A/N: Here's a silly lil' contest- the first person who can tell me the three inspirations for the OC squad (both teammates and the team name itself) in this chapter will get a little drabble/oneshot of your choice (within reason, of course). I'm curious to see if anyone will get it :) (Hint: all three inspirations are video game characters from different series, and if you really can guess all the characters correctly, be my friend plz)
I had fun writing this, which is why it's a little excessive. Enjoy!
Laws of Attraction
Their steps onto the center of the field were met with thunderous applause. "And our final match of the day," Professor Oobleck began, "will be Pyrrha and Nora from Beacon, versus Ash and Terra from Atlas!"
As he spoke, two figures from the opposite end of the field approached the two girls. The first, a white-haired boy holding two handguns, nonchalantly rested a hand on his hip. Raising a thin brow, he glared at Pyrrha and Nora in turn. His red eyes seemed to glow under the spotlights, matching the strange crimson tattoos painting his cheeks. "So. You two are our opponents, huh?"
His partner, a tall boy with bleached blond hair, slouched over tiredly. He held a large assault rifle over his shoulder with one hand, running the other hand back through chocolatey roots. "Yo dude, this blows. I don't wanna be beating up some chicks. Do we have to?"
"Don't go easy on them, Terra," the white-haired boy insisted. "That'll be nothing but a pain in my ass later on." Pulling out a condescending smirk, he added, "The name's Ash. Don't think I'll be nice to you just because you're famous, Miss Invincible Girl."
Before Pyrrha could respond, Terra stamped his foot. "Shaddup," the taller one groaned, but his cheeks were pink, matching the skull-emblazoned pink tank top he wore. "Stop flirtin' with them, dude."
"I'm not flirting just 'cause they're female. What are you, a kid?" Ash quipped. His partner simply harrumphed and looked away, decidedly embarrassed.
As the small holo-screens emerged once more around the arena, icons flashing through to decide upon their four biomes, Nora began to laugh uncontrollably, clutching her gut. "These two are weird, Pyrrha."
"Hey, whatchu say?" Terra snarled. Pyrrha raised a brow and sent him a pointed look, and to her surprise, he immediately flushed an even darker pink and backed down. "Shit. Sorry."
Ash pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance as his partner scratched at a scar on his temple, embarrassed. "God, why do I always have to babysit the brats," he muttered.
Pyrrha and Nora traded looks. "Um, is this how you two always are?" Pyrrha asked carefully.
"These two are just as weird as the guys Yang and Weiss just fought," the shorter girl stage-whispered towards Pyrrha.
Neither boy responded, eyes now focused upon the results of the roulette wheels. The gears underneath the stage immediately began to whir and grind, the panels around the centerpiece dropping away to make room for the new environments.
"A swamp? That's new," the redhead commented. No one had yet to use that particular biome in the tournament.
"But we've already seen the ice fields, and the desert, and-" Immediately, Nora's eyes began to sparkle. "Pyrrha, Pyrrha, look!" She pointed at the fourth quadrant, excitement oozing from every pore.
Pyrrha obeyed, glancing at the icon in question. Lines resembling circuitry in a hard drive took the spot of the final image. "We get the cyber environment, huh?" In that corner, multiple charged platforms took to the skies, defying the laws of gravity through the use of gravity-Dust pulses. The air seemed to still on that side of the arena as the dust and debris began floating in midair, the airflow stopping within the force field.
She gripped the hilt of Miló a little tighter, and Nora crouched low, Magnhild held at the ready. Conversely, their opponents made no move to prepare themselves for the battle ahead. She sighed, exhaling deeply- then, she took another deep breath- in, out, 1, 2- and her combat mask was engaged.
"This is sure to be a thrilling way to end off our doubles matches for the Vytal Festival Tournament this year, folks!" Professor Oobleck cried. "Both of these dynamic duos have incredible tricks up their sleeve. Let's see how they deal with these interesting environments."
"If the competitors are ready to go, then let's get started with the final match of the day." In his most official voice, Professor Port announced, "3, 2, 1, and begin!"
Pyrrha's eyes locked with Ash's red ones, the boy's stance changing swiftly from nonchalant to determined. You first, then.
