Chapter Twelve: The Tournament, Doubles
It took a few days to get through all of the matches for the Team Round of the Tournament. Of the thirty-two teams that started, sixteen were left. Teams BLAC, AYST, and SSGE had all won and were moving onto the Doubles Round. The further they went however, the tougher their opponents would become.
Bianca ran her finger down the buttons on a soda machine that was down the hall from her dorm. Cradled in her left arm were assorted snacks for her teammates.
"Let's see… do they have strawberry? They do!" Bianca's scroll rang as she pressed the button on the soda machine.
When she looked at her scroll, the contact name said 'mom' and displayed a picture of Weiss next to it.
"Hey mom," Bianca said as she answered her scroll.
"Hi honey," Weiss replied, "congratulations on making it to the doubles round."
"Thanks, the fight was tough," Bianca said as she pinched her scroll between her shoulder and her ear to grab her soda.
"I never doubted you," Weiss replied, "however, I counted at least two times you and your team could've ended the match."
Bianca laughed nervously, "right, we'll be more alert in our next match."
"Speaking of which," Weiss added, "have you all decided who'll be fighting in the doubles round?"
"Not entirely," Bianca started to walk back towards her dorm, "we've decided that Alyssa will definitely be one, but we haven't decided the second."
"Well, who do you think it should be?" Weiss inquired.
"To be honest, I'd say Cyrus," Bianca replied, "he is our best fighter after all, it'd only seem logical to put forward our two best."
"I see," Weiss sounded intrigued.
"Anyway, how's mom doing?" Bianca asked.
"She's…" Weiss paused, "she's alright. The doctors say that there's a chance she'll walk again with the use of prosthetics, if she wakes up that is."
"That's good," Bianca's tone seemed to drop a bit. She was expecting far better news than what she got, she was hoping for a miracle.
"If Ruby wakes up and decides to go through the operation, your uncle has offered to pay for it all," Weiss said.
"Really?" Bianca inquired, "I thought you and Uncle Whitley weren't on the best of terms?"
"Life's too short to hold grudges, especially against family," Weiss stated, "I figured that out years ago, I guess he finally has too."
After talking for a few more minutes Bianca and Weiss said their goodbyes and she headed back to her dorm more hurriedly. When she entered the room, Cyrus was lying back on his bed chewing some gum and staring at the ceiling, while Lucas and Alyssa were playing rock-paper-scissors. Lucas was losing quite handily to his partner.
"Hey! You're using your semblance, that's cheating," Lucas accused.
Alyssa shrugged, "I can't help that my semblance is always active, I literally can't turn it off."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "whatever."
Bianca giggled as she entered the room, "You should know that already Lucas, we've been a team for the better part of a year now."
"It's still annoying when she uses it to cheat," Lucas said.
"I can't help it," Alyssa chuckled.
"Anyway, let's get back to what we were discussing," Bianca started dishing out the snacks to everyone. At this point, Cyrus sat up and threw away his gum. Once Bianca was done, she cracked open her soda and took a drink.
"Who are we gonna be up against?" Alyssa asked.
"I believe we're up against Team GRSE, so we'll probably be facing that Slick guy," Cyrus said.
"Which is why my vote goes to you Cyrus," Bianca stated, "you and Alyssa are our best, and would give us the best opportunity to win our doubles match."
Alyssa, Lucas, and Cyrus looked around at each other for a moment, gaining a confused reaction from their leader.
"B, when you were gone, the three of us talked," Alyssa said.
"Yea," Cyrus joined in, "and we think you'd be the best compliment for Alyssa in the doubles round."
"Wait, why me?" Bianca asked, she seemed a bit flustered.
"Well, even though Cyrus is debatably our best fighter," Alyssa said, "you've got a bit of an x-factor yourself."
"I… I still don't see why you'd choose me for the tournament though," Bianca said. "This is a competition of skill, and all three of you are more skilled than me."
"Debatably?" Cyrus inquired.
"Yes, debatably," Alyssa replied.
"Anyway," Cyrus got back on the subject, "whenever we're in a pinch, you always pull through. You may not have the best record in our combat class, but you are a damn good fighter, plus your instincts are second to none."
"Yea, you remember our first mission back when we escorted that caravan through Mountain Glenn?" Lucas inquired.
"Yea, why?" Bianca asked.
