AN: Alpha here, back at it with another chapter! Thanks for the support all of you have shown me and this project. I truly appreciate it.
This chapter is pretty special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the chapter that marks the one year anniversary of RWBY Build Fighters! Kyrus and I posted the first chapter on October 2nd, 2019, and it's come a long way since then both thanks to tireless efforts on Kyrus's part to edit my writing and from some fan suggestions (such as linking Mercury to Io Fleming-thank you to the reader who suggested that. Also, I saw your comment about having him use Atlas Gundam, and sadly I can't use that one because I have plans for Atlas Gundam elsewhere, and I want Emerald and Merc to have a more cohesive flow going forward as a team).
The other reason it's special is that this is the first full chapter featuring Kyrus's two OC characters, Kyrus and Io. The Alexanders were added into this story as a thank you to my editor, for his hard work and continued friendship. I hope you enjoy this fight—also, apologies in advance to Kyrus (the editor, not OC) and any Australians. I'm not too good with your vocabulary and slang. Kyrus himself already railed on me for it, and as an Aussie, he has done his best to fix my mistakes, but if he missed anything, I apologize!
Anyway, let's get to the action!
The brackets were posted live, and most of the teams had retreated to the back to begin preparations. It had been ten minutes since the shock of their first match had hit them, and Ruby, usually the calm and optimistic of the bunch, was beginning to panic.
Weiss sat with her partner on the couch in the lounge provided backstage, trying to comfort her.
But this was where Ruby's intense knowledge of the Gunpla Battle scene worked against her, as she had studied Kyrus Alexander's meteoric rise in the few short years he had been involved in the tournaments. The fact he had nearly beaten the World Champion on at least two separate occasions.
"I knew this could happen," she muttered, worry etched across her face, "but I didn't expect it to be in the first round!"
"Ruby, it's going to be okay," Weiss said assuringly. She paused, thinking for a moment. "Think of it this way: if we can't compete against Kyrus, then we have no right to be here. If we win the tournament, we will be entered into the World Championship, where opponents like Kyrus are plentiful. If we can't face him now, how would we face the Meijin, Ricardo Fellini, or Wilfrid Kijima?"
"Yeah," Yang added. "If Sekai can take these guys on, or Sei Iori did when he was younger than us, then we stand a pretty good chance." She looked at Blake, who sat in the chair next to her. "Besides, even though some of us were invited, we all had to make it our business to get better. I'm sure you're just psyching yourself out."
"Yang's got the point," Blake said. "We wouldn't have been chosen to participate if we didn't have the skill."
Ruby looks around at each of them, searching their faces. She found the conviction echoing in their eyes as it had their words, and it brought forth a calm state of comfort in her.
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "You're all right." She closed her eyes, focusing, before looking up with a determined expression. "Okay. Win or lose, Weiss, let's give them everything we have!"
Weiss gave her a small, happy smile. "Of course. I'm right behind you."
"Heh, that's the spirit," Yang commented, patting Ruby roughly on the back. Her little sister staggered from the force, stumbling forward a few steps before she caught herself. "Oops. Sorry."
Ruby looked back at her and gave her a dirty look, but it softened after a moment. "Good luck to you guys, too!" She called out as she ran to catch up with Weiss, who was already heading for the Battle System entrance.
Yang turned on the English channel for the commentary and smiled as she saw her teachers on screen. Miss Peach and Mister Port were both lovely, chattering away about the excitement filling the air. It was enough to make someone forget about how much pressure everyone was under.
"Hey." Blake grabbed her sleeve and tugged on it lightly, breaking Yang's thoughts. "Do you think they have a chance?"
Yang sighed and plopped down on the couch. "Who knows? But if Ruby didn't think we had confidence in her, she wouldn't stand a chance, period. At least this way, she's got a little fire in her step, ya know?"
Blake nodded. "True."
The crowd was nearly deafening as they cheered with excitement. The intermission had come close, and Ruby and Weiss walked through the tunnel into the staging area. Mirai was standing to the side of the raised platform where the battle table sat. Across from them, Kyrus and Io were approaching, the smug air of confidence exuding from their persons.
The four contestants stepped up to the table, which immediately spun to life. "GUNPLA BATTLE COMBAT MODE START UP! PLEASE SET YOUR GP BASE!"
"Hey," Weiss said as she set her base down. She gave Ruby one last reassuring smile. "We have this."
Ruby nodded. "Yeah."
Lady Kawaguchi stood next to the Meijin. Both of them wore similar looks of distress; the Doubles Tournament announcement would be a randomized bracket that took everyone by surprise and filled the Meijin with concern. Lady Kawaguchi shared that concern, and her mind was already ticking away as the battle table spun up.
"What do you think it means?" She asked. "Rule changes like that rarely happen at the last minute."
"It's not unheard of," the Meijin replied, glaring through the glass, through the contestants, and into the shining Plavsky Particles themselves. He gritted his teeth at the bad memory. "Still, it feels like the Seventh Tournament all over again."
Lady Kawaguchi looked at him. "Oh, so?"
