Beta: ShadowMeister234
Jaune wiped his soaking wet hair to the side of his face as he walked up to the pitching line and tested the weight of a baseball by tossing it up and down. Across from him, Emerald sat on a platform raised above a pool of water. To the side was a large painted bullseye that if hit would send her straight into the drink.
A few moments ago their positions had been switched and his oh so loving girlfriend hadn't hesitated to send him to his doom, and Jaune was ready for his revenge. This time Emerald would be the victim of the dunk tank.
Emerald smirked as he lined up his shot probably believing he would miss. The dunk tank was designed with Huntsmen in mind so the target was smaller than normal, but Jaune was confident he could hit it. Pulling his arm back he threw the baseball in a perfect straight at the target only to watch it completely miss as it flew through the empty air almost a foot off.
"Tough luck, kid," the dunk tank operator said. "Looks like you're not getting your girlfriend wet today."
Emerald laughed at his failure as she hopped out of the dunk tank without a drop of water on her. "Don't look so down you big baby." She slapped his back which made a distinctive squishing noise with how wet his shirt was.
"I just don't understand," Jaune whined. "It was a perfect throw. It was like the target moved out of the wa—did you use your semblance on me!"
Emerald stuck her tongue out. "Can you blame me? I didn't want to be uncomfortable all day."
Jaune balled his fists in righteous anger at the deception—the betrayal!—done to him by his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, but mostly he was just angry that he hadn't thought to cheat with an etch when he was up there. That's what he got for thinking Emerald would play fair.
"Well played," Jaune seethed. "but I hope you know you set a precedent. From now on I'm not holding back."
"Oh no, I'm shaking in my boots. Now hurry up. We've got things to do and walking around will dry you off faster."
"Easy for you to say," Jaune said to himself as he sloshed after her.
Emerald was like a child as she excitedly explored the Vytal Tournament fairgrounds. Jaune could admit the festivities were a lot more grandiose than anything he had experienced in his local town fairs, but for Emerald it was likely a lot more than that. It was easy to forget sometimes but Emerald had been living on the streets until not too long ago. This was probably the first time she was able to enjoy a festival like this. It was charming and Jaune couldn't help but want to have her enjoy it to the fullest.
They hit nearly all the stalls in the fairgrounds the vast majority of them being food stalls and while Jaune had to call it quits not even halfway through, else his stomach explode, Emerald ate everything with such ferociousness and delight you would have thought it was the only meal she ever had.
"Emerald, I think we should pace ourselves. The festival isn't over in a day you know."
Emerald turned to him with a rare pout that he thought looked adorable, but he also knew that if he voiced that opinion she'd probably kick him in the shin. "We don't all have the luxury of paid leave. This is the only day of the festival I have off."
Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah, I forgot." The Beacon kitchen had been closed for repairs ever since Pyrrha's imaginary friend attacked it. The festival was providing enough food for all the students anyway so there was no rush to get it back in working order. That meant all the staff were basically given a paid vacation until the festival was over. Of course, Jaune was only contracted to work until the end of the festival so, in essence, his job as a Beacon cook was over. The same couldn't be said for poor Emerald's janitorial duties.
"You could just quit," Jaune suggested. "We did what we came here to do and it's not like we need the money."
"If I quit, I'd lose my Beacon housing. I don't want to commute from the city every day. That would be a pain in the ass."
"You could just stay in my room." Jaune winked
Emerald punched his arm. "Don't make offers I might accept."
Jaune couldn't hide his blush as he wondered if Emerald was being serious or not. They hadn't touched on that particular topic of their relationship since that eventful night, and while Jaune didn't want to go any faster than she was comfortable with, he couldn't lie and say the image of her standing naked in his room wasn't forever burned into his mind.
Before he could think too much about it the fairground speakers buzzed to life. "Attention guests, round three of the Vytal Tournament, between Team PODR (Powder) of Beacon and Team BRNZ of Shade will be beginning shortly. Again, round three…"
"Looks like Pyrrha's team is up. Want to go watch?" Jaune asked.
"No," was Emerald's harsh reply.
"Don't be like this," Jaune moaned. Seriously, it felt like talking to a bad-behaved cat sometimes. "Pyrrha's our friend, and she could use the support after everything she's been through.
Emerald huffed. "She might be your friend, but I don't recall ever making her my friend."
