Chapter 26: Flower Power
Jaune gripped his shield as he waited for the announcement on the stage they'd be fighting.
"And it's the Forest and Mountain Stage!" Mori screamed as the arena started to shift to its new stage.
Jaune stumbled a bit as the stadium started to shift into its new stage.
Only one thought seemed to occupy his mind as he watched his surroundings shift.
"Ohhhh man there are a lot of people watching."
He'd never been in front of this many people in his life, the closest time he was in front of this many eyes, was an elementary school recital.
He could feel his big lunch rumble in his stomach.
No, he couldn't let that happen! If he threw up here he would basically be known as Vomit boy for the rest of his life!
Heck, it'd be put on his tombstone, Here lies Vomit Boy.
"Jaune," Pyrrha whispered as she put a hand on his shoulder, "You'll be fine, just trust in your training."
Jaune nodded as his nerves started to finally calm down.
Like his dad always said, "The only reason you ever feel worried is because you didn't prepare enough."
There was nothing for him to worry about, he had the best teachers he could ask for in Pyrrha and Mori and he had worked hard this entire past year.
He could do this.
Team BRNZ looked pretty strong, but he knew his teammates were stronger.
Unsheathing his weapon Jaune got ready as they waited for the go sign from Mori.
"3,2,1 Go!"
With him and Pyrrha at the front, the two charged at BRNZ formation.
While Pyrrha clashed with Brawnz the opposing Teams Leader, Jaune found himself blocking an attack from Roy.
Jaune ducked as his opponent threw another fist at him.
Using the opening that his opponent let up with his shield the blond bashed his opponent causing him to stumble and lose his ground, then Jaune raised his blade intent on finish him off.
Just as he was about to lower his weapon on his enemy his instincts flared up as he raised his shield to block incoming bullets.
"Oh and Jaune barely blocked that one!" Mori cheered.
Jaune took a quick survey around the field in an attempt to locate the shooter, he found her immediately the culprit being May, the sniper of the opposing team.
"Ah crap," Jaune thought to himself.
"Get cover!" He yelled as he and Pyrrha ran to nearby rocks.
This was not good.
May was the one Jaune was most worried about from his opponents.
Bronz, Roy, and Nolan were all pretty strong in their own right, but in close combat, Pyrrha was worth two of them, and both Ren and Nora were stronger individually.
However, this was a team battle, and Team BRNZ had something that Team JNPR did not have.
Long ranged support.
May's sniper rifle was going to be a huge pain in the ass.
Unlike their sister Team, Team RWBY, Team JNPR wasn't as balanced.
While Ruby and Weiss were demons in mid to close range, they could still fight from a distance with their Sniper and Glyphs respectively.
JNPR just didn't have that luxury, as much of a good shot Pyrrha was it was a waste to have her fight in the backlines, Ren was no good as well his guns were more mid-range and Nora's rocket launcher while it did provide some range it was a double-edged sword that could hurt her teammates as well.
And don't even get Jaune started on himself.
It happened near the beginning of the year after his incident with Cardin.
Since his style wasn't as set as the others, he figured in order to get some team balance he would learn how to shoot.
And who better to get training on how to shoot than from his good friend Ruby.
…Unfortunately, his training session with Ruby scarred the poor girl.
By the end of it, she was curled in a ball muttering about how bad with a gun he was.
Figuring she was just being overdramatic Jaune went to his others friends in an attempt to learn how to shoot.
His attempt to learn from his other friends was met with the same reaction.
Soon, no one wanted him to teach him how to shoot.
He didn't think it was too bad, all he did was get hit by the recoil a few times.
…That and for some reason his bullets would somehow find it's way to hit Mori whenever he was around.
Jaune eventually stopped trying after one of his training attempts ended up hitting Mori in the ass while he was sleeping and the look on his face made Jaune decide maybe he should stop trying.
Either way, with Jaune being unable to learn how to shoot Team JNPR he eventually gave up on getting some range for his team.
And that was biting them in the butt right now.
Still, it's not like they were completely helpless.
Now what to do was the real question.
He had a couple of options.