"Chairman Mashita employed a variety of dirty tactics to manipulate the tournament to put Sei Iori and Reiji at disadvantages, up to and including field changes mid-battle and, of course, forcing me to fight with Team Nemesis' Embody system." He frowned. "I know the Tri Battle Tournament used a similar randomizing bracket, but that didn't kick in until the Semi-Finals. To make the entire tournament like that feels… off."
The Lady nodded, turning back to the battle as the fighters loaded up their Gunpla. "Well, if PPSE's goal was to increase the difficulty and excitement level of the Tournament, they succeeded. Everyone seems pumped."
The Meijin didn't say a word. His eyes were too focused on the four fighters. The Lady was right; if this was legit, then it indeed did bode well for viewership.
Still, he couldn't help the nagging suspicion in his thoughts.
Something else was in play.
"FIELD TWO: DESERT."
Kyrus looked around as the field materialized. It was, indeed, a desert, but not just any dessert. He recognized the massive red Tekkadan on the old base in the middle of the map. "Mars, eh? Interesting. Reminds me of the outback."
"The gravity will be lower here," Io commented. "From what I've seen of Ruby Rose's fighting style, she prefers fast, agile machines from the SEED series. Most of which can stay in the air nearly indefinitely."
"And her partner is an unknown factor." Kyrus grinned. "This should be entertaining. Io, keep me covered. I'll tear them to shreds and advance us."
"Copy that. Io Alexander, Barbatos Lupus, launch!"
"Time to make this tournament one to remember. Gundam Unicorn Chimera, Kyrus Alexander, Let's have a blast!"
The two machines launched out of the main gate and immediately noticed Ruby and Weiss's machines standing on Mars' dusty red surface. As Kyrus landed, he inspected their Gundams.
"A custom Sleeves Gyan Krieger and a personalized Destiny Gundam, huh?" He tilted his head slightly. "Both fast machines meant for close combat… Good."
"Focus," Io reprimanded him. "We don't know what kind of gimmicks they're using."
They watched as the two stood, eyeing them up. Ruby shifted nervously. "I don't like this."
"Why aren't they attacking?" Weiss raised her shield in her right hand, wary. "Are they waiting for us?"
Ruby studied them intently. The Unicorn Chimera alone would be a problem, but with the heavy smoothbore cannon the Lupus was carrying, it would be hard to focus on Kyrus. Io's range and mobility were comparable to Ruby's, and she might be just as good as Kyrus in piloting ability.
"Weiss, listen. I'll distract Kyrus. Destiny Scythe should be able to keep up with and out of reach of the Unicorn long enough for you to take out the Barbatos Lupus."
"But Ruby-"
"If we get hit with that smoothbore gun, we may as well be finished. The plastic of our Gunpla can't handle an impact that strong without some significant damage. Once you deal with the Lupus, help me. Our best bet is to double team Kyrus."
Weiss paused for a second, before nodding. Her friend's resolve had returned. The nervous teenager was gone, replaced by the more level-headed Gundam nerd she needed to be. "Okay. Tell me when."
"And Weiss. Don't use the Rose Bits. If Kyrus enters NT-D mode, he could take control of them and use them against us."
The thought disheartened Weiss, but she knew Ruby was right. This fight was going to be challenging enough without her losing her bits to the enemy. "Got it. Tell me when."
Ruby cradled Crescent Rose in her hand, keeping it in rifle mode. Almost nobody knew about its transformation, and she wanted to keep it that way. "Okay. Go!"
Weiss steadied her shield and boosted forward. Kyrus planted his left foot behind him and braced for a shield bash, but watched as Weiss shot past him. Io opened fire with the smoothbore rifle, but Weiss easily avoided the shot. She landed on her left foot and thrust forward with her sword, which caused Io to backpedal.
The massive rifle threw her off balance for a moment, but she activated her hover jets and recovered right as Weiss charged again. Realizing that her long-range strategy was no longer viable, she discarded the smoothbore cannon and raised both arms to open fire with her forearm mounted cannons to ward off the Gyan Noblesse Oblige.
Kyrus began to turn and raise his beam magnum at Weiss, but an alert sounded from the direction the Gyan had come from. Turning his head, he narrowly escaped a sniper shot from Ruby. The Gundam Destiny Scythe was kneeling in a crouched position, scoping in for another shot. Kyrus boosted to the side as a second shot nearly hit his knee, and twisted to the left as a third soared from where his head had been less than a second ago.
"Kid's got good aim," he grumbled, raising his rifle. Opting to avoid using a beam shot due to its long charge, he instead used the underslung missile pod, firing a pair of short-range missiles at the Destiny Scythe. He watched as Ruby shot into the air, using her head Vulcans to destroy the missiles. "Got ya, mate!"
Ruby gasped as her alarms went haywire, and watched as the Chimera fired its beam magnum. Thinking quickly, reminded of when the Strike Freedom fought the Destiny in the anime, she targeted Kyrus's Gunpla in a straight line from her position. She swung the Destiny's high-output mega beam cannon into the front, mounting it on a connection on her hip, and returned fire.
The two potent energy blasts collided in a brilliant and bright display of sparks, electrical discharges, and radiant heat before they dissipated and canceled each other out. Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that had worked.
