A Cosmic Journey
A/N: Happy Tuesday everyone! I sincerely hope all are staying safe out there given the devastating circumstances surrounding our communities. Hopefully reading these chapters serve as an enjoyable respite for the readership like it does for me while writing them.
Chapter 40: Measure a Thousand Times
Chapter Date: 07/07/20
"WOOHOO!"
This was it. This was how I died.
"PANCAKES!"
I had tried to stave off the end of Remnant as long as I could, but some things were inevitable. Or some people rather.
After all, there was no way the combination of Sun Wukong, Nora Valkyrie, Coco Adel and Yang Xiao Long on alcohol wouldn't result in some Remnant-shaking event.
"So your blond friend is lively. I can't imagine a guy like him and you ever hitting it off with one another." Junior watched as Sun and Nora continued their drink-off, with Coco officiating for now. "Though I suppose I should be thankful that him and that crazy ginger-haired girl haven't levelled my club yet."
"The momentum of the Nora Engine can traverse all manner of barriers and differences," I replied sagely, sipping at my drinking while eyeing Junior. "Also, I know for a fact that you remember most, if not all of their names. There's no way the twins haven't talked about JNPR and CFVY to you about a hundred times."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. And hypothetically, even if I did happen to remember their names, all it'd take is one iota of kindness to that lot and they'll stomping about like they own the place." Junior's eyes took on a glazed quality, no doubt remembering years of antics by Miltia and Melanie. "Anyways, shouldn't some of you be getting back to Beacon sometime soon? There's a match to be had between you and Blondie's team, right?"
"We'll be heading back shortly, but I wanted to properly welcome Sun, my friend, to Vale. After all, who knows if my team and I will be in any shape to get to it tomorrow."
"You really think you guys have what it takes to bring those four down? Not for nothing, but they've got a Schnee, Blondie, Blondie's hotshot sister, and a former White Fang operative. You all have experience under your belt, but is that enough to bridge the gap?" Junior fixed me with a look. "Not to mention, what's really the harm of letting them go off on their wild goose chase? The more intel we've got on Cinder, Roman and Adam, the better off everyone is."
"Intel is only worth it if it makes its way back to the necessary ears. I don't doubt their abilities, but you and I both know Cinder's crew is on another level. If even two of her inner circle face off against them team RWBY will be in trouble, to say nothing of the White Fang grunts with potential access to military weaponry." I finished my drink and looked down at the bottom of the glass. "Besides, you can just think of me and mine like gatekeepers of a certain standard. If team RWBY manages to beat us, that'll mean they've got a pretty good chance of taking on what's likely coming at the next rally. Though even if they do end up beating us, I'll end up tailing them anyways. Gods knows Tai and Qrow would be on my case if I didn't."
"Ahh, girls and their overprotective fathers and uncles. The age-old staple. Having you around though kinda sours the picture though." Junior chuckled as I waved off the jab and stood up, a tray of readied drinks in my hands.
"Let me know if anything new leads come in from Roman or otherwise. As for the results, you'll probably hear about them within the minute if we win. The twins are quite ungraceful in victory." I made my way over to the table and placed the tray down, providing life support to the contest still going on between Nora and Sun. "So, what've you been talking about?"
"Oh, just some of the –hic- stuff I've been up to in Argus, and what the Mistral gang has been up to here in Vale. How about you though? You've been here a year longer than the rest of them."
"Just the usual for Kouzai." Nora answered as she and Sun lined up their glasses again.
"So making friends with random people, stumbling across deadly occurrences and getting the tar beat out of him?"
"YYYup. Now, drinky drinky time!"
"Thanks for the backup, my dear and wonderful teammates and friends." I deadpanned as the assembled group openly laughed. "Anyways, I figure my team should also be getting back to Beacon sometime soon. If we wait for Nora and Sun to finish their contest, it won't be today anymore."
"How dedicated of you to believe that you'll best us come tomorrow." Weiss replied primly, sipping her glass of wine. "I suppose sportsmanship dictates that we do the same, as it would be more shameful if they lost to us after we had a night out."
