The God of Remnant Chapter 14: Complications
"" – Dialogue
'' – Thinking
Vale - Location
"Renewal Taekwondo" – Technique
"Welcome one and all to the second day of the Vytal Festival!" Oobleck said, receiving a wave of cheers in return as he welcomed the audience.
"Today, we'll be continuing in the 2 on 2 format of the previous day with the winners today selecting a single representative to fight for them in the 3rd day." Port explained to the rapidly quieting crowd.
"Anyways! Proceeding to the first match of the day, I believe we're all going to be treated to quite the fight with this match up! First up, we have Team JS of Beacon against Team JA of Atlas! If you'll recall, Team JA is a part of team JABR, said to be Atlas' strongest first-year team, and Team JS is Beacon's first two-man team, rumored to be Beacon's strongest first-years." Oobleck explained to warm up the crowd.
"Without further ado, let's see what the stage selector has in store for this match." Port said directing everyone's eyes to the screens.
The screens displayed a pair of dice spinning as it decided on the fields to be used. The dice slowly came to a stop, displaying two different symbols. One of the symbols was a set of blue wavy lines and the other was a set of brown triangles. Each dice displayed the words corresponding to the symbols below.
"It would seem that we have the Ocean once again along with the mountain biome!" Port called out as the arena began to shift once again.
Soon enough, the calm ocean arose opposite the treacherous peaks. The flat stillness of the blue depths juxtaposing the sharp inconsistencies inherent of the uneven terrain. The mountains carried with them an artificially generated wind that soon relayed themselves over the ocean, creating small ripples throughout.
"Now let's have our contestants enter the stage!" Oobleck called as the doors began to rise.
In time with his call, the doors rose to reveal the contestants. Mori and Seraphina stood side by side just as John and Arlo did opposite them. After a tense second, both teams began to march towards the center, maintaining eye contact the whole way.
John's playful gaze that seemed to hold something darker beneath was reflected in Seraphina's own, much more serious glare. Her eyes held a firm resolve that seemed intent on accomplishing her goal. Meanwhile, Arlo's sapphire eyes gently stared into Mori's yellow crosshairs, both parties were only intent on winning and had eyes that reflected such.
As both parties made their way to the center of the arena, Mori couldn't help but remember the strategy he and Seraphina had talked about the previous night.
-Last Night-
Mori was relaxing on his bed when he heard the door open. Prying his eyes away from his scroll, he refocused on the door in time to see Seraphina trudge in. From his position on his back, he couldn't see her eyes hidden behind her bangs, but the way she was walking screamed 'drained'.
"Sup, Seraphina? How was it with your mom?" Mori asked while he put away his scroll.
Imagine his surprise when the girl simply walked over to her bed and faceplanted into it without so much as a look in his direction.
"Uh, Seraphina?" He tried again.
"…"
no response.
A small frown formed on his face before he got an idea that caused a mischievous smile to form in its place. Reaching into his ear, Mori withdrew Yeoui from its hiding spot and held it in his hand towards Seraphina's prone form.
'Enlarge and Extend.' He commanded mentally, causing the miniature staff to quickly grow in size and slowly in length.
Once it reached a diameter, he was comfortable with, he commanded it to lengthen faster towards his still unresponsive teammate. It didn't take long for the staff to reach its target, Seraphina's shoulder, with no sound from the contact.
The effect was immediate as Seraphina turned to the source of the annoyance. First, her eyes found their way to the staff before moving up to meet the eyes of its wielder.
"Oh. Hey, Mori. When'd you get here?" She asked in a completely normal tone.
"I've kinda been here the entire time…" Mori answered with a sweatdrop as he returned Yeoui to its miniature size.
"Ah, my bad…" She said sheepishly as she sat up slowly.
"Was dealing with your mom that bad?" Mori asked, wondering what they could have possibly done to have tired her out so severely.
Seraphina let out a heavy sigh before responding. "Not usually, but this time was made much worse by my… 'rebellious phase'" She said, emphasizing rebellious phase with air quotes. "But that's all not really important since I'm dorming until graduation. Are you ready to talk strategy for the fight tomorrow?" She asked her partner, getting a smirk in return.