Right as he was going to make a decision, he noticed lightning start to gather on the peaks of the mountain stage.
"Perfect"
"Nora!" he yelled getting the girl's attention.
He then pointed out the top and the girl grinned as she understood what he wanted.
"Now to make sure Nora doesn't get gunned down."
Should he have Ren, do it?
Nah, Jaune decided he will take up the distraction to make sure Nora reaches her goal.
Raising his shield Jaune charged at the location May was hidden.
Hearing another bang Jaune raised it for a block.
As he was making his way to May, her other three teammates were converging on him to stop his rush.
"Pyrrha! Ren!"
The two immediately understood his intention as the two took them on so Jaune could continue his path.
May continued to fire at Jaune as he charged at her, but it was no use, Jaune was able to close the distance with ease.
Her bullets were too slow.
Jumping into the trees Jaune struck at the girl as she tried to block him with her rifle now turned into Ax.
She immediately crumpled on the weight of his sword as her block was no match for his strength.
"Jaune!" Nora yelled.
Understanding his teammate immediately Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha immediately got out of the way as Nora began to reign her grenades on BRNZ.
"Oh and Nora leaves BRNZ devasted!" Mori cheered, "And that's why she's the best!"
Shouldn't Mori be showing some impartiality?
And why did he just praise Nora, Jaune thought he did pretty well as well.
The aftermath of Nora's attack left BRNZ in a mess and Jaune knew now was the time to finish this fight.
He could feel Nora land next to him and he knew just the move to finish them.
"Flower Power!" Jaune yelled expecting Nora and Ren to finish them off.
…Too bad no one moved.
"Ren and Nora, that's you," Jaune said as he turned towards his teammates.
"Ohh," Nora reacted, "Sorry I just didn't expect that's what it was called."
"Why is it called flower power?" Ren asked.
"It's because Nora brings the power and Ren you bring the flower."
"Why does Ren get to bring the flower I want to bring the flower," Nora complained.
"And I can bring plenty of power," Ren chipped in.
"So, what are we called?" Pyrrha asked.
"Arkos."
"Ar-Arkos?"
"Yup," Jaune replied back proudly, "It's our names put together."
"Tha-That's wonderful," Pyrrha replied with what looked like a forced smile.
"Wait I thought Arkos was your ship name," Mori said as he butted in from his announcing spot.
"Ship name?" Jaune asked as he looked up to his friend.
"Ship name," He repeated, "Because you know you guys are in a relationship?"
"Uhh Mr. Jin," Professor Oobleck interrupted, "I don't think that's something you should say over the air."
It was too late though, the damage had already been done.
The crowd immediately started to murmur at the revelation Mori just dropped.
"Wait he's Pyrrha's boyfriend?"
"Kinda scrawny looking."
"She could do better."
Jaune took a look over at his partner who now was as red as her hair.
Whoops.
"Nora just end this quickly so we can get out of here," Jaune said as he covered his head with his hand.
The girl obeyed with a smile and knocked out Team BRNZ with one hit.
"That's got to hurt," Mori commented as he was back doing his job.
"That was anticlimactic," Ren stoically said as he put away his weapon.
Jaune didn't care, he and Pyrrha were just racing towards the tunnel to get away from all the eyes that were now on them.
All of Remnant now knew he was in a relationship with Pyrrha Nikos.
He could see his scroll start to ring and he could only sigh in despair at who it was.
It was his family.
"Dammit Mori was this payback for all times I shot you?"
Nora looked around the stadium before she finally found what she was looking for.
"Ren!" She excitedly said, "They're over there."
Grabbing her best friend, Nora immediately went over to sit near Team RWBY.
"Nora congrats!" Ruby excitedly said as she gave Nora a hug.
"Ahh thanks," She replied as she hugged in her response.
"Ack, Nora I can't breathe, Nora!"
"Oh, sorry,"
"So, where's Pyrrha and Jaune," Blake asked as Nora let go of Ruby.
"You really think they want to show their faces right now," Weiss incredulously asked, "Especially after that idiot broadcasted their relationship to all of Remnant."
"I think it's fine," Nora replied, "People would've found out eventually."
