Chapter XII: The Ties That Bind
The match between Pyrrha and Penny had been a rather impressive spectacle. The two young Huntresses-in-training appeared to fly across the arena, dodging and weaving past the attacks they threw at one another. They even took to the skies more than once to battle, both displaying their acrobatic prowess. Despite the fight being so fast paced, Pyrrha had been paying close attention to her opponent as they fought. She had been very much interested in how exactly she was manipulating the many swords she wielded. It did not take her long to discover the truth, which was that Penny was controlling them with nearly invisible steel strings. At first Pyrrha had caught glimpses of something glimmering in the sky, and thought them to merely be camera flashes or something of that sort. Only when her curiosity peeked, did she reach out with her Semblance, and confirmed exactly that the swords were being controlled with steel strings. It was then a quick affair for the Mistralese champion to aim for the strings with Mílo and Akoúo, cutting the swords free, and fully disarming Penny. Pyrrha then summoned the strings to her, and pulled on the Atlassian into several wide arcing swings, before throwing her out of the arena, and knocking her "unconscious" when she struck the walls of the stands.
Securing yet another victory, nearly the entire crowd cheered for Pyrrha. The Valians and the Mistralese were obviously pleased, for while she was fighting for Vale, she was still a champion of Mistral. The Vacuans for their part, were simply enthused in the skill the two displayed. The Atlassians however, groaned in dismay, as their last combatant had been eliminated, left with not even Weiss to cheer for. Though, it wasn't a stretch to assume that they would instead lend Pyrrha their support moving forward.
In the skybox, Ironwood nodded approvingly. The match hadn't been legitimate of course, but Penny had done her job well, and they had nevertheless been some useful information gathered for later upgrades. To his right, Ozpin rose to his feet and walked to the bar, where he procured himself an iced tea, just as another Ozpin entered the skybox and walked towards the balcony. He accepted the beverage from himself, who dissolved into thin air after doing so, and the real Ozpin returned to his chair, seating himself comfortably.
"Cinder Fall has been secured below the school and heavily sedated" he informed, stirring the ice cubes with a straw. "The other three have been placed in your custody for the time being, and are on their way to your flag ship."
"Yes, I've just received word from the crew of their arrival. How I wish I could be aboard to see the look on Torchwick's face" he remarked with a grin.
"A privilege we will unfortunately miss out on for an even greater prize" offered the head of the Order before taking a sip of his drink. "How are things on your end?"
"Our men in the north are raining fire and brimstone" Ironwood replied calmly but contently. "I'm getting reports every quarter-hour, and the whole thing should be resolved within the hour. As for Winter's ground forces, nothing yet."
"We can only pray for her success. Interestingly, Qrow offered to join up with her battalion, but I told him to remain on campus."
The Atlassian Huntmaster chuckled. "He's so laid back with everything else, and yet so tense in making sure the Order succeeds in its plans; including being protective of new recruits."
"Rough around the edges with a good heart; that is our Qrow" Ozpin remarked with a smile. "For now, let us focus on the tournament and the entertaining of our spectators. We've saved the best for last."
"Indeed, the show must go on. The boys are ready?"
"If nothing has gotten in their way."
"Then let's go."
λΛλ
Pyrrha returned to the reserved seating with her friends eagerly waiting for her.
"Way to go, Pyrrha!" cheered Nora
"You did very well" added Ren with a smile.
"Hmmmm" murmured Ruby, not entirely pleased that one friend lost and another won, but knew that despite the intensity of the final blow that Penny would be alright.
"You finally warmed up, Nikos?" asked Yang, already eager for her next fight, hopefully against the redhead.
"Just about, and thank you, everyone" Pyrrha replied with a smile. Her eyes then rested on Jaune, who was smiling at her proudly. "How did I do?"
"You were awesome out there" he replied, earning himself a warm smile in return, and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you" she returned warmly, before sitting beside him.
"Enough with the pecks! Give her a proper wet congratulatory kiss!" Coco teased.
The couple blushed, though more due to the secretly shared desire to have such a kiss, than their friends insisting that they take their relationship to the next level.
"You're wasting your breath, Coco. Just let us know that an intense make-out session is gonna be the reward for winning this tournament" Yang pleaded.
"No wonder she's been fighting so hard" remarked Blake, causing the blonde to throw her head back in laughter with the others joining in. Jaune and Pyrrha remained silent with their cheeks stained pink, ignoring them the best they could.
"The next match will be between Sun Wukong of Team SSSN and Diego Iglesias of Team LION!" announced Port.
"Alright! Game time!" Sun whooped as he clapped his hands. "Got any advice for me, Nikos?"
"Diego is very quick on his feet and sharp as a tack. He can be rather deceptive when he needs to be, so expect the unexpected" the redhead offered.
"Will do. I'll be right back" he saluted the others, and giving Blake a wink before scampering off.
"So forgive me for being so out of the loop" began Coco, "but who is this Team LION?"
"They're Pyrrha's mentors from Mistral" replied Weiss. "They were introduced to the tournament after your loss, along with another team called RROI, so that Pyrrha and Sun would not fight so soon."
"That sounds incredibly suspect" remarked Yatsuhashi.
"Well, the reason Huntmaster Ozpin offered was to give Mistral a chance since Pyrrha's fighting for Beacon instead of Haven" explained Neptune.
Team CFVY looked at one another incredulously.
"I don't even know how to respond to that" Coco admitted.
"It's been a rather odd tournament from the beginning" added Pyrrha, though she was now more aware as to why than she had been at the start of the Vytal Festival. "Thankfully everyone has done incredibly well against my upperclassmen."
"Speaking of which, how well do you think Sun will do this time?" asked Blake, as she noticed the Faunus in question entered the ring with his opponent doing the same. Pyrrha was about to provide a response, when Weiss suddenly shrieked, causing everyone to jump.
"The fuck, Weiss?" demanded Yang, sticking her pinkie in her ear as if to clear it.
"Look!" the heiress shouted, pointing at Diego with a flabbergasted expression on her face.
"What are we looking at?" asked Nora.
"The broach on his chest!"
Indeed, there was a blue and gold broach pinned to the left strap of the Fox Faunus' cuirass. It was a heater shield with a flat top and the corners cut in a concave manner, with a pommel of a long sword in the top left corner, a rapier in the top right corner, a katana in the bottom left corner, and a gladius in the bottom right corner. In the centre was a golden M with each point studded with a small ruby.
"Yes, it's really pretty, and I'm sure you have a bunch just like'em at home. What's your point?" Yang remarked.
"It's a Master's Mark!" squealed Weiss, her hands on her cheeks and her eyes sparkling in admiration. "The Duelist Guilds only give those to individuals who qualify as masters of the sword! It takes decades to achieve such a level of skill, if at all! And to think that he managed to become a master at his age. If I could have known beforehand, I would have argued more strongly to be sent to the Singles Round!"
As Weiss continued to gush over Diego, Blake looked at Sun with more worry than she had during his Doubles match. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, RIP Sun, I guess" Yang remarked sympathetically.
The Cat Faunus then turned her head to her right to look at Pyrrha, who already had an apologetic expression on her face, and began to bring her hands up as if in prayer.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know he had progressed that far since the last time I spoke with him" she said honestly. She knew that Diego would throw the match, but knowing that Sun going up against a master of the sword would cause Blake such distress, did make her feel rather guilty.
In the arena, Sun and Diego were beginning to banter before the start of their match.
"No hard feelings for beating your teammates, right?" he asked with a smirk.
"Of course not, amigo" replied Diego, tugging on his gloves. "You only bruised their egos, not take their lives; though your friend, Neptune, did make a good impression on Allen."
"Getting a girl, making new friends; I'm real proud of him" Sun said only half-sarcastically. "Your lieutenant hates me though, right?"
"Can't stand you."
"Nice" the Monkey Faunus chirped, clapping his hands once. "Are you pissed at me already?"
"That depends. You are from Vacuo, si?"
"Yup."
"You enjoy tequila?"
"Damn right; just as much as I love rum."
Diego grinned slyly. "Then we have no problems, as my dear mother is from Vacuo. I won't be holding back, however."
"Same here" Sun grinned back.
"Fighters ready?" announced Oobleck, causing both Faunus to draw their weapons. "Three...two...one...BEGIN!"
λΛλ
Aboard the Veðrfölnir, Roman's patience was nearly at the end of its rope. At this point he knew that their window was nearly closed, and the fact that the trojan hadn't activated fully and freed him from his cell, filled him with a large amount of dread.
'What the fuck is that crazy bitch doing?' he thought angrily, unaware of what had transpired.