"You bet! I can't wait to fight those guys tomorrow! Although, that John guy, in particular, seems like he needs a good ass-kicking." Mori noted.
"Trust me, I know that more than anyone…" Seraphina trailed as her eyes closed as she seemed to remember something. "Which is why I want you to leave him to me" She said.
"Sure." Mori relented with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
"I know you really want to fight him, but- wait, what did you just say?" She asked, not believing her ears.
"I said 'sure'" Mori repeated for her.
"So easily?! I thought you'd make a bid deal about how you wanted to fight the stronger one and make a point about getting revenge for Sun." Seraphina explained.
"I mean, I do want to kick his ass for all of those reasons, so you're not wrong. But you seem like you have a way bigger bone to pick with him than I do, so I can let you take the stronger one… just this once." Mori added with comical pout.
Seraphina let out a light giggle at the funny expression on the monkey faunus' face. "I bet you'll hold me to that too…" She remarked. "Anyways, let's actually talk strategy now that we've got that squared away." Seraphina said, refocusing them.
The cat faunus then pulled out her scroll and pulled up the tournament bracket. From there, she clicked on the team she wanted to focus on, the duo of John and Arlo, and pulled up their pictures.
"So, as you know, this is Arlo." Seraphina said, pointing to the blonde-haired boy. "His semblance is called Barrier. It's a simple defense-type semblance that creates a barrier wherever he wills it to. In addition to this, any damage the barrier sustains is transferred back to the person who dealt it." She explained.
"Yeah, I noticed that when he held off Sun and Neptune at the start of their fight." Mori recalled. "It has a weakness, though… right?" He asked.
"Yep, and it's simpler than you'd think." Seraphina said. "Basically, his semblance is a strong shield that reflects damage. Unfortunately for Arlo, if the damage is more than his barrier can take; the effect reverses and he takes the damage instead." Seraphina elaborated.
"Oh, so I just need to hit it hard enough and eventually he'll lose enough aura to give me the win… His fighting style didn't seem to account for opponents being able to break his barrier, but as long as I watch out for that; I should be fine." Mori thought aloud.
Seraphina smiled at the cautiousness her teammate showed in his plan of attack. "Seems like playing all that Go had an effect on you after all." She remarked with some amusement.
"Yeah… Don't remind me." Mori said, thinking back to all of the losses he suffered with a suppressed shudder. "So, what's the deal with this John guy?" Mori asked, gesturing to the black-haired boy.
"John is… a wildcard." Seraphina said after trying to find the right word. "He is a strong close-range fighter with most specializations in most weapons you can think of and his semblance… it's strong." Seraphina paused. "His semblance allows him to emulate the flow of aura that his opponents produce to the most minute detail. In layman's terms, he can copy anyone's semblance after getting a good look at it." Seraphina summarized to a slightly shocked Mori.
"A semblance that copies other semblances and good in close combat? He sounds insanely strong, but he has to have a weakness, right?" Mori asked.
"The only things I have is that he can only copy 2 semblances at the same time, but that was about a year ago. Also, he can only copy semblances that have a physical feedback, so mine is out of his reach. The only way I can think of defeating him is gradually reducing his aura enough that his semblance's aura consumption is too great to be useful…" She trailed off, taking notice of Mori trembling for the first time. "Mori? I understand if you're-" She cut herself off as she got a look at his face.
He looked positively ready to burst from excitement.
"After you knock some sense into him, I'm definitely gonna fight that guy." Mori said with a competitive grin on his face.
Shaking her head at her teammate's antics, Seraphina discussed a couple more conditional plans of attack for tomorrow before calling a night, the encounter with her mother swiftly forgotten.
-Present Time-
The tension was palpable as the opponents stared each other down.
"Arlo…" John began.
"Yeah, yeah… I got it." Arlo said, scratching the back of his head as he nonchalantly cut off his teammate.
Smiling at the obedience, John added one more thing. "Oh. And to be clear, do not intervene under any circumstances." John added with a dangerous glint in his eye as he shifted his gaze to look at Arlo.
'You don't have to worry about that…' Arlo thought to himself in a sarcastic tone. His favorite to win John and Sera's engagement clear.
A similar conversation was taking place across from the two members of team JABR.
