Chapter 19
Kagutsuchi Arena- Joint Tournament- Top Four
Audience's Seats
It was still early, but the arena was already packed.
"Is it just me, or are there more and more people by the day?" Jaune asked, looking around.
"That just goes to show how much faith they had in their representative on day one versus now." Said Ren.
"Hate to say it, but Yang is probably going to win." Said Blake.
"Yeah, That Naoto guy been struggling with every opponent, while Yang, well, once her Semblance activates, she can just steamroll anyone. Even though, for once, I wish someone would humble her." Said Weiss.
Ruby looked over at Blake and saw her reading a book. "What are you reading?"
"Just the book Bang gave us."
"That propaganda book? You're serious about reading that?" Asked Weiss.
"You gave it to me. And it's interesting. It got a first hand account of the war of Ikaruga, by which I mean Bang."
"Bang was a veteran of that war?" Surprised Ren.
"Yeah, on the Ikaruga side."
"Can you even trust that?" Asked Jaune.
"It's not like I have any choice. It was either this or the NOL account, which is almost nonexistent. Maybe the truth lies in the middle or something."
"Look!" Said Ruby suddenly.
"What is it?" Asked Blake.
Ruby pointed up at the VIP box.
"It's Ozpin!"
VIP's Box
"Naoto Kurogane… He can control blood." Said Ozpin.
"More bloody bloodedge and the real thing. Get it?" Qrow looked over to Glynda and Ozpin, and saw no reaction. "Because blood-"
"We get it." Said Glynda, shaking her head, and turned black to Ozpin. "Quite talented. Miss Xiao Long going to have her first real challenge."
"Oh place. I saw his fights, the kid's got some skill, but I know Yang, he doesn't stand an ice cube's chance in hell."
"What's the progress with Amber?"
"It's slow… the NOL captain said it might take months, or years…" Said Glynda.
"What progress? Those librarians like to pretend they're so much more advanced than us, but in the end, all they have, is fake magic." Said Qrow.
"We don't have mouths or years to wait… So in the end, it's either Ironwood's plan, or miss Nikos."
"I don't want to say "I told you so"." Said Qrow with a smug face. "But that was a waste of time."
"Oh, and about that, James will be arriving tonight, along with his flagship."
"So, going to throw his weight around here too."
"I don't believe the Librarium will let the Atlas do as they please." Said Glynda.
"No, they won't. James can join us tomorrow, but his soldiers are not allowed to enter the city."
"I would rub it in his face and celebrate if not for the fact that I don't trust the library even more, and the fact we might need those soldiers." Said Qrow.
"How goes the investigation?" Asked Ozpin.
"I follow the lead your friend gave me, but there's just way too many tunnels." Said Qrow.
"Did Jubei not help?"
"He said he'll keep an eye out. No pun intended. Really. He said he's busy with something else."
"I'll talk to him, we need all the help we can get."
"What the hell is that guy anyway? And where did you find that him anyway? He's weird as hell. Thinks he's the One Eye Lotus or something, or at least how the racist librarian depiction of him anyway."
"What makes you think he's not?"
Both Qrow and Glynda looked at each other in shock.
"Wait… but I thought Jubei was a cat Fauns, not an actual cat!"
All this time, Qrow just thought that large cat had a transformation Semblance, or maybe Ozpin gave him a little of his magic or something.
"And the dark war was a hundred years ago…" Said Glynda. "But then again… there's you…"
"I knew him longer than I knew the both of you. If there's one thing I know, it's that Jubei can be trusted."
"Why didn't you ask him to join our "circle"?" Asked Qrow. "An asset like that…"
"I did, but he declined."
"What? Why?"
"He has his own quest."
Audience's Seats
"When did he get here?"
"Why is he here? I thought he had work in Vale!"
Pyrrha looked up at Ozpin, and then looked down. 'Is it time?'
"Something wrong?" Asked Jaune.
"No, it's nothing." Reassured Pyrrha. It didn't reassure him, but Jaune decided to drop the issue for now.
"It's starting!" Said Ruby.
In the Ring
"First! In the right, representing Beacon Academy, the Yellow Dragon, Yang Xiao Long!"
Yang jumped into the arena from her side of the entrance, waving to the crowd.
"And on the left, our representative, our hopes and dreams… Naoto Kurogane!"
'Fighting a girl… Can't say I'm looking forward to it.' Thought Naoto, entering the arena with an unexcited face.
"What's with that face." Asked Yang.
"What?"
"It's like you're unhappy or something. Got a problem with a woman kicking your ass?"
"No, it's just… you know what, let's just get this over with."
Audience's Seats
"YAY Yang! Brake his leg!" Cheered Nora.
"Please, Nora, don't say that out loud!" Said Jaune nervously.
"Ready… FIGHT!"