Kyrus smirked. "It's too soon to relax, you little fidget!"
He rocketed forward and up, chasing after Ruby. She smiled, thankful he took the bait. Now, Weiss just needed to finish off Io.
Blake and Yang sat with Sekai, Shia, Yuuma, and Fumina in the back. Yang hollered as Ruby canceled out the massive beam shot from Kyrus, leaping out of her seat and startling Yuuma and Blake.
"Ruby's playing very defensively," Fumina noted.
Yuuma nodded, glancing over at the Gyan Noblesse Oblige, which had begun pushing the Barbatos Lupus back. Io dashed backward and opened fire again with her cannons, but Weiss, undeterred, continued to advance. A beam shot fired from her custom rapier, but it slammed harmlessly against Lupus's anti-beam-treated Armor.
"Io Alexander is using anti-beam coating like nanolaminate armor," he observed. "Those beam shots won't do any damage."
Fumina tilted her head. "Maybe they are a distraction?"
They watched as the Lupus drew the massive Barbatos katana-like longsword from its back and pushed forward, causing Weiss to pull back slowly. She moved to slice Weiss in half from shoulder to hip, but the sword bounced off her buckler. Explosions hit Io across her body, sending her staggering backward and back to the defensive.
"What happened?" Blake asked.
Yuuma observed. "Hide mines," he explained as Weiss closed the gap and began to thrust and stab at the Lupus, slashing at the weaker exposed hydraulics it used for its midsection. "Weiss lured Io into a point-blank trap."
Yang sat back down as she watched her sister dodge Kyrus in the air. "Man, this is getting tense. Ruby's on the run, and Weiss is pressing hard on the other chick."
She clenched her teeth as Kyrus reached for Ruby, who boosted up and narrowly avoided his grasp. "C'mon…"
Ruby panted hard as she tried to circle behind the Chimera. She opened fire again, but the large gold shields on its back moved and deflected the shots. Kyrus swung around and immediately opened fire with another beam magnum shot, forcing Ruby to dodge to the right to avoid it.
"Crapbaskets," she cursed, stopping mid-flight and pulling back on her control orbs to pull into a steep climb. She knew the Unicorn Gunpla couldn't stay airborne indefinitely, even under weaker than normal gravity, and she intended to use that to her advantage as she watched Kyrus plummet back to the red planet.
She dashed forward, firing several shots with her beam rifle. Kyrus reached behind him and grabbed the handle for the left shield on his back, the sub-arm stretching so he could fold it forward and block the incoming shots. He returned fire, forcing Ruby to dodge by bending over backward. She fired two more shots, which Kyrus avoided, before resuming her offensive press downward.
Kyrus landed on the ground with a heavy thud, as he felt the orbs under his hands shake violently. "Okay, now you're just annoying me," he growled, looking up and reacquiring his target. He fired his magnum again but was surprised when Ruby opted to activate her beam shield and tank the shot rather than avoid it. The incredible power of the blast stopped her momentarily, but to his surprise, the Destiny Scythe was more or less unharmed.
Even more surprising was that the heavy beam cannon on its back was now flipped forward again, but this time sat over Ruby's left shoulder instead of her hip. A shocked expression crossed Kyrus' face as he backed up. "Oh, bloody hel-"
Ruby opened fire, the brilliant and massive beam narrowly missing Kyrus and blasting a crater into the ground where the impact hit. The surface of the earth was turned to glass almost instantly from the heat.
Ruby looked over at Weiss, who was forcing Io back. "Come on; I can't hold him off forever!"
Weiss growled as she stabbed at the Barbatos Lupus for what seemed like the thousandth time. "I'm working on it!" She shouted agitated. She parried another blow from Io, deflecting her sword and forcing her back. Io boosted away as Weiss brought a short slash down on her position. When she missed, she leveled her sword and fired two beams at Io's feet, hoping to knock her off balance, but missed both times as the Lupus darted around.
Io fires her cannons towards Weiss, but the shots hit the ground between them, throwing up a smokescreen. Weiss hesitated first a moment but ultimately decided to push ahead, flying through the cloud of dust.
Her proximity sensors lit up, forcing her into a rapid evasive turn as a powerful slug went flying past. She turned her monoeye to the left and noticed Io, the smoothbore cannon in hand and the Lupus kneeling, aimed right at her.
Backtracking through the slowly dissipating smoke, Weiss retreated as a second shot whizzed by her head. Io fired one of her forearm cannons and kicked up the dust cloud again, her brows furrowed in frustration.
Kyrus fired several more missiles at Ruby and turned, making sure his sister was in a defensible position. He watched as Weiss committed to feinting in and out of the dust cloud, her robust backpack increasing its thickness and pinning Io in. He growled, annoyed. "Alright, that's it!"
The armor of the Gundam Unicorn Chimera began shifting, opening up to reveal a brilliant red psycho-frame under the black and red panels.
Ruby stared in fear as the newly-awakened Newtype Destroyer Mode glared up at her. She was reminded of the scene in Dragonball Z, where Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time.
'This must have been how Freiza felt...' she thought, as she watched the shields move behind Kyrus. The Chimera shifted, moving into a crouch, before pushing off with incredible speed and rocketing towards the Destiny Scythe.