The moment the buzzer sounded, she leapt forward towards Ash. The boy instantly retaliated by dashing away with a speed that almost rivaled Ruby's Semblance, taking large, quick strides. Before she could even blink, he had gained a decent distance from her and was bolting through the ice field. So, she followed.
Nora and Terra's standoff took a decidedly different direction. There were large, craggy cliffs that rose up high in the desert quadrant- looking for the height advantage, Nora simply stepped onto Magnhild's hammerhead and propelled herself up to the cliff face, darting side to side along the rock wall to avoid being shot at whilst climbing to the top.
And yet, Terra didn't move.
Rather than chasing after her, the boy simply groaned, pulled a side trigger on his assault rifle, and changed the ranged weapon into one that was more suited for melee combat.
Although she was chasing Ash, Pyrrha felt herself slowing down and gawping at the taller boy as his rifle turned into a folding chair, which he promptly opened up and took a seat on. His weapon… to fight the Grimm… is a chair?
Behind her, she could hear Ash's exasperated voice echo through the ice crystals. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Terra?!"
"I'm not hittin' no girls!" the other yelled. "I told you I don't wanna, and I won't!" He crossed his arms and glowered. "If you wanted to beat up some chicks, then you should've brought Rose along!"
"Stop being such a goddamn mama's boy and start fighting!" Ash practically screamed.
Even Nora was noticing the odd situation. "Pyrrha, what do we do?" she called from high above.
The redhead sighed, straightening up. In her distraction, she had lost sight of Ash. However, the stage lights were shining on the ice crystals, their surfaces almost as smooth as mirrors. Through the reflections, she could see where Ash was lurking, fuming at his teammate.
She stretched her neck side to side, transformed Miló into a javelin, and raised the spear's point high. Aiming high and long, she threw it and triggered a shot to propel Miló further. Then, sliding around the back of a particularly large ice peak, she slid her way behind her opponent, ready to meet Miló upon landing.
"Terra, I swear to god- holy shit!" Ash yelped, suddenly noticing the spear heading straight for him. Distracted, the boy bolted to the side- directly into Pyrrha's path. She met him halfway, kicking the unsuspecting boy in the stomach and throwing him against a wall.
With his twin handguns, he was barely able to propel himself out of her reach as she pulled Miló back into her grasp. He wasn't fast enough to avoid getting slammed in the stomach with its handle, sending him flying back towards his teammate. Ash crashed onto the ground a few feet past Terra, where the taller boy still sat, arms crossed, pouting, making no move to help.
"I'm not hitting a girl, dude," he mumbled bitterly.
Pyrrha could practically feel the waves of anger emanating off of the white-haired boy. In the close-up displayed on the monitor above the battle, crimson eyes flashed. Staggering upright, Ash raised his twin guns, pointing them towards the ice field where Pyrrha still stood, watching her opponents. However, instead of aiming for Pyrrha, the boy began to fire at Terra's feet.
Instantly jumping onto his chair as if he were cowering from a mouse running around on the floor, Terra roared, "Yo, what the hell's your problem, man?"
"My problem," Ash hissed, "is that you're not helping."
"Ooh, I'm sensing some trouble for Team AMRT," Professor Port commented in the background. "It seems Terra is uncomfortable with fighting against the two lovely ladies of Team JNPR!"
"Is it due to intimidation, as he is fighting the Pyrrha Nikos, the incredible Mistralian champion currently sitting at the top of her class in Beacon, or Nora Valkyrie, who has proven to be an incredible force to be reckoned with in this tournament? Or is it that this tough young man is just the most gentlemanly Huntsman of all?" the jittery professor added on.
"Who knows? There is no gendered chivalry on the battlefield- these two young Huntresses are both extremely dangerous, so if that's the case, Terra is going to learn a lesson on that very soon. Either way, it's spelling trouble for these two young men!" Professor Port's hearty laugh echoed through the speaker system, but Pyrrha's attention was quickly drawn to the blur of pink flying in from the top of her vision.
The shorter girl had leapt off the top of the highest cliff in the desert quadrant. Before Terra and Ash could react, Nora swung Magnhild down onto the ground between them, sending the two boys flying back. The ground itself shattered, a shockwave of force sending ripples of turbulence through the reeds of the swamp at their side. Ash managed to regain his balance midair, landing lithely on his feet. Terra, on the other hand, clumsily slid backwards, his chair landing on his stomach heavily.
