Chapter 8: The Concealed Craze

A few days later, Amity Colosseum roared in approval as Penny Polendina dispatched Russel Thrush and Sky Lark of Team CRDL in an all-too-easy victory, her cheerful smile never leaving her face as she bowed in respect to them, thanking them for the "wonderful time" they gave her. It was a landslide victory for her, her opponents not even qualifying as a challenge, and she'd ended it only because her partner Ciel had pointed at her watch as though on some kind of time limit. All the while she'd had a bright smile on her face, quite enjoying herself despite the sheer lack of challenge for her.

Noir observed the fight from the stands, sitting next to Yang as he watched Ruby's friend win easily, enjoying Yang's company as he spectated from the stands with her. Noir and Yang had been spending nearly every spare moment they could with one another for the last several days, since the morning after their disastrous first "date", and Noir had to admit she made for enjoyable company. She always found a way to make him smile, and she always managed to get him to interact with people, which was something not many people could do. Noir felt as though Yang went out of her way to reach out to him, something that he'd never known her to do, nor had anyone else for that matter. Yang was a very independent individual, and Noir knew this, and because of this it seemed a bit odd that she'd reach out to him.

Yang, on the other hand, had felt drawn to Noir through his dark, brooding, anti-social attitude towards everything, perhaps because it reminded her a lot of Blake, but there was something else there. Noir prefered to blend in to everything, which perhaps was why he kept his wings folded to his back, blending into his trench coat instead of wearing something lighter and showing them off to the world. Yang however loved to stand out, and herself couldn't really see a reason for Noir not to. Regardless of his pessimistic attitude, Noir was a good person, and for the life of her Yang couldn't understand why Noir was so bleak when it came to anything that had to do with himself. While she admired how he put everyone else before himself, she couldn't help but think this way of thinking was somewhat idiotic at times. But this was what intrigued her about Noir, and in many ways he reminded her of Blake, and considering how well she and Blake got along despite their polar opposite personalities, who was to say that she couldn't be the same way with Noir?

As Noir sat next to her, a genuine smile on his face, Noir's mind wandered back to a conversation he'd had with Blake, on the night after his fight with Team TRRF, the day he and Yang had, rather unceremoniously, announced that they were dating. Blake had pulled him aside after the rest of Team RWBY had returned to their dorm for the night, and even now, Noir remembered her words...

"Noir, listen to me," Blake says, looking Noir right in the eyes with a serious expression.

Noir raises an eyebrow, not sure why Blake is so serious, though at the same time open to what she has to say, as she is his friend as much as anyone else.

"I'm happy to see that you and Yang are getting along, and I can see that you two are happy together. But," Blake pauses for a moment, never breaking her gaze with Noir, her amber eyes locked with his fell red orbs, "don't you think you two are moving a little fast?"

"I don't know what you mean," Noir replies, though he has a shrewd idea of what she is about to say.

"I know you're not going to like it when I say this, but Weiss had a point. You and Yang only went on one date, and you stormed away from it because your old teammate showed up. And while you have known her since she started Beacon, and you've been interested in her since her initiation, you two barely even spoke to one another until the start of second semester, and even then, you were acting antisocial towards her and, well, everyone else!"

"You're certainly one to talk." Noir blunty says, and Blake shrugs off this comment despite it aggravating her visibly.

"That's not my point, Noir. My point is you and Yang only recently started actually talking to one another regularly, and you only went on one date together, and it ended badly. Now, out of nowhere, you two are dating." Blake sighs as she looks up at Noir. "In all fairness, I don't know what's gone on between you two since the date, but from what I understand, you two have spent every spare moment you had with one another for the last week and a half. That, at least, looks like you two are getting to know one another more. But Noir, answer me this." Blake gets very close to Noir's face, locking her eyes with his once again. "Can you honestly tell me something that Yang hasn't told anyone aside from me and the rest of the team? Like why she's a huntress for example?"

Noir is stumped. In fact, she hadn't told him, and he hadn't asked. And Blake knows it from his expression.

