back what she said. As nice as Aqua looks her obnoxious personality is a big no-go. How does her team deal with someone like this?

*smack*

With a smack to the head, apparently. Axel smacked his teammate in the back of the head, equally annoyed by Aqua's antics as Yang, perhaps even more. "Stop with harassing the enemy for no reason, you idiot! You keep getting away with that and you'll end up completely horrified one day! Also, if you're really a goddess of water then it should be no problem if the chore of mopping the dorm will permanently be your task, huh? Got anything to say for yourself, you self-proclaimed goddess of water?"

Mopping the entire time, all the time? That's enough to horrify Aqua. She looks ready to bawl her eyes out, falling on her knees and clutching onto her team leader's cape. "Axel, please don't do that! I apologize for getting carried away, so don't force me to do that alone!"

With a groan Axel orders Aqua to go back to the rest of the team, who does so with a sulk. Now that the blue-haired girl is gone Axel can start talking seriously to his enemy: "Sorry about my partner, I've been stuck with that useless girl for three years but unfortunately she never changed. I'm Axel, leader of team Aqua."

Axel extends his hand, and Yang shakes it. "I'm Yang, leader of Vibrant. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Axel says, before looking at the rest of Vibrant. "But damn, I'm stuck as the only guy on the field. Ugh, this keeps happening way too often."

Oh? That sounds like something to make fun off. "Well, you're free to take it easy. I mean, are you really going to hit women at full force? Come on, wouldn't you rather kiss and make up?" Yang says those last words with an air kiss, acting flirtish with Axel. He looks completely unaffected by Yang's actions, though.

"Unfortunately for you I practice complete gender equality." Axel says with a smirk, rejecting Yang's proposal completely. "If you didn't want to get hit because you're a woman you shouldn't have become a huntress in the first place."

Ooh, to reject Yang's flirtish teasing so readily, Yang's starting to like this guy! Who knows, this might actually be a fun battle! "Very well, I guess we'll just have to settle for kicking your ass, okay?"

"Good luck with that." Axel says as he walks back to his team. As he walks back Yang can hear him mutter under his breath that "We're both going to need it.".

Both teams are now in their starting positions. They ready themselves for combat, waiting for Glynda to sound off the battle. There is great tension in the air, both sides waiting for that decisive moment-

*buzz*

The buzzer sounds, and with that the match is on! Team Vibrant is ready to overpower team their enemies, rushing for the enemy to take someone out with an overwhelming assault!

However, the tactics of team ACUA make VYBA pause in surprise. Instead of a head-on battle the members of ACUA decide to run away! The only exception to that team is the plate mail wearing blonde. Umbra walks up to team Vibrant, her arms spread and her torso wide open for attack. Even her massive sword is dragged behind her, as if she has no intention of swinging it! If that isn't taunting enough then her words certainly are: "Come! My defenses are impenetrable! Hit me! Break your weapons against me!"

Oh? Challenge accepted! Umbra's taunt perfectly fits with Vibrant's tactics, and if she volunteers to be the assassination target then Yang won't say no! Vibrant's leader grins a bit before rushing straight for Umbra. Her fist flies straight for Umbra's torso, who doesn't even try to dodge. Yang hits the enemy straight on…

*ding*

And does absolutely nothing. It doesn't deter Yang from trying again. Or rather, try again a lot of times. She launches a barrage of fist strikes, which Umbra takes head on as if they were nothing. Heck, Umbra seems to enjoy being pummeled by Yang's blows. She even has enough time to taunt Yang about it: "Come on, can't you do better? I can barely even feel that through my armor!" As she says that she swings her greatsword horizontally as if trying to get some space.

"Then how about here?" Yang says as she steps on top of the blade, using this moment to launch a backwards roundhouse kick to the only unarmored part of Umbra's body: her face. Umbra again doesn't bother to dodge as Yang hits head on. The attack lands perfectly, but Umbra doesn't even seem to register the hit. It is Yang who has the sensations of pain, as that strike felt like kicking an unbreakable wall! Heck, she might've done more damage to herself than to the opponent!

The only way to find out if that last sentence is true is by taking a quick glance at the scoreboard. Yang was somewhat sarcastic with her claim that she hurt herself more than the enemy, but it might've actually been true. Her entire barrage of attacks did less than two percent of Umbra's total aura. If this were a normal enemy then Yang would've probably long since eliminated her from the battle, but somehow Umbra is almost completely unaffected.

Yang has a good idea for the cause of that lack of damage, which is the same whenever something doesn't make sense: semblance. To be more precise, Umbra has some form of damage reduction semblance that lets only a sliver of the actual attack go through.

Yang feels a wave of annoyance wash over her shoulders as she realizes what Umbra's semblance is. It's quite simply the antithesis to Yang's semblance, and an absolute nightmare to fight. Taking out her aura becomes a test of endurance, with her stamina probably losing to this broken semblance. Combined with the weight of her armor and sword it makes Umbra an unflinching juggernaut who is practically immune to physical damage. And if you can't solve a problem by punching it then what good is Yang?

