The time was at hand. Hours of training had culminated up to this moment.
Team CTNE was about to compete in the Vytal Festival. It was their time to shine.
Caught gathered them together for a pep talk. "Let me get this straight," he said.
"We're going up against the equivalent of middle schoolers with deadly weapons. If anyone of you fails this team, I'm going to flip my fucking shit. This is getting broadcasted on Live. Fucking. TV. If you fail, you do it in front of a crowd of THOUSANDS. So we are going to kick their asses. Do I make myself clear?"
The others nodded. The intent was made perfectly clear. Then they heard it, the words they were both dreading and anticipating: "May I announce Team Citrine of Beacon!"
There was a thought shared between the two non-verbally before they strode out into the arena.
The cheers enveloped them. Many had heard of their adventures and were fans.
Evan's smile was taking up his whole face. Noah was smirking and nodding. Tim was looking up at the stands, slight grin. And Caught was simply pleased as hell.
Their opponents were none other than Team AVNJ. Fate had a sense of humor, after all. "Let's see how good you are in battle," Natalie challenged.
"BEGIN!"
Instantly, it was chaos. Evan and Noah were synchronized in movements as they leapt into the air and unleashed a chain of combos upon Alex that would make even the most seasoned veteran pale with envy.
The two looked at each other for a brief moment before looking down at the frozen-in-place Alex. "SPECIAL MOVE: PYROTECHNIC RABBIT!" Evan and Noah roared, slashing down at the same time with flaming blades.
Alex soared through the air, hitting the forcefield like a car-crash dummy. "AND ALEX IS OUT! WONDERFUL TEAMWORK FROM EVAN JENNINGS AND NOAH MAXWELL!"
Caught was up against Vinnie, who was surprisingly skilled in battle. Every hit that Caught tried to make was parried by Vinnie's shield, Guardian. "Motherfucker.." Caught muttered under his breath.
As if Vinnie could hear him, suddenly Vinnie began to attack. His weapon changed from a shield to a naginata in an instant. The slashes were a barrage: fast and very deadly. Caught barely had time to block, throwing up a forcefield. Vin's eyes narrowed as his weapon continued to hit the forcefield, over and over again.
Caught could see a welcome sight behind Vinnie, however. Vinnie turned around just in time to receive a harrowing blow from Tim. Vinnie bounced into the forcefield and Caught smiled.
"Special Move: Clockwork Puppet. Surprise, bitch," Caught said just loud enough for Vinnie to hear.
It was a moment of realization before Vinnie was blown backwards by the force of the attack. "VINCENT CAFFARELLO FALLS TO CAUGHT AND TIM WRIGHT! SPECTACULAR!"
It was a moment of celebration before Natalie went on the attack. Noah and Evan were transfixed by her swinging chain kasuri-kamas that seemed to be slowly turning one second, barely visible to the human eye the next.
Noah and Evan attacked her at the sides and yet she was virtually untouchable. "Try and stop me, you jumped up little shits!" she roared.
Noah took a deep breath in and suddenly Noahbrand was back again. His hands were aflame as he caught one of the kasuri-kamas blade down, lava-blood trickling down onto the arena.
"I just fuckin' did." he growled, staring her deeply in the eyes. The kasuri-kamas stopped as Evan's Semblance activated and her Aura all but vanished. "NATALIE FALLS TO NOAH!"
Jay had already fallen.
"TEAM CTNE WINS THE MATCH! GIVE IT UP FOR THEM!"
Elsewhere…
Cinder stood at a table in front of the Observer. "It is almost ready, what we have planned. Wait a few matches. And then.. then you'll watch Vale burn, Cinder dear," Observer hissed.
Team CTNE was back at their dorm from their victory feast. All were happy.
Noah awoke late at night, like he usually did. He looked down with blurry eyes and noticed a blood-red light coming from beneath his bunk. "What the.."
He climbed out of bed and looked down at it. Something pushed him from behind and he fell, fell, fell.
Author's Note: Spring break is coming up. Next week I'll be taking a vacation for a bit. So no chapters, sadly enough. Reviews are this fanfiction's lifeblood, remember!
Almost forgot, I'm also co-writing and starring in a horror series. I'll make an official announcement for it soon. ;) Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this fic! It warms my heart to hear that people not only like this but read it on a daily basis!
Truly, thank you and this fic would not exist without you dear readers!