The reason Nora thought that?
They did a very poor job in hiding it.
The way talked to each other, the way they studied together, the physical attention the two gave each other, it was obvious to anyone paying attention they were in a relationship.
Sometimes she couldn't help but feel jealous of them.
Don't get Nora wrong, she was happy that the two were together, Pyrrha had been sending signals to their leader the entire year, and Nora could only watch in pain from the sideline as Jaune's density failed to see it.
Those two were a good fit for each other, Pyrrha needed someone normal in her life and Jaune needed someone that could give him confidence.
Nora was jealous because somehow Jaune got the message earlier than Ren.
No, no she wasn't going to be mad about that.
She was satisfied with their current relationship even if she wanted more.
"Man, Vomit Boys really improved huh?" Yang grinned as Nora and Ren took seats next to them.
"Yeah!" Nora excitedly replied, "He's become so strong!"
"Jaune was awesome!" Ruby cheered, "The way he was charging right at their sniper with no fear was amazing!"
"It's hard to believe just a year ago he could barely fight," Blake noted.
"Of course, he should be doing well," Weiss said haughtily, "He has Pyrrha teaching him, that and he's getting pointers from the buffoon Mori as well, that's the kind of training that one could only dream of."
"Wait did you just compliment Mori?"
"Ruby even I can't deny the fact that Mori is a genius in combat, outside of his ridiculous physical abilities, his technical ability is probably better than even our own Professors," Weiss replied with annoyance, "Jaune better have become strong because he has incredibly competent teachers."
"You still got to give credit for him learning," Blake pointed out.
"Of course Jaune's worked hard, if he didn't all that training would mean nothing."
Nora couldn't help but smile as Team RWBY began to heap praise on Jaune, finally, people were recognizing how much of an awesome team leader he was.
"So, who's up next?" Ren asked as he looked at the stadium.
"Team SSSN, I think," Blake replied, "They're facing a team from Shade, what was their name again?"
"And on this side from Vacuo, we have Team NDGO!" Mori shouted as Blake's question was answered.
"Aren't those the ones that flirt with Mori all the time, or at least try anyway?" Yang asked.
Nora was about to answer before it the girls themselves answered by waving excitedly at Mori.
"I don't like them," Ruby said with a pout.
"Ahh is my little sister jealous?"
"Stop being a child."
"Careful Weiss, I think you may have some competition as well," Blake joked as she pointed at the field.
Nora looked at where Blake was pointing, it looked like Neptune was trying to flirt with all four of them at the same time.
She wasn't quite sure why Neptune got the label of smart because that certainly wasn't.
She could feel Weiss's anger rise next to her.
"Neptune stop cheating on Weiss," Mori berated from his commentator box.
At that Yang and Ruby started laughing, Nora joined in as well.
"He's so unprofessional," Blake deadpanned.
"I'm not sure who I'm going to freeze first," Weiss muttered angrily.
"And where's our stage going to be for this round…It's the Desert and…Oh I'm sorry Neptune, and the Ocean Stage!" Mori announced as the stadium shifted while the crowd cheered.
Nora could only smile happily at her friend, up on the stage.
He looked like he was enjoying himself right now.
Not as much fun as he was fighting though, like that match they had a couple of weeks ago.
Couple of Weeks Back.
"Finally!" Nora exclaimed with a smile, "It's me and you best buddy!"
"I thought Ren was your best buddy?" Mori asked with a smile as he was stretching.
"He is," Nora replied back, "But that doesn't mean you aren't one as well."
"Well then, best buddy, don't expect me to go easy on you."
"Don't worry Mori, I'll make sure not to break your legs."
Time seemed to stop as Nora waited for the start of the fight.
"Begin!" Goodwitch declared.
Nora rushed in Hammer raised hoping to draw first blood.
She knew this was a bad idea, she couldn't remember how many people have charged at him only to be counter-attacked defeated in an instant, but she didn't care, retreating and waiting wasn't her style.
Fighting brute force with brute force was Nora's way to go.
Smashing her hammer in the ground Mori dodged her attack with ease like she expected, with her attack failed Nora then propelled herself away with an explosion to avoid Mori's counter-attack.