However, he would be learning the truth soon enough, as he heard footsteps in the brig. He could tell that it was more than a single person, which dashed his hope that Neo had come to spring him from his cell. When the group stepped into view, Roman's eyes widened as he saw not only Neo, but Emerald and Mercury in restraints, surrounded by half a dozen White Army soldiers. Mercury was being carried in a stretcher but was still shackled, along with Emerald having some sort of goggle device on her face, showing just how few chances their captors were taking with them. To enforce that further, the three teenagers had collars around their necks, which Roman instantly recognized as Aura dampeners, specially made to stop prisoners who could wield Aura from using their abilities. One soldier opened the shield of the cell and instructed for Neo and Emerald to take a seat. Two other soldiers then helped Mercury to his feet, and seated him next to Emerald as Neo sat next to Roman. They then unlocked the wrist and ankle restraints, as well as Emerald's goggles, before finally reactivating the shield, all without saying a word to their prisoners. As soon as he could no longer hear the soldiers, he leaned forward and glared with a look that could freeze lava.
"What the fuck happened?" he demanded. "Start talking now."
Mercury and Emerald recoiled slightly, never seeing him make such an expression before.
"We got figured out" the kick-boxer replied, recovering first.
"I can see that, kid. I want to know how."
Mercury looked over at the green-haired girl, whose eyes dropped to the gray floor of the cell.
"I was in position to use my Semblance to make it look like the bimbo attacked Merc after he lost, and then all of a sudden he was there."
"He? Who's he?"
"Qrow Branwen" answered Mercury. "I don't know what happened, but I could see from the arena that he got to her and forced her out of the stands."
Roman looked at him for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Emerald. Without looking up, the thief could feel his eyes on her, and she continued.
"He pulled a poisoned knife on me, and told me how he and the rest of them knew from the beginning what we were planning; messing with the tournament, the trojan, the Grimm attack in the north, and the White Fang in the south."
"And Cinder?" he demanded. Neo then tapped his shoulder and began to make hand signs. "She was ambushed by the Huntmaster and eight other Huntsmen?" Neo nodded. The gangster then leaned back against the wall of his cell and looked to the ceiling in thought. After a moment, a smile crept across his face and he began to laugh. Mercury and Emerald looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Well ain't that just peachy? All's well that ends well."
"How can you say that?" spat the thief. "The whole plan can't work without her, and if she isn't here, then we have no idea where she was taken to."
"Boo hoo, I don't care" Roman retorted, bringing his left foot over to his right knee so that his ankle rested on it. "If you've forgotten, kid, I never had any interest in this plan of yours. It was that crazy bitch that needed me so badly that she had to twist my arm to get me to agree to it. So I find it absolutely hilarious that she was the one that messed it all up, and not me. You may think the world of her, but after the shit she pulled, I hope they've already killed her."
Emerald glared at the ginger, wanting to defend Cinder, but given that she didn't know how exactly Cinder had convinced him to help them, she could only assume it wasn't as generous a partnership as hers and Mercury's. When they first met Roman, he had blown them off without a moment's hesitation. The following time, he and Neo were now ready and willing to help, with Neo sticking to Cinder's side when she wasn't allowed to go with Roman. At first she had been confused and unhappy with this out of nowhere favouritism from Cinder, but over time, she had noticed that the mute girl seemed oddly fearful. That fear had been on full display on their way to the Atlassian flag ship, but now was much less so, as she was with Roman again. What exactly was their relationship?
"I wasn't her biggest fan either, but isn't that a bit much, old man?" Mercury shot back with his arms folded across his chest.
"I'm being nice if anything."
"You might as well explain why you hate us so much since we're stuck in here."
"You kids are annoying but fine" Roman admitted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's the cunt I wanted gone."
"Like he said; explain yourself" added Emerald with a hard scowl on her face, though taken aback by his strange change of attitude towards them.
Roman eyed the both of them for a few moments before sighing.
"Might as well. Cinder came to me after I told her I wanted nothing to do with her. She tried being diplomatic, but failed miserably to convince me. When I thought it was finally over, she then decided to threaten my daughter's life. If I didn't do what she needed of me, she would kill her. I instantly tried to stop her with my men backing me up, and she killed them all with her stolen Maiden powers. She said if I tried anything, my daughter would be the next to die...so I did what she wanted. So tell me, you two, should I give a rat's ass if that fucking cunt got captured by the Huntmasters?"
Mercury and Emerald sat there stunned at the gangster's story. Out of all the possible reasons they could have come up with to explain his compliance, this was not one of them. They weren't even aware that he had any children, as he certainly didn't appear the family type. Suddenly lightning struck the kick-boxer's head as he remembered their earlier conversation.
"You weren't kidding about that divorce" he said in realization, causing Roman to shrug sheepishly. "So where is she?"
Just as he asked, he noticed Neo leaning her head on the man's shoulder as he took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"You?" gasped Emerald in shock. That was certainly something they hadn't seen coming, though it very much explained quite a bit; why they were so close, why they worked so well together, why Cinder was so fixated on her, and why Neo had shown those moments of fear when Cinder gave her orders. "I'm sorry..." she said quietly.
"Don't be. It's not like I was announcing it for the world to know" sighed Roman. "I wasn't always such a great judge of character. I thought my ex-wife was a good woman, and I thought despite our struggles we'd pull through; for Neo's sake if not ours. I was wrong. We started arguing more and more, getting more heated as time went on...and then Neo stopped talking. I didn't know why for weeks, until I caught my ex abusing her. She started taking her frustration out on Neo instead of me." Neo squeezed her father's hand, as if to say she didn't blame him, but no doubt he would still. "When we finally filed for a divorce, I wanted full custody of Neo. The judge didn't give it to me, and instead gave it to my ex. I couldn't accept that. I couldn't leave her with that whore, knowing she would keep abusing her. So I did the only thing I could; I packed all I needed, and I took Neo with me. Since then I used the only real skill I ever had, my mind, and made a life of crime to support the both of us. When she awakened her Semblance, I helped her train as best I could, to which she then began to help with growing the gang. I did it all to protect her, and not my ex-wife nor Cinder nor anyone, is going to take her away from me."
When Roman concluded his story, the cell fell in to an uncomfortable silence. Mercury and Emerald sat looking at the ground, unable to form a proper response to what they had just heard. However, they were simultaneously thinking the same thing: how badly they had misjudged Roman Torchwick. All this time they had merely assumed he was just an ambitious crime boss, who was convinced to team up with them at the prospect of financial gain. In reality, it was not what he had to gain, but that he could not afford to lose. Emerald began to feel a twist of guilt develop in her stomach for suspecting him of selling them out when she had been captured by Qrow, and was now beginning to rethink just how loyal she was to remain to Cinder. Mercury on the other hand was seeing Roman in an entirely different light. He too was going along with Cinder's plan because she had offered him something that he had been unable to acquire on his own. However, there was something deeply personal that had begun to resonate within him since the ginger began to reveal his past. Pieces that he had been putting together since he joined up with Cinder and Emerald, now began to make far more sense, and created a much clearer picture. Neo's flashes of fear and how familiar they seemed, had not been a mistake on his part. It was now a much different situation he found himself in. With all four of them in this cell, proving to be far more similar than previously thought, Cinder separated and taken by the Beacon Huntmaster, and the White Fang potentially being wiped out as they sat in silence, the future seemed far more uncertain.
"Why are you telling us all this?" the kick-boxer asked.
"Well, certainly not to gain your sympathy" Roman retorted, scratching the back of his head. "But if you must know, I'm not like Cinder. I can actually come up with solid plans, especially on the fly, and I've got one right now. As it stands, I'm in a lot more hot water right now than you two; and Neo for that matter since no one other than us in this cell knows what she's done, and that she's my daughter. When Jimmy, the illustrious General of the White Army, no doubt tries to interrogate me again, I'm going to negotiate a deal with him. I don't have to care about keeping your identities safe for the tournament anymore, so I have lots of information to trade. If I can avoid having Jimmy grill you kids, I will. If not, keep your damn mouths shut. You don't have a rap sheet like I do, so don't screw your chances to get out of here. In exchange for what I know, I will make sure they'll let you go with a slap on the wrist or something in that range."
Mercury and Emerald's jaws dropped at Roman's proposed plan, as it was insanely generous, and not something he would normally do. There had to be some kind of catch.
"Why are you doing this for us?" demanded the green-haired thief. "Why take the fall for us?"
"Because I'm such a nice guy" Roman replied, dripping in sarcasm. "I'm not doing this without expecting something in return. If I succeed in making a deal with Jimmy, then I want you two to do something for me. When they let you go, I want you to take Neo with you."
This took the pair by surprise, but what surprised them even more, was Neo's immediate reaction. She desperately clutched onto Roman's arm, completely panic-stricken, before she feverously began speaking to him in sign language.
"Neo wait–Neo, please listen to me–Neo!" Roman tried to calm the girl, but quickly knew he couldn't with words, making him catch her hands and clasping his around them. "Neo, you can't stay here with me. I don't know when I'll get out, if ever. And you can't manage the gang on your own, so don't think about causing trouble or plan some kind of crazy rescue attempt. You'll be safe with these two."
