Chapter X: Till Death or Glory
Pyrrha and Nora returned to their seats in the reserved section of the Valian stands to a warm welcome.
"That was awesome!" cheered Yang, with her sister showing similar enthusiasm.
"Thank you, girls" returned Pyrrha smiling, hiding her frustrations and concerns as best she could.
"Did you see?" asked Nora eagerly to both Jaune and Ren. "I kept switching things up, trying to figure out how to beat him, and then I took advantage of my environment to knock him out of the arena!"
"We did and well done" congratulated the blond with a smile. "Glad you listened to my advice."
"Are you OK?" asked Ren. "You took some hard hits out there."
The ginger looked at her long time crush, and saw the concern in his eyes. Ever since they had decided to stick together, Ren had always been incredibly protective of her. He always made sure that she was safe before allowing himself to relax, that she had enough to eat before he ate, and overall put her before himself. Even after awakening her Semblance and building a much stronger weapon, making her so much stronger than him, Ren still worried about her. She didn't hate it of course. In fact, it had only deepened her love for him over the years, as no one had ever cared for her before he entered her life. That concern for her melted her heart every single time, and now was no different, causing her to smile warmly.
"Don't worry, Ren, I'm tough" she assured him. "He was tough, but I'm tougher."
The green-clad Huntsman-in-training let out a small sigh of relief before returning her smile with one of his own, as hers was impossible for him to resist.
"I'm glad. You were great out there" he complimented. Nora's smile instantly brightened further, and she threw her arms around Ren's neck, hugging him tightly. She couldn't show her love for him with kisses or words outside of "boop", so her fierce hugs would have to do; channeling all her love into them at every opportunity. It clearly reached him, as Ren returned the hug, despite feeling the eyes of his friends on them.
"Well that's one weird match down; one to go" commented Sun, cracking his neck. "Got any friendly advice about your ex-classmates, Nikos?"
"Ian is incredibly strong, and Allen is rather crafty and skillful despite his appearance" offered the redhead. "My advice to you both is simply to not let your guard down."
"Greaaaaat" the Monkey Faunus replied sarcastically before clicking his tongue. "Right, let's go, Neptune."
The blue-haired lieutenant nodded, and while reaching for Ionio, felt Weiss squeeze his other hand. He turned to look at her, and saw the concerned but supportive gaze she was giving him.
"Be careful" she said softly.
"I will" he replied smiling gently but reassuringly, squeezing back before lifting her hand and kissing it.
Taking his rifle, he rose to his feet and followed his captain to the Vacuan corner of the Coliseum, who just before, gave Blake a playful wink, not wanting to be outdone by his friend in flirting. When they both left, Weiss was given a couple moments of bliss, before realizing that all of her friends were looking at her, very much amused by her romantic exchange.
"W-What?" she demanded hotly, feeling her cheeks warming in embarrassment.
"Oh Neptune!~" Ruby cried, throwing her right hand to her forehead, pretending to swoon. "Do be careful, my darling! I cannot go on without thee!"
"Fear not, my princess!" Yang cried joining in, taking Ruby's free hand. "I shall defeat the enemy, and no matter the pain, I will return to your loving embrace once more!" She then began to exaggeratingly kiss her sister's hand, putting the bow on their impromptu theatrical performance, and causing their friends to laugh.
"I think that was a rather sweet thing for him to do" defended Pyrrha, though she was guilty of laughing along with the others.
"Exactly!" the heiress exclaimed folding her arms defiantly, her cheeks deepening in colour. "Laugh at me as much as you want, girls, but my Neptune is a perfect gentleman, and his expressions of courtship are very much appreciated."
"Your Neptune, huh?" remarked Nora with a smirk. "So how do you think your Neptune is gonna do?"
"He will win!"
"You sure?"
"Of course!"
The others chuckled at Weiss' proclamations before turning their attention to the arena, as the match would start momentarily. With their focus away from the white-haired Atlassian, Blake leaned over to Pyrrha and spoke in a low voice.
"Tell me honestly; what are their chances against your upperclassmen?" she asked.
"Worried about Sun?" Pyrrha replied playfully.
The Cat Faunus blushed at the accusation, but held fast and kept the serious expression on her face.
"Tell me."
The Mistralese champion paused for a moment, knowing she couldn't simply come out with the truth, but she could still give her friend some comfort.
"I am not sure" she lied, "but I believe that if they fight intelligently, they will be victorious. Sun and Neptune seem to be the closest of friends, who no doubt work very well together. I believe their chances are better than you think."
Blake nodded slowly, appearing to be satisfied by the answer, and turned her gaze to the arena.
λΛλ
As the first and second in command of Team SSSN walked briskly towards the arena, the crowd cheered them on in excitement. The Vacuans were even more eager for their match, knowing this would determine their chances of winning the Vytal Tournament. As expected, their fangirls cheered for them as well, though neither paid them any attention, for Sun noticed how tense his friend was.
"Dude, relax. We'll win" he reassured, nudging him with his elbow.
"I hope so" Neptune replied, not looking at the blond.
"You look like you're gonna have a cow. Seriously, breathe before ya pass out."
Indeed, Neptune did have a rather grave expression on his face, which was born out of the soft smile he bore when he left Weiss behind. The reason of course, was due to his conversation with her the other day, and his performance against Team NDGO.
"I have to do well today" he explained in a serious tone. "I can't repeat what happened in the Team Round. I can't make an ass of myself in front of her again."
"She's not gonna dump you, dude" Sun said, trying to put his friend's fears to rest as they stepped onto the white tiles of the battlefield. "I've seen enough at this point to know for sure that she really likes you, and as long as you do your best, win or lose, you won't disappoint her."
"And the best way to not disappoint her is by winning and winning decisively" Neptune countered, looking over at his optimistic captain. "And why are you acting like winning doesn't matter? We're aiming to win this tournament, and that means getting you to the Singles Round. I have to pull my weight here."
"I never said anything that winning doesn't matter, just that the Ice Queen won't leave you in the cold; however it turns out."
"I just don't want to have to fight in anything water related; that's all I ask."
As the pair stopped at their starting position, from the Mistral corner of the Coliseum, their opponents at last came into view. Ian Oak and Allen O'Nottingham walked causally towards them without a hint of fear or nervousness. It became instantly clear that their profiles had not done them justice. Allen's near comical attire was much more brilliant and vivid in person, especially with his clothes and feathers catching the sunlight. However, for every bit of the bard's fashion being flashy, Ian's appearance was equally eye-catching. His match portrait had not fully encapsulated his daunting height, towering at 6'8", and appeared like a mountain beside his teammate, who was just under six feet. Sun and Neptune couldn't help but lean back slightly in surprise, as they had no inclination to the Grizzly Bear Faunus' true height. Of course as a Bear Faunus, it wouldn't have been a stretch of the imagination to assume he would be tall. However, Ian's height in combination with this build made him an intimidating sight to say the least. Indeed, in the stands, Blake was unable to stop herself from swallowing nervously, as the Mistralese Faunus was even more physically intimidating than her own father.
When the two senior Huntsmen-in-training reached their own starting point, they looked at their younger opponents with differing levels of politeness.
"Good afternoon, lads" greeted Allen, removing his barrette and bowing low. "I hope that we can all have a pleasant match today."
"Here's hoping" replied Sun with a smile, before leaning over to Neptune. "See? They're nice."
"It might be all the same to you pretty boys" yawned Ian dismissively, "but I've got trouble believing that green brats such as you have a chance against us."
"You were saying?" the blue-haired Vacuan muttered.
"Now now, Ian, that's not how we should treat our juniors" the bard scolded with a wag of his finger. "This is as much a learning opportunity for them as it is a tournament. We should be mentoring rather than belittling."
"I thought we were brought in to fight them, not babysit them."
"Well, aren't you like a bear with a sore head. What's making you so narky today?"
