"Another week, another day of school uniforms," Nora said as she spun around to show off her uniform to her team. "Still cute, right?"
"Yes Nora, like every other time you've done that," Jaune said rolling his eyes and finished adjusting his die, "now come on, I don't want to be late again. Especially after last night."
"I still can't believe Summer and the others weren't exaggerating about how hard they party," Ren said to himself and opened the door for his team, "I hope they are able to get up after that."
"Maybe we should check on them," Pyrrha suggested and started walking to STRQ's door, which slammed open just as she walked out and startled Pyrrha into the air and into Nora's arms.
"I fucking forgot what week it was," A very disgruntled Summer Rose said walking out in her combat clothes, the rest of her team following her in theirs.
"I want to die," Taiyang muttered rubbing his eyes.
"Just when we were done with remedials too," Raven sighed.
"Always something. Why are you guys in uniform?" Qrow asked pointing at JNPR.
"Because…" Pyrrha started saying as Nora set her down, "We're going to class?"
"Not this week you're not. Double check your schedule." Nora quickly zoomed into her room and came out with the schedule book as Jaune Ren and Pyrrha crowded around her.
"Let's see… 'Team based tactical training seminars' are this week," Nora read and pressed her finger on one part of the page, "uniforms are not required." JNPR looked at each other before stepping back into their room so Jaune could shut the door. A few seconds of loud chaos later and they came back out in their combat clothes and Nora threw the schedule over her shoulder. "That was a close one."
"You would have just had to come back to change," Summer said lifting her hood over her head, "Now come on, let's get this shit over with." Summer led the way for everyone down the hallway still very much not in a good mood.
"So… what are we doing this week?" Pyrrha asked leaning to get a good look at the upperclassmen, "something about team tactics?"
"In the purpose of promoting cooperation between teammates, one week will be set aside to focus on the fundamentals of team based combat training and tactics," Qrow quoted and sighed, "in layman's terms, we're going to spend the rest of the week fighting four on four team battles with no year discrimination 'to make us work better as a team'."
"And… that's bad?"
"Says the gladiator of the group," Raven said rolling her eyes, "you're probably used to these kinds of fights."
"…Not team fights."
"Trust me Pyrrha," Taiyang said looking back at Pyrrha, "when you get your ass kicked by senior teams who've learned not to hold back for five days straight, you'll hate this week too."
"I see," Jaune said and sighed as she slouched down like Summer, "let's get this over with then."
STRQ and JNPR soon left the dorms and joined a legion of other teams as they all walked to one of arenas used for combat training. Pyrrha noticed that a good number of other students were wearing the exact same face that STRQ was wearing as they walked into the arena. She spotted Team CFVY sitting a ways up (again, with the same faces of bored dread) and sat with them, STRQ on one side and JNPR on the other.
"You guys forgot it was this week too?" Summer asked and sighed when CFVY all nodded.
"Maybe we should have saved that party for after this week," Velvet sighed out.
"Too late for that," Fox replied, "For now let's just bear with it."
"It's not going to be that bad, right?" Pyrrha asked comfortingly.
"Your cheer makes me angry," Raven growled out.
"Knock it off!" Jaune said leaning forward to glare at Raven, "Just because you don't share her optimism doesn't mean you get to brow beat her over it."
"It's fine Jaune," Pyrrha said waving Jaune down missing Raven roll her eyes, "but thank you in any case."
"It kind of isn't," Nora added shaking her head, "but let's all look on the bright side, this week might actually not be all that bad!" The ambient noise of chatter from the gathered students came to a slow halt when Professor Port, holding his hands behind his back out of sight of the students, and Oobleck walked out onto the floor in front of the gathered students. "Oh," Nora said, her face falling flat.
"You were saying Vomit Boy?" Raven asked.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Jaune yelled loud enough to echo through the whole arena (and caused Velvet and Fox to cover their ears).
"Well it's good to see some of you still have some enthusiasm!" Port said in the quiet caused by Jaune's shout. "How are you doing students?"
Dead silence was his only answer.
Oobleck cleared his throat and said, "Yes well, as you all know this week we are doing team based tactical exercises. You've all had some time to get used to each other so I'm sure you all know what your teammates will do in a fight. These exercises will ensure that. I hope that you all are ready!"
Dead silence again, at least until a certain black haired student yelled "Eh Yeah!" and held a fist up in the air. Like the last time he did this, the answer was silence from everyone else but one girl.
"Sit down Jerry!" Raven shouted at the student, who did as he was told.
"Ah, our first volunteer! Thank you for volunteering your team Raven!" Port said and laughed heartily.
"Jerry! I'm going to beat you to death!" Raven screeched and stood up, having to be held back by Taiyang and Qrow from rushing Jerry as he tried to hide behind a girl.
