Hey guys! Back at it again. Hope you like this fight and the events that come after. Please, if you have any concerns or questions, leave a comment and I'll try to answer it in the beginning of the next chapter. Thanks for reading!
"Are you sure about this, miss Nikos?" Glynda Goodwitch, the director of battle class asked.
Pyrrha nodded, "I am. Team Cardinal and I have a bet going. I have to beat all four of them to the point of red-bar aura level before they can do the same to me."
"Miss Nikos, I know you place in the top percentile when it comes to fighting, but four against one is still a little... much..."
"It's for a noble cause, Miss Goodwitch. We will have our battle whether in class or not. I would just prefer it be regulated by a teacher. Besides, these four brutes will be childs play." Pyrrha replied with a smug smirk, glancing over at team Cardinal, whom stood on the other side of Glynda, weapons ready.
Glynda shook her head. "Very well." She turned to the class. "Due to some... circumstances... todays battle demonstration will be Miss Nikos... versus... team Cardinal..." The classroom echoed in surprised gasps and whispers of shock and disbelief.
"What the hell, Pyrrha!" Jaune said as he abruptly stood, slamming his hands down on the table. This gave Yang a jolt, as she was sitting next to him.
Pyrrha sighed, "Jaune, this is just a bet, it has nothing to do with you." She lied. It had everything to do with him.
Pyrrha remembered the conversation they had about the set terms:
Pyrrha replied, "I win, you stop picking on everyone in this school." Cardin nearly died laughing. He couldn't control how stupid that sounded to him.
"Including Jaune-y boy?..." He added.
"Especially Jaune." She responded.
"Then..." Cardin said "If I win, you have to leave this school and tell everyone it's because you were so in love with me you couldn't take being so close..." Pyrrha winced and nearly threw up. She held it in and shuddered.
Pyrrha shuddered just thinking about it again. How could someone so low and dirty as Cardin ever make it into this school. It was honestly probably for the same reason she did, just pure fighting talent. And that's what scared her.
Team Cardinal took position on the opposite side of the arena and got into battle poses. Pyrrha did the same. Jaune slumped back down in his seat, arms crossed. Even if it had nothing to do with him, he wasn't happy about it. Pyrrha was still putting herself in danger for a stupid reason and he hated that. She was one of his closest friends. Yang saw Jaunes disdain with the whole situation and gave him a comforting pat on the back. This eased him a little, but Yang could still feel the tension.
"And..." Glynda raised her hand, then quickly lowered it. "Begin!"
Cardin and Pyrrha immediately charged each other. Pyrrha instantly unleashed a torrent of blows Cardins way, each of which he countered with the end and shaft of his mace. The two weapons clashed. Pyrrha found an opening and side stepped around Cardins right, delivering three spinning slashes to his chestplate and one to his shin guard. Cardin was thrown off balance and dropped to one knee. Pyrrha jumped high and stabbed towards Cardin but he rolled out of the way and Pyrrhas spear met with Doves sword twice. Pyrrha quickly dashed backwards, threw her spear at his torso, but he blocked it and knocked the spear up. This made him stumble, and Pyrrha took this moment of vulnerability to catch the spear out of the air and send a heavy drop kick hard into Doves chest. Dove landed a couple feet away but quickly got back up. Pyrrha quickly spun and blocked the end of Skys halberd with the shaft of her spear.
"First grade tactics." Pyrrha quipped, with a smirk.
"You're goin' down!" Sky retorted.
At that moment, Pyrrha heard Cardin stomping up from behind. Pyrrha knocked Skys blade away. She crouched. Sky swung his Halberd low, Cardin swung his mace high. Pyrrha jumped and spun vertically in the air, weaving her body between both attacks, at the same time her spear clashed against Cardins mace. As Pyrrha hit the ground, she went low and swept Skys legs from under him. He hit the ground, Hard. However, he got back up and raised his halberd over his head. In an instant, Pyrrha flipped over Cardin and dodged the attack. She tossed her shield and it bounced off Skys face and Cardins breastplate. She jumped off Cardins shoulders, caught the shield mid-air and came crashing down on top of sky. He was incapacitated.