"I just don't like the city all that much. I was looking forward to that patrol mission."
As the combatants spoke to one another, the digital roulette began to spin and selected the four biomes for the match. To the relief of Teams SSSN and RWBY, the selected environments were two forests that sat side by side and covering half of the arena, city ruins, and for the first time, a winter biome with snow and ice. It was hard to tell what the biome contained given that it was completely covered in snow, though a few bulges hinted at what lay beneath.
"Thank the Gods!" praised Neptune, holding his hands up gratefully.
"Well, there you are, you big grouch. A little bit of home to take your mind off the concrete jungle" chirped Allen with a dandy smile.
"It's not the same, but it will do" shrugged the tall Faunus, scratching the back of his right ear.
"Right ho! Let us begin with the match. Mr. Vasilias" said Allen, pointing to Neptune. "I like your hair, sir; is it natural?"
Neptune blinked in confusion, not at all a question he was expecting to be asked.
"…Uh…yeah?" he replied.
"Very good. Then you shall be my opponent. You are clearly someone who takes care in their attire, and as I am one such person myself, I can respect that effort."
"Thanks…I haven't been asked that in years."
"Really? I get asked it all time" Allen sighed, flicking his odd coloured hair. "I appreciate the attention, but I would much rather enrapture people with my songs than my appearance."
"Have you looked in the mirror?" asked Sun bluntly, getting a small smirk from the taller Mistralese. "Whatever, you ladies enjoy yourselves and talk about your hair."
"I'll take the monkey kid" Ian announced, cracking his knuckles.
"Fighters ready?" shouted Oobleck. "Three…two…one…BEGIN!"
The pairs broke off to face their respective opponents, but none of them were in a rush to jump into battle. Team SSSN was particularly cautious, as they were going up against senior Huntsmen-in-training, and running in half-cocked could spell disaster. As for Team LION, they wanted to make the match as real and entertaining as possible, without hurting the younger boys severely.
"Looks like you and I fight with the same weapon" commented Sun, drawing Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang from his back, and spun them into their staff configuration.
"Seems like it" Ian replied, pulling his long quarterstaff over his head, and pulled on one of the ends of the straps after unhooking it, causing it to reel itself into the shaft. "I prefer the simplicity of a good staff."
"Really? I like how flashy it can be; makes for a good show."
"I leave the over the top flash for my friends."
"Fair enough" agreed the blond Faunus, and began to do some deep side lunges. "I can respect that, even if it as a little boring. Then again, it's more fun to fight flashily then dress flashily. I think Neptune goes a bit too far."
"Glad to see we agree on something" returned Ian, resting on his weapon, clearly in no rush. "Though I would add that fighting should be competent and effective over being flashy."
"True. But to be fair, Neptune's style got him a great girlfriend, so credit where credit is due."
"Hmmm. Have you finished stalling?" asked the Grizzly Faunus.
"Noticed did ya?" grinned Sun. "I was just trying to figure out the best way to take you down."
The burly man laughed a slow deep laugh, revealing his longer than normal canines. "Take me down? With what? That twig? I don't think so, lad."
"Yes with this 'twig'; and stop calling me 'kid'. You're only like four years older than me."
"Four years means a great deal in this line of work" pointed out Ian correctly. "But I hope that you have more to offer than just talk, and that stick of yours, is more than just a baton to twirl around. Because if that's all you've got, then I can just crush you with my bare fists."
Despite his weapon being insulted yet again, the right corner of Sun's mouth twitched into a grin, unable to contain himself.
"You have bear fists?" he asked with an open mouth smile.
Ian was left mute from the pun, but the corner of his mouth twitched, not willing to allow himself to laugh.
"That was terrible" he said at last.
"Sorry, dude" Sun laughed, throwing his hands up defensively. "I've been spending a lot of time with my girl's team, and one of her friends is a riot. I'll try to keep'em bearable."
The older Faunus' face fell into an expression that screamed disapproval and disdain.
"And to think I was actually starting to believe you had some hope" he sighed tonelessly. He swung his quarterstaff over his head before taking a stance, holding it with both hands. "Time to take you to the woodshed."
While this was developing, Neptune and Allen were squaring off. The bard removed his lute from his back, and began to strum it; tuning the instrument.
"You're not going to sing me a song, are you?" asked Neptune, making sure to be ready for anything, no matter how absurd it might be.
"As much as I would love to play for a crowd this massive, music making will have to wait" the musician replied sorrowfully.
"Good. I was worried for a second that I should have brought my violin instead of Ionio."
"Ah, so you are a musician? Very good, sir. Perhaps after this we may make some wonderful music together to entertain the fairgoers" offered Allen, smiling dandily.
"Shouldn't you be taking this seriously?" Neptune asked. "I mean I don't mind playing some music with good drink and company around, but this is a combat tournament. Why did you bring a lute to a battlefield?"
This caused the minstrel to smile with a strong flicker of mischief in his eyes.
"Because my fellow player, music, as well as combat, is art" he explained. He then played a short quick tune, before spinning his lute by the neck, transforming it into an extravagant looking billhook. He thrust the bottom of his weapon into the tiles of the arena, and held the polearm the same way a basest would a cello. "And art is life."
Neptune examined the Mistralese minstrel anew, as well as his weapon, and smirked.
"Well, I can't say I disagree on that" he mused. He reached behind him and drew Ionio, spinning in clockwise, barrel over stock, transforming it into its fuscina trident form, and slammed the base into the tiles as electricity arced from the prongs.
"Let's play."
The pair stared at one another for a few moments, before Allen spun his billhook clockwise over his head, and attacked with the short spike aiming for Neptune's left thigh. The Vacuan kicked the base of his fuscina to spin it clockwise and parried the strike, knocking the billhook away, before catching the upper part of Ionio's shaft with his left hand, and plunged the prongs at the minstrel. Allen side flipped to the right, dodging the attack, then swung his weapon again, this time aiming for Neptune's exposed neck. The blue-haired Huntsman-in-training dropped into a crouch with one leg extended, narrowly avoiding the swipe, and then rose back up to send a powerful front kick at his opponent. Allen brought up his polearm in time to block the kick with the centre of the shaft, which pushed him back slightly, allowing Neptune to return to a neutral stance, ready for the next exchange.
"Whoa" awed Yang honestly. "Neptune's actually really good."
"Of course he is" assured Sage, folding his arms in pride. "And without the damn water getting in his way, you'll see just how good he really is."
Weiss, who was concerned for Neptune's surprise match, felt a surge of pride of her own, lifting the weight on her heart, and allowing her to enjoy the fight.
In the arena, Sun and Ian eyed each other carefully, before the Monkey Faunus bolted towards the giant man. He leapt into the air and brought Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang onto his foe, who brought up his quarterstaff and effortlessly blocked the attack. Sun bounced off Ian and as soon as he landed to the ground, separated his staff in two, and began to unleash a hailstorm of shotgun blasts as he marched forward. Despite his size, Ian began to spin his quarterstaff with surprising speed, blocking all of the shots until Sun stopped firing, to which he then brought down his weapon with a monstrous two-handed swing. Sun rejoined his nunchakus just in time to block the blow, but underestimated just how powerful it would be. His legs buckled, forcing him into a low crouch, as his arms bent as much as they physically could, stopping Ian's staff an inch from connecting with his neck. The tiles cracked beneath his feet, displaying just how powerful the attack had been, but the captain of Team SSSN, though heavily strained, remained strong and slowly lifted his head to look at his opponent.
"Well..." he began through clenched teeth, but still managing a flashy grin, "not bad old man. But it looks like your bark is worse than your bite." This was a bluff of course, as the attack could have done some serious damage if he hadn't blocked it; Aura adding to his defence or no.
Then, as if sensing that then younger Faunus was trying to put one over him, Ian took a deep breath before unleashing a thunderous roar, revealing his large canines once again, blowing the blond's hair back. The roar was so loud in fact, that even the audience was able to hear it, sending a shiver down their spines. Sun on the other hand, blinked before exhaling through puffed cheeks.