"We'll be refereeing for you all like our colleagues in the other arenas. So who's ready for some high stakes, high energy team battles so you can learn to work better with your teammates?" No sound from the assembled students save for Raven still trying to escape from her male teammates clutches which, if the closer students were being honest, was far more entertaining than anything the professors could say. "Good, because we're not doing that this week!"
Unless they said that. Raven stopped struggling and looked at Port and Oobleck curiously along with the entire crowd. "That got your attention," Oobleck mused with a chuckle and pushed up his glasses. "Well, due to some… extenuating circumstances on the academy's part, the staff have decided to mix up this week's team training exercises. It will still be team based, but I'm sure you all will appreciate the change of pace."
"Where is he going with this?" Coco asked sliding her sunglasses down a little and glanced at Summer, who simply shrugged.
"Oh yes, I'm sure all of you will like doing this," Port said laughing again, "It's something you all know about, probably are huge fans of it too."
"Fans?" Velvet wondered and looked at Fox, "You don't think…?"
"I'm not getting my hopes up," Fox replied shaking his head.
"After all, it is the most popular sport on Remnant."
"Ok, never mind," Fox corrected perking up immediately.
"No way," Summer whispered wide eyed.
"Sport?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's right, for this week only," Oobleck said, "you'll all be learning team based tactics using the sport of Remnant…" he looked at Port, who triumphantly lifted his right hand to show a large, gunmetal green ball about as big as his head. The students in the front row all gasped loudly while the ones in back wondered if that was actually a-
"Grifball!" Port shouted, the word echoing in though the still arena.
"What?" was Pyrrha's response, though everyone else's response was a deafening cheer that made her jump. Summer, Raven, Ren, Jaune, everyone roared in approval, with Yatsuhashi being the most subdued with energetic clapping.
"I can't fucking believe it! They did it!" Summer yelled and hugged Taiyang.
"You think Oz actually listened to that petition?" Taiyang asked.
"Hell no!"
"Well this week just took an instant 180," Coco said adjusting her beret and looking at Jaune, "And you look especially excited Jaune."
"Of course I am, my whole family are big fans," Jaune said with a large grin, "and one of my sisters is in the minor leagues."
"No kidding."
And in the middle of all this reverie was Pyrrha, alone and confused.
"Well," Port said lowering the ball and clearing his throat, "let's start with a quick game that will help those not so familiar with the rules understand better. Since Team STRQ has already volunteered for the first game, we're going to need another volunteer team. Any takers?" The room quieted a little at that, but there was one voice that was louder than all of them.
"Juniper! Team JNPR volunteers!" Jaune shouted waving is arms over his head.
"Now that's enthusiasm! Team STRQ and JNPR will play the first match. Come on down so we can get you ready."
"Yes!" Jaune said pumping a fist and looking as Team STRQ stood up and started walking down to the arena floor followed by Nora and Ren. Jaune started to follow them when Pyrrha grabbed his arm to stop him. He looked down at her to see her wide eyed with shrunk irises staring dead ahead. "Pyrrha? What's wrong?"
"I don't know what this is," she whispered.
"Huh?" Jaune asked quirking an eyebrow while CFVY looked at her.
"I don't know what this is," Pyrrha repeated looking up at Jaune. It took Jaune a second of thinking before his eyes widened in understanding.
"You've… never heard of Grifball? At all?" Jaune asked, to which Pyrrha responded by shaking her head no. His eyes widened just a little more in worry and tried his best to ignore Coco's chuckles as he waved a hand and said, "Uh, well, don't worry Pyrrha! Seriously though?" Pyrrha nodded. "It'll be ok, it's actually an easy game to understand. I'll give you a run down while we get ready."
"Thank you," Pyrrha said standing up and following Jaune stiffly.
"Oh, this is going to be beautiful," Coco said laughing at the sight and tenting her fingers in front of her.
"Coco your troll is showing," Fox said to her telepathically.
"Don't care Fox," she said back.
"Ok so, Grifball. Like I said, pretty easy to get," Jaune started while Pyrrha listened intently while Nora started putting bits and pieces of metal all over her clothes. "Two teams of four, colored red and blue, go head to head over possession of the Grifball, which is the ball that Professor Port has," Jaune pointed at said professor, who had just set the ball in the middle of the court with a nod, "and the goal is to get the ball into the other team's goal, which is this thing here."
"Ok," Pyrrha nodded as Jaune tapped a metal X on the ground and looked at Nora over herself when Nora stopped adding things. "And what's all this for?"
"To protect you from the weapons silly," Nora answered and started adding bits to herself.