"Then just stop being so antisocial and become her friend. It's not hard, and Pyrrha's nice. She'll accept you even if you are this rude towards her."
Emerald crossed her arms and huffed even louder. "Not in this lifetime or the next." She then quickly grabbed his arm and held it against her body. "Speaking of rude, you really shouldn't be talking about another girl in front of your girlfriend. Pyrrha doesn't even need our support. She'll wipe the floor with the other team before we could even find seats."
Jaune rolled his eyes. Still, he relented and allowed Emerald to drag him to the next food stall.
It was worth it to see her smiling like that.
Emerald was right. Pyrrha's fight (the rest of her team was there to people supposed) was a complete shutdown. The crowd had nearly screamed themselves hoarse as she tore through her opponents in what was basically four-on-one combat. Commentators pointed out that the Mistral Champion was far more aggressive than she had been in her previous appearances. Gone were the flashy weapon twirls and crowd-pleasing moments that Pyrrha fans were accustomed to, yet most hardly seemed to care or even notice. These style changes were likely just a result of her time at Beacon, and it was clear to anyone that she was at the top of her game. Any rumors that Pyrrha had been beaten in a spar—by a civilian no less—shortly before the tournament had begun were quickly written off as a poor attempt to soil the Invincible Girl's image.
It was off this wave of hype and excitement that Pyrrha was spending some time with her new friends although it was anything but a quiet get-together. Yang had kept her promise and snuck in some alcohol. Miss. Goodwitch would have their heads if she found out, and considering Yang only got cheap beer that could be bought pretty much anywhere the risk was hardly worth it. Still, Pyrrha couldn't stop feeling giggly as she chugged a whole can.
Her sponsors would have dropped dead from heart attacks were they there to see it.
"Yeah! That's what I like to see," Yang yelled, having just finished her third. There wasn't much to worry about with that. You could probably drink a whole case of this stuff before you even got a buzz. It was much more about the mood than the intoxication or even the taste.
Russel and Sky were currently standing over a desk pouring shots as if they were high-end cocktails. Other than them, Jaune was sitting cross-legged on the floor only taking small sips from his can. That probably had more to do with the fact that Emerald was sitting so close to him that she was practically in his lap. Beacon's janitor wasn't drinking at all, and with how often she was stealing glances at Pyrrha, it wasn't difficult to see why. The poor girl didn't want even the slightest bit of alcohol distracting her from her "claim" on Jaune.
Pyrrha thought it was cute even if she was the target of Emerald's ire. Actually, it was flattering. Emerald wouldn't be so protective if she didn't think Pyrrha was a serious threat, as she should. Pyrrha knew she was a beautiful and kind woman that any guy would fall over themselves for. That wasn't arrogance either; she had more than enough fan letters to prove it.
Pyrrha opened another can and took a deep sip as she felt her face getting hot the more she thought about it. Maybe this beer was more potent than she thought.
For Jaune's part he seemed a bit embarrassed, but not unhappy, with his current situation as Emerald's chair. "Congrats on your victory Pyrrha."
"Thank you. It's been a long time since I felt so satisfied with a fight, and I believe that's mostly because of what you did for me," Pyrrha replied politely, and if Emerald detected a whiff of womanly suggestion, then that was surely just her imagination.
"Don't be so modest," Yang said. "I saw that fight. It was a massacre. Did the rest of your team even move?"
"Where is your team anyway?" Sky asked. "Didn't they want to celebrate too?"
"They're doing their own celebration," Pyrrha shrugged.
Russel looked up from his line of shot glasses. "Isn't that kind of shitty of them? You're the one pulling all the weight."
"I don't mind," she replied honestly. "I've realized I've been kind of a horrible teammate to them and it's going to take a while to make it up to them. I will be better, but for now, they're free to do their own thing. Besides, this party is much more about saving Beacon from my imaginary friend than it is about winning a single round in a tournament."
Russel raised his shot glass. "I'd drink to that. Cheers to never having to see that stupid mannequin ever again."
"Don't celebrate too early. There's always the chance Pyrrha could summon it back if she loses herself again." Emerald was satisfied she got the chance to get some digs at Pyrrha, but the red-haired champion took the comment in a slightly different direction.
"You know I suppose you're right. I could bring my imaginary friend back, and with enough practice maybe I could learn to fully control it." Pyrrha looked at Jaune airing the silent request that he should help her with it.