"Well someone's got bad breath" he remarked, doing his best to maintain an unmoved composure.
"Forgive me, how about I give you some room to breathe?" offered Ian. Before Sun could say anything, the Grizzly Faunus kicked him square in the chest with such force that he was sent flying across the arena into the forest biomes, disappearing from view. In the stands, Blake lurched forward as a wave of fear struck her, as she was also unable to see where the blond had landed.
"Sun!" shouted Neptune, as he saw his friend hurtling out of sight. Fearing the worst, he turned to chase after him, but narrowly dodged the curved blade of Allen's billhook that tried to catch his shoulder.
"Vasilias my lad, I am your opponent, not dear Ian" he scolded coyly, positioning himself between the Vacuan and the forest. "Fear not for your friend. Ian will not be overly rough with him so long as he doesn't annoy him too much."
"Now I'm afraid" Neptune replied, worrying more than ever before for his mischievous captain's wellbeing.
λΛλ
Sun groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
"Shit, that hurt" he winced. "If I hadn't been working on this bod for so long then we would have really had a problem."
While this was true, the kick had nevertheless knocked the wind clean out of him, and it took him a few moments to recover it. He looked around him to get a fix on his bearings, and noticed his staff laying a few feet away from him. Picking it up, he looked around to see his opponent, but so far he had not made his reappearance. There was something a tad ironic about the whole affair, alone in the woods looking out for a bear. Sun had put up a brave face, but if he were to be honest, he was a bit intimidated by the Grizzly Faunus. He wasn't shaking in his boots of course, although he was very much aware just how much of a difference in raw physical power there was. Normally it was the other way round, and even if he was to maximize his Semblance and Aura, he had a good idea that mountain that masqueraded as a man, would still defeat him.
"So how the Hell do I beat him?" he said to himself.
"I hope you aren't cracking under the pressure" came Ian's deep voice as he emerged from the trees.
"Pressure? What pressure?" asked Sun nonchalantly. "If you're feeling too stressed from the match and you want to bow out now, that's just fine."
Ian laughed once as he planted his quarterstaff into the soft earth.
"Cheeky. As much as I would have preferred to relax beneath a tall tree this afternoon over fighting in this tournament, I must fight. You can surrender if you wish."
"Me?" Sun pointed at himself with both index fingers. "Hell no! I got the most beautiful girl in the world watching me right now. Quitting would be the worst thing I could do."
"See, this is why I've been calling you 'kid', lad. You, just like your lieutenant, and Allen for that matter, putting looks and women before everything else. As Huntsmen-in-training, that's like putting the cart before the horse. There're more things that beg priority over the rewards that come afterwards."
"Cart before the horse? Priorities? I've got the best of friends, and a girl worth fighting for; what else could I possibly need?" Sun proclaimed with a bright grin, meaning every word of it.
Ian lifted his head with curiosity before shaking it in disbelief.
"The audacity of youth" he muttered.
"Ya done whingeing, old man, or do you want to fight?"
The Grizzly Faunus removed his quarterstaff from the ground and rested it on his shoulder, as a low and deep growl echoed from the base of his throat. "I'm starting to spoil for a fight..." he said slowly, his brown eyes locking onto his opponent, "...monkey-boy."
The two Faunus stared each other down for a few moments. Then without warning, both lunged with their staffs that struck at the tips, knocking them both back, before both pressed forward. Metallic bangs rang throughout the pseudo-forest as their staffs clashed, both displaying their proficiency in their discipline. The leaves in the canopy above were being buffered by the wind generated from the powerful swings, with blades of grass being kicked into the air, and swirling around the combatants. Half of the Coliseum cameras had located Sun and Ian, and to the spectators, it appeared as if they were dead even. The reality of course was that Sun was exerting far more energy to counter Ian's attacks, and he knew that he would lose in the long run; sooner rather than later. He began to avoid the attacks that he could, making use of his speed and agility, and putting his abundant energy to great effect. Sun then took to the air, kicking off from tree to tree, circling the Grizzly Faunus, and even successfully landing strikes. Ian was trying to keep up with the Vacuan, but at the same time trying to not fight seriously, knowing just how badly he could hurt Sun if he did.
"What's wrong, old man?" taunted Sun. "Can't get this monkey off your back?"
'This bloody…' growled Ian internally. Losing his patience, he spun round and reached above, grabbing Sun by the tail.
Without hesitation, he wrenched Sun over his head and slammed him into the ground. He then swung him again, smashing Sun behind him, before finally throwing him over thirty feet, allowing him to crash into the dirt, slide onto his upper back, and finally flip backwards onto his front. The spectators, regardless of their Kingdom of origin, unanimously winced at the brutal blow delivered to the Vacuan Faunus. Blake gasped in fear, covering her mouth and watching wide-eyed. On the other side of the arena, Neptune and Allen, who had been heavily engaged in combat, turned to look at one of the holoscreens that was broadcasting the fight between their teammates.
"Sun!" shouted the blue-haired lieutenant, sharing Blake's fear.
'Damn it, Ian!' cursed the bard. 'The lad isn't the enemy! He needs to win!'
In the forest, Sun slowly brought his arms forward and pressed his palms into the grass, lifting his chest off the ground. He coughed twice before spitting out some dirt and grass, and he wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand.
'Right…' he thought blenching, bringing up his knees to better prop himself up. 'Don't poke the bear…though honestly, all my attacks were were pokes. Damn, what options do I have?'
The sound of heavy footsteps caused the blond to look up and see the advancing Mistralese, who seemed no worse for wear. As Sun shifted to get to his feet, his tail moving with him, it brushed up against an object that he instantly knew was Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang. He quickly wrapped his prehensile tail around the weapon and passed it up to himself as he pushed off his right knee into a standing position. He had to wear him down. There was no other option at Sun's disposal. He separated his staff into two pairs of nunchakus, and began to spin-cock and fire in rapid succession. Ian began to spin his quarterstaff to deflect the shots, however, he was not able to block all of them, and some passed through, bouncing off his Aura armour. Seeing this, Sun continued to maintain the pressure, though secretly hoping that his ammunition supply would hold out for longer than his opponent.
'You want to play that way, do ya, lad?' the Grizzly Faunus thought in annoyance. 'Fine then. Ready or not...' he gripped the centre of his staff, each hand twisting in opposite directions, and separating it in two, 'here I come.'
Sun had stopped firing by this point, noticing that the older Faunus was revealing that his weapon was more than just a quarterstaff. This was to be expected, as nearly all Huntsmen arms were multi-form weapons, but there were limitations with most staff types. What would Ian's be? Near instantaneously, the Monkey Faunus got his answer, as each segment of the Mistralese's quarterstaff had become an axe; each bit looking like a hybridization of a normal woodcutting axe and a Danish axe. Before Sun could react, the giant man charged at him, his boots pounding the ground as he ran, sounding very similar to the thunder of draught horse hooves. Sun resumed his barrage of shotgun fire, but grimaced in distress as he saw his shots bounce off the incoming Faunus harmlessly. When Sun was in range, Ian drew his right axe back, and swung it at the Vacuan, who dashed forward before ducking and sliding on his knees between his opponent's legs. Instead of hitting the blond, Ian's axe struck the tree immediately to his right, and sliced through it like a knife through butter, allowing it to fall to the ground with a mighty crash.
After getting past the older Faunus, Sun had twisted round into a crouching position, and looked at the cut tree with a panicked look on his face.
"Were you actually trying to kill me, ya crazy bitch?" he sputtered, very much aware that he could have lost his head if he hadn't dodged.
Ian performed an axe flourish as he turned to face his petrified opponent.
"What's the point of having a dull axe?" he asked casually.
"That wasn't what I asked! This is a tournament, not war!"
"Says the kid shooting at me."
