RWBY: Glowing Embers

by Zivon96

The Vytal Festival has begun, and Team EMAD is ready to fight! With their first successful mission behind them and a team of allies patrolling the streets for any remaining members of the White Fang, they believe that this will be a normal, if exciting tournament, but the world is all too happy to prove them wrong. Part three of my "Fading Light" series.

3. Chapter 3: A Voyage Into the Blue

RWBY: Glowing Embers

Chapter 3

oxoxoxo

Curtis Marlow sighed as he listened to the radio broadcast of the Vytal Festival. The prisoners in his cell block were not allowed television, but after his months of quiet, he had been allowed a radio on which he could listen to the announcements and fights of the tournament. It came with its own punishment, however, that being the pair of guards standing outside his cell, monitoring him. If he did anything to the radio aside from turn it on or off or change the station, they were to confiscate him and, he assumed, administer a beating. At this point though, there wasn't much they could beat out of him. The man was just a step above broken, and that step had been taken a month ago when Erik had returned from the Abyss. He had brought good news with him too, saying that all the students he had brought with him had survived and that the Abyss had been destroyed, the accursed island consumed in the flames of Atlas Justice. Though it had been a hard fought battle, at the very least, the threat of the Inferri was now gone. Now he could focus on something he actually looked forward to: seeing how much Jaune had improved as a fighter. According to the announcements, that particular fight would be taking place later on that very day, and Marlow was tensing in anticipation, waiting with bated breath to see if he was right in trying to fight for the boy's right to stay at Beacon. It was almost tragically ironic that he both hoped the boy succeeded and failed. He hoped he would succeed in his match because it meant the Arc line didn't simply die at Arthur. However, should the boy succeed, it also meant that the darker side of Marlow's mind, the side of him that was born that fateful day at Ognoc, was in the right when he attacked Beacon. Burying that part of himself was something Marlow hoped his stay in prison could do for him. Though he knew he would never fully be rid of it, the veteran hoped to bury it as deep in his mind as he could, hoping it would never again surface. It may have been a part of him, but that hardly meant it had to define him.

"Prisoner 59610."

Marlow looked up from the radio to the robotic Atlesian Knight guard at his cell door. "Yes, what is it?" He whispered. Though he had taken some steps on the road towards mental recovery, Marlow still felt uncomfortable speaking in louder tones to all but a select few, those few being Fantine and a small number of his other former comrades who once upon a time served beside him and didn't resent him for his actions in the past year.

"You have visitors, Prisoner 59610." The Atlesian Knight replied. "Please follow us." It said, unlocking Marlow's cell door. The veteran stepped forward and allowed the guards to place cuffs over his wrists and ankles, however thin they had grown from months of barely eating. Marlow took one look at his reflection in the faceplate of the machine. His hair had been forcibly trimmed in the last week when it grew too long and wild, though Marlow had simply sat back and allowed them to do so, and the lack of wild brown hair in his face now allowed him to see just what he had become. His eyes were sunken in his face, and his cheeks gaunt and thin, seeming to just hang off the bones of his skull. Looking at the rest of his body wasn't much of an improvement. Where once there was lean muscle and strength now was replaced with a skeleton of a man, the prison jumpsuit concealing visible ribs as it hung off his frame. He could only imagine how disappointed his visitors would be when they saw what he had become, assuming their image of him could get any lower. Once the restraints were placed upon him, the guards began to lead Marlow through the prison, the eyes of other inmates watching closely as he was led through the compound, recognizing the look of a dead man walking.

As the march continued, Marlow could only wonder who his visitors were. The guards had mentioned it in the plural fashion, so he imagined there was more than one person who deigned to see if he was still alive. With that said, only one name immediately came to mind, that of the phantom, Erik Fantine. Erik had been one of the few individuals who knew what he had done and where he was, the only others who knew were his teammates, Ozpin and his fellow teachers at Beacon. Former fellows, that is. He was no longer a teacher and he needed to remember that. Marlow's eyes widened in terror at one horrible thought. It wasn't Jaune coming to visit, was it? The idea of the last scion of Arc seeing him in such a state nearly drove him past the breaking point. He was close to shattering into pieces, every instinct in his damaged mind telling him fight or flight. He could leap on one of the guards and tear off his head with the chains of his cuffs, take his gun and kill the other one before he could react. No! That would hardly work, the rest of his mind argued. That part wanted nothing more than to simply drop to the ground and shake like a leaf, maybe scream in terror.

Shaking slightly, and with a herculean effort he didn't even know he could muster anymore, Marlow shoved down the urge to collapse and bound it in the depths of his thoughts. Mustering up the urge not to scream, he carefully opened his mouth and asked the simple question: "Who are my visitors?"

"Override:" The machine said. "Your visitors will remain anonymous."

Marlow sighed internally. Erik's doing, no doubt. But, then again, if Erik was here, that meant Jaune likely wasn't. Though the phantom loved to torment him, he would hardly bring Jaune to him without warning him well in advance. The phantom knew the young knight was his weak point, and if he were to bring him for a visit, Marlow would be warned well in advance in order to prevent just such a reaction. Despite all the two of them had been through, Erik was still Curtis' friend.

