"Hey guys," Ginzo spoke over comms, teeming with an idea.

"Oh no…" Leona sighed. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking of a way to spice up the Battle. Less for us, but more for the kids."

"Sidenote, some people here are over eighteen." Chopstick added. "But continue."

"They're still kids compared to us! I mean, aside from how long we've been Guardians-y'know what never mind. Anyway! Don't worry, my idea is fair to everyone, and all we have to do is hack a Vex thingymabob."

"No, we are NOT throwing Vex into the fray!" Leona yelled. "Why would you even think-"

"Of course not!" Ginzo retorted. "I mean, my students just fought an Ogre but still!"

"Huh?" Lus paused.

"Ignore what he said." Moa interrupted. "Anyway, don't worry, they aren't gonna be fighting Vex."

"Then why do we need a Vex node?" Anan asked. "Even for reasons other than us not having access to them yet, I'd say its a bad idea to supply them with weapons from our world. Namely, them killing each other."

"Have a lil' faith in me guys! Damn!" Ginzo whined. "And of course not! I don't even think we should give them guns in the first place! That's a problem for another time! Look! All I'm saying is, we just establish a comm link to the Tower."

"And...that will...ooooh...oh yes." Jose chuckled.

Hilda, Leonie, and Lorenz had separated from the main group, and were lying down by a riverbank, exhausted and irritated at their failure to acquire the engram.

"We give up!" Hilda cried out. "I'm too tired to keep going."

"Agreed." Lorenz sighed. "I see no point in continuing this foolish child's game."

Moa hopped down from a tree and landed behind the group, chuckling as she brandished the engram. "Well, you tried, and we're proud of you for that."

Ginzo stepped out while uncloaking himself. "Yeah, I kinda knew you weren't gonna be able to catch us. So where's everyone else?"

"You weren't watching them?" Moa turned and stared at Ginzo.

"I mean I was, but then I started getting chased away. To be fair, that was a while ago. Ehh, I'm sure they're fine, they survived a Hive and Vex infested wilderness before."

Leonie rose from her reclination to answer. "They went back to camp in order to rest. I'm pretty sure they forfeited."

"Welp, that settles it then! Teachers win!"

Suddenly an arrow whirred through the air, colliding with the engram, causing Moa to whip her head around at the assailant. Leonie then made a mad dash towards Moa, knocking the engram out of Moa's hands with a flying knee before throwing her body on top of the engram to secure it.

"WE DID IT!" Claude cheered, running out from the bushes.

"I thought you guys gave up!" Moa spoke, confused.

"Hilda and I, gave up. Leonie and Claude never said they did. Even further, Leonie only said that she was pretty sure, not fully." Lorenz smirked, scoffing at his professors.

"You little…" Ginzo grumbled, before finally erupting into laughter. "Ah, man! I've never been more proud and pissed off at the same time! Good job!"

"That was a dirty trick. But that's what we've been teaching you all along, so I consider that an A-plus." Moa sighed. "I think you're all more than ready for the battle."

"The time has come, Professors."

Anan and Jose spun to face Edelgard approaching them, as the rest of their class meditated to prepare themselves for the battle.

"And so it has." Anan nodded. "Are you ready?"

Edelgard nodded, not hesitating for a moment. "As ever. Do you have any suggestions for strategy?"

"Don't die." Jose deadpanned. "But seriously, be on the lookout for schemes from the Deer, as well as assaults from the Lions. Not necessarily defense, but think of counterattacks."

"AYE! Y'all talking crap over here?" Ginzo triumphantly shouted, marching over to meet them alongside Moa and Claude.

"No, nothing of the sort." Anan waved. "We were merely discussing the fact that you will be crushed."

"That's a lotta talk for someone who can't kill an Ogre." Ginzo smirked. "Anyway, good luck to y'all, cause you're gonna need it."

"Damn right they will." Lus chuckled as he approached with Dimitri and Leona in tow. "You will as well."

"And the gang's all here." Claude laughed.

"Although we are all classmates or allies, it should be known that we won't be going easy on you all today." Dimitri spoke, smiling.