"Without your leadership I doubt we would've been able to defeat that Deathstalker," Lucas said. "You have a knack for coming up with plans on the fly, let alone when you have time to think."
"Also, what about our initiation?" Alyssa chimed in, "Lucas's glyphs may have made the bridge that we escaped on, but it was your planning that allowed us to fight off that pack of Beowolves for as long as we did."
Her teammates' words touched Bianca's heart, "I… I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Cyrus interjected, "just give it all you can in the tournament."
Bianca was for a moment speechless. With a million thoughts racing through her head, she couldn't possibly speak. All the possible outcomes, how far she would advance, her brain was in a stupor. She quickly took a moment to compose herself and narrow her thoughts.
Bianca looked to her cousin, "well, looks like we'll have to work on our team attack some more."
"That's the spirit B!" Alyssa replied.
"Well, now that that's taken care of, why don't we get some rest," Lucas said.
"I second that," Alyssa said.
As Team BLAC got some much-needed rest for the upcoming Doubles Round, their professor was out walking with her old friend Sierra. However, unbeknownst to them, they were being tailed.
Jet watched them from the rooftops of Haven Academy as they walked. He pulled out his scroll when he knew he was out of earshot, "the targets are insight my lady. Shall I eliminate them?"
"That won't be necessary," Rouge replied, "Lioness has already assured me of the silver-eyed girl's loyalty, all I wish you to do is assess whether or not her compatriot is worthy of saving."
"Yes, my lady," Jet said apathetically. He then put away his scroll and continued to tail them.
"So, you mind telling me where you got those SMGs?" Ember asked.
"I made them myself," Sierra replied, "after the last tournament I figured that some ranged capabilities would do me good."
"They aren't heavy?" Ember inquired.
"They were at first, but I got acclimated quickly," Sierra said.
Ember stopped for a moment and took a drink from her calabash. She offered some to Sierra, but she refused.
"I can't really see myself augmenting my fighting style much," Ember said, "Sifu taught us to fight bare fisted after all."
"Really?" Sierra inquired, "I'd think a huntress would use whatever's at her disposal to fight."
"That's true," Ember chuckled, "I guess I'm just stuck in my ways."
Sierra laughed as well, "you're right about that."
Ember took yet another swig from her calabash.
"You should try and not drink as much," Sierra said, "I know you fight better when you're drunk, but that doesn't mean you should be drinking all the time."
"I've been trying," Ember stated, "but it's a hard habit to kick."
"Even so, you should keep trying." Sierra paused, "especially if you and Jaime want to have some rugrats running around in the future."
Ember snickered, "that's a long way off, we aren't even married yet."
"But it's not out of the question," Sierra stated.
Ember rolled her eyes and smiled, "no, it's not."
"You know, if you have kids, I'm going to spoil them," Sierra laughed.
"Of course you would," Ember rolled her eyes. "By the way, what were you thinking of doing after you graduate?"
"Be a huntress of course," Sierra replied, she looked confused.
"Sorry, I mean other than that of course," Ember said.
"Oh," Sierra thought to herself for a moment, "probably open my own dojo here in Mistral, why?"
Ember nodded, "ok, ok. Well, if you ever want to do something more than that and make a real difference in the world, give me a call."
"Make a real difference? Em, what are you on about?" Sierra asked.
A rooftile smashed against the ground, startling both women and putting them on alert. When they looked in the direction of the disturbance, all they saw was some black shadowy mist dissipating from a rooftop.
"Someone was watching us," Ember said.
"Who?" Sierra inquired.
"I don't know, but we should leave." Ember replied.
"Agreed," Sierra stated.
The two women left the scene and headed back to their respective dormitories.
Around midday the following day spectators and competitors flooded into Amity Colosseum for the second round of the Vytal Tournament, among them were Teams BLAC and AYST.
"So, who'd you guys choose to fight in the Doubles Round?" Cyrus asked.
"It's gonna be Roy and I," Alani replied, "who'd you guys choose?"
"Alyssa and Bianca," Cyrus said.
"Really?" Alani looked to Bianca, "no offense, but I thought you would've chosen Cyrus to go with Alyssa."
Bianca shook her head, "none taken. That's actually what I wanted to do, but these three said otherwise."