Preparing herself for one more attack she charged once more at her friend, this time aiming for his side.
Her attack was only met with his fist as the collision between the two caused a massive shockwave, causing some students in the stands to be blown away.
A fist soon got flown at Nora's face as she was barely able to cover before getting launched into the side of the arena.
"Oof best buddy sure can pack a punch," Nora thought to herself.
Looks like if she wanted to make this actual fight she would need some more juice.
Charging out her spare lightning dust Nora used her semblance to power herself up.
All Juiced up now Nora first launched all the grenades she had which in turn created a massive explosion.
Then she charged at Mori swinging her hammer wildly as she tried to get that hit in.
Her attacks were futile as her friend was able to reflect and dodge each of her swings.
"Just stay still!" Nora shouted in frustration.
"No!"
She could feel her juice started to run out.
Gritting her teeth in frustration she decided to for one last huge attack, one he wouldn't be able to dodge.
Using the rocket launcher on her hammer Nora began spinning around gaining momentum so she could enough power to finally crush Mori's defenses.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mori stretch his arm out as he began to take up a stance.
Nora knew whatever was going to happen now was going to be awesome.
Once she was satisfied with how much force she had she let the hammer down ready to deliver the pain.
"Renewal Taekwondo: True Roundhouse Kick!" Mori shouted as he unleashed his own attack on her.
A massive light seemed to blind Nora as their attacks collided when she could finally see again she noticed that she was surrounded by what looked like a tornado…that and she was completely on the ground now.
"Miss Valkeyrie's aura has been reduced to fifteen percent," Professor Goodwitch announced, "Mori Jin is the winner."
Nora could hear the crowd erupt in excitement at the match they had witnessed.
She was sad that she lost but she was also satisfied, that was a fun fight.
She could feel Mori offer a hand to help her up.
"That was fun," Mori said as he panted with a huge smile on her face.
"Yeah!" Nora replied back with her own big smile, "Even more fun than the time we did Rocket Locker racing."
"We should do that again."
"No, you shouldn't," Professor Goodwitch butted in with a displeased voice, "You've already caused enough damage with what you two did to the arena and because of that we are not going to be able to have another match."
Nora looked around at the damage their spar caused as she noticed craters filled the arena with broken ground all around.
Whoops.
Present.
That really was a fun fight, though, Prof. Goodwitch forbade them from fighting again due to not having the budget to fix the arena all the time.
She was glad to see Mori recover after being so sad when she first met him.
That smile he had shown her at the end of their fight was one that was completely genuine, unlike the ones he hid behind.
Nora was glad to be in Beacon, she was super blessed to be able to add more people to her family.
She had started her life completely alone until she met Ren.
She thought at one point that Ren was all she needed in her life but after a year in Beacon, she had been proven completely wrong.
Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Jaune, Ruby, Mori.
Once she got a taste of what it was like to have a family she couldn't help but want more
They were all important to her, and she couldn't imagine what life would be like if any of them were missing.
She wouldn't trade her life for anything.
Well…except maybe if Ren would NOTICE HER.
Ren stretched as he walked out of the stadium.
Team SSSN was able to win their match in the end, Ren had to admit Sun was really impressive in his match.
It looked like he had some free time to himself right now though, Nora went to go check on Pyrrha, Jaune was still talking to his family and Team RWBY went on their merry ways too.
Now what he could do with this peace and quiet?
He could always train and meditate.
Finding a nice quiet place Ren began to meditate.
"Ahh Silence," He thought to himself.
No loud explosions, no arguing, and no crazy shenanigans.
Not that Ren hated those, however when you were surrounded by it twenty-four seven it got annoying.
Times like these were nice.
A couple of minutes had passed before Ren opened his eyes ready to train.
"Gahh!" He screamed at the sight of what was in front of him, "Mori what are you doing!?"
"Waiting for you to finish meditating," he replied, "I thought it'd be rude to interrupt you."
"Thanks for that but could you not wait in my face again?"
"Sorry."
"By the way aren't you supposed to be announcing now?"