Neo began to breathe quickly in short breaths, obviously panicking at the prospect of being separated from her father again. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, causing Roman to bring his left hand up to her right cheek.
"Neo" he began again, softening his tone and expression greatly. "I love you, and I'm not going to let your freedom be taken away again. I promised that I would protect you for as long as I could, even if it kills me, and I'm not gonna stop now. I won't let you waste away in here with me if there's a chance to get you out. Promise me you'll go with them if I can get you three freed." A tear fell from Neo's right eye which Roman wiped away with his thumb. "Promise me?"
The mute girl reluctantly nodded before burying her face into her father's chest, and cried quietly. Roman instinctively wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm, or at least make her feel safe.
The other two inmates had watched and listened in a silence that even a graveyard would have trouble competing against. It was such an alien situation that it bordered on the awkward for them, as their upbringing had forced them to dampen if not straight up quash any need for tact. Now, they were in very much need of it, and honestly felt they were at a complete and utter loss. What in Remnant could they do or say in this state of affairs? Mercury treated things with a dark sense of humour nearing cruelty at times, and Emerald was simply annoyed whenever people were happy. Instead, all they could do was sit there and watch uncomfortably; as if their jail cell needed any more help in feeling like a cage.
After a few moments, Roman finally turned to look at them, his softened expression returning to a dead serious one.
"So, do I have your word you'll look after her if I can get you out of here?" he asked. The look he gave them was a piercing one; a combination of demanding to get what he wanted, and desperation of wanting to protect Neo, born from the reality that this was his only way to insure her safety.
Emerald was somewhat paralyzed by the plan. Of course she wanted to be free, but given that she no longer knew what she would do without Cinder leading, she felt as if she would just be delaying the inevitable. Mercury on the other hand, was almost looking through Roman, taking in both him and his fear-stricken daughter. In his mind he could hear the echoes of his past; shattering glass, vulgar shouting, the stench of alcohol, and the never ending pain. Unbeknownst to Mercury, his right hand began to slowly rub his thigh, massaging away a phantom pain.
"I swear nothing will happen to her" he answered. "You have my word."
The two men locked eyes for a moment, as Roman was reading him to be made certain that the boy was telling the truth. When he was satisfied, he nodded, causing Neo to look first at her father, and then to Mercury.
"Thank you. Now, when you get out, try to see if my men will help you. If they can smuggle you out, all the better. If not, then you'll need cash and ammo. I have a secret stockpile in my office. Neo knows where it is and how to open it. Take as much money and whatever else you think you'll need, and get out of the capital; and out of the Kingdom if possible" Roman instructed.
"And where would we go?" asked Emerald helplessly. "What will we do when we get there?"
"Thanks to this little quagmire we've gotten ourselves in, you don't have many options. Since you technically worked for me, and Neo certainly has, you can't stay in Albion or even Vale. Since you worked for Cinder, you can't go to Mistral, and since we teamed up with the White Fang, you really can't go to either Mistral or Atlas; and unless you're really good at costumes and make-up, you can't go to Menagerie. The only place left is Vacuo. All they care about over there is are you strong and can you pull your own weight when shit hits the sand? You're all tough enough that you'll do just fine there. Either hoof it on foot from town to town heading south, or catch a ship west to the capital, Paraíso. The rest is up to you."
The cell fell quiet again. It was certainly a plan, but it would only matter if Roman succeeded in convincing the Huntmaster-General they should be released from his custody.
"Do you even have enough valuable information to make such a trade?" Emerald asked.
The gangster smirked. "That's the nature of this way of life; trust no one. Just because Cinder threatened to kill Neo, didn't stop me from doing some, shall we say, long range dirt gathering."
Emerald paused for a few moments more, before asking one final question.
"Will we see you again?"
Roman gave her a toothy grin. "Miss me already, kid?"
"Ya right!" she sneered, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "I-I don't like being indebted to people."
Roman relaxed his grin to a small softer smirk.
"You just worry about keeping Neo safe. That's good enough for me."
With that being settled, the brig fell completely into silence.
λΛλ
The match between Sun and Diego began with an explosion of energy. Sun drew Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang and joined them into staff form as he charged the Fox Faunus, planning to take full advantage of his greater reach. Diego seemed not to have any concern regarding this, and closed the distance between them, aiming a powerful thrust at the blond's chest. Sun blocked the attack, knocking the blade to the left, and tried to hit Diego in the head, which the swordsmen avoided with a careful sidestep, and riposted with a sharp flick, cutting off a lock of hair. This caused a blinding whirlwind of attacks from the Faunus, showing that Diego's Master's Mark was not for show, and that Sun was a match for him. He was forced to divide his staff back into nunchaku however, as his opponent displayed incredible speed with his rapier, and he needed to give himself the advantage. He had misjudged Diego's abilities, for the combination of his full extension of his arms and fast footwork, the advantage of wielding a polearm against a sword, had quickly evaporated. Thankfully he had the bonus of his weapon becoming two, which he was now planning to counter his opponent's speed with an attack that he couldn't block. However, Sun was aware than the senior student also had a parrying dagger, and was expecting him to draw it before long.
Now with his nunchaku, the flurry of strikes increased in intensity, becoming a dance of death even more spectacular than Pyrrha and René's. They whirled around the arena, not pausing as they did, as neither willing to succumb to the other's pressure. Sun had been right to utilize a duel-wield strategy, though while it did force Diego to exert more energy to keep pace, he didn't seem to be tiring any faster. In fact, his speed and precision had forced Sun to keep pace with him, as the tip of his blade would periodically slip through the small gaps in Sun's defences. Thankfully, Sun's flexibility and balance allowed him to avoid the attacks he couldn't block or parry, all without breaking the flow of combat.
Needing to find a way to break through Diego's defences, Sun decided to give the Fox Faunus something he couldn't block with fancy swordplay. Making use of the momentum of the twirling of his nunchaku, he spun-cocked one of them and fired a blast which Diego barely managed to avoid. This had caught the Mistralese off guard, but it didn't shake his resolve, and made sure that his blocks and parries kept the barrels of Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang from facing him. Sun had expected for him to remain mostly unfazed, for Sun's true plan was to distract his opponent just enough to land a proper hit. Forcing Diego to avoid another shotgun blast, he wrapped the chain of one of his nunchaku around the blade of the rapier, and yanked open the Fox Faunus' guard. He was about to strike with his free nunchaku, when Diego suddenly twisted his sword, causing the top of the guard at the ricasso, to open like a flower, and revealed four short shotgun barrels. Sun realized them at the last possible second, and broke away from the swordsman, avoiding the shower of shot that emerged from all four hidden muzzles.
"Well, Pyrrha wasn't kidding that you're sneaky when you need to be" Sun remarked. "A gun hidden in the sword? A little dishonourable for a swordsman, wouldn't you say?"
"The pot calls the kettle black" laughed Diego, ejecting the spent shells and closing the guard. "You were the one who decided to use the shotguns within your staff, so I simply replied in kind. However, if you wish to keep firearms out of the match, I wouldn't mind obliging."
"Fair enough" the blond agreed, flourishing Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang. "Round two?"
"Let's" the rapierist nodded, performing a sword flourish of his own, and took a stance with his right foot forward, his rapier held in Fool's Guard, and his right hand holding his scabbard.
Sun paused for a moment, before jolting forward to resume the fight, when he noticed Diego at last reach and grasp his parrying dagger. He assumed that he was going to duel-wield, but was surprised to see him reel back, as if he was going to throw it at him. A rather odd decision, however Sun raised Ruyi Bang to deflect it, as a dagger was far easier to deal with than bullets. Unfortunately for the blond Vacuan, this was a trap set by his opponent, for Diego had no intention of throwing his weapon. When he snapped his arm forward, he didn't release his grip on the dagger, but something long and black flew at Sun and struck the nunchaku he had brought up to defend himself with. Sun looked down in shock, and saw that a long black vine with inch long black thorns had emerged from the blade of the parrying dagger, and wrapped itself around Ruyi Bang. With a fast but hard jerk, Diego wrenched the weapon from Sun's hand, and planted his rapier into the tile before him to catch his prize, and swiftly tucked it into his belt.
"Damn sneaky is right" Sun sneered, not happy in the slightest that his weapon had been taken. "Just how many more do you have up your sleeves?"
"Well..." grinned Diego, pulling his sword from the ground before cracking his thorn whip to send the message home, "you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"
The Monkey Faunus wiped his nose before performing a full nunchaku kata with Jingu Bang. Passing between each hand before taking a stance with one monouchi (shaft) under his right armpit, and gripped the top of the second with his right hand. His left hand was held low with his left foot forward and his right foot back.
"Let's play" he taunted, beckoning his opponent with his left hand.
