Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. RWBY is owned by RT, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.
CHAPTER 6
Pyrrha had been given an ultimatum. In the privacy of Ozpin's office, she was congratulated on passing onto the finals of the Vytal Tournament, then was propositioned. Ozpin had a small roster of candidates in mind for who he believed to be potential inheritors of the power of a maiden. Mythical entities, who's magic was transferred to whoever was last in their thoughts… Or in Pyrrha's case, whoever had the previous maiden's aura merged with her own through a contraption Ironwood's scientists had created. It was an offer she would not refuse… But that was to be done in due time. With the final rounds of the Vytal Tournament looming over her, she had to mentally bar the decision to avoid losing focus of the task at hand. Thankfully she was not selected to be the first of the semifinals. That honor fell squarely on Clayton Sanguis, and Wilhelm Cecil.
Wilhelm stood at 6 foot 2, and wore brown field pants and a set of white upper body armor. A set of inactive hard light augmented reality shades sat wrapped around his head, his smart pistol safely tucked on the back of his belt. Clayton got one good look at his opponent and sighed. Wilhelm was an Atlesian, and given the disdainful gaze Clayton was receiving, it appeared Clayton was not much liked by the boy for one reason or another. Clayton was willing to bet it was because he was a racist. Cracking his neck as the stage was vacated, Clayton readied Kingslayer. If there ever was a time to beat up someone for giving him dirty looks.
Cinder smirked from her seat, as she watched the two prepare for their brawl. Though her most desired idea had been shot down when Black refused to work with her, the other avenues would do well enough. It helped to have contingencies for such reasons. Every "random" match of the final rounds was rigged from the very beginning. Though only three would actually matter. Pitting Pyrrha against Penny was a no brainer. Have Emerald trick the redheaded spartan into using her semblance on the robot and she would shut down in an instant from the magnetic pulse, if the little girl wasn't blown to pieces, which would not only show the world that Irownood was making death machines to blend in with the public, but would prove that Beacon's greatest student was nothing more than a fight junkie looking for her next kill.
Having Mercury fight Yang was too easy. People knew she had a temper, and the blond had nothing against defending herself if she thought Mercury attacked her… Again Emerald would be needed. But the spark, the one that would ignite it all. The shot heard round the world? That was as easy as putting a gorilla faunus with a chip on his shoulder around racists, against Atlas Academy's biggest power hungry racist. Emerald wouldn't even be needed. Clayton and Wilhelm were guaranteed to be overtly hostile towards each other, and it was a safe bet one would say something on stage they might regret. But what was important was that they set the stage. How better to sow distrust and fear than to have the only faunus in the finals fight the finals biggest racist.
The countdown started, and Clayton checked to ensure Kingslayer had one in the pipe. Satisfied with his weapon, and the timer having reached zero, both Clayton and Wilhelm charged at each other, one lining up a shot with his scattergun, the other whipping out their smart pistol, "Dynamic Vector." From Wilhelm's now active glasses, a small beep beep indicated his rocket propelled pistol rounds had received lock on from his augmented reality display, the eye tracking software painting Clayton's center of mass with a laser. However by the time the first three round burst had left Dynamic Vector, a spread of pellets had slammed into Wilhelm's chest plate.
Clayton steadied himself as the three round burst struck true, each consecutive bullet building up his resistance. Pumping off two more shots at his opponent, Clayton felt another volley of bullets impact his chest. Then another four bursts. Clayton looked down at the still sputtering rocket propelled ammo, and then up at Wilhelm as he reloaded his pistol. Wilhelm looked up at Clayton, then spat in his direction, as Clayton topped off his shotgun. "A specialized faunus with a useful semblance… You're a rare one ain't you." Wilhelm said, before he fired all 21 rounds in his pistol magazine into Clayton's face at 2200 RPM. The bullet's doing nothing to the gorilla faunus's aura.
"One of a kind." Clayton said, before slam firing Kingslayer as Wilhelm, only for the Atlesian to simply take the hits, his aura dropping to 30%. Wilhelm sucked in a breath through his teeth, before groaning in pain.