Turning back to Pyrrha, Nora gave the redhead a thumbs-up. "Nailed it."
Stumbling back to his feet, Terra groaned. "Goddammit, that fuckin' hurt, you know."
A vein in Ash's temple pulsed visibly through his long white bangs. "The girls hit you first. Now will you help?"
Folding up the chair and turning it back into an assault rifle, his partner replied, "Ugh! Fine! If they wanna play dirty, then fine, I'll fight them." Blushing again, he ground the toe of his sneakers into the concrete. "I swear to god though, if Ma bitches me out for hitting a lady again-"
As she saw his finger settle upon the trigger, Pyrrha and Nora immediately split up- Nora going into the ice field, and Pyrrha running into the swamp. Ash was on her tail immediately, firing at her with surprisingly-accurate aim. She held Akoúo up behind her as she ran, trying to find a new, flatter area- Nora's attack had destroyed most of the center platform, after all.
However, the moment she stepped among the reeds, she regretted it. Straightaway, her heeled boots sank into the peaty ground, each step loud and squelching despite her best efforts to remain light. The reeds were thick and high, good enough to conceal her, but the ground was too damp to run quickly on.
Crouching low and staying still, Pyrrha's mind raced to analyze what she'd seen so far. Ash is too fast to corner in a one-on-one duel, she realized. I need to use the environment to my advantage. I have to pin him down somewhere.
Suddenly, Pyrrha heard Nora's chipper voice float through the arena. "He uses lightning, Pyrrha!" the girl called in a sing-song voice.
That's good for us then… wait. The redhead glanced down at her feet, where her boots had sunken into the damp ground, her metal bracers and guards coming into contact with the watery bog.
"Got you, Nikos," she heard Terra's low, gruff voice laugh. In an instant, she tensed her legs and leapt as high into the air as she could. At the apex of her jump, she pulled Akoúo underneath her feet. Focusing her Semblance on keeping the shield in place, she used Akoúo as a springboard, catapulting herself into the air.
It wasn't a moment too soon. Electricity crackled through the boggy quadrant, conducting through the swamp perfectly as Terra fired shot after shot of lightning-Dust-filled rounds into the water.
"There you are!" Ash cried. The moment she landed back onto dry ground, the white-haired boy grinned devilishly. To her surprise, however, instead of keeping his distance as before, he sped towards her, pumping round after round in her direction.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nora jumping towards Terra, keeping the other boy occupied. With the taller boy distracted, Pyrrha was able to focus on Ash. She dodged every single bullet, gracefully sliding and rolling out of the way as she ran to retrieve Akoúo. However, he didn't change course, running straight for her. Once he was a few feet away, he stopped in his tracks, planted his feet on the ground, and locked the butt of his handguns together.
Before her very eyes, Ash pulled a trigger mechanism on the guns. The compact weapons expanded, and out of one side, a hilt emerged, which he grabbed with gusto. On the other side, an oversized, menacing broadsword blade plunged out, tiny spiked wheels lining the sides of the blade above the pointed tip. Instantly, the boy's arms dropped to his side, clearly unable to lift the sword for very long.
Pyrrha held Akoúo up firmly, keeping her center of gravity low. A sword like that is going to slow him down a lot, she realized quickly. This is my chance.
Staying crouched, she transformed Miló into a rifle and fired off a few test shots. Rather than dodging them at ground level, Ash simply grinned, leapt high into the air, and brought the giant blade crashing down upon her. She bolted backwards out of range, surprise filling her faintly- despite what she had assumed, his speed was still quite impressive, even with the oversized melee weapon.
The boy recovered rapidly and swung the blade down once more, and this time, she could only block it with a quick transformation of Miló, holding up her xiphos. Their swords met with a loud clang, but she held her ground. For just a moment, she shifted her weight- and that was enough to dislodge the piece of broken concrete below her feet. She momentarily lost her balance, inwardly cursing the lack of a proper battleground.
Ash began laughing as he bore his weight down on her, preying on that moment of weakness. "Ready, Nikos?"
And with that, he pulled another button on the hilt of his weapon, and every single tiny wheel on the sides of his broadsword began to spin like a hundred miniature circular saws, ready to rend the flesh off of her bones.