"W-weapons!?" 'No one said anything about that! I left Miló in my locker and-'
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me Nora," Jaune said interrupting Pyrrha's train of thought, "each team player has one of two weapons: a hammer and a sword both loaded with Gravity Dust. Oh yeah, and if you're carrying the ball you have to put your weapon away. These armor pieces react to the Dust and knock you back. Good fun without getting hurt." Jaune then snapped his fingers and added, "Oh, and they do this," and flipped a switch on the left arm guard, turning the armor on. After a second of blinking his clothing shimmered and turned into various shades of blue and Jaune turned around so Pyrrha could see it all.
"Wha- that's incredible!" Pyrrha marveled and turned on her own armor so her own clothing could change color as well. "Who made these?"
"The Kingdom of Atlas," Ren answered walking to join Jaune and Pyrrha, his own clothing color changed as well. "When the Remnant Grifball league of Remnant was established, Atlas created these in order to help smooth along game time. Apparently this is easier than just changing clothes."
"They… they created this amazing piece of technology for a game!? W-what about their military or the Huntsman? Wouldn't that be a better use for this?"
"Don't be silly Pyrrha," Jaune said waving a hand, "of course they use it for that stuff."
"But mostly it's used for Grifball," Nora said hopping next to Ren, who nodded in agreement.
To say Pyrrha was blown away by that would be an understatement. She managed to get her thoughts together enough to ask, "So how is the game won?"
"Put the ball in the opponents goal to score a point and end the round. The team with the highest score after nine rounds wins," Jaune said.
"Oh ok, that sounds easy enough."
"Yeah, it's actually playing the game where it gets difficult."
"Going over the rules before the game huh? Excellent!" JNPR looked over at Oobleck as he dragged a small cart of weapons to them, "Now the final setup for you is weaponry! Who wants what?"
"Gimme a hammer!" Nora said drooling and grabbing at the hammers.
"I guess I'll take a sword," Jaune said cautiously and scratched the back of his head, "I don't really trust myself with much else. Ren, what do you-?" Jaune paused when he saw Ren already hefting a hammer over his shoulder, his face dead serious.
"They will not cross the line," he said stoically.
"…Right, you do that Ren!" Jaune gave Ren a double thumbs up and turned back to Pyrrha, "then that makes you our last sword Pyrrha."
"Ok," Pyrrha nodded and jumped back a little when Oobleck shoved a sword toward her that she took carefully. Oobleck dashed away while Pyrrha looked the sword over; a simple broadsword that was humming with Gravity Dust and glanced at Nora looking her own hammer over, similar but not quite as elaborate as her own Magnhild. "So… is there anything else I need to know?"
"Recovery and Semblances," Nora answered swinging the hammer over her shoulder, "And… that's pretty much it! Recovery is easy: you get smashed, you get knocked away and lose your color." Nora demonstrated by turning her armor off, restoring her clothing to their normal color. She then gestured at a little square around the goal and added, "When that happens, you come back to this little area around the goal and wait five seconds. After that, color comes back and you can play again." Nora turned the armor back on and looked at Pyrrha seriously. "Don't try and play before that, you'll get penalized."
"Ok, and Semblances?"
"Don't use them, period. If you do, round ends and the other team gets the point."
Pyrrha nodded at that, she hadn't been planning on using her Semblance for this anyway. "Ok, I think I got all of that. I'm still a little nervous though."
"Hey, don't be," Jaune said and put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder to comfort her, "we're only going against Summer and the others. I'm sure they'll see it's our first game and go easy on us. The whole thing is just for fun after all."
"Yeah, um…" Nora said and pointed at STRQ, Jaune and Pyrrha looking at them just as Summer grabbed the hem of her cloak and ripped it off in one motion. The white fabric hung in the air before settling behind Summer and her teammates, Taiyang and Qrow holding hammers and Raven with a sword at the ready, all of them looking serious. Summer silently turned her armor on, turning her black combat dress red, and grabbed her sword's handle that had been planted point down into the ground and pulled it out. She looked up at JNPR, took a practice swing, and drew a thumb across her neck.
"Ok, they actually want to kill us," Jaune corrected and looked back at Pyrrha who was suddenly looking terrified. 'Oh crap!' "Uh, but they're still our friends! It's just a game and they won't go too far. We still got this!" Jaune held up his sword and smiled widely before looking at Nora and asking, "Right?"
"Yeah," she nodded and looked at Ren. "Right?"
"They will not cross the line," Ren answered moving his hammer to hold in both his hands.
"That's the spirit!"
"Are both teams ready?" Port called out.
"Ready!" Jaune shouted holding up his sword.
"Ready!" Summer shouted doing the same.
"Then let our first match begin! Ready!" Both teams readied their weapons, Pyrrha a little more nervously then the others.
"We got this," Jaune said to Pyrrha, "And if you're not too up to it, then you can just guard the goal."
"O-ok," Pyrrha replied with a nod.