"These are non-lethal shells I'm using!"
"Ah, so that's why they tickled."
As fair a statement as that was, it didn't do much to calm Sun's nerves. In fact, they would be rattled further, as Ian began to swipe at the fallen tree with one axe, cutting it into two foot thick logs, impaling each with the other axe, and using it to hurl the logs at the Monkey Faunus. Sun snapped out of his stupor, and began to fire his shotguns, blasting two logs before hearing the dreaded click of a hammer striking a firing pin and nothing happening; indicating that he was indeed out of ammunition. He switched back to relying on his agility, and ducked and flipped to avoid the incoming improvised projectiles. When Ian ran out of logs, he charged once again at Sun, this time jumping into the air, and brought both his axes onto the smaller Faunus. As expected, Sun jumped out of the way, straight into the air, allowing the axes to bite into the soft earth. But when Ian recovered and looked about, he saw that Sun had disappeared. Of course this wasn't true, rather Sun's natural instincts had taken over, and like a monkey, scampered up to the highest point of the canopy, resting against the trunk of a particularly tall tree, and doing his best to catch his breath.
"Right..." he said to himself, fishing out lose shotgun shells from his pockets, dropping the levers of Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, placing a shell in the chambers, and closed the levers before loading the tubular magazines. "I need to think of a better strategy here. These aren't powerful enough to drop him, and I don't have enough ammo to grind down his Aura armour so I can knock him out with a physical attack. Hate admitting it, but I doubt I could hurt him with kicks and punches anyways." The blond attached his weapon to his back and folded his arms, descending into thought. "Well...I could use that, but Hell, it'll take all I've got. If I don't beat him then, I'm dead in the water. Man, I really need to increase my muscle and Aura endurance training after this tournament..."
"There you are, monkey-boy" Ian's deep voice cut into Sun's thoughts from below. The Vacuan Faunus looked through the canopy and saw the giant man walking calmly towards him.
"Ya know, if we weren't both Faunus, some people would say that nickname you're giving me is racist" Sun pointed out.
Ian cocked an eye-brow. "Why? You are a monkey and a boy. It's a very accurate nickname. Hell, the Human pub owner of my favourite establishment in Haven calls the Human children that cause trouble 'monkeys'."
"I know, but there are people who think that way. Take my girl for instance; she's pretty sensitive about that sort of thing."
"She's a student of a Huntsmen academy?"
"Yeah."
"…She might be in the wrong line of work" admitted the muscular Mistralese. "Being overly sensitive and being a Huntsman is not a good mix."
"Oh I know" agreed Sun. "I'm from Vacuo, and oversensitivity will get you killed just as fast as coming across an Olgoi-Khorkhoi Grimm."
"Good to know you have some sense. Now then…" Ian continued, folding his arms with his axes sticking out behind him. "While I am enjoying our chat, you can't honestly think you can spend the entire match hiding in the trees like a squirrel."
Sun looked at his tail curiously before looking back at the taller Faunus.
"I thought I was a monkey?"
Ian sighed, realizing that talking was entirely frivolous. He extended his arms and swung both axes so they embedded into the tree Sun was in, and let them stay there. The captain of Team SSSN snapped to attention, expected that Ian had cut the tree at its base, but was surprise to find that he had not. He would be even more surprised at what happened next however, as the Grizzly Faunus then wrapped his thick arms around the trunk of the tree, and with impossible strength, uprooted it.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Sun shouted, bewildered by just how wrong he was about the gap between their strengths, and jumped out of his tree into the next one.
As soon as he recovered, he heard the now recognizable sound of an axe biting into wood, and he jumped once again as a log sailed through the air and struck the bow he was standing on. Showing off his acrobatic skills, Sun swung through the canopy, dodging the logs and trying to put enough distance between himself and Ian to think of a new plan of attack. Unfortunately, he would not get that opportunity, as his opponent threw one of his axes at the tree he was about to land on, cutting through it cleanly. The bow he was aiming for fell past him, causing him to fall to the ground and roll before coming to a stop. As Sun looked up, Ian walked towards him more briskly than before, an unamused expression on his face.
"I'm starting to get very annoyed with you, lad" he growled, pulling the axe he had thrown out of the ground. "You clearly can't beat me. You can either keep running around like a coward, or you can save face and admit defeat."
That ultimatum caused an immediate change in Sun. Insults would bounce off him like they were nothing. They had little if any effect on him, and he would just fire back with insults of his own. That's how it was in Vacuo. Being called a coward however, was a different story. For Sun, and for most is not all men in Vacuo, being called a coward, was one of the worst things a person could be called. The shame of cowardice was beyond disgraceful and dishonourable; to the point that the blond could not put into words of how emasculating it was. It was only something that men could understand, and he was feeling every ounce of it. His face had lost all of its normal humour, turning more serious that anyone from Team RWBY or JNPR had seen him make, and only emerged a few times since Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet had met him. For it wasn't solely the accusation of being a coward, but being told to surrender. Surrendering without fighting to your last breath was also viewed as cowardly in Vacuo, and it was all too much for the Monkey Faunus to stomach.
He rose to his feet slowly and cracked his neck, before locking eyes with Ian one final time.
'Alright then...' he thought 'we'll go with that.'
Sun brought his hands up and closed his eyes as if he were about to pray. From Ian's perspective, that was exactly what he seemed to be doing, which did strike him as odd, for he didn't take the boy to be the religious type. His initial assumption was right of course, as Sun's body began to glow yellow, his Aura surging. From his body emerged three golden clones of himself, and without a moment's hesitation, they bolted towards the Grizzly Faunus. Ian swung his axes at the clones, but found it to be a more difficult endeavor than it had previously been with Sun. Given that the clones were made of Aura, they were lighter than their creator, and could move significantly faster. They ducked and weaved passed the sharp axes like leaves flowing in a stream, bouncing off the trees and striking the tall young man in more directions than he could defend himself from.
This would not be enough to defeat Ian of course, and was only meant to be a distraction to buy Sun time. While his Semblance, Yīqiān Gè Lièrì, was very useful in theory, as creating clones from his Aura had a myriad of applications both in and out of combat, there were currently a number of limits. Mainly, he could only create clones and control them while remaining still, as it required a great deal of concentration, and moving while controlling them was too much for him. Furthermore, while he had a great deal of Aura at his disposal, his efficiency with it was not where it should be, and it burned rather quickly while creating and manipulating his clones. Thus far, he could only create three clones with perfect control, as any more would drain him tremendously. When depleted, he was left near helpless, so he avoided using clones unless the right situation called for it. This appeared to be the right time if ever he saw one. However, three clones would not be enough to defeat Ian, even if he could join them in combat. What he instead had in store, was nothing short of a gamble. If it didn't go without a hitch, and if he wasn't fast enough, then it was all over.
Sun began to concentrate, and forced with all of his might, his Aura to surge once again. He created this time not one, not two, but six more clones, who dashed to the large tree Ian had cut down when he had thrown one of his axes. They all took position around the tree, three on each side, and lifted it in unison. The three that were still engaging with the Mistralese Faunus, were now being given a new order from their creator, and all jumped onto their opponent's back. One wrapped their arms around his left arm while another did the same on his right. They pulled back so that he would no longer be able to attack, and left his chest exposed. Of course, they weren't strong enough to stop him alone, so the third clone aided them by grabbing their jackets and pulled. It sat on Ian's shoulders and locked its legs around his head; not only to anchor himself while he pulled, but to blind the large man of what was to come. When the first three clones were in place, Sun conducted the other six to take aim at Ian, and began running with the log at full tilt, as if it were a battering ram. With a crash, the cut end of the tree struck Ian centre mass, knocking the wind cleanly out of him; something that did not happen very often. However, Sun's clones did not stop here, nor did they retreat for a running start to ram him again. Instead, they kept running, driving the makeshift ram into their target, and pushed him backwards, without any intention of stopping. Sun's arms began to shake, feeling the strain of creating so many clones, and only shook more fiercely as they began to pull farther and farther away.