Umbra swings her massive sword once more at Yang, but quickly finds a ribbon stopping her arm in her track. Yang has thus far rushed in alone, but now the rest of the team is getting in on the action! Ilia uses Lightning Lash to bind Umbra's other arm, leaving Aqua's swordwielder wide open. This opening gets used by Vernal, who has learned from Yang's utter failings and shoots bullets infused with lightning dust.

Unlike Yang's punches this attack does seem to have some result. Not in aura damage, no, but the electricity coursing through Umbra's veins does seem to have an effect. Her muscles are twitching, and her face is now twisted in bliss.

Wait, bliss?

Bliss indeed. Umbra looks as if she's enjoying the pain and electrocution, letting out a moan of pleasure. It both confuses and disgusts the members of Vibrant, who are feeling slightly less inclined to take down this weirdo.

Despite the joy from her pain Umbra hasn't lost her focus though, as she still does what she needs to do. She pulls both bound arms towards herself, forcing Blake and Ilia to move in closer. With all of Vibrant standing close to Umbra it's time for team Aqua to unleash their plot, as their team leader gives his orders:

"Celestine, now!"

Yang looks over towards the other three members of Aqua far in the distance, all near the edge of the arena. Of the three Celestine has her mortar lance aimed at the group, the explosive projectile on top of the weapon so overloaded with extra dust that it might as well be called a warhead. She aims her weapon at the enemy group and Umbra, shouting out the one word she expects her weapon to do:

"Explosion!"

The warhead is sent flying towards the group, who try to dodge it. If it were aimed at any people of Vibrant then they could probably dodge the attack completely, so Celestine's strategy is to hit Umbra with the explosion and get the rest with the splash damage.

As Celestine planned so it happens: The warhead strikes Umbra head-on and ignites, creating an explosion far larger than that amount of dust should be able to create. This cannot be done purely with dust, as this goes beyond that level of power. The only explanation is for that Celestine girl to have a semblance that improves the power of her explosions. It wouldn't be impossible considering that Coco has a similar semblance.

With the explosion being stronger than expected all Yang can do is brace herself for impact, but the heat and power washing over her is enough to drain her aura rapidly. She skids a few feet back from the force, trying her best to stay steady, and manages to only drop to her knees instead of falling flat on her back.

Oof, Yang can feel the hurt from that attack. She lost the lion's share of her aura in one attack! Considering that she has the largest aura reserves amongst team Vibrant means that the rest of her team must have taken even more damage, perhaps even one-shotting them!

*Buzz*

Oh great, that's the sound of someone dropping out of the fight. And considering who didn't start at full aura… damn it, Vernal!

Yang looks at the screen, reading the aura levels of team VYBA. In order of their team name the aura levels are 23, 44, 28 and 30 percent. Dangerously low, especially in Vernal's case, but nobody's under the limit of 20%. Perhaps someone was eliminated by ring out? She can see that even Umbra was knocked to her knees by that explosion. If someone who felt like a solid fortress is toppled then the explosion could easily blow the rest of her team out of the arena.

"Ring out:" Glynda announces the exact thing that Yang predicted, "Celestine Cramoisie."

Wait, Celestine? That's an enemy! What happened?

"Aargh!" it seems that Yang isn't the only one wondering about that, as Axel lets out a scream of frustration at his teammate's antics. Celestine has stepped out of the ring of her own volition, despite having taken no damage at all. Axel is both confused and annoyed by his team member: "What are you doing?"

"Hmph," Celestine says smugly, as if she's done nothing wrong, "you of all people should know why, as a fellow connoisseur of the path of explosions. The bigger the explosion the better, so I used all the dust I had for that beautiful destruction! And now without ammo it is time for me to step down into the abyss."

"Celestine," Axels says with complete irritation, "I can't have you keep bowing out after a single explosion! You need to fire more than one shot in each round of the tournament! I mean, look at what you did! Now I'm forced to win this fight with that masochist and this useless partner of mine."

While Aqua lets out an annoyed "Hey!" at Axel's accusation, but Celestine is a lot more optimistic:

"Nah, you got this, Axel." Celestine says while pointing finger guns at her leader. "Besides, I took out about seventy percent of their total aura, so I'll be the MVP anyways."

With that said Axel has no other response but to groan in frustration, as Celestine moves towards the spectator seats.

Well, that's a… unique way to knock an enemy out. Furthermore, the battle is technically going according to Yang's plan of creating a numeric advantage.

Mission failed successfully?

Team Vibrant at least has the numeric advantage, however long that lasts. Yang pumps her fists together, her semblance flaring now that she's lost more than half her aura. This strength boost will be more than helpful in the fight against that stupid damage reduction semblance.