Wilhelm figured out quite quickly that his pistol would be useless against his opponent, and that he'd have to start hitting harder and harder… Good thing his semblance would be enough to help him do exactly that. "Don't count your lucky stars just yet monkey boy." Wilhelm said, before grabbing at his armor, and simply ripping it off of his torso. His fairly average looking body fit snugly into a combat top, only for the muscle's underneath to spontaneously grow, breaking out of the confines of his clothing, shredding the cheap fabric of his shirt, his loose fitting boots growing tighter, and his elastic belt stretching to fit him. Wilhelm's semblance, "Nerd Rage," had been activated. Now standing at 7 feet flat, Wilhelm smirked, as he charged at Clayton, who threw his shotgun to the side, more than pissed at the name he'd been called, as he charged back on all fours. "I wanted to face your oversized friend, SO GIVE ME A REAL FIGHT!" Wilhelm shouted, as Clayton and Wilhelm swung.
Wilhelm's fist landed first, and to Clayton's surprise it actually hurt quite a bit. With Clayton having been stunned by the blow, Wilhelm was able to get in another two hits, and push him back. "That all ya got?" Wilhelm asked, making "come hither" gestures with his hands. Clayton clenched his teeth, and rounded on Wilhelm, sending a backhand into his face that knocked him to the ground. Now on top, Clayton laid into Wilhelm's face, dropping hammer fists, and hooks as he stood above his opponent, forgetting he had feet. Wilhelm kicked Clayton in the chest, which forced the faunus onto his ass. Wilhelm returned the favor in an instant, pinning Clayton to the floor, and resting an elbow on his arm, wrist on his neck, the other hand keeping Clayton's free fist from striking him. "You don't deserve this victory. You and the rest of your weak race. You should have stayed in the jungle you stupid monkey." Wilhelm said, teeth bared.
That was the one insult you could throw at Clayton that would send him over the edge. "I'm not a monkey… I'm an ape." Clayton choked out. The gorilla faunus's eyes went wide with anger, and a throaty growl escaped from between clenched teeth. Clayton summoned what strength he had, and pushed. With a few inches of space between them, and Wilhelm's wrist no longer crushing Clayton's windpipe, Clayton headbutted his opponent, causing the Atlesian to recoil back and hold his face in pain, giving Clayton enough time to push him off with all four limbs. Bolting over to his stunned opponent, drumming on his chest as he ran, Clayton raised both fists, and the furious beatdown began. Clayton dropped his fists into Wilhelm's face faster than he could even keep track, and when Wilhelm was sitting at just 15% aura, Clayton grabbed him by the throat, lifted him up, and slammed him head first into the ground, shattering what remained. Victorious, and not one to waste a good theatrical moment, Clayton planted his inhuman foot on the chest of his defeated opponent, let out a crowd rousing yell, and beat on his chest in victory.
In the stands, Ruby sharply inhaled a breath of heated excitement… "Clayton really laid it on thick." Yang said, as the EMT team came down to the stage to make sure Wilhelm hadn't been injured, as his muscles seemed to deflate after the beating, leaving him thinner than he'd originally started. From all around came the chants of adulation from many riled up spectators, both Faunus and humans alike… And many dissenting voices who were upset Clayton had made it through the first of the finals. Cinder, from her seat above them all, smirked. Win or lose, Clayton's involvement in the game had only served to divide the crowd. His brutality was not so overt that it would cause a panic, but still it did well to remind the spectators that the tournament was nothing more than a blood sport. With Wilhelm being walked away, nose dripping the namesake of his rival, the next fighters stepped into the ring, a monk from Shade and a musketeer from Haven… But our story does not follow them.
With the first victory of the night, teams RWBY and SPGL left the stadium.
Authors Note. Finding extra fight scenes to fill into the semi finals came down to who could I pit against one of our main cast. The three background finalists, were perfectly suited blank slates. Wilhelm was a shoe in for the man fighting against Clayton, clearly an Atlesian, and more than likely a multi faceted one at that, I went with the idea that he would be a special operator type, with high tech and a Titanfall style smart pistol, but in fights where cunning and aim-bot doesn't work, he could hold his own and or win with his semblance being an Lou Ferrigno hulk out, then with fight choreography inspiration coming from the Edward Norton Hulk's fight with the Abomination, I had to put Clayton on the losing side... Until Wilhelm called him a monkey and Clayton got triggered. If you've noticed Siniy's size is also something of a reference to the Edward Norton version, (Which Roman points out) as he is roughly the same height (eh 8 inches taller) as the Hulk, though obviously nowhere near as strong, since Hulk is strongest there is... If you couldn't tell, I like the Hulk. Wilhelm Cecil's name is also a hit at something.