The three remaining members of Cardinal all rushed at once, trying to overwhelm Pyrrha entirely. Russel, who had pretty much done nothing and stayed at a distance this whole fight, got to her fist, but she just easily dodged his swiped and shield bashed him, knocking him a ways away. Dove reached her next flailing and waving his sword. His stance was lazy and his swipes uncalculated. Pyrrha slapped each one away with her spear with ease. Pyrrha dropped her shield and raised her sword. in the instant Dove looked up at her spear, Pyrrha spun on her heel and landed a strong kick to Doves gut. He flew towards Cardin, whom just leaped over him, raising his mace high above his head.
"Please." Pyrrha scoffed.
Pyrrha easily back-stepped and flipped. When she landed, she had already switched her spear to gun-form and had it rest on top of her shield for stability. She aimed at Cardin and took three powered shots. Suddenly, to Pyrrhas surprise, Russel jumped in front of Cardin and deflected the bullets with his daggers. Russel ran straight at her and Dove came from the side. Russel lurched towards her and drop kicked her shield, trying to throw her off balance, but it didn't work. Pyrrha stayed sturdy, and flicked her sword and shield from side to side, each clashing with a flurry of blows coming at her from both Dove and Russel at the same time. She deflected rapid attacks from both sides at the same time. The two stepped back and Pyrrhas head quickly turned to see Cardin swinging his weapon at her in a wide arc. Pyrrha jumped over the swing and she landed behind him. She quickly took three more shots, but this time, he turned and spun his mace in a circle in front of him, blocking the prjectiles. Pyrrhas spear rapidly clashed against Cardins mace repeatedly. His heavy blows were no match for her precise, coordinated speed. She knocked Cardin back and Russel came out screaming from behind him.
Pyrrha smiled as she dodged his flurry of sloppy dagger swipes. Pyrrha spun and tossed her shield. It slammed into Russels forehead and he tumbled back, Pyrrha spun again and delivered a devastating 'WHACK' upside Russels head. He crashed down to the floor. Russel was incapacitated.
"Holy shit..." Jaune whispered. "She's actually gonna do this."
Yang glanced at Jaune, then looked at other people in the audience. Everyone shared the same look of complete disbelief and shock. Yang looked back down at the ongoing fight. 'This girl... Is dangerous...' Yang thought to herself.
Dove charged Pyrrha he jabbed at her six times with his sword, but nothing landed. She pounced, and Dove fired shots her way in response. Pyrrha weaved actual circles around him, Dove couldn't keep up, and stumbled backwards, dizzy. Just then, Cardin knocked out Dove with the hilt of his mace as he got up, incapacitating him. It was just Cardin and Pyrrha now. Cardin activated his semblance and slammed his mace into the ground. A huge shock-wave explosion was sent Pyrrhas way, but she jumped over it with moderate ease. In a flash, Pyrrha appeared in front of Cardin and slashed at his armor multiple times, he tried to return attack, but Pyrrha just side stepped and knocked Cardin into the air. Pyrrha jumped up and came at him, unleashing a flurry of mid-air spear and shield attacks. Cardin blocked what little he could but was quickly over whelmed. He lost stance, and as soon as Pyrrha saw this, she jumped off her shield and grabbed Cardin by the back collar. The two came spiraling downward and Pyrrha slammed Cardin into the ground hard on his head. As he bounced off the ground from the impact, Pyrrha delivered one last backwards double flip kick to finish him off. Cardin flew backwards and hit the ground hard. He was incapacitated.
"Obliterated." Pyrrha stated as she caught her spear and shield and sighed.
"T-The match is over!" Glynda shouted. "Team Cardinal is in the red and unable to continue!" Pyrrha brushed her hair over her shoulder and everyone was silent. She went and sat on the other side of Jaune, smiling and happy as could be.