That still left one question, however, that being just who Erik had brought with him. It was rare that the phantom would even visit, let alone bring anyone along for his visits. He had few friends outside his team, and aside from the occasional conversation with Theodora during the war, Marlow wasn't close with any of Team FRST. As the veteran took his seat in the usual interrogation room, his hands cuffed to the chair, he sighed once again and rested his head in his hand. Before long, fully expecting Erik to simply appear in the room as he had done before embarking on his mission to the abyss, Marlow began to rub his temples as he waited to realize the familiar sensation of being watched.

It was thus a sincere shock when the door to the room opened, the sound of the opening door nearly giving Marlow whiplash as he turned to face the doorway, two figures standing in it. Erik was the first, the phantom standing tall with his mask upon his face and his cape wrapped around his form. Standing next to him was another, a man Curtis had all but given up on ever seeing again, thinking him dead at the hands of a horde of nightmares. "Erwin? You survived?"

The general gave Marlow a sad smile. As one of the youngest students ever accepted to the Vale Military Academy, Erwin Frundsberg had studied under Curtis Marlow personally when the Ghost in Red had spent a semester as a guest instructor at the academy. While Erwin had always been a prodigal strategist, it had been Marlow's instructions on the art of war that truly turned Frundsberg into a master strategist. Marlow had taught him when to attack or when to retreat, and while some might see this as patronizing, as a young child, Erwin needed to learn this, and once becoming a general, he had appreciated the older huntsman's teachings. During the Faunus War, Erwin would always ask himself before engaging in battle 'what would Curtis Marlow do?' "It's good to see you again, Sir."

Marlow's face turned down. "Don't call me sir, Erwin. If Erik has told you any of what I've recently, you can't actually believe that." He said with a heavy sigh. "It's probably a shame to see an old mentor looking like this."

"Actually, Curtis," Erik interjected. "The boy still asked to see you, even after hearing what you did at Beacon."

Marlow looked up to see his former student taking his seat across from him at the interrogation table. The boy had come far from the youth he had met at the Vale Military Academy. He had gone from wearing the uniform of a soldier to that of a general, refined and powerful. He wore a long, deep blue greatcoat, brown breeches and black boots, his kepi, adorned with four stars sitting atop his head. Their eyes met, and Curtis noticed something in the boy's eyes. A look that just seemed too familiar to not know, yet so off putting in the face of a youth. "You… wanted to see me?"

"You were one of my favourite teachers." Erwin said. "No matter what you had done, I had to… I had to know if you were still alive."

"And so Erik brought you here, even after telling you what I did?"

The young general nodded. "There was also something I wanted to ask you. You were a teacher at Beacon, you knew the students you taught there, right?"

Marlow looked down at his hands. "I suppose you could say that. Why do you ask?"

Erwin frowned. "I'm looking for the best of Beacon's students to receive a… special offer." The general pulled his scroll from his pocket. Opening up a picture, he turned the screen to face Marlow. On the screen was a blade, a shortsword, curved forward at the tip, the curved portion weighted to give a better cut when swung. Looking closely, one could see that while the blade had clearly been through much, with several stains on the blade and even what appeared to be burn marks on it, the edge still looked to be razor sharp. "This is my old sword, Drakon. When I led the attack on the Abyss, this was the weapon I carried. However, after my failure there, I like I can't call myself worthy of a blade like this anymore. So I need to ask, out of all the students you've taught, which do you think would be worthy of it?"

"You want to give a weapon like that to one of my old students?" Marlow asked.

The general nodded. "Vale has always been my home, I figured I should pass the sword onto one of its future hunters."

Marlow pondered Erwin's words. True, Beacon was a great academy, full of budding warriors just waiting to become the legends of the future. Immediately, the first name that entered his mind was Jaune Arc, but he instantly shook that thought out of his head. The boy had enough on his shoulders, carrying not just his own family legacy, but also the burden of his fallen father's sword that Marlow had kept from him. No, giving him the blade would only add to that burden. His name was followed by that of Maria Gaia. Gaia was always a promising student in his classes, keeping her work always distinctly above the class average and ensuring her team did the same. However, he had a suspicion Erwin might discount her, seeing as he wanted to keep the sword in the hands of Vale's warriors, and Gaia was Mistralli. Then there was that girl, Ruby Rose. She was young, but the exuberance behind those eyes showed a passion for doing the right thing. "I can tell you about some of my old students, and you can decide for yourself."

Erwin nodded. "Thank you, I really appreciate it."

oxoxoxo

Maria could only smirk as she watched Team JNPR's victory over Team BRNZ. Her team had been transfixed on the match, but the entire time, she had been watching JNPR, already anticipating their victory. She had seen them in team combat before, of course, but at the same time, she knew they would have improved by the tournament, and watching this fight, she was far from disappointed. Jaune was the biggest surprise, the once hapless knight now skillfully holding his own on the battlefield and coming up with tactical maneuvers in seconds. She still felt a pang of guilt at exposing him earlier in the year, but at the same time, she was happy to be proven wrong as he showed that he could indeed fight and, more importantly, lead his team.