'Just...a bit more' he told himself, feeling beads of sweat dripping down his body.
Thankfully the Vacuan would not have to wait long, as his goal came into sight. The clones had successfully cleared the forest biome, with the edge of the arena just before them. With one last hurrah, the clones charged forward, and tumbled with Ian off the arena, but vanished into thin air before touching the ground. The Grizzly Bear Faunus crashed to the ground flat on his back, causing a deep thud that even the spectators above him heard it; and the closest could even feel.
"Unbelievable!" shouted Professor Port. "With cunningness and ingenuity, Sun Wukong has defeated Ian Oak by ring out! Team SSSN takes the advantage, making it a two versus one match!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, clearly happy with the outcome of the fight, as well as their love for Sun. In the reserved seating, Sage and Scarlet punched the sky in excitement, their pride for their captain on full display. Blake, who only just then realized she had been holding her breath, let it out with a smile of relief on her face.
"Whoa! He actually beat that giant!" shouted Nora with wide-eyed amazement.
"I thought he was actually in some trouble there, but he managed to pull out a victory" admitted Yang with a smirk.
"It is up to Neptune now" Weiss finished, looking to the arena where the boy in question was still engaged in battle. In the centre of the tiled section of the battleground, the two combatants looked up to the holoscreen that had captured the entire fight.
'Shit, you actually had to get serious, dude' thought the lieutenant, grinning despite the fact. 'No late night partying tonight.'
'You didn't make it easy for him, eh, Ian?' thought Allen at the same moment. 'Well done, Sir Wukong, for putting up such a good fight against my stubborn teammate.'
Within the forest, Sun was out of breath himself, but for different reasons than his ladylove. He was hunched over with his hands on his knees, taking many deep breaths to recover his composure, and steady his racing heart. The shaking in his arms was still occurring, and it had traveled down to his legs, which was why he had yet to move from where he first activated his Semblance. Creating nine clones at once had pushed him further than he thought it would, and he was now at near exhaustion. It had certainly been a gamble, for if Ian had not been knocked out of the arena, then Sun would have lost. In his current state, a light summer breeze would be enough to drop him.
'First thing when we get home...' he thought, 'more Aura endurance training...and weight training...'
For now, it would serve him better to appear that the fight had not taken the wind completely from his sails, and walk it off as naturally as possible. Disguising his heaving with a stretch, he smiled for the cameras, and then walked as casually as his knees allowed to the forest's edge so that he could watch Neptune's match.
λΛλ
"I must say Sir Vasilias" Allen began, keeping the tip of his billhook pointed at his opponent. "You and your captain have impressed me greatly."
"I can't say I've done anything extraordinary, especially in comparison to Sun beating your lieutenant" pointed out the blue-haired Vacuan, mimicking the bard's stance. "But I appreciate the complement. You've done well, yourself."
"I thank you. Indeed, your captain's cleverness allowed him to circumvent Ian's fearsome strength. The man hates to lose, but I think he will get over it; after all, he was not beaten in a contest of strength. As for yourself, it is always a pleasure to face a fellow polearmsman; especially one with your skill. And a player no less! The kinds of folk you meet in foreign lands."
"No kidding. I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about when this is over."
"Rightly so!" Allen sang, making two circles with the tip of his billhook. "So let us end this, good sir. And may the best player win."
The bard charged at Neptune, who performed a straight thrust to match him. Allen quickly dropped to slide on his knees under the fuscina, before driving the tip of his billhook into the ground for him to push off it, and kick the blue-haired boy in the chest. Neptune flew back ten feet before landing on his back, but wasn't given a moment's reprieve, as Allen dropped from the sky, his polearm aiming right for him. He quickly rolled backwards and performed a reverse kip-up, so that he landed on his feet away from the impact. The tip of the billhook sunk into the tile with ease, giving Allen a sturdy support to spin around the shaft of his weapon to land and even more powerful kick. This time it send Neptune flying even further, but the added velocity gave him enough time to flip and land into a crouch, sliding before coming to a stop. This time when Allen took up the attack, Neptune was ready, and they began to dance around one another, swinging their polearms about them, and trying to find gaps in their defenses to pierce.
They moved to the opposite side of the arena as they fought, finally reaching the winter biome, and began to fight on the cold terrain. Neptune instantly winced as the snow touched his ankles, never in his life coming into contact with the substance before. He had no idea how cold it was, and wanted to know how in Remnant it wasn't melting in the summer heat. He obviously didn't have time to ponder on the melting point of snow, but it was nevertheless a distraction as he fought. Even though he was more heavily dressed than the rest of his teammates, it was not winter wear, and they, as well as his shoes, did not insulate him from the cold. The fight was certainly warming him up, however, it wasn't enough to entirely suppress a slight shiver; something that Allen noticed.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine; just a bit cold" Neptune replied honestly.
"Why? Because of the snow?" the colourful bard looked around them. "It's just a floury, this."
"I'm from Vacuo; we don't have snow there."
"Ahhh that is true. Such a shame, there is nothing more beautiful than the sun shining off hills of snow in the morning. You should travel to see them in future; there's much beauty to the North."
"Oh trust me, I know" Neptune grinned.
The pair returned to their fight, and despite the less than sturdy battlefield, managed to maintain the pace they set since the beginning. However, Neptune knew that he couldn't keep this going forever. He and Allen had hardly let up since the start of the match, and extended fights such as these between equally skilled combatants, was more exhausting than people realized. Furthermore, the Vacuan lieutenant was competent enough to know that the Mistralese was better than he was, forcing himself to match him with riskier manoeuvres. To add to the pressure, Allen had yet to use his Semblance, which he wasn't certain if it was due to an unspoken gentleman's agreement, as if the bard wished to fight with weapon mastery alone, or if Allen was in the same position he was.
'There's no way' Neptune thought blocking a strike. 'He wouldn't be graduating if he was dealing with my problem...'
That thought caused enough of a hesitation in the blue-haired boy's movements for Allen to take advantage, and hook Ionio's shaft with the curved blade of the bill, and give it a good yank. Neptune managed to maintain his grip of his weapon, and dug in his heals to not only resist the disarming attempt, but to try and pull the bard in for an attack. Unfortunately the feather-adorned senior student had a better footing than he did, and pulled Neptune towards him with ease, for he slid across the snow. Before he could counter, Allen struck Neptune in the face with the shaft of his billhook, as if the Vacuan had stepped on a rake. The strike stunned him just enough for his opponent to grab onto Ionio with his free left hand, and simultaneously yanked as he kicked him in the gut. Successfully disarmed, Neptune fell back first into the snow, as his opponent bowed in a sarcastic manner; his left hand holding up Ionio, and his right hand cutting across his chest whilst still holding onto his billhook.
The Vacuans in the crowd moaned with concern, fearing that this could be the end for the handsome lieutenant of Team SSSN. Of course, there was no one more concerned than Weiss, who was clutching at her chest, alarmed at how the tables had turned.
"Shit!" cursed Yang. "This is bad."
"Where's Sun?" asked Weiss desperately, looking about the arena for the blond Faunus.
"There! At the tree line!" spotted Ruby, pointing to the edge of the forest biome. There indeed was Sun, sitting at the base of a tree with his left knee up, his right foot resting on his left, and his hands behind his head; as if he had not a care in the world.
"Why is he just sitting there?" the heiress demanded in both confusion and frustration. "He has to help him!"
"Sun fought Oak alone, so Neptune needs to fight O'Nottingham alone" Sage explained with his arms folded.
"That's beyond foolish! This is the Doubles Round, not the Singles; what's the point of it if we are to then fight individually?"
"That's what I've been asking myself since the beginning of this tournament" remarked Pyrrha. "However, I can speak as a competitive fighter that Neptune would much prefer to fight this to the end alone."
