"…. And that is why I think I would be the best person to represent team RWBY in the finals." Weiss finished explaining. Blake nodded and nudged Yang awake. Ruby's mind was mush. She had lost focus somewhere around the 45 minute mark and was now lying on the floor trying to figure out what was real and what was an illusion made by her melting brain. It was late at night in the RWBY dorm room. Blake was sitting on her bed with a now barely alert Yang beside her. Weiss was sitting on her bed and Ruby was lying on the ground.
"Well- you see- wow- yeah- mhmm….." Ruby managed to say.
"Who do you think should come with you to the doubles round?" Blake asked as Yang slowly dozed off.
"NOO!" Ruby yelled, waking Yang up again.
"Quiet you dolt! All I was going to say was that you should be my partner, because we have developed exceptional teamwork skills." Weiss stated matter-of-factly.
"What? Im the best pick for the finals! And Blake'd be best for the doubles round with me!" Yang said, waking up now.
"Actually, I think our best course of action would be Weiss and Yang for the doubles round and Yang for the finals-" Blake started when she was interrupted by Weiss' outburst at the previous statement.
"Are you kidding me? My control over the battlefield and Ruby's sniper rifle and ability to keep enemies away from her clearly make me and her the best bet!"
"Pffft. I have the highest kill count out of the four of us and Blake has the most assists!" Yang said.
"Oh, you and I both know Blake doesn't keep track of her assists!" Weiss yelled.
"I mean in controlled combat!" Yang yelled back at her.
"That's different!"
"It's better anyway! That's when we're fighting other students!"
The two continued bickering as Blake decided to pick up her book. Ruby, meanwhile, had just decided the best way for the team to decide who would go on to further rounds.
"I've got it!" Ruby exclaimed, "why don't we just spar? With team JNPR!"
"Anyway, that's why we want to spar with you. Ruby ran off to ask Goodwitch if we can use the battle room." Blake finished explaining.
"Well, if Goodwitch is ok with it, then of course we'll help you!" Pyrrha assured.
"We've already decided Pyrrha is going to the finals and Nora is going with her to the doubles," Jaune said, when Ruby burst into the room, trailing rose petals behind herself.
"We can use the battle room!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully.
"Alright, heres how we'll do things: We're just going to do 30 second matches to keep things quick. Each match will pit Pyrrha against a member of team RWBY!" Ruby cheerfully explained.
The first match was Blake versus Pyrrha. "Alright! I want a clean match! No hair pulling, eye poking, or cheating of that nature! Go ahead and let loose!" Nora exclaimed.
Pyrrha rushed Blake, throwing her shield at her then jumping up. The shield went right through the shadow clone as the real Blake was suddenly just to the side, which happened to be right where Pyrrha threw her spear. Blake dodged, but the spear still grazed her. Blake then threw Gambol Shroud at the currently airborne Pyrrha, grabbing the ribbon attached simultaneously. Pyrrha turned her body to let the katana fly past her, but Blake was already pulling back, the katana spun around Pyrrha, trapping her. Blake pulled Pyrrha closer just as Pyrrha used her semblance to slam Blake with her shield from behind. The two collided and Pyrrha use the opportunity to grab Gambol Shroud. She then jumped back, using what little mobility she had, and freed herself of her bindings quickly thanks to her polarity.
"Come on Blake! Do some ninja stuff! Win!" Ruby called.
"How encouraging," Yang laughed.
Blake threw Pyrrha's shield at her and took that brief moment of vulnerability to grab Gambol Shroud again. Pyrrha quickly rearmed herself and the two ran at each other yet again. Blake spun to go around and behind Pyrrha but Pyrrha tripped her then backflipped to land on Blake. However, what she landed on was a shadow clone, as Blake dived at her from behind, thrusting Gambol Shroud. Pyrrha dropped to the floor, Gambol Shroud slicing at her shoulder and neck area, and proceeded to land on her hands. She then kicked Blake with both her feet. Pyrrha quickly stood back up and prepared for more fighting, but Nora interrupted.
