Vytal Festival Fairgrounds (Day)

"We did it!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping into the air. Team RWBY's first match of the Vytal Festival Tournament was an easy win, so they decided to celebrate with Team XICR. They decided to go with Dominic's idea and have a feast of exotic foods to commemorate their victory.

As they walked to their first stop, someone approached them from behind. "Might be hard to eat without this." they said, handing Ruby her own wallet. "Good to see you, Ruby." Emerald said, smiling as she watched the younger girl panic as she realized she lost her money.

"Thanks, Emerald. Guess I dropped it." Ruby said meekly as she pocketed her wallet. "Girl pockets are the worst!" she said, trying to defend herself.

"So, what's going on?" Dominic asked.

"Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fight. You guys were awesome!" Emerald said, praising Team RWBY.

"Oh, stop." Ruby said, blushing.

"I heard that your team advanced to the second round too." Blake said.

"Y'know, I feel like we never see your other teammates." Weiss said.

"Yeah, how did they do in the fight?" Yang asked.

"Really well." Emerald said after a minute of contemplation.

Without warning, Dominic's stomach began to grumble. "Okay, are you going to join us for some street meat? Because if I don't eat something in the next five seconds, I think my stomach will digest itself."

"Sorry, but I can't. My teammates are all... introverted." the greenette said as her partner inspected a boot. "Really socially awkward."

"Okay, then. See ya." Dominic said, running to a corn dog stand.

"So, yeah. Looks like Merc and I will be moving on to the Doubles Round." Emerald said. "What about you guys?"

"Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision." Ruby said, putting her hand on her chin.

"We put it to a vote." Weiss clarified.

"Yes, but I decided that we should put it to a vote." Ruby said, flustered.

"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake explained.

"I will happily represent Team RWBY." Weiss said, curtsying.

"Yeah, we're gonna kick some butt!" Yang exclaimed, excited for the next battle.

"Heh. Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on you." Emerald said with a smile.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang replied, crossing her arms.

"Alright. Well, we're gonna catch some more fights. Have fun!" Emerald said as she parted ways with the rest of the group.

Soon, they met up with Dominic at a noodle stand. "Where were you guys? I need one of you to pay for me." the blonde said, holding his midsection.

"Don't you have your own money?" Blake asked.

"I did, but I spent it all on pie. So, who's paying?" Dominic explained.

"Let me." Weiss said, getting out her credit card and handing it to the clerk.

"Wait, why are you doing this?" Gregory asked. "Is he blackmailing you?"

"Wha- No!" Weiss screamed. "Just, consider it thanks for your sisters getting me to the second round." Almost immediately after saying that, her credit card was thrown back to her with enough force to get wedged in the table. The clerk pointed to the register, which was blinking "DENIED" in bright red letters. "What? How can my card be declined? It was barely into my monthly allowance."

"Oh, no. Not today." Dominic said, grabbing his own hair. Then, a lightbulb went off in his head. "I'll be right back." he said, running into the woods. After a while, he came back, holding something bright in his hand. "How much for this?" he asked the clerk, handing off the object.

Having gotten a clear view of what he found, Blake's eyes went wide. "Is that a diamond?" she asked. "How did you find one?"

"Let's just say that I can find anything when I'm put under enough pressure." Dominic said with a wink. Unfortunately, the clerk didn't take anything other than Lien as currency. "Are you kidding me!? Do you know how hard it was to make- I mean, find that thing?"

"Maybe I could help?" a female voice said. Turning to the left, the group saw Pyrrha, along with the rest of Team JNPR.

"You don't have to." Yang said.

Hearing this, Dominic tackled his sister. "Don't listen to her. Feel free to spend as much money as possible on us." he said, pushing Yang's face into the ground.

"Well, I do think you earned it after that battle." the redhead said to Team RWBY. "And I think you all might need some extra energy for your match." she said to Team XICR.

"That is absolutely correct." Dominic said, letting his sister go. "Hey, shopkeep! Your finest dishes, please!"

After five minutes, everyone had full bellies and happy faces. "Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked.

"Of course. I work better on a full stomach." Dominic said, laying down on the table. "So, how do you think your fight's gonna turn out?"

"If I barf on live TV, I'm blaming you." Jaune said, his face turning a faint green.

"Oh, that's good! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora said, a devious smile on her face.

"Nora, that's disgusting." Ren blanched. "But if you do feel the urge..."

"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha said, getting up from her seat.

"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby said.

"Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune..." Nora said, excited for the coming fight. "We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and, uh, Jaune!"

"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked his leader.

"She's not wrong." Jaune said, still face-down on the table.

"I'm kidding. He knows I'm kidding." Nora said, acting like she didn't just belittle her leader in one of the worst ways possible. "Don't be so nervous. The worst that could happen is that we lose, finish a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents so we have no home left to go to, and we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!"

"...Yeah, that does seem like the worst possible outcome." Dominic said, eliciting a slap to the back of the head from Ivy.

"Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to fight with actual guidelines." Pyrrha said to Nora. "And not, well, murderers."

"You do have a point. After everything that's happened, we all have an advantage against other teams in terms of experience." Connor said.

"Let's see. Grimm invasions, violent extremists, and a destructive sociopath." Blake listed.

"And that's all while we were still in training!" Ruby exclaimed. "Oh, imagine what it'll be like when we graduate!"

"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss said while scowling.

"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately?" the PA system said.

"Yes. Like they were scheduled to several minutes ago." Glynda said.

"What was that about not being yelled at?" Gregory asked Nora sarcastically.