The Tournament moved on later that day, and, after a short recess, the final two contenders met in the arena. Neo stood across from Yang, studying her, after what she had seen in fights, she knew Yang was a brawler, but she had range too. Neo was flexible, acrobatic, her fighting style relied on quick strikes and grapples to throw her opponent off.
Formulating a plan in her head, Neo readied herself, and watched as Yang did the same, the countdown began, and on professor Oobleck's word, they launched at one another, or at least, It looked like they did, Neo sent an illusion at yang, ready to meet her in a full on charge.
Meanwhile Neo herself was invisible, moving in a flanking motion, Neo went for a sweep of the legs that she hoped would catch yang off guard, in a sweeping motion with her scythe, Neo struck home on Yang's ankles, making the unsuspecting girl leave her feet.
Neo then made to kick yang, hoping to slide her off the back of the ring for an easy match, but instead Yang rolled to avoid the kick and got back to her feet. "That was a dirty move dude, I didn't expect you to be so ruthless."
Neo changed her weapon to sword mode and fell into a ready position, waiting for Yang to make the first move.
Yang charged at Neo, leading with a heavy right hook... And was met with a cloud of petals as her fist collided with an illusory Neo. The real Neo had side stepped and waited for the perfect moment, grabbing onto Yang and using the force of her own punch to spin the girl in place, sending her face directly into the ground.
Neo was still untouched so far, and Yang was at roughly 60% aura, tanking two monster hits had not done her any favors, and she was unprepared for what Neo had planned.
Neo once again backed off and went into a ready position, this time with her rifle mode out. Once Yang approached, albeit more cautiously this time, Neo simply phased out of existence with a faint poof, and once Yang passed through her, she reappeared, her rifle aiming directly at Yang's back as she unloaded a full magazine.
Yang was struggling to hold in her temper, Her fighting style is so infuriating! Yang began going on a full on offensive, swinging and missing over and over as Neo now engaged her in fisticuffs, bobbing and weaving to the rhythm of her attacks. But now, it was Neo's turn to be caught off guard as Yang massively overextended on a punch, Neo moved to capitalize and get in an easy strike, but instead found herself reeling as Yang fired her shotgun gauntlets, rocketing her elbow into the side of Neo's head and sending the small girl tumbling.
Neo flipped in mid air and landed on her feet, sliding to a stop across the stage, the fight was now at 27% to 76% in her favor, Neo knew she could win this fight.
Neo charged at Yang, projecting an illusion that she was going to attack low, but instead she aimed for the chest, and struck Yang center mass, Yang was now at 17%.
Neo nearly got another strike in, but instead she found herself blown away as Yang literally exploded in a ball of fire. Yang smirked, and charged at Neo, her first punch impacting an illusion and shattering it. Yang then immediately roundhouse kicked, hitting the Real Neo directly in the stomach, sending her flying once again. Neo tumbled through the air and off the edge of the stage.
As Neo fell, She projected an illusion under herself and kicked off of it, giving her just enough time to take aim and fire at yang, sending her below 15% just a quarter of a second before she impacted the ground.
The Buzzer rang, and the crowd grew silent in anticipation, Neo and Yang both looked to the screen for the replay. On the screen, Neo could be seen aiming midair, while yang smirked triumphantly on the stage, Neo fired and the bullet struck home on the back of Yang's head. And then, just a slit second later, Neo was seen impacting the ground.
"WE HAVE A CHAMPION, NEOPOLITAN LAZULI OF SHADE HAS WON THE VYTAL FESTIVAL TOURNAMENT!"
The crowd exploded with excitement, the cheers were deafening in the arena as Neo realized what had just happened, her eyes grew wide, I... I did it? Oh My GODS! I DID IT! YES! Neo had the broadest grin ever on her face, her eyes sparkled as she stood up and looked to where she knew her mother sat in the crowd, She's so proud of you Neo, Like you wouldn't believe.