Diego grinned and dashed forward, and unleashed a fury of lightning sword strikes, which Sun parried with a storm of nunchaku swings. It was now Sun's turn to keep pace, though it wasn't an impossible endeavour, as his fighting style with the weapon gave him better defensive options than one would think. Nonetheless, he did have to push himself to keep the Mistralese from landing his attacks, leaving the blond few opportunities to riposte. The match was going to go very poorly for Sun if he didn't find a way to level the playing field by either taking Ruyi Bang back or disarming Diego. Unfortunately for the blond, his opponent wasn't going to allow him to retake the pace. The Fox Faunus took him by surprise by punching him in the face with his left hand, still gripping his parrying dagger which had reverted from its whip form, before spinning it into a reverse grip, and catching the chain of Jingu Bang with the forward curving quillons. He then spun and kicked Sun in the chest, sending him flying and crashing onto his back, before rolling with the momentum and resting in a crouching position, his left hand against the ground for support.
"Sun Wukong has been fully disarmed by Diego Iglesias!" announced Port, causing the Mistralese in the audience to cheer.
The students in the Beacon reserved section leaned forward in their seats, seeing how quickly the tide of battle had turned against their friend. Team SSSN stared in worry, knowing that against this particular opponent, their captain was not in shape to fight in hand to hand combat. Blake began to fret, for while Sun wasn't being thrown around like a dog toy as he had been in his previous match, going up against a master swordsman without his staff, gave her little comfort. Pyrrha was somewhere in the middle in regards to being concerned, for obvious reasons. Diego was far more precise than Ian was, so there was no fear in him severely hurting Sun as the Grizzly Faunus nearly had. Furthermore, she knew that the master swordsman would throw the match to keep in line with Huntmaster Ozpin's plans. The only question was would Sun do something drastic that could cause an accident; however unlikely that would occur. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel pity for the blond, as he had undergone two hard matches where the outcome was predetermined, and he was giving it his all, believing he was pulling through. How frustrated would he be once he learned the truth, as undoubtedly Sun would be told sooner or later. Pyrrha could only speak for herself, and it would be beyond humiliating. The question now, was what would Sun do now that he no longer had his polearm?
In the arena, Sun rose to his feet, cursing himself for letting go of Jingu Bang, and he glared at Diego in annoyance as he watched him tuck it into his belt beside Ruyi Bang.
'This match is going to be an even bigger pain in the ass than the last one' he thought. 'First things first, I need to get Ruyi Bang and Jingu bang back. He's not gonna let me get close, so I'll have to move fast.'
At the very moment he was having these thoughts, Diego reeled back once again, and cracked his thorn whip. The black vine flew towards Sun, who back flipped away, and did so twice more, as the Fox Faunus swiped a second and third time.
'Just how much reach does he have with that thing?' the blond thought in bewilderment. The thorn whip had extended three times longer than the length of a real bullwhip, a shocking sixty feet, and Diego had shown he was accurate with it as well. It reminded Sun of a festival performer who would snuff candles with a whip without breaking the candles or knocking over the candelabras. He certainly seemed to have more tricks in his bag than the average street performer, though what more he had, remained to be seen. 'OK; time to move really fast.'
Sun sprinted towards Diego, zigzagging and flipping to avoid the whip strikes. They hit with such force that they broke the tiles that had just been beneath his feet, showing they would do far more than sting if they landed. The blond Faunus decided to gamble when he was close enough to attack, and with a bound, leapt over the whip, pushed off the ground with his hands, sending himself into a flying drop kick. Diego merely pivoted his body, allowing Sun to soar past him, before whipping him across the back for good measure. Sun cursed in pain, as he felt the whip sting his back, as it had struck beneath his jacket onto his bare skin. He spun round to face his opponent, and threw his head to the left just in time to avoid another strike. However, just as he was about to jump away, the whip came back the way it came, and this time run against his cheek. Sun hissed as he felt the thorns dig into his flesh, and he put as much distance as he could before inspecting the damage. He touched the wound, and thankfully it wasn't deep, but it had cut through his Aura armour, and he was bleeding.
"That's got to hurt more than any cat-o'-nine-tails" Neptune remarked, wincing at the realization of his captain's injuries.
"He'll be cut to ribbons if he's not careful" added Scarlet.
Blake watched the now bloodied Vacuan with nauseous anxiety, as the match had now gone from bad to worse. Pyrrha too was now beginning to worry, as that last attack was done on purpose, and was not an accident on either Faunus' part. How far were her mentors going to go to sell their matches?
Sun on the other hand was more annoyed that he wasn't able to get close enough to land a hit or take back his weapons than getting scratched. He spat in frustration, wondering if there was something else he could do, or have to simply try again until he succeeded; damage be damned. Diego wasn't chasing him down, so at the very least he could think for a moment. Yet again, his opponent was content with standing still, and he swung his whip once more, this time in a wider arc going right to left. Sun flinched for a second, but didn't move, as he knew that he couldn't be reached from that far away, as he was beyond the sixty foot limit.
'Is he just trying to scare...' he began to think, until he realized what was happening, and he threw himself flat against the arena. There were then the sounds of multiple foreign objects striking the shields that protected the crowd from shrapnel, and many were confused at what had just happened.
"What was that?" asked Nora, as she was unable to identify what Diego had thrown at Sun.
"Something came out of the whip" Ren remarked, though he wasn't sure what.
"Thorns" said Pyrrha slowly, causing the others to look at her.
"Thorns?" echoed Jaune.
"Diego's parrying dagger, Rey de Espinas Negras, King of Black Thorns, can not only turn into a whip, but can fire its thorns as projectiles" she explained. "That complements his sword, Reina de Rosas Rojas, Queen of Red Roses, which you all saw had a secret shotgun mechanism hidden in its guard; a secret flower ready to bloom."
The others grimaced slightly, realizing Sun's odds of victory had dropped even further, as even if he kept his distance, there was nowhere to hide. He needed to fight; plan or no.
"Well..." Ruby said finally, rather sheepishly. "The names are nice at least..."
If Sun had heard this comment, he would have glared at her, as he was not amused in the least to learn that his opponent had indeed more tricks up his sleeves.
"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me" he growled aloud, knowing now keeping his distance was pointless.
"I hope I haven't entirely discouraged you, amigo" Diego called, grinning away.
"No; just pissing me off."
The Fox Faunus laughed. "Forgive me, I'm merely doing my best to defeat you, a first-year, in the most definitive way possible. Having your weapon taken from you in battle is disastrous; so how are you going to deal with the situation you now find yourself in?"
That was a good question. Without his staff, and with very little armour, Sun had no way to defend himself against Diego's thorn whip, or his mighty sword; if he even got close enough to render that whip useless. All he had left at his disposal, was his Semblance. He could try to overwhelm Diego with his Aura clones for him to reclaim Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, if not land a solid hit or two on him. However, the reality was that it would be a waste of Aura, as Sun had to presume that Diego was very aware of his abilities. He would expect him to use it, now that he had no weapon, and given the swordsman's speed and skill, he would destroy the clones before they could prove any use. It would be the smarter plan to use his Aura to armour himself, as Rey de Espinas Negras had proven it could dig into him if he didn't use more Aura.
Sun took a deep breath to steady himself, exhaling through his mouth. This was going to hurt. The blond raised his right foot and slammed it behind him, breaking the tile below, and he retook his previous stance, this time with his right hand raised to eyelevel with his palm facing away from his head, and his left hand more to his waist, palm pointed to the ground, slightly to the left. This surprised all except for the rest of Team SSSN, who knew that Sun was far from harmless without a weapon. Diego examined his younger opponent carefully, wondering what exactly he was planning to do. Was he really going to fight him barehanded when he could be using his clones?
The Mistralese quickly got his answer as Sun ran towards him yet again, eyes locked onto his opponent. Diego cracked his whip, vertically this time, firing black thorns at the blond, who side stepped to the left, and avoided the projectiles. The whip was cracked again several more times, trying to land strikes instead of firing the thorns, and Diego was surprised to see Sun was parrying away his whip attacks. Sun was aiming for him, and he wasn't going to play any tricks of his own or employ any form of complex strategy; just barrel through. The Fox Faunus inwardly sighed, expecting more from the boy, and now wondered how he was going to throw the match believably.
'I'll give him a few more scratches, and when he rushes me again, I'll let him get past my defenses and hit me' he thought, now working on his new plan.
He reeled back once again, and cracked the whip directly at Sun, aiming for the base of his shoulder where it connected to his collar bone. To his surprise, Sun this time blocked the attack rather than deflect it, which gave Diego the chance to wrap the vine around the blond's forearm. He planned to pull Sun towards him, as he could give him a thump on the head before letting him regain the advantage. So he naturally tightened his grip on the hilt of the dagger, and pulled.
To his astonishment, it felt as if he were pulling on a mountain, as Sun could not be budged. Diego looked up at him and saw that Sun had dug in his heels, and held his left arm up, showing that the thorns had sunk into his skin. His vambraces only managed to protect half of his forearms, leaving the inside of his arm only covered in fabric, unable to offer enough of a defense. He was bleeding, but Sun didn't care, as this was exactly what he wanted. He grinned and gripped the whip with his other hand.