"I didn't think so." Blake shakes her head and sighs. "You're moving far too fast, Noir. This isn't good for a long-standing relationship, and you know it."

"So, what, you're going to break us up?" Noir raises an eyebrow, his tone adopting a very cold edge.

"..." Blake's eyes narrow into near slits. "...no. For one reason: Yang. I can see how happy she is. And if I were to try to step in, even at this early stage, it would beyond upset her."

"That's putting it very decidedly mildly." Noir says flatly.

"So my question now is, how do you plan to make sure this doesn't go sour?" Blake's own tone is very edged now.

Noir sighs and looks down a bit. "...I don't know. Fact is I don't know much about dating, but I know this much." He once more looks Blake in the eye. "Blake, I know Yang and I only recently started actually started talking to one another, but we've been acquainted for nearly a year. I admit I was...reluctant...to open up for some time, but when I look at Yang now, and I see the joy she feels...I don't look back. I may not know her as well as you or I would like...but i'm not going to let that stop me from giving this everything I have...fact is I don't know anyone like her. And never have."

Blake maintains her eye contact with Noir, and then sighs and backs away a little, looking down slightly. "I guess I should try to trust you more. Yang certainly trusts you, and Ruby does as well." Blake then looks back at Noir with a small smile. "For the record? Yang is here at Beacon because, really, she's a thrill seeker. She loves getting caught up in as many adventures as she can, never knowing what tomorrow is going to bring." Blake then grins a little. "Think you'd be up for that kind of relationship?"

"It'd certainly be better than sitting on my ass." Noir grins back at Blake, and she chuckles a little.

"You make a good point." Blake once more gets serious and looks Noir eye to eye once more. "Yang is happy with you, Noir, happier than I've ever seen her. As long as it stays that way, then...I won't do anything to get between you. But Noir, if you break her heart..." Blake then gives Noir a sullen glare. "I'll personally make sure you can never break another heart for the rest of your life."

Noir smiles at this; this at least he's been expecting. "I think Yang would be several steps ahead of you if that were the case, Blake." Blake can't help but laugh at this.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well..." Blake then gives Noir a sisterly hug, which Noir returns with a smile. "Well done with your match today. That was really something, taking on all of Topaz's team like that. If that's how you fight in a four onto one match, I look forward to seeing your doubles match." Blake smiles and then walks back to Team RWBY's dorm, leaving Noir standing there as he goes over what Blake has said to him.

Even now, Noir was continuing to go over what Blake had said to him, and as he continued to hold Yang's hand, he couldn't help but feel that despite his and Yang's brief time together, he felt a connection to the buxom blonde that he hadn't felt towards anyone else for a very long time. A connection that transcended that of friendship, and one that felt, for lack of a better term, right. It just felt right to Noir, and for the first time in many years, Noir felt a ray of light shining upon his life whenever he looked at Yang, a light that filled his scarred heart with more hope than he ever felt in years, even before attending Beacon.

At that moment Noir was jerked back to reality as he heard Yang's voice speaking to him.

"Noir? You okay?" Noir looked at her and saw concern in her eyes before realizing that he'd been completely zoned out for the last ten minutes.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Noir reassured her, smiling a little, "I was just thinking, is all. I tend to get lost in my own thoughts sometimes."

"Heh, well me and Weiss are up next for our doubles match!" Yang grinned as she stood up and winked at him. "Wish me luck?"

Noir smiled a little more widely, and nodded, giving Yang's hand a squeeze. "Go kick some ass, Yang." Yang couldn't help but giggle; coming from Noir, this was an unusually vulgar remark, and she gave Noir one last peck on the lips before heading down to the arena with Weiss. Noir sat back down, watching with interest as Yang and Weiss walked out into the arena, wondering what kind of opponents they'd have.

As Noir watched, Flynt Coal and Neon Katt dashed out onto the field and Noir raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, one of them a dark-skinned young man dressed like a jazz musician with a trumpet in his hands, the other sporting reddish orange hair with light blue streaks and neon colored clothing. As Noir observed these two individuals go out onto the field, he had to admit they were very different from what he'd been expecting of two students from Atlas. But then he knew this to not be a reason to assume anything, for they could be as dangerous as he was.