"Set! Go!"
"Qrow/Nora, go!" Summer and Jaune shouted simultaneously and pointed forward. The called members charged ahead with their teams a few feet behind them, their eyes locked and met at the ball. Qrow and Nora reared their hammers back, teeth grit, and swung and hit their hammers together and were knocked back from the force of the blows.
Jaune and Summer ducked under their teammates and clashed swords with each other over the ball, a small shockwave nearly knocking them back, and pushed against each other. They grit their teeth, sparks flying off their swords, until Summer grinned and shouted, "Tai, go!"
Jaune looked confused before he saw Taiyang dart behind Summer and put his hammer on his back. He charged at Ren and dodged into a roll to the right when Ren swung and used the blast from the hammer to launch forward into a slide. He slid under the locked swords and grabbed the ball from its spot, the ball crackling a little in his grip and turning his red colored clothes orange as he stood up and ran to JNPR's side.
"Pyrrha, stop him!" Jaune called looking back and got his sword knocked off center. He looked back in time to see Summer smiling widely as she swung her sword and landed a hit at Jaune's midsection, sending him flying back to his team's goal. Losing his blue coloring he nearly missed Nora in the recovery zone while Pyrrha was standing guard at the goal. Right then, with Taiyang bearing down on her and a sword in her hand, Pyrrha took a breath and held her sword up and charged.
Taiyang skid to a stop and dodged backwards as Pyrrha swung at him, and again to his left when Pyrrha stabbed. Over and over they took turns throwing and dodging attacks, Taiyang doing his best to keep the ball away from the sword, until Nora shouted "Ready!" and charged forward. Pyrrha jumped and backflipped over Nora, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder to push her a little more away, and watched as Nora reared her hammer back for an underhand swing.
"Oh crap," was all Taiyang could say before impact and was sent flying across the arena to sympathetic 'oohs' from the audience. The Grifball landed in front of Nora and she stepped back to let Ren grab it, his clothes turning orange as he sheathed his hammer and ran forward with Nora and Jaune.
"You're doing a great job guarding the goal Pyrrha, keep it up!" Jaune called back as he charged forward and watched Ren slide under a swing from Summer. Nora swung and knocked Summer back and let Jaune go forward. Qrow took a swing at Ren, who jumped and used the shockwave to propel himself into the air and leaving Qrow to block a sword strike from Jaune. Ren was focused on the goal, Raven standing guard glaring up at him, and was so close to the goal.
He was only a couple of feet away when Raven slashed at him, quick as a flash, and hit him in the legs. Ren spun laterally, dropping the ball at Raven's feet, and she spun around to kick Ren in the stomach and away from the goal into Nora. Raven watched the two pick themselves up and Ren retreat as she casually picked up the ball and held it out to her side for Summer to grab. "Go get 'em," she said advancing on Nora and Jaune with Qrow while Summer and Taiyang darted to the left.
"Now this is a stunning game of Grifball, wouldn't you agree Barty?" Port asked as Jaune broke away from Qrow and moved to intercept Summer.
"Indeed, you hardly see this kind of maneuvering outside of Major League matches," Oobleck agreed, "and a definite good move to leave their best fighters guarding the goal."
"Pyrrha is doing ok for herself, especially for a total Grifball newbie," Velvet commented taking her eyes off of Jaune getting knocked away by Taiyang to watch Pyrrha readying herself.
"Yeah, but she's just doing what she always does. Fighting isn't the same as playing Grifball," Coco replied when Pyrrha and Ren moved toward Summer and Taiyang. "We'll see how she does when she actually has to play."
Ren swung and knocked Taiyang away while Summer charged and jumped at him, rolling onto his back and jumping over Pyrrha. She landed past Pyrrha in a roll and charged at Jaune, who just got eligible to play again and charged at Summer sword ready. He was just about ready to swing when Summer smirked, skid to a stop, and threw the ball back across the court.
"Qrow!" Summer called as soon as the ball left her hand and she got knocked away by Jaune. Qrow looked up and knocked Nora way in time to catch the ball and pulled back enough to be close to his team as they recovered. Soon both Red and Blue teams were recovered and back at it, save for the designated goalies.
"Ren, go!" Jaune shouted and Ren charged first, meeting Taiyang and getting knocked away by his hammer. Nora returned the favor and afterwards found herself locked with Summer while Qrow slipped past her. Qrow saw Jaune running toward him and jumped to try and get over him, except Jaune dashed back when he did so and readied a swing. Qrow could only sigh in acceptance as he landed and took the swing to his chest and dropped the ball.
Jaune sheathed his sword and picked up the ball just in time for Nora to get knocked away. He looked away from Nora and at Summer and Raven walking towards him, Jaune's eyes narrowing in fear at the latter.