"My turn" he said, and with a great heave, pulled Diego towards him, lifting him clean off his feet.
This was what Sun had been waiting for, as not only was he able to close the distance between himself and Diego without having to get to him, but he was also close enough so that his opponent couldn't react fast enough to avoid his attack. That attack was Sun kicking Diego in the gut with all his might, sending him flying and barely able to recover in mid air, landing in a less than graceful crouch. This sudden upset got the Vacuans in the crowd to cheer, seeing that their final combatant was not out of the tournament just yet. Team SSSN cheered eagerly, excited to see their captain take control, as was Blake, who breathed a sigh of relief when she saw what else Sun had done.
Diego looked up at Sun as he assessed the damage. The wind had been slightly knocked out of him, the cuirass doing its job, and he thankfully would have nothing more than a light bruise when the match was over. He of course took the opportunity to make it look like it he had taken a much harder hit, slowly rising to his feet and holding his abdomen.
"Not bad, amigo" he said with false strain. "I thought you lost your head and were just going to bang it against the problem. Shame on me."
"Sometimes doing what's expected is unexpected, and you get better results for your effort" Sun replied with a proud grin. "Oh, and thanks for holding on to these" he added, lifting his tail to reveal he had swiped Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang from Diego's belt.
The swordsman's eyes widened in genuine shock, entirely unaware that he had been pick-pocketed. It appeared that Sun was not as disappointing as he first suspected. Sun reformed his nunchakus into a staff with a windmill flourish, and did a multiple single-handed reverse figure eight flourish, before resting the staff against his back, passing under his right arm. He held out his right left hand and taunted once more, beckoning Diego to recommence the match.
'Chico engreídos (Cocky kid)' Diego thought, though liking that about him. He performed several impressive sword flourishes of his own, before resting in a Heredia stance; an upright posture with his right foot forward and his leg held straight, his left foot pointed leftward at a 45° angle, his rapier pointed at Sun with a slight incline, and his left hand held up to the centre of his chest, fingers kept together and pointing.
There was a pregnant pause for a few moments, before the master swordsman dashed towards Sun, who sprang forward a hair later. Their weapons clashed in an even more intense fury of strikes, their aggressiveness increasing by the second. Now that they had both taken damage, the fight had truly begun, and they could feel each other's excitement build. Sun was now including kicks in his assault, passing his staff to his tail to hold as he flipped onto his hands to spin on his palms, giving his kicks even greater momentum. This new fighting style was beginning to bear fruit, as Sun's attacks landed onto Diego's unprotected arms and legs. Too close to use Rey de Espinas Negras, Diego reverted it back to a parrying dagger, despite Sun not separating his staff to duel-wield. He decided to use his dagger to distract his opponent, as much as he would attack with it.
Diego then thrust with Reina de Rosas Rojas, which Sun avoided by leaning backward to the point that it looked like he was about to fall onto is back. To Diego's surprise, the blond did not fall, and seemed to be supporting himself with his feet flat on the ground. From the angle the Fox Faunus was gazing from, he couldn't see that Sun had used his tail to keep him from falling, and was now pushing him back up, allowing Sun to swing his staff in an upper-cut motion, striking his opponent beneath the chin. Diego's head snapped backward, his hat nearly falling off his head as he stumbled, taking real damage from the attack. Sun wasted no time in taking full advantage of the successful strike, and drove his staff into the ground. He then spun around the staff as a trapeze artist would, using the momentum from the spinning to send himself flying at his opponent, kicking him with both feet, and sending him hurtling through the air. Sun then let himself fall forward to land on his hands beneath Diego, before pushing off the ground to kick the Fox Faunus into the air with another double-footed kick.
Sun wasn't done however, for at that moment he activated Yīqiān Gè Lièrì, and unleashed three golden clones after the swordsman; one jumping off his back into the sky, and the other two dashing beneath the black clad Mistralese. The first clone dropped from the sky, kicking him in the gut once again, and sending him flying back to earth. Below stood the second clone, who unleashed a powerful high kick that went directly above his head, and collided with Diego's back, sending him back into the air. This allowed the last clone to jump above him, grab him by the shirt, and while doing a front flip, used the momentum to toss Diego out of the arena, ensuring a win by ring-out. Indeed, the swordsman flew out of the arena and crashed against the wall, before falling to the ground in a heap. His hat had fallen off during the throw, and was now tumbling to the ground, which one of Sun's clones caught. Before the clone disappeared, it tossed the sombrero like a Frisbee to Diego, landing by his side.
"Diego Iglesias has been thrown out of the ring and appears to be unconscious!" announced Oobleck. "The winner is Sun Wukong of Haven!"
The crowd exploded in cheers of victory and cries of defeat, with the Vacuans rising above it all with great enthusiasm. Sun threw his fists to the sky in triumph, with the crowd joining him, making sure to give them the same attention they had given him. The rest of his team, along with their Beaconite friends, also joined in the celebration, with Blake looking especially relieved. As the crowd clapped and hollered, Sun looked over at the supposedly unconscious Fox Faunus as he pulled Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang out of the tiles. He noticed the medics were making their way towards his downed opponent, and was about to return to the others, but felt compelled to speak.
"You were more annoying to fight than your teammate, I'll be honest" he said, attaching his weapon to his belt at the base of his back. "But, no hard feelings. Adios."
With that, he gave the older Faunus a salute, despite knowing that he could neither hear nor see him, before turning and heading towards the Vacuo arena entrance. When he returned to the reserved seating, making sure to wash off the blood in the locker-room before doing so, he eagerly took his seat and high-fived his teammates.
"One step closer to beating Nikos and winning this thing!" he said, pointing at the redhead.
"Not if I get to her first" interjected Yang. "And wow, so much for that Master's Mark."
"Master's what?" asked Sun.
"Weiss was drooling over Diego's broach because it meant that he was a master swordsman or whatever. A whole lotta good it did him since you essentially beat him nearly barehanded."
"Sun isn't a swordsman, so Master Iglesias had no reason to fight him as such!" defended the heiress, folding her arms crossly. "Furthermore, a master certainly knows better than to fight with full strength against a young amateur!"
"Whatever you say, Ice Queen" the blonds remarked in unison, causing them to look at one another and grin, fist-bumping approvingly. Weiss' cheeks tinted pink as she pouted in embarrassment, receiving a comforting hand on the shoulder from Neptune.
Pyrrha smiled apologetically at her as well, knowing the truth of the matter, and knew that Diego's pride had taken a far worse beating for throwing the match. The man had trained with swords ever since he could walk, or so he claimed, and nothing meant more to him than becoming a master, as it would set him on the final leg of his true goal which was to be the best in the world. If Sun had been an enemy, Diego could have killed him in the blink of an eye.
Sun seated himself once again beside Blake, who was looking at the cut on his cheek, as well as the blood stains on his clothes.
"Are you OK?" she asked. "You got cut up pretty badly."
"Nothing more than a few scratches" he replied with a grin. "They'll heal pretty quickly, and the blood will come out in the wash tonight. Worried about me?"
"Kind of hard not to, given your previous matches" Blake replied, her cheeks turning pink. "First you get thrown around by a giant, then you fight a master swordsman. Why do you always seem to find trouble?"
"I like to think that trouble finds me. Either way, I always find a way to work things out; and make the most of it. Were you that worried about me?"
"O-Of course I was. Someone has to since your team's been weirdly calm."
Sun's grin widened, deepening her blush.
"The boys know how I fight, so don't think they don't care are about me. Thanks, beautiful."
Blake felt the genuineness of his gratitude in his words as well as his smile, though it was the playful gentleness in his eyes that caused her heart to skip a beat. Once again his softer side came through his cockiness to take her by surprise, and it was becoming harder to hide how much she liked it.
"Right then" Yang began, clapping her hands together. "Who's next up do you think?"
"With how this tournament has been structured, I haven't a clue" admitted Weiss.
"Your uncle might know right? Why don't you text him?" offered Nora.
"Cuz even if I knew, I wouldn't tell ya" Qrow answered from behind, leaning up against the wall as he did the last time he paid them a visit.
"And he ignores his Scroll" Ruby scolded, squinting at him. "Where were you this morning?"
Qrow chuckled at his niece's rather adorable attempt at acting like an adult.
"Taking care of some pests" he said, causing all but Pyrrha to look at him in confusion. "Ratting, if you must know."
"With dogs and horses?" asked Jaune, though not truly being serious with his question.
"Something like that, yeah."
This only caused more confusion amongst the Huntsmen-in-training, which brought the former teacher much amusement.
"Anyways, if you want to know who's fighting next, ya might want to look at the holoscreen."
They all turned their heads back to the arena, just as the digital roulette wheel began to spin, and after a couple of moments, began to slow onto two combatants.