"Mori," Seraphina suddenly said ", if I lose-"
"That's not going to happen." Mori cut her off before she could finish that thought. "I got it though, so just focus on winning." He advised.
"Is everyone ready to begin?" Port asked over the intercom. Getting no indication of anyone being ill-prepared, he began the match with a call of "Begin!".
The first one to move was Mori. He began by breaking out in a sprint towards Arlo. To Mori's surprise, Arlo turned away from him and began running in the opposite direction.
"Huh? You're actually running away?! Get back here!" Mori shouted in disbelief as he chased after his opponent who seemed to be fleeing towards the ocean half.
John turned to watch the spectacle of Arlo and Mori playing cat and mouse with a slight sweatdrop. Turning back to his chosen opponent, John was surprised to find a fist headed towards his face. Dodging to the right of the fist and catching it, John acknowledged the attempt.
"You've gotten faster- "He was cut off by a knee being forced into his face, followed by a kick that sent him skidding away from Seraphina. "I was hoping we could talk for a bit…" John said as he cracked his knuckles "But I guess there'll be time for that after you wake up from this." John said as his hands began to glow a dark amber.
-With Mori-
"I… Finally…Caught up!" Mori yelled as he sent a jump kick at the back of Arlo's head. The kick was solid, but the attempt was for naught as he only ended up hitting a well-placed barrier. 'so, he really doesn't need to see where he's placing them...' Mori analyzed as he used his other foot to kick off the barrier, landing in a crouch. Standing up at his full height, Mori faced the now still Arlo.
Why had Arlo stopped, you might ask? There were 2 reasons for that.
Firstly, he had created a significant distance between them and John, so there was no chance of crossfire. And second…
"Now I've got you stuck between me and the ocean, so now there's nowhere left for you to run!" Mori announced as he cautiously approached his opponent, wary of any sudden barriers.
"Heh, don't be so sure about that." Arlo taunted as he jumped backwards over the water's surface.
Mori was about to voice his shock when he noticed that Arlo wasn't sinking. The blonde teen was standing over the water's surface like he was some sort of divine being. His jump was a long one so it would be impossible to attack him and make it back to the shore.
'how…?' Mori thought before he got a closer look at Arlo's feet. 'He's using his semblance below his feet to hold him up!' Mori realized upon seeing two faint golden circles under Arlo's feet.
"What's wrong? Not a strong swimmer? You don't seem to be much of a ranged fighter, though, so whatever will you do?" Arlo taunted once again from his seemingly superior position. Arlo was going to taunt the monkey faunus some more when suddenly, Mori vanished from his sight. "Wha- ".
'Re: Taekwondo: Bo Bup and Fangs!' Mori thought as he appeared behind Arlo. Using Arlo's slow response time, Mori slammed each of his elbows into Arlo's shoulders. The impact from the hits were strong enough to lower Arlo's barriers into the water slightly, but his body took most of the impact.
Recovering quickly, Arlo spun and swung his arm behind him to try and catch the monkey faunus. This was to no avail as Mori used his back as a springboard to jump away. Stumbling forward but maintaining enough control to not sink; Arlo turned to acknowledge Mori.
"Nice going, but unless you can stand on water…" Arlo's sentence died in his throat as he turned to see Mori standing on a cloud.
"You're not the only one with a useful semblance, it seems." Mori said, imitating Arlo's cocky tone of voice until now.
"So, you've got a platform to stand on? So what? My barriers are still too strong for you to break." Arlo pointed out in an attempt to weaken Mori's morale.
He received no response as Mori, riding his cloud, suddenly shot at him seemingly at the speed of a bullet. The punch that would have met his face was blocked by another well-placed barrier. Releasing the breath that he unknowingly held, Arlo prepared to taunt Mori again but felt a sudden faint pain spread throughout his chest as a crack appeared on his barrier.
"Are you sure about that?" Mori's grinning visage questioned.
-With Seraphina-
Seraphina knew John was strong.
She probably knew it the best out of anyone. The boy she had been best friends with had certainly been strong enough to give her a challenge, but his chances of winning would have been slim.
This John was a different kind of strong.