'Oh crap this is bad!' Jaune thought looking around the arena. Taiyang and Qrow were already in their recovery area and Nora and Ren were still on their way, leaving Pyrrha the only ready one on his team after him. 'As good as Pyrrha is in a fight, she's still outnumbered in this game. They just need to get past her to score.' With his options decreasing fast he made a choice that he hoped would pay off.
"Pyrrha, catch!" he shouted and threw the ball at Pyrrha. Surprised, Pyrrha dropped her sword and caught the ball with both hands, her clothing turning orange the moment she grabbed it. She looked at the ball before a screaming Jaune flew overhead and smacked into the back wall.
"Pyrrha run!" Nora shouted pointing ahead of her.
"Murder Nikos' face!" Summer shouted pointing at Pyrrha and Raven readied her sword while a recovered Qrow and Taiyang left their zone. Faced with such odds, Pyrrha Nikos, famed gladiator and proud member of Team JNPR, knew what she had to do.
And that was narrow her eyes, scream in fear, and charge toward Summer and Raven holding the ball over her head.
"Wow, look at her go!" Port said pointing at Pyrrha, "Now that's a warrior!"
"So amazing!" a student said with a dreamy sigh.
"She's scared out of her mind," Coco said chuckling, "I've been waiting for this."
"Coco…" Yatsuhashi chastised.
The fearful charge of Pyrrha met its first obstacle with Summer and Raven. Pyrrha, still screaming her head off, rolled under Summer's sword and kicked her in the stomach. With Summer floored Pyrrha stood up and dodged a vertical swipe from Raven and blocked a follow-up strike with the ball. Raven cringed at the impact and tried to take a step back, which was when Pyrrha took a step forward and slammed the ball into Raven's head, knocking her down figuratively and literally.
The crowd 'oohed' and Port quirked an eyebrow and looked at Oobleck. "Are we going by Vacuo rules? Otherwise she can't do that."
"Too late to say anything now. Let's just say it's Vacuo rules for this game and clarify for later ones," Oobleck replied and both professors nodded and returned to the game.
With the immediate threat done Pyrrha continued running and screaming toward Taiyang. He swung his hammer down at Pyrrha as she dodged back, the shockwave sending her back more than she would have thought. Pyrrha, acting mostly on fear and muscle memory, reacted by throwing the ball at Taiyang. Surprised, he blocked the ball with one of his arms and watched it bounce away back into Pyrrha's hands as she jumped and raised the ball over her head.
"Oh son of a-!" Taiyang started to say when Pyrrha brought the ball down on his head, knocking him down, and rolled over his body and toward Qrow. Qrow tightened his grip on his hammer and brought it down, just barely missing Pyrrha as she jumped over him and rode the shockwave up. Pyrrha flew up, still screaming and with small specks of tears coming out of her eyes, as she front flipped and planted her feet on the arena wall. She saw Qrow turning to look at her and readying for another swing as she pushed off the wall toward the ground, the ball still over her head toward the ground. The ball hit the ground, slipped out of Pyrrha's hands, and she rolled onto her front and covered her head waiting for the blow from Qrow to come.
It never did.
"Damn," Qrow said and Pyrrha looked out to see him set his hammer down and lean against it. He gave Pyrrha a thumbs up and added, "that was pretty slick."
"Huh?" Pyrrha wondered pushing herself up to her knees.
"Way to go Pyrrha!" Nora shouted and leapt into the air high enough for most of the arena to see, "That was amazing!"
"What?"
"First point: Blue team!" Port shouted over the applause and cheers from the crowd of students. Pyrrha blinked at Port's statement and looked behind her to see the Grifball blinking gently in the goal.
"I… I scored a point," Pyrrha stated and her eyes widened and she smiled in delight. "I scored a point!"
"Yep, good job," Qrow said and started to back away from Pyrrha as she jumped to her feet.
"That was so much fun! I barely remember it but I loved it!"
"Uh, Pyrrha," Summer said.
"How have I never heard of this game if this is the kind of rush it brings!"
"Pyrrha?" Jaune said.
"And we're playing this for the whole week? This is amazing!"
"Hey genius," Raven shouted getting Pyrrha's attention, "the ball explodes after every point!"
"…It what?" Pyrrha looked behind her in time to see the ball blinking faster and more audibly. "Oh no," was all she could say to that before starting to run. The ball exploded, more fire than force, an instant after and sent Pyrrha flying through the air screaming, the orange of her clothes blinking away back to her normal colors, and landed on her face in the middle of the arena and bounced once to flip onto her back to a collective 'ooh' from the crowd.
"Pyrrha!" Summer shouted as she and Jaune rushed to Pyrrha's side. "Are you ok!?"
"I'm alright Mother, I don't want any more apple pie," Pyrrha replied in a daze.