"And the next match will be between Pyrrha Nikos of Team JNPR and Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY of Beacon!" announced Professor Port.
"Finally!" shouted the aforementioned blonde, jumping to her feet with glee, and began to point at Pyrrha. "I told you I'd see you in Top Eight! Get in the ring so I can kick your ass!" Without even giving the Champion of Mistral time to respond, she marched past her teammates, high-fiving them as she passed, and was about to disappear into the exit, when she was suddenly jerked backward by Qrow who grabbed her by the back of her jacket. "The Hell?!"
"Hold your horses, firecracker" he told her. "Your cool and wise uncle is about to give you some sage advice."
"Oh yeah? Such as?"
Qrow placed his left hand on her shoulder and leaned forward so he was looking her in the eye.
"I put money on you winning this thing, so don't eat it, OK?"
Yang stood glacially still as she looked back at him unblinkingly.
"That's it?" she asked.
"Yup. That's it."
"...So I'm gonna lose because you've secretly infected me with your bad luck?"
"Don't blame me for your lack of skill, brat. I'm just worried about my money. Win or else."
"Or else what?"
"I'll key your bike."
Yang's eyes went wide, and she angrily pressed her forehead against Qrow's.
"You touch Inferno, and I will kick your ass off the continent" she threatened.
"If ya can't beat Nikos, then what chance do ya have against me?" he rightly pointed out, grinning at her bullheaded nature.
"Watch me!"
"Ready when you are."
"Um...I'm sorry but..." came Pyrrha's voice, revealing that she was standing before the bickering Branwens, causing them to look at her, "we do have a fight to attend. We shouldn't delay the tournament any further."
Qrow straightened and adjusted his shirt.
"Exactly. Save your fire for the match. Get going" he instructed, jerking his head towards the stairway. His niece "humphed" through her nose before turning and walked to the stairs, descending to the all too familiar route to the arena.
Qrow's eyes then rested onto Pyrrha, and they looked at one another in a silence that felt deafening. The young woman desperately wanted to ask him what has going on, and now seemed like it would be her only chance until the completion of the tournament. And yet, the words lodged themselves in her throat. Perhaps focusing on the tournament was the better option than to pester him with questions once again, given their previous interaction. She bowed politely, and was about to walk past him, when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks, kid" he said genuinely.
Pyrrha blinked in confusion, and looked up at him to see he had a softer expression on his face.
"I'm...sorry?" she asked.
"Amber's assailant and her lackeys have been captured, and their plot's been stopped. Ironwood's army is mopping up what resistance remains, if they haven't finished already. The threat is over, and we're in your debt. Have fun out there."
The redhead looked back at him in shock, rendered completely speechless as she felt all the weight that had been placed on her heart, soar away. Recovering quickly she bowed deeply, before hastily making her way to the stairway, and disappeared below. Qrow watched her leave, and couldn't suppress a smirk.
"Miss Nikos needs your presence far more than Miss Schnee" he said to himself. "You always know best, don't you, Oz?"
Beneath the Coliseum, Pyrrha made her way briskly to the locker area, and when she entered it, was surprised to find Yang was still there; leaning against the wall with her arms folded.
"There you are" she said, pushing off the wall, and allowing her hands to drop to her hips.
"You waited for me? You didn't need to" Pyrrha remarked.
"We're friends and classmates. We should go out there together" the blond replied. "You know, sportsmanlike and stuff. You ready?"
Pyrrha looked at the blonde for a moment, before smiling eagerly.
"Absolutely" she replied, and walked in step with her opponent into the sun.
As they walked, their friends watched them with anxious anticipation. For the first time that tournament, their friends were facing one another, which left them feeling the same uneasiness they had felt when it seemed that Neptune might have to fight Weiss in the Doubles Round. Of course there had been the match between Pyrrha and Penny, but that had only been nerve-racking for Ruby, as she was closest to Penny. This time, it was her sister going up against her friend, one who had been nothing but sweet and kind to her since they first met. That unease was shared near equally with the others, though much less with Teams SSSN and CFVY, as while they wanted their respective teammate to win, it would come at the cost of a friend being eliminated from the tournament. Yang and Pyrrha knew this of course, and had made peace with it, for they knew that their friendship wouldn't be ruined by a mere tournament loss. Neither were so petty, and it would be a learning experience for both of them, if nothing else.
Nonetheless, Jaune felt some guilt in his heart, for he knew that the outcome of the match was determined before it even began. His assessment of Yang's abilities had proven true thus far, and he knew Pyrrha's well enough that she had the victory in the bag. He just hoped that Yang wouldn't be too hurt by the result; physically or emotionally. He glanced over to Team RWBY, and saw their nervousness, especially Ruby's, which added to his guilt. Unable to stop himself, he reached over and placed a hand on the younger Xiao Long sister's shoulder, pulling her out of her trance. She looked at him confused, and the blond did his best to give her a comforting and reassuring smile.
"It's just a friendly tournament" he said gently, trying to bring out his big brother aura that he usually used with his younger sisters. "They know it, and you don't see them complaining. However it turns out, we'll all laugh about it later. We'll be cheering for Pyrrha, so make sure you cheer just as loudly for Yang, OK?"
Ruby looked at him for a moment, before a slightly playful smile grew on her face.
"We'll cheer even louder" she replied, causing Jaune to chuckle, getting the exact reaction out of her that he wanted.
"Good luck. Nora can out yell anyone."
Nora grinned at this, and inhaled deeply as Ren placed his fingers in his ears.
"Kick her ass, Pyrrha!" she bellowed, causing not only the others to jump, but several of the rows behind them. Of course Yang and Pyrrha heard the ginger, and looked over to her from their starting positions, smirking at her enthusiasm.
"She's loud as ever" the blonde remarked, folding her arms.
"Yes she is" giggled Pyrrha. "I wouldn't change a thing about her."
"Me too. I guess we'll know when she and Ren finally hook up because of it."
Pyrrha's cheeks turned red from the implication, though she couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping her lips.
"W-Well...I suppose that is true, though I'd rather not stumble across them in process of c-consummating their love, nor overhear it. I love them, and I want them to love each other openly, but not that openly."
Yang smirked. "And I love how you dance around the topic of sex."
Pyrrha's face reddened further, causing Yang to laugh as Professor Port's voice came over the Coliseum speakers.
"Fighters ready?" he said, inciting Pyrrha to draw Akoúo and Miló, and Yang to activate Ember Celica as she took an orthodox boxing stance. "Three...two...one...BEGIN!"
Yang bolted towards Pyrrha, reeling back as she jumped at her, and threw a heavy punch. The redhead blocked the attack with her shield, and maintained her defenses as Yang fired two shots, one from each gauntlet, keeping Pyrrha at bay for Yang to return to the ground and attack again. She sent a spinning back kick with her right leg, which Pyrrha blocked and was pushed back slightly, allowing the blonde to attack again, sending punch after punch. Pyrrha blocked them all of course, and when she saw a slight pause in Yang's assault, she took advantage of it by knocking her opponent with a shield bash, and attacked with a sharp trust. Yang managed to block the strike with her left gauntlet, before ducking just in time under a reverse spinning back kick. She then countered with a high kick of her own, which Pyrrha avoided by performing a back flip, landing on her feet, and seeing that the blond was not on sturdy footing, dashing forward and struck her in the gut with the edge of Akoúo. Yang winced as she felt the wind be nearly knocked out of her, but was glad nonetheless that Pyrrha wasn't holding back, and punishing accordingly. She looked up at her opponent, and saw her perform a sword flourish, transforming Miló from xiphos form to javelin form, and held it in her usual High Guard, ready for the next bout. Yang retook her stance, and stared down the redhead eagerly, ready to pay her back in full.
After a momentary pause, they resumed, launching into a flurry of attacks, as well as blocks and dodges. However, unlike the previous match with Pyrrha against her mentors, this wasn't an even match. Pyrrha kept slipping through Yang's guard, which she didn't keep up as much as she should, landing knee strikes and javelin hits with regularity. What the more observant of their friends noticed, was that Pyrrha's edge alignment was terrible, striking with the flat of the javelin head when she wasn't hitting with the end of the shaft. This of course was very perplexing, as someone as skilled as Pyrrha, would have perfected her edge alignment long ago, especially given that her form wasn't the cause of the incorrect strikes. The only explanation was that Pyrrha was purposefully hitting with the blunt edges of her weapon to avoid cutting or piercing Yang. It very well could be that the champion was being merciful out of friendship, though not so merciful to not hit her at every opportunity.