Sparks erupted from the clash of metal. Instinctively, Pyrrha ducked out of the way, pulling herself as far away from him as possible. The saws continued to spin, and the boy dragged the tip of his blade on the broken pavement, cocky smirk growing. His stance changed from a fighter to a predator, skulking towards its prey.
What in the world is that sword? One hit from that and even my Aura could be totally drained…
The sound of crackling electricity caught her attention. Nora and Terra were still caught up in a fierce game of cat-and-mouse, as Terra fired lightning-charged bullets towards the perky girl, who managed to evade each blow as she ran around the entire arena with ease. Every once in a while, she would rush forward with explosive energy and swing at the boy, but he was always able to recommence his assault fairly quickly, sending her back on the defensive.
When Nora caught sight of Pyrrha, however, the girl made a beeline towards where the redhead stood. "Okay Pyrrha, what's the plan?" she giggled, sticking a tongue out at a fuming Terra. Pyrrha quickly glanced over every single option available to them.
The center of the arena was badly damaged- there was no point fighting on that. The sand dunes and cliffs offered no protection nor advantage in the desert, and the swamp would prove disastrous for Pyrrha due to Terra's affinity for lightning-Dust. The ice field was slippery to navigate, but it might lend speed to Ash, who was hampered with a larger blade now…
She nodded her head towards the antigravity platforms. "Let's go."
With a huge grin upon her face, Nora squealed, "I've been waiting all day to hear you say that!" And with that, the two girls sprinted towards the cyber quadrant, leaping onto the first platform they saw as they dodged the volley of bullets from Terra.
"And it looks like Team JNPR has decided to take on the antigravity platforms!" Professor Port announced. "Let's see how they fare. Can Team AMRT keep apace?"
The moment Pyrrha stepped onto the center of the first platform, it activated the full antigravity field in the quadrant. Please let this work, she prayed. Suddenly, she felt the air around her body turn almost into nothing, and everything felt light. Taking a tentative step forward, she felt the momentum build instantly without the restraints of gravity. Testing it further, she jumped, and the motion sent her body upwards slightly, both boots lifting off, and staying off, the ground. Oh goodness. It does work.
Concentrating with her Semblance, she focused her energy onto connecting the platform- thankfully made completely of metallic substances- and her boots, ensuring that she stayed grounded. This was the first time she had ever fought in this sort of battlefield.
Nora, noticing that Pyrrha had risen for a moment, began cackling. "Finally," she cheered, running to the center of the platform and leaping up. With the lack of gravity holding her down, she flew up into the air, natural expression totally unconcerned by the second platform directly above her head.
"Nora, watch out!" Pyrrha cried as the girl grew closer and closer to colliding directly into the bottom of the upper platform.
Her worries were for naught. In midair, Nora lithely flipped upside down and landed upon the underside of the upper platform. The entire underbelly of the platform glowed briefly, locking her in place. "Don't worry, Pyrrha! It'll hold me here as long as I don't jump too high!"
"That's right, folks! It looks like Team JNPR has figured it out. As long as you remain within one foot of the platform, a miniature gravity field will hold you upon, whether you are standing on the top or the bottom!" the portly Huntsman laughed.
Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle dryly, seeing the other girl's excitement. "Alright. Be careful!" Turning her attention back to the two boys across the arena, she knelt low, flipping Miló into a rifle. The boys' expressions morphed into frustration as she began sending an unrelenting hail of bullets their way, soon accompanied by Nora's grenades, and her quips. The two boys barely held their own, evading each projectile and explosion the best they could- but soon, the entirety of the field was covered in smoke from Nora's grenades, and the central platform was all but decimated from the explosions.
With nowhere left to go to continue the fight, Terra and Ash bolted to the center of the cyber quadrant, keeping their eyes transfixed on the two girls. "Don't think you can hide, you two!" Ash called menacingly from the ground.
"Yeah," Terra affirmed, "we're gonna get you real soo- wait, what?!" As they spoke, Terra jumped onto the nearest platform to him, activating the antigravity fields. With his next jump, he immediately began floating into the air, flailing nervously as he lost hold of everything around him, flipping head over heels by accident.
