The Astray Red Frame Amatsu Omen's beam katana missed the Gundam Death Wing Harbinger by inches. R shot into the air, looking back at her brother, who remained standing on the ground below, slowly turning in place to follow his target.
"Qrow, you fool, what do you hope to accomplish here?" She hollered, before darting back around and rushing the Harbinger again.
Qrow raised his large sword, a red beam sword edge springing to life from it as it collided with the Amatsu Omen's weapon. The impact of the two high-output blades caused a brilliant flash and sparks to fly as Qrow turned his blade and body to the left, allowing R to soar past him again, their blades skittering against each other until contact was lost.
R landed and faced Qrow again. Her frustration had reached a peak.
"Raven, that's enough." Qrow planted himself firmly on the ground before her. "End the fight. There's nothing left to prove."
R snorted, charging again. Qrow sighed and lashed out with his sword, only to hit an afterimage. His Epyon System displayed the route R most likely used, and he turned and raised his sword just as the beam saber came crashing down on him. Failing to cut the Harbinger down, the Amatsu Omen backed away almost immediately.
R had to think. Qrow wasn't a regular Gunpla Battle player. Or, at least she didn't think he was. But in their current deadlock, and with his Zero System, there was no way for her to breach his defenses.
She rushed him again, swiping at her brother multiple times. The two beam saber blades collided in a shower of sparks several times, but due to Qrow's blade being a massive physical weapon, it pushed R back once more, with each hit wearing down the Astray's momentum.
Qrow lowered his weapon and tilted his head. "I get that you're thinking that you're helping her, but beating Yang until she can't physically continue is only going to impede her abilities in the tournament tomorrow. The rest of the tournament is going to be going straight from one day to the next. I doubt she wanted to spend the rest of her day off in bed because you refused to ease up."
"You think that coddling her is going to help her improve?" R shot back. "The way she has been fighting could lead to severe burnout, and if she wastes her energy and doesn't focus, she could hurt herself worse."
"Is that what you're telling yourself? That this is for her benefit?" Qrow raised an eyebrow at his sister. "'Cause from here, it still sounds like an excuse."
R growled, but he continued. "Maybe you started out with that intention, to help her figure things out, but it warped into something else the moment Yang snapped at you. Now, maybe Firecracker coulda had a bit of a more level head about things, but she raised a point, asked a question, and then you just started beating her senseless."
He pointed at Yang. "So, are you gonna answer her questions, or not? Because from where I sit, she's more than proved herself. Maybe not entirely on the focusing bit, but definitely to at least get an answer out of you."
"I don't have to give her anything, yet. She hasn't earned it, from where I'm standing."
Her response made him shake his head. "And here I thought I was the childish one out of the two of us."
That was it. R had had it. She grabbed her hardlight sword hilt with both hands, seething, with the Astray doing the same with its beam saber. No further words were spoken, as she blitzed Qrow yet again.
Qrow opened fire with his chest machine guns but missed as the Astray shot to the left. The Zero System calculated the leftward dodge, raising his sword up just enough to get her to move. He swung it at the Amatsu Omen but was shocked to find that R had both anticipated the move and accelerated to dodge it. Forced to counter this, he raised his left forearm up and ignited the beam dagger of his shield just in time to catch the next attack from the Astray.
R backed off as Qrow brought his sword around for a large sweep, transforming it mid-swing into a massive, segmented scythe whose red beam edge narrowly missed the Astray Omen. It was already shifting back into a longsword as R opened fire with her rifle.
He ducked the two shots and responded with one of his own, a large blast that R dodged easily. She skidded to a halt as Qrow raised his left arm and fired his shield off at her, which she barely managed to swat away with her saber before again being driven back by a sudden, aggressive sword swing.
Harbinger clashed with Omen, slamming into her blade against blade at full speed, causing Qrow to push her back and lock blades while the two Gundams glared at each other.
"Give it up, Ray!" Qrow demanded, pushing on his control orbs to increase thrust against the Astray's continued resistance.
Bells and warning signs rang all around R. The cockpit was an angry red, now. The Astray was pushed to its limit, having taken on her daughter in a brutal match already. While most of the others hadn't posed a challenge, Ruby had forced her to expend a tremendous amount of energy in a short period of time, and now Qrow, fresh and persistent, was causing too much strain on the Gunpla.
Her knee and elbow joints could buckle at any moment. Her thrusters were overheating, and her energy levels were plummeting. It was over.
"You still don't get it!" She countered, defiantly pushing back. Taxed as it was, the Astray wasn't done yet.