Then there was Ren. Ren was fast and more than skilled, as well as more durable than he looked, able to take several hits from an electric baton and get back up, still managing to fight back against the user of said baton. He would be tough to face, should JNPR choose to field him in later fights. He, however, was nothing compared to Nora. Throughout all her team's classes with the energetic redhead, Maria had never once seen her use her semblance. The knowledge that it was the absorption and use of electricity instantly put a hold on one strategy. Alison loved using lightning dust, so putting her against Nora would likely end in tragedy for the artist. Nora would require careful planning to beat.

However, there was still one factor that was proving ever more frustrating in overcoming: Pyrrha Nikos. The amazon was still clearly the strongest member of Team JNPR and no matter what Maria did, she was still always frustrated by her combat abilities and semblance. She had a plan to fight Pyrrha, when they met in combat, and they would, seeing as JNPR would obviously field her in future matches, and Maria had no intentions of being knocked out of the tournament, however, her strategy was a longshot at best and would require careful planning to even execute.

Maria thought she would be annoyed with her own failure at yet another potential loss to her rival, but instead, she felt something that she had lacked in reality for quite some time. It was something that her time as a leader had dulled, and her time as a student had all but extinguished: her competitive spirit. It had been largely dormant, especially after what happened in the first semester, however, being here, at this tournament, with so many other teams to test her skill against, she was excited, eager and terrified all at once. The first round had been enough to sate her for now, but her hands were still shaking in anticipation, especially at the thought of facing Nikos again.

"That was bloody great!" Thatch said, jarring her out of her thoughts of battle. "That's one way to finish a fight, just hit 'em with the biggest stick you can find held by a madwoman!"

"Well, mon ami," Francois piped up. "We lack a "madwoman" of our own, do you think you can swing something big enough to beat Nora?"

"Are you kidding? You don't fight someone like Nora by trying to out big stick her," Yang said, Team RWBY sitting in the stands just behind EMAD. "You put Maria in front of her and have your fearless leader give her 'the look.'" As Maria shot her a glare, Yang shuddered slightly. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Hey, you want to weaponize our fearless leader, this is on your head." Thatch said back to his old friend. "Unless you let us use your leader. I'm sure if we put Ruby in front of Pyrrha and have her put on the puppy dog eyes, she'll fall apart."

Giving a wide smile, Yang put her hand on Thatch's shoulder, a gesture that, to the world looked friendly, however, the pressure of the squeeze she gave it nearly sent the renegade to the ground in pain. "That's my leader and my sister, Thatch." Yang said, the smile never leaving her face. "I'm sure you can understand why I'd like her to not be used as an adorable meat-shield."

Alison giggled alongside Ruby at the swordsman's obvious discomfort, even after Yang had released him. The artist leaned on his untouched shoulder and nestled herself there, the renegade's stress noticeably diminishing as he relaxed from her touch. She closed her eyes and nuzzled his shoulder slightly.

Maria looked to her infatuated teammates. When the two of them had begun dating after the dance, she had honestly worried about Thatch and his intentions toward her partner, and who could blame her? The renegade was a rough and tumble kind of guy, and had been into some shady things in his time, but he had been nothing but a perfect gentleman to the artist. Of course, she kept an eye on him, and regularly questioned Alison about how their relationship was going. It was, of course, just for protecting the oriental girl, not at all because she wanted to know how the relationship was going, that would be silly.

Shaking her head, Maria turned her attention back to the stadium, where Oobleck and Port were making another announcement. "Ah, Vacuo fans are sure to be hurting after that one, but this battle will have them on the edge of their seats!" Oobleck said.

"Two visiting teams are about to engage in what is sure to be a glorious fight!" Port added. "Vacuo's Team VOAJ and Mistral's Team INGO are both relatively unknown, but can one of them gain glory after this fight?"

The two underdog teams made their way to the stage, Team INGO's leader Indigo Aesir stepping forward to greet VOAJ's leader Violet Lightwood. The sniper and dust mage locked eyes for just a moment before each one reached out and clasped the other's hand.

Indigo gave a cocky grin, a mischievous twinkle in his electric blue eyes. "May the best team win." He said.

Violet nodded, her purple hair blowing in the breeze as the handshake rattled the weighted chains on her arms. "Best of luck to you too."

"You'll need it." They both said, their cocky grins nearly matching.

The terrain modifiers began to spin as the two leaders stepped back to their teams. On VOAJ, Alex Garnet split his staff into its twin pistols as Violet took her place next to him, using her semblance of polarity to levitate the weights on her chains off the ground, Julis Gold dusted off his suit and drew his sword from his cane, saluting the opposing team with the blade, and Onyx Blanch cracked his knuckles, activating his opposing black and white gauntlets. INGO was another story, Noctus Lupin stepped in front of his leader and partner, drawing his axe and ensuring its gun form was loaded as Indigo racked the bolt on his sniper rifle, Diana Grey simply wiggled her fingers, flames dancing along the digits as she stared disinterested at her new opponents, and Obsidian Thanos simply grinned madly as he ran his shorter blade over its larger counterpart.

Eventually, the match's terrain was settled. INGO turned to see that rising behind them was a foggy swamp, the fog seeming to thicken by the second. Indigo thanked whatever gods he could think of that the swamp didn't smell as bad as he was afraid it would.