"Alright, Miss Prissy!" Melanie stood up from her seat down the table, her lip curled in a snarl. "If you're so confident, you can place you money where your mouth is."
"Oh, we're betting on the fight? Count me in! It's like I never left Anima!" Sun cheered, pausing in between drinks as the unspoken line into chaos was broached.
"Hmph, very well. I'm quite comfortable backing up my combat ability with lien, so why don't we place-" Weiss was cut off as Ruby threw an arm out, and all eyes at the table turned towards the reaper. Despite not having had a drop of alcohol the entire night, Ruby was strangely unbothered by the influx of stares her way, instead focusing on me.
"The bet is for favors! The winning team gets one favor from each member of the losing team!" Ruby declared, throwing the table into another round of silence for a moment. I caught the gleam in Ruby's eye, and remembered her previous objective of getting me to owe her so that she could be introduced to Weylin.
"I suppose there is precedent for using favors amongst our group. It would be quite interesting to ponder what favors we could ask of team KMMI." Weiss mused, swirling the wine in her glass idly. "Very well, I am in agreement with this plan."
"Same. I already know what I'll be asking of you." Melanie's eyes glimmered with mischief as she replied to Weiss.
"Sounds alright to me."
"I have no qualms on this measure."
"Oh, this'll be fun."
"It'll definitely be something…"
With seven of the eight people involved onboard, I carefully considered my choices. On the one hand- "Done." It occurred to me that I'd perhaps had more to drink than I anticipated, if my reply was anything to go by.
"Deal me in on this bet too. It's not lien, but I'm sure I can get creative with a favor." Sun's tail bounced around mirthfully, and suddenly even JNPR, Coco and Velvet were looking thoughtful.
"How would that even work though? It's not like having each spectator get four favors would be fair, unless the winning team got four favors from them if they bet wrong." Jaune ruffled his hair in thought, before Velvet piped up.
"Why don't we make it so that if you place a bet on one team and that team wins, you can collect a favor from one member of that team. Conversely, if the opposing team wins, one member of that team can claim a favor from you." Velvet smiled, though I swear if I looked hard enough I saw the gleam of cities on fire in her eyes.
Ahh, competitive spirit…
"Works for me." Sun shrugged and pointed to me. "My bet's on this guy and his team."
"No surprises there," Blake muttered, before appraising Sun. "Hmm, I think I know just what to ask of you if we win."
"Ten points says it has to do with the White Fang," Ilia whispered low to me, causing me to nearly snort. "Also, we should probably keep the bet limited to the people here, otherwise we'll have all of Beacon cashing in after tomorrow."
"It's fine if Yatsu and Fox get in on this too, yeah? I kind of already messaged them." Coco grinned and held up her scroll cheekily.
"Ok, the teams of those present are allowed to participate in the bet, so RWBY, KMMI, JNPR, CFVY and SSSN. Anyone have any problems?" A series of head shakes was my reply. "Great. Ren, you're the official scorekeeper, and if you make another secret betting pool behind my back, there will be hell to pay."
"I am shaking in my shoes." Ren barely blinked an eye as he brought up his scroll. "I will now be taking everyone's registered bets."
In the end, things were more even than I'd expected. RWBY and KMMI aside, the bets were placed with Sun, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Fox, Velvet and Yatsu betting for KMMI. On the other hand, Coco, Neptune, Sage and Scarlet had bet on team RWBY.
"'Bro Code' my tail. Everyone knows Neptune's betting on RWBY 'cause he thinks one of you is hot, and the other two aren't taking my word for it that you're a badass." Sun complained. Close by, Velvet was pouting at a grinning and shrugging Coco. "Fine. I'll get to see their faces come tomorrow."
"And on that note, time for us to head out." I gathered up my team before the twins could process the implications of Sun's comment. "We'll be seeing everyone tomorrow then."
As we exited the club and started making our way back to the bullhead docks, Ilia shook her head. "This turned out to be a much bigger deal than I was anticipating."