At that moment, one of Noir's pointed ears twitched as he caught part of the conversation going on out on the field, and Noir leaned forward in his seat, straining his ears to hear it.

"Hey! Weiss Schnee, right? The Heiress?" Flynt was saying, sporting a wide grin.

"I am." Weiss confirmed, smiling to herself and bowing her head politely.

Flynt's grin turned into more of a smirk. "I'm guessing you're good with Dust then?"

"Well, I do my best." Weiss replied with a humble shrug. Noir's eyes narrowed as he continued to listen in.

"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own." Flynt elaborated, and then he looked down a bit, his eyes hidden behind his shades as his toned turned very hostile. "Till your father's company ran him out of business." Noir winced at the hostility in Flynt's tone and though he also felt no friendly feelings towards Weiss, he had to admit that this guy had a far more valid reason to hate her than he did.

"Oh..." Weiss looked down in shame, and Noir was stunned; he'd never seen Weiss look so humble. "I'm sorry to hear that..."

Flynt scoffed and looked away sarcastically. "Sure you are." Noir couldn't help but suddenly feel intense dislike towards Flynt; Noir knew when someone was lying or not, and Weiss wasn't. Even in the cacophony of noise Noir could hear the legitimate shame in her voice, and Noir couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for his own dislike of Weiss, for now it seemed unfounded and even a little ridiculous. At that moment Yang cut in.

"Hey! Why don't you-" before she could finish her comeback she was cut off by Neon Katt.

"Hey! Why don't you!" the feline faunus chirped in an extremely unflattering imitation of Yang, pointing at her with a wide smirk as she said in her normal voice, "That's what you sound like!"

Yang had absolutely no idea how to react to this, reaching back to scratch at her head a bit to cover it. "Uh..."

"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?" Noir's eyes went wide at this; if there was any one thing that Noir knew Yang definitely had some vanity for, it was her hair, and whoever this annoying cat was, she was going out of her way to push Yang's most sensitive buttons.

"This is just my normal hair..." Yang replied, sounding quite put out by the question.

"Ooooooh, really?" Neon inquired sarcastically, and Noir could see even from his spot in the stands that Yang was growing very annoyed by the exchange, and even he had to admit that at that moment, had he been down there instead of Yang, he'd likely annoyed as well if the faunus took a stab at him.

"Yeah! Is that a prob-" Yang started but once again she was cut off, and Noir shivered when he heard what Neon said next.

"You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun!" she said as she started spinning around on her roller blades, continuing to talk rapidly as Flynt looked on with an amused smirk. "It'd probably take you a while, though, since you're so...you know, top-heavy." Noir's eyes went wide as dinner plates at this, and he could actually feel Yang's anger building up as she looked down at her busty physique, her fists clenching as the holographic roulette started rolling for the terrain selection.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Yang snarled at her, and next to Noir, Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Oh, here we go..." Noir looked at Ruby as she said this; evidently he wasn't the only one who heard the conversation. As he looked back at the stage, the massive terrain simulations rose out of the deep bowels of the colosseum, and Noir tensed as Port counted down to the start of the match. Flynt raised his trumpet to his lips and began playing it, and Noir visibly cringed and covered his ears to shield them from the piercing sound. Even his hypersensitive hearing, which he could use to map out an entire area using the sound waves bouncing off everything (echolocation), couldn't handle Flynt's aura-enhanced trumpet playing which created blast waves of sound that forced Yang and Weiss on the defensive. The ear-piercing noise caused Noir to lose track of things for several moments, and when he recovered, Yang was chasing Neon across the arena, and though Noir couldn't hear what Neon was saying, it was clear that it was only angering Yang even further. Twice, first her leg, then her arm, she was hit with ice dust, and both times, Yang shattered the ice around her limbs as her anger intensified.

Throughout the match, Noir watched the two duos duke it out, with Yang and Weiss losing half their aura levels to Flynt's Killer Quartet move, which caused Noir to actually plug his ears with a pair of noiseless plugs he carried with him, shutting out all sound and focusing on the fight in front of him. Yang's eyes were now red as her rage intensified, and Noir winced was he saw Neon's last taunt, which even even he could lip-read from his spot.