She turned and immediately activated her special mode, SEED Mode, and did her best to escape. Destiny Scythe's wings folded back and expanded, emitting mighty wings of light that increased her speed in an attempt to hold Kyrus off. The Chimera was slowly gaining, but Ruby had a head start.
Ruby shot a glance at Weiss, who she could tell was getting irritated. Weiss was getting more and more aggressive, forcing Io to keep the smokescreen up in defense.
"Weiss, I need help!"
She saw her partner nod on screen. "Give me just one more moment."
Despite Ruby's earlier warning, Weiss detached a single white rose bit from the rear of her Gyan. It flew through the smokescreen, piercing it from Io's rear, and fired a single beam at the back of her smoothbore cannon. The shot alerted Io too late, and she dropped the weapon as it exploded and sent her flying backward.
Weiss took the opportunity and boosted forward. "Kyrus! A little help, please!" Io called out. She did her best to fend off Weiss, but the Gyan pressed forward with fierce determination.
Kyrus stopped mid-air and aimed his beam magnum at the flight path of the Gyan, but was caught flat-footed by Ruby, who fired her sniper rifle and pierced the massive missile pod on the beam magnum. It exploded, startling and enraging Kyrus.
Io glanced up, reaching for her longsword. As her hand grasped the hilt on her back, however, she watched as the tip of Weiss's blade pierced her Gunpla's left eye, causing its head to recoil and her primary camera to cut out. Weiss pulled up and slammed her buckler into the Lupus's neck, allowing her to rip the Gundam's head from its body cleanly. Io's controls went dead, and her cockpit fell dark as she was eliminated from the match.
Kyrus roared in anger as he chased Ruby. "Come here!'
He reached for Destiny Scythe, and the forearm armor of the Chimera opened up and flipped forward into a custom-built transforming claw, its four fingers lined with exceedingly sharp blades meant to rend Gunpla parts like paper.
Ruby glanced back at Chimera, terror filling her eyes, and raised her rifle above her head. Kyrus smirked, thinking she was trying to club him with the weapon, but his eyes opened wide as he saw the tip of the rifle expand.
The rifle's back end extended, and the front opened into a gargantuan scythe, its edge lined with a brilliant pink beam. A collective gasp sounded across the stadium and resonated through the back rooms as all the contestants and spectators watched Ruby swing the scythe down towards Kyrus.
He immediately pulled back on his controls, his Gunpla sticking its legs straight out to halt his advance. He came to a sudden stop before Ruby, intent on dodging above her and grappling her Gundam.
Proximity alarms went off, and he turned, seeing the Gyan Noblesse Oblige charging him. Weiss slashed at the air, the head of the Barbatos Lupus still on her sword. The disembodied head slid off her blade and was flung at Kyrus, who blocked it with his right hand at the same moment Ruby's scythe came down on him. He had moved just out of range of her slash, but the hooked weapon still connected with his right back shield, cleaving it free.
Kyrus boosted forward and away from the two Gunpla as Weiss charged, thrusting her sword at the spot where he had just been. He turned to see both the Gyan and Destiny Scythe recovering from their missed attacks, turning to face him directly.
He looked over at Io, her Gunpla dead on the red sands of Mars. His Gunpla's damage indicator had greyed out the missing shield on his back, and without his beam magnum, he was without ranged options.
Ruby panted lightly. "'Nice of you to stop by!"
"I do what I can."
The entire stadium was full of gasps and murmurs from the sudden display exhibited here. Ricardo blinked in surprise, not sure how Kyrus had found himself in such a pickle. He sat with Hathaway, Jim, and two women, all eagerly watching the fight.
"So, what just happened?" Jim asked. He couldn't see the screen very well and have been listening to the play by plays.
"I gotta admit, Little Red Riding Reaper has herself a fancy big scythe," the shorter of the two girls commented. She grinned excitedly. "Not sure how she's gonna use something so big against Kyrus, though."
Hathaway dipped on his soda as he watched. "In all likelihood, she can't, Evelyn," he responded. "It's kind of like the Destiny's anti-ship sword-it's only hyper lethal if you connect. But it's too big and unwieldy to use against something as fast as the Unicorn Chimera."
"She probably wanted to do some damage with that first swing, with the element of surprise," the blonde girl next to Evelyn added. "He responded too fast, but I'd bet three hundred pounds she wanted to take an arm with that swing. She'll probably keep it in rifle mode now."
"You can't tell me you aren't a little impressed, Jack," Hath commented. "That's a dual-action weapon there."
"It's far from practical," Jack replied. "She probably knows it, too, so the smart thing for her to do would be to return it to its rifle mode, as I said."
Jim nodded, listening in. "A giant scythe that's also a gun, huh? What will they think of next?"
Ricardo smirked. "You seem rather laid back. Think you know who's going to win, Hawkins?"
Jim turned to him and smiled. "The girls will win. Kyrus is strong, but I can hear the thrusters blazing when he dodges. He's fighting two on one, now. He's a running back playing defense. He's all about pushing the attack, but he's not good at defending himself. Not against two-pronged strikes."
