Dark Rose
Chapter 17: Lapse in Judgement
"You are all dismissed!" Professor Oobleck exclaimed. "Remember to read through pages 124-144. I want an essay on my desk by next Wednesday! Have a good day, students!" The Professor zipped by Jett as he walked out of the class with the rest of his team. "Ruby!" a voice exclaimed from behind. Jett turned in time to see a petal-form of Ruby speed past him, and away from a fuming Weiss. Ruby changed out of her petal form long enough to shout: "Meet you in the ampitheater, Jett!" She changed back to roses, and disappeared.
Weiss ran past the smiling boy, and scanned her surrounding for a hint of red. She sighed. "I swear, she is so childish!" Weiss huffed. "What's wrong, Weiss?" Jett asked. "She grabbed my binder! It had all my Dust notes in it. Now how am I going to study?" she explained, crossing her arms across her chest with a scowl. "Eh, studying is overrated." a voice answered. Jett looked behind him and saw Eccon, and the rest of team JEMM, walk out of Oobleck's classroom. Eccon smiled. "Sup, Ice Queen?" "Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss pouted. "Well, because Miranda wasn't exactly partial to it." Jett laughed, catching an annoyed look from the frigid heiress.
"Well, I'll catch you guys, later!" Jett exclaimed, waving at his team. "Where are you going, brother?" Matilda asked. "To go spar with Ruby for a bit." Matilda tilted her head to the side. "Mind if I come along? It's been a while since I sparred." Jett flinched, and silently swore to himself. Was looking to have some quiet time with Ruby after the sparring matches... He thought, annoyed. "Sure, could always use another partner!" Jett exclaimed, turning and putting on a fake smile for Matilda. She gave a genuine smile back, and jumped up, putting a fist in the air. "Yes! This is going to be awesome!" Matilda said excitedly, swaying back and forth. "Well, I guess we'll see you guys later?" Eccon asked. "Yeah, we won't be gone the whole day, though!" Jett exclaimed. The two siblings ran down the hall, waving to their teammates left behind.
...
"How have we never seen the ampitheater until now?" Jett asked, mouthing dropping open. Holy architecture. This place is gorgeous. Jett thought to himself. Jett felt like he stepped into a cathedral: High vaulted ceiling, intricate, painted glass windows letting the light in, and casting a whole kalidoscope of different colours on the floor below. Crown molding framed the windows on the ceiling perfectly, running into the designs on the walls seemlessly. Rows of seats lined the walls, elevated from where they stood, almost like stadium seating. The two teens closed the doors leading into the ampitheater behind them, a loud *Thump* echoing across the silence of the space.
Another loud thump resounded, and Jett's attention was directed towards the locker rooms to the right. Out of the door, walked a small figure with a black dress with red fringe, a red cape, and a huge mechanical scythe folded neatly and fastened to her back: Ruby. The siblings walked up to the distracted Ruby. "Hey, Rubes." Jett said. "Hey, Jett!" Ruby smiled. "What's your sister doing here?" Jett scratched the back of his neck. "Well, she said that she wanted to spar with us." He explained. Ruby nodded. "You can't fight fight wearing your uniform. Go ahead, and get changed." She nodded at the doors behind her. Jett and Matilda walked around the young girl, and headed into their respective locker rooms.
...
After 15 minutes of preparing, Jett walked out the men's locker room, regular clothes on, Ebony & Ivory in their holsters. Looking around, the young man couldn't see either Ruby or Matilda anywhere. "Heads up!" a voice exclaimed. Suddenly, Ruby collided with him in her petal form, sending him into the wall, cracking part of it with his body. "Damn..." he muttered, wincing at the pain.
"I am so sorry!" Ruby exclaimed. She ran over to Jett's side, and tried pulling him out of the wall. "I'm good, Rubes." he assured the young girl. Jett's eyes streaked yellow, and he disappeared and reappeared next to Ruby on the ground. "All good." "I'm sorry! I missed your sister when I tried hitting her with my petal vortex." Jett waved her off. "Told ya: Im good. Aura is already healing my rib." He looked up, and indeed Ruby and Matilda were in combat. Matilda coiled up, and launched herself at Ruby. Jett leaned down, and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. "Go get'em, Rubles." he said with a smile. Ruby froze in shock, while Jett disappeared in a flash of yellow light and appeared in the stands.
"Focus, Rose!" Matilda exclaimed, rearing her arm back to strike. Ruby remembered that she was still in combat, and snapped back to reality. Disappearing in the flurry of rose petals, Ruby reappeared back in the middle of the theater, facing and now confused Matilda. Crete recovered quickly, and turned to start running at the newly positioned Ruby. "You gonna stop moving and fight?" Matilda growled, getting visibly annoyed. Ruby laid a hand on Crescent Rose's frame on her back, focusing and waiting on Matilda's charge. Predictably, Matilda charged and took a swipe at Ruby. She disappeared in a plume of rose petals.