With newfound power she strikes Umbra, who is now buckling slightly from each punch Yang makes. Yang's punches have become more effective…

…but only slightly more effective. The defense granted by Umbra's semblance in combination with her plate armor is still too strong. Yang can barely dent Umbra's aura, though Yang's development made ACUA's tank a lot happier:

"Ohoh, yes, now this is more like it! Your brutality is impressive! With that strength you might even be able to lewdly torture me and make an example of me in front of everyone. Come try it if you can!"

Eh? Yang loses the urge to punch upon hearing Umbra speak out such obscene wishes. She wants Yang to do what? Is… is she mentally insane?

With Yang not attacking it's Umbra's turn to take a shot at offense, swinging her oversized sword at Yang. Vibrant's leader still isn't threatened by that slow swinging weapon of Umbra, easily dodging under it before taking two steps back to reassess the situation and what to do with this madwoman she's facing.

Umbra on the other hand hasn't had enough of the fight, and wants Yang to continue pummel down on her: "Are you plotting where to land your next blow, my enemy? Very well. Come and hit me. Now! Show me what delicious torments you are planning!"

Brrr. Yang shivers from observing Umbra's unusual pleasures. After this battle is over Yang needs a cold shower, because this just feels dirty.

As for keeping up the punching… Yang hates to say this, but at the moment her task is to keep Umbra busy while the rest of her team takes out the remainder of ACUA. And the only way Yang can keep Umbra busy is through striking her. It is unfortunate, but Yang has to continue with the dirty business. With trepidation she steps forwards and continues her assault, causing Umbra to blush slightly from these renewed feelings of pain. Or as Umbra calls it:

"Glorious!"

Yang can't help but wonder how far she's fallen. Once she was on the road to lead the best team of Beacon, and now she's forced to punch masochists for a spot in the tournament. What has the world come to?

Meanwhile Vernal takes it upon herself to deal with Axel. Though Vernal's aura is low and Axel seems to be more all-round compared to his teammates Vernal has an inkling that his strength comes more from the mind than the body. Even with only being a single strike away from elimination Vernal can probably still hold off Axel for long enough that her team can eliminate someone else.

Vernal takes the offensive starting with a spray of bullets before coming in with her wind and fire blades. Compared to her previous battle against Ruby this is almost child's play, with Vernal in total control of the pacing of this battle. Axel is forced to defend and try a counter, but with the way her blades can also catch swords in them it isn't difficult to catch his gunblade in one blade and strike true with the other.

Axel lost some aura, and now tries to reset the fight by creating some distance. Vernal won't let him get off so easily. She throws Sun Shang at Axel, planning to recover it with her "gravity dust" if it misses the target. Even if he dodges Vernal can still make sure it hits on the return swing with some careful positioning.

But Axel does not decide to dodge. He holds out his free hand towards the incoming projectile instead. His hand glows green, and he shouts out a single word:

"Steal!"

The wind and fire blade that flew at Axel just a moment ago is now comfortably wielded by Axel. His theft semblance made Sun Shang part of his own equipment instead of Vernal's, who is looking quite annoyed. Axel wants to strike back at Vernal with her own weapon, but unfortunately his semblance doesn't give him any mastery with whatever he steals.

Time for plan B. Instead of attacking Vernal Axel throws the wind and fire blade out of the battleground, preventing Vernal from picking it back up again. Axel starts to grin like a scumbag while Vernal looks mildly annoyed. Her own semblance can still recover her weapon, but no need to give Axel any idea about that possibility. No, she'll have to endure with only one weapon until the opportunity arises.

Yang is fighting Umbra while Vernal is battling Axel. That leaves two members of VYBA to take care of the last member of ACUA. The last member of Aqua, also named Aqua, is the victim of double teaming. Her answer to this tactic is to enforce a tactical retreat until help arrives.

Although, "tactical" retreat? It's more of a "run for your life" kind of retreat. Aqua is fleeing from the two faunus, not interested in this kind of fight. Despite her cowardly ways she's quite capable at running away, being almost as fast as the two nimblest members of Vibrant.

However, almost fast enough is not fast enough. Blake and Ilia gain on Aqua, and quickly she'll be forced into battle. Instead of running herself ragged she turns around, her fans unfolding and the water gun parts firing jets of water at the two faunus.

The duo is quite surprised with Aqua's sudden courage and fail to dodge. The water splashes on both faunus, leaving them both wet. It doesn't drain their aura even the slightest, but they now make the same expression as a cat after being forcibly bathed. With annoyed expressions they look at Aqua, though some worry is niggling in as Aqua is suddenly extremely confident. All she did was splash water on two of her enemies and piss them off. Speaking of piss, could it be that this is not actually water? Is that why she starts to look complacent? Neither Blake nor Ilia feels any worse for the wear, but it can't hurt to ask:

"What is this… water?"

"Holy water!" Aqua corrects smugly, grinning as if she's already won. "My semblance, [Gifting this Wonderful World with Blessings], lets me bless water, turning it into the ultimate grimm-slaying weapon! A single blast from my weapon melts through even a leviathan-class grimm without much trouble! Tremble before my power!"