Yang charged in first, fists in front, and did a quick one-two punch, but Naoto was waiting for this, and tilted his body and dodged the punches, and kicked Yang in the chin! Launching her into the air, Naoto jumped, higher than the launched Yang, and blood surrounded his right fist, and form a large sword! Naoto cut right down at Yang, but Yang regained focus, and fired a shot at Naoto, the blood swallowed the bullet and didn't stop it, but the shot also propelled her downward, just out of the way enough to dodge the attack by a hair, allowing Yang to land safely on her feet.
Audience's Seats
"FIRST STRIKE!" Said the announcer.
"Oh shit! That MOVE! He did the same move on you." Said Neptune to Sun.
"That dodge was too perfect, He gambled on Yang's aggressiveness, and won." Said Blake.
"Must have studied Yang's fight dozens of times." Said Pyrrha.
"Which is what Yang should have done." Said Weiss. "Instead, we goof around all day."
"DID YOU SEE THAT? Yang just used my move!" Said Ruby, excited. "You know, the gun blast dodgy thing!"
"Probably by accident." Said Blake.
In the Ring
Yang pulled her hair in front of her and checked for blood. "Lucky shot, it wouldn't happen again."
"We'll see-"
BANG! BANG!
Naoto didn't even have time to finish, as Yang fired two shots at him, Naoto's reflex kicked in, and he blocked with a barrier, but when he lowered his hands, Yang was already in front of him, and uppercut him right in the chin!
"Payback!"
And then a roundhouse kick to the face, Naoto lifted his arm and block the kick, and then grabbed her leg, and pulled, Yang jumped, and kicked Naoto on the right side of his face, forcing him to let go. Yang landed, looked toward Naoto, and charged, but-
SLASH KAID!
A fast, blade of blood, came right at her, Yang ducked under and Naoto ran right into Yang, and the two of them went tumbling through the ground.
Audience's Seats
"Nice dodge sis!" Cheered Ruby.
"Lucky bastard." Said Neptune.
"What was that?" Asked Weiss.
"Nothing." Neptune.
In the Ring
"You're using a lot of blood, light headed yet?" Said Yang as she got up.
"What, please, didn't you know? This is normal for me."
Thanks to Raquel's power, Naoto was almost immortal, but because he wanted a fair fight, he asked Raquel to hold back her influence, but even without Raquel, Naoto's body had adapted to his Drive, and could now produce blood faster, even so, it still takes a lot of iron to create the blood Naoto needs to fight a whole fight, which not even Naoto high iron diet could cover, especially in this match.
Audience's Seats
"Her protectiveness of her hair actually translated into a reflex." Commented Blake.
"Yeah, who knew her hair vanity could turn into an asset." Said Weiss.
"Let's just hope it won't turn into a weakness." Replied Blake.
In the Ring
Yang jumped, and fired two shots at Naoto, but he back stepped, and then immediately rushed towards Yang. Yang landed, and tried to fire another shot straight at him, but Naoto was already in front of her, and punched her right in the stomach, Yang gripped her teeth, and before Naoto could get another hit in, Yang grabbed Naoto by the jacket, and headbutted him! But as she pulled her head back and prepared for another one, Naoto grabbed her and headbutted her first! And then, to the disbelieve of everyone, both pulled their head back and headbutted each other! And then fell backward at the same time.
Audience's Seats
"WHAT THE HELL! What are they doing?" Asked Weiss in disbelief.
"They're headbutting each other, obviously." Said Blake
"That's stupid! headbutt are stupid!"
"Maybe they just got into a moment." Said Jaune.
In the Ring
"You, I kinda like you, got a girlfriend?" Asked Yang, with her hand on her forehead.
"I..." Naoto paused a little. "Actually, I do."
"Oh, that's a shame, I'm kinda down now, guess I'll just take it out on you."
"Wow, how is that-"
BANG!
A Shot! But this time, Yang used the shot to gain momentum to charge towards Naoto, Naoto countered with a forward kick, but Yang fired another shot lunching her sideways, Naoto's kick missed, and got punched in the face, Naoto return the punch, but Yang did the same again and dodged and punched him.
Audience's Seats
"GO Yang GO! Brake his leg!" Cheered Nora.
"Again, we don't need to go that far." Said Jaune, looking around. "She's just joking! A little Vale joke!"
"Incredible. You think Yang figured out Naoto has been studying her moves and now trying something new to throw him off his game?" Said Blake.
"Nope." Answered Weiss.
In the Ring
Yang was on a roll, dodging around Naoto, and Naoto kept missing and Yang kept landing her strikes, to the point she got too carried away, and didn't see the blood Naoto had been gathering in his right hand, and when Yang dodged another futile attempt, she went for another opening, But…
DIVINE REAPER!
A tidal wave of blood, hit her like a truck, launching her upward, when she went back down, Naoto, elbowed her right in the belly, sending her flying!