"With this guy, everything ends up turning into a spectacle." Melanie jabbed a finger in my direction.
"Pardon me? I've made it a point to try to keep my actions and events quiet for-"
"Name one time you went on an errand and didn't drag in someone important or get into some sort of fight."
"…Point taken."
"You really think we can beat team RWBY? Even though Melanie and I aren't even in the top ten?" Miltia shuffled along. Melanie also looked a little put down, and Ilia and I exchanged a look.
"I won't lie and say that we're going to definitively come out on top tomorrow. But I do think that we've got a pretty good shot of it." I glanced up at Remnant's broken moon. "After all, we've got a few advantages over them that I'm sure they haven't been able to cover just yet."
Now even Ilia was curious. "And those are?"
"One, we've got more experience with one another than they do. The only two on their team that interacted before Beacon are Ruby and Yang, and due to Ruby's rather sudden entrance into Beacon, something tells me they weren't exactly practicing tons of combo attacks growing up, unlike our twins here. We've all go plenty of experience fighting with and against one another, which makes our teamwork better than theirs. Second, is that they're underestimating us. Again, some of it is rightly so, considering that those four are rather accomplished individuals and have respectable places in the rankings. But those rankings are just that, and only reflect individual battles in a sterile environment. A team fight is plenty more dynamic than that, and yet given their reactions tonight, they seem rather assured that they'll be walking over us come tomorrow. I'd rather that not happen." As we neared the airfield, I saw that a bullhead was arriving just in time for the small crowd on the ground to board.
"And the third thing?"
As the doors lowered, I turned to face my teammates, cracked my neck, and smiled with many teeth. "They haven't seen just how much trouble I can cause them in a fight."
… … …
"Hey Amber? Not to doubt you or anything, but you didn't happen to tell any of the staff that this spar was happening, did you?"
"Not at all. If they or anyone else found out about today, it wasn't because I told them."
"Good good, thanks for that. Welp, I suppose this only makes things more exciting." The Fall Maiden and I glanced up into the spectator section, where my friends were sat, only with a large portion of the first-year students, including team CRDL. Who they were rooting for, I had no idea, but that wasn't exactly important. It was the last-minute additions that had my eye twitching.
Vernal, Tai and Qrow. No surprise on who informed them that this was happening.
Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood. Mildly surprising, but Ozpin and his inner circle did need to keep tabs on Amber after all, not to mention team RWBY.
Penny Polendina. I shouldn't have been surprised, given that she was already in Vale during Volume 1, but this was the first time I'd laid eyes on her in person. She was just as lively and just as inhuman as the show portrayed. I then looked back towards the rest of the students. And of course…
Green eyes blinked and became pink and brown for a moment. I glared at Neo, who cheerfully waved before making a shushing motion and smirking.
"Huh, I didn't exactly peg you for a smooth operator, but you clearly have a way with the girls." Amber commented from beside me, notifying me that the silent conversation hadn't exactly gone unnoticed. However, that was all the time I had to think about that particular matter as the rest of my team exited from the locker room, followed by team RWBY. Predictably, the other seven were also temporarily taken aback by the audience that had gathered.
"Thank you to everyone for coming and making my job harder. And especially to Glynda Goodwitch for being in attendance, meaning this is practically like combat class already." Amber started, getting a few laughs as Goodwitch rolled her eyes. "As I'm sure most, if not all of you present already know, today's spar is between teams RWBY and KMMI. The style for this spar follows normal tournament regulations, and will conclude should neither team be defeated within 15 minutes, upon which the results will be determined based on fighters remaining and Aura level. Now, fighters, are you ready?"
"You know, I think I'm gonna enjoy having so many favors to collect on." Ember Celica cocked into place as Yang winked at our team. Miltia and Melanie stepped forward slightly, but I spoke first.
"Just remember what I said before."
"I'll take that as a yes then." Amber deadpanned before backing off to the side. "The match will begin in 3…"
"I already said we don't need to be protected," Yang flaunted back.
