For the last several minutes, all the students could do was watch the match in shock.
"Oh my god…" Yang murmured, speaking everyone's thoughts.
One of team RWBY's friends, Nora Valkyrie, was locked in combat with a squealing, unwilling opponent.
"Lemme land one hit!" Nora yelped in glee. "Only one! It won't hurt too badly!"
Enthusiastically, she swung her hammer into the ground. This caused collective gasps and a dent in the arena. Briefly, Ms. Goodwitch was concerned for her opponent's well-being, but he was barely hanging in there.
Jaune ran as fast as he could with high-pitched screams as his arms flailed in the air. The only thing he could do to avoid the death trap was to run.
Watching this match woke Blake up a bit. After discovering Weiss' secret the night before, she hardly got any sleep, but this pulled her out of her trance.
"This is like a vicious game of whack-a-mole."
Ruby couldn't tear her gaze away. "I didn't know a game like that could be so brutal. This is the most entertaining fight so far. Poor Jaune…"
At last, Jaune pivoted on his heel for a counter-attack and swung his sword. Nora wasn't expecting the sudden change of heart and absorbed a single cut, only to whirl her hammer to block the rest of his remaining onslaught.
Nora parried a stab. While Jaune was dazed, she finally slammed Magnhild against him at full force, which elicited a surprised yelp. Jaune flew across the arena and thumped hardly on his back. He slid a few feet before hitting the barrier and groaned. Naturally, his aura bar dropped to the red.
Everyone's jaws dropped from the sudden whack and gasps rang out.
Glynda jotted some notes on her scroll before announcing the victor.
"The winner is Ms. Valkyrie!"
"O-one hit and his aura dropped to red?!" Yang couldn't believe it. "One?!"
Nora beamed a grin and skipped over to him up.
"That was a fun fight!" Nora exclaimed as she took his hand.
Jaune accepted the gesture and rubbed his head sheepishly. "F-for you," he said, still trying to come to his senses.
After some time, the opponents went back to their seats. The audience could only stare in awe at what just happened. However, Goodwitch's voice brought them out of their reverie.
"The next match will be Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee versus Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush."
Unable to help herself, Weiss sighed. She was too tired for this. After last night, she was both emotionally and physically exhausted. She was too worried about Blake knowing she was a faunus to really think about anything else.
"Alright!" Ruby cheered as she rose from her seat. "We're going to kick some serious butt, partner!"
Yang sent them a grin. "Go get 'em."
"Good luck," Blake said.
Together, the pair made their way down to the arena. They stood next to each other as they glared down their opponents. Cardin was spinning his mace around while Russel stretched his legs. Not a word was spoken between them.
"Weiss, I have a plan," Ruby whispered into her ear.
"You always do."
"You're quick to figure out peoples' weaknesses, so I think you should face Russel first," Ruby instructed as they glared the two down. "I can distract Cardin and chip away at his aura, but I think we'll have the best shot if it's us versus him."
Casually, Weiss stretched her arms and shook her head to wake up more. "You're saying to take down Russel as quickly as possible," she said with a smirk, which earned a nod. "Time me."
Loving her enthusiasm, Ruby smiled. "You're confident."
"Why wouldn't I be? You have my back, after all."
I won't let her down just because I'm tired, Weiss thought.
After smirking at each other, Ms. Goodwitch's voice boomed. "Are you all ready?"
Simultaneously, the red and white pair crouched.
"Ready!" Ruby confirmed.
With a smug grin, Cardin whirled his mace around. "Let's go."
"Begin!"
In unison, the partners jetted off due to the propulsion glyphs. With the suddenness of it all, Cardin lost his balance when Ruby slammed into him. It was a great start.
Easily, Weiss was able to ram into Russel's legs. This caused him to yelp and fall, only to backflip and land on his feet. When he regained his composure, he tried to stab at her with his dual daggers, but she gained some distance and dodged.
Weiss sharply poised her rapier and shot out a ranged attack. Russel was able to block every shot as he was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. It looked like his own weapons were weighing him down with his slow movements.
He's not notably strong and he's slow, Weiss observed.
Unexpectedly, Russel charged her with a war cry. His daggers were up high, ready to attack.
He's wide open, Weiss noticed. Is this a new strategy? Does he want me to take the bait? He hasn't displayed high intelligence, though. Maybe I'm overthinking it.
With a smirk, Weiss raised three fingers to summon a perimeter of glyphs to surround her opponent. Once they were up, she used each one as a holder as she flew past each one and she began to strike him.
Russel could only hear her zooming past him and each time he was hit with force. He was surprised she could land hits with such strength. To top it off, she was moving extremely fast.
After taking several hits in this manner, Russel regained his composure and held his daggers like baseball bats. He noticed a pattern in her movements and was ready to strike back. Weiss was moving too fast to notice he got into a defensive stance and then he swung.
"Gotcha," Russel ominously growled.
Before the daggers could collide into her torso, Weiss was barely able to dodge by front flipping. In midair, she heard a gunshot ring out. She looked down to notice Russel dropped a dagger in his dominant hand.
