I had an author's notes for the last chapter, but I don't think I saved it to the document before submitting it. Oops. Well, I didn't have much to say last time, and I don't have much this time either.
That date I mentioned two weeks ago went alright, but so far there hasn't been a second yet. I don't think anything will come of it in the long run, but I'm giving it a try anyways.
The story passed a hundred reviews, thanks for all the feedback! It's nice to see people are excited about the machinations, I was worried people might feel the story is slowing down too much. Well, never fear, the Vytal Festival is finally underway.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Round One
The city had nearly reached its boiling point by the time the start of the Vytal Festival was announced. Cheers roared in the streets as the Bullhead docks opened to fly people up to the massive floating stadium. From Cardin's dorm room, it looked as though swarms of fruit flies danced in the sky just outside his window, congregating around a floating gray marble.
Between reading the reports Jacques had sent him, reviewing Team ALMD's files with Sky, and digging through Committee records with Cinder, Cardin's eyes felt ready to shrivel up and fall out of their sockets. He leaned back in bed and massaged his temples, trying in vain to rub away the throbbing in his head.
Russell briefly glanced at Cardin's scroll, which had five files open at once. "Jeez, no wonder why you're wiped. How do you manage all that reading?"
"Somehow." Cardin groaned and sat up. "You wouldn't be able to read that stuff aloud for me, could you? It's technically not schoolwork."
Shaking his head, Russell said, "Still counts. Besides, I don't even understand half the stuff on these."
Russell was pointing at the Committee of Foreign Relation's shipping manifest on Atlesian equipment into the country over the past two years. He had been hoping to narrow it down to everything headed for Beacon, but the customs office hadn't bothered to document where the items were going. To make matters worse, it appeared as though General Ironwood made a habit of bringing experimental prototypes back and forth, which were given project names, but were never explicitly catalogued per some treaty regarding intellectual property. Odds are, whatever components were brought over for the Aura transfer machine, they were smuggled within those legal loopholes.
"That's the point. If these documents were easy to understand, there would be a lot of politicians in deep trouble."
"What do you mean?" Sky asked.
"It'd make it easy to find all the embezzlement, forgery, and smuggling happening behind the scenes. If you wanted to bring, I don't know, Vacuan silk into Vale without paying the extortionate tariffs and taxes both nations charge, stuff a diplomat's luggage full of the stuff, ship his actual luggage on a separate vessel, and swap the two before he leaves for Vacuo. How do you think my dad got all those rugs in the foyer?"
Sky and Russell looked at him, unsure how to continue the conversation. Dove put in, "Have you made up your mind who to take with you?"
That had been a tough decision. Russell had speed and great coordination, but he lacked any ranged options. Dove had range with his sword's hidden pistol, but was the slowest of the three. Sky had the whole package, but odds were he'd perform poorly in front of a large audience.
"Let's see how the first round goes. There's no rush to pick."
Dove shrugged and went back to his Scroll. Russell took advantage of the changed topic to say, "When are you planning to use, you know?" He mimed pulling on a chain.
"Only when I need to, preferably the second round of singles. The longer we wait, the harder it'll be for others to adapt."
There was silence as the others nodded in agreement. After a moment, Sky said, "It hardly feels real, doesn't it? For weeks, it's all we've been working for. It got pushed back a whole month. And now, it's here."
Russell grinned and flashed his daggers. "It's finally time to take home that trophy. I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when Cardin goes all out."
Dove shrugged. "Whatever happens, happens. It's not like anyone's expecting anything of us."
"They are after Cardin beat Pyrrha," Sky said with a grimace. "I'm getting my stomach tied up in knots just thinking of it."
"Then don't think about it." Cardin put a hand on the haft of his mace, which leaned against his bedframe. "We'll do it just like we trained, and we'll win. That's all there is to it."
Cardin's team had drawn near last, and just as Cinder had promised, they were going up against Team ALMD. They were among the last of the students to arrive at the stadium and had to settle for seats near the top row in the student section. Russell had a tub of popcorn in each arm and two trays of hot dogs, chips, and other snacks in each hand. Sky held the sodas, four jumbo-sized cups wrapped in one arm, the other stretched protectively in front as he wriggled through to their seats. Dove had his Scroll in one hand and a covered platter of nachos in the other, and Cardin brought four sets of binoculars. Snacks sorted out, drinks jammed into cup holders, and binoculars distributed, Team CRDL settled in and waited for the Festival to begin.