Yang was beginning to feel the pressure, as she had yet to land a single hit on Pyrrha. Any attack that wasn't blocked by her shield, was cleanly avoided with concise dodging, never wasting energy nor moving in excess than what was required. Pyrrha was a true professional athlete, and she wasn't giving Yang a reprieve despite being classmates and friends. She did appreciate that, but it was getting under her skin that she hadn't landed one hit yet. Trying to open her up, Yang unleashed a barrage of shots from Ember Celica, before aiming a roundhouse kick at her head. Pyrrha ducked under the kick and spun close to the ground counter-clockwise, and connected the flat of Miló's head with the inside of Akoúo with her Semblance. She gripped the base of her javelin with both hands, and with a heavy baseball swing, struck Yang with the face of her shield, sending her flying a dozen yards or so. The blonde crashed onto her back before rolling onto her front, and the crowd winced, uncertain if she was conscious or not. It only took a few moments for Yang to stir, pushing herself onto her knees, and looked up at Pyrrha, who had separated her arms, and retook her fighting stance. She gritted her teeth in frustration, as Pyrrha appeared completely unfazed and not winded in the slightest. Her temper began to burn, and seeing no reason to hold back any longer, rose to her feet, raising her arms into the air, crossing them, before snapping them back, and activated her Semblance, Solar Throttle. Her eyes burned red as her hair turned into a roaring fire, similar to that of a solar flare.
"Here we go" said Qrow, scratching his chin.
"At least she didn't pop it at the start" remarked Ruby with a sigh.
"She got thrashed throughout that entire exchange" added Blake, seeing just how well Pyrrha had dominated from the beginning of the match.
"She is doing better temperament wise" Weiss pointed out, as their previous match together had devolved into a storm of expletives.
"Give it time" Qrow muttered, getting a small laugh from his niece.
Firing Ember Celica behind her, Yang hurled towards Pyrrha, front flipping at the last moment to bring her right heel down into an axe kick. Pyrrha blocked it of course, but instantly felt the power of the attack, and her knees bent with the tiles beneath her feet cracking from the pressure. The champion could tell Yang's physical strength had increased greatly, and going forward, her strength would increase with every hit she received. There had to be a limit to this of course, though she had no idea what that limit was. Some cautious experimentation was required as she looked up at her opponent's burning eyes. There was rage within them, there was no question of that, though strangely, there wasn't a hint of malice. Pyrrha hoped it would remain that way after winning the match.
They continued to fight with Pyrrha landing a number of hits, though fewer than she had been able to beforehand. As she expected however, Yang was making wilder swings at her, abandoning her usual form, wanting to do nothing else but hit her opponent. The arena was being chewed up by her punches, kicks, and shots, but not a single hit had landed on her true target. The blonde's frustration grew, as she at the very least wanted to know how strong Pyrrha truly was by eating a fully powered punch. Of course, the Mistralese champion wouldn't give her opponent such an opportunity, nor did she want to be condescending and give one free hit.
As Pyrrha blocked another punch, she noticed that Yang's left foot had crossed to the right. Immediately the redhead knew that she was going to perform another spinning back kick, for instead of concealing it by pointing her heel backwards, she had mistakenly telegraphed it by moving her foot to the right to amplify the spin. Without hesitation, Pyrrha kicked Yang's thigh just above the back of her knee, causing her leg to give out and body to jerk back. This gave her another opening, and Pyrrha fired off a spinning back kick of her own, using the momentum of her first, and kicked Yang in the back. The blond was knocked off her feet, but managed not to fall to the ground when she landed two yards away, and she turned around to fight back. Before she could react, Pyrrha closed the distance between them and performed a flying headscissors takedown, jumping at her opponent and wrapping her legs around her head, spinning once before throwing Yang in a forward somersault. The blonde crashed onto the arena in an acute arc, breaking the tiles beneath her, as Pyrrha landed gracefully on her feet.
The crowd sounded off once again, as Yang looked up at Pyrrha with angry consternation. Her Semblance was able to absorb the hits she was taking, and her power was increasing with every one, but it meant squat if she couldn't land a hit on Pyrrha. The gulf between them couldn't actually be this wide, could it? As she stared at the redhead in frustration, Pyrrha eyed her back, pondering on what to do next. It was clear she had complete control of the match, and she felt guilty by how exasperated she was making her friend. Nonetheless, Pyrrha had every intention of winning this match, and wouldn't take on any undue risk or damage to make Yang feel it was a closer battle than it was. She decided that she wouldn't try to push Yang's Semblance to its breaking point by attacking her physically, but rather by circumventing the issue entirely. To the shock of all watching, Pyrrha sheathed Miló and attached Akoúo to her back.
"What is she doing?" asked Ren, looking to his captain.
"I...don't know" Jaune answered, honestly as bewildered as the others. That shock increased when he saw her raise both her fists so that the tips of her fingers were level with her eyebrows, hands partially open and relaxed with her left arm nearly fully extended and her right arm more chambered.
"She's gonna fight her hand to hand?" asked Nora. "Can she even do that?"
"She does know some martial arts, I think" the blond swordsman replied, though obviously sounding unsure on the matter. This was beyond confusing for him, as it was for his friends, though what caught the attention of some of them, Neptune in particular, was that the stance Pyrrha had taken, was the very same the blue-haired lieutenant had taken during his match against Allen.
"Don't do it" growled Qrow in a low voice, which those closest to him heard, and caused them to eye him curiously, for he had put money on his niece winning. Why would he be advising her opponent to not make an obvious mistake?
In the arena, Yang stared at Pyrrha in utter shock. Gritting her teeth, she punched the ground as she stood, breaking the ground beneath her.
"That's it..." she snarled, and like a bat out of Hell, barreled down onto her opponent.
Despite the apparent danger she was in, Pyrrha remained unmoved, and let Yang approach her, watching her reel back to throw a haymaker. With a roar, the blonde punched with all her might at the redhead's face. That was what Pyrrha was waiting for. At the last possible second, Pyrrha's left hand flew to Yang's extended right fist, and grabbed her wrist, spinning around as she grabbed the blonde's shoulder with her right. With all her might, Pyrrha pulled her opponent's arm into a forward shoulder throw, sending her into the air. As she turned away, Pyrrha activated her Semblance, controlling Ember Celica to give Yang's trajectory more of an arc so that she cleared the edge of the arena, falling out of bounds.
"Yang Xiao Long has been thrown out of the arena by a magnificent shoulder throw!" announced Port. "The winner by ring-out is Pyrrha Nikos!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, though it was clear that with two students from the same school had faced one another, it left the Valians a little conflicted. Nonetheless, the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the match, with the Mistralese happy to see their champion doing well, even if she now fought for a different Kingdom. In the stands, Team JNPR cheered in relief and joy, as Team RWBY collapsed in their seats. It was clear to them, perhaps from the beginning, that Pyrrha would win the match, and it was hoping against hope that Yang had a chance. Nevertheless, Team RWBY were disappointed that their teammate had lost, though grateful that her pride was most likely more injured than her body.
"I warned you..." muttered Qrow, which Jaune heard, and now realized the older Huntsman's words of caution were meant for Yang and not Pyrrha. He would know her tendencies better than anyone, which gave Jaune some validation, as he had made similar predictions at the beginning of the tournament.
In the arena, Yang rolled over onto her side, and she looked first up at the holoscreen displaying Pyrrha's victory, before her eyes rested on Pyrrha herself, who was now walking towards her with an apologetic smile. The blonde's eyes fell to the grass as she cursed herself. She began to feel a need to bargain, to justify that her loss wasn't legitimate, that if this had been a real fight she would have won. However, that desire quickly died, for she knew that if this had truly been a serious fight, Pyrrha would have won regardless. Her pride was wounded, not because she had been handled with kid's gloves, but rather that Pyrrha used the exact amount of force needed to win. In short, she wasn't worthy enough as an opponent for her to fight with her full strength. Yang was then brought out of her thoughts as the tips of the redhead's boots came into view, and she looked up at her.
"I'm sorry" Pyrrha said, softly and honestly. "Are you hurt?"
"My pride more than anything" Yang muttered, looking down once again.
"I'm–"
"Stop apologizing!" the blonde snapped. "You beat me because you're better. That's the end of it!"
Pyrrha recoiled slightly, not expecting her to react this way. She was hot headed, yes, and she wasn't the most gracious of losers generally speaking, but for her to lash out in such a manner was out of the ordinary. The tone in her voice was almost that of desperation, not bitterness or anger towards Pyrrha herself. Was there something else going on that she hadn't shared previously?
Yang tightened her fists, her frustration building.
"I needed to win this tournament. I have to prove to him that he didn't make a mistake by letting me and Ruby come here. I need to prove that I'm strong enough..."
The redhead looked at the blonde with softening eyes, believing that she knew who she meant by "him", and now understood her frustrations. Kneeing down, Pyrrha held out her hand to Yang, wishing to help while not wanting to pry.
"You did well, Yang. And you are strong. The entire point of the Huntsmen's academies it to train and grow, as we all have so much growing to do until we graduate. This is one of many times we will stumble, and we'll do it together, so that we can grow with each other. Better here than in the field, right?"
Yang remained quiet for a moment before replying.