"Suit yourself." Qrow shook his head. "Yang, now!"
"What?!" R's eyes grew wide as Qrow disengaged and flew up. Directly behind him, the Blazing Echelon blew past R's defenses.
"Huolóng Quán!" Yang shouted, as the gauntlet on her right arm-her reverse colored Astray Gold Frame arm-ignited into a massive gold fireball. The fist slammed into the Astray Omen's face, damaging the left eye as the impact sent the machine flying backward at nearly the speed of sound.
The Blazing Echelon's left hand began to glow, as the fiery beam mantle that served as Yang's Gunpla's hair retracted to conserve power. She rushed forward yet again, just as R recovered.
"Blazing Xiao Long Báozhá!"
R watched as the glow ignited into a dragon of fire, which opened its maw and clamped down on Astray's face. Instantly, the blast engulfed the Astray in fire, consuming the machine as Yang's hand followed up with a powerful Burning Fingers-style attack.
However, Yang cried out in agony as she did so. Looking down, she saw a hardlight beam that went through her torso, and looking at the monitor, she found the Blazing Echelon impaled on the Astray Omen's katana.
The fires died down as the Blazing Echelon collapsed at R's feet, power waning. Yang was almost knocked unconscious from the pain in her right side; she felt like her liver and kidney had just been used as soccer balls.
The Astray remained standing, though barely. R surveyed the monitors. It's the damage was too substantial. It only stood because of its stance and because Yang was basically propping her up.
For all intents and purposes, this was a draw.
"I concede," she said after a moment. The room fell silent as she hit the resignation button, ending the battle.
"BATTLE ENDED."
The holographic cockpits and the battle scene faded. Ruby, Sekai, Blake, and Weiss all immediately looked to Yang, who was clutching her side. Blake stepped off her pad without hesitation, but Yang held her left hand up to stop her, before inhaling lowly and rising.
She rubbed her right side. There was, of course, no actual damage, and the pain was fading already, but it still was sore.
She looked at the Gunpla. Both Ruby's and her machines had been impaled, and Sekai had taken a blow across the torso, but, because of the C level damage, the actual visible damage was nothing more than some scuffs, minor chips in the plastic, and damaged paint.
Her eyes then moved back to R. Raven. Whatever she wanted to go by.
R smiled, removing her sunglasses and fedora, and looked away. "Well played."
"So," Qrow said, crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto his back foot. "You gonna answer her questions?"
Raven paused, before sighing. "Yes. She's earned the right to know." She looked at her daughter. "Everything I told you so far has been true. You probably don't know this, but your uncle and I grew up here in Japan, homeless and begging. This was before the big social reform we underwent about twenty-five years ago. Your uncle and I got into a lot of trouble, but he managed to pull himself out. He got lucky, moved to the states, met the right people, namely Summer, and Tai, and got his shit together."
A look of regret crossed her face. "I, on the other hand, was too stubborn and prideful and stupid. I wound up deeper and deeper in trouble. By sixteen I was in a gang, fighting in gang wars. Killed a few people. Injured a lot more. At eighteen, I became an enforcer, and at twenty, I was scouted by Mikio Mashita for the Gunpla Mafia right when Gunpla Battle had started to become popular. By the time it was recognized as a sport and the PPSE was in full control, I was R, top enforcer of the American cell of the Mafia."
She looked at Tai and Summer. "But, by then, I already met Tai and Summer. Probably because of the fact that the damn fools were good friends with your uncle, or because you were already a year old, but I was feeling the pressure. I didn't want to risk any of you because of my connections, and I figured that leaving them would make me a target, putting you all at risk in the process. So, to keep you safe, I moved back to Japan, expecting Mikio to come after me. Distanced me from….my family, so you wouldn't be in danger.
"Thankfully, that didn't happen. I was granted amnesty for my past crimes in exchange for testifying against Mikio and the Gunpla Mafia that were arrested, which led to a ripple effect against several other groups, as well. And you were able to spend your entire life blissfully unaware of any of this, until now."
Qrow gave her a proud smile and a nod. "When Mikio and his top lieutenants were arrested eight or so years ago by the Gunpla Battle Commission, the Gunpla Mafia for the most part either disbanded or went underground. I reached out to Ray then, and she slowly started contacting your folks, hoping to at some point be introduced to you. But she wanted to wait until you were older so that you could form your own opinions on things."
Raven looked at Tai and Summer, the former appearing very happy and the latter wiping a joyful tear from her eye. "All of you are fools, you know that?"
