Chapter 8: Murder in the Arena
Amity Arena, 18:00 pm…
It was already dark by the time Nathan and Pyrrha were approached by attendants.
"Miss Nikos; it's time."
"Thank you, sir." Pyrrha replied. "I would like for Nathan here to accompany me to the arena floor though."
"Very well." The attendant replied. "Right this way, you two."
Nathan nodded and walked with Pyrrha, seeing her striding confidently once again, smiling. "Glad to see you're getting your stride back." He remarked.
Pyrrha smiled back at him, saying: "It's all thanks to you, Nathan. If it wasn't for our talk earlier today, I wouldn't have come here at all."
"Glad I did something to help." Nathan replied. "All I can hope for now is to talk to Blake and get things back on track between us."
"You'll be fine, Nathan." Pyrrha said softly. "I probably sound like a broken record by saying this, but Blake will understand why you reacted the way you did. It's been a long day, and we've all been subjected to a lot of stress we otherwise wouldn't have had." Sighing, Pyrrha said: "I hope Yang is alright."
"Me too." Nathan replied. "If anybody's had a shitty day, it's her." He growled a little bit as thoughts of Ironwood filled his head. "Fucking hell… even now thinking about it pisses me off. How big is the stick up Ironwood's ass if he's this much of an asshole?"
"I'm sure Ironwood has only the best intentions, Nathan." Pyrrha said in response.
"Well, they do say the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Nathan replied.
Pyrrha nodded. They had reached the entranceway, finding the rest of the singles competitors waiting for them.
"Nate!" Sun called out, marching towards Nathan. "What the hell is going on with you and Blake?"
"Fuck's sake…" Nathan muttered. "Look Sun, I know I screwed up, but I plan on fixing it as soon as I-" He was silenced as Sun dropped him with a hard right hook.
"Nathan!" Pyrrha called out, blocking Sun as he advanced on a fallen Nathan. "What is your problem, Sun?" She demanded.
"My problem?!" Sun asked. "Nathan's the one that upset Blake! I'm just trying to get justice for her."
Nathan grunted as he shook his head to clear it of cobwebs, before getting to his feet. "Like I said; I plan on fixing that as soon as I can find and talk to Blake."
"Fat chance of that happening!" Sun spat. "She's on the fairgrounds with Weiss. You're in the totally wrong place. Besides, I doubt she wants to talk to you right now!"
"Cut the bullshit, Sun." Nathan said, his own temper rising. "We all know you're just itching to cause an even bigger rift between me and Blake so that you can swoop in and take her for yourself. But given how you're acting; I doubt she'd want anything to do with you."
"Why you little-" Sun snarled, moving forward.
Nathan readied himself, just as Penny stepped between them.
"That is enough. We are here to compete." She said. "Nathan, would you please leave us be? Your presence is not required at this time."
"Fuck you too, bitch." Nathan fired back before turning and leaving.
"Nathan-!" Pyrrha called out, but he was already turning the corner. Sighing, Pyrrha turned and faced Penny and Sun. "That was uncalled for from either of you." She said as they prepared to head on outside.
The seating area…
"Nate!" Jaune called out as he rushed over to join him. "You're bleeding. What happened?"
"Sun decided to drop me because of all this shit with Blake." Nathan replied, wiping the blood from his lip. "In a way, I deserved it, but he seems to think I should stay away from Blake."
"Fat chance of that." Nora said. "You think he's hoping to get with Blake over this?"
"Seems likely." Nathan replied. "But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt." Shaking his head, he says: "Whatever happens, let's sit down and watch some fighting."
Jaune nodded and led Nathan to their seats, which were with Team CFVY.
Nathan quickly spotted Velvet and decided to sit with her, excusing himself from Jaune and his teammates.
"You managed to talk to Blake yet?" Velvet asked.
"Not yet. Apparently, she's in the fairgrounds with Weiss." Nathan replied. "I would be there already, but I came here with Pyrrha, so I haven't had the chance."
"You'll probably get one after this." Velvet declared.
