A/N: We're almost at the turning point. Can you feel it? This chapter is a little slow, but it was a wild time trying to get all the other doubles into this one update. I was originally going to have JNPR's doubles match in here too, but I had too much fun with it, so it gets its own chapter. Look forward to two goofy OCs next time.
Let me know what you think of this chapter!
Laws of Attraction
Although the first day of the tournament had been nothing but vibrant and bustling, the second day felt anything but for the competitors. Day Two concluded the four-man team bouts, after which would remain only two days in the entire tournament. The only team competing on the second day which Pyrrha knew personally was Team CRDL- and, much to her chagrin, they managed to scrape by in their match, pushing their opponents into the way of a steaming geyser and knocking them all out-of-bounds.
Neither Team JNPR nor Team RWBY seemed much invested in the fights that day, so they had all gone their separate ways. Pyrrha knew that Ruby and Yang were spending time with their fabled uncle, of whom none of them had ever really heard anything about before- and Weiss had gone to spend time with her sister for the day, who had apparently arrived with a troop of Atlesian Knights. Nora and Ren were the only ones who had jumped at the opportunity to watch the rest of the matches, since the popcorn refills were free in the stadium, while Blake had disappeared somewhere with Sun and his team.
Pyrrha accompanied Jaune throughout the fairgrounds for most of the day after CRDL's fight, checking out all of the little curiosity shops. They bounced around each stall, examining every single weird, eclectic item they could.
She tried to ignore the fact that when Jaune invited her, Nora immediately sent her at least a dozen messages screaming, 'ENJOY YOUR DATE!' Convincing a curious Jaune that nothing was going on despite the fact that her Scroll wouldn't stop buzzing was a feat in itself.
She also tried to ignore the fact that, throughout the entire day, she couldn't help but play into the fantasy a little, at least in her mind. It was a guilty pleasure- reading into every single time Jaune smiled her way or tried to make her laugh- but it soothed the unsettled heart she had become so accustomed to.
The end of the day came swiftly, and Team JNPR reconvened in their room just in time for the official doubles lineup to be sent to their Scrolls from Professor Goodwitch. They had sent her their picks for the doubles round the night before, and so, it was time to see who the randomization process had selected to be their opponent.
"Aww, we don't get to see who's competing in the doubles, only the team themselves. Let's see here… wait. Who the hecky is Team AM- how do you say that?" Nora asked, jumping on her bed in her pyjamas. Her face twisted up in confusion as she stared at her phone amidst each squeak of the box spring.
"AMRT- it's probably based on amaranth," Ren murmured, flipping through the rest of the bracket idly.
"Ama-what?" Jaune asked, sitting cross-legged in his onesie.
Pyrrha sighed. "It's a flowering shrub, Jaune. The flowers- it's… usually like a shade of reddish-pink." Absentmindedly, Pyrrha opened the bracket up on her own Scroll, looking at the other matches. "We didn't watch their team match, so I guess they went sometime today."
"Well, who is everyone else fighting?" Nora asked. Having grown bored of bouncing on the bed, she jumped over onto Pyrrha's bed, throwing her Scroll on the nightstand. The redhead had been brushing her hair before the message came, so the shorter girl simply picked up the discarded brush and went to work on Pyrrha's long locks.
Jaune shuffled through the roster, leaning back against the wall. "Ruby's team is against Team..."
"It's pronounced 'funky'," Ren supplied once more.
"That's not a colour- whatever. Team FNKI," Jaune continued, "and at the start of the day is Team CFVY, who are fighting…"
"They're fighting Mercury's team," Pyrrha murmured, frowning slightly. However, she couldn't deny it- there was a part of her that was extremely thankful that she wouldn't have to go up against the boy ever again.
"You creamed him in class, Pyrrha!" Nora laughed, working through a tangled section at the end of Pyrrha's hair with her fingers. "And Coco's like, super strong, so she'll win for sure!"
That admission settled her heart. Coco would take care of him. If she wouldn't have to face Mercury again in the finals, she'd be even happier.
"And it looks like that friend of Ruby's is going to be fighting against Cardin's team," Jaune said, pensive.
"He… hasn't bothered you again, right Jaune?" Pyrrha pressed gently.
Shaking his head, the blond laughed. "Oh, no, he's left me alone for a long time now. He's not a problem anymore. Don't worry!"
"Either way," Ren mused dryly, standing up straight and stretching, "All of the matches will be done by tomorrow night. We should go to bed now, so you two can rest."