"2…"
"I wasn't talking to you." My eyes closed, I registered Auras at work before channeling Chronometry to view the world.
"1…"
'Here we go…'
"Begin!"
Waiting for the word, Miltia and Melanie fired off shots of Fire and Ice Dust. Team RWBY guarded as both projectiles flew forward, before Ruby realized a split second too late on their trajectory.
"Everyone back up!" Her shout was punctuated with a bang as fire and ice collided, covering the arena in a cloud of fog.
"You all know what to do!" Ilia nodded and sped off, while I closed my eyes for a second and got everyone's bearings. "Miltia, to the right. Melanie, to the left."
As my teammates raced into the fog, I located the red Aura I was looking for, before dashing into the fog myself with eyes closed. I could hear the gasp coming from Blake right before Ilia was on her with Lightning Lash, and the clash of blades began ringing out. A retort from a gun came in front of me as Ruby shot Crescent Rose to propel herself out of the fog, landing with precious few feet of the arena behind her. Not a second later, I loomed out of the fog and fired a shot off Mirror's Edge, the bullet forcing my fellow team leader into action as she dodged to the side. Silver eyes narrowed at the fog behind me as the clashes of various battles filtered through.
"Sorry Ruby, but you're not the only one whose teammates have a 'fire and ice' theme going on." I took a heavy step forward, hefting my greatsword. I kept my eye on Ruby with every shift of weight, as if trying to anticipate which way she'd run.
"Well, I hope you've got an apology planned for whoever's fighting Yang right now." Ruby shot back, before aiming Crescent Rose and firing a rifle shot at me. I ducked behind my blade, but the opening was enough for Ruby to start dashing around, unleashing shots from Crescent Rose at all angles. I twisted and turned, splitting Mirror's Edge to block the shots while trying to keep Ruby in sight. It wasn't long before the fog began to curl and drift towards the mini-tornado that was the reaper. Tracking her path, I counted, once, twice and…there!
Tossing one of my longswords forward, Ruby slowed to pivot away from the blade and towards me. As she did, I watched her silver eyes widen as mine rocketed towards her, my rush aided by Burst and Mirror's Edge. Ruby reflexively slashed out to force me out, but with Chronometry on max I could see the scythe approach. Jamming my other longsword into Crescent Rose's path, I grabbed onto the snath and kicked out with both feet, catching Ruby in the torso and launching her back. Turning around, I tossed Crescent Rose out of the ring before dashing towards Ruby. Reuniting Mirror's Edge along the way, I slung the sword on my back as I neared Ruby, who to her credit had a guard up. However…
"Sorry Ruby, but your reliance on Crescent Rose is your biggest and most obvious weakness." Angled kicks and hooks drove Ruby back as the reaper was forced to give ground due to her lacking hand-to-hand combat. "I don't think a criminal would hesitate to take advantage of that, or make sure to take you out of the fight because of it."
"Rrrrrggh!" Ruby punched out, and I weaved sideways and kicked low, upsetting her balance before grabbing my fellow team leader. Focusing, I twisted around and used Burst to throw her the last few yards out of the ring, as she landed beside Crescent Rose. Ruby punched the ground and glared at me. "No fair!"
"Maybe not, but it is what it is." I hardened myself and turned, taking in the arena as the fog cleared and a buzzer for Ruby sounded. "Melanie! Switch!"
"About damn time!" Melanie shouted through gritted teeth, backflipping to escape one of Yang's punches before dashing off as I took her place.
"Huh?" Yang pieced together the sight of Ruby outside the ring, and Burn activated. "You son of a bitch! I'll pulverize you!"
"I figured…" I groaned, splitting Mirror's Edge as the brawler charged in. 'Hurry it up, girls…I believe in you…'
… … …
Icicles lanced past Miltia as she rolled and weaved through Weiss' glyphs, before she straightened and slashed out with her claws, sending a wave of Fire Dust colliding into more ice. As a momentary fog was created, Miltia readied her claws and dashed through, finding Weiss was doing the same with her acceleration glyphs. Miltia rolled to the side and spun to catch the rapier thrusted towards her body.