Good job, Ruby. As expected. We are maverick.
With ease, Weiss landed directly on his back. This caused him to slam into the ground, dropping his aura into the red. To make sure he stayed down, Weiss pointed the sharp end of her rapier at his throat.
A loud beep.
"Russel's aura is in the red!"
Now Russel had to exit the battlefield and become a spectator.
"Alright Weiss!" she heard Yang cheer from across the room.
Ignoring her, Weiss checked the board. Ruby's aura was halfway down, almost in the yellow. While Cardin's was only a quarter, solidly in the green. Her own was about a quarter as well. Weiss darted over to her leader, who was panting a bit.
"About time," Ruby smirked.
"Took longer than I anticipated," Weiss commented. "Do you have a plan?"
Cardin roared before she could speak. "You think I'll give you time to chat?!"
Before they could plan, Cardin smashed his mace into the ground. This forcefully created a deep pit. The partners tried to regain their footing. But it was like Remnant shifted and thousands of nasty shards skewered the area.
Quickly, Ruby grabbed her partner and veered out of the way. She could tell Weiss was growing tired from using her semblance and wanted to give her a break.
With the recoil on her scythe, Ruby soared at Cardin and was able to land a few swipes. While she did that, Weiss fired a few ice bullets at his front. This forced Cardin to block with his mace, allowing Ruby to strike him from the back.
Easily, Cardin was able to break out of the ice that glued his hands together. As he did that, Ruby took out his feet, which caused him to land on his rear. However, he recovered quickly and was able to block another swipe from Ruby.
From his quick reaction, Ruby hopped back to her partner.
"Trust me on this," Weiss forewarned.
At first, Ruby looked concerned. Then again, they were used to reading each other's movements in battle. Might as well go with it.
Weiss slammed her rapier into the floor. Ice erupted from the ground and covered the entire area in freezing spikes of white. Every inch of the room was completely frozen solid. The students shivered, and now their breath was visible.
From the ice, Cardin slipped. "What the hell?"
While he was distracted, Ruby grabbed her partner and bolted around him. When she was fast enough, she didn't even touch the ground. Slipping wasn't an issue for them. It was the ultimate advantage.
Over the wind, Ruby yelled. "Is this what you had in mind?!"
Going so fast almost made Weiss dizzy. "How can you tell where you're going?!"
"Practice," Ruby shouted in glee.
Each step Ruby took increased her speed as she used her semblance to the maximum, her red cape flowing behind her. Cardin had a hard time following the glimmer of red and white. Ruby was too fast for the naked eye as he tried to block any oncoming attacks.
"Dammit, don't play games!" Cardin yelled.
It was hard to look around, much less aim at their opponent. But Weiss somehow did it anyway. As planned, Cardin didn't know what to do and crushed his mace into the ground again to knock them off course. However, they weren't even touching the floor.
Instead, Cardin caused several spikes to spew upward. Exactly as planned, Weiss summoned some black propulsion glyphs aimed directly at him. The ice blades sliced his skin, gradually chipping away at his aura.
Instinctively, Ruby took several shots at him with some fire dust bullets. This caused a cloud of smoke and for Cardin to throw his arms up in defense.
"Now!" Weiss yelled.
Upon hearing that, Ruby tossed her partner at their opponent. Weiss struck him several times, but his armor absorbed most blows.
Due to the tax on her aura, Weiss' movements slowed. That was enough for Cardin to grab her as she tried to flank his side.
It happened so fast. One moment, Weiss was landing strikes, and the next, her vision was blurry and there was pain spiking throughout her body. She tried to gain sight of where her opponent was, but her world was spinning until she hit the ground.
A sickening crunch rang out, followed by a weak cough.
A worried call of her name.
Weiss rasped and some blood trickled out. It leaked down her chin. Not only that, she had trouble breathing. Every breath was painful and sent pangs through her body.
"Ms. Schnee's aura is in the red!"
Waves of numbness pulsed through her body. As if nothing happened, Weiss sat up.
I'm already feeling better. I forgot how quickly my aura can fluctuate if I don't take it.
She wiped her chin clean of the blood before her partner could even check her over.
Makes sense, Weiss thought. I completely forgot to take it due to what happened last night.
Ruby frantically kneeled next to her. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," Weiss said genuinely, then looked to the board.
Her aura was back in the green.
"That's odd..." Ms. Goodwitch murmured under her breath. "Usually the system is accurate."
With the help of her partner, Weiss stood. "Ms. Goodwitch, I'm okay to continue."
"I'm not taking any chances, Ms. Schnee. You are benched for the rest of this match. The system must have malfunctioned."
"Go rest," Ruby urged, staring at the smeared blood on her chin. "We got this. His aura is almost red."
Knowing there was no use arguing, Weiss nodded. "Finish this, dunce."
Not even a minute after Weiss took her seat next to her team, Ruby won them the match.
Hmmm what did Weiss forget to take? Was it really a malfunction?
Lyrics: "We are maverick. Logic within. We don't need it to win." - How the dynamic duo (white rose) fights!
Stay dandy,
~Toto