Team RWBY had gone first, facing Team ABRN from Haven on a field of ice and molten rock. It seems a waste of Dust in Cardin's eyes, but perhaps that's the point. Such extravagant use of Dust might underplay its scarcity, or reinforce the notion that, despite the White Fang, the tournament will continue without interruption. All it would take is a well-placed comment about how this Dust could go to keeping families' homes warm or preserving food, and there'd be plenty of bitterness towards the Festival.
It was a one-sided fight from the beginning. ABRN had unwisely chosen to fight fire with fire, pitting their heavy-hitter against Yang, while their agile harasser got tripped up by Blake's ribbon and knocked out of bounds. Weiss guarded Ruby while she sniped the competition from a ridge in the ice. Within minutes, they swept the rest of the team with a flashy group attack.
Jaune's fight was even more lop-sided. As if BRNZ didn't have bad enough luck to square off against Pyrrha, they did so with the lightning arena in play. One minute later, Nora was racing through the forest, scattering trees like bowling pins and knocking the daylights out of anyone she ran into. Jaune and Pyrrha mopped up the stragglers, while Ren settled into a nook in the mountainside, watching the battle unfold.
For the last match, they hadn't bothered with the theatrics of spinning the wheel. Spectators were already chanting Cardin's name as they walked down the stairs to the staging area.
"Dude, they must've seen the video," Russell whispered.
"I guess they didn't see the one where I got my ass handed to me by the class clown."
"He's not bad now," Dove said. "His swordplay's gotten a lot better."
Sky wrung his hands on his halberd and lagged behind the others. "Hey, can we focus on not losing this round?"
"What, scared of those pipsqueaks?" Russell asked. "We're going up against Shade's benchwarmers. We'll be back in the stands munching on nachos before you know it."
"Well, the day's done after this, so we won't be-"
The conversation broke off as Team CRDL walked into the sunlight. They met Team ALMD at the center. All four guys had tan skin and bleached hair, as though they had baked in the desert sun. Each wore a white vest, baggy black shorts, and leather combat boots. Their leader had an imposing claymore with sockets for Dust vials, while the other three had different variations of guns – two pistols, a shotgun, and an assault rifle with an underslung grenade launcher. Each had Dust vials strapped to their waists, encased in metal to hide their type, but their transcripts indicated they were practiced with Earth Dust.
For a split second, Cardin feels a knot of tension forming in his gut as he thinks of fighting this group in an exposed area, but he remembers Cinder's note. Team ALMD wouldn't necessarily be hampered in a close quarters fight, but they would prefer a long-range shootout against Cardin's melee-minded team.
As Cinder had promised, one half came up forested, and the other half were valley crags. Earth Dust shimmered in the air, dragging the stone of the arena floor up with it. Within seconds, fanciful rock structures dotted half of the arena. For the other half, the floor slid aside to expose a premade arrangement of trees.
ALMD looked back and forth between the two terrain types before splitting in three groups. The shotgun went for the crags, the pistol and assault rifle rushed into the forest, and the claymore remained in the central clearing, charging at Cardin. Dove ran after the shotgun, while Sky and Russell went to hunt the two in the forest.
Cardin met the claymore head-on, catching the length of the blade on the haft of his mace. He twisted his weapon, forcing the claymore wide, and slammed the butt of his mace into the man's face. Aura flared as it absorbed the blow, and the Vacuan student winced, backing away a pace. Before Cardin could press the advantage, the Vacuan had a knife in hand. It flew from his fingers and slammed into Cardin's breastplate, bouncing off with a metallic clatter.
There were two more knives in his fingers, but Cardin rushed forward, and they were tucked back into his jacket. The claymore-wielder was strong, possibly stronger than Cardin, and his weapon had the advantage in open ground, but Cardin used his Semblance to move more nimbly, trading a percent or two to duck under an overhand blow and strike a thigh for five. After a minute of wild blows and careful strikes, Cardin was at eighty, while his opponent had dropped into the yellow.
"Is that all you got?" the Vacuan asked, panting hard. His claymore was scraping against the ground.
Cardin pointed at the overhead display. "Last I checked, I'm the one winning."
He let out a wheezy chuckle and fitted a Dust vial into his claymore. "Not for long."
