Volume 3

Chapter 1: Back in Action


=ASH=

Ash awoke in his bed. He shambled to the bathroom and glanced into the mirror. His face was horribly scarred, one side from the blast, the other side from the claws. The breach, as people have begun to call it has long passed. Despite the paranoia, the vytal festival still dominates the minds of all. He ran his razor carefully along his face, he could feel his nerves twitching as he did. He heard a knock on the door, he opened it. A young nurse was waiting patiently.

"You have a guest." She said, she gave a short nod and left. He stepped back into the bedroom. A familiar face was sitting in the chair next to it.

"Dad?" Ash asked. His father leaned forward. His eyes sharpened, as if he were trying to stare through him.

"I heard you were injured, there isn't a scratch on you." He said. He stood up and stepped closer. "I also heard a rumor you blew up a dust cave."

"Well, it was that or be eaten." Ash said. His father's stare didn't lax. "It was a lot, I admit that but it was heavily infested. The effort wouldn't be worth the payoff." His mind went to the giant sleeping beast, a second thought of Vigil.

"Nonetheless, I am glad you are alive." He said. He pulled out a case and opened it. Silver Faust's mangled remains were inside. Ash swallowed. "This was an heirloom, passed down for generations. First blade forged to fire our patented dust rounds. That was over a century ago."

"If it makes you feel any better, I was expecting to die before we'd ever have this conversation." Ash said. His father scoffed.

"It will cost a fortune to rebuild. Until then I imagine you'll be quite defenseless." He said. He sat down and ran his hand along his gray mane. I need to know you'll be safe, so until Silver Faust is rebuilt you will be under guard."

"Dad, I can't have a security team following me around." Ash said. Last thing he needed was to travel Beacon's halls with a dozen guards, nothing says independence like a security team watching your every move. He shook his head. "No guards."

"I wasn't talking about guards, an old friend of yours is coming out of retirement." He said. Ash felt his jaw drop. He wasn't sure if his father and him were on the same page but he was suddenly very excited.

"Orphy?" Ash asked, his father nodded. "You said after the car accident you'd never trust me with him again!"

"And now times have changed." He said. "I'll leave you some funds to buy a replacement weapon for the time being. Orphy will be here in a few days, he'll look after you."

"Thanks dad." Ash said. His father let out a long sigh.

"The Vital Festival is coming, just try not to drag the family name down any more than it already has." He said. Ash nodded and leaned back. He waited for his father to leave. He ran his hand along his scars.


- A FEW WEEKS LATER -

Ash flung through the air. His aura barely holding. His vision gave little more than a spinning vortex of blue and green. He slammed hard against the ground and bounced painfully along the grass. He heard a beeping noise coming from his scroll. His ears were ringing.

"Team ALBM is really taking a beating!" Oobleck shouted through the speakers. Ash glanced at his scroll, his aura was dangerously low. "Ash is almost out of aura. Team EBNY is gaining the upper hand!"

"Ash!" Lyra shouted. Ash saw her running his way. He followed her eyes to their source. A woman with dark skin and long, even darker hair tied in dreads was coming his way. She was carrying a longbow, she clicked a button on it's side and it snapped into two pieces. Each piece folded out and blades extended. She now possessed two curved axes. Ash coughed hoarsely and climbed to his feet. He instinctively reached for Silver Faust, only to find it wasn't there. Neither was it's replacement.

"Excuse me." Ash said, he held a finger up and looked around for his weapon. "Can you just wait right there."

"What?" The woman asked. The jungle was dense with foliage, he pushed his way through the branches. "We're in the middle of a fight."

"Yeah and isn't this fight a little imbalanced. I don't even have a weapon." Ash said. He saw a glint of metal and bent down, it was beyond some large roots. "Just wait right there, almost done."

"What's going on?" Another one of her team mates asked.

"I'm waiting on him to get his weapon." She replied. She didn't sound confident in her answer.

"He know's we're supposed to be fighting right?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"O-kay?" he said.

"Alright got it!" Ash said. He triumphantly pulled his weapon free. It was a high powered sniper rifle sawed off dangerously low with a flanged mace around the barrel. Not exactly subtle and completely devoid of finesse. Ash may have been drinking when he built it.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Her teammate said. He was a tall man with pale skin, dark blue hair with large jackhammer strapped to his arm.

"Well, it's clumsy, it's violent and it leaves a hell of a mess." Ash said. He aimed it his way and fired it. The barrel errupted a long stream of fire nearly a meter in length and the man went flying off his feet. He chambered another round.

"Ouch!" Port boomed. "Navy is out. I bet Ebony wishes she hadn't waited."

"Hey, that wasn't exactly fair!" Ebony shouted.

"Fair? We're in a battle." Ash said. He fired at her, she flung off her feet.

"You're a prick!" She shouted as she flew out of sight.

"Chivalry truly is dead." Port replied. "And speaking off, Morgana has just been eliminated."

"Yes! Never underestimate simplicity!" Oobleck said. "Yue's weapon, a simple atlatl with a weighted end. It sounds so underwhelming, until you realize the harpoons explode!"

"Oh this takes me back." Port said with an slight catch in his throat. "I remember a time when a strapping young lad fought in the vytal festival, of course I am referring to myself..."

Ash sighed. Even in the festival he wasn't free from Port's speeches. He needed to get out of the jungle. He sprinted towards the center of the arena. On the other side, highlands. Billy, in his new armoured suit, was locked in combat with a similarly sized man. He had a long, toothed cleaver in his hands. Ash couldn't spot the other fighter. A staff swung out of nowhere and collided with him, he flipped off his feet and landed on his back. Three harpoons flew over his head and exploded behind him.

