Chapter 5: Live and Learn

The blood dripped from the blade, pooling onto the floor. Vegas flicked it to the side, sending a spray of crimson across the floor and wall, stepping over the body with a scowl. He stared down at the body of the Atlesian soldier, white armor and garments slowly soaking red.

"Cin." He spat, touching a hand to his ear.

There was a long few moments of silence, before: "Goldie, I'm in the middle of something."

He growled. "And I just got out of something. Soldiers caught sight of me."

"And did you deal with them?"

"Of course."

"Then what's the problem?"

"That they found me. And there's now three missing soldiers."

"Oh, Goldie. Just a couple more days. Everything's going perfectly according to plan. Have some patience. And… if any more of Ironwood's little tin men show up… feel free to have some fun. No one will notice until it doesn't even matter."

He stared off into nothingness for a few moments, before nodding slowly. "…Fine. Keep me informed."

"Feel free to drop by the Colosseum today. Emerald and Mercury have… a showcase in mind. I'm certain that they'll love to have you there. I made sure that their opponents are perfect."

"…I'll be in the Mistrali section."

"Excellent, Goldie. See you then."

The line went dead, and he sighed, rotating his neck, grinding the kinks out with a series of cracks. The killer looked down at the lifeless bodies, grunting to himself. "Look at you. Legendary assassin Vegas Gold; going to go watch kids play fight. The things you do…"

He shook his head, stepping over the bodies and wrapping his dark cloak back around himself, hood pulled low over his face.

"And who the hell is Team BLDD anyways?!" Rainier barked, throwing a hand up as he scowled at his notepad, pale yellow eyes narrowed at the piece of paper, uncharacteristic dark bags hanging from his eyelids.

Ruby jumped in surprise, turning quickly to him. "I- who- wha?"

"Our next opponents. BLDD. Vacuoan. I didn't even see their fight! And I have never heard of them, in my life. Baffling."

"You keep up to date with all things Vacuo huntsmanning?" Lance asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Weiss has got her eye on Atlas, right?" Daria asked. "Can't be that much different."

"Apparently, not nearly well enough. For example: how exactly Team DRAB managed to make this tournament." The Atlesian heiress muttered back.

Rainier gave his leader a side-eyed look, receiving one in return. "Well, they gave SOUL a run for their money… for… a moment."

"A proper Atlesian team would have held their own far better, even if they wouldn't have won."

"Yes, well, it is SOUL we are talking about."

"What about Team SNOW?" Pyrrha asked, gingerly taking Rainier's notepad and looking it over.

"SNOW?" Lance asked with a frown. "Who the hell is SNOW?"

The resident Vacuoan threw his hands up. "Thank you!"

"We really need to watch more of the matches." Ren muttered.

"Where's the fun in that?!" Nora called over. "You've gotta make a strategy on the fly- that's the true test of a warrior!"

"I really don't think it is."

"Emerald and Mercury of Haven versus Coco and Yatsuhashi of Beacon!"

The eyes of the Vale huntsmen turned back to the arena floor far below, as the two pairs of fighters lined up across from each other, squaring off as they waited for the biomes to be chosen.

Velvet and Fox rose from their seats besides their younger Vale compatriots, the faunus waving down to her leader and partner. "Good luck you two!"

Coco looked her opponents up and down, smirking at Emerald. "Hey! Love the outfit, kid!"

The mint-haired fighter gave her an unimpressed look. "I'll try not to get blood on it."

"I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch." Yatsuhashi called back, removing his greatsword from his back.

"I won't be the one bleeding."

Coco grinned at her teammate. "Ooh, I like her."

The area around the center platform split into quarters: a patch of plains, the grass raising up to the heads of the three shorter fighters; a collection of city ruins, filled with shattered glass and rubble; a steaming hot spring alongside a small river, blue dust crystals lining the rock; and finally, a thick swathe of verdant green forest, looking suspiciously like Beacon's own Emerald Forest.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Emerald and Mercury simply stalked backwards, disappearing into the tall grass. The two Vale huntsmen shared a grin, as Coco raised her purse and flicked it- forming a hulking gatling gun, golden and brown. She dug her feet into the tile, pulling the trigger and simply letting the rain of bullets fall down onto the field, cutting the grass in half with ease. After a moment, she stopped, both members of CFVY whirling about.

The two "Mistrali" huntsmen were gone.

The crowd went silent as well as a murmur of confusion fell upon the arena, all eyes scanning the battlefield curiously. Blake's eyes widened, shooting to attention:

"Look out!"

Yatsuhashi pushed Coco away from him as Mercury fell from the sky, bringing his sword up to block the double-stomp attempted by the silver fighter, pushing him away. The leader of CFVY began firing relentlessly after her opponent, who just managed to stay a step ahead of the rain of bullets.

Mercury reached his opponents quickly, leaping up and kicking the barrels of Coco's weapon away, swiveling away from Yatsuhashi's blade, before lashing out with two swift kicks to his head. He landed skillfully onto the barrels of the minigun, kicking her squarely in the face, before leaping over another slash from the hulking swordsman. Yatsuhashi swung again, this time striking true, sending the silver-haired fighter falling backwards, putting Coco between the two of them; and her gun pointed right at his chest.

The duo froze for a moment, before the leader of CFVY snapped her gun back into its purse mode, both turning back to Mercury.