That… is a really powerful semblance. Something like that would be an incredible asset in the fight against the dark forces surrounding the kingdoms. However, both Blake and Ilia can see one small problem with Aqua's current plan:

"We're not grimm."

"Eh." Aqua's laugh stops when she realizes that obvious point, suddenly looking a lot less confident. Her voice starts to tremble a bit when she realizes the error of her ways. Now she is grasping at straws for some reason why this was a good idea: "W-Well, you're a cat faunus, right? Doesn't that mean you dislike water?"

"I'm from Menagerie." Blake points out, unamused by Aqua's racism. "I used to go dive fishing with my family. Just because I'm a cat faunus doesn't mean I'm afraid of water."

"Ah." With an extreme sense of distress Aqua runs away, with an angry Blake and Ilia on her heels. She is literally bawling as she runs away, screaming and crying out for her life: "Waahhhh! Why are you all targeting me? I've been a good girl every day! Axel, I'm sorry for telling the rest of the team that you like to sniff the rest of the team's laundry, please help me!"

Aqua is making a beeline to where Axel is fighting Vernal. Both of them hear the last part of Aqua's crying, causing Vernal to make a grin of her own.

"You sniff their laundry?" Vernal says with some amusement at that embarrassing hobby.

The question immediately turns Axel's head as red as a beet. "N-No, of course not!" He stammers out, trying to keep his composure and failing. "Aqua, you're absolutely useless at keeping secrets!"

Good, Axel's distracted. Now's the time for Vernal to execute her plan. Sun Shang, once thrown out of the arena by her opponent flies back to Vernal, who catches it and immediately uses it to slash Axel across the chest. He takes the damage, so Vernal takes this moment to use Sun Xiang to shoot lightning-dust infused bullets at Aqua. The idiot is too distressed with bawling to dodge, and gets tasered as a result.

Axel took damage and is staggered while Aqua's getting tasered while her aura is draining. This was the perfect attack… except for one thing: Aqua continues running despite the pain of being tasered. Despite how she acts her body is strong enough to keep on moving despite the excruciating pain. Or perhaps the fear she feels is so overwhelming that it can fight through all the hurt.

With Axel still staggering backwards there's only one target Aqua can be running towards. Vernal is unable to dodge the crazy azurette, and both tumble onto the ground. If this was all it wouldn't be so bad for Vernal, but she is still tasering Aqua with her weapon for maximum damage. With the way electricity and lightning follow the path of least resistance this means that the moment Aqua touches Vernal the electricity will flow through the body of both girls. Even though Aqua still takes the lion's share of the damage Vernal won't be left unscathed, and with how low Vernal's aura was there's only one thing this can lead to:

"Aura down: Vernal Branwen."

With Vernal forced to step out of the arena the battle has returned to an equal number of fighters on both sides. It's not all bad though, as Yang believes to have gained something from this debacle: Knowledge about the enemy. Or to be more precise, knowledge about the enemy's specializations.

While there's certainly a general difference in combat capability between the stronger and weaker teams of Beacon most teams tend to have something they're a cut above in. Vibrant for example would be perfect for stealth missions, with Yang playing bait while the rest of the team skulks around. Or take Cardinal, a group of poorly organized idiots with a tendency to hinder one another. Put them on something like wall-guarding duty while the grimm are attacking and they prove to be rather stalwart defenders. Each team has their own strengths and weaknesses.

ACUA has a clear specialization as well. This team consists of a bunch of absolute morons, but they might be the strongest grimm exterminating team in Beacon's history. Aqua's grimm-melting semblance is obvious, Umbra's slow but heavy swings can cleave through even the thickest grimm plating, and Celestine's explosions are capable of slaying kaiju-sized grimm with a single strike. Combined with their leader's wit and scummy tactics they're completely specialized for fighting monsters.

But similarly, they're too specialized at fighting grimm. Celestine's single shot tactics don't finish a fight against enemies with aura, Umbra's swings can be evaded by anyone with half a braincell and Aqua's mental state makes her unprepared for dealing with human enemies.

In that case Yang should use this knowledge to strike at the enemy's weak spots. Immediately she disengages from her current enemy, the plate mail wearing Umbra lacking the speed to keep up with Yang. No use in continuing to fight an enemy she can barely damage.

With Umbra temporarily out of the fight it's time to put the heat on her teammates. The two A's of ACUA are surrounded by Vibrant, Yang from one end and the two faunus from the other. It's not enough of a battlefield advantage to Yang, so perhaps it's time to use some tactics from her fellow blonde team leader:

"Changing Colors!" Yang shouts out, having integrated Juniper's codeword system into her team. These battle tactics were thought of in the three hours before the match, kind of limiting the number of tactics to one or two per duo. It 's still enough for the two faunus to know what they must do:

The duo changes their formation as they run at the enemy. Blake runs up front while Ilia's running behind her, Lightning Lash aimed forward with Blake holding on to the tip. About twenty feet in front of the duo of ACUA Blake uses her semblance in combination with smoke dust to create a dark purple shadow clone of herself. The clone is now holding onto the tip of Lighting Lash, which Ilia thrusts out at the enemy duo. Ilia's weapon turns from rapier to whip form, elongating as it throws the smokey Blake at the enemy.