Yang watched Jaune and Pyrrha talk about how amazing her fight was as something caught her attention. She noticed, when Jaune and Pyrrha spoke, there was a certain... spark. Like they were the closest friends in the world and there was nothing that could get between them. They had something that Yang just couldn't explain. And she DID NOT like it. There was just a certain chemistry between the two and she had to get to the bottom of it.
Also, some silver haired guy Yang had never seen before also challenged Pyrrha, but he quit halfway through so it wasn't important.
Later that night, Yang tailed Jaune. Even with how much she had been following and keeping a close eye on him, she somehow never noticed he disappears somewhere for two hours and comes back exhausted. She had been stupid not to realize it sooner. Yang kept an eye on Jaune as they rounded corners and went up multiple flights of stairs. Jaune came to the doors to the roof and went out, closing the door behind him. Yang waited a minute then quietly and carefully cracked open the door just enough for her to see outside.
It was Jaune and Pyrrha. The two were sparring. Yang put two and two together and realized Pyrrha and Jaune had been secretly training together on the roof every night. It made sense now why he came back exhausted. That was it; the spark Yang was looking for. The way Pyrrha had suddenly got closer to Jaune. Yang watched on as the two fought and in the process, Pyrrha gave Jaune advice. Suddenly, Pyrrha swept Jaunes feet from under him and he fell on his ass. The two had a laugh. Yang couldn't make out what they were saying, but she knew Pyrrha complimented him on his improvement from what little she could hear.
The two turned away from the door at the same time, and Yang took this opportunity to get closer. She quickly made her way through the door and his behind an air duct a couple feet away from them.
"-again, thanks for training me, Pyrrha. I really appreciate it." Jaune said, humbly.
Pyrrha shook her head. "And I keep telling you it's no problem. You're a teammate and a dear friend. What good would I be as a leader if I didn't look after you?.."
"I can't believe Cardin found out about me sneaking into Beacon..." Jaune mumbled.
"He won't be bothering you anymore." Pyrrha claimed.
Jaune smirked, "Again, thanks for that..." Yang was shocked. 'Jaune... Snuck into Beacon?.. What does that even mean?..' Yangs mind was racing.
"No problem." She replied. "Now, how about we work on aura?.."
"I think.. I'm gonna skip aura tonight... might go on a jog or something..." Jaune said in a sullen tone. The sadness in his voice brought Yang back into reality. Something juicy was about to be said.
"Jaune..." Pyrrha put her hand on his shoulder. "You know... you can tell me anything. I'm here for you." Pyrrha gave Jaune a wide smile. He smiled back but his expression quickly changed back to sadness.
"It's Weiss..." He stated. Pyrrha looked at the ground and her hand slipped off Jaunes shoulder.
"Oh..." She simply replied.
Jaune scratched his head, "I kinda asked her to go to the dance with me. She said no. Surprise Surprise, right?.."
Pyrrha cleared her throat. "Well, the saying goes. There are plenty of fish in the sea, right?" 'Yeah, like ME, JAUNE.' Yang screamed in her head. She could NOT believe what she was hearing. The most amazing boy in her world, NO, in the entire world asked that bitch out and she said NO?... Yang was flabbergasted.
"Eazy for you to say." Jaune responded, "I bet you have suitors just clammering over each other to ask you out."
Pyrrha again looked down, "You'd be surprised..."
Jaune chuckled as he promised, "Please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress to it. Besides, there's this black haired student from another school who asked ME. I never gave her an answer as I was hoping Weiss would say yes. Anyway, I'll see you later."
"Wait, what black haired girl from another school!?" Pyrrha yelled Yangs exact thought.
But Jaune was already gone. After Jaune left, Pyrrha collected her things and made her way back in too. Yang waited a minute, then soon followed after. She had a lot of investigating to do. However, a call on her scroll would change that. Yang got roped into planning the party and running the reservation stand, much to her dismay, with Weiss Schnee.