Their opponent leapt, kicking out twice- and sent two blasts of wind from his boots, the Vale huntsmen narrowly parrying them away. He hit the ground and rolled so that he was standing on his hands, twirling quickly, more and more of the blasts flying out to circle him like a cyclone. At once, they all flew towards the CFVY huntsmen, hiding them in a cloud of smoke and lights, their arms flying up to block them.

With shocking speed, Mercury circled back around behind them, kicking both away from him swiftly. There was a whir of movement, before two sickles attached to chains flew from the cover of the forest, snatching Coco and dragging her into its depths.

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi yelled, watching her go in vain.

Rainier leaned forwards in his seat, folding his hands in front of his face. He turned down the length of his friends' row, catching Velvet's concerned look, then down the other side; catching Shinai's eye. The faunus shook his head, pale yellow eyes conveying his concerns.

The samurai nodded back. Lance looked between the two, before his face lit up in understanding. "Ah. Yeah. They've got them."

"Divide and conquer." The Vacuoan muttered appraisingly, face twisted in distaste.

"What happened to 'whatever it takes'?" Jaune asked with a frown. "Now you're upset about it?"

"As it happens, I quite like Team CFVY," Rainier shot back. "I was pulling for them. A shame."

Yatsuhashi quickly latched onto Mercury, hurling his opponent far away into the hot-springs area, following swiftly behind him, sword lifted to strike. He leapt up with a roar, bringing his blade back down, nearly catching the silver-haired warrior, only for him to bring his feet up, blocking the sword's path, coming to a stand still. The blocked blow let out a low 'boom', a shockwave sending water splashing into the air, and the stone shattering, several geysers forming around them.

Mercury fired two more blasts from his boots, getting the hulking huntsman to stumble back, giving the "Mistrali" room to swipe at Yatsuhashi's feet, narrowly missing, scrambling to his feet. A grin split his visage, and he swept a large rock off of the ground, kicking it squarely into his opponent's face, stunning the large samurai, giving him ample time to let out a flurry of kicks, taking the green-armored huntsman down-

Right over one of the geysers, a steaming hot stream of water flying up to submerge his head. Yatsuhashi let out a scream of pain as he scrambled to his feet- eyes opening just to see a silver boot soaring for his face.

All eyes turned to the form of Coco, slamming into one of the forest's trees, her sunglasses falling from her face to shatter across the grassy floor. She scowled and muttered to herself.

Shinai's eyes widened. "No," All eyes turned to him. He sighed, face relaxing to its default stony expression. "Emerald's semblance. She has this one already won."

"Semblance?" Daria asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"It... it would explain why she was chosen for the duos. You'll see."

Emerald began firing from the branches of the trees, narrowly missing Coco as the huntress dodged away, bringing her gatling gun back out and letting a spray of return fire loose, the mint-haired criminal disappearing back into the leaves of the trees.

She jumped in shock, before turning over her shoulder, face softening. "Watch out, she's in the trees!"

"Oh, and with that blow, Yatsuhashi Daichi has been eliminated!" Port called out.

The leader of CFVY's eyes widened in shock as she wheeled back around, looking for something that wasn't there. "What?!" She shouted out in strained frustration, hands shakily holding onto her gun. Slowly, Emerald rose up from behind her opponent, sickles raised high into the air.

"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!"

While the Mistrali crowd burst out into cheers for their teammates, the Vale crowd showered the arena with a round of furious boos, Emerald and Mercury standing over their opponents in the center platform for a moment, before stalking off to the exits.

Velvet slowly rose to her feet, hand pressed to her mouth. "Coco?" She asked quietly, staring in shock at her unmoving teammates.

"Well..." Oracle muttered, moving her hat back on her head. "That was unsettling."

"Battle induced hallucinations?" Lance mused, arms crossed. "I've seen people lose it during stressful battles. It happens."

"Not quite." Their leader said quietly, rising to his feet.

Pyrrha gave him a sidelong look. "Terror tactics?"

"...Of a sort. It's hard to explain, and she wasn't this good at it when we were young."

Rainier's eyes were locked onto him, gaze hard- he said nothing otherwise.

"Well," Jaune said with a sigh. "That's the first Vale team out."

Ruby stared down at the two retreating Mistrali for a moment. "...Yeah. Let's go get them."

DRGN and SOUL stared at the massive form of one of Beacon's lecture halls, perched on one of the many fountains lining the campus, conversation held to a minimum as they just… enjoyed the day.

"Where's RWBY?" Lance asked.

"The girl, the gem, or the team?" Oracle muttered back.

"Oh shove it."

Daria sighed. "Yang and Rubes are hanging out with their uncle who just came in- which makes three famous relatives, by the way- and Weiss went to have lunch with her sister. Blake's probably off hangin' out with Sun, I don't know."

"And JNPR?" Rainer added, opening one eye to peer at his friends.

"Dunno," The shortest huntress there replied. "They boogied out after the CFVY match. I think Jaune got stage fright for their fight, who knows."

"You're pretty quiet over there, Short Stuff." Lance said, leaning forwards to look down at Nash.

The boy was silent for a moment. "…What did the green girl do to Coco, captain?"

Shinai didn't react for a beat of awkward silence, before his purple eyes shot over to the mechanic. "Oh. You're talking to me."

"You are the captain… 'cap'n'. You are the cap'n, after all."

The samurai shook his head. "Emerald's semblance lets her make illusions."

"Like the ice cream girl that RWBY fought back at the bridge?" Daria offered.