"Yeah..." she said with a sigh, looking up at the extended hand, and took it, letting her friend pull her to her feet. It was clear that while Pyrrha's words did reach her, they hadn't eased her discouragement, which did leave the Mistralese champion feeling remorseful, as she did want to help her friends.
"I'm not mad at you" the blonde said suddenly. "If I'm mad at anyone, I'm mad at myself. I trained for this tournament, but it clearly wasn't enough. I know you were a pro athlete before you came here, and I shouldn't feel so pissed for going up against someone like you, but I hate losing. And for other reasons."
Pyrrha smiled and placed a hand on Yang's shoulder.
"No one likes losing, but we cannot get better if we do not fail first."
"Yeah I know."
The redhead paused before making her friend an offer.
"How about this, Yang? Starting with the new school year, you'll train with me and Nora, so that we can all get stronger."
Yang looked at her, pondering on the offer, before a smirk grew across her face.
"And take more time away from your boyfriend? You sure you want to do that?" she asked teasingly.
Pyrrha's cheeks began to turn pink, but she managed to give her a proper reply.
"I've managed a hectic schedule before. We can plan accordingly."
The blonde snorted and punched Pyrrha on the arm.
"We'll see. Thanks, Nikos."
"Any time."
As the arena shifted to replace the damaged tiles with new ones, Yang and Pyrrha walked towards the exit they had come from. The pair returned to their friends in the stands, and could instantly feel that there was a mix of emotions in the air. They had expected this to be the case, as despite Pyrrha and Penny having fought that very day, friends having to fight one another was a tense situation indeed. Teams RWBY and JNPR had become rather close over the course of their first school year, so fighting in a tournament where you were expected to fight as hard as you could, just short of a fight to the death, left them all in a tough spot. They didn't want to hurt each other, but they didn't want to hold back either, as they loved the fight. Pyrrha was, as expected, far more experienced with this sort of deal, as it was deeply part of her nature to not want to hurt good people. That of course explained why she defeated Yang via ring-out, rather than by hard knock out. Unfortunately, while it did result in few bruises for Yang, it instead bruised the blonde's pride.
Yang looked at her teammates, and felt shame wash over her as she saw how hesitant they were. They clearly wanted to say something to her: "Well done", "You tried your best", "You still placed so that's something to be proud of", and probably a dozen other words of comfort. None would be good enough to ease Yang's damaged pride, and her gaze dropped to the floor.
"Sorry..." she said at last, feeling rather ashamed of herself.
Weiss and Blake frowned, as they didn't like seeing the usually energetic blonde looking so dejected, and were about to try to comfort her to the best of their abilities, when Ruby beat them to the punch. She slowly rose to her feet, took two steps to close the distance between them, and promptly hugged her sister tightly.
"You did great out there" she said softly before the taller Xiao Long could utter a word. "I'm proud of you, sis."
Yang felt her heart lodge itself in her throat, robbing her of her ability to speak, so she instead wrapped her arms around her little sister, and hugged her back. She had far fewer memories of her step-mother than she wished she had, but of those that she did possess, they were of her kindness, her tenderness, and her soothing presence. While Ruby was quite immature and a hyper ball of energy, she nevertheless had begun to develop some of the same qualities of her mother. Those qualities emerged in times such as these, and when she finally shifted into lower gear, Ruby became tender and soothing, nearing motherliness. Interestingly enough, Pyrrha was very much the same, and there was something special about those who had such qualities.
"Thanks, kid" she said quietly, before ruining their tender sisterly moment by putting the little girl in a headlock, and giving her a noogie.
The remaining members of Team RWBY shook their heads, knowing they should have expected things to quickly turn, as did Qrow, who chuckled at his nieces' antics. This caused Yang to stop teasing her sister and look at her uncle, who was sitting almost perched on the edge of the wall that separated the stands from the arena, smirking in amusement.
"Sorry about losing, Uncle Qrow" she muttered.
The normally sombre Huntsman laughed through his nose as he got to his feet, and placed a hand on the blonde's head, rubbing it affectionately.
"Don't sweat it, kiddo. You did great out there" he said comfortingly.
Yang swallowed, not expecting him to be so understanding, as she honestly thought he would chew her out for losing.
"What about your bet?"
Qrow merely shrugged. "What's money to family?"
The Xiao Long sisters felt touched by their uncle's words, knowing just how much he meant them. This didn't go unnoticed by the others. Pyrrha had a small smile on her face, as not only did she very much agree with the sentiment, but it was a further display of how good of a man Qrow truly was beneath his usual gruff and brooding aura. Along the same vein, Weiss was taken aback by the man's compassion, as he had appeared to her as nothing more than a belligerent drunk. Now, she was beginning to see what the redhead had been speaking of in regards to him being a good man deep down. It was such a contrast to her father; so prim and proper, and yet so unsympathetic, while Qrow, the complete opposite on the outside, but kind and caring towards his family on the inside.
Suddenly, Professor Port's voice came over the stadium loudspeakers, cutting the tender moment short.
"Well it's been an explosive final day of matches, hasn't it, Bart?" he boomed.
"Indeed it has, Peter. And I have no doubt that the semi-final and grand final matches will be just as entertaining, if not more so!" Oobleck added. "However, there are some last minute additions that we would like to give all you spectators."
"Correct. Since this is very much the final day of the tournament, the remaining competitors will fight till there is only one left standing to be crowned the victor. To compensate with this endurance race, there will be thirty minute breaks between matches to give the students a breather and time to refresh themselves."
"A refreshing notion no doubt, so don't go anywhere or think that the tournament has ended! Until three students have taken their places on the podium, the tournament goes on! We will reconvene in exactly twenty-four minutes and seventeen seconds."
"You kids have it easy these days" Qrow remarked, placing his hands in his pockets.
"You're leaving?" asked Ruby.
"Just to see how Oz and Jimmy are doing. I'll be hanging around the capital for a little while longer after the tournament wraps up, so don't worry your little head about it" he replied. "Best of luck to you two." His final remark was to Pyrrha and Sun, giving them a slight hand wave, before walking away, and leaving the students to themselves.
"Ya know..." audibly mused Coco, "your uncle is kinda hot."
"Eww!" groaned Yang and Ruby, horrified by their upperclassman's comment.
"What? He's good looking."
"Just...no" Yang moaned, looking as if she was going to be sick.
"And he's got a nice as–"
"STOP!" the sisters cried, appearing as if they were either going to forcibly silence the captain, or run for the hills. Coco waved her hand at them dismissively, but decided to stop making comments of that nature.
"So what do we do now?" asked Nora.
"Sit and wait, I suppose" Ren remarked, though sensing what was coming.
"I'm hungry. Let's get food! Who's with me?"
"I could eat" Jaune admitted, before turning to Pyrrha. "Do you want anything?"
"I tend not to eat before a match, but I'll gladly accompany you" she replied with a warm smile.
"I could've gone for something but I've completely lost my appetite" Yang muttered with Ruby nodding.
"Eh, walk it off and you'll be fine" Sun encouraged. "Let's get going."
With that, the students got to their feet, and made their way to the Coliseum concession stands; still blissfully unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. Pyrrha was now in a much better mood, freed from the dread that had pained her the past two days. At least for now, she could return to enjoying the tournament as she originally wanted to, as well as looking forward to her date with Jaune. She could not wait.
Author's Note:
Right then. How did all of you like that?
I figured I might as well start explaining the point behind some aspects of the chapters, given that many of you are curious on the matter. I was honestly rather shocked by everyone's reactions to Raven. Maybe that's due to me reading this story front to back several times, now that I think about it XD
So the first is everybody's favourite character: Roman. It goes without saying that we hate what RT did to him. I've even run into former fans who actually thought he would come back, as his death was too cartoony. Obviously, I decided to make him live. When I started getting feedback from my editors, they asked if it was canon that Roman was Neo's father. They had both tapped around when I did, so they had no clue. I told them we have no idea, but when I saw a piece of fanart years ago alluding to that, I was intrigued. Roman's last line "You don't get it, do ya, Red? It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose", sparked a ton of possibilities for me. That, in conjunction with the father-daughter theory, made me go "Oh, I can do something with this". And the rest, is history. It's a shame that I can't go into how far Roman will go story-wise, but I do hint to it several times later in the story. Stay tuned :3
Something else people were curious about was Yang. Given that I made it that everyone believes that Raven is dead, how does that change Yang as a character? I obviously went back to how she was in V1 and 2, but I didn't make her into a one-dimensional character. I still wanted her to be fun, unlike what she became, but like everything, there's more to it. In this case, I changed the tismy abandonment issues that came out of nowhere, with something more tangible and believable. This will be explored several times and from different points of view from here on out, so I hope it will be as good as I think it to be. Also, some of you asked about Yang's "wake up call". Here's one of them.
Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There are a few things I want to go over, Diego's weapons for one, but that would be spoilerish. If I don't upload the next chapter in time, I'd like to wish you all a belated Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas and Blessed Júl, and see you all next time.