"It's not like it'll matter who you choose, no one from Beacon is winning this tournament," a voice called from behind them. Both Teams turned to see Huo Bing and his team, HRVT (Harvest) standing behind them. All four boys had smug looks on their faces.
"What the hell do you want?" Alani sneered.
"I've just come to remind you that none of you first-years or anyone else from your damned faunus-loving academy are gonna win this tournament," he laughed smugly. "I'm surprised you even made it past the first round. And now I hear the savage and a faunus are among your doubles competitors."
Alani stepped up to Huo, "call me a 'savage' one more time. I dare you."
Huo was unintimidated, "I'll do you one better. You're a savage, your family are savages, and all your people are savages. The kingdoms should've wiped out your petty faunus-loving chiefdoms and people centuries ago."
Alani balled her fists, the rage inside her was building. However, before she could act on her anger, Yin grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.
"Save your energy for the match," the wolf-faunus said.
"That's right run to your dog." Huo laughed, "I bet you let him dominate you, don't you?"
Alani stopped in her tracks, and Yin couldn't force her to move any further. She turned back to Huo, "I hope we meet in the next round, so I can teach you some respect."
The smug smile remained on Huo's face, "if you make it that far."
Huo and his team walked off, laughing amongst themselves and making obscene gestures at Teams BLAC and AYST. Huo threw his shoulder into Alani as he passed her. She was trembling with rage.
Yin threw his arm around her, "do not let them get to you. You need to stay focused on the match."
"I know," Alani replied. She continued to glair at Huo as he and his team walked away.
As the spectators and competitors filed into Amity Colosseum, a recap of the previous round was played on the stadium's holographic screens. Energetic and exciting music was playing as the highlights of the team round played, some people were even dancing to the music at their seats. Once most of the spectators were at their seats and all the remaining competitors entered the arena, Professors Sage Ayana and Scarlet David addressed the crowd.
"Welcome back to Amity Colosseum for the Vytal Tournament Doubles Round!" Scarlet announced.
The crowd roared and cheered in anticipation.
"With only half of the teams remaining, this round looks like it will be even more competitive than the last," Sage said.
"Yes, yes it does," Scarlet agreed, "especially since all of the academies' top competitors still stand and will not face each other either. I have a feeling we won't see them start dropping off till the singles round."
"You know what they say though, old friend," Sage stated.
"What's that?" Scarlet inquired.
"Anything can happen in any given match," Sage replied.
"That is very true," Scarlet agreed, "perhaps we we'll see an upset or two in this round."
"Well, that's enough from us, lets get right to the action!" Sage said.
And right to the action they went. The first match was Yaara and Electra of Team SSGE facing off against a pair of second-year students from Shade. Like their match in the previous round, it wasn't even close. They fought with a quick and decisive ferocity, and machine-like teamwork that only fourth-year academy students could master. Sierra and Russell of Team SLVR followed up Beacon's top competitors. Unlike them however, they seemed to toy with their opponents at first. They knew they were the better combatants, but they wanted to make the fight look somewhat close. It really wasn't. After Sierra easily bested her opponent, she and Russell converged on the other. The match ended seconds later. Whenever Yaara and Sierra met in the singles round, it would no doubt be a phenomenal match, possibly the best of the tournament.
The matches continued with Huo, and another member of Team HVST, defeating one of Atlas's duos. A few more matches past and then came Team AYST's turn.
"This has been a great round so far!" Scarlet announced, "next up we've got Alani Kamehameha and Roy Stallion of Beacon, verses, Ras Mataz and Dandy Lyon of Atlas!
Alani looked to Roy as they walked to the combat stage, "you're from Atlas, what are we looking at? Strict and disciplined militaristic fighters?"
Roy shrugged, "possibly, but if Team FRSH is any indication, we can't make assumptions."
Their opponents walked to the stage and stood across from them. Both of their opponents were men. One was dressed in a yellow and white musketeer garb, he also had long brown curled hair and a pencil mustache. The other wore futuristic silver armor with pinkish-red LEDs and matching clothes underneath. Weapon-wise, the musketeer looking boy was armed with what looked like a standard rapier, while the armored boy had a pair of heavy hydraulic gauntlets.
The musketeer removed his d'artagnan hat and bowed, "allô, I'm Dandy Lyon, it will be my pleasure to beat you today."