Meanwhile, behind VOAJ, a rocky, blasted terrain arose, a single watchtower standing above the rocks. Violet smirked, knowing her team could work with this.

The two teams stared one another down, the two leaders locking eyes as Indigo gripped his rifle and Violet began to levitate her chains off the ground.

Maria watched from the crowd as the two teams awaited the countdown to their fight. She knew little of either team, so this match would be perfect to learn about the team that beat hers while she was injured as well as the team that served under her sister.

(Music begins here. Song: "Act of Desperation" by Amaranthe)

The countdown began as both teams braced themselves. "Three, two, one, begin!"

"Diana! Smokescrean!" Indigo ordered.

The dust witch nodded, leaping back into the swamp and slamming her gauntlet, empowered by fire dust, into the waters, throwing up a thick veil of steam as Team INGO retreated to their side of the arena.

"And Team INGO makes the first move!" Oobleck declared. "What could they be planning?"

"After them!" Violet ordered. VOAJ was about to follow their opponents when a piercing howl ripped through the air, Noctus Lupin flying from the smoke, axe raised and aimed for Julius.

The Gold heir leaped back as the wolf swung his axe, though before he could recover, Noctus shoulder rammed him in the gut and threw Julius over his shoulder as he used his superhuman strength to carry Julius onto VOAJ's side of the arena, throwing the heir bodily into the tower, the foundation cracking from the impact. Noctus lept for the heir, axe raised, but Julius jumped aside and smashed his cane into the wolf's head. Noctus stumbled from the blow, but Julius was quick to press his advantage, igniting his sword and sending a wave of fire at the axe wielding faunus, throwing the wolf to the ground. The Gold heir jumped for his opponent, sword poised for the finishing blow, but Noctus rolled aside as Julius' blade pierced the ground beneath where he once was.

Diana gave a small smirk as her fearless leader's tactics paid off. The smokescreen had already giving them a chance to divide the enemy, and knowing that her teammates fought better as individuals, this worked just fine for her. Indigo's instructions were clear after that: 'pick a target,' and the dust witch knew exactly who her target was going to be.

Spotting Onyx from within the smoke, she gave a small grin as she raised one hand and casually sent a stream of searing flames at the brawler.

"It looks like VOAJ's Onyx Blanch is in a bit of trouble." Port announced. "Diana Grey is one tough customer."

Onyx casually leaped over the flames, his semblance of spatial awareness telling him exactly where Diana was and what she was doing. The boy reached the arc of his jump and shifted the dust in his gauntlet Rise to wind. With one punch, Onyx slammed a burst of wind directly into the stream of flames Diana sent at him, scattering the inferno and giving him a safe place to land. "Sorry," He said as he landed, slamming his fists together. "But you're gonna have to do better than that."

"Oh, I fully intend to." Diana said. She wiggled her fingers, she switched her dust types to fire and earth. Gloves charged, she slammed her hands into the ground of the arena, a wave of lava flying for the young brawler.

Onyx's eyes widened as the mass of magma surged for him. Thinking quickly, Onyx shifted both his gauntlets, Rise and Fall to ice dust and made another leap forward, clearing the height of the wave. Once above it, he opened fire, Rise hitting the wave with arctic temperatures while Fall sprayed ice infused bullets, the combination freezing the lava in its tracks and cooling it into a wave shaped stone. Onyx landed on the stone and shifted Rise back to wind dust, summoning a gale force wind that would send him flying for the witch.

Diana, however, had other plans. Shifting both her gloves, Isis and Hecate to earth dust, and with a simple touch, the solidified wave violently exploded, shards of stone slamming into Onyx and throwing him to the ground, the unfortunate brawler landing face first in a puddle of swamp water. The witch casually advanced on him. "I told you I could do better." She said with an evil grin.

"Then do better than this." Onyx declared. Switching his dust back to ice, he slammed Rise into the swamp, freezing the water and trapping Diana up to her waist in ice. The brawler leapt to his feet and switched his dust to fire, surging forward to slam a burning right hook into the witch, shattering ice and aura in one blow.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Port announced. "Diana Grey is down to aura loss."

Onyx grinned as he sighed in satisfaction.

Until a bullet slammed into him from afar, throwing him to the ground and draining what remained of his aura. Indigo smirked as he looked through the scope of his rifle.

"And Onyx Blanch soon follows her, downed by Indigo Aesir's sniper rifle!" Oobleck declared.

In the stands, Maria's eyes widened at that name. Quickly, she fired off a message on her scroll to Micca. The snake girl had mentioned a Blanch when she briefed them on the events of the Abyss, maybe this guy had some relation to him.

Back in the fight, Violet watched as Onyx's aura hit the red and cursed under her breath as she sent one of her chains into the ground in front of Obsidian Thanos, throwing up a fiery explosion that sent him stumbling back. "Alex!" She ordered. "Track down that sniper before he nails us all!"

"On it!" Alex reported with a nod. Splitting his staff into its twin pistols, he opened fire on Obsidian and rushed forward, forcing the dark swordsman out of his way as he ran past, reuniting his pistols into staff form in the swamp's mists.