"But- wait a second… why are we the last to compete?" Jaune cried, outrage. "You guys will be waiting until the end of the day!"
"Being last isn't that bad, Jaune," Pyrrha chided, picking up a hair elastic from her side.
Satisfied with her work, Nora threw down the hairbrush and wrapped Pyrrha up in a quick hug. "As if that's an issue. Literally everyone else we know except for Coco is going to be fighting in the afternoon, so we can go cheer for them! But anyways, it doesn't matter if we're first or last! We're gonna cream them," the short girl grinned evilly, squeezing Pyrrha's torso tight.
The redhead laughed, hugging Nora back. "I'm sure it'll be an exciting match," she giggled, feeling just as confident. Based on the other matches she had seen, she was sure that she would come against little resistance during the remaining matches. Having Nora by her side was just the icing on the cake.
That sentiment carried them through to the next morning as they journeyed to the Amity Colosseum once more. The flight was uneventful- and, without the pressure of actually having to compete, Jaune was no longer sick in the airship. Nora and Pyrrha were decked out in their armour, weapons stored in the waiting area, and then the team was inside the open stadium.
As the third day of the tournament was finally here, there was even more excitement buzzing through the air- people who were looking forward to the more technical fights often waited for the doubles matches, after the first round of competitors were disqualified. The matches were slightly more difficult- with only four people on the field and four unique biomes to fight in, there was a lot of diversity that could be found in each fight.
By the time they were seated back in the VIP spectator area, Pyrrha was feeling a heady mix of excitement and apprehension. After locating part of Team RWBY, Team CFVY and Team SSSN farther down the row, she took her place beside Ren and sighed, keeping her eyes firmly away from the crowd. She wanted to avoid that golden gaze as long as she could.
From the commentator's booth, Professor Port's voice boomed out over the roaring crowd. "Welcome to the third day of the Vytal Festival Tournament! Today will showcase our doubles matches, and what an exciting lineup it is!"
"Indeed it is, Professor!" Doctor Oobleck chirped over a deep sip of his espresso. "I, for one, am looking forward to it! After all, our sixteen teams left in the tournament have all proved themselves victorious in their incredibly difficult team battles previous! From each of these teams, two students have been chosen to represent their teams and battle in the eight matches spread throughout today. Today's events will have a much quicker turnaround and end by this evening, where we will have our finalists ready to go! Get ready for an exciting day!"
"Well," the jolly Huntsman asked, "what are we waiting for? Let's begin the randomization process!"
On the holographic screens above the spectators, roulette wheels began to spin, showing each of the duos competing in the tournament.
"Does no one at home know that the matches are scheduled the night before?" Jaune laughed. Although he already knew the result, he still watched the flashing faces onscreen eagerly.
"Meh. It makes better broadcasting to pretend it's a live roll," Ren shrugged.
Pyrrha turned her attention back to the screen, where the first duo's faces settled down- Emerald and Mercury. The opposing side slowed to a halt, leaving behind Coco and Yatsuhashi's faces from Team CFVY.
The redhead snorted when she saw Coco's ID picture, the girl draped in chains of ammunition and wearing her trademark glasses. "Even in photos, she's wearing those sunglasses," Pyrrha said aloud, amused. Somehow, she wasn't surprised that the older girl would do that.
With those two teams locked in, Professor Port called, "The randomization process is complete! Ladies and gentlemen, your doubles tournament line-up!"
As the two duos in question stepped out onto the raised center of the battlefield, the smaller holo-screens around the area springing to life, the crowd cheered almost deafeningly. Pyrrha clapped politely, laughing with Ren as Nora hung onto the railing in front of their row and yelled, "Yeah, take 'em down, CFVY!" and Ruby and Yang screamed their hearts out.
Yatsuhashi took a seat on the ground, meditating as the slot machine biome selectors spun around. Images of all colours of the rainbow flew past, but he made no move to watch. Even from where they sat, Pyrrha could see the sheer sense of calm, collected confidence that hung off of Coco and her teammate. However, Emerald and Mercury held themselves the same way, smiling politely at their opponents, making no move to draw their weapons.
The elder Huntsman continued, "Emerald and Mercury of Haven, versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!" as he called their names, the roulettes stopped, deciding the four environments- a savanna, a forest, a geyser field, and an urban landscape. "3, 2, 1, begin!"