Alani and Roy looked at one another perplexed for a moment. Then they focused their attention back onto their opponents. The other boy didn't speak, he just stared down Roy as the environment was randomized around them. To the right, an icy tundra, left, a sweltering desert. Behind Team AYST, a shallow ocean, and behind Team REDD, a lava field.
"CHEE-HOO! Show those Atlesians your fury, little flower!" Alani's brother, Kaimana, shouted from the stands.
Alani rolled her eyes at her brother's use of her nickname. But even so, she looked towards him and raised her spear in acknowledgement.
All her brothers and her sister were in attendance, as they had been in the previous round. Alani was fighting for more than just her academy in the tournament, she was fighting for her family's pride, and that of her island as well.
The announcers began the final countdown, and the crowd joined in, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Alani and Roy rushed their opponents. Ras counter-charged Roy and immediately engaged him.
Dandy whipped his rapier around in the air, "en garde!"
Alani thrust her spear at Dandy, but he parried it away and countered with a quick thrust. There weren't any waisted motions in his fighting style.
Alani stepped back and blocked his attack. She spun her spear around herself and swung it down on her opponent's head.
He quickly parried and sidestepped her attack, "fancy. Dandy likes fancy, even if it is a bit impractical."
Alani attacked Dandy again and again, but he continued to parry and counter her attacks. He was fast, and his movements precise. He landed the first attack of their bout, three quick wrist cuts to her belly.
Alani stumbled back as Dandy flicked his saber off to the side. She looked down to her stomach and saw a capital letter 'D' was cut into her orange tank-top.
"This was my favorite shirt!" She exclaimed.
Her opponent grinned, "Dandy thinks it looks better this way."
Alani growled and charged Dandy once more. Meanwhile, Roy was locked in combat with his opponent, Ras Mataz, in the arena's snow biome.
Ras dodged-rolled under a volley of Roy's ice-bullets. He then used his hydraulic gauntlets to shoot himself into the air and land behind his opponent.
Roy spun around to attack Ras, but the armored boy landed a solid hit into Roy's kidney and sent him flying back into a mound of ice and snow.
He quickly jumped to his feet, only to see Ras descending upon him furiously. Roy held his hands to his side and spun up a ball of wind dust between them, before then firing the gust at Ras and forcing him back.
As Ras skidded to a stop on the icy ground, Roy charged him. He snapped his fingers, igniting the fire dust in his gloves, and threw a pair of fire balls at Ras.
Ras deflected both fireballs with hydraulic punches. But then Roy drew his saber and leapt at him.
Roy's first strike hit home, but Ras quickly blocked the second. He then threw a heavy hydraulic punch into Roy's gut, knocking his wind out and sending him sliding along the ice.
"Looks like Ras has Roy on the ropes," Scarlet announced.
"Don't get ahead of yourself old friend, the fight isn't over yet," Sage stated.
Roy caught his breath. He looked to his saber for a moment and then sheathed it. He then pressed his hands together in a praying motion and activated the ice dust in his gloves, covering his hands in armor of ice.
Roy and Ras charged one another. Their fight became less about skill and proper technique and more like a knock down drag out battle. They traded blow after blow like two heavyweight boxers.
Their bodies snapped and recoiled as they struck and countered one another. If it weren't for their auras they would have killed each other by now with how brutal their strikes were.
From the stands, Team BLAC and the remainder of Team AYST cheered on their friends. Alyssa however, looked particularly impressed with Roy. His toughness and grit in this fight was showing he was more than a pampered Atlesian Army-brat.
Roy landed an uppercut on Ras that stumbled him. As Ras was reeling from the attack, Roy launched the ice off his fists and struck his opponent. Both their auras were getting low.
He descended upon Ras with everything he had. Roy attacked with Fire, Lightning, then Wind, and finally, more Ice.
Ras dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged around Roy's attacks as best he could, and threw some attacks of his own to take the heat off himself.
They were breathing heavily. Their auras wouldn't last another hit, the next exchange would decide it.
Roy snapped his fingers, engulfing his gloves in flame and Ras primed his hydraulic gauntlets. The two leapt at one another, their fists pulled back and ready to strike.
Flame and flesh collided with metal, and the resulting explosion sent both men flying away from one another. Their auras completely depleted.
"Whoa! We've got a double knock-out folks!" Scarlet exclaimed, "what a bout between those two."