Ricardo watched as he charged the two, and they scattered, forcing him to chase Ruby, before dodging a beam shot from Weiss's rapier. "Yeah. You might be right about that."
Kyrus ducked under another sweep by Ruby, retreating immediately during her follow-through. He began to freefall back to the ground, staring up at the two who slowly descended with him. Ruby returned the titanic red and black scythe to its rifle form with a quick and easy motion.
Ruby remained in the air as Weiss touched down, hovering beside her. Weiss wore a fierce look on her face as she repositioned her Gunpla, the Gyan taking up a fencer's stance in preparation to strike. "We need to put him down quickly."
Ruby nodded. They had to entrap him somehow. "I'll keep trying to distract him. If you see an opening, take it."
"You sure you can do it?"
Ruby smiled. "No, but it's the best thing I can think of. If I can get in to strike from the side or behind…"
"Okay." Weiss twirled her rapier and brought it eye level with the Gyan's head; saber pointed straight towards Kyrus. "Ready."
Ruby waited for a second before calling out and rushing. Weiss watched as her partner shot straight at Kyrus, firing her beam rifle. Kyrus effortlessly dodged to the side, waiting for the Destiny Scythe.
"Not bad… Not bad at all," he muttered in appreciation. A smile grew on his face, excitement creeping through him. "To corner me like this... I'll gladly take this challenge!"
As the gap closed, he charged her, both clawed arms open and ready. He expected Ruby to extend her scythe again, but was surprised when she didn't, opting instead to try and leap over him.
As she passed overhead, he jumped, reaching and catching the front of her foot with one of the bladed claws. The claw effortlessly sliced through her Gunpla, causing the foot boosters on her left foot to falter and explode. She staggered into the dirt, digging into the Martian surface before coming to a stop.
Weiss took the opportunity to open fire with her beam gun, the tip of her rapier lancing out in brilliant white light. Kyrus again dodged it and went to charge her, but stopped and turned as his alert system sounded. Another powerful mega beam fired from Ruby's position as she got up.
Ruby assessed the damage. Her left leg had exploded and was virtually useless. Aside from her V-fin being torn off from the crash, most of her Gunpla seemed at least functional, so she counted her blessings. She used her thrusters to get airborne, trying to use what little mobility she had to keep fighting, though without her left leg acting as a rudder, her movement was impaired.
Alerts came alive around her, shocking her from a momentary daze. She boosted left, narrowly avoiding Kyrus's outstretched claw. She spun rapidly as she stabilized herself, hovering meters off the ground.
A torrent of bullets from the Chimera's Vulcans tore through the air, forcing Ruby to bring her beam shield up. The barrier stopped the attack but prevented her from accurately seeing what Kyrus was doing until she saw a claw out of the upper right hand of her monitor.
She attempted to get away, but the claw ripped through the energy barrier and grabbed her beam shield emitter, crippling it as he crushed it. Ruby ejected the shield and got away, and Kyrus moved to pursue but was met with a shield bash from Weiss, who intercepted him and knocked him out.
Ruby and Weiss both fired at the Unicorn Chimera, driving Kyrus back. "Ruby, are you alright?"
"Grrr….he keeps taking chunks off of my Gunpla." Ruby glanced around in an attempt to think. "At this rate, he'll probably tear me up before we can deal with any significant damage."
"We need to divide his attention." Weiss touched down on the ground and swiveled her sword up to run horizontally across her line of sight, drawn up to her head, and pointed at Kyrus. "I'll go low. You go high and try to stay out of his reach."
"We keep trying that, though," Ruby replies. "There's gotta be something-"
Her thoughts were interrupted as Kyrus charged again. "You girls think you can afford to chat?!" He cried out as he swiped at Weiss, forcing her to backpedal. She retaliated with several stabs but was kicked away by the long legs of the Unicorn Gundam.
Ruby bolted in an attempt to gain some distance between her and Kyrus, but he quickly caught up to him. She gasped as he reached out and grabbed her remaining foot, pulling her to him.
His right claw took hold of her right-wing and tore it off mercilessly, tossing it aside. She struggled in his grasp, moving to expand Crescent Rose to swipe at him, but he grabbed her right arm and used the blades on the inside of his clawed fingers to cut through her forearm.
The crowd could be heard in stunning murmurs and audible gasps. Yang gritted her teeth. She cried out to her sister, hoping in some way that her will and strength would carry over through the television.
Ruby's panels blared warnings, and her entire cockpit was glowing red. She moved her Gunpla's left arm over to her hip and grabbed the beam saber hilt held there, igniting it while it remained in its charging rack. The pink blade pierced the Unicorn Chimera's midsection, causing Kyrus to laugh. "Yes! This, this is why I can't stay away! Don't just keel over and accept your defeat! If you still have it in you, then keep fighting!"
Ruby swung the blade out and tried to turn and slash at Kyrus, but his grip on her Gunpla only caused even more damage to her body. She saw the claw of his left hand clamped hard on her shoulder and under her arms, ready to cut clean through her body if she moved.
She was about to bring the beam saber up to cut herself free when she was spun violently. The force was enough to cause her to lose her grip on her beam saber, which fell to the surface. She cried out in surprise as she watched seven-pin missiles from Weiss's shield hurtle toward them, impacting Ruby when they were intended for Kyrus.