Pyrrha and Nora continued firing upon the two. Ash rolled his eyes and pushed off of the platform, grabbing the collar of Terra's jacket. He seemed totally unfazed by the lack of gravity, and easily guided his friend through the rain of bullets, using his broadsword as a shield. "Stay here, you idiot," he muttered, pulling the taller boy up onto the highest platform.
"What did you dump me here for?!" Terra cried, leaning over the edge. Pyrrha could see the expression of terror on his face as he realized just how high above the ground he was.
The redhead jumped off the platform she stood upon. Using Miló's fire as a means of propulsion, she directed herself to the next ledge, keeping her eyes locked on the two figures above. "Just activate your summon and fight," she heard Ash hiss in response before jumping back. Flipping around to look down at Pyrrha, Ash smirked, floating stock-still in the air.
"And, here we have Team AMRT showing off their team's unique selling point- all of them have Semblances which bring about summons!" Professor Port explained enthusiastically.
Summoning Semblances? Those are so rare!
Both Pyrrha and Nora turned from their positions to gape at the commentator's screen for a moment as Professor Oobleck added, "Yes indeed! Summons are quite rare as Semblances, so it is easy to see why an entire team of summoners could prove deadly for their enemies on the battlefield. It takes incredible skill to master the manipulation of a summoning formed through Aura, and the boys of AMRT are well on their way to becoming masters."
"Aw pooey," Nora mumbled above Pyrrha, still upside down. "This is gonna get weird."
Suddenly, the red tattoos on Ash's face began to glow, and his eyes began to burn with an uncannily-bright light. "Playtime's over, girls. I'm done with tag," he called. Pyrrha stepped back cautiously, anchoring herself to her current platform, ready to see what he would do. His Aura began to swirl around him, dark and tinged with a disturbing red undertone. Soon, a glyph formed behind him, and a spine-chilling roar ripped through his lips as he curled up into a ball.
Materializing out of the glyph came a dark, inhuman shadow hulking over Ash's back. As it came into being, its edges became more and more defined as the Aura solidified into a physical form. Ash slowly unfurled himself, and by the time he was floating relaxed once more, the monstrous shadow behind him had taken on a final, defined shape. It had no visible features- only emptiness which seemed to suck out the light. Multiple glowing red orbs pulsed on its forehead like sinister eyes.
Pyrrha watched the whole thing in a daze. She had never actually seen a glyph summoning like that before in person- the weight of its presence sent a shiver down her spine, raising gooseflesh. It was horrifying.
Ash's eyes flashed bright red, his tattoos still glowing unsettlingly. With a quick flick of the wrist, the boy threw his weapon down, not even bothering to watch it embed into one of the lower platforms. With his hands free, he moved his arms out by his sides and opened his palms. The shadowy figure did the same, unfurling long, horrifying claws from the dark mass.
"Ah, man- wait for me!" Terra called. Pulling out a lightning-infused ammo cartridge from his pocket, the boy released it in the air. Thanks to the lack of gravity, the cartridge floated, leaving the perfect target for the boy to smash apart with the barrel of his rifle.
Just like that, lightning spewed from the center of the cartridge. The light blinded everyone, Pyrrha included- she instinctively reached out with her Semblance, feeling for a lower platform. Finding one nearby, she pulled herself along using her polarity, not trusting Ash to stay his claws while she blinked the bright spots out of her eyes.
When her vision finally cleared, there was a large, skeletal figure standing behind the blond. With one bony hand, the summon laid its hands on Terra's shoulders, pulsing lightning into the boy's body.
"And here we see Terra's summoning! It helps him raise the accuracy of his firing, and upon contact, each bullet is infused with an absolutely incredible amount of electrical energy!" the rotund Huntsman explained.
"Yes, here we see a classic example of how a Semblance can be used to heighten the potency of a specific element of Dust, without actually wielding that element itself! Astonishing!" Professor Oobleck cooed excitedly.
Once the summoning solidified, Terra promptly began targeting Nora. Pyrrha smiled, noticing just how energetic Nora looked. Those two are a perfect match-up in our favour. Nora will win.
Ash noticed her sudden ease. Using the power of his summon, he was able to float around in the antigravity fields freely, his Semblance giving him perfect movement control while airborne. "Do you really have time to be relaxing right now?" And with that, he struck.