"Nah, all the matches are finished," Mori replied as he stretched his hands above his head, "I'm done for today."
"I see," Ren said as he got up, "So, what you'd think of today's matches?"
"Hmm," Mori replied as it looked like he began to think about it, "Based on what I've seen so far Team RWBY with Yang looks like they could go far."
Ren nodded agreeing with that, Yang was a monster at hand-on-hand combat.
"Sun could be a problem as well though, Team CFVY as well I could see winning it all."
If Ren remembered correctly those were their seniors a year older than him.
"Penny as well looks like she could be a dark horse."
Who was Penny again? Ren thought to himself.
Oh right, she was Ruby's friend from Atlas.
"I'm sad that Team from Atlas hasn't made an appearance, if they were here, I think they'd probably win it all."
"The guys that broke your arm?" Ren asked as he looked at his friend's right side.
"Yup," Mori replied with a quick nod, "They were super strong, and they seemed really experienced."
Ren couldn't help but be curious about that Team from Atlas, if they had guys that were strong enough to Break Mori's arm why weren't they participating?
"I say all this, but JNPR will probably win it all, Pyrrha is still Pyrrha, that and now that we are past the team rounds your biggest weakness won't matter as much as it did today."
Ren nodded in agreement with Mori's assessment, despite her no longer being considered the strongest at Beacon she was very solidly in second place.
"Although…"
Ren's ears perked up, if there was one thing a person should do when talking to Mori it was paying attention when he talked about combat.
"I think you should watch out for that team from Haven."
"Which one?" Ren asked as he tilted his head.
"The on led by the girl with the red dress," Mori answered, "What was her name, Tinder, Winder, Spinder?" He muttered as he tried to remember the girl's name.
"I'll keep that in mind," Ren said as he patted Mori's shoulder, "Don't think about it too hard."
"Aggh, I feel like I'm so close!"
"By the way what did you want?"
"Huh?"
"You said you were waiting for me to finish meditating," Ren explained, "So I was wondering what you wanted."
"Oh, I didn't really want anything except you were the first person I found once I left the stadium," He sheepishly replied rubbing his head, "I'd hang out with Ruby but she's with Weiss right now and I don't want to turn into a popsicle."
"So, he knows what he's doing," Ren thought to himself.
"By the way Ren I've been meaning to ask, what do you do while you are meditating?"
What did he do?
That was a weird question.
"I just meditate," he replied, "Clearing my mind."
"I know that," Mori responded, "What are you clearing your mind for?"
Ren wasn't sure where Mori was going with this.
"To…calm myself?"
"Why?"
Ren was about to answer before he began to think about it.
Why did he meditate all the time, he remembered seeing his father do it all the time as a child and so he decided to follow his example.
"What are you getting at Mori," Ren asked.
"I think you are wasting your time meditating."
Ren was about to angrily reply to that before Mori interrupted again.
"Sorry, that came out wrong, what I meant by that is I don't think your current way of meditation is the most effective of your time."
"…Go on," Ren said intrigued by where this was going on.
"I think for you specifically when you meditate, you should be using that time to self-reflect and think about what you need to improve instead of just clearing your thoughts and trying to calm down."
Self-reflection?
Ren had never thought about that the only times he had meditated was when the stress was getting too much.
"Try it out?" Mori encouraged.
Ren thought about it before obliging.
Sitting down once more Ren once again went into the recesses of his mind and thought about self-reflection.
What weaknesses did he have and what he could improve became thoughts of his focus.
If Ren was honest with himself, right now he thought he was the weakest part of his team right now.
Pyrrha and Nora were Pyrrha and Nora, but compared to Jaune, he really had not made any improvements.
If Ren was honest to himself, he felt stagnated, like his strength wasn't growing.
He had hit a wall in his journey.
Ren wasn't quite sure how he could get stronger though, Jaune had a lot more to learn so that's why he was able to grow so much.
What could Ren do to become stronger? So that he could protect his loved ones and not allow something like Kuroyuri to happen ever again.
How could Ren break that wall?
The answer soon became clear.
Ren opened his eyes feeling a lot more rejuvenated.