"None bigger than you," Tai replied playfully.
"It's been wonderful having our family whole again this entire week," Summer sniffled. "I've felt so complete. More than I have in years."
Raven looked over at Yang's friends. "I'm very sorry for insulting you all the way I did. It was a psychological game I was playing, but it wasn't fair to any of you."
Weiss planted her fists on her hips. "You better be," she shot back. "I know I just got this suped-up Sinanju, and I have a long way to go, but I'll be damned if I'm judged because of the very first time I piloted it."
Blake shook her head. "You don't need to apologize to me. I'm still learning. I have a long road ahead than any of you. And you were right-I do tend to impulsively jump to help Yang. I can't help it. I owe her so much, and I suppose I'm too eager to reciprocate."
Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! While the way you said it was mean, you were right on a lot of things."
Raven scanned each of them. They all seemed so sincere. So determined. It warmed her heart that her daughter had these people in her life.
Then she turned to Sekai. "That leaves you, Mister Kamiki." She crossed her arms. "As your temporary sensei, I have to admit, I am rather disappointed."
"Huh?!" Sekai's eyes grew wide in bewilderment. "With what?"
"Your offensive strength is impeccable, but you left yourself wide open to a counterattack. You were taken out far easier than I would have expected from someone of your skills. Your defenses were lacking. This means I may have to redouble my efforts to train you. I don't want your master thinking ill of me and my dojo."
Shia giggled softly from the sidelines, but Sekai simply grinned excitedly. "I look forward to it! Bring it on!"
"By the way…" Ruby chimed in, rather timidly this time. "It occurred to me during the fight that you probably don't understand how Yang is doing these things in the battle."
Raven gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I figured Yang would try to do something silly, like expend her own chi or ki or whatever to do her moves," Ruby explained, "so I built in a failsafe. Yang's Gunpla can suck up Plavsky particles to power her RG System Kai, which are what the parts that glow and catch on fire are connected to. Doing this, the Blazing Echelon essentially has a limitless power supply."
She nodded to the Kamiki Burning Gundam. "Technically, the RG System II that Sekai uses means he is stronger, and I couldn't really replicate its power output, but Yang can fight longer-provided she doesn't get KO'd first. The system lets her basically inhale the power she needs to keep going, so she can keep pulling off these awesome moves."
"Yeah, Rubes went above and beyond after Burning Echelon was defeated," Yang added with a grin. "That's why I can do all that stuff so easily. I might use a little of my strength, but Blazing Echelon does the rest!"
Raven was stunned into silence for a short moment, before chuckling to herself sadly. "I see…I guess I really am the fool. And I owe you an apology. Several, I suppose."
Shame filled her. Now, she felt even worse. Exposing her past was one thing, but to treat Yang and the others like she had, now knowing it was for no reason, hurt.
"You have truly surpassed me then," she said at last. "You know what you're doing, and you have clearly surpassed me. While you still have a long way to go, I doubt I could be of any further help to you."
Yang's grin faded. "What are you talking about?"
"With all the sin and suffering I've delved into in my life, I now see that I am unworthy to train any of you."
She turned around and stepped off the cockpit pad. "You are a stronger and better woman than I could ever be. And to teach you all would be a disservice to all of you."
Yang frowned, then walked over to her. Raven started walking away but was stopped by Sekai.
"Giving up on us is what would be a disservice," he said, arms held outstretched.
"But, I-"
Her words were stopped as Yang came up from behind her and wrapped her arms around her. ""I forgive you," she said, hugging her tightly. "I understand. I don't have to like it, but I know why you did it. And, more importantly, I know that you love me. And that….I learned from you today."
Yang's words hit her hard. She gasped, desperately trying to withhold a whimper and a flood of tears.
"You're trying to atone," Yang continued. "And I think there's no better way for you to do that than to help those in need. And right now, you can help us. Please…Mom."
Raven hung her head low, unable to stop the flood of emotions. Yang's arms squeezed her waist tighter, and she put her hand on her daughter's clasps.
"I…"
More arms wrapped around her, and Raven looked to her left to see Summer, nuzzling her shoulder with her cheek and holding her close, with Tai and Ruby next to her. She felt a hand on her right shoulder and looked to see Qrow, giving her an encouraging look.
And with that, with her family there, complete, the last bit of strength and willpower left her, and she collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. For so long, she felt alone and broken, a failure to those who she loved. And for the first time since she had left, she felt welcomed. She felt like she was home.