"But if they are trying to get to the Singles bracket, then why aren't they pressing their advantage and take O'Nottingham down together?" countered Weiss.
"Because we're obviously sending Sun to the Singles" cut in Scarlet, "and we don't want him getting any more hurt than necessary." 'Not to mention that the bloody idiot did a real number on himself for creating nine bloody clones at once' he thought. "Neptune knows that, and he's going to do his job as second in command to get Sun to the finals. And we know, as his friend, that he wants to fight this fight alone."
"But–"
"We know that you really care about him" Sage expressed. "And we care about him too. We've also known him longer than you have, and we know how he wants to handle things. Win or lose, he'll do it on his own."
Weiss sat there unable to form any kind of retort. She, given her background as a swordswoman from Atlas, knew exactly what they were talking about. She understood what was going through Neptune's mind, as well as the feeling of wanting to fight to the end on one's own strength. It was also the right strategy to try and weaken Allen whilst giving Sun time to recover from his fight with Ian. Team SSSN knew exactly what they were doing, and in reality, were doing nothing that she wouldn't do. What she was struggling with of course, was her own feelings for the boy, and how she didn't want to see him hurt. Winning or losing no longer meant anything, a hypocritical thought to be sure, but now she just wanted him to be alright.
Sighing, the heiress nodded, and as much as it pained her, kept her eyes on the downed Vacuan who had won her heart.
"Alright" she relented, hearing her sister's voice in her mind repeating the word "discipline" thrice over.
In the arena, the cold snow caused Neptune to sit up with a jolt, his jacket proving to be very inadequate for such cold climates. He forced himself to his feet, and saw Allen standing several yards away, twirling his billhook along with Ionio like a court jester would a baton.
"Well now, Sir Vasilias" he said smiling "I do hope that you aren't going to surrender now that you've been disarmed."
To his credit, Neptune actually laughed.
"Surrender? No way. I'd never be able to live down the shame."
"There's no need for theatrics. No one would blame you given your situation" offered the bard. "I just feel for the poor spectators who would be cheated from a good long fight if you exited the stage prematurely."
"I know we need to put on a good show, and my team wouldn't be happy with me if I bowed out now. But...there is one spectator that I care about" he admitted. "I put on a bad showing last match, and I sure as Hell am not gonna to do that again. For my Snow Angel, I'll fight and I'll win."
"Snow Angel?" Allen echoed, looking up to the stands and saw the only person Neptune could be referring to. "Ah, the fair Lady Weiss. She certainly is a beautiful girl. Hmmm I understand now. I am almost tempted to return your fuscina to you so that we may fight on equal terms..."
"What do you mean? We're on equal footing right now."
Allen threw his head back and laughed.
"Cheeky to the end! Well said sir...now..." the bard twirled the polearms around him before taking a fighting stance where the midsections of the shafts crossed. "Fight with all your might!"
Neptune took a breath to steady himself, and faced his eager opponent directly with his body turned slightly sideways to the right. He raised both his fists so that the tips of his fingers were level with his goggles, hands partially open and relaxed despite the cold making him want to ball them. His left was nearly fully extended with his right arm more chambered, but still held further forward than one would expect. The stance he took was visually akin to a boxer's, except that his elbows were not nearly dropped low enough to protect himself from body blows. Only a portion of these details were recognizable to the average eye, but Pyrrha was no such thing, and smiled a small knowing smile. Neptune Vasilias was more than he appeared.
Allen began to advance, flourishing the polearms around him to both intimidate Neptune, and make it more difficult to predict where he would attack. He swiped, thrust, and chopped at the blue-haired Huntsman-in-training, shutting down any and all of his attempts to get close. Even when Neptune thought he found a blind-spot, primarily when Allen turned and left his back exposed, he wasn't able to close the distance as the bard would launch swift kicks at him. It didn't help that the snowy ground did not give him the proper footing, which normally would have been most of his weight on his back foot. Blocking was also a precarious endeavor, as he wore not a single piece of armour, and the only safe method was to block with his forearms and aiming for the shafts of the polearms. Even using Aura to armour his arms, it was still painful, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. What options did he have at this point? If he could just get his hands on the bard, then he could turn the tide.
'Alright, let's do something stupid' he thought, knowing that what he was about to attempt was a large gamble.
Neptune began to dash and feint, trying to provoke the older student to attack him. Of course Allen responded in kind, not allowing the Vacuan to approach any closer than the invisible line he had drawn. Those counters had been with the polearms however, and they only spurred Neptune on, knowing he had to keep trying until the right moment presented itself. At last, Allen overcommitted to an attack with Ionio, leaving the left side of his back exposed. Neptune dashed forward, but did so purposely slower than he should have. Seeing the advance, Allen used the momentum of his initial attack to continue spinning, and sent a kick that struck Neptune square in the gut. The attack hurt of course, but despite that, the blue-haired boy grinned as it was exactly what he wanted to happen. Before Allen knew what was happening, Neptune locked his arms around his leg and pulled, beginning a grapple submission. The bard may have been taken by surprise, but he was far from helpless, as the moment Neptune pulled, he swung his right leg upward and kicked him in the jaw. The blow was just enough to force Neptune to let go of Allen, allowing the bard to flip backwards onto his feet. However, it was not enough to stun him, as he had managed to lean back just enough to mitigate the damage and recover, not letting the momentum halt just yet. This was a very fortunate move on his part, as he had recovered just in time to see the Mistralese land less gracefully than he had anticipated, slipping on the wet snow.
As Allen reeled back, Neptune reached out and grabbed onto Ionio, halting the bard's fall. Without hesitation, he wrenched the colourful man towards him, and with all his might, punched him in the face with a mighty haymaker with his left fist. The force of the blow caused Allen to flip a full 275° before crashing face first into the snow. The crowd cheered as Neptune spun to face his downed opponent, remembering of course to perform a flourish mid turn. Gripping his fuscina with both hands, he activated the electrified prongs and drove them at the bard, making sure that he would stay down for good. Unfortunately Allen was not as delicate as he appeared, and with apparently no effort, cart wheeled away from the attack before flipping gracefully onto his feet.
"Well done, sir! Wonderfully done indeed!" Allen complimented, resting his billhook on his right shoulder.
"You sound oddly happy with being knocked to the ground" pointed out Neptune, wondering if he had just loosened some bolts in the minstrel's head.
"Credit where credit is due, as they say. Now then" he swung his weapon and pointing it at Neptune. "Let us finish this properly."
The combatants eyed each other carefully, knowing that the end was drawing near, and any further mistake would cost them the match. They slowly inched forward, the tips of their polearms drawing closer and closer, until they passed one another. Without warning, the pair engaged in battle once more, their weapons clashing as their feet kicked snow into the air. They circled each other as they fought, trying to land strikes as they parried the others, and neither giving any ground. For Neptune however, he knew that he was going to lose ground if he didn't come up with a better plan. His earlier assessment that Allen was a better fighter than he was, had been proven entirely correct, which no doubt meant that a direct fight like this would end in the minstrel's victory. Trying to stay out of his range by using Ionio in rifle configuration, would prove disastrous, for as soon as Allen closed the distance, which Neptune knew he could and would with ease, he would cut him down. Despite Ionio's many forms and upgrades, none of them would help him here, leaving him to his own devices, which there weren't many of. What he had left in his arsenal would be useful against a weaker opponent, for its use thus far had been minimal against Allen.
'There has to be something I can do' he argued to himself, gritting his teeth in frustration. 'I need time to think, but there isn't any time to. Damn it all...and my socks are soaked...'
This realization caused Neptune's eyes to widen. He glanced down at the ground and saw that the snow beneath their feet had now been turned to slush due to their trampling. Puddles of water where now forming in the biome, which were also growing in size, thanks to the summer sun above them. There wasn't nearly enough water to cause his phobia to strike, but what it did do was give the Vacuan a daring and potentially dangerous idea.