Neither Axel nor Aqua have trouble dodging Blake's clone. Then again, it's not like Ilia wanted to hit them with the smoke. She activates the lightning dust in her weapon, making Lightning Lash crackle with electric energy. Lightning meets smoke, causing the latter to explode and cover part of the arena in a bank of purple mist.

The duo from ACUA is stuck in the mist, their vision obscured. Without their sight the two huntsmen in training are stuck, wary for any possible attack coming their way. They cannot see the enemy, but at least team Vibrant will have equal difficulty with hitting them, right?

Light from a whip crackling with lightning energy puts an end to that question, as it strikes right in-between Axel and Aqua. With the enemy coming this close to hitting them both members of ACUA realize that they need to get out of the cloud as soon as possible. Both of them run out of the cloud, feeling the light of day again.

However, one thing they each notice is the lack of a teammate by their side. Because of the thunderous sound of Lightning Lash crackling between the partners both ran in a different direction, putting them at thirty feet apart with a purple cloud of darkness between them that will take a few dozen seconds to dissipate.

With Axel and Aqua separated it is now the time to split the attack. With Aqua clearly being the weaker link Yang and Ilia take it upon them to take her out quickly, while Blake will keep the other enemy busy.

Ilia comes in from the front, Lightning Lash in rapier form as she unleashes a flurry of thrusts. Aqua's fans can barely keep up with Ilia's assault, and repeatedly a strike manages to get through.

As if that wasn't enough Yang manages to land a hit on the back of Aqua's head, turning the poor blue-haired girl dizzy. With Yang's punch rattling Aqua's brain she's temporarily disabled, letting the two members of Vibrant quickly discuss their finisher.

"How about Salamander?" Ilia recommends, knowing the perfect way to bring a quick end to this battle. Yang agrees, and immediately they set up this attack.

In Remnant's myth the salamanders are associated with elemental fire, and that's exactly what this team attack seeks to emulate. Ilia swings her weapon at Aqua in whip form, wrapping itself around the girl's waist. When Aqua is fully cognitive again she can do little when Ilia throws her at Yang with a mighty heave. Aqua is sent flying, but Ilia isn't done yet. By pulling one of the whip's triggers Ilia makes Lightning Lash glow bright orange, a sign of being infused with dust.

Said dust is combustion dust, mostly used for powering engines but also used by avid explosion enthusiasts, as Yang and Celestine can attest to. With this dust infusion any form of heavy contact will cause a mighty explosion, which Yang is more than willing to produce. She strikes Aqua at the bound waist with an explosive punch of her own, causing a chain reaction that sends the explosions towards the bound person. It's such a successful strike that even ACUA's resident explosives connoisseur admires the combined effort of Yang and Ilia.

The explosion rocks Aqua's world, dropping her aura enough to cause Glynda to say the dreaded four words:

"Aura down: Aqua Salis."

While Yang and Ilia are busy with eliminating Aqua the battle on the other side did not lead into another eliminated enemy. It's not really a surprise, honestly. The goal is to keep Axel from helping his partner, knocking him out is just a luxury. And as far as keeping him busy goes Blake's doing a good job of it, forcing Axel to engage her. That's not a problem, but he's also aware that his partner is forces to fight two talented freshmen. His partner is getting massacred, and he needs to slip past Blake to help.

Axel does have an idea on how to neutralize Blake. In fact, he only needs one word: "Steal!"

With another activation of his semblance Axel reaches out with his free hand towards Blake, which causes Gambol Shroud to disappear from the cat faunus' hand. The moment it blinks away it appears in Axel's free hand.

And that's one opponent disarmed. He throws the weapon to the other side of the arena, forcing a twisted dilemma on Blake: Either run after your weapon and let Axel help his partner or face him unarmed. Facing this diabolical dilemma, what will Blake choose?

The answer is neither. Blake draws her sheath, using it as a large cleaver to hack at Axel. Axel is forced to raise his gunblade in time to block Blake's strikes.

Still surprised from the fact that Blake isn't helpless without her main weapon means that he didn't take any initiative, allowing Blake to press the offensive. Axel is on the defensive, while Blake presses Axel's guarding with a flurry of blows. He himself is getting frustrated with the nimble attacks from Blake.

"What is it with you girls and dual wielding?" Seriously, the first one he stole a weapon from retrieved it with gravity dust, and now the second one has a cleaver as a backup weapon! To make matters worse the leader has dual gauntlets that she can probably fight perfectly well without, and with Axel's luck the last one has a backup rapier-whip.