Obsidian growled as Alex escaped, raising his longsword Phobos and splitting the blade to reveal the pistol within it. As he took aim, Violet slammed the weight of Blizzard into the ground before him, the fired bullet embedding itself in the ice that formed from the impact.

"What's the matter, am I not enough for you?" Violet taunted.

"You'll do just fine for now." Obsidian growled. He raised his shortsword Deimos and poured his aura into it, sending a violent burst of flame at the chain fighter, but Violet propelled her chain Inferno into the blast, the ensuing fiery explosion throwing up a thick cloud of smoke and debris.

Obsidian launched himself through the smoke, swords raised for the kill, but Violet dodged back and retaliated with a swing of Blizzard, the swordsman just managing to dodge the attack as he flipped back and opened fire with Phobos, the shots just missing as Violet rolled aside. The second Obsidian hit the ground, he raised Deimos and let loose his hellfire, the flames slamming into Violet like a truck and throwing her back, VOAJ's leader impacting the tower on her team's side of the field.

Her vision spinning, Violet recovered just in time to see Obsidian slowly advancing on her, loading a new clip into Phobos. To her right was the edge of the stage which Obsidian could launch her off of. The left had the swamp covered by INGO's sniper leader. To her back was the wall of the tower. There was only one way to go.

Obsidian raised Phobos to fire, but Violet threw Blizzard upwards, the icy chain freezing itself to the top of the watchtower, one mighty heave pulling her to its peak with the strength of her aura. Now with the high ground, she swung Inferno towards the ground, the fiery chain just missing the hateful swordsman, so much that he could feel the heat of the chain's weight.

"You wanna play with fire?" He roared. "I'll show you fire!" Obsidian sheathed Phobos across his back and gripped Deimos with both hands, plunging the blade into the ground, the shortsword's crimson blade already glowing. A second later, a massive eruption of flame propelled Obsidian and the ground he stood upon into the air. The swordsman leaped off the blasted earth with a roar of rage, sword primed for a downward stab, Violet leaping aside just in time to miss being hit. The hateful swordsman pulled back his shortsword and drew the longer blade from his back before rushing Violet with a roar of rage.

Violet pulled her chains back as she dodged Obsidian's mad slashes, clutching the burning and freezing weights in her hands as her chains wrapped around her arms. The swordsman swung both blades once more, Violet ducking under the slashes and slamming Inferno's weight into his gut. Obsidian's semblance activated on impact, using the dust from Deimos to create a fiery clone, the duplicate bursting in a fiery blast that threw the chain fighter to the ground.

The explosion propelled a madly cackling Obsidian into the air, the swordsman plummeting toward Violet, swords primed for impact.

Violet's vision returned just in time to see Obsidian about to impact her, just barely rolling out of the way as the hateful swordsman smashed into the top of the tower, blades impaling themselves in the floor and shaking the structure as a web of cracks formed from the impact.

Obsidian gripped his swords to pull them back, but Violet moved quicker. With a flick of her wrist and a push of her semblance, she sent Blizzard slamming into the watchtower's floor, coating the entire structure with ice. Obsidian heaved to free his sword from the ground, only to realize that it, as well as his feet, were frozen to the floor.

"Sorry to drop out so soon." Violet said, giving a small wave and a wink as she made an aura fuelled leap off the tower. As she descended, Violet brought back both chains and spun in the air, both weights charged with the elements, Blizzard radiating sub zero cold and Inferno completely engulfed in flames. Blizzard struck the tower a split second earlier, coating the entire structure in ice, freezing Obsidian and the structure he had cracked. From there, all it took was one blow from the overcharged Inferno, the fiery weight slamming into the tower with the force of a meteor. The explosion was deafening, the blast of flame from the fiery wrecking ball shattering the tower, leaving a crater where it once stood. Obsidian was thrown to the ground in a shower of half melted ice crystals and stone debris, aura completely depleted. Violet landed on her hands and knees, a smirk painted on her face and adrenaline in her veins.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the watchtower and Obsidian Thanos' Aura are gone in one fell swoop." Port announced.

Violet's smile faded entirely when a screaming Julius Gold was hurled past her, aura well into the red when he crashed into the swamp. Violet looked in the direction he was thrown from just as Noctus stepped into view, axe held over his shoulder and still radiating wisps of frost. "Next." He quipped.

Violet readied her chains for battle when another body flew past her field of view. Indigo slammed into the ground and skipped off it, his aura entirely depleted as he came to a stop in front of his partner. Noctus looked down at the sniper with a raised brow.

"You can handle this one, right?" Indigo croaked.

"I'll clean up your mess." Noctus replied, stepping over Indigo's form with a smirk.

"My mess?" The sniper wondered. "When did this become my mess?"

(New Song: "Father of the Wolf" by Amon Amarth)

Noctus didn't answer as he unshouldered his axe Fenrir and stepped forward to face what remained of Team VOAJ. Alex snarled as he combined both his pistols, Whisper and Shout into his staff Speech, while Violet let both Blizzard and Inferno fall to the ground beside her as she gripped their chains.