Weiss watched in horror as Destiny Scythe was used to shield the Unicorn Chimera from her barrage before Kyrus unceremoniously threw her straight down into the red sand below. Ruby it hard, the force of the impact causing her cockpit to shake violently.
She quickly assessed the damage. Her right arm was gone, as were her right-wing and left leg. The straight leg was ravaged beyond functionality, and her primary camera was partially damaged. Her torso had suffered numerous impacts, and the claw marks from Kyrus's Gunpla were apparent across the chest area.
The Banshee touched down just beyond where Ruby had landed. Kyrus smirked, nodding his head in approval at the team of teenagers that valiantly took him on. "I must say I'm very impressed. No one has pushed me this far since Ricardo."
He turned and faced Weiss, who looked at Ruby in despair. Kyrus's presence was overwhelming. And she was without using her usual tactics since his NT-D mode could steal her rose bits.
"Now then," he said, snapping her attention to him. "I'm giving you one chance to throw in the towel. Your Gyan is an impressive work of art, and I would hate to have to break it."
Weiss's eyebrows furrowed in frustration. She dropped into a defensive posture she learned from Pyrrha, with her buckler shield pointed out, and her sword reared behind her. "This Gyan isn't just for show! Don't expect me to back down from such a trivial inconvenience as fighting you alone."
Kyrus grinned as he charged forward with a roar. He could hear both the uncertainty and fear in her voice, but also a fierce determination and stubbornness that reminded him of his own.
She steeled herself as he rushed, raising her shield to fend off a volley from his Vulcans before ducking under a claw swipe. She stepped to the side as he swung the same claw backward in a backhand blow, before jumping away to avoid the second claw.
She deployed a few hide mines directly in front of her as she landed. Kyrus rushed again, swiping down at her with his right hand, but was immediately repelled as small explosions detonated around him. He grunted in pain as the blinding flashes overloaded his visual sensors, switching to sonar in time to see Weiss charge with her saber in hand.
He sidestepped her thrust and kicked the Gyan in the midsection with enough force that Weiss's platform shook, and her Gunpla lifted into the air. He brought his left elbow down and drove Weiss into the ground, stomping on her with one foot to pin her there.
Weiss growled, before cycling through her weapons. She knew Ruby told her not to, but…
A single white rose bit jettisoned from its rack on the underside of the Gyan Noblesse Oblige's backpack, positioning itself behind Kyrus. Surprised, he turned to address the new threat, which opened fire on him and darted around to try and get a better angle with each shot.
Kyrus raised his hand and the red psycho-frame began shining a brilliant green, resonating with the bit and capturing it within his control. The Chimera overrode Weiss's hold, and the bit shot at Weiss. Weiss dodged the first shot of the bit and fired a volley of pin missiles at it, blocking its beam with her shield and destroying the stolen mobile weapon in time to duck another swing from Kyrus's right hand.
She crouched and then boosted upwards, the point of her rapier tearing a neat gash along the chest of the Unicorn Chimera and ripping one of the armor plates off of its left side. The end of her left knee connected with Kyrus's chin, staggering him, but before she could capitalize on it, he had grabbed her foot and slammed her back to the ground with such ferocity that she screamed in surprise.
She raised her rapier at him, but he grabbed the blade. "Sorry princess, but It's time I brought an end to this." He brought his foot down on top of her Gunpla, but she blocked the blow with her shield.
He growled and kicked her shield away, but it remained attached to her arm, and she returned it to a defensive position as he stomped on her again. She felt the impacts through the sudden and violent vibrations in her control orbs and the platform she stood on, and by the third blow, she could feel Kyrus's frustration as well.
Kyrus brought his foot up to stomp on her again, but she retaliated with a beam shot from her rapier. Kyrus lost his balance and released her rapier, allowing Weiss to boost away and regain her footing.
As she landed and got back into a defensive stance, Kyrus rushed again. She smacked his right claw away and ducked his left, before slashing at his midsection near where Ruby had
punctured him. He returned the favor with a devastating blow to her back, slamming his right forearm across her backpack and bringing her to a knee. She raised her shield and fired more hide mines, but Kyrus, unphased, reached through the detonations and grabbed her small buckler.
Weiss gasped as alarms began to sound, alerting her to increasing pressure and damage to her right arm and shield. The blades of his claw dug in, but the thick plastic Weiss had used prevented him from cleaving straight through.
"Crap, at this rate…" Weiss began to panic, deploying every mine and pin missile she could, but the overall damage to the claw holding her in place was essentially pointless. Kyrus used his strength to begin pulling the shield, which increased pressure on her elbow joint to the point where the stress would break it.
Opting to save her arm, she ejected the shield, throwing Kyrus off balance again and allowing her to escape. He regained his balance with a simple step and lashed out, narrowly missing Weiss as she retreated. He tossed the shield away and gave chase, catching up to her quickly and forcing her to dodge and weave his furious attacks.
Her monoeye scanned the area, looking for anything she could use as a weapon or shield. Explosions had pocked the surface of Mars, and debris lay everywhere.