"Yeah, hopefully." Nathan responded, looking to his right and seeing Ruby having entered the area. "Ruby!" He called out to her.
Ruby didn't respond, clearly not having heard him, and took a seat in another row.
Nathan watched her do so, and considered getting up and joining her, when he saw her peer in towards something far away, then take her leave suddenly.
His eyes narrowed, and Nathan reached out with the Force to determine what it could be that had gotten Ruby spooked.
As he did, the lives of every single being in the building lit up, as if they were street lights on a dark night, their light each individually representing a person through the Force.
Some were obvious: Ruby, Jaune, his teammates and Team CFVY, most others were not.
Until…
"Emerald?" Nathan muttered, opening his eyes and looking across the arena, seeing Emerald sat almost directly across from where Ruby had been sitting.
A pit opened in Nathan's stomach so wide it'd have made the Great Pit of Carkoon look small in comparison. I thought she'd left with Mercury, he thought to himself.
"Alright, it's time to begin the randomisation process for our next fight!" Oobleck declared over the speakers.
Nathan paid little attention to the announcement and focused on Emerald, trying to rationalise her presence.
She could be here with the rest of her team. She's not just with Mercury, right?
The pit in his stomach grew wider and wider, as Nathan grew more and more convinced that something was terrifyingly wrong.
His thoughts were drowned out as Port announced over the PA:
"It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!"
Nathan eyed the competitors down below, seeing Penny waving to the crowd. He fought the urge to flip her off after she'd been rude to him earlier.
"And her opponent will be…" Port added, pausing for dramatic effect. "Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"
The pit in Nathan's stomach promptly opened so wide he had to fight the urge to vomit. In the weeks he'd known her, it'd become clear to Nathan that Penny was some form of android.
Androids were made out of metal.
And Pyrrha's semblance controlled magnetism.
Nathan's blood froze in his veins like ice as the colour drained from his face, rendering him paler than Weiss in that moment.
Only Velvet seemed to notice, saying: "Is everything alright, Nathan?"
Nathan didn't respond, just gripped his seat tightly as he watched in scared anticipation of the fight to come.
With Pyrrha…
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed in concentration as Penny waved at her cheerfully.
"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!" Penny said happily. "It's an honour to finally meet you!"
Pyrrha didn't respond, merely looked at her hands and seeing they were shaking, taking a deep breath to steady herself, lowering them to her sides again.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Penny declared, hands on her hips, smiling widely.
Pyrrha again didn't respond, her eyes narrowing once again in concentration as she summoned Miló and Akoúo̱ to her hands, staring Penny down. Nathan's advice from earlier entered her mind:
"You're Pyrrha fucking Nikos. You're one of the top fighters in your age group on Remnant, and you've got the love and support of your teammates and your friends behind you. If that's not enough to give you confidence, then I don't know what will. But it's true."
Damn right, Pyrrha thought to herself. I am Pyrrha Nikos. I will win this. I will make my friends and teammates proud.
"Three." Oobleck called out over the speakers.
Pyrrha took a moment to briefly glance at her teammates in the stands, cheering her on, smiling briefly at them before sighting Nathan. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw Nathan looked deathly pale, and seemingly looked terrified. She determined to ask him what was bothering him after the fight.
"Two… one…" Oobleck said, continuing the countdown before finally, he declared: "Begin!"
Pyrrha returned her gaze to Penny as Oobleck made the call, preparing to do battle once again and make her friends proud.
With Nathan…
It wasn't until the fight had started that Nathan sensed something happening in the control room. Reaching out with the Force, his eyes widened as he recognised what was going on:
Ruby was in there, with someone he vaguely suspected was one of Emerald's other teammates.
Taking a deep breath, Nathan stood up from his seat and made for the control room. He was aware his current getup of a T-Shirt, jeans and a leather jacket wasn't the best suited for combat at that moment, but it was better than nothing at all. He wasn't like the ancient Mistrali, who often competed naked.
Before long, Nathan entered the control room, hearing a gunshot go off and seeing a destroyed scroll skitter past him.
"Let's just keep this between us friends." A familiar voice stated.