"I'll say!" Sage agreed, "now, lets see how their teammates handle this."
Alani and Dandy looked at the screen depicting their auras. Both their teammates were eliminated, while the two of them still had roughly half their auras left.
Dandy flicked his saber, "looks like its just you and me, mon'amie."
Alani looked back to her opponent before quickly cracking her neck and loosening up, "let's settle this quickly."
Dandy grinned, "if you insist." He hit a button on the hilt of his rapier and it split into two identical weapons.
She spun her spear around and held it behind herself as she charged Dandy. As she got close, he thrust one of his rapiers at her. Alani quickly parried the blow, then she planted the tip of her spear into the ground and jumped. She kicked dandy in the chest with her bare feet and sent him flying into a sand dune.
He quickly jumped back to his feet as Alani closed the distance. He went on the offensive, throwing combos of thrusts and slashes at her, pushing the fight back onto center stage.
The crowd roared as the two combatants traded blows. For a few intense moments they attacked and parried one another, until Dandy landed a powerful slash on Alani, sending her tumbling into the ocean biome.
Alani was drenched as she stood from the shallow waters. Dandy stood on the edge of center stage and took a stance, one that was familiar to Alani. His left sword was held in line with his left eye, while the other was held straight out. Bianca used this same technique, and Alani knew exactly how to beat it.
With a motion of her hand, Alani beckoned Dandy to attack her. He grinned and kindly obliged.
He leapt onto a nearby small island and rushed towards Alani. She stepped onto the beech of the same island but held her ground.
They continued trading strikes and parries, but Alani soon got Dandy in a bind, literally. With their weapons now interlocked, Alani spun her spear, wrenching the rapiers out of her opponent's hands. However, she too was disarmed.
Dandy threw a haymaker and Alani ducked under it. She threw a one-two combo into his ribs, forcing him to stumble back.
As Dandy regained his balance, Alani's aura began to glow. It became like fire surrounding her body and she screamed her people's battle cry, "kia mate toa!"
Dandy was visibly shaking but held his ground as Alani charged him. He threw another haymaker, but Alani blocked it with her forearm and landed a solid counter punch into his face.
He fell back into the water and tried to scramble to his feet. Alani was upon him as he stood. He attempted to throw another punch, but she ducked under it, grabbed him by the waist, and suplexed him into the shallow water. His aura dipped into the red.
"That's it! Alani and Roy win!" Scarlet announced.
"That may have been the best match of the tourney thus far," Sage said.
Alani's semblance died down and she looked up to the large holo-screen, it showed that she and Roy had won. "CHEE-HOO!" She bellowed.
From the stands, all of Alani's brothers bellowed at once and high-fived one another, "CHEE-HOO!" However, Haukea remained quiet. She simply smiled and nodded in approval of her little sister's victory.
Dandy pulled himself onto one of the small islands and gasped for air. Alani stood over him, but not to boast. She extended her hand and helped her former opponent to his feet.
"That was a good fight," she said.
"Oui, it was," Dandy replied, "good luck to you in the next round, mon'amie."
"Thanks," Alani said. "By the way, you owe me a new shirt."
As the former combatants made their way back to their seats, Roy and Ras passed one another. Roy gave his opponent a respectful salute, however Ras winked flirtatiously at him. He was caught off-guard by this, but he just smiled and let out a light chuckle.
A few more matches passed before this round's final. One of those matches was Flynt Coal Jr. and one of his teammates against a pair of fourth-year students from Haven. The match was a close one, Flynt Jr. and his teammate could've lost at any moment. But at the very end, they managed to pull out a win and advance to the next round.
"Welp, looks like we're up," Alyssa said as she stood from her seat.
Bianca stood from her seat to follow, but Cyrus lightly grasped her wrist and she stopped to face him. A light blush snuck its way onto her cheeks as she looked to her partner.
"You got this," he smiled.
Bianca smiled confidently and nodded. Her partner then let her wrist go, and she followed her cousin to the combat arena.
"Alright folks, we've got one match left in the doubles round," Sage announced.
"That's right!" Scarlet added, "it's Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long of Beacon, verses, Slick Grease and Alban Sandford of Shade!"