Alex struck first, a roar of rage tearing itself from his throat as he charged Noctus, staff raised. Noctus parried his strike with the shaft of his axe and struck the berserker with the butt of his weapon before rolling out of the way as Violet swung Blizzard in a downward arc, making an icy crater where he had stood just a millisecond before. Thinking quickly, Noctus fired Fenrir's shotgun mode, the icy shell freezing the weight to its crater.

The wolf had no time to celebrate, as Alex immediately struck, slamming his staff into Noctus and sending him flying back into the swamp. Noctus landed face down in a pit of mud and pulled himself up only for Alex to smash Speech into him again, knocking the wolf into the air. Alex followed, Noctus bracing for impact as the berserker wound up another swing, the strike sending him barreling down into another pit of mud.

The wolf hauled himself to the surface just as Alex approached, brandishing his staff. He raised the weapon to smash Noctus back down into the mud, bringing it down hard.

With a snarl of rage, Noctus shot to life, using his semblance of superhuman strength to grab the staff mid descent. The wolf growled as he pulled himself up out of the mud, one hand still holding Alex's staff while the other clutched the handle of his axe, wisps of frost emanating from it. Howling with fury, Noctus swung Alex by his staff, slamming the berserker face first into the mud. Tossing his staff aside, Noctus took aim with his axe's shotgun and fired, the ice dust infused buckshot freezing the mud solid.

Alex struggled to get free as Noctus took his axe in both hands. The sounds of Noctus' howl and Alex's scream of fright filled the arena as the wolf brought his axe down hard, shattering the the frozen mud into ice crystals, draining the remainder of Alex's aura in one good hit, knocking his aura into the red as he lay groaning in a pile of muddy ice crystals.

"And Alex Garnett is drained and shattered!" Oobleck announced. "Ladies and gentlement, he'll be feeling that in the morning!"

Pumping the action on his shotgun, Noctus ejected the spent clip as Violet approached, weights levitating by her side. "Looks like it's just the two of us." Noctus noted.

Violet smirked. "Let's fix that, shall we?" With a flick of her wrists, both chains flew for Noctus, the wolf jumping back as the ground he stood on before was coated in ice and shattered into shards. Converting his axe to its shotgun form, Noctus opened fire, the distance blunting the damage as ice shards bounced off what remained of Violet's aura.

When Noctus' gun clicked empty, his heart sank. He knew both he and Violet were on their last legs, and that one good direct hit might just drain them. Already he could feel the fatigue and dull pain from fighting Julius and Alex, and a quick look at his aura gage had him planted firmly in the orange, the same as Violet after her duel with Obsidian and her fight with him. With the range she had over him, a victory was going to be difficult.

Noctus' internal monologue was broken as Blizzard flew at him, the wolf just managing to jump back as the weight slammed into the ground, coating it with ice. With her semblance of polarity, Violet pulled herself forward, using the momentum of her chains to slam her feet into Noctus' gut, driving the wind from his lungs. Before he could even hit the ground, Violet hurled Inferno forward with the force of a cannonball, the wolf just managing to contort his body enough to dodge as the steel orb flew past him. His relief wouldn't last long, as the orb impacted the ground, the ensuing explosion hurling the now screaming wolf into the air.

Ready for the final blow, Violet recalled both her weights into her hands and called upon all the aura she could spare in one last leap skyward, soon catching the soaring wolf. Violet raised Blizzard to deliver the final blow, something Noctus just looked up in time to see.

Time seemed to slow as Violet brought the weight down, Noctus bringing up the shaft of his axe to block it. A shell of ice formed over the weapon, crystals covering Noctus' hand, chilling him even more as the cold air whipped at his face and hair.

Violet raised the hand that held Inferno, but Noctus rammed a fist into her stomach, driving the air from her lungs and making her drop the chain, the orb just missing Noctus' head as he ducked out of the way.

Noctus grabbed the flaming chain and heaved on it, using the momentum to slam his head into Violet's. The girl didn't stay dazed for long as she used her semblance to recall Inferno's chain, wrapping its length around Noctus' free arm, the chain bursting into flames and searing at the wolf's aura as he roared in pain.

Catching himself, Noctus contorted himself mid descent, planting his boots on Violet's abdomen and heaving back. With one arm frozen and the other bound in flaming chains, he could feel his aura draining with each second.

A second later, the two slammed into the ground, the ensuing impact smashing a crater in the swamplands and throwing up a cloud of dust that blocked all view of the outcome. Nothing moved within the cloud, and only one thing was certain: the horn signifying one of the fighters' aura had dropped into the red had sounded on impact.

Maria practically scrambled out of her seat as she tried to get a look through the cloud. Even with her knowledge of battles, she could hardly guess who would come out on top in this fight, and looking to the scoreboard would have been too easy. She needed to see the winner, see who was still standing after that fight. Through the dust, she at last saw movement. The sound of moving chains was just audible over the roar of the crowd as a figure rose from the dust. With shaky steps, Violet Lightwood stepped out of the dust, only to fall to her knees as Noctus Lupin, battered and bruised, walked out behind her, axe shouldered. A look to the board would reveal his aura was a hairsbreadth from the red zone. Landing on Violet must have cushioned his fall just enough.