"I was under the impression your hot-headed sister was the one who specialized in Fire Dust." Weiss Schnee pushed against the deadlock created by their weapons, and Miltia took silent stock and exhaled.
"An inclination for a type of Dust doesn't mean not using others, as you already know." Miltia swung with her other claw activated the Dust as Weiss went to parry, sending Lightning Dust to electrify Myrtenaster as Weiss jolted back, shaking out her arm. Miltia smirked. "After all, despite being quite hot-headed yourself, you enjoy using Ice Dust, as per the Schnee name."
"I'm more than just a name." Weiss propelled herself forward with more glyphs, and Miltia spun into action and sliced out with her claws, alternating Fire and Lightning Dust to capitalize on Weiss' Dust usage and guarding with Myrtenaster. As she did, she remembered what Kouzai had explained yesterday.
'Weiss is versatile, extremely so. But with options comes the inability to adapt when those options are taken away. Use Fire Dust to negate her Fire and Ice Dust. Use Lightning Dust to punish her using Myrtenaster. Above all, using two weapons will put her on the back foot.'
Miltia furiously slashed and cleaved, but where Weiss was lacking in an offensive response to someone with two weapons, she made up for it in defense and stopped big hits from connecting. Miltia wouldn't be able to knock Weiss out before she tired herself out.
"HAAH!" With a stab, Miltia was forced back as Weiss held Myrtenaster up, the revolving chamber clicking to yellow. "You're an impressive combatant, more than your ranking reveals, but I'm ending this now."
Time Dilation. With her weaving and rolling alone, her two claws wouldn't be enough to safeguard her from Weiss' assault.
'You misunderstand. By two weapons, I wasn't referring to your claws.'
The buzzer sounded, and Weiss stopped to look at who was out, her eyes widening at her partner's removal, and then more at Kouzai's statement.
"Melanie! Switch!" Taking her sister's place, Kouzai went to war against a raging Yang, while Melanie dashed towards Weiss and Miltia.
"What?! Tch!" Weiss focused and Miltia saw the clockwork glyph appear, but she steeled herself as her and Melanie closed in on two fronts. Glowing yellow, Weiss rocketed back and forth on acceleration glyphs, but Miltia and Melanie had practiced together, fought together enough to react instinctively off cues from one another. Guarding and deflecting, rolling and weaving, the two twins spun about in a web of cold steel woven by Myrtenaster and enclosed in glyphs.
"She's flagging! Take her!" Melanie caught what Miltia hadn't, and the two rushed into a slowing Weiss' range. With Miltia's own claws and Melanie's boots, the barrage of slashes and stabs began pushing past, and then overwhelming Weiss' defense and reflexes. All attempts at using Dust were cut off by negating bursts from the twins.
'The two of you fighting together, trained as you are, is a lethal combination. I would know. Without her Dust, without the room to use her Semblance, Weiss will be forced to her swordplay. While formidable, she can't hold up against both of you at once.'
Eyes focusing in, Miltia lunged forward and stabbed her claws upward as Weiss went in for a stab, Myrtenaster becoming caught between two claws. Slamming her arm to the side, Miltia wrenched Myrtenaster out of Weiss' hands as she and her sister closed in. Without the ability to use her Dust, Semblance or fencing, Weiss' defense fell within a few slashes as the buzzer sounded.
"Miltia, let's move!" Melanie didn't stop to watch Weiss sink to the ground, and after making sure the heiress was alright, Miltia dashed with her towards the next bout.
… … …
"Just like old times, huh Blake?"
Lightning Lash sparked against Gambol Shroud as both Faunus jumped about. With the katana in a deadlock, Blake slashed out with her cleaver sheathe, forcing Ilia to back up.
"With some scenery changes, it'd be like we were practicing against one another for training again." Ilia used the whip function of Lightning Lash to keep Blake moving. A familiar strategy.