Putting all the dances many decorations together was the easy part. The hard part was having to put up with snow hoe. Weiss complained and argued every which way about the decorations and what should go where. The two finally, after hours of debating, settled on a decoration setup they both liked and went their separate ways. Yang immediately went to look for Jaune. Eventually, she found him. He had just Yanked a white rose from the flower garden and was going somewhere with a pep in his step. This confused Yang. The flower was clearly for Weiss, that much she determined on her own. But why would he ask her again, if she already said no? Someone must have given him some newfound confidence or something.
Yang followed from a ways, per the norm, and watched, waiting to see where Jaune was making his way to. Suddenly, Jaune stopped and hid behind a corner, and Yang did the same. Yang peered around and watched what Jaune was watching. It was Weiss and the blue haired boy, Neptune. They were talking about the dance. Yang watched Jaunes face go from confused to the most depressed she had ever seen him yet as Weiss asked Neptune to the dance and he said Yes. Jaune dropped the flower and walked away, tears welling up in his eyes.
"How many times is that bitch gonna break his heart?.." Yang whispered to herself. Her eyes, in reaction to Jaune, started watering as well, and she continued to follow him.
It was nearly an hour before the dance, but a large herd of people had already gathered in the dance hall. Mostly people just standing around talking to their friends about the party before it began.
Yang was confused and curious as to where Jaune was going. He was walking some way where she had never been before, and it didn't take Yang long to realize he was heading to the guest dorms. 'The Black-Haired girl from another school...' Yang remembered. Jaune was waiting outside the guest dorms. To Yangs surprise, a tall, beautiful black shoulder-length-haired girl with gorgeous yellow eyes came out to greet Jaune. She took him by the arm and the two headed to the dance together. Yang glared at the girl. Who the hell does she think she is, stealing Jaune like that out of nowhere?
When they got to the large double doors of the dance hall, the girl stopped. She gave Jaune a quick peck on the cheek. Yang watched angrily from behind a pillar. It took all her concentration to hear what they were saying over the ear-destroying clamoring of all the students.
"-way, thanks for walking me here. But, I have something I have to go take care of." Yang heard the girl say. This confused her. And, by the look on his face, it confused Jaune, too.
"So, you dont want to dance?.." Jaune asked. You could hear the slight disappointment.
"Sorry, hun. More important business to tend to." With that, the girl swayed away, leaving Jaune alone by the front doors. Yang watched her leave, cursing her every step. Jaune got his heart smashed twice in one night. When she turned back, Jaune had already dissipated into the crowd.
"Dammit."
Yang searched through the crowd, and found Jaune was on the opposite side, standing next to Ruby, the two were sharing cups of punch. Yang made her way over.
"Hold my punch." Jaune told Ruby.
"Hey, Jaune-" Yang was completely ignored. Jaune had a look of content. Yang followed his eyes and saw Pyrrha, alone, walking towards the balcony. In that moment, Yang prayed she was going up there to jump off. It was a dark thought, but it would make her life a lot easier.
Yang followed and leaned against the door frame leading to the balcony. Jaune complemented Pyrrhas dress then nervously asked if the guy she was here with would get mad if he said that. She was here alone. Yang could tell, and that's exactly what Pyrrha told Jaune. From what Yang could hear Pyrrha explaining, No one asked her, and it was mostly due to her fame and skills. She was so popular no one approached her.
Yang scoffed.
"That's why... I wish I came here with a guy like you, Jaune." Pyrrha stated. Yang gritted her teeth.
To her surprise, Pyrrha walked past her. That was the end of that conversation. Awkward. Jaune strode past Yang. Yang quickly tried to follow but was blocked off by someone.
"Hey, Yang!" A familiar voice said.
Yang looked up. "Neptune, right?"
"Mind if I have your first dance?.." The blue haired boy smiled.
"Actually I-" Jaune vanished out the doors and there was no way Yang could catch up now. Yang needed a distraction. She not only didn't want to dance with this idiot, but she didn't even want to associate with the FuckBOY. It was over-confidant fools like him that irritated her the most.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted, pushing past Neptune. She went up to her sister and sat on the table she was sitting at.