"I always forget you guys fought White Fang!" Lance yelled out. "No one ever talks about it!"

"Well, after they crashed a train through Vale's wall, the girls managed to capture Roman," Oracle said. "No gang boss; no gang crimes; no big deal."

"That seems far too easy though," Rainier muttered. "But… they'd tell us if they needed our assistance any more, no?"

"Anyways," Shinai continued. "I suppose. It's… a useful semblance for dueling. It's no surprise that she went to the doubles round, though I doubt they'll choose her for the finals; once someone discovers the trick, it's use diminishes."

Daria brought up her Scroll, sighing as the clock flashed across its surface. "It's getting' that time."

"You ready?" The lone faunus asked, cocking his head to her.

"As ready as I'll be."

Lance turned to them. "You guys off?"

"We should be," The leader of DRGN said, rising to her feet alongside her doubles partner. "We wanna get there early, warm-up a little bit and talk about the plan, one-on-one."

Oracle rose as well, hugging her shorter friend. "Good luck, hon. We'll be cheerin' for you."

"Thanks."

"And round up the others, won't you?" Rainier asked, folding his hands behind his head. "I'd hate for them to miss the show."

"Course, darlin'."

Gail nodded to her teammates, giving them a soft smile. "G-good luck, you two. I know you can win."

"Thank you, Miss Cerulean. I appreciate the support. I'll put one between their eyes, just for you." Rainier said, sharing the smile.

Nash's face crumbled as he dashed forwards, throwing his arms around his partner. "Goood luuuck!" He cried. "I hate that I can't be out there wit' you…"

She gave him a smile, ruffling his hair. "It's alright, bud. You'll be right there with us. We've come way too far to bow out now."

Daria and Rainier stared across the platform at their opponents.

Two huntresses stood opposite of them, eyes just as intelligently sizing them up as the representatives of DRGN were.

"Bisha Roman." The taller girl offered. She, like her partner, was sun-tanned. Her hair, long and dark, was undercut on the sides. She was dressed in a sleeveless red vest over bandages, her pants and boots black and red metallic, a similarly crimson bandana wrapped around her bicep. Hooked onto her belt were two long hookblades, silver gleaming in the sun.

"Kazu." The other added, more dryly. She was darker in complexion than her teammate, black hair cut short and left wild around her head. She was dressed in poofy, stylized red, golds, and purples, a tailcoat over most of her form, the Vacuoan ostentatious in presentation. Her right hand was outstretched to the side, balanced on the end of the shaft of her hammer; a hulking creation, as tall as she was, the head was a monstrosity of gears and pulleys, dust crystals glowing at its base.

Rainier bowed to them. "Rainier-"

"We know who you are, Platina." The latter called back, cutting him off.

"Oh? What gave it away?"

Bisha inclined her head to the dedicated Vacuoan section of the crowd, hundreds of eyes locked onto the battle below in interest. "Maybe you've been here too long, but we back home don't forget the Platinas and what you and your family do. No matter how long you're here, Vacuo's still your home."

The wolf stared off at her for a moment, coy expression fading slightly. He cleared his throat, inclining his head around. "...Well... I appreciate the kind words."

Daria elbowed him with a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Schnee, you're giving me mixed signals here."

"Oh hush, I'm simply playing nice- tell me, are you two from out west?"

"I am," Bisha offered, idly taking up one of her ring blades. "The Vacuoan temple, west of the city."

"Oh! I know a man who would be delighted to meet you!"

"The Kyani boy, I know. You'll have to introduce us."

Kazu rolled her eyes. "You done flirting? Or should we set out a blanket, have a nice little picnic while you two make fuck me eyes at each other."

Bisha poked her teammate in her temple, giving her a frown. "Says the woman who was so excited to meet Remyngton's little brother."

"Alright, you know what? Just air my business out to the entire world, why don't you."

The display board whirred to life, four sets of biome-symbols whirring across its screen as the fighters and fans watched with bated breaths.

Desert dunes; a river; a mountain; lava.

The sections behind the four huntsmen disappeared, replacing with the familiar rolling dunes present in SSSN's fight against NDGO; a roaring, wide river, bordered by two strips of grass; a rocky, elevated mountainous region, swirling with a snowstorm; and a large swathe of volcanic rocks, lava oozing between them, filling the vast majority of the biome.

"Daria and Rainier of Team DRGN versus Bisha and Kazu of Team BLDD!" Port called out, the four fighters crouching low in combat stances.

"3! 2! 1! Begin!"

None of the combatants moved.

Rainier grinned. "Clever girls."

"What are you doing? What happened to the plan?!" Daria hissed.

"I'm waiting. Just like they are. Stone cold Kazu would have swatted me out of the air the moment I neared them. Bisha's from a huntsman temple, meaning she's at the very least as technically proficient as Shinai. This… is not going to be easy, Dearest Daria."

The shorter huntress watched their opponents warily, sighing. "Alright then; what's the new plan?"

"I'll take Bisha, you take Kazu."

"Y- you mean split up? What happened to 'rush them together'?"

"That was the plan. They expected the plan. New plan."

"…Why don't you take Kazu? She's got the hammer, so she'll be slower. Take her down while I keep Roman at bay, then we'll double team her. Easy win," The faunus didn't answer, getting his leader to look up at him with a narrowed, suspicious gaze. After a moment, her eyes widened. "You want to fight someone from a temple."