"You're fat."

Movement in another part of the arena caught Noir's attention. Flynt had Weiss on the ground and was now focusing on Yang as he once again split into four of himself, preparing to fire another Killer Quartet at Yang. Weiss, not even hesitating, tackled Flynt into a lava geyser just as it erupted completely depleting her aura.

"WEISS!" Ruby and Blake both shouted, panicked, and Noir stared at where the geyser had erupted, completely stunned by what he had just seen. Weiss, of all people, had just sacrificed her own aura and her spot in the Vytal finals just to bring down one person, to save Yang. Noir had to admit he was impressed, as he'd never seen Weiss do something like that before. Something that he himself would have done in the same situation.

Even though it depleted a large amount of his aura, Flynt stood back up from the attack, incensed by it as Neon skated around him, chattering about Yang, who finally reached her breaking point. Noir shook his head as Yang snapped, going completely all out and launching an all out assault on Flynt and Neon, taking out Flynt within mere moments even despite using his trumpet to keep her at bay. The match didn't last much longer as Yang, finally catching an opening, took Neon out with one blast from Ember Celica, securing her victory. As the match was declared a victory for Yang, Ruby and Blake both got up to rush towards the battlefield, and Noir got up with them, yanking his ear plugs out and rushing towards the field with them.

As Ruby and Blake rushed to Weiss and Yang, Noir hung back for a bit, a few feet away as Ruby and Blake both complimented Weiss and Yang's performances. Noir, after a moments of watching, finally spoke, and caught everyone off guard.

"Weiss." All four of them looked at Noir, stunned. Up to this point he had never used Weiss's name, or for that matter had never even acknowledged that she had one. Noir's entire view of Weiss had changed, and he smiled at her as he kneeled down next to her with her teammates, speaking so only they would hear him. "That was a very gutsy thing you did there, and it's something I would've done were I in the same situation." He smiled at the stunned heiress as he held out a hand to help her up. "I suppose I misjudged you. You're not as selfish and heartless as I thought." Yang, Ruby and Blake sat there, stunned, as Noir expressed this sentiment, and Weiss, well, she was completely dumbfounded. It was unlike Noir to reverse his view on something like that, yet one look in his red eyes revealed his sincerity. Weiss, after a long moment, returned his smile and took his hand as he helped her to her feet, supporting her as her other teammates helped her off the field.

Yang couldn't help but feel proud of Noir. It took a lot for someone like him to change his view on something, and for him to now have respect for Weiss was just something else.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A little while later Noir leaned against the wall at Amity Colosseum, waiting for the rest of Team RWBY to return as they made sure Weiss was alright. The arena had been cleared off in preparation for the next battle, and this was a particular battle Noir had been waiting to see.

Emerald and her spastic partner Remmy would be partaking in the upcoming battle against Coco and Yatsuhashi of Team CFVY, and knowing the latter duo personally, Noir was interested in seeing how Emerald and "Remmy", if that really was his name, and Noir doubted it was, would fare against them. Noir's gut bothered him whenever he thought of this "Remmy" and couldn't help but think that his name sounded a little too fake to him. He also seemed far too spastic to be normal. Noir had known some rather spastic individuals, including Nora Valkyrie, but Remmy's spastic nature seemed almost forced. He'd gone from a laid teenager to a childishly vulgar loudmouth in the span of a few seconds, and that to Noir didn't seem natural, unless "Remmy" had some kind of multi-personaility thing going on.

Noir didn't get to think on much else before he turned towards the steps in front of him, seeing Yang, Ruby, and Blake walking up to him. He smiled and brushed his suspicions aside for the time being, walking toward them and speaking first.

"How's Weiss, will she recover?"

Ruby smiled cheerfully and nodded. "The nurses said she'll be totally fine in a day or two."

"That's good to hear." Noir smiled and nodded to Ruby as Yang took his hand in hers, causing him to blush just a tad. "Well, if you three are interested, we have another match about to start. It's Coco and Yatsuhashi against Emerald and that other kid."