Blake and Weiss looked at each other, touched by the sight, and nodded together. They looked at Sekai and Shia, and the four of them decided to give the family some privacy, to just be together while Raven accepted that she no longer had to be alone.
"So, why were the four of you hanging out?"
Ruby sipped on a milkshake as she waited for her mom and Raven to finish preparing dinner. After the emotional scene that happened earlier, the group decided to slowly disperse.
Qrow had some errand to take care of, so he had left the group for the evening. The teens had all congregated in the dojo's main room, lounging around while they waited for dinner.
The evening sun cast a relaxing burning aura through the windows of the dojo. It seemed like a fitting conclusion to the day's fiery spectacle.
Shia pondered Ruby's question, before answering, "Weiss invited us."
"I asked Shia if she could help us with repairing Blake's Gunpla since she had built it originally," Weiss added. "Pyrrha was with us earlier, as well, but she left to go on a double date with Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Sekai and Shia were hanging out with the other Try Fighters, but Sekai wanted to tag along with us since we told him we were meeting up with Yang afterward.
"Good thing you guys did, seeing as how things went down," Yang noted with a grin. "Thanks. All of you."
Shia looked away. "I didn't do much. I didn't feel it was my place to get involved."
"Are you kidding me? You fixed Blake's Gunpla. That let her jump in and help me. That was enough."
Blake gave Yang a concerned glance. "How are you feeling?"
Yang thought for a moment. "Stiff as hell. I feel like I just had a sparring session with Dad that lasted a lot longer than it should have, but I'll survive."
"Oh yeah!" Sekai bounced to his feet and excitedly flashed a smile at Yang. "That last move you did. That was awesome! How'd you do it?"
Yang laughed. "Honestly? I just thought it would be cool to have some kind of attack that was like your special move, but I also wanted to incorporate the Burning Fingers into it. It just kinda came to me as I was fighting that it would look really cool."
Weiss rolled her eyes while Shia giggled. "I can see why Sekai admires you," the younger girl commented. "You two are very similar."
"Stubborn, reckless, and bull-headed?" Weiss asked her cousin. "Yeah, sounds about right."
Shia smiled back at her, then looked at Yang. "I've been curious."
"What's up?"
"Why do you use a Gunpla named Blazing Gundam Echelon, if it isn't a customization of the actual Blazing Gundam?" Shia's head tilted to the side. "Your machine is primarily Duel Gundam with various elements of Gundam Stargazer added to it, with an inverted color scheme Astray arm for its right arm. I just thought-"
"Woah woah woah, back up!" Yang leaned forward, trying to process what she was being asked. "You mean there is an actual Blazing Gundam that already exists?!"
"Well, yes," Shia replied. "From the Gundam Breaker Battleogue miniseries."
Yang looked at her sister. "Why didn't you tell me that?!"
Ruby shot her a dirty look in response, stopping her milkshake sip part way. "Me?! I told you from the beginning to do some research before deciding on a kit!" She shot back. "Don't blame me for the fact you were too lazy!"
"But you could have told me there was already a Blazing Gundam!" Yang leaned back and sighed. "Now I look dumb for naming my Gunpla that!"
"There is also a Burning Gundam, too, but that didn't stop you!" Ruby raised an eyebrow questioningly at her sister. "I didn't think it mattered!"
Yang shook her head and stared at the ceiling for a moment, before looking at Blake. "Blake, my dear, the love of my life, could you help me look for a Blazing Gundam kit for me? My birthday is next week, so it would be a great birthday present!"
"I'll think about it," Blake replied coyly. She gave Yang a slight smirk, before leaning in to kiss her.
Sekai looked at Ruby. "Thanks for letting us stick around for dinner. I'm starving!"
"Oh, it's fine!" The silver-eyed girl laughed. "My mom loves having guests. And you're friends or relatives of this little group, so of course, you'd be welcome!"
Shia looked at her partner, then over at Weiss. "So, about that new Gunpla…"
Her eyes lowered to the carrying case her cousin had at her side. "I hadn't expected to see the Weiss Sinanju outside of the G-Quest."
"Isn't that the Gunpla that beat Yuuma and Minato a few months ago?" Sekai asked. "He was kinda upset they got to the final boss but then ran out of time because it was too fast and powerful."
Weiss sighed. "Yes, well, Grandfather wanted to assist me in the tournament. It was a kind gesture, but I decided it wasn't the path I wanted to take."
She patted the case excitedly. "Ruby and I have a plan for it, though."
Ruby shot a confused look to her partner, eyebrows raised in surprise. "We do?" She asked as if this was the first time she heard of it.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, you dolt, remember? We talked about it yesterday!"