Then, she saw it. Her eyes lit up in excitement, but the moment she stopped focusing on avoiding Kyrus, he kicked her back to the surface. She screamed again as she hit the ground hard, skidding across the loose soil and settling face down in the dirt.
She had lost her weapon on impact. Alerts popped up everywhere, and she scrambled to regain control as damage indicators popped up. Her HUD and changed from icy blue to a honey yellow to caution her. She began to get onto her hands and knees slowly, but the sound of Kyrus landing next to her made her freeze.
He reached down and grabbed the Gyan by the back of the head, the fingers of the claws draping over her field of vision. Weiss spun the monoeye to the end of the Gyan's head to look at the menacing green glow of the Chimera's, awakened psycho-frame.
"An admirable effort, Miss Schnee," Kyrus praised. "I couldn't have asked for a better fight from you and your partne-"
Alarms went off around Kyrus, and he paused for a moment before looking at the alerts. Did Weiss intend on self-destructing?
No, it was a proximity alarm. But where?
He turned to his left just as he noticed the heavily damaged Gundam Destiny Scythe hurtling towards him; it's left palm open. Ruby cried out as her hand clamped down on the face of the Chimera. "What the hell?!"
Kyrus threw Weiss away and clamped down on Ruby's torso. The Destiny Scythe's damaged form buckled as the Palma Fiocina cannon in its palm lit up, causing the right half of the Unicorn Chimera's face to explode. The claw around Ruby sliced through, removing the remaining arm at the shoulder and cutting her torso into three pieces, which exploded and destroyed the Chimera's entire forearm.
Kyrus staggered backward, stunned, all of his sensors partially scrambled or destroyed. His cockpit lit up in a dangerous red, and alerts sounded to show him the damage. And worse still, the damage to the head had deactivated his NT-D mode.
As his vision cleared, he turned his head and saw Weiss, kneeling, her head down low. Her monoeye swiveled yo, watching him from the top of the cross-shaped visor on its face.
"I'll admit," Kyrus started, "I should have finished off your partner earlier. But don't think for a second that this means you've won."
"I beg to differ," Weiss responded, before twisting her wrist and selecting Slot Three on her right orb. Clicking it three times releases the last three rose bits she had stored up. Without his psycho-frame, she has plenty of opportunities to use them.
Kyrus checked the status of his Vulcans-they were too damaged to use. Dealing with them at range would be impossible, and he only had one claw left. He smirked; perhaps this will be a fair fight, then.
The bits hovered by Weiss for a moment, before being sent forward to attack. Kyrus reached over his shoulder and drew a beam saber, waiting for them to get close enough and doing his best to avoid the incoming beams.
Weiss used the distraction to stand and boost away. Kyrus caught her in his sights only after she had traveled a fair distance, and he gave chase, continuing to avoid the bits. He glanced behind him as on beam shot the sub arm holding his second back shield off, while another pierced his knee and blew his left lower leg off.
Kyrus growled in annoyance as he barrel rolled away from another three beams and lashed out, nailing one bit with his beam saber. He turned back and saw Weiss descend, and he gave chase.
Weiss touched down and crouched, reaching for something. Kyrus realized she'd found a weapon, perhaps her rapier, and increased speed, hoping to catch her off guard. He rose his beam saber above his head but began trying to stop as he watched the Gyan's eye swivel to the back of its head to watch him. She was planning to strike, and he fell right for it.
She turned, holding something. A rifle, but it began to morph in her hand, and Kyrus's eyes lit up in fear as he struggled to stop as a titanic red and black scythe unfurled behind Weiss and was swung downward right at him. He put his right leg out t stop and narrowly avoided the weapon's beam blade weapon as its point slammed into the ground.
Weiss pulled back on a bolt action lever on the side, her face lighting up. Kyrus was at point-blank range and couldn't hope to avoid this. "Checkmate," she said, pulling the trigger on the weapon. A yellow beam shot forward and slammed straight through the Chimera's chest, piercing its backpack and coming out the other side.
The shot seemed to echo around the stadium. Yang, Blake, Sekai, Hathaway, Jack, Evelyn, Qrow, Summer, Winter, Jaune, Pyrrha, Fumina, Yuuma, Ricardo, both Kawaguchis, every other contestant who had both met Weiss and Ruby or hadn't yet had the pleasure collectively gasped and stared in silence as one of the Favored Eight of last year's World Championship exploded in front of them.
"BATTLE ENDED!"
A stunned silence fell over the crowd, lingering for a moment before it erupted in cheers. The entire stadium seemed to ignite in excitement. As the holographic display fell and the cockpits disappeared, the four contestants, visibly spent, looked at each other with surprise and relief that such an intense fight was over with.
Weiss was dripping with sweat from both the fight and the draining fatigue she felt. The stress had been tremendous.
Kyrus surveyed the remains of the Gunpla kits. Weiss was, besides scuff marks and scratches, for the most part, still intact. The Gyan Noblesse Oblige stood in its crouched pose, on one knee, the scythe clutched in its hands. The Unicorn Chimera was in pieces.