"Team ALBM is attacking each other?" Port asked.

"Lyra, did you have to hit me?" Ash asked, he grabbed her hand and pulled himself onto his feet. She almost tipped over as he did.

"Well I could have tried tackling you but this was faster." She said. She pointed to the hills, near where Billy was fighting a lone shape was darting low to the ground. Their suppressor sure enough simply had a long club and harpoons.

"We need Billy to distract Yue." Ash said. "Then we charge them."

"Billy hasn't been responding." Lyra said. "I think his helmet's damaged."

"Alright. Plan B." Ash said.

"What's plan B?" Lyra asked.

"RUN!" He shouted. She sprinted out into the field.

He watched Yue taking aim. Ash watched as three perfect copies of himself were now sprinting out of the jungle. Yue paused and glanced between his four targets. He leapt foward and flipped, launching a single harpoon. He launched two more before he hit the ground. He aimed for the three Ash's. Not surprising, Ash probably would have chosen them rather than the ninety pound girl too. Then again, the ninety pound girl had a cattle prod. She fired a dart out of Maibaum and it hit Yue square in the chest. He flung from his feet spasming.

"Yue is down!" Oobleck shouted. "Team ALBM takes the lead, what an impressive turn around."

"Oh but it looks like Oliver Brunswick isn't done yet!" Port boomed.

Oliver sweeped Billies feet out from under him and sprinted straight for Lyra. Ash sprinted towards him. Oliver swung and Lyra went flying. Ash fired his weapon. A stream of fire erupted and Oliver slammed into the side of the hill. He climbed back to his feet. He lifted his feet.

"Alright." Ash said. He slowly chambered another round. Oliver continued advancing towards him. "Maybe we can talk about this?"

The blade swung fast, Ash tried to block it with his mace but Oliver was just too strong. Ash felt his legs buckle and he dropped to his knees. Billy dove off the hill and tackled Oliver. They crashed into the ground. Ash struggled to stand but he felt like he was hit by a car. He watched the two giants batter each other senseless. Ash wobbled and aimed his weapon. He fired another shot. Oliver spun around and swung Billy into the path of the shot, it slammed into his armour and he flew off his feet. A crack formed along his armour.

Oliver lunged, the blade collided with Ash's side and he felt himself soaring through the sky. It felt very familiar. He watched the vortex of blue and green, it was rather peaceful. He hit the ground hard.

"Ashton Grey is out of aura!" Port shouted.

Oliver continued to pummel Billy, the armoured suit held incredibly well. The blade swung down yet again, Billy reached up and caught the blade with his off hand. He spun around, swinging Oliver around with him and continued to spin, a tornado of green surrounded him. Ash smiled as Oliver suddenly was flung through the air well outside the arena limits. He almost collided with the crowd. The crowd broke out into thunderous applause.

"Billy Boyd is the last man standing!" Port boomed. "Team ALBM is the winner!"

"What an exciting and unorthodox match." Oobleck shouted. There was a long beat. Ash pictured him drinking coffee. "After the break, team GNKO vs team SHNE!"

Ash looked up in awe of the crowd. It was an incredible feeling, it was like his entire life, every mistake, didn't matter anymore. In this moment, he was adored by a crowd of thousands, if not more. Just what he needed, his ego getting more inflated. He followed his team out.


=GWYN=

"What do you mean we're on next?" Gwyn asked. She helped Orin lay down. His body continued to convulse, small trails of blood dripped from his nostrils. Natasha was wearing a hole in the floor with her incessent pacing. "Orin can't fight like this."

"Can we bring in a replacement?" Natasha asked. "Is that allowed."

"That's highly irregular." Naia said. Now she was pacing. "Maybe, I can ask for you."

"Thank you Naia." Gwyn said. She watched her leave and returned to her brother. The convulsions stopped but he looked worn out. He smiled feebly.

"Well, I screwed this up for us." Orin said. He hacked up a glob of blood. Gwyn tried not to look absolutely disgusted by this. "Sorry."

"It's okay Orin. Hopefully Naia will be able to help." She said. He leaned back and in seconds he was out like a light.

"Well now we have to fight a coordinated team with a weak link." Natasha said. "I might as well call it, we're out and we didn't make it one round."

"We're not out yet." Gwyn said. Natasha shook her head.

"I don't know what bothers me more, the fact that we're going to lose or the fact Saffron might make it one round further." She said with an exhasperated groan. "Can you imagine the smug look on her face if that happens."

"It won't happen." Gwyn said with a warm smile. She took a deep breath. "We'll fight, we'll win and we'll do it with a handicap. If anything we'll look a lot better when all this is done."

"I don't see why you're worried." Kol said from the far corner of the room. "We look weak, we have advantage. We are weak, we lose. Keep your heads and we win."

"He has a point, and that might also be the most I've heard him speak." Gwyn said. Natasha smirked.

"I like the old Kol better." Natasha replied. Kol shook his head. Naia called out and hurried into the room.

"Alright, they've agreed to give you a replacement fighter. She didn't have a team to begin with so this will work out." Naia said. "Downside, only one of you will advance to the next round should you win."

"We don't have much of a choice." Gwyn said. Naia nodded. "Alright, who's our new teammate?"

"May I introduce..." Naia said, she waved behind the door. A young faunus girl in a white hoodie stepped in. She wasn't very big, almost dainty. She had a pair of tiny antlers. "...Ivory Dawn, meet team GNKO."

"Pleasure to meet you." She said with an ear to ear grin.