"…That is the thought occurring to me at this moment, yes."

"You selfish little- this isn't the time for your fight-boner, Rain! If we lose here, we're out!"

"Yes, that thought occurred as well. Don't worry," He turned to her with a warm grin. "You're the smartest huntress I know. You'll figure it out."

"I'm going to beat the everloving smug out of you after this fight."

"Then make sure we're both conscious to do it!"

The crowd went silent as the four combatants stared each other down, Bisha and Kazu whispering to each other solemnly while Daria and Rainier began… arguing.

Oracle buried her face in her hands. "Guys, really? Right now? They're- they're doin' this right now?"

Ruby shrugged slightly. "Hey… it worked for Jaune?"

"Oh and what does that mean?"

"You know exactly what that means."

"She has a point." Pyrrha offered.

"A big point!" Nora added. "Huge, hulking, monstrous point!"

"On the nose." Ren finished.

"Shinai, how do you keep their respect?" Jaune asked, turning downtrodden blue eyes to said samurai.

Said samurai stared back at him for a long moment. "I'm not Jaune."

Yang was the first to react, grin spreading across her face as she leaned back, eyes wide. "Oh shiii!"

Lance shook his head. "He doesn't join in very often, but when he does…"

"It cuts deep." Oracle finished.

"No, seriously," Nash muttered, crossing his arms sourly. "What're they doin'? Wha- WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! JUST GOOO!"

They crowd roared in agreement with the short boy.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! JUST GOOO!" Nash shouted from the crowd.

Rainier shrugged. "You heard the boy."

He disappeared in a flash, along with Daria.

Bisha and Kazu tensed, the former turning on her heel while the other stared forwards intently.

"Pardon me," The faunus said politely, reappearing between the two, his leader by his side, blinking owlishly as she struggled to regain her bearings. "I'll be taking this." Without another word he leapt up, sending a straight kick for the back of Bisha's head-

Only for a hookblade to meet it moments before impact, hook wrapping around the ankle of his claws, spinning and sending him tumbling away. She and Kazu both turned to the DRGN team leader weapons bared. She shook the wooziness from her head, dropping low as her Infinitas shot into her hands. As she dropped, she spun, blades circling her in a spiral, getting both Vacuoans to dodge away at the last moment, narrowly avoiding being sliced up.

"WE WILL HAVE WORDS, RAINIER!" She barked at him, face turned up in a furious scowl.

"Apologies!" He yelled back as he dashed back into the fray, leaping off of Bisha's back, vaulted off of Daria's shoulders, then reached Kazu, planting both feet into her face, kicking off, corkscrewing in the air as he landed back on the other side of his leader, swiping low to take BLDD's leader's feet out from under her, both Vacuoans falling to the ground. "She's all yours!"

The monk masterfully kipped back up the moment her shoulders hit the floor, meeting Rainier face to face, yellow eyes staring into black.

He kicked out with his claws, hitting her resolutely in the shoulder as she raised an arm to block the blow, immediately bringing the jagged blade of her hookblade's handle coming down towards his neck, narrowly missing as he swiveled away. As her weapon reached the end of its arc, parallel to the ground- she fired, a bullet meeting Rainier's non-metallic foot, getting him to backstep quickly, hissing in pain.

"Fair play…" he muttered, before dashing back towards his opponent.

Kazu and Daria scrambled to square up with each other, stopping as the other raised their weapon(s), glaring at one another, circling silently.

The leader of DRGN made the first move, ringblades filling with green energy as she slashed wide, an arc of energy soaring through the air towards the Vacuoan; who promptly swung her hammer downwards, cleaving through the slash, charging forwards herself.

Daria continued to swing with her blades, arc after arc of energy flying towards Kazu, the taller huntress smashing through them as she cleared the distance quickly, leaping up to bring her hammer down hard; her crystals glowing red. The diminutive Mistrali rolled away at the last second, narrowly avoiding the explosion emanating from the spot the hammer met tile. She rolled to her feet quickly, turning focused brown eyes to the rampaging Vacuoan running from the smoke, hammer raised high to swing for Daria's head.

She ducked it, eyes watching the smoke trailing from the hammerhead thoughtfully, bringing her knee up to collide with Kazu's midsection, rewarded with a satisfying 'oomph', the Vacuoan doubling over from the blow. Daria rolled backwards, bringing her boots up as she did so, pushing them up into her opponent's torso, sending her flying over her head to soar through the air, tumbling towards the river biome.

Across the battlefield, Rainier and Bisha continued to trade blows; a kick to the ribs, a hook to the shoulderblades, forearm to the face- each Vacuoan skillfully launching attack after attack, parrying what shots they could, blocking others, moving away from the center platform in a dazzling display of technique.

Then the faunus feinted- leg beginning to shoot forwards, before quickly returning to its prior position, Bisha lifting a leg to block the attack, overreaching as her eyes widened. Rainier swiftly brought his fist up in a vicious uppercut, his opponent's head flying back as she stumbled backwards. He didn't let up, dashing forwards and planting his claws in the middle of her chest, a gunshot firing as she went soaring backwards, tumbling into the sandy dunes.

He was to her side in a heartbeat, leaping up and spinning in the air, poised to bring his claws down into her midsection, missing by a hair's width as she rolled away. Both huntsmen leapt to their feet, Rainier a moment faster, spinning in place, kicking her squarely in the face, sending her flying off towards the back of the dunes, following her in a silver blur, grabbing her by the throat, making to chokeslam her into the sand.