"Remmy's about to fight?!" Ruby seemed legitimately excited and dashed into the stands to get a good seat, causing Noir to raise an eyebrow.

"What's got her so excited?" he asked, looking at Yang and Blake, the latter of whom just shrugged.

"Eh, beats me. Come on, let's go see the fight!" Yang grinned and walked towards the stands, Noir in deep thought as he followed her. He couldn't elaborate his suspicions to anyone at that moment, for he knew that he needed hard evidence before drawing any conclusions. As much as he wanted to express his suspicions to someone, for the time being, he'd need to hold his silence.

As he sat down with Yang, Blake and Ruby, the crowd began to cheer as Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi walked out on the field, Coco waving to the crowd with a big smile on her face whilst Yatsuhashi maintained a calm demeanor, sitting cross-legged on the arena floor in meditation as they waited for their opponents to walk out onto the field. Coco was cool and collected as ever, clad in her expensive clothing with her bullet belt-strapped handbag over her shoulder as Yatsuhashi was in deep meditation, cross-legged on the arena floor to Coco's right, his massive blade across his back. Noir smiled a little as he observed his fellow second years, having always had a lot of respect for Team CFVY, and considered them to be among his few real friends at Beacon Academy.

Across the arena, Emerald Sustrai and Remnant walked out on the field, Emerald with her two revolvers in their holsters and walking in her usual casual strut, a confident grin on her face, though this was rather forced. It was Remnant however who commanded Noir's attention. Remnant was garbed in his usual dark clothing, and had two swords across his back, one horizontal at shoulder level with the hilt facing his right, with the other parallel to it at waist level with the hilt facing his left. The blades were each approximately 3 inches wide, narrowing slightly towards to top ends, which were angled like buster swords. Both blades were 3 feet long from hilt to tip. In contrast with Emerald, Remnant's expression was calm and collected, and he wasn't even smirking as they approached Coco and Yatsuhashi. As they approached their opponents, Emerald whispered something to Remnant.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked as they paced their approach. Remnant spoke in a calm collected tone.

"You take the girl. I'll handle the big one." he replied, his bright green eyes fixed on the meditating Yatsuhashi as Emerald looked at him with a side glance.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, you do realize what she's carrying in that handbag, right?" Emerald looked at Remnant skeptically, and in response he looked her right in the eyes with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you prefer it if I took on both of them?" he asked with a slight edge to his voice, as though irritated.

"Honestly? Kinda." Emerald replied, as the only reason she was even there was because she'd been ordered to. Given her way she'd be as far from the person next to her as possible.

"Fine then. Keep the girl occupied while I take care of the big one, then I'll finish her off." Remnant replied without missing a beat, eliciting an almost shocked look from Emerald that she barely managed to cover up.

"Wait, what? I was being sarcastic-"

"Too late now. Now shut up." For they were now in earshot of their opponents, and they donned confident expressions as they stared one another down.

"Good luck you two!" Velvet Scarlatina called out, sitting next to Ruby and Blake in the stands. The four fighters continued to stare each other down, with only Yatsuhashi not doing so, still sitting in meditation next to Coco. The Holographic Roulette rolled, and four biomes rose out of the stage: The Gold Plains, The City Ruins, The Geyser Field, and The Green Woods. As the biomes emerged, Coco looked Emerald over, lowering her shades and grinning.

"Hey! Love the outfit, there, kid!" she said as she grinned at the other girl, who returned the grin confidently.

"I'll try not to get blood on it." As she finished this statement, Yatsuhashi opened his eyes and stood up, drawing his massive blade.

"I can't promise that you'll leave without a scratch." the towering young man stated bluntly, glaring down at them both. Emerald didn't even bat an eyelash, and Remnant actually smirked.

"Oh, I won't be the one bleeding," Emerald replied, grinning ear to ear as Remnant actually chuckled a little.

"Oooh, I like her!" Coco said with an even wider grin.