Cardin backed away, expecting the ground in front of him to erupt, but that proved a mistake. A purple sheen surrounded the claymore, and as if the weapon were yanked forward, the Vacuan sprinted at him. His mace barely parried the thrust, only for the weapon to dance in an arc and slam into his shoulder. Cardin hit the ground with a thud, rolled, and skidded to a stop. He reflexively raised his mace overhead and was rewarded with a sudden pressure on the hilt. Shoving a knee under him, Cardin rose, shrugging off the blow and staggering to his feet.
The sound of the buzzer drew his eyes upward, only after the Vacuan looked. Russell had been eliminated by ring-out, soot-stained and coughing into his shirt. Over in the forest, half of the trees were burning, and the two Vacuans were on the other side of a wall of ice. As he watched, Sky pole-vaulted over the wall, using a high-caliber round to gain extra height. He fired a second round as he landed on top of the pistol-wielder, smashing his Aura straight into the red and sounding the buzzer again.
Cardin's stomach sank as he took in the aggressive use of Dust. Team ALMD knew they don't have a chance of winning the whole tournament. They only cared about not being eliminated in the first round. So, rather than ration out their Dust like other teams, they were spending all of theirs right now.
A loud grating sound came from behind him. Cardin turned just enough to see walls of rock rising in the crags, sealing off a small partition. The Vacuan with the shotgun stood on top of one section, aiming into the hole.
Cardin sprinted into the crags, with the leader hot on his heels. The claymore swung at him, but the narrow walls forced the Vacuan to make smaller, weaker strikes that scratched ineffectually at his armor.
As he approached the shotgun, the leader let out a shout. Cardin spotted a loose outcropping in the wall, swung his mace at it, and gouged out a fist-sized rock. With a dash of Semblance, Cardin hurled the rock at the gunner up ahead. He leapt aside but lost his footing and fell into the hole. Moments later, the buzzer sounded, with Dove the victor, clinging to a few percent of his Aura.
Before Cardin can break him out, the leader caught up to him. Though the claymore moves far faster, the enclosed space allows Cardin to block every strike. The narrow space worked against him as well, preventing him from closing in. Every once in the while, the Vacuan threw a knife and went for a wild downward strike, but Cardin was ready for the gambit each time.
As they fought, Cardin watched the weapon closely. Gravity Dust tended to burn itself out faster than other types, and judging by the transcripts, they haven't had any experience with the rarer varieties. As the glow lost a fraction of its luster, Cardin funneled all his Semblance into his weapon and armor and leapt up a crag. Bouncing off the wall, Cardin leapt at the leader just as his weapon's Dust supply gave out. The claymore hit the ground with a thud, abandoned by its wielder. He pulled a knife, but Cardin shifted the Semblance, and the full tenfold weight of his mace crashed into his opponent. His Aura shattered, drifting away in fading motes of light, and his shoulder jerked back. The Vacuan hit the ground with a groan, massaging the dislocated shoulder.
Up in the stands, Port and Oobleck winced at the blow and commentated on the spectacular strength their student had just displayed. Vytal Festival commentators tended to be biased for their home school, but the two professors took it to comical heights at times. Port waxing eloquent on how Cardin remined him of himself at that age made him want to smash his head against the nearest boulder.
His attention is brought back to the board when Oobleck suddenly announces the last of ALMD eliminated by ring-out. Sky had a third of his Aura left, while his opponent had nearly half.
"And that's the round folks, what a finish to the team battles!" Oobleck shouted into his microphone.
"Ah yes, the old charge at your opponent like a screaming maniac trick, works just as well as it did in my youth. Pushing with his halberd was a nice touch."
The display showed a replay of Sky's wild charge into the assault rifle's spray of bullets. Sky's opponent had tried to sidestep the charge, but his vest snagged on the recurved blade. As a last-ditch effort, the Vacuan dropped his gun and tried to swing the halberd around, but Sky had simply dropped the weapon, letting momentum force out his opponent.
"Does anything stand out to you about this battle?" Oobleck asked.
"Team CRDL's ability to adapt to the heavy firepower ALMD brought to this battle certainly helped. ALMD also made poor use of their Dust supply, exhausting all the Dust of two fighters just to eliminate Russell." Professor Port stroked his mustache. "Splitting up also wasted their superior ranged capabilities, but in terrain such as this, they would've had a hard time forming a firing line."