"Hm?.." Ruby said, sullen.
"What's up, sis?.." Yang asked, pretending to be concerned.
Ruby sighed. "I don't know.. It just seems like... with all this happiness around me.. I don't know.."
Yang tilted her head in confusion. Time for Yang to play the comforting older sister she had practiced being all these years.
"Ruby... Look around you. With everything everyone here goes through on a daily basis, they kinda needed something like this. Even if it's all for just a moment, these people, while most of them are mindless idiots, are happy. Even if it's just tonight." Ruby smiled slightly.
"You did do a good job putting it all together, sis.." Ruby complemented.
Yang sighed. "Thanks... but... as much as I hate to admit it, Weiss did quite a bit herself." Ruby laughed at this. Yang smiled and shook her head. Yang turned her head to see Pyrrha talking to a few people in the middle of the crowd.
Yang continued, "Tomorrow, it's back to work. But as a team we can handle anything thrown at us..."
Rubys eyes widened, "Except that..." She said.
Yangs head snapped to the left and what she saw, completely stunned her. Jaune Arc, the target of her affection... In a dress. She remembered he had promised Pyrrha if she didn't get a date he'd come in a gown. And so he did. The crowd was filled with sarcastic wolf calls and laughter. Jaune strode up to Pyrrha, and asked her to dance. The two danced in the middle of the crowd, everyone cheered them on. Pyrrha looked like the happiest girl in the world, and it was all because of Jaune Arc. And Yang hated that. All of his attention was on Pyrrha. But, Yang would let it go... at least for tonight. Not for Pyrrha, but for Jaune.
Yang turned to see her sister slowly walking out the door. Yang was confused. She walked up to her sisters side and followed her eyes. Up on the roofs across the road, was a female in a grey bodysuit wearing a mask. She was jumping from roof to roof and vanished behind a building.
"Let's go." Yang said.
"What?"
"Isn't it our job to stop suspicious people?" Yang stated. She didn't really care about it, but her sister could really use some action right now, and to be frank, she could too.
Ruby nodded and the two chased after the mysterious figure. They lost sight of her but they had a pretty good guess where she was going. One of the nearby Beacon defence command centers that were nearby. Currently unoccupied but heavily guarded.
Or so they thought. When the two got there, there wasn't a guard in sight. Suspicious. Yang tapped Rubys shoulder and pointed to a Guard that was laying unconscious halfway sticking out of a bush. Ruby and Yang shared a concerned look. The two pulled up their scrolls and called their rocket-lockers. They got their weapons out and ready. They heard a commotion coming from the upper floors and made their way in.
The two took an elevator to the top floor. They figured that was were the girl would be, considering that was where the control center computers were. The elevator opened, and they were met with at least six unconscious guards sprawled out on the floor. The girl raised from behind a desk and gave them a coy but evil smile.
"Um.. Excuse me.. but this isn't a masquerade party.." Ruby said sarcastically. Yang recognized the girl. The black haired girl that ditched Jaune. She couldn't mistake those bright yellow eyes.
"What's your deal?" Yang asked, cocking her shot gun gauntlets.
The girl pulled out a yellow vial. She opened it and spread yellow powder in the air. It was energy dust. The girl channeled them into shards and suddenly shot them at the two. Yang and Ruby quickly deflected the shards and rushed the girl. Her speed was outstanding. She dodged their attacks with such ease it was unbelievable. She created a wave of fire in front of her and pulled two short swords from it. The girl lurched forward and attacked Ruby and Yang at the same time. She came down with immense strength, forcing Yang and Ruby to block. Yang blocked one sword with her gauntlets in an 'X' formation and Ruby blocked the other with the shaft of her scythe.
Yang kicked the girl in the got and knocked her back. Yang and Ruby both fired rapid shots from their guns at her. She put up her hand and slapped away every shot with her palm like it was nothing. Suddenly, the elevator behind them opened. Yang and Ruby turned, thinking they were being ambushed. But, it was Ironwood, the headmaster of the visiting school, Atlas. Ruby and Yang quickly turned back, but the girl was already gone. At that moment, the two girls both knew, this wasn't a coincidence, and that tonights events would lead to something much much bigger.