She swiftly turned, grabbing his arm and flipping both of them over, their backs crashing into the ground as she gripped his offending limb in a tight armbar. He rolled to his feet quickly, the monk transitioning so that her legs wrapped around his neck, tightening her grip as she began to choke the faunus out. He growled;

And leapt upwards, a cannon shot propelling him even further upwards as they arced above the tallest dune, Bisha's eyes widening in realization. She released the hold, letting both of them free fall separately, taking the opportunity to slash at him wildly, striking true.

He growled again, grasping the blade and turning in the air, a gunshot giving him more momentum, turning like a top as she struggled to maintain her grip, body flailing wildly behind her. He brought his claws up and smashed them into her face- over, and over again, snarling defiantly as they crashed down back to earth in a great cloud of sand.

Both Daria's and Kazu's gazes turned to their partners at the sound of the collision, watching the dust cloud begin to fill that half of the arena. The DRGN leader recovered first, sprinting forwards towards her opponent, leaping into the air and dropkicking the hammer-wielder squarely in the jaw, the Vacuoan leaving her feet as she flew through the air; crashing solidly into the river with a roar of a splash, water spraying through the air.

The shorter huntress rolled backwards as she hit the ground, rising to her feet quickly, waiting for her opponent with bated breath, eyes narrowed.

There was a long few moments of silence, Daria slowly straightening up as she continued to keep watch warily. For the briefest moment, she looked away, gaze finding itself wandering to the display board high above, looking for Kazu's aura bar.

It was all the distraction that the Vacuoan needed, the river roaring to life; but not with the hammer-wielder racing from its waters.

Instead, the entire river itself seemed to rise, coalescing into a single mass, river bed emptying as the water rose high above the battlefield, the crowd gasping in surprise.

Daria's eyes widened as she brought her attention back to the fight, jaw dropping in shock as she stared at the tower of liquid rising above her.

"What the-" Was all she managed to utter, before the river came rushing towards her with ridiculous speed, crashing into and around her with equally ridiculous force, a cacophony of roaring water spilling across the arena floor.

Kazu rose from the now mostly empty waterbed, staring at the waterlogged form of her opponent with an unimpressed look, soaked to the bone herself. She let her hammer head drop to the ground as she found her footing on solid ground, spitting out a mouthful of water derisively, marching towards Daria.

"What in the-" Oracle began.

"Everloving-" Yang continued.

"Ass-"

"- Flying Garbo Monster?!"

Lance and Ruby finished in unison, watching the fight down below with wide eyes.

"That is the single most ridiculous semblance I've ever seen." Jaune added, leaning back with hurt expression.

"So… she can… like… bend water?" Nash asked in confusion.

"I'm not sure. Either way, it's effective." Pyrrha muttered back.

"Here's to hoping Rainier can figure his life out in the next thirty seconds before Daria gets knocked." Oracle said, shaking her head.

"THAT. IS. THE. COOLEST." Nora breathed out, blue eyes wide in awe.

Rainier and Bisha rolled to their feet, hardened eyes glaring each other down despite the thick cloud of dust surrounding them as they backed off quickly, shaking off the impact with the ground.

"You're quite the fighter!" He called out with a surprising amount of warmness.

She watched him warily, leaning back. "I'd say the same."

"It's a shame we couldn't have met on better terms!" He charged forwards, meeting his opponent anew, leaping up and spinning, striking out with the heel of his claws viciously, missing as she stepped to the side, pressing a hand to his leg and letting his momentum carry him away.

Rainier hit the ground rolling, pushing off of the sand as he leapt back to his feet, pale yellow eyes bringing themselves back to the charging form of his opponent, Bisha swaying from side to side as she approached. He hissed out a curse as he lowered himself in a defensive stance-

And then disappeared in a blur, the monk struggling to slide to a stop, wheeling around reflexively, hookblades swinging through the air on instinct. Her swing rang true, catching the Platina across the chest, knocking him from his leap out of the air, tumbling across the sand before spinning back to his feet, jacket left to lay on the ground, dashing towards her without a second though, pushing himself to move that much faster.

Her dark eyes widened and she sucked in a breath, the faunus reaching her in a heartbeat, fist rising up to collide with her chest, the wind rushing from her. He immediately brought his claws up, planting them into her torso and sending her flying further across the dunes, the trail of dust flying in the air the only indicator of the blitzing Vacuoan.

He slid as he reached her, hand grasping up to latch onto her ankle, bringing her flipping forwards, face slamming into the tightly-packed sand. His cannon fired again, still latched onto her limb, sending both fighters flipping in the air like a top, Bisha careening towards the tallest dune in the biome as he released his grip, the monk crashing face first with a nasty crunch.

He scrambled to his feet, shaking the pain from his head- before turning back towards the center platform- and the prone form of Daria, surrounded by a thick layer of water, Kazu marching towards her steadfastly, slowly picking up speed as she raised her hammer, crystals glowing blue now.

The Vacuoan looked back at the swiftly recovering form of his own opponent, rolling his eyes, before disappearing in a blur.

Daria groaned as she slowly sat up, looking with blurry, water-filled eyes at the hazy form of Kazu rapidly approaching, hammer poised to come down and smash the shorter huntress. She scrambled to her feet, struggling as she splashed around in the waterlogged battlefield, ringblades shakily held in her hands.