'I might as well; not like I have anything else in the tank' he thought, sucking on his teeth.
Setting his plan into motion, Neptune began to try and bait Allen into a very specific attack. After several attempts, it was clear that the older student was not going to make a mistake, so the blue-haired teen decided he needed to gamble. Knocking away the billhook with Ionio, he pushed into Allen's space, and he raised his left fist, making it seem that he was going to try and punch him again. The Mistralese saw this coming, and brought his bill around as quickly as a serpent's strike, thrusting the top spike at his opponent. This was what Neptune was waiting for, and he leaded backwards to avoid the attack without moving his feet. To both Allen and those spectating, it looked like the Vacuan was about to fall, for he was leaning much too far backwards to maintain balance. This was quickly proven to be incorrect, as despite the unbalanced stance he was in, Neptune managed to raise his right leg without falling, and unleashed a powerful Gastrizein front kick. His heel connected with Allen's chest, which hit with such force that it actually knocked the wind out of the minstrel, causing him to stumble backwards. He hadn't been expecting such an attack, and he would have laughed if not for the situation he was currently in.
Neptune was far from done with his assault, for the moment that he saw his kick had done some damage, he then moved in to capitalize on it. Letting go of Ionio, he rushed in and grabbed Allen with one hand on his hip and the other on his leg. Then, it one swift motion, he lifted his opponent straight into the air, and slammed him into the cold hard ground. The takedown took Allen by even greater surprise, as this knew fighting style of Neptune's was more aggressive and brutal than anything he had previously displayed. And like the front kick he had just eaten, the throw had proven to be even more painful, for the ground offered no cushioning of any kind. While he knew he needed to throw the match, Allen knew that playing dead with this grapple would not be convincing enough to those watching. Deciding to wait for a better opportunity, he rolled over before pushing off the ground with both feet, and flipping away in one solid arc.
'I'm drenched' he thought, looking down at his attire. 'This will take all night to clean.' Glancing up at Neptune, he saw him pick up his fuscina. He decided he would taunt the boy to provoke an even greater attack, so that he could take the fall and end the match. "Really, Sir Vasilias, I assumed you would do better than resorting to back alley tactics. Have you been pushed into a corner, and you see no way out? Most undignified, sir."
It wasn't much of a taunt, as Allen liked Neptune quite a bit, and all it did was cause Neptune to laugh.
"Given how dirty your clothes are, who's the real undignified one here?" he shot back teasingly, flourishing his trident before beckoning the bard the way one would a dog.
"In that case, I will send you my dry-cleaning bill!" Allen laughed before bolting towards the Vacuan. Just before the attack could land, Neptune flicked Ionio so that it caught the shaft of Allen's bill between its prongs, and locked the polearms together in a bind. "You know, lad, you have yet to activate your Semblance. I would recommend doing so if you want to stand a chance."
Neptune gazed into Allen's eyes in silence for a moment, before smirking coolly.
"Given what shocking surprise I have in store, my Semblance won't be necessary."
Before the minstrel could ask what he meant, Neptune twisted Ionio so that it and Allen's billhook stabbed into the ground. He then pulled himself into the air, holding onto the shaft of his weapon to keep himself off the ground, just before activating Ionio's electric prongs. The blue electricity struck the water before latching onto the strings of the billhook, travelling up the shaft, and then to Allen's wet clothes. The bard shook as he was electrocuted, electricity arcing off of him in all directions, until his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The moment that Neptune saw the white of his opponent's eyes, he deactivated Ionio and descended from his perch, letting Allen fall onto his back, twitching for a few more seconds before laying still. Neptune gazed at him carefully, unsure if he had been defeated or not. When he didn't stir, he grinned in relief, and held his trident above his head in triumph.
"Allen O'Nottingham has been defeated by Neptune Vasilias!" announced Oobleck. "Team SSSN wins!"
The crowd erupted into cheers and applause, the Vacuans reaching a level above the others, knowing that Sun now had a shot to win the entire tournament. In the reserved seating, Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN cheered with Weiss, Sage, and Scarlet on their feet, happiest of all. Neptune looked to the stands and saw Weiss clapping; and while tired and not at his best in terms of dress, he smiled and saluted at her before walking past the medics who were making their way to Allen. He walked over to Sun, who had yet to move from his seat beneath the tree.
"You napping, dude?" he asked.
"No, just waiting for you to wrap up" Sun replied casually. "Good job, by the way."
"Thanks" smirked Neptune. "You need a hand, don't you?"
"Maybe, yeah."
The blue-haired lieutenant laughed as he offered his hand which the Monkey Faunus accepted graciously, allowing himself to be hoisted to his feet.
"Looks like we're going to the Singles" Sun remarked.
"You are you mean."
"We're still a team, even if I'm the only one fighting" the blond said honestly. "So tell me, you happy with how the fight went?"
"It certainly went better than the last one" Neptune admitted. "Given the way she's smiling, I think it went very well."
Sun looked to the stands and saw not only Weiss smiling happily, but Blake as well, causing him to grin.
"Yeah, I feel you."
As the duo left the arena, the stretch-bearers carried Allen to the Mistralese exit, where Ian lay on a stretcher in the waiting area. Just when they were about to pass the "unconscious" Faunus, the bard popped into a sitting position, scaring the medics half to death.
"Well that went wonderfully~" he sang, smiling as if nothing had happened. Ignoring the stunned medics, he brought up his billhook, twirled it into lute form, and began playing a cheery tune as he leaned over to Ian. "Are you sleeping dear Ian? The match has ended." When the Grizzly Faunus didn't stir, the bard began to play at three times the tempo. "Iiiiiiiiiiian~! It is time to wake uuuuuup~!"
The right eye of the lieutenant opened, and stared at his teammate with the same aura as a bear that had been awoken from hibernation.
"If you play one more note" he began, bringing Allen's playing to a halt, "I'm going to ram your billhook right up your arse and turn you into a feather duster, ya damn popinjay."
The bard laughed as he swung his legs over the side of the stretcher, and rose to his feet.
"Glad to see you are as chipper as ever. You can leave us, lads, we're just grand" he said to the medics, who looked at one another, unsure of the situation, but finally did leave after Allen ushered them with a shooing gesture. "Well now, you certainly do not know how to play nice."
"If you're referring to the monkey-boy, I did exactly as I was asked; make the match look as believable as possible" Ian defended stonily. "He was far more annoying than I figured he would be."
"You find that everyone is annoying when it comes to fighting you, mate. You do realize that you are quite the imposing fellow, right?"
Ian smirked slightly. "I've been told, yes."
"In my humble opinion" Allen continued "I think those two and a fine pair of lads. I can see them going far in life."
The Grizzly Faunus eyed his friend carefully.
"Is this some form of intuition, or are you just being hopeful so that you can write music and poems of their adventures?"
Allen grinned from ear to ear as he leaned onto his lute. "How well you know me."
Surprisingly, Ian laughed slowly and deeply as he sat up, scratching the back of his right ear.
"All of this is so bizarre. I understand that the Huntmasters have a plan, but I can't grasp the scope of it. Those second-years got hurt badly from those invading bastards, and it could have been all avoided if we were given the order to put them through a wall."
"As always I enjoy your enthusiasm, but our orders are our orders, and we must place our faith in them. No doubt if things turn for the worst, then we will be called to the front lines. Not that I would want for things to go poorly of course, so instead we shall sit and be patient. Now then, shall we go get a pint or two with the lads?"
"How well you know me" Ian smirked.
λΛλ
Sun and Neptune entered the reserved seating and were instantly greeted by their teammates, high fiving them enthusiastically.
"Singles Round here we come!" grinned Sun before turning his attention to Team JNPR. "Your upperclassmen suck, Nikos! And I'm gonna add you to the list of overrated Mistralese tomorrow!"