"I am happy to see that you can stomach facing us in battle." Edelgard nodded. "It spares us time for pleasantries as well. Professors, I'm off to meditate. I believe the rest of the class would like to speak with you as well. I'm sure the other teams can discuss who will place second on their own."

"Sheesh." Jose laughed. "What can we say, we taught her well."

"Yeah? Well up yours!" Ginzo laughed as he flipped them off. "And Lus and Leona! Don't be surprised when you get put on your asses! C'mon guys!"

"Oh please." Leona scoffed. "You'll all be on the ground before you can realize what happened. Just don't be surprised when they don't help you get up. They're students, not garbage collectors."

Dimitri smiled as the Golden Deer departed back to their side of the field. "I must say, I never expected you all to be so good at trash talk."

"It just comes naturally with time." Leona nodded. "Mix in the annoyance that builds up over time from being around them, and it gets pretty easy. Anyway, let's go see the others."

"You've all trained hard. But they don't know that." Leona began. "No one else but the people here know how hard you've trained for this day. They don't know how many times you groaned about waking up early, how many times you failed and had to do pushups, how many times you had to sit through a boring lecture on war strategy. But they also don't know your power, your determination, your desire to win. Show them that."

"You probably feel butterflies in your stomach right now. Is it fear? Is it nervousness? Is it excitement? Whatever it is, grab onto it. Hold it tight. Take it, and forge it into a blade to cut through your opponents. Claim what is rightfully yours: Victory."

"You ready, teach?" Claude asked, smirking.

"Of course!" Ginzo smirked. "LET'S GO!"

The sounds of claps echoed through the field before the Golden Deer yelled a war cry.

"DEER GANG!"

"LET'S GO!"

The ground shook as they stomped their feet, once again clapping their hands and shouting.

"DEER GANG!

"LET'S GO!"

The Golden Deer all proudly stomped, clapped, and shouted with even Marianne joining in.

"DEER GANG!"

"MESS WITH THE DEER GANG!" Ginzo shouted.

"YOU GET ANTLERED!"

"That's a dumbass chant." Jose snickered.

"It's an effective spirit builder. And yet they can't seem to disrupt our students." Anan proudly smirked at his students, all of whom still deep in meditation.

"Guess our weird training paid off. Anyway…" Jose began. "Alright everyone, it's time. Show no mercy."

The Black Eagles all rose, the introspective veneer of warlockhood leaving their faces, instead replaced by fury and determination.

As the Professors watched their students get into formation for battle, Rhea and Seteth watched from above, standing in silence. Seteth sighed as he opened his mouth to commence the event, raising-

Suddenly a voice rained down from the heavens in a constant shout, confusing all but the Guardians.

"Arcite! What is this? I don't recognize this arena!"

"...Who, or what is that?" Claude questioned, as all the students stared at the sky.

"What do you mean not a Crucible match? Then why am I watching it?!...Special request from Noctis and Tengoku? Didn't they disappear while on Europa?...Fodlan?! I've never heard of such a place!...Alternate Universe? How?!... Vex magic? I see. Well, where are the Guardians?... Students are fighting?! Why?... Battle of the Eagle and the Lion? There are three teams! What's the third? The Golden Deer, the Blue Lions, and the Black Eagles! I see! Well then! Ahem...FIGHT ON STUDENTS OF FODLAN! CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES AND MAKE THEM CRY!"

"Everyone on me!" Dimitri yelled, as his class formed into a spear. Dimitri, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Felix were in the front, Annette and Mercedes in the middle and Dedue and Ashe in the rear. They cautiously pushed forward, observing the advance of the Black Eagles. Strangely enough, The Golden Deer had not moved from their original positions.

"So…" Sylvain started, scanning the battlefield. "Anyone know what's up with those voices in the sky?"

"No idea." Ingrid answered. "But that's not important right now, focus on the task at hand!"

Ashe's eyes shot open as he saw Hubert snaking around them, preparing a spell in his hands with a wicked smirk. "Incoming, on our right flank!"

"One!" Dimitri yelled, causing the Lions to quickly disperse into groups of two, leaving an open lane where their original formation was.

Hubert quickly shot off a dark bolt that sped through the air, hoping to hit anyone who was still maneuvering into position. To his chagrin, it only made its mark with grass, quickly blackening it.