"And the winner is Noctus Lupin of Team INGO!" Oobleck announced.

Maria let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding as the winner was announced. She slipped back into her seat and joined the rest of the crowd in applauding the winner as a satisfied smile broke out on her face. Noctus' teammates were now standing by his side as they waved to the audience. It would be interesting should she meet them later down the line in the tournament. And she would be making it further in the tournament. There was only one person in the entire tournament who had ever beaten her, and by this point, she had waited more than enough time to fight her again.

oxoxoxo

Vlad cackled as the fight ended. From his vantage point in the boxed seat he and Erwin were given for their service to Vale, he reflected on something he had known for quite some time: the best kinds of comedy turned someone else's cries of pain into his own peals of laughter. "Ha! That was rich!" He chuckled as Port talked about what an 'impact' that fight must have had on the audience. He didn't even know if the old fart knew he had made a joke, but to the newly reinstated general, it hardly mattered. He was back, he was off that miserable hellhole of an island, the Abyss, and most importantly, now he got the best seat in the house to watch a bunch of kids beat the snot out of one another. And in life, what could be better. Oh wait, how about the fact that once he and Erwin got back to Vale, they had been reinstated. Yeah, apparently Vale's army had suffered somewhat in the six months since losing a thousand men in the middle of a then classified island. As such, the sole survivors of said island were obviously a valuable resource and clearly war heroes worthy of returning to their ranks.

They were right, of course, he and ol' Frundsy were more than capable of running half that damned military on their own. Erwin had the brains, he could keep the men in line, Ben was good looking enough to be the face of the operation, what could be better?

The sound of the doors to his boxed seat opening drew Vlad's attention. "Speak of the devil!" He declared, as Erwin walked in. "How's my favourite general? Lookin' sharp there, by the way."

Erwin looked down at himself as Vlad spoke. The tattered uniforms they had worn on the Abyss had been replaced as soon as they were replaced. Erwin had swapped out his ruined military uniform for a deep blue duster coat, though he had insisted on keeping not only his kepi, but also refused to replace his lost star. The general had declined any sort of promotion when he returned, and was even hesitant to retake his old rank. Too many had been lost on that island for him to claim any sort of victory for himself.

Vlad, on the other hand, was all too happy to let them give him back his rank, and had gladly taken the new suit of chainmail and the lovely red silk coat that now topped it. He ditched his old helmet though, not much could contain his new hairdo, and he thought it best show off his pitch black locks to the world, especially since they now reached his mid back. "So, Frundsy," Vlad said, walking over to clap his old war buddy on the shoulder. "What are our orders, oh fearless leader? We had the animals on the run back at the Abyss, we gotta take this to their doorstep now, right?"

"Vlad, the White Fang have scattered to the winds after their attack on Vale failed." Erwin explained. "Even if we had the manpower to go after them, and we don't since we're all here guarding the festival, we wouldn't even know where to look."

"Well that's what spies are for, oh brilliant leader." Vlad said, shoving Erwin aside as he marched past. The halberdier began to pace the room as he spat his venom at his commander. "How the hell did you get your command back? Look at you, first you get your entire army killed, then you almost cost us our way off the Abyss, and now you've forgotten what spies are." Vlad muttered something under his breath that the general wouldn't hear. Didn't matter since he got the meaning from his tone. "What did Oz see in you?" Vlad hissed.

"Well, I'm above average in strategy." Erwin replied.

"Above average, eh?" Vlad replied, leaning over Erwin's head, his head resting on that of the shorter general. "Oh right!" The halberdier said, tracing the side of the general's head with one finger, running it up from his chin to his temple. "That's that semblance of yours. You know just how to win." Vlad continued, punctuating the last four words with pokes to the young general's temple. "I'm sure that meant a lot when your men were slaughtered to a man. When our camp was razed to the ground. When we nearly cost the entire world its right to live. I'm sure your beloved strategies came in real handy there."

Erwin looked like he was going to speak up again, but all that escaped his throat was a pathetic sounding squeak as his voice caught in his throat. The sounds of a fight outside could clearly be heard, another valiant group of hunters battling it out for their own glory and the entertainment of the masses. All that was just so much white noise to the box, as both Vlad and Erwin could barely look one another in the eye. One would have thought that after all the two had been through together, they would be inseparable, a tag team like no other, but to Vlad, something never did seem right. Erwin's semblance had always pulled them out of tight spots when they were in the army, so what had changed that one fateful night?

Meanwhile, Erwin remained tight lipped about the entire event, not wanting to discuss any one detail about what had happened that night. Vlad had tried to bring it up in the past, trying to get his old comrade to budge on just what went wrong, but the general hadn't said a word. Vlad didn't like that. It made him tense and twitch, and that made him uncomfortable. He didn't like feeling uncomfortable, that made him angry.

Taking a deep breath, Vlad steadied himself before standing up from leaning on Erwin's head. He walked to the box's window and folded his arms, watching as the battle continued, arriving just in time to watch a red haired lad take a flaming coconut directly in the family jewels. "Priceless, that is." The halberdier chuckled.