Emerald's teeth clicked together.
Sadly for Pyrrha, Jaune rejected the offer outright. "I don't think that's a great idea. Even ignoring that you'd have to regress your mental state to where it was to resummon it, imaginary friends aren't pets you can train. They'll follow your unconscious desires whether you want them to or not. I don't think you really need the assistance either. You're plenty strong already."
Jaune really had no idea what his words did to her. Her heart was threatening to fly out of her chest. "You're probably right. I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt. Poor Ren is still in the infirmary because of me. I really need to apologize to him when he wakes up."
"No, don't do that either. Apologizing will only make things more complicated. I know you feel responsible for this, but admitting your fault won't be good for anyone.
"I agree," Yang said. "I've talked to Nora and trust me when I say she isn't the type to accept a simple apology if she ever finds out you were partially responsible for putting Ren in the infirmary."
Pyrrha sighed. It didn't sit right with her to avoid responsibility and pretend nothing ever happened, but if Jaune and Yang thought it'd only make things worse, she would follow their recommendation.
"Would you stop it with all the doom and gloom," Russel stated. "This is supposed to be a party." He tapped his finger to his chin. "How about a drinking game? That'd be fun."
"What kind?" Yang asked.
Russel snapped his fingers. "Strip poker."
Yang tossed an empty can at his forehead. "Not a chance.
"What about truth-or-dare?" Sky suggested.
"Seems like an indirect way to get to strip poker if you ask me."
"Never-have-I-ever?"
While Yang and her team were arguing about how to get this party started, Pyrrha scooted a little closer to Jaune all the while being under Emerald's ice-cold glare. "Hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Depends what it is," Emerald answered for him.
Jaune placed his hand on top of Emerald's head and pushed down in what was the world's softest noogie. "Would you relax? She's not your rival in love." Emerald clearly didn't feel the same way, but her glare did soften a few degrees with Jaune's reassurance. "Good girl. Now, what did you want to ask, Pyrrha?"
"It's about my imaginary friend. Why was I able to summon one? Like I understand what you said about it being because of how I was thinking and feeling, but just in Beacon alone there must be tons of people who go through similar bouts of emotions. Why aren't their imaginary friends running around all over the place? Why was it just me?"
Jaune hummed in thought. "I want to say it's because your emotions have been building for a long time, literal years, but the truth is I can't say for sure. The only one that knows why you created an imaginary friend is you. Try to think. When did your creation first appear? When did your emotions get so intense that you couldn't take it anymore and they took on a life of their own? It shouldn't have been that long ago."
She ran through her memories of the past week, and there was one that stood out.
She had been sitting in the cafeteria. Her team hadn't been with her as usual, but another team that had just gotten to Beacon from Mistral had decided to take a seat at her table. They talked about how amazing it was to finally meet the Invincible Girl in person, and how they had seen every single one of her matches, and how she had inspired them to become Huntresses.
She had taken them with polite words and a false smile but on the inside she just wanted them to go away and leave her be. Better to be herself and alone than be fake and with others.
Then Nora Valkyrie entered the cafeteria which wasn't hard to notice since that girl was boisterous everywhere she went. Pyrrha normally would have paid it little mind, but her eyes were drawn to the boy she was so animatedly talking to.
Lie Ren was always a stoic individual, but the empty-yard stare he had as he probably only half-listened to his partner was absolute. He was completely checked out and to anyone else that would have been completely disrespectful, yet Nora kept talking like he was hanging onto her every word.
Pyrrha had felt something suddenly well up inside her. Why does Ren get to have such a close friend so effortlessly! Her mind screamed.
He was also friends with Weiss, a girl just as famous and popular as Pyrrha, yet she got along with her team perfectly.
It's not fair.
It wasn't. Pyrrha had tried so hard for so long to just be seen as normal, yet Ren got all of that without trying at all and he didn't even care. Worse it seemed to actually annoy him.
I hate him.
Pyrrha did. At that moment she hated him more than she ever thought she could hate anyone. Her fork bent under the strength of her semblance. She should be the one in his place and him in hers. See how he likes having to work for your friends.
He needs to pay.
Back in the present, Pyrrha was startled by how clearly she remembered that moment. With hindsight, it was obvious that swell of emotions was the moment she had first created her imaginary friend, but at the time it just seemed like an internal outburst of frustration. Pyrrha was no stranger to those, but thinking about it now, that one had felt more visceral and sudden than any that had come before.