"Hey!" a voice exclaimed from above. Matilda looked up, and saw an airborne Ruby, flipping out of a sideways roll, holding her scythe's handle with both hands behind her back. Slicing her weapon in an arc above her head, she threw herself and Cresent Rose dowards at Matilda. The swordsman put up both of her swords in an X and prepared to block the blow. The two's blades clashed in an instant, creating a small shockwave of force that rippled throughout the ampitheater. The two girls tensed, and pushed off from each other, trying to get distance from the other.
"Not bad, Rose." Matilda remarked. "Same!" Ruby said cheerfully. "Now, however, it's time to get serious.." The swordsman muttered. Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Serious?" Matilda slammed her blades together, hilt to tip. Mechanical noises emitted from the blades, as they assimilated each other. In Matilda's hands, she held a heavy-looking, intricate greatsword. How does she hold that thing up? Looks extremely heavy. Jett thought, watching the pair from up in the stands. Ruby smirked, twirling her scythe around her. Matilda looked back up at Ruby, and her eyes were glowing!
Matilda locked eyes with the young girl, who seemed taken aback by Matilda's glowing eyes, which was currrently fluctuating between her eye colour and Ruby's. "Let's have some fun." Matilda smiled cruely. Around the two of them, countless Matildas sprang into existence, all holding the girl's giant greatsword aloft. One by one, the afterimages ran at Ruby, slashing at the young girl. Dodging to and fro, Ruby skillfully avoided Matilda's slow attacks. Suddenly, the after images disappeared, and Ruby's vision turned black.
"Gah! I can't see!" Ruby exclaimed, recoiling and scratching at her eyes. "That means you're wide-open." Matilda whispered, appearing next to the young Huntress. Her blade raked across Ruby's side, silver Aura flashing into existence, taking the hit. Ruby's vision cleared, and she put Crescent Rose back up. "Grrrrr...You'll pay for that.." she grumbled. "Yrrrrrargh!" Ruby screamed, running at Matilda, the blade of her scythe out to the side. Matilda smirked, putting her blade out in front of her to anticipate the blow. Ruby swung once, while Matilda blocked the blow with the flat of her blade.
Pressing a hidden trigger on the handle of Crescent Rose, Ruby fired a sniper round, shooting herself backwards. The young Huntress backflipped, and landed with Crescent Rose between her and the ground, balancing on the blade. Pressing the hidden trigger again, Ruby propelled herself into the air. Matilda furrowed her brow, and broke her weapon apart into two parts, like it was before, in a single motion. Ruby came screaming out of the air with her blade, spinning like a crazy, upended top. The split second before she was hit, Matilda disappeared into mist, dissolving into the wind.
"Behind you." Matilda whispered from behind. Ruby whipped around, only to find nothing. In a flash of light, Matilda streaked across the ampitheater, and raked her blades across Ruby's side again. The young girl dropped to her knees, Auric shield breaking and disappearing. Matilda gave a cruel smile, eyes glowing evily. Ruby raised her head, and looked at the girl standing over her, her silver blade placed next to Ruby's throat. "I win." Matilda said, giving a dismissive look. She gave another evil smile, and raised her blade, preparing for a killing blow.
What is she doing!? Jett thought, jumping up from his seat. He closed his eyes and focused, activating two parts of his Semblance: Time Dilation, and Teleportation. His Aura flared around him green, combining his blue and yellow Auras. Jett opened his eyes and within a second, he appeared next to Matilda in a streak of lightning. He grabbed the girl's arm, and turned his Semblance off. Matilda pulled forward, only to realize that Jett was standing behind her, holding her arm back.
"Matilda, that's enough. Get a hold of yourself!" Jett barked. The girl looked at him with anger. Matilda's eyes stopped glowing, and she looked around confused for a moment. Then she looked down and saw Ruby; Matilda's eyes widened, and she dropped her weapons. She stood there, shaking, for several minutes, before Matilda turned in the other direction and ran towards the showers, slamming and locking the doors behind her.
"Owwww oww oww..." Ruby grumbled. Jett looked down, and saw the young girl clutching her stomach in pain. "Ruby!" he exclaimed, crouching down. He scanned over her body for any visble wounds. "Stomache...hurt..." Ruby mumbled, wincing in pain. "What's wrong? Did you get cut there?" She shook her head. "Need...cookies...Hungry..." "Really?" Jett asked. "Uh-huh.." she nodded weakly. Jett couldn't help but smile at that. "Alright, let's get you up. We can go and get some dinner." Jett put his hand on her back, and draped her arm around his shoulder, gingerly lifting her up in a supported carry. She put her weight on him, and started walking alongside Jett, albeit a bit slower.
"C'mon. One foot in front of the other, Rubles." Jett teased, helping her walk. "...Hate you.." she grumbled. "Yeah, yeah..." The two made their way out of the ampitheater doors and down the hall towards the mess hall.