"Then you're gonna love me," Remnant said as he drew both his swords, spinning them in rapid circles and taking a stance holding them both in front of him. As Emerald tensed, waiting for the match to begin, she heard Remnant speak again, this time to himself, and Emerald shivered slightly as she heard him sing that same archaic language from the night she met him, but he wasn't singing it to any of the others. In fact, he was actually singing it to himself.

"Écoutez, sangle en

Avertissez vos proches

Vous êtes sur le point de faire un tour

Un peu sur le côté fou."

As he finished singing these words to himself, his eyes widened and his muscles tensed, his mouth spreading into a confident smirk as his muscles started to flex, and Emerald realized with a jolt that Remnant had just used his semblance to pump himself up. His semblance didn't just affect fear; it affected every emotion and enhanced it. A Serenade Semblance.

"Three...Two...One...BEGIN!" Port declared into the commentator microphone, and the crowd in Amity Colosseum went ballistic. Emerald and Remnant exchanged a look and slowly backed into the Gold Plains, and Coco, not wasting a second, converted her handbag into her gatling gun, pulling the trigger and unleashing a hailstorm of rounds into the plains to roaring approval. Coco moved her minigun back and forth as she raked the entire biome, completely leveling it. As she stopped firing, her eyes widened behind her shades; Emerald and Remnant had disappeared. The tall grass had been completely leveled and there was no sign of either of the combatants.

"What the..." Coco's brow furrowed, unable to quite comprehend what just happened as her eyes scanned the field for them.

"Look out!" Blake yelled from the stand as she and the rest of Team RWBY looked on in shock, with only Noir maintaining his calm demeanor.

Coco and Yatsuhashi looked up to see Remnant dropping down towards them, a fierce look on his face as he brought his blades down in a vicious downward slash. Yatsuhashi, reacting quickly, pushed Coco out the way and brought his massive blade up to block the blow, pushing Remnant back as Coco opened fire again, aiming at Remnant, who avoided and blocked every shot with lightning fast agility. The spectating crowd watched in awe as the small teen dodged and blocked every shot, Sun Wukong watching with Team SSSN.

"Damn! He's good!" Sun exclaimed, watching wide eyed at the spectacle before him, while next to him, Scarlet David looked around the arena.

"But where's the girl?" At this Sun looked over the field again and realized with a jolt that Emerald had completely disappeared. Remnant, undeterred by the barrage of gunfire, charged Coco and Yatsuhashi rapidly, using both his blades to knock away Coco's massive gun before delivering a vicious double kick right into Yatsuhashi's chest, using the force of his kick to push himself off as Coco opened fire once again. Timing the leap perfectly, Remnant landed right on the barrel of Coco's gatling gun, slamming the pommel of one of his blades right into Coco's face, somersaulting over another swing from Yatsuhashi's sword as the giant warrior swung at him again. Remnant landed behind Coco and viciously kicked her in the small of her back, forcing the muzzle of her gatling gun right into Yatsuhashi's abdominal region.

The whole crowd had gone still. No one had seen this level of ferocity, not even in Noir. Noir himself, observing the fight, realized that, like himself, Remnant fought making full use of his speed, strength and reflexes. However, unlike Noir, Remnant wasn't holding back, and was exploiting every small opening he could find, with near-expert precision. It was as though Remnant was analyzing and reanalyzing the fight with every passing second, making adjustments to adapt to how his opponents were fighting, and yet maintaining his own style with ease.

Coco, reacting quickly, compressed her gatling gun back into its handbag form and swung it around at Remnant in tandem with Yatsuhashi, who synchronized a swing of his own with hers. Remnant, his smirk wider than before, deftly jumped back to avoid it, spinning his swords excitedly as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. As they prepared to charge him, Remnant dashed right at them, rolling between them and straightening up behind them, smacking both of them in their sides with the flats of both his blades as a chain came out of the forest biome and wrapped around Coco's waist, jerking her back into the forest.

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi reached out in vain to grab her but was interrupted as Remnant clubbed him in the back of his head with the pommel of one of his swords.