"First off, big talk coming from a guy who got rag-dolled" Yang interjected, pointing at him. "Second, I'm the one who's going to beat this overrated Mistralese."
Pyrrha remained calm with a soft smile on her face. The competitive trash-talking came with the territory, and she knew it was just playful banter coming from her friends. She also knew the truth about the purpose of her mentors joining the tournament, though she wouldn't be able to speak a word of it until after its conclusion, if ever.
"I look forward to tomorrow as well" she said half lying, as she knew that tomorrow could be the day that Ozpin and Ironwood would make their move.
Neptune, who was grinning with pride while being congratulated by Sage and Scarlet, softened his expression when his eyes met Weiss'. He instantly became aware of how dishevelled he now looked after the match, and fruitlessly tried to fix his hair.
"So, was that a better match than the last one?" he asked sheepishly.
Weiss smiled, knowing that he had tried his best to impress her. Of course he no longer needed to, but it still touched her that he valued her opinion of him so highly. She pulled out her handkerchief, and began to wipe the dirt off his cheek.
"Yes, you did very well" she assured him softly.
"Sorry that I'm a mess" he apologized, blushing slightly in embarrassment.
"Actually..." the heiress examined his handsome face, now smudged with some dirt on his cheeks and his ruffled hair. "That's not a bad look for you."
"She spent her whole life in a clean expensive mansion so she likes her men dirty" Yang chimed in, causing Nora to snort. Weiss calmly turned to look at the mischievous blonde, and gave her a cool smirk.
"Still single, Xiao Long?" she asked calmly.
"Yup. Too busy winning this tournament."
"Interesting how we've all been able to do both, unlike yourself."
Yang's eyes widened and she smiled wildly, ready and willing to get into a fight.
"In any case" began Pyrrha, trying to defuse the situation, "all of you did very well today. Tomorrow bodes well in terms of competition if you maintain the pace we've set."
"Eh. You kids were OK at best" came a gruff voice, causing them all to turn to see Qrow leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
"Uncle Qrow!" cheered Ruby with a wide smile.
"And where have you been?" demanded Yang. "You showed up out of nowhere without letting us know, then when I try to reach you, you disappear. What gives?"
"Sorry, kid. Oz had an errand for me to run last minute. I just got back."
"Oz? You mean our Huntmaster? You know him personally?"
"Other than on a professional level? Sure; Oz and I go way back" explained the somber Huntsman. "We met here at Beacon when we were first-years, along with your old man and your moms. Man, things have changed since then."
"Such as?"
Qrow grinned. "We were actually good at your age."
"Alright" Yang sneered, cracking her knuckles. "You wanna go, old man?"
Her uncle laughed. "As much as I love schooling you, whether it be in gaming or combat, I have some more important things to take care of. I'll be watching your matches tomorrow, so you better not embarrass yourself and the family. I already had Tai bitching about you swearing too much today, so I don't need him complaining about how badly you fight."
"Shit...he heard me?" asked Yang wincing.
"Yup. Put that level of enthusiasm in your training and you'd be unstoppable. Anyways, I've got more errands to run. See you kids tonight, if I don't get held up."
Qrow left the students puzzled by the interaction, but nevertheless intrigued as he lived up to and exceeded expectations; at least in terms of being interesting and cool uncle. Pyrrha on the other hand had watched him carefully, and felt a pang of frustration when he didn't even look at her. She sat there for a few moments as the others were waiting for the exiting crowd to thin, when her patience finally emptied and she stood to leave.
"Pyrrha?" asked Jaune.
"I'll be right back" she replied, and disappeared in the crowd before Jaune or anyone else could say another word. This frustrated the blond, as this was the second time she had done this. He had understood her reasons in checking on Team CFVY, but what reason did she have to go after Yang and Ruby's uncle?
The redhead slipped passed the stunned spectators that recognized her, laser focused on the younger Branwen twin who was heading for the hallways below the Coliseum. She made her way to the stairway, finally catching up to him just before his disappeared around the corner.
"Mr. Branwen!" she called, stopping him in his tracks.
"If the enemy sees us together, they could get suspicious, kid" he said without turning.
"I need to know about what exactly you and the Order are planning" Pyrrha implored bluntly.
"We're handling this accordingly, just keep acting like nothing is–"
"I'm already aware that you are using my countrymen to infiltrate the tournament" she interjected. "I know that they will be inserted into the Singles bracket tomorrow as well. However, what I do not understand is how in Remnant this is supposed to deal with the situation at hand. You haven't injected Olivier and the others in order to confront the assassins; in fact, you are actively trying not to confront them. You're trying to delay that as much as possible because of some form of plan. Quite frankly sir, manipulating the tournament this way is far more suspicious than us speaking. Please tell me what is that plan."
Qrow slowly turned to partially face her, and eyed her coolly.
"Been real busy, haven't you?" he said at last, sighing. "Given that you haven't sworn your allegiance to the Order, I have no obligation to tell you anything. But because I'm such a nice guy, I'll tell you this: tomorrow is when we will make our move. Your job is to continue acting like nothing is wrong, and give the crowd a good show. If and only if things go completely tits up, will we call you to do what we've asked of you. I can't believe I'm gonna quote Jimmy, but keep calm and carry on. Do you understand?"
He only waited for Pyrrha to begin to reluctantly nod, before turning to leave. However, the Mistralese champion was not ready to end the conversation without playing her final card.
"The girl!" she said quickly.
"The girl?" Qrow repeated looking over his shoulder.
"One of the enemy agents, Emerald Sustrai; her Semblance has something to do with illusions" Pyrrha explained quickly. "I spoke to Coco after she fought her, and she mentioned that before she lost consciousness. I...thought you should know that..."
The somber Huntsman looked the Huntress-in-training in the eyes, and maintained his gaze for several moments before slowly nodding. Without saying another word, he turned the corner and left Pyrrha alone to close her eyes in exasperation.
What in the names of the Gods was in store for them tomorrow?
λΛλ
Late that night, all members of the Maiden's Ring stood in Huntmaster Ozpin's office, silent as the grave. Qrow was nursing his leather-bound flask while sitting on the corner of Ozpin's desk, carefully eyes the contents of a vial. Glynda was standing with her arms crossed behind the silver-haired Huntsman, as he gently stroked his owl's head. General Ironwood was at the window that overlooked the campus courtyard, smoking a cigar as Winter was listening to someone speaking to her on the other end of a military phone, jotting down the information that was being recounted to her. The silence was broken at last when she returned the handset to the cradle and turned to face her commanding officer.
"Everything is ready, sir" she said steadily.
Ironwood removed the cigar from his lips with his left hand, but didn't turn around.
"The northern brigades?" he asked.
"In position alongside their Valian counterparts with the adjoining tank battalions, field artillery batteries, and the CAW KASS Jörmungandr 'patrolling' with a flotilla of submarines courtesy of the Kraken fleet in the Vytal Sea."
"And the southern battalions?"
"Repositioned and ready on your command, sir."
Ironwood allowed a small smirk as he returned his cigar to his lips.
"The board is set" he said looking up to the broken moon.
Ozpin closed his eyes and looked forlornly out the window to the moon.
"And may the Gods be with us" he said quietly.
The Great Horned owl looked at his master with his large eyes, and hooting a single long hoot, matching the dispirited tone of the room exactly.
"If I take one more step, I'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been." —Samwise Gamgee
With this chapter, this has now become the longest fic I have ever written. I'd just like to say thank you to each and every one of you who've favourited, followed, and reviewed this story. You are the ones that make it all worth it, especially when I get comments about how my changes surpass the canon. There is much more to come, so I hope I don't disappoint you m(_ _)m
Speaking of disappointment, bloody V8. This is the "backstory for Nora" they talked about over a year ago? By the Æsir and Vanir, I say with honesty, I'd rather have nothing.
See you all next time, and I hope you had/are having a great Thanksgiving. Cheers.