Erwin thanked his lucky stars that Vlad could get so easily distracted when off the battlefield. The general let out a sigh, both in relief and slight frustration. He could only keep Vlad guessing for so long, now that they were back in Vale. Taking a deep breath, Erwin approached his friend, standing next to him as they watched the match. "We have people looking for traces of the White Fang." Erwin explained. "So far, the trail is looking cold, all we found was the wreckage of that firebase after it crashed in Northeastern Vale."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you." Vlad replied, not even looking in Erwin's direction. "You're a smart cookie, you are."

The general took a deep breath and turned on his heel as the match ended. "I should probably be going…" He muttered.

"Yeah," Vlad replied as he continued to watch, not even turning to face his friend. "You do that." The sound of the door opening and closing behind him told the halberdier that his former leader had left. The soldier snarled. Erwin was hiding something, he was sure of it now. He knew what shell shock looked like, after all, he saw it in the mirror every morning, and that wasn't what he saw on Erwin's face today. No, that was guilt. Erwin knew he did something wrong, and while part of Vlad's mind told him it might have just been survivor's guilt, being the only survivor of the thousand man army you led could do that, that just seemed too easy.

oxoxoxo

Ruby collapsed in her stadium seat with a sigh of relief. "Oh, that was so close!" She breathed. Sun and his team had just finished their match, and had sent the other team packing. It was almost a disaster though, with Neptune just managing to work within his fear of water to shock the other team out of the round.

Maria made a mental note of this weakness of Neptune's for later use.

Yang chuckled. "Looks like the dorks made it to the next round." She said, nudging her partner.

Blake, in response looked down to the field where Sun and Neptune were doing a victory dance. Sun gestured up at her, colouring her cheeks a bright pink as she rolled her eyes at the monkey boy's antics. "Emphasis on dorks."

Behind Team RWBY, Thatch elbowed Francois in the ribs to get his attention. "No matter what we do," The swordsman declared. "At least we're not them."

"Well," Francois said, placing his hat back on his head. "I'm not. I'm sure you would fit right in, mon ami."

"Sometimes I hate you."

"I am fully aware of this."

Alison looked over at the boys as they bickered. Sometimes she thought she had been placed on a team with two brothers and their terrifying older sister. She knew Maria wouldn't like being called anyone's sister, largely due to... disagreements with her own sister, but nevertheless, Alison saw her as such, and likely always would.

Maria, meanwhile, was completely focused on the tournament. The match might have ended, but Neptune's hydrophobia was just one of the things she had memorized in the time it took to watch the fight. Her mind and semblance had been moving a mile a minute, memorizing weapons, fighting styles, quirks the fighters might have had. By the end of the bout, she knew their styles like the back of her hand.

"That concludes the matches for today." Oobleck said over the loudspeaker. "Please leave the coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" The doctor declared, the volume forcing Maria from her thoughts.

The centurion shook her head, her brown locks flying about as she did. That was one disadvantage to her semblance, if she tried to focus on too much at once (such as fighting styles, weapons, tactics used and quirks of the enemy of all enemies on the field at once), she would sometimes just end up staring into space. She still had memories of once at Sanctum when she was nearly mauled by Grimm at a young age while absorbed in watching a group of older huntsmen fighting the monsters.

"Come on," Yang said, getting Maria's attention, along with that of her entire team. "Let's go congratulate 'em."

"I'm in." Thatch said, getting up and dusting himself off. "Noble Boy buys the snacks."

"Sometimes I hate you."

"I'm fully aware of that."

Maria scoffed at her teammates' immaturity. "Come on, let's head out." She said, gesturing for Team RWBY to go first.

Yang left first, followed by Blake, Weiss and Ruby. After their friends had left their seats, Maria led her team out of their seats, only to bump bodily into Ruby, the young reaper having also bumped into Weiss. Maria just stopped herself from falling on top of both.

"What… are you doing?" Ruby asked as Weiss stared off into the sky.

Maria followed her gaze, looking up with awe as one of the most elegant ships she had ever seen flew over the stadium. It looked familiar, but she just couldn't put her finger on who it belonged to.

"She's here…" Weiss said, her look of joy mixing with utter dread as her voice tried to pick one of the two emotions to convey.

Maria frowned as she gestured for her teammates to follow the remainder of Team RWBY. A second after she did, her eyes widened as she realized just whose ship this was. "Weiss," She began. "Just who is 'she'?"

oxoxoxo

OH GOOD GOD THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG TO FINISH!

Sorry guys, with classes, new job, new girlfriend and writing The Last Stand and Long Journey Home, this was NOT easy to write, especially after writing much more grounded fights in The Last Stand. It's a bit tricky to get back into the insanity of RWBY when your last story was grounded in real world logic and not anime logic. Anyway, this isn't an excuse, just an apology.

I am WAY behind here, but here's hoping I can catch up soon.

Anyway, be kind and leave a review, they're what give me my motivation to write more and write faster. And speed is what I need if I'm ever going to catch up.

Sneak preview for the next chapter: Winter Schnee arrives, and General Gaia is there to greet her. Meanwhile, Ben and company dig into the Blanch family and see just what Onyx's relationship to Derek Blanch is.