"Looks like you found your answer," Jaune commented.
Pyrrha looked down at her beer can wishing it had a little more kick. "Do you think I'm a bad person? I mean how could I not be. No normal person would get so angry that they'd create a monster from it even if by accident."
Emerald rolled her eyes, getting really tired of all the whining. "Would you stop with the pity party. No, you're not a bad person. You just made a mistake that had consequences just like every other person on the planet. Quite honestly, it's pretty irritating that you're sitting here acting like you should be above it all. Last I checked you're human too." Emerald gazed deep into Pyrrha's eyes. "And you know what! Even if you are a bad person, who gives a damn. Didn't you decide that you'd be your own person from now on, both the good and the bad? Are you really that worried about what Jaune might think of you? In case you haven't noticed we aren't exactly saints. If you heard about some of the things I've done, you'd be so disgusted you'd vomit. So get over yourself and your slightly stained record. It's who you are."
Pyrrha caught herself as she looked back wide-eyed. "Wow, that was shockingly nice of you."
Jaune barked in laughter and tugged on Emerald's cheek. "She's growing up. I'm so proud of her."
Emerald slapped Jaune's hand hard enough that he pulled away with a yelp of pain. "I'm not a pet, and I wasn't being nice. I was just telling the truth."
"Now there's the Emerald I know." Jaune cradled his hand to his chest. "But damn, I think you left a mark. Did you have to slap it that hard?"
Emerald turned to him with a sickeningly sweet smile. "You're lucky I love you, or I would have bitten it."
"Well, glad to know I'm loved enough that only minor bodily harm is acceptable."
Pyrrha giggled. She shouldn't have been since watching the couple brought on some amount of disappointment and even a bit of jealousy, but she had to admit that the two of them had a fun dynamic and, as much as it saddened her, they were good for each other. They were charming and caring and all the things Pyrrha had never been able to share with anyone.
If only she had met him first, then things could have been different.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, the argument was still going strong. "No, we're definitely not playing spin-the-bottle either."
"When did Yang Xiao Long become such a mood killer."
"When the mood involves trying to see me naked or kissing me."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Russel said.
Yang looked around the room until her eyes landed on the television. "I think the next round of the festival is about to start. How about we each pick a fighter and take a drink whenever they get hit?"
"I guess that works," Russel admitted even as he lowered his head in disappointment.
The television was turned on and immediately blasted the boisterous voice of Peter Port into the room. "I can barely contain my excitement! Both teams are gearing up and ready to go, but who will emerge victorious in this Atlas versus Vacuo brawl."
"Yes, this promises to be yet another thrilling match," Oobleck said. "From what we know about them, the teams seem about evenly matched, but the terrain for the arena may play a huge factor in deciding victory. Atlas and Vacuo might both have harsh climates, but they couldn't be any more different from each other."
"Then let us see what arena type our lucky competitors will be facing. Will they suffer under an icy mountain or be baked in the desert, or maybe both at once! Let's find out." The audience cheered as the terrain roulette started to spin.
"Oh, I choose the guy in the open vest." Yang pointed at the screen. "He looks like he can take a hit or three."
"Isn't that a bad thing?" Emerald mentioned. "Rule is to drink every time they get hit. Wouldn't you want to choose someone you think is going to get knocked out early?"
Yang shook her head. "Obviously someone doesn't understand the point of drinking games."
"I understand. It's to get you undressed, right?"
"Hey! That's only half the point!" Russel quickly stepped in causing everyone to burst into laughter.
The terrain roulette completed its rotation and revealed the arena would be half forest and half rocky wasteland. Neither side would have a clear advantage with that terrain, a fact the commentators pointed out, but that should make the battle all the more interesting.
Same for their impromptu drinking game.
The custom terrain rose to the arena, but there was something strange with the forest section. A dark black spot among all the green. As the arena continued to rise and the camera got a better and better look, the cheerful mood of the drinking died.
Because strung up between the tree branches in clear view was a person, or more specifically what used to be a person. The body was horribly mutilated with guts spilling out from the stomach, a leg dangling from the hip by only a few strands of muscle, and an eye that was popped from its socket. Beneath this gruesome display was a single word written in what looked to be the person's blood.
"TRAITOR"
However, to everyone in Team BRYL's dorm room, these were all just passing details because despite the body's disfigured state the person was recognizable to all of them.