The crowd roared in anticipation of the final doubles match. Back in Vale, Weiss waited eagerly for the match to start. She was sitting in her comatose wife's hospital room, holding her hand as she watched. Weiss had some fond memories of the two Vytal Tournaments she and her team participated in, although, she'd rather forget how the first of those ended. Even if Ruby couldn't watch it, Weiss wanted to be by her side to see their daughter compete.
Sage turned to Scarlet, "who do you think will win this match?"
"If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Team GRSE," Scarlet replied, "even though we've heard promising things about Team BLAC, they are going against the top competitors from Shade Academy."
"Well, we've seen all of this tourney's top competitors make it past this round thus far," Sage added, "I believe Team GRSE should have this one in the bag."
The representatives of Teams BLAC and GRSE stood across from one another on center stage. Slick and Alban didn't look like they were from the desert regions of Vacuo. Slick wore a black leather jacket over the top of a white t-shirt, with faded blue-jeans, and black boots. His black hair was arranged into a pompadour, and he had blue eyes. His teammate, Alban, wore an orange and white varsity jacket, with a white letter 'S' stitched on the left breast, over the top of a white polo shirt, khaki pants, and brown dress shoes. He had brown eyes, and his blonde hair was crew cut. A duffle bag hung at the bottom of his back, with the strap wrapping diagonally around his chest, and he rested a metal baseball bat on his right shoulder.
Slick pulled what looked like a switchblade from inside his jacket, but when he flicked it out, it was merely a comb. "Ladies," he winked as he combed his hair.
Bianca and Alyssa rolled their eyes and brushed him off.
Around them, the arena's terrain randomized. To the right was a stormy mountain, to the left was a humid swamp, behind Team BLAC was a dark forest, and behind Team GRSE was a lava field.
Both sides readied their weapons. Slick reached into his jacket and pulled out a sword-sized switchblade and flicked it open, it was easily the length of Cyrus's longsword. Meanwhile, Alban slipped his hand into his duffle bag and kept it there.
Then came the countdown by the announcers and crowd, "3… 2… 1… Begin!"
Alban whipped out a baseball shaped grenade and smacked it with his bat, sending it flying at Bianca and Alyssa. The two of them jumped out of the way as it exploded.
Alban ripped another explosive at Alyssa. She fired a round from her shot gauntlets and the grenade exploded between them.
"Come on, can't you do better than that?" Alyssa asked.
Alban snickered, "you asked for this." Several long spikes protruded from the top of Alban's bat.
Alyssa smirked cockily, "bring it."
Alban and Alyssa charged one another. When the distance between them was erased, Alban swung for the fences with his bat at Alyssa's head.
Alyssa stepped into the swing and blocked it with her armored forearm and threw a quick counter punch, catching Alban off guard.
Alban was launched back by the force of Alyssa's strike. When she took a step towards her opponent, she heard a rapid beeping at her feet. Before she knew what hit her, one of Alban's grenades exploded below her and sent her flying back, into the swamp.
As their teammates fought, Slick and Bianca were going at it in the forest. Bianca used the trees as platforms to launch herself at her opponent.
Slick easily parried Bianca's quick slashes as she passed him. Then, as she launched herself on yet another attack, he dodged and landed a big hit on her abdomen, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"You're fast, but not fast enough," he said.
Bianca picked herself off the ground and launched herself at Slick once more. As she neared him, she quickly contorted her body and managed to strike him with a powerful flurry of slashes from her sabers.
The force of the blow knocked Slick into a tree and dropped his aura slightly. He shook off the hit and attacked.
They traded parries and blows for what seemed like an eternity. Bianca freely switched between styles, timed precise slashes were mixed with interweaving cuts. She couldn't get a clean hit on her opponent though, not without over-relying on her semblance at least.
Slick was proving why he was Shade's top competitor in the tournament, even though he was a second-year student. If he were a fourth-year, Bianca didn't know if she would have a chance, even now she didn't know if she could beat him.
Bianca's focus slipped for but a second, and with it, she made a wrong step and put herself off-balance. Slick smirked as he struck her and sent her sliding across the grassy ground of the forest.
"See," he held his arms out to the side mockingly, "I told you, you weren't fast enough."
Bianca stood and combined her sabers together and formed her scythe, "I don't need speed to beat you."
Slick smirked, "tell me more, tell me more."
"Looks like this match is getting heated!" Scarlet announced, "I love it!"