The next morning, Ruby and Yang were called in to Ozpins office. they explained the events that came about the previous night. The three adults in the room argued about what they should do. Ruby lied about the girl mentioning a hideout in the South East. Team Player found out about it recently, so it wasn't that strange for Ruby to bring it up. Ozpin smiled, as if he''d learned something important, and excused the two.
Later, the students of Vale, and the other groups of visiting schools, had a meeting in the announcement hall. Ozpin came up to the podium and explained that their countries gather together and maintain peace for the sake of the world. He then explained that meant they had to know what it was like to take job seriously at the hands of a professional hunter. Each team had to pick a hunter and job to shadow on a real life mission. It would be a great learning experience and the teams would all get something extraordinary out of it.
With the information they had, team Player already knew where they wanted to go. There was a secret hideout to the south east that was being used by an unknown group. They had to investigate, no matter what. Ruby suggested they mail themselves to the area, but everyone laughed that off. They found a Grimm clearing mission in the southeast and decided that would be perfect. However, the mission statement said it was too dangerous for first years and that they couldn't participate in it.
Everyone was trying to come up with a scheme and was starting to lose hope.
"Hm.. The south east mission. It seems the South East is particularly popular right now. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion no matter which mission team Player chooses, they'll just end up there anyway." Ozpin stated, smiling. The group gave a nervous look and chuckled. "You know... I hear a lot of things lately about self appointed investigations and giant-robot highway fights."
"uh.. yeah... well.." Ruby couldn't form a sentence with how nervous she was.
Ozpin continued, "This mission was deemed too dangerous for the first years because of the strength and density of mass of the Grimm that need cleared. However, I am confident in your teams skill and maturity. So, instead of waiting for you to break the rules, how bout we just bend them?.." Ozpin pressed something on his scroll tablet, and the mission operating machine granted access to team Player.
Everyone shared happy and excited looks.
"We won't let you down. Thank you, Professor." Ruby stated confidently.
As they were leaving the announcement hall, a couple students excitedly pushed past them and were hurrying to the nearby courtyard. They heard someone yell that team Coffee was back. One of the higher year teams who had left recently on a Grimm clearing mission themselves. Team Player greeted team Coffee.
"Glad to see you guys made it back fine." Ruby said, grinning.
"Yeah. It's nice to see you guys." Velvet replied.
Yang had never met the other members of Velvets team, or for that matter, had ever even heard of them. Apparently, neither had Jaune.
"Jaune Arc. I would like to consider myself a friend of Velvets. Pleased to meet you all." Jaune extended his hand at the large man known as Yatsuhashi. He just smiled down at Jaune and didn't respond. The girl standing next to him took Jaunes hand instead. She was tall, skinny, and had a sort of fashionista style to her look. Designer shades and purse, a beret, and expensive clothes to boot.
"Coco Adel. Team leader." Jaune shook her hand and smiled. She used her other hand to tilt her sunglasses down enough so that she could lock eyes with Jaune. Yang noticed she had a sturdy grip on his hand and hadn't let go yet. She looked back to Cocos eyes and saw her wink at Jaune. Jaune was confused. Yang was mad.
"Anyway, we must hurry. Our hunter is waiting for us. It was nice to see you again team Coffee." Pyrrha said as she led her team away.
"Best of luck." Coco called from behind them as she waved goodbye.
Team Player sat and waited in front of their jet. Yang could tell her team was nervous. Ruby sensed it, too, and told them all it would be okay because they were shadowing a professional. And actual combat trained warrior.
"Hello! Team Player!" The most annoyingly happy voice said from behind them. They all turned to see an excited, explorer uniform clad, Oobleck.
"Are you ready to fight for your lives?!" And at that moment, their worries were amplified and they all knew this trip was going to be a pain in the ass.
'At least I have Jaune...' Yang thought to herself.