'Ilia, whether or not you can win against Blake isn't what's important. Blake will have the perception that she can beat you, and that her teammates will win their individual matchups, so that all she'll have to do is keep you from offsetting the other matches. In reality though, you're trapping her. Once the tide has turned, it'll be too late to halt.'
The buzzer sounded as Blake glanced up at the board, surprise overtaking her stoic expression before a scowl replaced it at the sound of Kouzai's command. Catching sight of Melanie joining Miltia against Weiss, Blake separated from the deadlock and began running towards her teammate.
"What's wrong, Blake? Are you running from the fight once again?" Blake stopped in her tracks, and Lightning Lash closed in on her back. With a slight ringing, a clone took her place as Blake flipped into the air, then gasped as Lasher's Grip took hold and pulled her towards the ground. A second use of Shadow let her break her fall and roll upright, glaring at Ilia.
'Blake will run towards the fight for her friends, but believes that she runs away from what's important. Reminding her of that will slow her, stop her even, before she centers herself and presses on, but that'll be enough time to capitalize.'
"Such an ebb and flow. It's no wonder you were so mad at me back at initiation." The words tasted bitter in Ilia's mouth, as if dredged up from some part of her that she hadn't acknowledged. She knew exactly who she sounded like, and it felt terrible bringing it up. But this was a wound between the two that needed to be healed, a talk that needed to be had. "Were you deflecting all the anger you had at yourself, for misjudging when you should've stayed and when you should've run?"
Blake was motionless, her expression hidden from behind. Clenching both parts of Gambol Shroud, she turned slightly to look upon Ilia with eyes burning. "…I thought you'd understand what I'm trying to do."
"I do, and I support it. It just can't happen like this, especially with all that's happened." From her position, Ilia caught sight of Weiss falling and reluctantly wrenched her gaze away to face Blake. The buzzer sounded and Ilia saw the shock cross her face before she whirled around, correctly anticipating that the twins would be coming for her. Gambol Shroud came up to block the twins' onslaught, before Blake caught sight of their triumphant grins.
Lightning Lash slammed into Blake's back, discharging enough electricity to drop her Aura into knockout range. Forced to her knees, Blake looked up at Ilia.
'Blake is at her most vulnerable, her most distracted, when talking to a friend. Even more when it's an enemy that was a friend, or vice-versa. Something like that is fatal.'
"I'm sorry Blake. But you froze up when seeing Adam, and you stopped here. You won't last if you try what you're planning and something goes wrong." Ilia turned away to where the twins were rushing off towards the last fight. "I am sorry."
… … …
"RRRAAAH! Why! Won't! You! Go! DOWN!"
Ember Celica slammed into Mirror's Edge, and Melanie watched as Kouzai was pushed back despite his guard. Unable to regain his footing, Mirror's Edge fired to recoil into a strike, the blade glancing off Yang's other gauntlet. Spinning around, Kouzai caught sight of the rest of them approaching and smiled despite the idiot's fatigue.
The opposite expression was on Yang's face, who pushed past her rage to survey the arena and Weiss and Blake's downed forms. Said rage became incandescent as Burn was activated to its full potential, the heat and Aura literally pushing Kouzai back to where the rest of them had regrouped.
"Whew, talk about good timing. Even with all Mirror's Edge, I wasn't sure my arms would hold up much longer." Melanie shook her head in disbelief. She'd had a number of Yang's strikes sent her way, and she knew each of them came with a bullhead of force. Knowing that Kouzai had last nearly three times as long as her…
"Here she comes. Get ready." All four of them pulled out their weapons, aiming for the right moment.
"RRRAAAH!" A barrage of Fire Dust exploded out of Ember Celica, hurtling towards team KMMI as Yang continued firing until her gauntlets were empty. Taking aim, all four of them fired bursts of Ice Dust into the volley, the ensuing collision absolutely blanketing the arena in thick fog. Nothing was visible. Nothing except a flaring pillar of yellow.
'To be honest, Yang alone could sink this entire plan. Tired as we are, as relentless as she is, she might be able to beat all four of us in a straight fight.'