To make matters worse he hears the buzzer of Aqua's elimination, leaving his team outnumbered again. Axel evaluates his surroundings, and only sees one last option. He thrusts out his free hand, but not to steal. That skill has a cooldown that lets him use it only every so often, so that's unavailable to him. He startles Blake instead by putting the free hand on her chest.

Blake's surprise turns into confused repulsion when he starts to grope her. This… pervert, is he serious? Blake isn't sure whether to jump away in disgust, hit Axel for such flagrant disrespect to women or to let Adam know about this after the match and have him deal the punishment. At the moment she's going for option two, punching Axel on the nose.

Axel feels the pain of Blake's punch but is not too bothered by it. It's not because he's enjoying the touch, no. He may be somewhat scummy but this would be low even for him. No, he's not bothered by the pain because he has a plan:

Yang did manage to help Ilia knock Aqua out of the fight, but also left the enemy she was fighting. Umbra may be slow but she did eventually reach the rest of the action. To be precise, it is her who is now swinging her massive greatsword at Blake and Axel.

Umbra's attacks are so slow and painfully telegraphed that people can see them coming from a mile away. That's an undeniable truth. That doesn't mean that her attacks are useless: Grimm are too feral to understand why they need to dodge Umbra, meaning that Aqua's tank has probably slashed countless grimm in twain. And though a human understands why they need to dodge Umbra's attack, what if they can't see the slash coming? How would they defend against someone they cannot prepare to defend themselves against?

Quite simple: they can't.

Umbra's slash strikes true, a rare event for sure. Blake couldn't see the attack coming due to being startled by Axel, while Axel doesn't bother to dodge to ensure the hit on the opponent. Both take about twenty percent of their maximum aura percentage as damage. Axel goes down to a bit below half, but Blake is now in the single digits. That level of aura is too low to continue the match with, so there is little surprise when the buzzer sounds to eliminate another contestant and Glynda calls out that person's name:

"Aura down: Blake Belladonna."

The battle has turned into a 2v2, with Yang and Ilia having to deal with Umbra and Axel. The duo from Vibrant launch the offensive, and in response the members of Aqua decide to go turtling. Axel uses Umbra as a living shield, hiding behind her as he fires shots from his gunblade. Umbra doesn't mind the role of meatshield, enjoying the damage she takes as she makes some more slow swings that completely fail to hit.

Yang and Ilia launch a barrage of melee and ranged attacks, but Axel is quite adept at utilizing his teammate. Ranged attacks are almost useless against Aqua's leader, while those that strike Umbra suffer from her damage reduction semblance. The melee attacks are the same, and while continuous melee battle might eventually succeed in separating the duo it would take a level of aura damage neither of Vibrant is willing to give up, not wanting to risk the chance.

A few lucky shots do manage to break through Axel and Umbra's guard, draining Axel's aura ever so slowly. It goes slow as molasses, honestly, but at least the enemy fails to hit back. Any free damage is welcome in Yang's book.

It is indeed going slowly, as Glynda is looking at the clock. This is the longest match of the day, and there's still another match after this. Time-outs tend to be a rarity at the official Vytal tournament, but there's still a rule for maximum match length. As unused as that rule is, she does have to enforce it:

"Three minutes remaining." Glynda calls out, giving a concise limit to this match. Upon hearing this Axel starts to smirk evilly, as if everything is going according to plan. Why would he like that the match is almost over? Yang doesn't get-

No, she does get it, the strategy of ACUA. In case of a draw due to timeout the winning team will be the one with the largest amount of aura remaining. Celestine's explosion has brought down the members of team Vibrant to low aura levels, and currently the maximum aura percentage that team Vibrant can show is 66 percent. Their enemy on the other hand have a teammate with damage reduction for her semblance, and even now she's still left with 90 percent of her aura. It doesn't even matter if Axel is eliminated, if Umbra stays on the field then team Vibrant can say goodbye to their spot in the tournament!

Damn, this is bad! Axel may be a chump and Umbra can't hit the broad side of a barn, but if this continues then they will be the one in the Vytal tournament!

This battle can't continue like this. Yang needs a new plan, and fast! With only Ilia still by her side the amount of combat maneuvers is limited. In fact, there's only two combination attacks that they have-hang on, that's it!

"Hey Ilia, let's do the Lava Lamp!" Yang shouts out to Ilia, who agrees with her leader's plan. She throws the tip of Lightning Lash to Yang, who grabs it with her hand. Ilia spins around in place to make Yang fly in circles, who is boosting the speed of this move with her free hand.

Those who have watched Vibrant fight might notice that it's similar to another combination move, Yang and Blake's Bumblebee. The differences are that Lightning Lash full length is shorter than Gambol Shroud's ribbon, lowering Yang's speed. Furthermore, where Bumblebee has Yang flying circles in the air Lava Lamp has Yang skidding across the ground as if she were dragged around from being tied to a fast-moving vehicle.