After that, Pyrrha didn't have time to think. With Ash freely moving through the air at will, not needing to propel himself thanks to his summon, he chased after her relentlessly. The claws of the shadowy beast scratched at her constantly, and the moment she would get too far away, it would fire dark balls of energy to strike her down. Dodging the assault was an art, as she had to kick off between each of the platforms, use Miló for extra propulsion as needed, and drag her own armour towards different platforms by use of her polarity. All of her energy was focused upon avoiding each swipe of the summon's claws, the beast leaving a trail of torn-apart platforms in its wake.
Although she wasn't on the offensive, Pyrrha's confidence continued to grow by the minute. She had learned about the theory of Semblance summons in the past, and there was one very easy weakness to exploit. A quick look up at the holo-screen displaying their Aura gauges was enough to confirm her theory.
If he doesn't get rid of that monster soon, his Aura is going to fall into the red, and it'll be my win on all accounts. Combat isn't always about fighting.
Suddenly, her heart struck a chord. Sometimes… not fighting is the best option.
She tried not to think too hard about that sentiment in the moment.
A triumphant cheer from Terra brought her attention back to the other combative duo. Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder. Nora was struck in the chest by one of the lightning bolts- but, thanks to her Semblance, she simply channeled that energy into a stronger swing, one which left the boy reeling.
Terra rolled out of the way, his ghostly summon floating beside him. "Are you fuckin' serious? She doesn't even get hurt with lightning? This damn thing isn't even worth it then!" Groaning, Terra immediately dispelled his summon, and the skeletal creature faded away into nothing. Shifting his rifle back into a chair, he picked the whole thing up by the bottom rung and flipped down off of his platform, racing towards Nora with his chair raised ominously. "Whatever. I give up. Let's go Valkyrie, you an' me!"
"You got it!" Nora replied, shooting herself up into the air using Magnhild. The two of them began to fight in close quarters upon the higher platforms.
"Why are you watching them, Pyrrha Nikos?" Ash taunted, and his summon swiped at her once more. Tearing her eyes away from Nora's fight, she threw herself down to the side, using her Semblance to propel her towards another platform. Ash followed her easily thanks to his summon, the creature chasing her with claws outstretched. Ash's eyes grew even more manic as he cried, "You should be focusing on our fight instead!"
We've got to take one of them out- their Auras are both low. Listening to the sounds of clashing metal from above, she thought decidedly, I'll go help Nora first, then take care of Ash.
Grabbing hold of one of the platform's ledges, she pulled herself up with all of her strength. Using Miló to add some speed, she flew to the highest platform in the blink of an eye. Before she could fly past it, though, Pyrrha grabbed hold of the side of the platform, stopping herself from flying out-of-bounds.
Gripping onto ledge, she peeked over the side. Luckily, she had grabbed the one upon which Nora and Terra were fighting. Before Terra could notice her, Pyrrha jumped onto the platform and swept Terra's legs out from under him.
The boy instantly scrambled to regain his footing, but he had already begun to float upwards. "Nora, get him!" Pyrrha commanded. The orange-haired girl grinned, understanding in an instant.
Without missing a beat, Nora spun in place, swinging Magnhild around her. Pyrrha closed her eyes, letting her Semblance reach out and grab hold of the hammer as well- and using her polarity, Pyrrha forced the hammer to speed up, gaining momentum.
By the time Terra had finally grabbed hold of the platform and settled back onto his feet, Nora fired a shot out of her hammer, increasing the speed even further. From there, it was just a simple lean outwards, and Terra was caught on the hammer, Nora's momentum sending him flying straight out into the force-field. The buzzer rang, and even from where he had fallen onto the ground, they could hear Terra cussing loudly at his loss.
Behind her, she heard Ash curse. "You've got to be kidding me." Turning on her heel, she tensed up, ready to jump out of the way when his summon came after her once more.
However, there were no more claws attempting to tear her apart. Instead, Ash simply floated in space, the shadowy creature flickering in and out of existence, its edges going hazy.
"And here we have the main problem with summoning Semblances- the inherent time limit! If Ash had held on any longer, then we would've been seeing a victory by Aura loss."
I was right. Pyrrha glanced at the Aura screen, and Ash's Aura had indeed drained to just before the red. Professor Oobleck explained, "Yes, summoning takes both incredible finesse and incredible stamina. As they require a tremendous amount of Aura to manifest, the user must always be cognisant of how much time they have with their summons."