"Let's move."
'But we won't make it a straight fight.'
Melanie ran in, using the glow of yellow Aura to light her way as team KMMI closed in, slashing out with their weapons and dragging Yang's attention to them before backing out. In and out, in and out. Like clockwork.
'We're operatives and infiltrators, spies and assassins.'
The shimmer of Aura being lost was near-constant, but so was the scream of rage coming from the monster in their midst.
'We are not team RWBY, so we won't fight like team RWBY.'
They were nearly past Yang's Aura, but the very heat off Yang's Burn was beginning to clear the fog around her.
'They can fight in the light. We will hunt in the dark.'
Faced with certain defeat, Yang's desperation reared it's head, as the brawler pulled out her spare ammo and reloaded, before aiming her gauntlets at each other.
"Oh Grimmshit!" Kouzai's curse came as Yang closed her eyes and slammed her gauntlets together, the simultaneous discharge sending out a wave of heat and light that flashed into KMMI's pupils. Her eyes forced shut, Melanie grounded herself and…wait.
She heard the shout of triumph from Yang. She heard the cocking of Ember Celica and the stomp of Yang's rush. She couldn't see Yang rush at her, but she could see Yang rush at her, outlined in glowing yellow.
With the brawler nearly upon her, Melanie waited, waited, waited until Yang sent a chopping right fist down towards her. Rising up, Melanie pivoted along the side of Yang's arm, before driving a knee into a startled Yang. Continuing on, eyes still shut, Melanie rolled and turned, before driving her bladed heel across Yang's back. Watching the shimmering yellow in her sight bunch up and then disperse at the impact, the glow finally, finally broke as the last buzzer sounded.
Silence resounded for a minute, as Melanie eventually opened her sensitive eyes to view her teammates doing the same. Looking around, she caught sight of the peanut gallery in the stands looking dumbfounded, before focusing on Professor Autumn.
The officiant cleared her throat, paused, and then smiled. "And that's the match."
A/N: And that's a wrap on one of my favorite fights in this story to date. Thankfully, with the addition of formal rules and the lack of JNPR and CFVY joining in, Beacon is still in one piece for now. The non-physical aspects of things will definitely be seeing some changes, least of which is the fact that team RWBY won't be feeling so invincible in the near future. Now for reviews.
Raidentensho: There were certainly third-person POV this chapter, along with the proper introduction for Sun, among others. Keeping track of their birthdays should also be something to note at some point, so I'll have to dig them up.
AlexFalTon: Believe me when I say that I'm gonna have fun with this particular ripple of a change. And although Penny has the equivalent of a supercomputer for a brain, let it be known that the internet does not account for common sense, rather just the opposite. As for any potential shipping between Kouzai and Amber, any potential obstacles or hang-ups will be addressed if things get to that point.
Blackredray21: Happy early birthday to you! Glad I could contribute to you having a good lead-up to your birthday, and hope you enjoyed this week's chapter.
Gizmo Gear: I figured the readership would be deriving some enjoyment out of the potential interactions that might take place, along with the imagination of what might've already taken place.
Kuriboh1233: Beware of headpats to the adorable Velvet, for it you should begin, you might be tempted to never stop.
Fuyuki365: Well, I'm no ScrewAttack, but in my personal opinion and understanding of Soul Eater and Tokyo Ghoul, both matchups would result in solid losses for the characters of Remnant. Medusa is consistently portrayed as one of the smartest characters in the entire world, and has a truckload of refined power that Cinder can't hold up against. Only Volume 7 Cinder would be able to provide enough raw power to match Medusa's cutting edge, and Cinder's vulnerable Grimm arm leaves a particular weakness that Medusa doesn't have thanks to her snake form. As for Eto and Tyrian, suffice to say that it'll be a curbstomp for the scorpion Faunus. Without Tyrian's Semblance being able to provide an edge in battle, when comparing sheer physical attributes there is no contest.
-SE
Next Chapter Date: 07/14/20