It must look ridiculous to the audience, this technique of self-mutilation. If this were a movie then this is where the audience would be advised not to try this at home, because skidding your face across the ground for a power boost is extremely dangerous and painful. It's not stupid, though, as it does exactly what Yang expected:

Yang can feel the power of her semblance growing and growing with each painful circle she skids across the ground. If her aura levels are pointless in this battle then she might as well discard it for more power, right? Pain be damned, she's willing to bear it all for the sake of her team's spot in the tournament!

When Yang's aura is nearing the limit of twenty percent Ilia stops dragging Yang across the ground. She also stops spinning, Lightning Lash turning rigid once more as Ilia trusts her weapon upwards.

Like wax in a lava lamp Yang flies skywards, now burning gold. Originally Lava Lamp was a maneuver meant to catch flying opponents with an all-powerful punch, but Yang tries a new implementation of the move:

With the move being done indoors the maximum height that can be reached is limited by the ceiling. It doesn't take long for Yang to attain that limit, but that's not a problem for her. She twists her body so that she reaches the platform feet-first. After crouching against the ceiling Yang pushes off against it, jumping at full speed towards the floor. Yang is about to show the most fun equation in physics:

Falling energy + semblance energy + punching energy = a whole lotta damage!

Of course, if she hits Umbra with it that whole lotta damage would be reduced significantly, so that's not the target of her attack: It's the floor in front of her.

The floor shatters under the impact of Yang's power, turning the top layer of the stone arena into a shockwave of debris and rubble that flows outwards. The fourth match will probably have to be postponed because of all the property damage she just created. If she had to pay the repairs herself this would cost tonnes, but professor Goodwitch's telekinesis semblance should be able to handle the repairs, right?

The shockwave is powerful and strong, but also pretty easy to avoid by jumping if you get used to it. Ilia has seen such moves from Yang before and jumps over the shockwave with ease. Axel has not, though, and he gets blasted backwards as debris is eating into his aura. Umbra on the other hand might've seen it coming, but she couldn't dodge it anyhow. She may be strong and durable, with that plate armor she's completely forsaken speed. Unable to move out of the way she can't help but take the brunt of the damage.

Thought the power of the blow was immense Umbra takes less than five percent of aura damage. Of course, Yang didn't expect anything less. Umbra's semblance is "Damage Reduction", you can't exactly beat that with pure power. However, with the floor broken and a massive wave of force washing over Umbra her stability is waning. Celestine's explosion had enough force to topple Umbra, so why can't Yang do the same?

The shockwave is enough to shake Umbra's stability, but she's not falling yet. In that case Yang is upping the ante. With a burst from Ember Celica she dashes over to her enemy, ready to strike.

Of course, normal strikes are ineffective against Umbra's semblance. Boxing moves like hers are meant to do damage, so when that is reduced those skills are ineffective. In that case Yang will strike with her whole arm, wrapping it around Umbra's neck to force her to the ground. If she can't outbox her opponent then perhaps a wrestling-style lariat will do!

It certainly will do, as Umbra is forced to take a step back to keep her balance. Or at least tries to, as Lightning Lash is coiled around her legs like her snakes. Despite the fortress-like defense her plate armor and semblance give her Umbra can't prevent herself from being toppled. She's unable to do anything but fall on her back.

Umbra's fall is witnessed by his teammate, who gets up and ready to fight for her rescue. Ilia will have none of that, her weapon unwrapping from Umbra's legs and swung at Axel. Annoyed with this interference Axel is forced to face Ilia, leaving Yang to deal with Umbra. Then again, that might be the easiest part of this battle:

Yang has to admit that Umbra's semblance is one of the most annoying semblances she's has the honor of facing, but "damage reduction" won't be enough to save her. Barely taking any damage from attacks does not mean that she's an immovable object. Even if her plate mail makes her heavier than the rest of her team combined someone with a strength semblance like Yang should still be able to drag that around. She flipped a flippin' ancient deathstalker, a girl in plate armor should be a piece of cake!

Yang grabs Umbra by her legs, and starts to drag her to the edge of the area. This leaves her completely open to attacks, but who is going to attack? Axel would be able to, but unfortunately there's a chameleon faunus blocking his path and clashing blades. And Umbra herself? Not likely, as Umbra's attacks are too slow and simplistic to hit the person dragging her.

Umbra herself is not enjoying the situation, a first in this whole match. She puts her complaints with Yang, telling her why this shouldn't be how the match ends: "While I don't mind that someone like me is treated like luggage and left in such a disheveled state, I've barely had enough stimulation. Could you please, please continue with punching me like before? Even if it's only a minute I would be fine with it!"

O shut up you annoying masochist! Yang has only one response for this crazy woman: To throw her out of the arena. With a heave she launches Umbra off the stage, who cannot help but crash into the ground and make the buzzer sound once more.

The buzzer of elimination brings sweet joy to Yang, just as much as words flowing out of Glynda's mouth: "Ring out: Umbra Ford."