And then, instead of approaching their opponents, Mercury and Emerald traded coy looks and backed away, disappearing into the tall grass of the savanna. Without missing a beat, Coco immediately pulled out her giant submachine gun, firing it wildly to cut through the grass.
What is she doing? Pyrrha thought, barely flinching when some of Coco's bullets flew straight into the force field barrier protecting the audience. The moment Coco began firing, Mercury flew out of the grass and jumped into the urban area, climbing to the top of the tallest tower. Pyrrha immediately looked back at the grass, catching Emerald's shadow just in time as the girl hid away in the branches of the trees in the forested quadrant.
And yet, Coco seemed a little slow to stop firing. Once the smoke had cleared, and the grass showed no signs of movement, both CFVY members looked visibly disgruntled.
What is going on? Why do they look like they've seen a ghost? The confusion quickly turned to dread as she watched Yatsuhashi barely raised his sword in time to block a powerful kick from Mercury, the boy having jumped off of the rooftop of the nearest building. The reaction had been incredibly slow, despite Mercury not even bothering to conceal his approach.
Coco unleashed a spray of bullets on the boy, but his quick feet kept him clear of impact. With a deft volley of kicks and flips, dancing around them as if the whole thing were just a game, Mercury eventually twirled Coco around so that the barrel of her gun was pressed straight into Yatsuhashi's gut.
The battle quickly spiraled out of control. Mercury managed to cover the battlefield in smoke, and neither Coco nor Yatsuhashi could land any solid hits on him. The slate-haired boy seemed to laugh, although the cheering audience and the sheer distance drowned out the sound by the time it reached Pyrrha's ears.
Discomfort settled into her belly sickeningly as she watched the gleeful confidence on his face through the close-up live feed displayed above the crowd. Where in the world was the hesitant fighter whom she had faced in class, only a few months before?
Suddenly, the chain-sickle of Emerald's weapon flew out of the forest and wrapped around Coco, dragging her into the trees.
Pyrrha blinked at the scene blankly, mouth agape. Coco hadn't let go of her weapon, meaning that Emerald had just pulled Coco, and her handbag, through the air across a few hundred feet. She shuddered, remembering just how heavy Coco's handbag and machine gun had been. How strong was Emerald, really?
Her heart panged with regret as Yatsuhashi reached out his hand, clearly desperately calling for his leader as she was taken away. Due to the thick foliage, it was hard to see what was going on in the trees. Outside of the forest, however, Yatsuhashi took up arms against Mercury in a blind rage, only to be beaten senseless after the martial artist threw the larger swordsman into a geyser's blast. And, only moments after the buzzer rang and Yatsuhashi's Aura sank down into the red, Coco flew out of the trees. The girl landed in a heap by Yatsuhashi's exhausted body, her arrival accompanied by a second buzzer.
"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" Professor Oobleck chirped on the intercom.
Instantly, the crowd reacted. Coco was a bit of a celebrity herself, after all- a huge portion of the audience booed and jeered as Emerald and Mercury sauntered to the center of the arena, standing over Coco and Yatsuhashi's defeated bodies cockily.
Pyrrha clasped her hands together, holding them up against her heart, clenching her fingers tight.
How in the world did Coco lose? When I fought her before, she was more than capable of putting up a solid fight. Mercury wouldn't be enough to take her down. Was it Emerald's doing?
But then again, the skill Mercury had exhibited when fighting against the two second-year students had been almost astonishing. It was as if he was an entirely different person.
Or maybe he had never even tried to fight me properly at all.
She didn't know which possibility was worse.
As Coco and Yatsuhashi finally stood up and limped off the battlefield, Pyrrha's Scroll buzzed in her pocket with a new notification. The sender sent a chill down her spine. With trembling fingers, she opened up the formal message, taking a deep breath before she allowed herself to look at its contents. Her eyes grazed over the official Beacon letterhead used in the email.
I'm sorry to call upon you so quickly after our last conversation, Miss Nikos. Please come to my office after your match this evening.
And for some reason, in the background of the message was the faint outline of a chess piece- a rook.
She closed her Scroll, tucking it away and leaning back into her chair. Professor Ozpin… what are you planning?
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Professor Port's voice echoed through the stadium, "it's time for our next doubles match! Thank you for your patience as we reset the arena."
The anxiety and confusion filled up her throat, choking her slightly, the little black box creaking open. It did not say anything, however- instead, it was as if a thick fog began to fill her up from the inside out, clogging up every vein, slow and debilitating.