"Is that good?" Jaune asked looking at Summer.
"I think I saw her Aura flare up and the armor should have taken most of the blast."
"Look out, back away!" Oobleck said rushing over and pushing Summer and Jaune away from Pyrrha. "Give her some space. Miss Nikos, are you ok?" Pyrrha lay there groaning for another second before shaking her head slightly and focusing on Oobleck.
"Hello everyone, I'm ok," she said with a small wave.
"That's for me to decide," Oobleck said taking out his scroll and turning on the light, "follow the light with your eyes please." Pyrrha followed the light as Oobleck moved it around a little and put it away when he was satisfied held up some fingers. "How many fingers?"
"Three," Pyrrha answered.
"Her Aura's still green if that helps," Jaune said holding up his scroll. Oobleck nodded and looked at Pyrrha as she pushed herself up into a seating position.
"Well Miss Nikos, how do you feel?"
"I'm fine. I've taken harder hits before," Pyrrha answered and giggled to herself as she crossed her legs. "Truthfully, that was actually kind of fun!"
"If you can call getting blown up fun," Oobleck said pushing up his glasses, "are you sure you can continue playing?"
"I'm sure."
"Well then, the game continues! Both teams get to your sides while we reset for the next round! And Miss Nikos, make double sure you will be alright." Pyrrha nodded and looked at Jaune as he held a hand out to her, which she grabbed and let herself be pulled up to her feet.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Jaune asked.
"I'm fine, really! I know my own limits jaune," Pyrrha said waving her hands in the air. Jaune nodded just as Summer clapped Pyrrha's back, causing the girl to jump in surprise.
"For real Pyrrha, that was a good move you did," Summer said winking at Pyrrha, "keep it up and your team might even win. And make sure to be ready when you score a point, don't scare us like that." Pyrrha and Jaune blinked at that and the former nodded as they watched Summer walk away to her side of the court before looking at each other.
"Well that's encouraging," Jaune said and jerked a thumb back to the Blue side of the court with a smile, "want to play some more?"
"Oh do I!"
And so the game continued, and as everyone on both teams got into their respective roles the rounds only became more intense with lots of back and forth possessions and scores. Pyrrha in particular was really starting to get into it once she got used to how different the game was from how she was used to. Guarding the goal, rushing and passing the ball, learning what to do based on what weapons were going against each other, it was a whole other level of strategic thinking that Pyrrha was glad to be experiencing.
Still, the game could only have really ended one way.
"And with a score of 5 to 4, the winner is Red team!" Port announced once the final explosion of the game had died down. The crowd of students applauded as both STRQ and JNPR took a moment to catch their breaths, especially Raven who was still smoking after scoring the final point.
"Argh, lost by one lousy point," Nora complained sitting down and lying flat on her back.
"Honestly, that was a lot better than I thought we would do," Jaune said taking a deep breath. He saw a pair of boots enter his vision and he looked up at Summer, carrying her cloak in her arms. Jaune stood up straight and held his hand out to her. "That was a good game Summer. I had a lot of fun." Summer smiled and clapped her hand against his, giving it a firm shake.
"It was. You guys almost had us in the last round too, so be proud of that." Summer let go of Jaune's hand and looked back at her team giving their weapons to Oobleck. "I'll tell you what Jaune, I'll get your team some drinks when we go back up. It's the least I can do after all of that."
"Sure thing. You ok with that Pyrrha?" Jaune asked looking at Pyrrha, who gave a thumbs up from where she was sitting.
"I'll take something with strawberries," Nora added holding a finger into the air.
After they all turned in the equipment and gotten their drinks, they went back into the stands and waited for the next game to start. "Hey, sorry if we scared you during the game Pyrrha," Summer said once they were all settled into their seats, "We kind of take this stuff really seriously when we get into it."
"It's ok, I'm kind of the same way myself," Pyrrha replied looking down at her half finished drink, "But it was still fun, and good motivation to act. I still find it weird that I've never heard of such a popular sport before."
"You were kind of busy with your own thing for the last few years, so it's not that surprising," Taiyang said leaning back to get a look at Pyrrha.
"Still, everyone else here knows this game and are huge fans and I've never heard of it before. That's… weird."
"I think it's hilariously poetic," Raven said with a chuckle, "The Perfect Girl isn't so perfect after all."
"I'm not perfect."
"I never said you were." Somehow the smirk that Raven shot Pyrrha's way made her feel a little better and she shook her head slightly.
"The next game is about to begin!" Port's voice called out, "Are both teams ready?"
"Ready!" Coco called, her and her team all grins.
"Y-yeah, ready," Cardin called out, his team looking particularly afraid for good reason.
"Then get ready! Set! Go!"
"This is going to be a slaughter," Qrow said leaning forward to watch, "I wish I had some popcorn."