"Well ladies, a wonderful fight, but it has been 30 seconds!" Nora announced.
"Blake lost 16 aura over the course of the fight and Pyrrha lost 9 aura." Ren relayed.
"Any punches bellow the waist are strictly prohibited!" Nora called as Weiss and Pyrrha prepared to fight, "begin!"
Weiss started by creating a glyph and stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground, splaying ice out in all directions, forcing Pyrrha to dodge. Pyrrha jumped into the air and rode her shield down the ice spike, towards Weiss. Weiss stabbed at Pyrrha but Pyrrha simply jumped over the rapier and kicked Weiss in the face, while simultaneously tapping Myrtenaster.
Nora blew her whistle, "red card!"
"Be quiet Nora," Blake said.
Weiss backflipped to keep the momentum, then shot an energy blast at the still airborne Pyrrha using Myrtenaster. The blast hit Pyrrha head on, sending her flying and into the wall. Pyrrha jumped off the wall and towards Weiss. She then transformed her spear into a gun and shot at her. Weiss ran for cover behind some ice but, now without taking multiple hits first. Pyrrha landed, but didn't run towards the mess of ice spikes. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment. She then threw her spear in a high arc towards the ice. Weiss rolled out of the way as the spear slammed into the ground right where she had been hiding.
"All right! That's it!" Nora yelled.
"Weiss lost 23 aura and Pyrrha lost 20 aura." Ren said.
"Wait a minute, how did you figure out where I was?" Weiss asked Pyrrha.
"Well, because I had touched Myrtenaster I was able to use my semblance on it, because of this all I had to do was focus and I could sense where it where it, and you, were." Pyrrha explained.
"Ruby vs Pyrrha! Ready! Go!" Nora enthusiastically screamed.
"Nora, please be a bit quieter-" Ren started.
"Go! Go! Go!" Nora called.
Pyrrha started off by shooting at Ruby with her gun. The sudden ranged attack caught Ruby off guard, but she still managed to dodge. Ruby used her semblance to get behind Pyrrha then sliced at her with her scythe Pyrrha blocked the attack with her shield, then stabbed at Ruby with her spear, causing Ruby to retreat.
Ruby loaded some gravity rounds and used the kick to launch herself into the air. Midair she quickly transferred to fire rounds and started shooting at the battlefield below her. The fire bullets caused small explosions, resulting in Pyrrha taking multiple hits.
"Way to go sis!" Yang yelled.
"You do know she's your competition right?" Weiss smirked.
"Hey, I can have fun with my sister in the doubles round!" Yang cheerfully told her, winking.
"Phrasing." Blake said calmly.
Pyrrha shot her spear up at Ruby, using the kick from the gun part. The spear hit Ruby dead on and she fell to the ground. Pyrrha rushed her, but Ruby quickly rolled to the side and shot Pyrrha point blank. Pyrrha pulled her shield up, but was still thrown onto her back. As she was sent backwards Pyrrha managed to throw her shield at Ruby. Pyrrha quickly got up and ran forward, calling her weapons to her with the help of her semblance, but just then Nora called time.
"Ruby lost 15 aura and Pyrrha lost 17 aura." Ren informed everyone.
"That's incredible Rubes!" Yang said happily.
"Yeah! You did very well!" Jaune said happily.
"Final fight! The one you've all been waiting for! Pyrrha versus Yang! Be careful though! Pyrrha's aura percentage is at 54 so we'll step in if she loses too much aura, but have a good fight! Ready….fight!" Nora said.
Yang made the first move, shooting blasts at Pyrrha. Pyrrha ducked under one, rolled to avoid another, jumped up, then blocked with her shield.
"Go Pyrrha!" Jaune called.