"Blake!" Jaune and Yang both yelled at the screen.
Someone at the arena shrieked after finally recognizing what they were looking at, and before the camera could even think about getting a better shot, one of the announcers yelled to cut the feed and the screen went dark.
Sky stared at the black screen as if he expected that at any moment it would come back on and the announcement would be made that they had only experienced some technical difficulties. "Did I really just see that?" He asked nobody in particular.
"No doubt about it." Russel's tongue lay dead in his mouth as he spoke. "That was our missing team leader."
"Wait, Blake is your leader?" Jaune expressed.
"She is," Yang said slowly, "but how do you know her? Blake went missing before I even met you." That wasn't technically true. Jaune and Yang had met briefly at Forever Falls and even before that when she destroyed Junior's club, but the point still stood.
"We ran into each other before all that," Emerald said. "I can't say it was a pleasant experience."
Emerald and Jaune explained what had happened during the spider-slug incident and how that led them to briefly teaming up with Blake and ending the threat. They went into great detail during their retelling and Emerald wasn't shy about revealing all of Blake's personal secrets.
By the time the story was done, Yang's fists were clenched so tight it was a small wonder she wasn't breaking her hands. "So that's what she was doing during all those nights she snuck out. Damn it! Why didn't she tell us? We could have helped her."
"Isn't it obvious?" Sky said. "She didn't trust us one bit. She didn't even tell us she was a faunus—or that she was a member of the White Fang."
"Ex-member," Russel corrected. No one had missed the sudden change in Sky's posture when he learned Blake had been a part of the faunus terrorist group. Disapproving only seemed to scratch the surface of his emotions on the subject.
"Whatever," Sky continued. "She clearly didn't want us in her life and now she's dead because of it."
Upon hearing those works Yang's anger dissipated and she collapsed onto her bed. "You're right. She really is dead." She looked exhausted like years had suddenly been added to her life. "You know when she went missing and didn't come back, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief. I thought it might be better for the team if we didn't have to deal with all her problems anymore, but I never wanted her to die."
Sky and Russel looked away, probably having felt something similar. After all, it wasn't a coincidence that none of them had mentioned Blake up until now. Sure, Jaune had known their team was down their leader, but they had never made a big deal of it so neither had Jaune. Just moments ago they had all been partying without a care in the world that a member was absent. All three of them had probably in some way been happy Blake was no longer around, but that feeling was a lot harder to swallow now that they knew what became of her. Even Emerald looked like she was starting to regret some of her remarks now that the reality of Blake's death settled in.
"So what should we do?" Russel asked.
"What do you mean?" Sky replied. "The time to do something already passed. Blake's dead and there's no changing it."
Russel hissed. "I know that, but if I was listening to Jaune's story correctly then Blake was murdered in a suspiciously similar way to the victims of that spider-slug."
The camera hadn't gotten the best look at the body, but Russel did have a point. "It is a pretty big coincidence," Jaune admitted.
"Do you think it's the same?" Yang asked lethargically.
"The exact same? No. We definitely killed the spider-slug that was responsible for all those murders. As for an entirely new spider-slug, well I can't say for sure, but I don't think many creatures from the unknown world would bother writing 'traitor' in their victim's blood."
"So then a person did it." Sky summarized.
"If this is just some copycat murder, then Beacon and Vale should be the ones to take care of it," Russel added.
"But you have to admit it's pretty suspicious that someone with ties to the original case would be killed in such a similar manner," Emerald said. "There might be a lot more going on."
Everyone's eyes were on Jaune silently asking him to make the decision. It was starting to make him sweat.
"Um, I know this doesn't really concern me," Pyrrha said after being silent for so long, "but if you need help I'll be glad to assist you. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."
Being able to witness such an honest expression helped Jaune calm down and take a deep breath. "Emerald and I are obligated to stay at Beacon for a few more days, so we might as well do some investigating. Besides, even if she was a little rough around the edges, I believe Blake was a good person at heart. She might have even been a friend."
Emerald didn't agree with that sentiment, but she approved of Jaune's decision. If there was even a hint of the unknown world at work it was their job to look into it.
Although the feed for the tournament was cut there was nothing that could be done to hide the murder from the live audience leaving thousands of witnesses. By the end of the day, the news had gotten ahold of everything about the late Blake Belladonna. From her heritage to her membership in the White Fang to her acceptance into Beacon despite her past.