That brought a smile to Pyrrha's face. Looking back at Ash, she propped a hand upon her hip. "Out of ideas?" she asked, smiling politely.
Panic flashed in red eyes. The white-haired boy grimaced, opening his mouth to retort- but in that moment, the shadow fell apart, and his body reabsorbed majority of the essence of the creature. Finally, he was alone against both her and Nora.
Instantly, the boy turned tail and attempted to flee. Kicking off from the nearest platform, he attempted to float out of the cyber quadrant as fast as he could, desperate to reach his weapon which awaited him below. Clearly, he thought he'd have taken me down by now.
So, as he tried to run away, she made eye contact with Nora. "Nora, up!" she cried, but she pointed Akoúo towards their opponent, rather than towards the ceiling. Just as usual, Nora understood her meaning in a heartbeat, and the girl stepped off from the platform, using the zero gravity to land onto Akoúo horizontally.
With all of her strength, she threw Nora out like a speeding bullet after Ash, the orange-haired girl firing Magnhild to get extra speed.
The boy didn't know what hit him when Nora managed to catch up. In midair, he glanced over her shoulder, but couldn't possibly react in time when Nora slammed her hammer straight into his gut, sending him plummeting towards the ground. As he flew down, his body exited the antigravity field, and he fell like a rock, unable to recover.
The moment her hammer connected with its target, Nora was flying back to where Pyrrha still stood. "Go get 'em!" she laughed, and with a quick hammer strike down onto the other end of Pyrrha's platform, she catapulted Pyrrha through the air.
Before Ash could regain his footing in the center of the platform, Pyrrha's body fell out of the antigravity field. Instantly, she began falling towards the battlefield where her opponent stood. In midair, she pulled Akoúo back and threw it as a discus, the shield lodging itself in the ground straight through the back of Ash's jacket, pinning the boy to the ground with a jerk.
When she landed on her feet, the boy was clumsily trying to pull off his jacket, unable to rip Akoúo out from where it had lodged in the concrete. "Goddammit!" Ash cried, frantic in his efforts. He finally managed to wrench his arms free from their constraints, but it was too late.
With a few smooth kicks, Pyrrha tossed the boy up into the air. Jumping high above him, she triggered Miló back into a javelin- flipping over to gain some speed, she slammed the shaft of the spear down into his stomach, triggering the buzzer, the total depletion of Ash's Aura as he fell back down into the broken concrete, and the end of the match.
"Pyrrha and Nora are the victors! What an incredible way to finish off the doubles round, ladies and gentlemen!"
Nora had finally propelled herself out of the cyber quadrant when Pyrrha touched back down. Wrapping an arm around Pyrrha's neck excitedly, she squealed, "We did it, Pyrrha! Ooh, that was awesome!"
Pyrrha smiled, exhaling quietly. Straightening her shoulders, she waved to the cameras on instinct before turning to Ash. The boy was struggling to get back up, utterly drained from the fight. The redhead pulled Akoúo out from the concrete and returned it to her back, picking up and dusting off the dirtied jacket caught beneath it. Then, she gracefully approached Ash, holding out a hand. "Need some help?"
A part of her instantly regretted her actions when his response was a scathing glare- however, it quickly softened into a look of resigned respect. "You're pretty good, Pyrrha Nikos," Ash murmured. "I'm impressed."
And he took her hand.
She blushed from head to toe as she helped him to his feet, averting her eyes when he brushed the dust off his clothes. Never before had opponents after a competitive match actually spoken to her so genuinely, so kindly. "Your Semblance is what's incredible," she insisted, trying to mask how flustered she suddenly felt. "I- I really enjoyed the match."
Taking his jacket from her, Ash flashed her a wide, rueful smile. "Well, at least this'll make a good story home! Sorry I got a little hot-headed out there. It's been a while since I've actually wanted to let loose with my Semblance." At the outskirts of the battlefield, Terra began waving at him, calling him over. Ash sighed, flipping his bangs out of his eyes. They were no longer glowing from the heat of the battle. "That weirdo won't stop screaming at me until I join him. Great." Turning back to Pyrrha and Nora, he finally stated, "You better win the finals, Nikos! I won't forgive you if you robbed me of my place only to lose to some idiot."