"Focus on me, big guy!" Remnant snarled in glee as he ducked under Yatsuhashi's blade and aimed another pommel blow at his torso. Yatsuhashi, incensed, grabbed Remnant by his face and with one hand slung him across the field towards the geyser field, jumping high in the air as he prepared to deliver a devastating blow to Remnant. Remnant, looking up and reacting at lighting speed, spun his swords around and slammed them together, creating a 6 inch wide blade with a V-segment at the top where the angled ends joined. A moment later, a long concealed blade extended from V-segment of the joined swords, creating a massive buster sword that was as long as he was tall. Yatsuhashi's blade slammed into it full force, the shock wave from this vicious clash causing the surrounding water to fly back, the earth beneath them cracking and compressing into a large crater, multiple geysers erupting as a result. Remnant dug his feet in and yelled as he forced Yatsuhashi off of him with astounding strength disproportionate to his size, swinging his own massive blade around with surprising speed and clipping Yatsuhashi on the shoulder, knocking him to the ground flat on his back several feet away. Not wasting a moment, Remnant slung his sword at his opponent, the blade stabbing into the ground right next to his head, stunning him, and a moment later, Remnant had lept into the air and landed on Yatsuhashi's chest, delivering a left-handed punch right into his face that knocked him cold, putting him out of the game.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Coco recovered from her sudden snatch, having slammed into the trunk of a large tree, standing up looking around to see her shades broken on the ground, eliciting an angry snarl from the second year.

"I take it back. I don't like her." She didn't have time to think much else as a green shot fired at her from the trees, Coco rolling out the way and bringing her gatling gun back out, opening fire in Emerald's general direction. Emerald jumped through the trees, firing back as she disappeared into the foliage of the forest, leaving Coco standing alone in the biome around her.

"Shit!" Coco swore as she searched for her opponent with strained eyes, her entire body tensed as she gripped her gatling gun in anticipation. The forest biome was deathly silent, and Coco jumped as the jumbotron let out a loud buzz.

"OH! And with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated from the battle!" Port declared.

"WHAT?!" Coco's eyes widened in shock as she heard this announcement. That fucking shrimp beat Yatsuhashi?! How?! Coco looked around the forest, her hands shaking on her weapon as behind her a twig snapped. Coco whirled around and saw Remnant approaching her from behind, his swords sheathed as he paced himself almost casually with a wide smirk on his face.

"I think you've got bigger problems now, Miss Prada." Remnant quipped as he drew his blades. Despite her apprehension, Coco couldn't help but snap back at him.

"Funny, are you referring to yourself or your ego, because I don't think it applies to you." Coco paused and then added one last word. "Physically."

Remnant's smirk instantly disappeared; if there was one thing in the world Remnant absolutely despised and never took kindly to, it was people taking shots at his height, for he was, no doubt, one of the shortest boys there. Not even saying a word, Remnant spun his blades around again, combining them a second time and creating his massive buster sword, flourishing it and slicing a few tries down in the process. At the sight of this huge blade, Coco raised an eyebrow and couldn't stop herself from making a comment.

"Huh. You compensating for something with that?" At this, Remnant finally snapped, dashing at Coco with shocking speed and an expression of pure fury.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Remnant released a loud roar of anger as he swung his buster sword hard, Coco trying to raise her weapon in a vain attempt to block a vicious blow. The flat side on the top end slammed into the side of Coco's head, instantly knocking her cold and sending her flying out of the forest biome, her unconscious body landing right next to Yatsuhashi's as the buzzer sounded, ending the match with Remnant and Emerald as the victors.

"And with an astonishing upset, Emerald and Remmy are victorious!" Oobleck declared from the commentary box as Remnant split his blade into twin swords again, sheathing them on his back as he walked off the field with Emerald in tow.