"Oh just go down already." Kazu muttered as she reached her target, swinging her hammer down towards the head of the shaken huntress.

The hammer never found its mark, getting swiped out of the air with remarkable ease, clattering to the floor next to her as Rainier smiled at her, feet touching down softly onto the tile.

"That's quite enough of that," The faunus quipped, before leaping up, catching the girl across her cheek, sending her tumbling away, hammer left behind. He quickly turned to his leader, hands finding their way to her shoulders as she wiped the water from her eyes. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Daria glowered. "She hit me with the river."

"She- she what?"

"Shut up and fight."

The duo rounded onto BLDD, marching forwards. Bisha shot forwards with remarkable speed of her own, finding her way to Kazu's side. She leaned down to her kneeling teammate, muttering something into her ear, getting a nod in return.

The monk continued to forge on- alone though, the shorter Vacuoan having yet to rise to her feet, kneeling and watching her opponents with dark eyes, huffing in exertion, placing her hands palm first down onto the tile floor.

"New plan, Rainier," Daria muttered, getting her partner to wince. "You. Me. Bisha. And for gods' sakes, don't let the other one get her hammer."

"I… very well. After you, Dearest."

The partners took off at sprints, Rainier eking out an edge over his leader, reaching Bisha first, leaping and spinning, looking to strike out with duel kicks to his opponent, missing as the monk swiveled away at the last second, letting the faunus fly passed, immediately dashing towards her as he hit the ground, letting loose with another kick, again missing as his fellow Vacuoan artfully dodged the strike.

She didn't dodge the ringblade slashing through her back though, Daria joining the flurry, slicing vertically with her blades in a blur of steel.

Rainier leapt up, planting his claws squarely into Bisha's forehead, getting her to flip backwards, leaving her feet entirely, the leader of Team DRGN sliding low under the soaring body of her opponent, hand lashing out to snatch the monk's collar, bringing her crashing into the ground. The faunus leapt over his sliding leader, striking out with a double stomp to Bisha, striking true, a cannon shot mixing in with the blow as he soared back into the air, towards the still kneeling form of Kazu-

Only to get swatted out of the air by a pillar of tile and earth rising from the arena floor, the ground around it concaving, feeding more material into the spear-like construct. The faunus hit the ground hard, barely having the wherewithal to roll away as it stabbed down towards him, piercing the ground with ease. He leapt up to his feet, turning to his leader and the still recovering form of Bisha.

"Daria!" He barked, gesturing wildly at the reforming pillar hovering back over him again.

"Yeah, I know!" She spat back, dashing away from her opponent to join her partner; and then stopped as the pillar split into two, Kazu's face curling up in exertion, sweat beginning to stream down her face. "Move!"

The partners scrambled away from each other, narrowly avoiding the pillars crashing into the ground around them, melding back down to join the rest of the tile, before another weaponized portion of the battlefield rose back up, once again unified, the center platform now a mismatched, uneven mess, slowing Rainier down as he slowly made his way towards the prone form of Kazu.

The new pillar turned itself to the leader of DRGN, the brightly-colored Vacuoan intent on finishing the fight she had started, soaring out of the air to crash down towards the diminutive Mistrali, not landing flush as she spun away, but still catching her in the side, battering her up and away, rolling to the other side of the center platform.

Rainier found himself cut off in his run as Bisha came flying back towards him, leaping up and delivering a vicious strike with her shin, the faunus barely blocking the blow, crossing his arms in front of him to absorb the impact, still sliding several feet away as a bark of pain escaped his mouth. She didn't let up, charging forwards swiftly, hitting the ground in a slide, taking his feet out from under him. He rolled with the impact, though, turning in the air and bringing his claws down to smash into her skull, missing by a hair, the joining gunshot sending cracks spider-webbing across the tile floor.

Both Vacuoans turned to each other quickly, both lashing out with duel high kicks, catching each other in the shoulders with dual bone-crunching 'boom's. Bisha recovered first, slashing out with her hookblade horizontally; the faunus raised his fleshy foot, kicking at her elbow and deflecting the blow before it reached him. He leapt up from his standing position, crashing his metallic knee into her jaw with a satisfying crack, swiveling in the air to dropkick her away with another cannon-shot, sending the monk soaring away.

"DARIA!" He barked, chancing a look over his shoulder, searching for his leader.

The short huntress groaned as she rose to her feet, shaking the fuzziness from her head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm comin'."

She took off at a run again, making a beeline for Kazu, their gazes locking onto each other with duel scowls. She didn't get far though, the ground rising up to just above her ankles, tripping her forwards, landing in a roll. She shot to a knee quickly, sending a glare the hammer-wielder's way.

"Oh, that is so friggin' annoying." She muttered, rising back to her feet as she took off again, ringblades raised high.

Rainier let out a grumble of irritation as he turned back to the swiftly rising form of Bisha. "You know, my friend, this is far scrappier than I thought it would be!"

"You talk a lot, 'my friend.'" She mumbled back as she held her hookblades at the ready.

"Oh, you get used to it."

They charged forwards again, meeting in another clash, the faunus spinning and sending the back of his fist flying for her face, missing as she ducked quickly, launching up and pressing off of his knee without losing any forwards momentum. She brought her knee up and caught it- and most of her shin as well- across his face, forcing both huntsmen to flip head-over-heels, crashing into the floor wildly.