By now the stage had finished descending, and Neo saw her 'Cousin' walking over to her with a bright and happy smile on her face, "Congrats Neo, Either way the Rose family takes home the gold am I right?"
Neo laughed, "Aren't you a Xiao Long?" She asked with a grin on her face.
Yang waved her off, "Bah! Semantics."
The two laughed and walked to the ready room where they were met with the exited faces of their team members.
After celebration and congratulations, the two eventually retreated to their dorms, and awaited the ceremony that would take place the next day.
Neo Stood upon the stage alongside Yang, and both Penny and Sun Wukong.
The stage they stood upon was in the center of Amity Arena, they stood together patiently waiting as Headmaster Ozpin spoke into the microphone,
"We are gathered here in this Arena to celebrate the momentous achievement of the Huntsmen Trainees beside me. When pitted against each other, regardless of age or experience, these four had the skill to rise above the rest. It is with great pleasure that I now present them their medals. Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina, You and your teams fought all the way to the semi-finals. And thus you have been granted the Bronze medal. Please take your place on the podium."
Penny accepted the medal along with the three meant for the rest of her team, as did Sun. The two then moved to the two lowest steps of the nearby podium.
"Yang Xiao Long, You and your team fought all the way to the finals round, Only faltering at the last step, as the Runner up, You have been granted the Silver Medal. Please take your place on the podium."
Yang accepted the four Medals immediately placing one around her neck, she then walked up and stepped onto the second highest platform of the podium.
"And Finally, Neopolitan Lazuli, You and your team fought all the way to the finals, and triumphed. This marks the 8th time in the history of the tournament that a first year team has taken home the championship, and the 14th win for Shade academy. For your efforts, you have been named Vytal Festival Tournament Champions, and get to take home the gold medal. Your Names will also be engraved onto the victory plaque, alongside your team name. Please take your place on the podium."
Neo accepted the Medals, putting the one with her name engraved on back around her neck, and storing the rest alongside her weapon. Neo took her place at the top of the podium and smiled, waving to her mother, who she spotted in the stands.
It was then... that Neo's heart fell, alongside her mother's. The two had both heard the same thing,
I'm so sorry. You Hope that none of the kingdoms meet their end, but a full house beats a 3 of a kind. You hope that none of your friends meet their demise, but in the end, it's not in the cards. I... You hoped... that your new home would be safe... but sadly, even if you draw 4 aces, there's still the chance your opponent gets a Royal Flush.
Aurum's stomach dropped, and she tried to call Theodore... it rang until voicemail. She tried to call Rumpole, Voicemail. She tried one of her contacts in Vacuo, Voicemail. She couldn't get a single call through.
Then, The screen that had been displaying the podium flickered out, and the image was replaced with that of a chess piece, the black king.
A rumbling voice left the speakers, "While the world celebrates its unity, they neglect to see what's happening right under their nose. As you celebrate the victor of a meaningless Tournament, their kingdom is left forgotten."
"How ignorant are our leaders if they can't recognize what's happened right in front of them. The Headmaster of Shade has grown complacent, the once hardened city grew soft. The incompetence of our leaders has fooled you, and the second the golden girl left her home, the monsters came out to play. With their protection gone, the proud and defiant kingdom was laid to ashes. Maybe your kingdom will be next."
The screen blinked and the image was replaced with an overhead shot of the Kingdom of Vacuo. Or at least, what used to be the Kingdom of Vacuo, flames covered the kingdom, giant plumes of fire burned, sending smoke and ash into the sandstorm surrounding the city. Grimm covered the landscape with goliaths stomping through the streets, and the once proud school of Shade, was visibly cracked, as a death wyrm the size of the school itself emerged from the side of it, preparing to take a bite out of the CCT Tower that rested at the top of the school.
All of a sudden, the feed cut out. All around the world, the last thing everyone saw before the CCT went dark, was the image of Vacuo in flames.