He walked over and picked up the remains of its head, smiling. "Chimera, my old friend... Thank you. That was a hell of a last fight we had," he said quietly to himself, before turning to walk over to the girls.
The duo looked at each other. They had no idea what Kyrus was about to say, but it made both of them nervous. He was a big man, easily almost two feet taller than either of them. It was imposing.
"That was spectacular!" he exclaimed to his opponents, before giving them a giant and excited grin and offering both hands to them. "Thank you! I couldn't have asked for a better way to retire Chimera. I look forward to seeing where you're going to go from here!"
They both paused, taken aback by his jovial nature, but smiled back and nodded. "Thank you, Mister, Alexander!" Ruby said excitedly. "That was an amazing fight. I'm so honored!"
"Please, call me Kyrus," he corrected. "Mister Alexander is my father, and I'm not quite ready to be called that yet."
Ruby and Weiss took a hand and shook it, and he smiled happily at them. Io approached and stood to his left, offering them a small smile and nod. "Brilliantly played," she said simply.
Kyrus glanced down at her, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Heh, look at you, all smiles. Didn't know you had it in yo-."
Io's right arm shot out and jabbed him in the ribs, eliciting a surprised grunt from the man. She then crossed her arms and looked away with a generally annoyed expression. Ruby and Weiss couldn't help but laugh nervously.
"In all seriousness," Kyrus started as he rubbed his side. That was a fantastic display of skill. And you, Miss Rose. That's twice you've risen from the ashes to help clinch a victory."
"Twice?" Ruby looked at him, puzzled, before remembering the Regionals with Yang. "Oh! Right!"
"Remember that, both of you. No matter how tough the battle, how many times life knocks you down, that if you can get back up again, you're the victor. You've proven that, for the entire world to see." He gave her one last nod. "I'll be watching your fights with great interest. I certainly expect a rematch at some point."
"You...you got it!" Ruby happily exclaimed. Weiss gave him a courteous bow before they respectfully excused themselves to meet with their friends.
From the press boxes, viewers each had their impressions of what just went down. The Meijin replayed the battle in his mind, thinking about everything that had gone down. Kyrus was a monster one on one, but he was taken off guard multiple times by the girls' tactics. Something to file away for the World Championship, to be sure.
Qrow and Mister Ral both looked at each other, a little surprised. Ozpin, however, simply smiled knowingly, as if he knew they indeed had it in them.
Salem, however, appeared quite displeased, and Cinder, confused. "How was that even possible?" Cinder asked Watts. "I thought you accounted for everything."
"Enough," Salem replied, displeasure in her voice at the realization she should have made earlier. "He accounted for everything he knew about. However, many of the fighters Ozpin brought are unknowns, without any records on file for him to study."
She turned to Watts. "After the first round battles are complete, reassess every one of Ozpin's surviving teams. Mark them appropriately."
"Of course," Watts replied. "Once I've got a better understanding of their strengths and team dynamics, I'll plot a more efficient course."
Salem nodded. "Now, we just wait. Time will tell what happens next."
RUBY ROSE'S GUNPLA
Gundam Destiny Scythe
A balanced blend of speed and versatility, Ruby's perfected design of the Gundam Destiny Scythe-the Gunpla she first used to race Tatsuya Yuuki mere days ago-is a true successor to her original mobile suit, the Crimson Strike Noir. Based around the Destiny Gundam but implementing cosmetic and functional modifications that are featured in the Gundam Deathscythe and Gundam Deathscythe EW (not Hell Custom), the Destiny Scythe takes performance to the absolute extreme.
Ruby has mounted a silver Plavsky Particle-resonating piece on the backpack of the Destiny Scythe for more excellent synchronization with her own movements. Due to it using the Destiny's body, the Gunpla has access to the high-speed Wings of Light that made the Destiny Gundam one of the fastest and most dangerous mobile suits of Gundam SEED. Ruby replaced the default Destiny Gundam shoulders with Deathscythe EW's, due to the small vernier thrusters inside them that she can use to abruptly turn or increase her swinging speed with her Scythe.
Like most SEED Gunpla, the Destiny Scythe is fully capable of remaining airborne nearly indefinitely. This, coupled with her speed and maneuverability, makes combating the Destiny Scythe problematic for many. Ruby uses this to her advantage offensively, staying at range and firing from afar with her long-range beam rifle or swooping in quickly and striking with her melee weapons.
For offense, Ruby uses Crescent Rose, the transforming weapon she developed. Doubling as both the replacement for the Destiny's giant anti-ship sword and its beam rifle, as it can shift from rifle to beam-edged physical scythe in a matter of seconds. Ruby also uses the large beam cannon mounted on Destiny's back, but she has modified the sub arm it is on to be able to extend and flip the cannon over her shoulder in addition to slinging it along her hip like normal, granting her a wider range of uses with it. She also maintains the palma fiocina beam cannons in her palms for extremely close range grappling attacks and two powerful Vulcan machine guns in the forehead.
Defensively, Ruby has mounted Destiny's beam shield components directly onto her Gunpla's forearm. While not as powerful as when it was on the actual physical shield, it still can withstand a powerful shot or two before breaking, and Ruby typically only uses it sparingly, as her speed is her main line of defense.