Bisha regained her bearings first, scrambling over to take advantage of his prone position- right before she was replaced with an arc of green energy, rolling away from her countryman, limbs flailing in the air.

Daria held a hand out and helped Rainier to his feet. "We need to-" The rushing of tile grinding against tile cut her off; and he was gone.

Surrounding him was a relatively small dome of the ground, completely cutting him off from the outside world, the vague sounds of him yelling and hitting his prison still audible, cracks forming across its form alongside liberal cannon shots, before its surface mended quickly. Her eyes widened as she stared at it.

"That's really friggin' annoying." She muttered again, turning her attention to the recovering form of Bisha, and her partner still kneeling further a ways away, chest rising and falling hard as she huffed in exertion.

Daria's eyes widened as she put two-and-two together. "Well, that makes this a little easier." She whispered to herself as she shifted her target from Kazu; to the monk. And, to her vindication, without any interference from the shorter Vacuoan.

The diminutive Mistrali reached her fellow leader quickly, leaping up to strike at the vulnerable back of the monk, spinning as her ringblades circled around her, a spinning top of gleaming steel.

Bisha disappeared in a blur, reappearing a few feet to the side, perfectly unharmed, spinning as she found her feet, hookblades attached by said hooks, the dagger that made up the handle striking Daria across the chest, getting her to scowl.

"I'm surprised the Platina's not the leader," The monk quipped as she rearmed herself with both blades. "Being the better fighter and all."

Daria growled in irritation. "I'm getting real tired of people saying that." And with a battle cry, she dashed forwards, blades raised high at her opponent. Bisha side-stepped her again in another blur, the hook of one of her blades catching both ringblades, wrapping around them- and ripping them from the Mistrali's hands, sending them clattering away uselessly.

Bisha spun with her swipe, bringing a foot up and catching her opponent across the jaw with her heel, sending the shorter huntress tumbling away, falling to her knees, stunned.

The Vacuoan frowned as she grabbed hold of both hook blades, spinning them skillfully as she marched forwards to finish off the Vale leader, distinctly aware of the deep orange aura bar of Daria high above. As she reached her opponent, though-

The diminutive Mistrali leapt to her feet, swinging Kazu's hammer hard, colliding perfectly with Bisha's face. A solid 'boom' of an explosion sounded out across the battlefield, the monk's head now covered in a solid block of ice, face stuck in a gasp of surprise. The leader of BLDD went flying far away from the battlefield from the blow, tumbling closer and closer to the lava field-

And then fell in.

Oracle shot to her feet, fist pumping. "Atta girl!"

Nash also leapt to attention, hopping up and down as he clapped his hands above his head. "AAAAH, THAT WAS SO COOOL!"

"Don't make Daria mad, apparently." Blake muttered.

"C'mon, we all figured that out after the dance fiasco." Yang shot back, elbowing her partner pointedly.

Lance grinned. "This is my moment! EVERYONE! WITH ME! 'HEEEY, DARIA-A- HOO- HA- I WANNA KNOOOW, IF YOU'LL BE MY GIRL!'"

He repeated the line and, like clockwork, the chant was taken up by the Vale section, the song echoing across the walls of Amity Colosseum raucously.

Nora watched Lance from the corner of her eye. "HEEEEY, DAAA-MMM, I MMMM, MMM, WILL YOU, MM, MM, MM!"

She caught Ren's gaze and shook her head, mouthing: 'I have no idea what we're saying.'

He shook his head back. "You're something else."

Down at the end of the friends' row, Shinai watched his fellow leader with appraising purple eyes, nodding in approval.

"Well played."

"Oof! And with her teammate's own weapon, Bisha Roman has been eliminated! Can we get someone to get out there and get her out of there? While she still has aura left?" Oobleck called out.

Daria huffed as she dropped the hammer, strength sapped from her, turning seething eyes towards Kazu's direction.

The shorter of the BLDD duo dropped her guard in shock, rising to her feet with wide eyes. "That's pretty ballsy, girl!" She barked as she took off towards her opponent; completely ignorant of the small hole exploding out from Rainier's prison, charging off towards the shortest competitor on the field.

As she passed the dome though, a hand shot out, grabbing her by the collar, and pulled her back towards the prison, head slamming into the tile. She stumbled away, eyes going blurry from the blow. There was a moment of silence before cannon-shot after cannon-shot filled the arena, Rainier bodily breaking down the wall of the dome, stumbling out with a very disapproving face.

Daria dragged herself forwards, sucking in an exhausted breath, joining her friend next to their final opponent.

"Would you like the-" The faunus began.

"Just set her up." His leader grumbled back as they reached her. Rainier bowed slightly, swiping low with a kick, tripping Kazu off of her feet, before kicking again, sending her soaring into the air with the aid of a cannon-shot.

The short leader of DRGN stepped towards him, inclining her head. "Up."

"As you say, your Grace." He mumbled as he cupped his hands together, letting her plant her boot into it. He thrust her upwards, both huntsmen jumping, himself using the aid of his cannon to send Daria high into the air, meeting Kazu as she began to free fall.

The Mistrali said nothing as she wrapped her arms around the Vacuoan, frowning disapprovingly as they began to pick up speed, racing towards the ground before-

Crunch.

"You good, man?" Lance asked, turning to his Vacuoan friend with a frown.

Rainier chuckled. "I just… I suppose, aided in a duo's round victory. I'm quite better than alright."