"Quite so. It appears Team CRDL was quite fortunate in the terrain selection."
A chill crept up his spine. Did they know? Had Cinder made a deal with Beacon staff to rig the games, or had they uncovered Cinder's tampering?
As he walked out the stadium's exit, Teams RWBY was waiting for him. Ruby was bouncing up and down with excitement, Weiss held herself aloof with a smile on her face, and Yang and Blake were both reserved.
"I can't believe six of our teams made it!" Ruby said. "I mean, there's us, you, JNPR, and some upper classmen, but can you believe it! We're in the doubles round!"
"Was there ever any doubt?" Weiss asked. "We are all exceptionally talented. Anything less than making it to singles is out of the question."
"Of course it is." Yang grinned and wrapped an arm around her sister. "I'm carrying this team, aren't I?"
"Excuse me? If I recall, the only reason we got that team KO was because of my glyphs."
"Oh really? I suppose you were the one doing the punching?"
"Yang, Weiss, stop!" Ruby wriggled out from under her sister. Her two teammates fell silent at the command. "You're both going to fight together in the next round, so you better get your act together!"
Yang and Weiss both looked at each other sheepishly while Blake pointedly elbowed Ruby and nodded towards Cardin.
"What?" Ruby asked. "It's not like it's some big secret."
As Weiss rants on about how yes, it is a big secret, and you shouldn't be telling just anyone, not even your classmates, because anyone can overhear you and come up with strategies to counter her and Yang.
"It's not a big deal Weiss," Yang said, with a touch of heat. "Just cool it."
"What, I'm supposed to just stay silent while our leader gives away all our secrets?"
Ruby looks like she wants to curl up in a corner, and Blake pointedly looks away from the arguing pair. Cardin went towards Blake, before his eyes snapped up to her bow, and instead approached Ruby. She shied away from him, but she didn't leave.
"Why those two?" he asked.
"Well, I, uh…" Ruby's eyes darted side to side, as if looking for an escape route. "I'm not that good, since I'm two years behind and all, and Blake didn't want to. Yang's the best of us, and Weiss can do a lot with her glyphs, so, yeah, they're fighting together."
Considering the strategies he has for fighting Yang, it would be nice having her move on to the singles, but he can't see a way to change Ruby's mind.
"Well, good luck with that," he says instead. We haven't figured out who we're sending yet. Bending down to Ruby's ear, and ignoring how she leans away from him, he whispered, "Me and Russell."
Ruby flashed an uncertain smile at him. "Right. Yeah. Well, good luck!" She left, and Blake followed after. Weiss and Yang kept arguing as they trailed after her, going back and forth about Ruby's leadership.
"That's quite the Dust barrel," Dove muttered.
"Not our problem." Cardin gestured down the hall. "Let's head back while there's still Bullheads to catch."
As they rounded the corner to the docks, they found Emerald, leaning against a pillar and looking at her Scroll. A smile touches her lips as she looks up, and she quickly smothered it.
"Cinder wants to talk to you as soon as you get back," she said.
Russell chuckled and slapped Cardin on the shoulder. "Don't keep her waiting! We can talk about the matchups in the morning."
Before Cardin can explain discreetly that Cinder definitely doesn't want him for anything he's imagining, the pilot shouts for them to board. Between Russell's periodic winks and the pleased, predatory gleam in Emerald's eyes, Cardin's stomach started doing flips.
They split at Beacon's docks, Cardin's three teammates going back to their room and Emerald leading Cardin to the transfer dorms. The door was open when they arrive. Cinder and her team were waiting for him. Emerald strolled over to her bed and sits down, leaving Cardin standing in the middle of them. Nelly smirked, staring at him with mismatched eyes, and Mercury watched him with a vaguely uneasy expression. Cinder paid him no mind, reading something on her Scroll. After a minute of silence passes, she sets the Scroll down, but keeps it on.
"Do you have any idea why I asked you here?"
He could think of several, but he thought it wisest to shake his head. A chill creeps over him as he set his mace next to the door and walked forward.
She picked up the Scroll and pressed play on a recording. Ice-cold needles prickled his skin as the recording played back the secret conversation with Jacques Schnee, with the treadmill humming in the background.
Once the recording was done, Cinder put her Scroll away. "Well?"