Hubert's eyes scanned the Blue Lions while he quickly retreated back to his house, making note that 'One' caused them to split into two groups.

"A GOOD ATTEMPT!" The voice in the sky shouted. "TRY AGAIN!"

"Caspar! With me!" Ferdinand shouted, riding into battle towards the Golden Deer. As Caspar began to run alongside Ferdinand, his vision quickly locked on an arrow and quickly rolled to the side to avoid an arrow shot from the treeline of the Golden Deer.

"Where did that come from?" Caspar yelled as Ferdinand pushed forward. Caspar quickly got up and pushed onward, following close behind Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, Edelgard was directing the rest of the class, thinking of what her Professors would do in such a situation. "We need to take that hill. Petra, help Bernadetta get there!"

"I shall!" Petra nodded, moving with Bernadetta to take the central platform.

Edelgard watched Hubert slink back from his failed assault on the Blue Lions, viewing their team tactics. Although they didn't chase Hubert, they seemed to be shifting towards offensive tactics, still in groups of two but advancing in strange positions.

Even stranger, the Golden Deer had yet to shift out of the position of the treeline, but judging by Caspar's close call, she was sure they were in there.

"Heads up, Edel!" Dorothea yelled, seeing Felix advance towards their position...alone?

"So are we seriously just gonna wait here until someone comes?" Hilda asked, hiding behind a tree.

"Yep." Claude confirmed. "But don't worry, it looks like we'll have company soon enough!"

Claude then rolled out of his hiding spot and shot another arrow towards an advancing Caspar and Ferdinand, before darting deeper into the trees and concealing himself again.

The entire class watched as the two rode on, taking note of the Blue Lions' slight shift towards their position as well. Ferdinand and Caspar were practically upon them now, the two breaking off to find the Deer.

Raphael leaped out of his hiding spot and immediately faced off against Caspar, rushing the boy as the two began to exchange blows. Meanwhile, Ferdinand's dexterity had quickly led him deeper into the forest. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the Golden Deer had swiftly moved out of the treeline, effectively looping around him for a moment.

"Order Up!" Claude called out, causing those who maneuvered out to line up.

Ferdinand quickly noticed his predicament and saw the Deer line up in a single file line, befuddled by the oddity of such a tactic. He cautiously tried to strafe away from it, but was forced to change positions as Ignatz began to rush him. In return, Ferdinand rushed towards Ignatz, but Ignatz quickly rolled away and around him, disappearing into the trees. Suddenly, he heard the warcry of Hilda charging him, quickly spinning to face the twin-tailed girl before she too rolled away and tried to hide in the forest, her pink hair standing in the way of complete concealment.

Ferdinand then saw Leonie quickly advancing towards him, causing him to commit to meeting her in battle. And once again, Leonie rolled out of the way.

"What are you all doing?!" Ferdinand barked, searching for his opponents.

"Gaze upon me!" Lorenz shouted, grabbing the attention of Ferdinand who swiftly rushed to reach Lorenz before he too could roll away.

Lorenz however rolled before Ferdinand could even draw near to him, causing Claude to appear behind him with his bow drawn. "Gotcha."

Claude let his arrow fly through the air, connecting directly with Ferdinand's shoulder, sending him off his horse. Lying on the ground, he quickly became surrounded by all the Deer who broke off, relegating him to surrender.

"I LOVE IT!" The sky boomed. "SHOW ME MORE!"

Felix dodged swing after swing from Petra, being blocked in his attempt to stop Bernadetta from taking the hill. Dorothea and Edelgard quickly hurried to assist, forcing Felix back as he continued to dodge, block, roll, and swing.

"Three on one?" Felix taunted. "Hardly seems fair for you."

"The odds are being in our favor!" Petra returned, rushing towards Felix.

Felix grunted as Petra managed to slip past his guard and land a blow on his arm, briefly sending shocks of pain through Felix's body. Felix simply grit his teeth, sidestepped, and attempted to land a blow on Petra's side, finding the slightest purchase on her body.

Dorothea launched a Cutting Gale at Felix, forcing him to roll back once more before smirking. "Petra's pretty fast right?"