I can't stay here right now. Something is going on, and I just-
She stood abruptly, garnering attention from nearby spectators. Without a word, she waved to all her friends, ushering them out of the seating area and into the lobby outside with barely-contained panic in her heart.
Thankfully, the next few matches were against teams that had kept to themselves during their exchange to Beacon. While Pyrrha did recognize a few familiar faces, the rest of the morning roster held no emotional connection to her.
It wasn't just her who felt that way. After a few minutes of discussion, Ruby, Yang and Weiss all left to hang out with their visiting family members for a while, and Ren and Nora decided to head down to the fairgrounds until Team SSSN's fight later on. After the boys, the remainder of the afternoon would be CRDL's, RWBY's and JNPR's matches, meaning that they only needed to reconvene after lunch.
"Wanna grab lunch?" Jaune offered. "I know it's early, but I don't think I really want to sit here and watch the matches all day."
The redhead nodded after a moment. "I think that would be lovely," she murmured slowly. "I… don't really want to sit in there all day, either."
Holding out a hand to help Pyrrha up from the table the group had taken over earlier, Jaune raised a coy brow. "Ah," he jabbed, "I see that even the mighty Pyrrha Nikos gets nervous before a match?"
She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, drawing a laugh out of the blond. "I'm just a person, Jaune," she insisted, but her tone was playful. "Let me live."
The two of them headed down to the docks. Thanks to Jaune's lighthearted presence, Pyrrha was able to keep her mind occupied for the rest of the morning, pushing Professor Ozpin's dubious message and Coco's odd defeat out of her mind. There was no point fretting about it before her match, after all.
The morning quickly passed into the afternoon matches. Originally, they would have been on track to meet up with everyone before the start of the afternoon fights. However, Jaune insisted on trying to win one final prize at a carnival game on the Cliffs- with very little luck, despite his best efforts- so the duo only managed to find their way back to the VIP seats after Sun and Neptune's match.
"I can't believe you guys missed it!" Nora squealed, munching noisily on a large tub of popcorn from the concession stand in the arena. "Neptune electrocuted them in the anti-grav fields while upside down!"
Jaune groaned. "Of course we missed the good part," he muttered bitterly. "No one's used the anti-grav platforms yet."
"As if anyone could use them without throwing up," Nora sniggered happily. "I'd like to try them out, though!"
Slipping into the seats their friends had saved for them, the blond asked, "So, who's next?"
"Cardin," Ren gestured to the holo-screens above the spectators. "They're going to spin the roulette now for the matching."
However, as the names of the doubles contestants appeared onscreen, they all gasped. "Oh my gosh, is Cardin not fighting in the doubles round?" Nora cried, jaw agape. "Are you serious?"
Sure enough, on the screen, it read 'Russel Thrush' and 'Sky Lark'. Jaune lifted his head, surprise blooming on his features. "Wait… but Cardin's their strongest member, isn't he?"
Ren raised a brow. "I'm not surprised he isn't competing. He hasn't exactly had a spotless record at Beacon."
Pyrrha hummed in agreement. Cardin had done nothing but antagonize Jaune and her other friends throughout the first term. It was nice to see that he had learned to take a step away from the spotlight after all of those incidents.
And yet, when Russel and Sky stepped onto the battlefield, facing off against the infamous Penny (Ruby wouldn't stop screaming and cheering from the audience, so Pyrrha could only assume it was her) and her partner, the battle seemed to last only an instant. As it turned out, Penny was a master manipulator of long, curved knives. Whether it was by Semblance or by a sleight of hand Pyrrha couldn't see yet, the Atlesian girl was able to thoroughly defeat the boys of Team CRDL with plenty of time left on the clock.
"Our next match will begin in 15 minutes," Professor Port announced after Russel and Sky had limped offstage.
There was only one more match before Team JNPR's fight- Team RWBY against Team FNKI. "Nora, we should head to the waiting room," Pyrrha waved the girl along. "We've got to gear up."
After shoving one final fistful of popcorn into her cheeks like a hamster, Nora nodded. "I'm coming," she spluttered around a face full of food. The redhead chuckled, shaking her head wryly as she exited the stands and headed down to the competitor's lobby.
On her way to the waiting room, however, a voice called, "Excuse me, Miss Nikos!"
Startled, she spun around, only to spy a shy, yet bright, eager face waving to her from near a concession booth. The young man jogged closer to her, his grin growing wider by the second. Pyrrha froze for a moment, mind desperately trying to match a name to the face. She recognized him, that much was for sure- had he gone to Sanctum? Had she fought him before in a tournament?