Thoughts spun in his head like knives, shiny, reflective, lethal if grabbed by the wrong end. He snatched one and ran with it. "I took a gamble. I suspected he would be wary of your influence and leap at the chance to get more information on you. If he thought I was your pawn, he might hold back Ozpin's secrets."
"And you didn't consult me on this first?"
"We could be overheard, as I evidently was."
Her eyes narrowed. "You disappoint me, Cardin."
He fumbled for his Scroll and held it up. "I will transfer the files the moment I get them."
"The files don't interest me. I already have more information than you'll ever get out of that buffoon."
"Then what do you want with me?" He felt anger rising in his chest, but it's smothered by fear, like a flame flickering in a blizzard. "Why did you call me here and tip your hand?"
"Why wouldn't I want to tip a royal straight flush?" She rose from the bed and sauntered to him. Her hand rose to stroke his cheek, and her fingernails slid across his jugular. "We're going to play a little game, you and I." Her voice was a sultry whisper, as if she held a candle to his ear. "Do whatever you can to try to stop me. Tell Jacques, or Ironwood, or even Ozpin if you want. It won't matter in the end." Her hand squeezes his throat, not tight enough to cut off his breathing, but enough to send twinges of fiery pain as her nails dig into his skin. "And we'll see how long you can survive."
He kept his eyes forward, but unfocused, trying to take in everything around him. Emerald has one hand on a gun at her hip, but both Mercury and Nelly hadn't moved since the exchange began. He knew the door was open behind him, but it took all his willpower not to turn and look, or turn and run.
"Hardly sporting, is it?" Even Cardin didn't know where he's going with it. Everything from his ankles to his collarbone feels as though it's dipped in ice water, while his neck feels afire from Cinder's touch. "You could slit my throat right now, and no one would bat an eye."
Cinder chuckled, and her hand withdrew. "I don't intend to make your death anything crude. I have something special planned for you."
He suppressed a shiver and put on his bravest smile. "I'm flattered. I suppose I shouldn't bother pointing how most Dukes wouldn't appreciate the sudden power struggle my death would start."
"I've already taken care of that."
Cardin swallowed and nodded. "I guess we're done here, then."
"Yes. You may go."
Cardin turned, struggling not to glance behind his shoulder to make sure Emerald wasn't going to pounce on him. His hand tightened around the mace as he picked it up. A sigh of relief escaped him when the door clicked shut behind him, but it felt a small, pitiful puff of air compared to the tempest of emotions raging in his heart.
As he walked back, he ruminated over every move he had made since she came to Beacon, every word he'd spoken, every choice he made, and he could think of only one that could have compromised him. When he open the door to his room, his teammates were seated on Sky's bed, reviewing the bracket he had drawn up. Cardin set his mace down by the door and walked up behind them.
"I've drawn up the most probable pairs for the next round," Sky said, "Based on all the data we've drawn up. That Atlesian team with Penny's going to be a problem, and also Pyrrha, of course, but aside from those two, there's not much we can't deal with."
Cardin didn't reply. He studied Russell, watching him for sudden glances or twitching muscles, anything that might give him away, but he didn't seem to notice. But it had to be him. It was Russell's Scroll, and he had Sky check for bugs on all their devices. Russell must've told Cinder he had called the CCT with his Scroll, and it would've been trivial from there to track the number and find a recording.
Before anyone could react, Cardin grabbed Russell by the throat, yanked him out of bed, and pinned him against the wall. Russell struggled at first, but he fell limp when Cardin finally slackened his grip.
"How long have you been working for Cinder?" he asked.
Russell wheezed and coughed into his face. "I – I don't know what you are talking about."
Cardin tightened his grip, but this time, Russell only tensed and waited for another breath.
"How long?"
"I swear, I don't know what's going on. I haven't talked to her, I haven't given her anything. I'm still yours, I swear."
"You are my father's," Cardin said through gritted teeth, but he let Russell down. His teammate scrambled away from him and sat behind Dove and Sky. Both of them eyed the door, but they kept their attention on their leader.
Cardin pointed at Sky. "You're in for the next round. Good night."
It's not even past six yet, but none of them say a word as Cardin turns out the lights and curls up under the blankets. After a few minutes, the door opens, and three pairs of feet shuffle out of the room, leaving Cardin alone in the darkness.