Edelgard darted forward and attempted to disarm Felix with her ax, only to slice through the air as the swordsman spun away. "Felix, surrender now. We have you surrounded three to one!"

Felix only chuckled as he saw that Edelgard was right. The three girls trapped him in a triangle, with him standing in the danger zone of all of them. "It's pathetic that you need three of you to take on one of me, don't you think? I can take you all on."

"Please." Dorothea smirked. "You could hardly handle Petra."

"Pride goeth before a fall Felix. It would be wise to surrender before you make yours more severe." Edelgard stated, readying herself to take down the swordsman.

"You're all idiots." Felix sighed, getting into his battle stance. "The most basic rule of fighting is to never turn your back on the enemy."

"What do you mean?" Petra questioned. "You are right-"

Suddenly, Sylvain and Ingrid leaped out from behind Dorothea and Edelgard, With Sylvain sweeping the legs of Dorothea blindingly fast, bringing her to the ground and a spear to her neck. Edelgard barely raised her ax in time to defend herself against the flurry of blows from Ingrid, nearly tripping over herself as she was forced back. Felix darted towards Petra in an instant, resuming their duel.

"A MASTERFUL PLAY!" The sky yelled. "LOOK AT THEM NOW!"

"Just as planned." Sylvain laughed, helping Dorothea up after her surrender.

Ingrid however was busy rushing down Edelgard, determined to take down the house leader.

"I was expecting an ambush from the Golden Deer, not from you." Edelgard spoke, leaping back before dashing to the side. "That was clever."

Ingrid chuckled, spinning her spear to block an ax swing from Edelgard. "The one thing we can rely on is Felix's arrogance."

Sylvain quickly rushed over, ready to assist Ingrid in taking down Edelgard. "Sometimes I wonder if he's too confident, but he can back himself up."

Sylvian rushed forward before planting himself, using the inertia to thrust his spear forward and land a grazing blow on Edelgard's leg. Immediately, Ingrid also rushed forward, and thrust her spear, this time having her blow blocked by Edelgard. Sylvain then utilized Edelgard's opening to land another blow on her, this time directly on her side, causing her to grasp it in pain before rolling back.

"Well, it seems the odds have turned." Sylvain laughed. "It's two on one."

"No."

Ingrid and Sylvain were blown back as a colossal ball of dark magic was shot from behind Edelgard. The duo were thrown to the ground, having their weapons knocked out of their hands and their ears ringing. Edelgard capitalized on Ingrid's opening, rushing towards her and forcing her to surrender. Hubert quickly ran out from behind Edelgard, preparing a blast of magic to ensure that Sylvain surrendered.

"YOU DESTROYED THEM! I WANT MORE! ARCITE! ARE THERE GRENADES IN THIS UNIVERSE! Oh-right, they can't resurrect. NEVERMIND! SHOW ME MORE, STUDENTS!"

"Well done!" Jose commended his class from afar.

"That was flawless execution, Hubert!" Anan agreed.

Meanwhile, Lus and Leona merely nodded and reassured Sylvain and Ingrid as they came towards the sidelines, disappointed in their defeat.

"It's alright!" Leona yelled at the active Blue Lions. "Don't panic! Remember your strategy and form up!"

Simultaneously, Ginzo and Moa were almost too relaxed, to the slight chagrin of the Golden Deer.

"You guys did the Order up one pretty good!" Ginzo spoke, giving a thumbs up.

Lorenz turned to face Ginzo on the cliffside. "Would you kindly give us some sort of strategy here?!"

"Oh yeah!" Ginzo nodded. "Just don't die and get out there! We gave you trick plays for a reason!"

Caspar was still preoccupied with Raphael. Raphael's size led to Caspar's difficulty in defeating him, while Caspar's agility allowed him far more mobility than Raphael. The two were trapped in a dance of blows and dodges, exchanging them liberally.

"For a little guy," Raphael started, rushing down Caspar who quickly slipped away. "You're pretty good at this!"

"You're not so bad yourself, big guy!" Caspar responded, landing a blow that had seemingly little effect on Raphael.