Reporters bombarded Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood with questions and requests to little effect. Then they moved on to the grieving Belladonna family, mainly with accusations rather than questions, who had learned of their missing daughter's fate at the same time the rest of the world did.
On the murder itself, there was a large consensus that it was the work of the same psycho that had murdered and strung up those two faunus a few months back. The killer from back then had never been caught and obviously Blake's body was staged similarly to the previous two victims. Even the MO was the same with Blake being a White Fang member. There was however some large minority disagreement, and it largely came down to the word written beneath Blake's feet.
The killer had never written a message before, so why do so now? The word "traitor" implied a more personal connection than what was seen with the other two victims, so the rumor goes that the killing was only made to look like the previous ones to draw a connection that wasn't there.
Who did Blake betray though? One side, mainly humans, argued that it was a White Fang hit as revenge for Blake leaving the group to become a respectable Huntress. The other side, mainly faunus, believe that somebody at Beacon found out about Blake's past and decided to take matters into their own hands, not wanting a lying faunus terrorist in their school.
While competing theories were running at an all-time high, a shocking statement was released by Vale. That despite the murder the Vytal Tournament would continue with only a day delay. The official reason was because the Vytal Festival represented peace and unity between kingdoms so it would be spitting in the face of those ideals to cancel it because of a violent extremist, but those with a wider view of the world could tell that the true reason was much less appetizing. People came from all over the world for the Vytal Festival and a lot of money was put into it. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that at the moment Vale's entire economy was connected to the Vytal Festival at least in some way. To stop it now would be a monetary disaster along with being a disgrace to Vale's reputation. Whatever the blowback from deciding to keep the festival running it would be the better alternative.
And blowback was not minimal. With the previous murders and the bombing of the White Fang meeting tensions between faunus and humans in Vale had been stretched thin, but with these most recent events, they broke. Multiple riots broke out during the night and by the time the sun had risen on a new day four people had been killed.
But the angry reaction of the general populace was nothing compared to the seething hatred felt by one Adam Taurus. Deep within his hidden safe house, he poured over every article concerning his lost lover which only fueled his rage.
If only she had stayed with him he could have protected her, but she ran away to Beacon, and now look what had happened to her. How could Beacon let this happen? How could she be killed right under their noses? Just how incompetent were they?
Whatever the answer it was clear they bore responsibility for Blake's death regardless of who actually committed the deed. Adam had been hesitant on Cinder's plan to attack Beacon, but now he was all-in. It was Beacon's fault that Blake was dead, and they would pay.
He'd make sure of it.
Excerpt from History of the Vytal Tournament
Out of the 39 Vytal Tournaments Atlas has taken home the victory the most with a total of 17 wins. This can be attributed to the excellent teamwork drilled into the students at the more rigid Atlas Academy which serves the teams well in the early rounds. That is not to say each individual student is not skilled as they have proven time and time again during the solo rounds. If there's any disadvantage Atlas does have it's that its students seem to struggle with creative strategy and flexible thinking. Atlas' advanced technology can usually mitigate these problems, leading some critics to argue that it's Atlas tech winning the tournament and not its people.
In second place is Beacon with 13 wins. Beacon has long since lived or died by the individual power of its students. Luckily, Beacon has shown itself to be unmatched in its ability to recruit students from other Kingdoms so power is not hard to find. In more than a couple of tournaments, Beacon teams have completely dominated, but just as often a weaker year of students can be wiped out before the second round.
In third place is Haven with six wins. Despite Mistral being known for its lively tournament and competition scene the kingdom consistently underperforms at the Vytal Tournament, and it may be precisely because of how well known the students they send tend to be. For most competitors very little is known about them, but Haven students usually have many documented competitions under their belt displaying their skills and abilities which other students can easily exploit for information gathering.
In fourth place is Shade with only three wins to its name and not a single one from the past two decades. The reason is almost painfully clear. Shade has long struggled with getting its teams to actually work as teams. Instead, each student believes it's only their own power that matters. This causes teams to bicker and fracture long before the festival starts and makes them hopelessly outmatched against their more coordinated counterparts. The rate of a Shade team even making it to the solo rounds is a poor 7%. That said, when a Shade student does make it to the solo rounds they often prove they are just as capable as any of the other participants.