Audience's Seats
"Yang!" Said Ruby, worried.
"She got overconfident. Hopefully, she'll learn- Oh no." Said Weiss.
"Poor guy, and Yang only have 20% of Aura left." Said Blake, looking at the screen.
In the Ring
Yang, coughing out blood, hopefully not hers, on the ground on all fours, looking at her hair on the ground, she then touched her hair on her head. Blood… her hair was a mass, who knew how long it would take for her to fix her beautiful hair. Red, all she sew was red.
"That's it! You'll pay for this!"
HEAT!
Yang jumped to her feet, her eyes turned red and her hair glowed, and her whole body looked like it was on fire,
"Let's finish this, right now!"
"Yes, let's!" Naoto responded.
OVERDRIVE! BLOOD REPULSOR!
In an instant, Naoto's eyes also turned red, his hair turned white, and blood surrounded his fists!
DIVINE SMASHER!
Yang charged forward, elbow first, while firing the shotgun in her gauntlets backward to increase her speed, Naoto did the same, charging fist first, with blood projecting him forward. Fist and elbow met and the impact shook the air and blood exploded. Flying out of the blood, was Naoto, with Yang flying after him, and punching him in the stomach, sending Naoto to the ground.
Announcer: "And it's over, folk! The winner is Yang Xiao Long!"
Audience's Seats
"Yeah! Yang!" Cheered Ruby.
"That was closer than I thought." Said Blake.
"That Overdrive burned through a lot of his Aura." Said Pyrrha.
"So if he didn't use Overdrive, he could have won?" Asked Jaune.
Pyrrha shook her head. "No. Without his Overdrive, he had no chance to begin with, it was a calculated risk."
In the Ring
"Man! That was a good fight. You're not half bad, just not good as me though." Said Yang with her hand out.
Naoto smiled and took her hand as Yang pulled him back to his feet.
Announcer: "Now this is what this crossover tournament is all about, folks! Let's give them another round of applause!"
The crowd cheered, Yang and Naoto waving at the audience, it was perfect, until, Yang punched Naoto in the face…
"Naoto!" Screamed Raquel.
The cheering stopped, confusion and disbelief filling all of their faces as Yang attacked Naoto again and again, and a final punch, sent Naoto flying toward the barrier. Yang gave chase, but was stopped when a young man with short black hair in a blue NOL uniform appeared suddenly in front of her.
'Wow! Where did he come from?' Thought Yang. "What! You want a piece of me too!?"
"Stop" Said a young voice.
A voice behind her, Yang turned, and saw the same person behind her.
"What…"
Yang looked in front of her again, and the officer in front of her has disappeared.
"What's going on?"
"You are under arrest. Disarm your weapon and lay on the flood with your face facing the flood and hands behind your back!" Said the young officer.
"What! He attacked me!"
"We will sort it out back at base. You are allowed to have an attorney, everything you-"
"Screw you!"
Yang reignited her Semblance, and charged at the officer, but when her punch reached him, his body disappeared, and Yang felt a hand on her left arm, and then it was bent behind her, and then something tripped her feet and she was forced to the ground. As she struggled, team JNPR, Qrow, and the rest of team RWBY rushed down, now that the barrier was down.
"Let her go asshole!" Demanded her uncle with his weapon out.
"Stand down!" Ordered the officer.
"Make me!" Said Qrow as he pointed his gun at the NOL officer.
"Uncle Qrow stop!" Said her sister.
"What? He started it first!"
"Alright! Everyone just calms down!" Said Glynda, who finally arrived at the scene.
"I am Captain Hibiki Kohaku. Stop resisting and surrender. You are under arrest." Said the young man, drawing his sword(that resembles a large paper cutter) out of his large scabbards.
"What? It was self defense! What about him? He tried to attack me even though the match is over!"
"What?" Said Ruby, confused. "No Yang… you attacked him…"
"What?"
Audience's Seats
"That was easy. A little too easy." Said Emerald.
"Good job, that was perfect. Finally, something went right." Said Cinder. "After Mercury screwed up, this was our last hope."
"All I did was let her see she was about to be attacked, I never thought she would retaliate so violently."
"Which was why I chose her. Now, all that is missing are the Knights and the tunnels."
On the opposite side of the arena, still in her seat, Raquel looked at Yang. Her demeanor seems calm, but… the air around her turned so cold, and the seats around her began to gather frost.
Underground Tunnels
Saw, in a big filter mask, looked around with a flashlight, thinking how much he doesn't want to be here, when one of his underlings approached him.
"Saw, I think we've found it, the sealed-off tunnel that leads to the outside!"
"If the info from that yellow-eyed informer can be trusted." Said another one of his lackeys.
"Well, that's not our problem, we did our part." Relied Saw. "Let's get out of here and connect Cinder, tell her we found her opening."
To be continued