Pyrrha ran forward and stabbed Yang with her spear. Yang tried to dodge but was too late to avoid it, she still managed to hit Pyrrha, with a left hook straight to the head. Pyrrha was sent flying, but turned it into a cartwheel. She started shooting Yang with her gun but Yang avoided it, using her gauntlets to exaggerate her movements. She launched herself into the air, then back down towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha pulled her shield up, but the attack still did damage. Pyrrha turned her shield, knocking Yang's arm away and giving herself a direct shot at Yang's face.
Pyrrha used this chance to thrust her spear up at Yang. Yang turned but the spear still slid all the way along her body. Yang landed on her hands, then threw herself into the air again. She landed on Pyrrha's shoulders. In one fluid motion Yang pulled herself towards the floor and threw Pyrrha away with her legs, which were still hooked around the taller girl. Pyrrha didn't have enough airtime to make the landing pretty, but was still on her feet again quickly enough to block Yang's next attack with her shield.
"C'mon Yang!" Ruby called.
"Break her legs Pyrrha!" Nora shouted.
Pyrrha decided to take Nora's advice and their their current stance, Yang's fist against her shield, and hooked Yang's ankle with her foot. She pulled her foot, causing Yang to fall backwards. Just as Pyrrha started to stab at Yang with her spear Yang thrust both fists up, causing a massive explosion. The two fighters began to get up- "That's it! We only had 3 seconds left anyway, but Pyrrha's aura is in the red so we're stopping here!" Nora yelled.
"Yang lost 44 aura and Pyrrha lost 39." Ren relayed.
"Wow!"
"Incredible!"
"Great fight!"
Team RWBY thanked JNPR for letting them train together. Well, most of JNPR. Pyrrha had quickly thanked RWBY for some great fights and ran off to take a shower pretty much immediately, after apologizing for her sudden exist profusely.
"Well, I guess this clears up who's going to the finals." Weiss said happily.
"Yep." Yang said cheerfully.
"Me," Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all said simultaneously.
"Oh no.." Blake muttered.
"What!? Me sending Pyrrha flying would have been a ring out in a real match!" Weiss exclaimed.
"But I'm the only one who lost less aura then her!" Ruby said indignantly.
"That's all fine and dandy, but Im the one who got her aura the lowest, into the red no doubt!" Yang cried. Weiss and Ruby both agreed that was an amazing feat, but not as amazing as what they managed.
"That's great, but you also lost the most aura out of the four of us, maybe you should go to the doubles or something." Ruby said.
"Yeah!" Weiss agreed.
"You guys were great too, but Blake is the one who took the least damage!" Yang said.
As Weiss and Yang argued Blake leaned in and whispered into Ruby's ear, "lets just vote." Ruby spun, around but Blake was acting as if she hadn't said anything.
"Your fearless team leader just had a brilliant idea!" Ruby exclaimed. "Lets put it to a vote!"
"What a wonderful idea!" Blake said with fake excitement, "we all vote for two people and the one with the most votes goes to singles, and the one with the second most votes goes to double."
They all grabbed pieces of paper and wrote down two names, then slipped them into an empty tissue box. After they were all done Blake pulled out the first card.
"The first votes, made by Ruby, are for herself and Yang." Blake said in her typical monotone voice. Ruby tallied one vote for herself and one vote for Yang on a white board.
"The next ones are made by Yang and are for herself and me." Blake announced. Ruby tallied the results.
"Made by Weiss, herself and Yang…" Blake said, sensing a trend. Ruby tallied the results.
"And finally….drum roll please…." Blake said, expression unchanging, "my vote….for Weiss and Yang."
Ruby made a sound of pure emotional pain and fell to the floor. "Alright! Let's do this!" Yang exclaimed
"I can't wait to represent our team! Even if only for one more round!" Weiss said happily.
"Well….it does seem like the best pick…" Ruby said, recovering. "Sorry you won't get to fight in later rounds either Blake." Ruby said, patting her teammate's should reassuringly.
"Oh yeah…" Blake said, no emotion in her voice. "I'm really broken up about it."