Nathan's eyes widened as he recognised the voice: Mercury.
Steeling himself, Nathan rushed round the corner just in time to see Ruby and Mercury fighting.
Just as Mercury was about to score a particularly damaging kick, Nathan stretched out his hand, catching Mercury mid-kick.
"What the-!" Mercury muttered before grunting as Nathan pulled him over, lashing out with a fierce kick to Mercury's abdomen, knocking him flat.
Looking over at Ruby, Nathan shouted: "Ruby, go! I'll take care of this bow-legged cockfag!"
Ruby nodded with a grateful smile before rushing off with her semblance.
Nathan watched her leave before hearing:
"I was hoping we'd do this at some point."
Nathan turned to see Mercury stand up. "Likewise. Pity this isn't down there in the arena. Then this ass-kicking would be somewhat legal." As he said this, he removed his leather jacket, tossing it to the floor next to him.
"I pegged you as a possible problem from the moment we met in Vale a few weeks ago." Mercury said. "Thankfully, I'm more than ready to end you."
"Tough talk, coming from a cripple that had to use metal legs to get anywhere near as good as Yang." Nathan fired back. "And even then; you kept trying to be cool, trying to use all these flashy moves that do look good. But in a real fight; against a better opponent? They'll be your downfall."
"That's what you think. Now bring it!" Mercury shouted, surging towards Nathan with a leaping kick.
Nathan simply sidestepped, closed with Mercury and jabbed him in the gut, followed by a quick kick to his hamstring. Nathan then quickly swept Mercury's legs out from beneath him, causing Mercury to fall flat on his face.
As Mercury rose to his knees, Nathan rushed him, smashing his face in with a savage bicycle knee strike that knocked Mercury silly.
Finally, Nathan lifted Mercury's head up with his foot, only to then step away, and stomp Mercury's head into the floor in brutal fashion.
Taking a deep breath, Nathan muttered: "Class dismissed." Summoning his jacket to him and donning it once again. Advice he'd heard long ago rang true in his head:
"Don't fear the man who's practiced ten thousand kicks once. Fear the man who's practiced one kick ten thousand times."
At that moment, he heard a great groan emerge from the crowd, and grimaced as he sensed a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of people had just witnessed something terrible occur.
Nathan's blood ran cold in his veins as he rushed the same direction Ruby had.
Outside the control room…
Nathan burst outside just as he heard Port exclaim a word he hadn't wanted to hear:
"No!"
Nathan's eyes then fell on the familiar form of Ruby kneeling down, staring towards the arena floor. His heart sinking, Nathan joined Ruby where she was, gasping at what he saw:
Penny Polendina, or rather what was left of her, was strewn in a mangled heap in the middle of the arena floor. Pyrrha stood a few feet away, frozen.
Nathan couldn't blame her. Brief probes into her mind via the Force confirmed his fears: Pyrrha had used her semblance, and the result had been Penny's graphic and brutal death.
Sounds of sobbing from next to him drew Nathan's attention, and Nathan looked to see Ruby in tears as she looked down towards the dead android he knew she considered a good friend.
Kneeling next to her, Nathan pulled Ruby into a gentle hug, letting her cry silently into his shoulder.
He briefly sensed someone appear behind them, but paid them no mind. His focus was purely and only on the young girl in his arms, mourning the loss of her friend.
Sounds of interference drew his attention, and Nathan's eyes narrowed as a symbol resembling a black queen piece from chess appeared on screen with a blood red background.
Before long, an unfamiliar voice to Nathan came over the speakers:
"This… is not a tragedy. This… was not an accident."
Nathan stood up from Ruby and folded his arms, scowling as he heard this. She was right about one thing; this was no accident. It was a murder.
The voice continued: "This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians… but are, in reality, nothing more than men."
Nathan clenched his fists. He recalled Emperor Palpatine had made a similar speech decrying the Jedi's methods of recruitment into the Order a month following Order 66's issuing and the formation of the Galactic Empire. He made a silent oath to find this woman and end her himself. For her part both in what was happening, and especially for her part in Penny's murder.
"Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies… and one was audacious enough to control both." The woman over the speakers continued, that last comment a clear jab at General Ironwood. "They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here?"
Nathan looked down towards the arena floor, suspecting that's where the woman speaking was referring to, sighing as he saw Penny's dismembered corpse, and Pyrrha still frozen in horror at the sight.
The woman answered her own question: "One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil."
Nathan's anger mounted at that, thinking: Yeah, because of YOU.
The woman still continued, oblivious to Nathan's growing anger at her: "What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this?"
Nathan scoffed. That dismemberment victim is currently walking free. Not that anyone knows or cares. And not that it matters. Next time, I'll use my lightsaber.
The woman continued: "Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honour and mercy. Yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps… this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces."
Nathan frowned. She raised a good point here. He just hoped Ironwood actually heeded this advice for next time. IF there was a next time after this.
"Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong." The woman declared. "But I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you, the situation there is… equally undesirable."
Nathan sensed a growing wave of darkness approaching the city in that moment, and realised with a now painfully wide pit in his stomach what was happening:
This woman was inducing a wave of negative emotion, which would be like blood in the water for any Grimm even remotely nearby.
"Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark!" The woman added. "So, I ask you… when the first shots are fired; who do you think you can trust?"
At that, the symbol disappeared, replaced by static screens around the arena.
Nathan thanked the gods he had his lightsaber on him, unhooking it from his belt and said: "Ruby; we gotta get down there. Grimm are gonna swarm this joint any minute now!"
Ruby didn't respond, still in a state of shock at all that'd transpired.
Nathan sighed sympathetically, and rushed down to join his teammates, just as he heard a spine-chilling alarm fill the air, followed by the following announcement:
"Alert. Incoming Grimm Attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."
Bit late for that, jackass, Nathan thought to himself as he observed spectators starting to rush out of the arena, panic spreading across the assembled throng like a viral disease.
Then, Ironwood's voice came over the speakers: "Ladies and gentlemen, please; there is no need for panic-"
A deafening screech drowned out Ironwood's words as a giant Nevermore appeared on top of the arena, trying to break through the defensive shielding above.
Nathan thankfully reached his friends, just as he overheard Sun say:
"A Nevermore?!"
"How'd it get past the kingdom's defences?!" Coco said in shock as she lowered her sunglasses to get a better look.
"It wasn't alone…" Ren remarked grimly
"It doesn't matter." Nathan said: "Call in your fucking weapons and get ready for battle! The way things are going… we're gonna have the wildest fucking night of our entire lives."
In that moment, Nathan remembered, and a horrific realisation gripped him:
BLAKE!
Talk about a cliffhanger.
I have to admit; the Mercury-Nathan 'fight' was an idea I thought of late in writing this fanfic, and found it interesting, especially when Nathan has been so vocally critical of Mercury's fighting style. It was designed to show Mercury's arrogance, and Nathan's hand-to-hand abilities.
But for those who found Nathan's reaction to Penny's death lacking, bear in mind; Nathan's never really interacted with her enough to form a strong bond. But Nathan does know what Penny meant to Ruby, so he will obviously comfort Ruby.
As for that cliffhanger... not sorry. It's meant to represent Nathan's chief priority; which is to find and ensure Blake's safety. Wonder what that'll lead to... (cough *Adam* cough).
With that said; let's answer some reviews, shall we?
Guest: Nathan's reaction to magic probably isn't going to be that explored. He's seen a lot of weird things in his lifetime, so something like magic is probably just another addition to his list.
keybladelight: I will confirm nothing save for the knowledge that Nathan vs Ironwood will happen. The previous chapter is part of the build towards that inevitable showdown.
Spiderdeku25: As I've said in previous chapters and stories, Volume 3 is going to be the start of several deviations from the canon story, which I will not spoil. But rest assured, Nathan will show up in Menagerie. Whether that's with Blake or not; you will not find out... YET.
Anyway; thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter. If you liked it... you know what to do.
I shall see you next weekend for chapter 9: The beginning of the Battle of Beacon.
T-Rock14