Suddenly, it clicked. The scent of seawater flooded her nose from her memories, leading up to her first day at Beacon so many months ago. "You… you were on the boat," she said carefully, reaching as far back into her memory as she could. She turned back to look at him properly, the intensity of her gaze making him blush. The young man, although in different clothes, was definitely the deckhand she had spoken to on the trip to Beacon all those months before.
In that moment, his face lit up even more. "Yes miss! I can't believe you remember someone like me," he nodded excitedly. "I was able to take a few days off to watch the tournament! The Cap'n is letting most of us relax for a bit." He paused, then perked up considerably, remembering something. "Oh yeah! I saw your team match. You were right amazin' out there!"
Pyrrha smiled politely. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a nearby monitor which was playing the live feed from inside the arena. Yang and Weiss were already standing on stage, facing off against their opponents. I'm going to miss their match…
"And, well," the young man continued, pulling off his hat and holding it in front of his chest shyly, "if you don't mind me speaking out, then I just wanted to say- I'm happy for you."
"Um… may I ask for what?" she queried, more than a little scattered and confused at heart by the whole affair.
He smiled toothily, tanned face creasing in joy. "You looked real happy to be standin' out there with your team, Miss Nikos. A lot happier than you did during all those Mistral tournaments. I'm glad you found them!"
The redhead froze, eyes widening imperceptibly.
I… looked happy fighting alongside them?
Emotions rushed through her, cacophonous as they flooded her heart, the tears painfully stinging the backs of her eyes. Instinctively, she took a deep breath- in, out, 1, 2- and plastered an enthusiastic smile onto her lips as she tried to process what he had said.
I looked happy.
She thought back to the match against Team BRNZ, back to her pride at watching Jaune's growth, her comfort in weaving effortlessly around Ren, her amusement in letting Nora steal the spotlight with her exuberance.
I'm happy to fight by them.
The smile she wore on her lips now was natural. "I am happy in Beacon. It… wasn't always easy, but now, I'm happy. Thank you for thinking of me," she said simply, trying to maintain her composure.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, the deckhand pumped his fist in the air. "I'll be cheerin' for you. Your match will be the last in this here round, right miss? Good luck out there!" With that said, the young man jogged back to the spectator seating, leaving Pyrrha by the competitor's entrance, completely stupefied.
It was only when Nora's bubbly self crashed into Pyrrha in a tight embrace did Pyrrha realize that she had walked down into the waiting room. Snapping back into reality, she could dimly hear the two Huntsmen in the commentator's booth making witty dialogue with each attack from Team RWBY and their opponents, Team FNKI.
Releasing Pyrrha at last, Nora held Magnhild high above her head, posing victoriously. "We're going to destroy them!" she whooped, collapsing on a bench in a fit of giggles. "Aren't you excited, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha watched the girl wordlessly, still reeling from the short conversation she had just had.
She took a moment to just breathe. Then, rather than responding, the redhead simply sat next to Nora and wrapped her own arms around the shorter girl, burying her face into Nora's hair.
Instantly, the orange-haired girl stiffened, losing her silly demeanor. "Pyrrha, what's wrong?" she whispered.
The redhead shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just..."
I'm happy.
And she wasn't alone anymore, either.
"I'm so happy to be fighting alongside you," she finally said. Clearing her throat, she let go of Nora and opened up her own temporary locker where she had stored Akoúo and Miló for the day. Locking them to her back, she proudly stated, "So, let's win this."
A light flush reached even the tips of Nora's ears. Instead of bombastically replying, the shorter girl simply hugged Magnhild close to her chest and smiled sweetly, closing her eyes. "Yup, let's do it," she murmured with a quiet giggle. She stood up and grabbed Pyrrha's hand, squeezing it tightly. Even in their waiting room, there was a monitor with a live feed of the match- it was winding down now, with only Yang and one of her opponents left.
In a few short seconds, Yang had defeated the last member of FNKI. The professors declared RWBY the victors, and the cleanup of the stadium began, setting it up for the final doubles match of the tournament.
"Are you ready?" Pyrrha asked as they stepped onto the arena floor at last.
With a wicked gleam in her eye, Nora smirked, "I was born ready."
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed, a similarly mischievous glint in her gaze to match. Pulling Miló and Akoúo into her hands, their familiar weight put her mind at ease, her heart free of doubts. "Then let's go."
For her, the match was already won.