And with Umbra out that leaves one opponent. Yang walks up to Axel, who is slowly retreating from Ilia with his confidence sinking. He's aware that even though Yang and Ilia are at low percentages they are still capable enough to deal with someone like Axel. Heck, with the current aura percentages they don't even need to defeat Axel, He has taken enough damage to his aura to put his aura level below the combined total of Vibrant. Yang and Ilia could easily evade him for the remainder of the match time and obtain victory that way, but they prefer to go for a decisive victory.

Yang catches up to Ilia and together the duo of VYBA walk up to their last opponent, Yang with the blaze of her semblance shining as she cracks her knuckles and Ilia ready to stab with Lightning Lash the moment Axel tries something funny. Yang can't help herself from taunting Axel, who is nervously taking several steps backwards:

"I guess you're all out of luck, out of teammates, and out of chances. Too bad~. So close though."

Ilia rolls her eyes at Yang's taunting. "Quit trying to look cool, Yang." She would rather keep focus on any final escapades that Axel might be trying.

Speaking of Axel, he looks to be kind of afraid of his probably inevitable loss. Even so he musters up the courage to stand up to his final two opponents, getting into combat position. "W-Well," Axel says with a bit of anxiety, "I didn't expect Umbra to be knocked out of the ring, yes, but I still have my own abilities to-Steal!"

Surprising everyone Axel suddenly goes for another shot with his semblance, aiming his hand at Yang and making it glow a faint green once more. Yang immediately takes a defensive position with her hands in front of her face. With Axel's theft semblance he could easily take away one of Ember Celica's gauntlets. While Yang is much better at unarmed combat than her sis she would prefer to know which arm is suddenly lacking its explosive punch.

The light dims down, and to Yang's surprise both gauntlets are still attached. What did he take then, perhaps her ammunition? Axel looks equally surprised upon noticing what's in his hand, but surprise makes way for a goofy grin as he shows his capture to the world:

A pair of black panties.

Wait, what?

The people in the audience start to get loud, with the guys cheering for this "hero" while the female crowd is jeering. Glynda lets out a loud groan of being completely done with this fight while Vernal is laughing her ass of.

Yang on the other hand recognizes the undergarments as her own. Yang smashes her fists together in fury, causing her hair to glow with flames larger and brighter than anything she produced today. Yang lets out a small chuckle, before glaring angrily at the panty thief. "You're dead."

Yang rushes over towards this enemy of womankind and she gets her fist striking Axel in the stomach before he can react. With the power of her semblance combined with the power of her anger Axel is sent flying, out of the ring and into the stands. The underwear was let go of by Axel upon being hit, and now gently flutters down to the ground. Yang snatches it in mid-air, before stomping away in indignation.

Now that Axel is eliminated the buzzer sounds for the last time to indicate the end of the match. Team Vibrant has beaten team Aqua, which means that they've secured their spot in the Vytal tournament!

…yet why does Yang, despite winning the most important match thus far in her career at Beacon, feel the worst she's been thus far?

---

Hello readers, my apologies for a somewhat late chapter. My joy in RWBY waned a bit after the rather poor second half of the eighth volume. While I could go on a tirade on why I think it was as bad as the latter half of volume 5, let's just keep it at the fact that it saddens me that after volumes 6 and 7 made Ruby look good again volume 8 was so disappointing.

I suppose I just have to make a better version myself.

Anyway, onwards to the references, expies and questions:

-Number of RWBY Chibi references increased from 25 to 31
-Number of BBTAG references increased from 13 to 14

-Julian Rocco: Romeo (Romeo & Juliet)
Team Aqua: The Konosuba Quartet
-Axel Zelberg: Satou Kazama (Wielding a Final Fantasy VIII "Shear Trigger" gunblade)
-Celestinie Cramoisie: Megumin (Wielding a Valkyria Chronicles "Lancaar SH M23" mortar lance)
-Umbra Ford: Darkness (Wielding a Monster Hunter "Chrome Razor" greatsword)
-Aqua Salis: Aqua (Wielding her usual fans infused with water gun technology)

Joecola00: In chapter 3-Start, did you make a reference to the SCP foundation at the end?
Indeed, that was a reference to the SCP foundation. Then again, it's not like the foundation doesn't exist on Remnant. However, this organization only hides four ancient artifacts instead of thousands, has significantly less members and is named "Ozpin's council."

W8W & Fregreg: Can't you just make Tortuga Huovi's nickname? Why did you decide to negate certain parts of canon?
That's true. I can easily turn Huovi Muinainen into Huovi "Tortuga" Muinainen, and would only need a line or two of rewriting. In fact, I'm hereby making Tortuga Huovi's nickname, since he's as slow and steady as a turtle. However, that's not the "stupid-ass decision" of Roosterteeth I talked about in the last chapter. There is a point Roosterteeth wants to make canon that would turn future chapters completely out of whack with my design (hence the [Spoiler] in the last chapter). And because I decided not to count that point, I felt free to take a few more liberties with canon.