"How was it?" Mori asked with a smile on his face, "Did that help?"
"It did," Ren admitted, "I think I know what you meant now."
"Great!" Mori said with a smile, "I think I'll be on my way now."
"Wait," Ren said as he stopped Mori from leaving, "I want to ask you something."
"Ask away."
"That absurd kick you do, the one you call recoilless, what exactly is it?"
Ren didn't know why but he had a feeling that Mori's kick was the key for him to get stronger.
It wasn't anything like he had seen before, yet Mori who had no aura or semblance could perform it.
If Ren was right that kick, in theory, wasn't an inborn ability trait, anyone could learn it.
Stylistically in terms of combat, they were pretty similar in that they both relied on Martial Arts.
However, Mori was much stronger than him.
Ren initially thought it was because of the difference in their physical specs, after all being born with those kinds of physical abilities was rare, but Ren realized something after he fought Mori as well as watching him fight against his other friends.
He had so much control of his strength he was fighting them at their physical level.
Or in other words, Mori had been beating them through sheer technical ability.
He wasn't using his overwhelming physical advantage at all.
"Hmm, that's hard to answer," Mori replied as he began to answer Ren's question, "I think the best way to describe it would be how the technique came to be."
Ren began to take mental notes.
"The recoilless kick was discovered when my grandfather lost his arm in a fight.
"…What?"
"Yeah, when he lost his arm he lost his sense of balance, and that caused his Renewal to become a mess."
"So how does that lead to the recoilless?"
"Well with this new change my grandfather realized something with his attacks, while they were devasting they had wasted energy, he realized this wasted energy came from an imperfect kicking form."
"And so he worked on perfecting his kicking form!" Ren said excitedly.
"Yup," Mori said proudly, "Grandpa worked through all his motions carefully making sure everything was correct to the exact detail."
"The recoilless kick came from a desire of self-improvement and countless hours of effort," Mori stated.
"It's the perfect kick because it has no wasted energy and no wasted movement, all the strength you have in your body is all directed towards one goal."
Ren began to think about all the days he trained as he marveled at Mori's grandfather, he trained so much with so much detail that he literally created a reality-bending kick.
Had Ren ever had a training like that before?
No, he hadn't but that didn't discourage him, in fact, it inspired him…maybe he too could work that hard to reach that level of technical expertise.
"Your grandfather sounds like he was an amazing man, I wish I could've met him."
"He was," Mori replied as he smiled sadly.
Ren was about to ask more before they were interrupted by a large explosion.
"Ten lien that Team RWBY is involved with that," Mori joked as he turned to Ren.
Ren decided not to take Mori on his bet, because he was probably right.
Another Chapter done I hope you enjoyed it.
Miguel Castro: I'm glad you have been liking the story, and yeah I agree it's nice to finish up with filler. As for other moments, everyone is going to have time to shine.
Jp18rc: It does seem that way, but I'm not much into harems, It was more to develop their friendship.
vivierdroid: I'm glad you've been likely interactions, it's something I take pride in on how I write the story.
Chickenhell: Sounds like that's the ship you prefer
Khonkyawza: Thanks it's great to be back!
Entetheslayer: Yeah they were fun lol
ButterMu, UdaySRA, and Name the Missing: Thank you
Killjoy4life4: Thanks it good to be back, I'm looking forward to how their relationships develop and I hope you enjoy them.
Wizardwolf1020: Yeah that scene was probably the funnest scene I had while writing.
Cassnova5424: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story.
Akira of Ashton: Like I said in a previous response this chapter was mostly to develop the friendship between Mori and Blake, as for the second and third questions, you'll just have to read and see!
808Joker808: Good to see you are still following the story! to reiterate from before most of the chapter was to explore and develop how blake has been affected by Mori. As for Yang, I think you will like this but I am planning on a story with my beta's that'll focus on a relationship with her. I hope you enjoy more chapters.
LuminaDawn: As for him healing the injured girl with his needle arts that was something I was unsure of, based on source material his acupuncture has been rendered useless due to his body and there has been no indication of him using it on others.
Beta(s)
Eliad91
Patrician Lurker