The two remained locked in their dance of fists and dodges, each side only able to find the slightest purchase on each other's bodies. Caspar rolled away, setting his back to a tree as he raised his fists at Raphael. Raphael did the same in response, choosing to push forwards towards the blue-haired boy. Suddenly, a blast of magic sent Raphael to the floor, followed by another that Caspar barely avoided, rolling away and ducking behind trees.

The assailants quickly moved through the forest, surrounding Raphael as a massive shield acted as a sentry for the area.

"I surrender…" Raphael sighed. "I may be big, but there's no way I can take this many people on at once."

The voice of Dimitri chuckled as he helped Raphael up. "We saw your fight from afar. You certainly are a great brawler, Raphael!"

"Do you need me to heal you?" Mercedes asked, smiling.

Raphael shook his head in response. "Nah. You should save it for your own team! Especially for the little people here like Annette."

"Shh!" Annette scolded. "Don't give me away!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Raphael said as he left the area, scratching his head.

"Raphael's out? I knew he shouldn't have separated from us."

Claude sighed as he and his team cautiously strafed the area, trying to position themselves in a prime area for an ambush.

"There goes the man-cannon trick play…" Hilda sighed, looking downcast.

"Let's see…" Claude sighed. "We got Ferdinand, then Dorothea was taken down by Sylvain, who he and Ingrid were then taken down by Hubert, and finally Raphael was taken out. But since we don't know who, I can only safely say that the Black Eagles are in the lead for defeats."

"We will not see defeat in score nor placement!" Lorenz stated. "Let's change to the offensive!"

"I'm against that…" Claude sighed. "Hubert's been sneaking around like a little ghost. Who knows where he is. If he hits us all, then it's probably curtains."

"G-ghost?!" Lysithea shouted, frightened."

"Shh!" Leonie scolded. "It's not an actual one!"

"Ignatz, you helped us take down the Ogre, what do you think?"

"Me?! I just made a lucky guess that time!" Ignatz stumbled over his words. "Hmm...I'm not sure! I have an idea that may allow us to take out Hubert, but it's so high-risk it may not even be worth it!"

"The hide-the-...whatever Professor Ginzo called it?" Lorenz asked, cautiously watching the perimeter.

Ignatz nodded before turning to Claude. "Yeah. You're the leader here Claude, so I'll leave it up to you to figure out the best strategy.

Claude smirked and nodded. "Let's save it for now, while we get to a better place. But I like whatever's cooking in that head of yours."

"Never thought Lord Shaxx would be commentating over this…" Leona sighed, folding her arms as she observed the battlefield.

"It's an interesting touch. I mean, with someone as high-energy as Shaxx, it definitely makes this even more entertaining."

Ginzo's smug voice made its debut over comms. "So, what do you think of the whole Shaxx thing?"

"We were just talking about it actually…" Lus replied. "How'd you even do it anyway?"

"Doing it you mean? Present Tense. Fortune's over here working on a Vex node that somehow connects the Tower with a bunch of weird shenanigans she explained that I was not listening to."

"I appreciate your honesty…" Fortune sighed.

"Regardless…" Anan began. "Wouldn't that bring Vex attention towards us?"

"Yeah…I mean when I initially took the thing I got jumped but I made it out. So I think we're fine?"

"You don't sound confident at all…" Jose flatly stated.

"Speaking of which, they've been super super quiet," Moa added. "and that's never a good thing."

"She's right." Leona agreed. "Anytime our enemies go dark, they're creating monsters in the shadows, which we'll inevitably have to deal with."

Lus nodded. "And if I remember correctly, we still have a missing dragon, a giant Hydra, the High-Celebrant on the loose, Wrathborn, as well as Savathun and Xivu Arath. Honestly? Pretty par for the course of Guardians."

"But we deal with it every time!" Ginzo retorted. "We can cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we gotta watch our students fight!"

"We're winning, by the way." Jose smirked.

"I didn't ask, floofy boy."

Hey all! It's been a bit! 2021 was pretty wild! It's also crazy that this fic is just over a year old. It sounds very cliche, but I really never thought that it would get anywhere near as much attention and love as y'all have shown it. So, thank you! Feel free to give feedback! It always helps! Thank you, and Happy New Year! May 2022 be great for all of you.