From the stands, Noir frowned as he watched them walk off the field, his eyes narrowed into slits as he maintained a stare at Remnant. Noir had opened his second pair of ear canals during the fight, and he had noticed multiple things that others hadn't, the most bothersome of them being Remnant's complete change in demeanor during the fight. Remnant had not been the charming, spastic and yet laid back individual he'd met a few days previously. Remnant had been high on adrenaline the entire fight, never slowing down, never breaking pace, and acting nonchalant and smug when he had put down Yatsuhashi. He had fought with a viciously pro-offensive style that had contrasted starkly with Noir's original impression of the teen, as someone who fought with enthusiasm and fairly. Yet Noir had seen the smirk on his face, the vicious look in his eyes, and had sensed the spike in adrenaline prior to the fight. Remnant was more than he seemed. Noir's suspicion of Remnant was even stronger now, and he felt in his gut that Remnant couldn't be trusted at his word. Noir was brought back to reality as Port bombastically made another announcement.

"Our next doubles match will be in 20 minutes! Stay tuned and don't go away!" Noir breathed in and let out a small sigh as he stood up, Yang, Blake and Ruby all looking at him.

"That's my cue, my match is next. I need to get ready." Noir explained, smiling at them as he stretched a little from being in one place for too long.

"Oh! Good luck, babe!" Yang smiled as she stood with him, giving him a quick peck on the lips, eliciting a noticeable blush from Noir as he smiled and turned to head for the locker. Blake sighed imperceptibly as she watched the couple. She couldn't deny that they had very good chemistry together, and Noir certainly looked happy with Yang, but she still felt in her gut that they were moving too fast. She hoped for both Noir's sake and for Yang's that it would work, for she had no idea what would happen if the relationship went sour.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Several minutes later, Noir stood in the locker room, already changed and waiting for the match announcement as he leaned against the wall of lockers behind him. His eyes were closed as he breathed in and out of his nose, clearing his mind and relaxing his body as he prepared for his doubles match. Across the locker room, his stand in partner from his match with Team TRRF sat patiently on a bench, already knowing what was going to happen with the upcoming fight. As Noir meditated, a familiar voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

"So. You gonna do this one alone too, Nightstalker?"

Noir whirled towards the entrance, his hand on his Schwarze Klinge's hilt. Leaning against the door frame was none other than Check Cremissi, clad in the same garb he'd worn at Junior's nightclub weeks previously, a smug smirk on his face. Noir's expression instantly darkened at the sight of Check, his grip tightening on his blade as he deeply buried fury began to boil up in him.

"What do you want, Check." Noir kept his voice as calm as possible, though it was quite clear that he was on the verge of lashing out in fury.

"Me? Oh, I'm just here to tell you that, well, I was quite impressed by that 4 onto 1 fight a few days ago. Honestly, Nightstalker, I had no idea you were into...group activities." Check smirked as Noir's scowl deepened, and he casually flipped a lien card around his fingers as Noir turned away from him.

"I have nothing to say to you, Check. Get out." Noir said this flatly as he turned away, trying to keep his cool as much as possible while he restrained the urge to lash out at Check in rage. Check simply chuckled at this, shaking his head in mock pity.

"My, my, my, my, my, you certainly haven't changed, Noir. You're as volatile as I remember. No wonder you're dating that blonde, she puts you to shame!" Noir stopped in his tracks, his entire body shaking as Check chuckled, smirking at his former partner and teammate. "You should probably know, that after your solo victory, people have really started placing bets on you. I simply couldn't pass it up, so I've got a pool going on you, and if you win this fight, I win lots of money. So, do me a favor. Don't lose this one." Noir slowly turned and drew Schwarze Klinge, its gun mechanism extending as he aimed it right at Check's head.

"Get. Out. Now." Noir snarled each word at Check, who simply shrugged and turned to walk out in a resigned manner, but being who he was looked back for one final remark.

"You always were so dust damned righteous. Honestly, Noir, when are you gonna loosen up and just chill the fuck out for once in your damn life?" And with that Check strolled out the locker room, leaving Noir incensed and trying desperately to calm down as he breathed deeply through his nose and out through his mouth, pacing the locker room restlessly now.

Even with his stand-in sitting mere yards from where Noir was pacing, he hadn't felt so isolated in a long time. And he couldn't help but start to wonder if his isolation was his own fault or Check's or simply a result of fate or destiny.

In any case, Noir knew that he couldn't afford to lose control, not with Arthur Grey and Chalaign Royale as his opponents.