The memory seemed to click in Ruby's mind right then. "Oh! Right! That's why you were talking to Pyrrha today, to get an idea of what she did for Jaune's Gunpla."
"Exactly, and thanks to her, I can put Operation Iron Knight into effect."
Shia tilted her head. "So, you're abandoning the Gyan?"
Weiss nodded. "Yeah. The Gyan Noblesse Oblige is a great machine, but the fight against Kyrus made me realize I need something a bit more versatile. So, I'm taking this chance-and the Weiss Sinanju-to give myself a new Gunpla that is more suited for a variety of combat roles, rather than just supporting the Destiny Scythe."
Shia's eyes held a slight, but intrigued glint. "Do you mind if I help?"
The offer took Weiss by surprise. "But…you're on an enemy team. Isn't that-"
"There are no rules against it," she interrupted, "and you know I won't sabotage it. I want a challenge. That's why I helped Blake."
Weiss paused for a second, then nodded. "Okay. I would appreciate the help. You've always had a knack for Gunpla. You claim they 'speak' to you. Well, I want my Sinanju to tell you when it's ready to fight."
"It will. I'll make sure of it."
After dinner, everyone said their goodbyes and departed the dojo. The day had wiped everyone out either emotionally or physically, or both, in Yang and Raven's case. Weiss and Ruby had made their way back to their hotel room, where Ruby now sat, staring at Destiny Scythe. Even in SEED mode, it wasn't able to keep up with Raven's Astray Omen.
The Sinanju her partner was building was going to be a beast of a machine, and with the Weiss Sinanju's built-in psycho-frame as part of the various vents across it's body, it was almost like it had a weaker version of NT-D active when in battle. This meant extra work for the Destiny Scythe to keep up with its speed and agility.
Taking a deep breath, Ruby removed the wings of her Gunpla and gently began to pry them open. Something new needed to be added. Something that could boost their speed, their overall output, or decrease the energy they needed to use to power them. She already made them mobile, giving them the same range of motion as the Freedom Gundam's wings, but their overall output was only twice as fast as the normal Destiny when pushed to its limits.
She chuckled to herself. Dare she make her little red Gunpla three times faster? The thought that Char Aznable would be proud of her for trying brought a grin to her face.
The next question was how, though. Additional thrusters to the backpack between the wings would definitely enhance it to a degree, but was it enough?
No. She needed something else.
Enlarging the thrusters on her feet and calves could help, but there was only so far she could go before she compromised the structural integrity of the armor. She could possibly swap out the side skirts on her hips to ones with custom thrusters, but that would only help her mobility in close combat and quick adjustments, not as a general speed enhancement. Beneficial, but not good enough.
Maybe-
"Trying to figure out something for your Gunpla?"
Ruby was snapped out of her thoughts by Weiss, who had just gotten out of the shower and was in her nightgown. She sat on her bed, tilting her head to the side.
"I hate to say it, but I think I have to copy Yang," Ruby admitted. "I've been trying to let her have her own Gunpla design, but the RG System Kai I built for her is something I think I might need to add to Destiny Scythe."
"I'm surprised you didn't already have it." Weiss looked at the inner structure of the wings. "You have those silver Plavsky particle pieces in them. Why didn't you add the Plavsky vacuum to Destiny Scythe first?"
"I didn't think it up until I was helping design Blazing Echelon," Ruby responded, slightly disappointed in her lack of foresight. "After watching Sekai and the Try Burning Gundam fight Yang, I came up with something that could benefit her on what she does best-long term martial arts fights. I just didn't really think about adding it to my machine until today, when Raven completely outclassed me."
Weiss gave her a disapproving look. "Ruby, besides Yang and your uncle, Destiny Scythe was the only machine still functional at the end of that fight. She took all of the rest of us out in short order, but you were just pinned."
"Yeah but-"
"You should give yourself more credit." She nodded towards the Gunpla. "And you should give yourself every edge you can. If we wind up fighting Yang tomorrow, do you think you can keep up?"
That was a good point. Yang essentially had limitless energy. Most of the other Gunpla didn't, Ruby's included.
She thought hard for a moment. "No. I don't think so," she said finally. "You're right. I need every advantage. It's my system. I thought it up. I have every right to use it."
"My sentiments exactly." Weiss gave her a confident smile. "Do what you have to do, but don't stay up too late."
"Yes, moooom," Ruby replied sarcastically, before turning around in her chair and grabbing Destiny Scythe. "C'mon, D. It's time to give you a tune-up."