With that, the pale boy walked away to retrieve his weapon and join his teammate, and Pyrrha and Nora were able to leave the arena to the sound of thunderous applause.
By the time they were back in the lobby of the theatre, all of their friends were already waiting for them. "That was amazing! I can't believe you guys actually used the antigravity fields so easily!" Ruby shrieked.
Nora waved her hand, mockingly dismissive. "Oh, it was nothing," she giggled. With a dark smirk, she added, "I've been image-training for them since the day I saw them. I knew we would conquer those anti-grav platforms!"
The group continued singing Pyrrha and Nora praises as they migrated to the docking station in the colosseum. No one in Team AMRT had apparently used their Semblances during the four-on-four round, so it was a first for them all to see a team that actually used summons in battle. Thankfully, their chatter died down by the time that they all boarded the next airship back to Beacon, allowing Pyrrha some time to rest after the long fight.
Jaune bumped his shoulder into Pyrrha's, the widest smile on his face. "You guys were absolutely incredible," he laughed brightly. "I'm still not over it. How did you manage to defeat those guys?"
"It's surprising that there's an entire team comprised of summoners," Ren added. "I thought it was a rare Semblance, usually passed through genetics. Atlas has some interesting Huntsmen."
"They sure do," Pyrrha laughed wryly. "But, I had fun. It was a good fight."
By the time their ship arrived at Beacon's dock, the sun was well on its way to disappearing over the horizon's edge. "Well, only one more round to go! We've made it all the way to the finals," Jaune said. "Now, time to rest!"
"Mhm!" Nora hummed cheerfully, skipping to the dormitories ahead of them all.
Reaching into her pocket, Pyrrha pulled out her Scroll. The same message from Professor Ozpin was still open. I can put Miló and Akoúo away later. Now that her match was over, it was time.
"Sorry guys- I need to do something really quickly," she said as they passed the Great War memorial statue. "I shouldn't be too long. I just need to go talk to Professor Ozpin."
The other three traded surprised looks, but no one questioned it. "I'll leave your stuff on your bed, then!" Nora chirped, holding her hands out eagerly. Pyrrha complied, placing Miló and Akoúo in her care- she'd return to polish the weapons later.
"Well then, if you're going to his office anyways, do you want to just tell Professor Goodwitch on the way?" the blond asked.
She frowned, cocking her head slightly. "Tell her what?"
"That you'll be representing us in the finals, silly!" Nora exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "You're gonna represent Team JNPR and take that prize money for us, baby!"
Ren rolled his eyes, but his smile was good-natured. "I don't know if there's any money involved, but… There's no one better," he affirmed gently.
Pyrrha froze. Taking on the finals round by herself? She didn't want to compete alone…
But, as she ran her eyes over the hopeful gazes and welcoming smiles of her teammates, she found herself at ease. "Alright," she murmured. "I'll… I'll do my best to bring the title home to you."
"We know you will, Pyrrha," Jaune grinned, clapping her on the shoulder. With that, the three of them headed off to the dormitories, waving their goodbyes quickly.
They're counting on me to win this, huh?
With that, she headed off to the campus' CCTS tower. Time to see what Professor Ozpin wants.
As she walked in the light of the setting sun, her heart was at ease. For once, the thought of being alone in the spotlight didn't strike fear into her. Instead, she just closed her eyes as her feet automatically carried her through campus, smiling and humming quietly to herself. The high from her win and the pleasant interaction with Ash still coursed through her veins. Behind her eyelids, she let herself sink into the fantasy of her usual, favourite dream- of running through the forest, of fighting the Grimm victoriously, and of coming home to her three teammates.
I'll be back soon.
She entered the elevator at the base of the CCTS tower with that one thought playing over and over again in her mind. Clasping her hands together, she spun around, facing the door of the elevator.
Although her thoughts were filled with joy, she found herself falling off of her high fairly quickly. Memories from that morning flooded back unbidden, and suddenly, she was struck with the discomfort of it all- receiving the headmaster's message, watching Coco's match, the darkness of Cinder's gaze in the arena.
As the elevator doors closed on her, she watched the gentle light of sunset disappear behind the shutting walls of cold metal and steel. For some reason, while alone in that small, cramped cage, the unease from that morning began to creep back into her heart.