The friends stopped, the blonde staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Don't sell me that gaaarbage, dude. You looked… sloppy's a bad term, but, yeah, sloppy out there."

"Moi?" The faunus asked with a dramatic gasp. "Sloppy? I should have your tongue removed, good sir."

"You know what I mean, man, don't play games with me. I'm good at a lot of things; your little… word puzzle-riddle-things I never got a handle of. And those bags under your eyes? You been staying up way too late?"

"Perhaps. What? Are you going to call my mother and complain? You could, very well, tell Daria; that would achieve a similar result, I'd imagine."

"Okay, first off, that's funny as hell. Secondly; you. Staying up. You're the biggest morning person I know."

"Yes, well, I don't have much time to do things during the day. What, with the tournament and all. In case you have forgotten."

Lance began to walk around his friend, chin held in his hand as he assessed the tired Vacuoan. "…Bags under the eyes, slouched form, messier than usual hair. Defensive responses to my questions and avoiding answering… what are you up to, wolf?"

Rainier raised his chin high, frowning. "I don't believe it is any of your business."

"Dude. C'mon. It's me. Lance. Everyone's friend."

They locked gazes for a long moment- before the faunus sighed. "Remember months ago? Our little competitions?"

"To see who could catch whatever girl we thought was cute at the time, gods, those were good days. Simpler days."

"…Right. What was the one girl that we never- never- went after? One of the few on the 'no-flirt-list'?"

Lance frowned. "There was Pyrrha, Belladonna during the whole White Fang thing, and-" His eyes widened. "Holy- seriously? Oh my gods. Oh my gods! I get it! Sir, I've cracked the case!"

"Yes, congratulations, now keep your voice down."

The blonde swordsman leaned forwards, blue eyes filled with concern. "Seriously though? Schnee? You know that people call her 'Ice Queen' for a reason, right? She's, like, the polar opposite of you."

"Does it matter?"

"Only if- oh man. You've got it bad, don't you?"

Rainier rolled his eyes, beginning to walk forwards again. "Apparently all of my friends can read me like a book, who knew?"

"Dude, I'm-" Lance sighed. "I'm gonna be straight with you; this is a bad pairing."

"Oh? Truly? How do you think?"

"She's a Schnee, man. You're Rainier; lovable, charming Rainier. Everyone in this friggin' school likes you- people from other schools like you! It's cause you're warm and huggable, like a shredded teddy bear. She's the type of girl to domineer a relationship. She's gonna use you, dude, and by the time all's said and done, you're gonna hate each other."

Rainier stopped again, face dark. "Don't."

"I'm being honest with you- as your bro. Just my two cents. You'll do whatever you want to do. Just be careful with her, aight? I don't wanna come back next year only for you to be heartbroken. Kay?"

"I…" The faunus sighed. "I appreciate the concern."

"No problem. So, what exactly is keeping you up late at night, though? I doubt you snagged her yet and are enjoying all the perks, otherwise Oracle would've already found out and told at least two of the four schools about you guys dating."

"I… it's a secret. And, on that; you will not tell Oracle."

"Of course not-"

Rainier grabbed the swordsman's collar, eyes warning. "Swear on your sword; you will not. Tell. Oracle. A word. Of this conversation. Am I understood?"

"Man, hands off the bread and butter. Yeah, I swear on my sword. Not a peep."

"Good," The faunus let his friend's jacket go, smoothing it over. "Now then; shall we go meet back up with the others before it gets late enough to run into Shinai?"

"Oh my gods, you figured that out too?"

Oracle stepped forwards, coming up alongside Shinai, leaning against the railing as they stared up at the shattered moon. She turned to him, face discerning. "You ready for this, captain?"

"We've trained. We've coordinated. We're ready."

"Ulysses is feelin' pretty confident about it, if that helps at all. But you… look a little thrown off. What's up?"

He was silent for a moment, not turning purple eyes to his partner. "…What's wrong with Rainier?"

"Man, I love that cinnamon bun, but it's not all about him, hon."

"No, but this is concerning. He's running himself into the ground. He could have bested Bisha, with how fast he is now. But… he made mistakes. Sloppy ones. He's losing… something."

"I don' know, hon. We've never been super tight. Could just be that ol' Vacuoan pride comin' in during a tournament."

"Maybe. Maybe."

A grin split her face. "Y'know, when we got here, I thought you were the biggest douche. Hot, yeah, but such a douchebag. I thought you didn' care about any of us, about the school. Just here to get some sort of degree before runnin' off back to your temple. But here you are; concerned about someone from a different team, from a different kingdom. You're a good kid, captain."

Shinai stared off in the distance with a distant gaze of his own. "…You're not wrong. I wasn't here to make friends. I was here to finish my four years before heading back to my temple. It's one of the last steps to qualify for Grandmaster status."

"And… you wanted to take over for Shi En."

"I wanted to take over for Shi En. Do his name honor. But… I suppose things change."

She turned to him completely, face falling in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"…I'm not sure. I do know that the only thing I'm focused on is these next four years."

A smile claimed her face anew. "…Thanks, Shinai."

"No. Thank you."

A/N: Aaaahh, quick author's note, perfect ending, I hate to mess it up, sorry!

Mazel tov! Cheers! Felicitations! Gratulation! A hundred thousand words- *party popper, that little party whistle tube thing, kazoo, etc, etc*

Thanks for stickin' around, guys.

Eight more chapters till everything falls.

Have fun!

Cheers,
Infernokota