"Who made this game?" Pyrrha asked looking away from the game to Summer. "I mean, who came up with the idea?"
"Atlas," Raven answered.
"…Really?"
"Really."
"The origins of Grifball are actually really interesting," Summer said setting her drink down, "it's apparently a highly guarded secret for the Kingdom of Atlas. There are rumors though."
"…The creation of a sport is a well-guarded secret? What?" Pyrrha asked flabbergasted.
"Well if the most popular rumor about its creation is true, it makes sense they want to hide it," Ren said.
"And that would be?"
"The way I heard it, it starts with a team of Atlas soldiers in some box canyon in the middle of nowhere in Solitas."
"The sergeant of the group had it out for one private in his squad real bad," Summer continued, "to the point where he tried these elaborate assassination plans to murder the private every other week." Pyrrha's horrified look at Summer caused her to laugh and add, "I know right? Anyway, one of these plans happened to go down in front of some Atlas Generals who happened to visit the canyon. To save face and keep out of the firing squad's sights, he spun a bullshit tale about working with his squad to create a new game."
"Oh I know this story!" Jaune said excitedly, "the Generals bought it completely and wanted to see a mock game of it. The sergeant put together a haphazard game that mostly consisted of beating on that one private and the Generals loved it and bought the rights to the game right then and there."
Nora then chimed in with, "a few trials runs, some rule changes, and one massive fire later the first iteration of Grifball was ready and debuted at a Vytal Festival. And it was a smash hit! Everyone loved it!"
"Soon everyone had their own version of Grifball and a league was created to regulate all the different rule sets and organize matches," Ren said with a shrug, "And that was all that was needed to push it into being the most popular sport on Remnant."
"All of this… from a botched assassination attempt," Pyrrha clarified, to which everyone nodded in response. "And this is the most popular theory?"
"And the least strange to be honest. Whatever the story actually is, there's no denying the game is huge," Summer said looking down at the one sided slaughter of a game going on. "You'd be hard pressed to find someone on the planet who doesn't like it even a little."
Weiss was waiting patiently outside of Salem's throne room for whatever news Ruby would bring from inside. She checked her claws like one would their nails and soon got her answer when an explosion sounded from inside the throne room and Ruby walked out with a few strands of her hair on fire, calmly closing the door behind her.
"I take it Queen said no?" Weiss asked pushing off of the wall she was leaning against.
"Pretty definitively," Ruby replied and snuffed out the fire in her hair. "I don't understand why though, she isn't using the Seer right now. We just need it for an hour!"
"Well maybe Queen does need it for something. Maybe we shouldn't bring it up to her again." Ruby laughed at the suggestion and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder.
"Oh Weiss, that lack of drive is why you're not the leader," she said getting a glare from Weiss, "but don't worry, because I am prepared for the role. I have to go give the order, so excuse me."
Weiss blinked and watched Ruby skip away, her hands clasped behind her back. "What order?" she called out.
In the throne room everyone present started to come out from under the table after Salem's 'explosive' encounter with her head General.
"I wish they would stop wasting my time with requests like that," Salem muttered shaking her head at the door.
"I still find it interesting that they want to use Seers for such a purpose," Watts said with a small smile, "Your Generals are always so fascinating Your Grace."
"Why don't they just use a TV?" Tyrian asked out loud.
"With what signal here?"
"…Oh yes, I always forget about that part."
"Enough." Salem held up a hand stilling any more conversation between the two and looked at Tyrian. "Tyrian, how goes your search for the Spring Maiden?"
Tyrian cringed a little and wrung his hands before answering, "Not very good Your Grace. The Maiden is still very much hidden after her disappearance a decade ago. I have a few leads to look into, but nothing definitive. I'm sorry Your Grace."
"I see," Salem balled her hands together and nodded slightly, "continue your search."
"Of course Your Grace!" Tyrian did his best to keep his mad laughs down a little.
"However, Vale is our top priority for now. Cinder is on her way to Vale as we speak and General Blake has informed me that her White Fang forces are ready to move at a moment's notice." There was a soft tinking of glass behind Salem, though she paid it no mind. "And Watts, is your contribution ready?"
"Almost. A few more days of hard work and it will be ready," Watts answered.
"Make sure that it's done." Watts nodded and Salem let herself smile a little. "As long as everyone does their tasks with the upmost diligence, I don't see any more unexpected problems coming up." Salem looked between Tyrian and Watts, who were now looking behind her in confusion, and closed her eyes with a sigh. "They're on the window aren't they?"
She got her answer when Yang crashed into the room through the window with one of Blake's tentacles wrapped around her waist. The glass fell harmlessly to the ground, though Tyrian and Watts flinched, and Yang looked around for a moment before her eyes locked on the nearby Seer and grabbed its orb body with her large arm. "I got the Seer, take me back up!" Yang shouted as the Seer struggled in her grip and jumped back out of the window and got pulled back up with a shriek of joy.