Alyssa and Alban were still going at it on the other side of the arena; capoeira verses street fighting. The swampy waters splashed and sloshed around them, drenching both as they traded blocks and counters.
Alban swung at Alyssa's head, but she dodged it and spun down to her hands. She then threw an inverted kick, accelerated by her shot-boots, into his head, stumbling him.
Alban quickly composed himself as Alyssa somersaulted back to a standing position. He reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a grenade, he then tossed it in the air and smacked it towards his opponent.
Alyssa quickly fired a shot from her gauntlets and blew up the grenade, but a second pierced the cloud of ash left by the first. Again, she blew it up with a shot from her gauntlets, but then came a third. This one struck Alyssa in the belly and sent her flying backwards.
She landed on her back, the impact of both the grenade and the ground lowered her aura more than she'd like, but she was still in it. She then sensed Alban descending upon her, his bat was spiked and ready to strike.
She blocked the blow by crossing her arms and then hit Alban in the stomach with a shot-amplified kick. He flew off of her and back onto center stage.
Alban ran for the mountain as Alyssa leapt to her feet. He took up position half way up and pulled more of his grenades from his duffle bag.
Alyssa ran towards him as he hailed grenades down upon her. Every time one would get close, she sensed it and used her shot-boots to quickly dodge the explosives. As she got close however, she saw her cousin get thrown from the forest and land on centerstage.
Slick descended upon her with intent to end this match once and for all. Bianca stood and parried his first blow with her scythe, but his second attack hit home and sent her sliding across the combat stage.
Alyssa quickly slid to a stop and turned away from Alban as he hit another grenade towards her. She pulled her fist back and fired a shot at Slick that sent him flying away from Bianca. But with this act, Alban's grenade exploded before she could dodge.
"And with that, Alyssa Xiao Long's aura has been completely depleted!" Sage announced.
"It's two on one now," Scarlet added, "looks like Team GRSE has this one in the bag."
Bianca stood as Alban leapt down from the mountain and regrouped with Slick.
"We got this," Alban held his fist to Slick.
"Yeah, onto the singles bracket," Slick pounded his teammate's fist.
Back in the stands, Cyrus leaned forward in his seat. "Come on Bianca, you can do this," he whispered to himself. Just about everyone had chalked up this match as a win for Team GRSE now, but Cyrus, his brother, Team AYST, and Weiss still had faith.
Back in Vale, Weiss watched with anticipation, "you can do this, remember your training. You've beaten people way better than these guys."
She looked to her scythe for a moment and then pulled it apart, transforming it back into her sabers. As her opponents began to prematurely celebrate, Bianca took a few deep breaths and her aura began to glow its bright white color. She felt the aura of her opponents, her beaten partner, and all those in the stadium, but only two others could feel this happening; From Haven's stands, Sierra chuckled. And in Beacon's, Cyrus cracked a smile.
Alban smacked a grenade towards Bianca. She didn't dodge. She sliced the explosive in two and the halves exploded behind her. Slick and Alban took a step back as she walked towards them.
Alban activated the spikes in his bat once more and rushed Bianca.
"Wait!" Slick shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.
When he took a swing at her, she activated her semblance and rushed behind him. Like a tornado she spun, striking Alban more times than he could count and plummeting his aura.
Bianca looked to Slick and with the full force of her semblance, charged him. He confidently took his stance, after all, he'd defended against her blinding speed not but a few minutes ago.
Slick had timed when he'd need to swing in order to hit her. However, as he swung, Bianca redirected herself with blinding quickness. Now at Slicks unguarded side, she let loose, throwing weaving slash after weaving slash and pinpoint thrust after pinpoint thrust. He tried his best to defend, but there was little he could do, and his aura dropped like a rock.
"What a finish! We've got our first upset of the tournament folks! Bianca Rose and Alyssa Xiao Long have defeated Slick Grease and Alban Sandford!" Scarlet announced.
"Yes!" Weiss jumped to her feet excitedly. She then composed herself and sat back in her seat whilst smiling.
Bianca stood there for a moment, huffing and puffing before the roar of the crowd pulled her back. She raised her saber in victory as Alyssa limped up beside her whilst holding her side.
"Great job B," she patted her cousin on the shoulder.
As his friends and brother cheered for Bianca, Cyrus smiled lightly towards her. To him, she'd never looked more beautiful than in this moment.