When everything had settled back down Watts and Tyrian exchanged looks before looking at Salem, who was shaking ever so slightly and emanating a black mist.
"Your Grace?" Tyrian asked.
"Leave me, now," she ordered simply. The two men exchanged another look and stood up to walk out of the room. "And get me some aspirin Watts."
"Of course Your Grace," Watts answered while holding the door open for Tyrian and followed him out. Once the door was closed and she was sure she was alone Salem pressed her forehead against her balled up hands and growled loudly.
"Curse that poisonous sport."
Back at Beacon Team STRQ was settling down from the day of exercise. Summer had just left the bathroom in her pajamas drying her hair off with a towel. "Hot showers are just the best after a day of hard work."
"Agreed," Raven said from her bed reading a comic she stole from Summer's stash.
"You didn't use all the hot water did you?" Taiyang asked.
"It should still be good," Summer replied hanging the towel off her shoulders, "You guys mind if I turn the news on?"
"Go ahead," Taiyang said standing up and moving past Summer to the bathroom as she walked to the bookshelf under the window that the holo-tv and remote were kept.
"Checking the sports scores?" Qrow asked moving next to Summer.
"I don't think the Grifball season's started yet," Summer replied with a shrug, "You never know though."
"Speaking of, why do you think they changed the whole tactic training thing this week?" Raven said lowering her comic, "I mean, they never did that before right?"
"According to the seniors yeah," Qrow said looking at his sister with a shrug, "maybe there was a shipment mailed wrong and we're just benefiting?"
"That's ridiculous."
"What do you mean there was shipment meant for Atlas?" Glynda asked the day before.
"We checked it and it was a shipment of Grifball equipment," Ozpin answered and shook his head, "and after talking with General Ironwood it seems the shipment would have been superfluous anyway. He's not hurting for that equipment."
"So why not send it back?"
"Cost." Ozpin and Glynda both sighed, silently cursing one of the worst parts of running a school.
"So what are we supposed to do with all of that equipment? We can't just store it away, especially with everything that has been going on lately." Ozpin thought for a moment and tented his fingers in front of him with a small smile.
"I have an idea that might just solve that and another problem."
"You never know," Qrow shrugged.
"Well whatever," Raven said rolling onto her stomach and opening back to her place in the comic, "at least we won't be hating life for the rest of the week. After that is a few more days of school before semester break, then nothing but good times for us."
"Son of a bitch," Summer whispered.
"And what is that supposed to-" Raven started looking up from her comic and saw what was on the news. She closed the comic and stood up to get a better look and added, "Oh…"
"Hey where's my shampoo?" Taiyang asked poking his head out of the bathroom and saw the image on the news of a storefront with a smashed up exterior. "Hey, turn that up Sum," he said walking out to join everyone else around the TV.
"A Dust store was robbed earlier tonight, the latest in the string of robberies that has been plaguing the City of Vale for the past year and the first since one was foiled by Huntresses. The police are currently investigating connections to local crime networks and we will update you as the situation develops."
"Shit, you all forgot about this too huh?" Qrow asked looking at Taiyang and Raven as the reporter continued.
"Well we have had a lot going on," Taiyang answered rubbing the back of his neck and gestured at the TV, "And like she said, this just started back up again."
"Sum has the look," Raven said leaning forward to look at Summer's face, staring harshly at the TV and gripping the remote a little tighter than necessary. Raven looked back at the boys, who nodded at her, and she straightened and crossed her arms. "Alright, let's nix that discussion before it starts." Summer blinked and looked at Raven as she continued, "Who wants to spend our free time taking down another criminal organization because our leader has a hero complex? All in favor?"
"Aye!" Taiyang answered punching a palm, "the last one was a lot of fun all things considered."
"Maybe next time we can actually negotiate it into extra credit," Qrow said with a smirk.
"Guess it's unanimous," Raven said smirking as well. Summer smiled and turned to everyone else.
"Thanks guys," she said nodding.
"You would have done it anyway, with or without us," Taiyang said walking up to Summer and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "at least this way you won't get hurt too bad."
"Thanks," Summer rolled her eyes and pushed Taiyang off of her. She looked back at the TV and said, "This kind of thing takes a while to really get started so… when the semester break starts we'll get on this."
"Lots of relaxation before a ton of work," Raven said crossing her arms, "sounds like a plan."
"Glad you agree," Summer replied and turned off the TV.
Hope you guys don't mind this indulgent head canon of mine about sports on Remnant. I think a version of Grifball in RWBY would be amazing to see.
Next time, the plot comes back.