Using her semblance to slow time enough to allow her to dodge another Amber electricity-amplified shot of energy, Seraphina had to wonder how he'd gotten this powerful.
John's semblance allowed his to copy the flow of people's aura in order to replicate their semblances. That was what she knew. What she didn't know, was that John had grown in the last year, and so had his semblance. Now, John seemed to be able to copy two semblances and use them simultaneously to create devastating effects. Not only that, but he could also make them stronger than the version the user had.
Seraphina had gathered that from when she barely dodged a previous electrified blast and earned herself a numbed right arm that gradually regained feeling by the minute.
Slowing time around her to dodge another blast, Seraphina knew she had to make a change or risk losing the fight. Slowing time and crouching to avoid a blast aimed right at her face, Seraphina decided to use her semblance in a new way. Channeling her aura and willing it to go faster, Seraphina felt her semblance shift the time around her as she wished. Seraphina knew the time was right.
Oblivious to what Seraphina was thinking, John was busy firing electrified laser beams at his former friend. The semblances of his allies that he'd copied the previous day were coming in handy as he slowly drained Seraphina's aura by keeping her on the defensive. Such was his advantage, that he simply stood with both palms out in an open stance. So, imagine his surprise when Seraphina vanishes from his sight, a dust trail being the only indication of where she went.
Eyes widening, he followed the trail to see the retreating form of Seraphina heading towards the mountain biome, presumably to get cover from his ranged assault.
'As if you'll get off that easily!' John thought as he channeled his aura to his hands once again, but this time in a continuous stream. The effect was immediate, as Amber beams began to propel him in the direction Seraphina had fled.
John had underestimated Seraphina's speed, however, as upon following the footsteps she'd left behind; he found himself in a clearing with several rocks big enough to hide her as well as the end of her trail.
'tch. You're underestimating me, Sera…' John thought as he put his hands together and began channeling a large amount of aura. The fruits of his efforts began to show when a medium-sized sphere of Amber light formed between his palms.
"Grrrrah!" He yelled at the effort as he split the sphere into two equally sized spheres and channeled them into continuous beams that came out of each palm.
The end result was a wave of destruction in front of him as John fired upon anything Seraphina could've used as cover. The aura blasts against the rocks caused explosions that shook the arena and left scorch marks on the dusty ground. Standing at the center of the destruction was John, now slightly obscured by the dust cloud his actions had created, panting and with no sight of his opponent.
Frustration peaking, John was about to let out a yell to vent when he heard a peculiar noise. The sound of a light cracking caught his attention. It took him just a second too long to figure out the source, however, as Seraphina shot out of the ground not a second later. Along with her surprise entrance, she gifted John with a nasty uppercut that sent him stumbling backwards.
Regaining his footing and rubbing his chin, John locked eyes with the defiant sapphire orbs of Seraphina. She briefly casted a glance at the aura meters before refocusing her gaze on him. John growled slightly as lighting began to encompass his form. This was the same lightning cloak that Remi had used the previous day.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Seraphina warned. "Your aura is low enough that if you do that, this will end way too quickly." She informed him.
Sending a side glance towards the scoreboard, John noted their current aura levels. 'I'm at around 30% and she's still around 50… Damn…' He thought as he disabled the lightning cloak.
"Good, you can listen to reason." Seraphina noted as she dropped into a refined stance.
"Now then, why don't we have a 'talk', John?" Seraphina said before charging at the amber-eyed boy.
-GoR-
High up above the arena, Ozpin and Ironwood were once again spectating the day's matches. Glynda was absent, checking the state of several behind-the-scenes matters at the specific request of Ozpin. Thus, the two men were sitting next to each other in throne-like chairs with a large screen displaying the match before them. The topic of conversation in the room was not on the match currently raging below them.
"Ozpin, I'm telling you. We must transfer the maiden's power into Nikos as soon as possible." Ironwood said, fists clenched in his armrests. "Let's pull her from the tournament and complete the transfer before our enemies have the chance to strike." Ironwood attempted to reason to his colleague.
"Are you saying we should potentially rob Ms. Nikos of her precious last days simply because you're assuming the enemy will strike before the tournament's end?" Ozpin questioned. "I understand the concern, I do. But to take the life of a teenage girl simply because of a strong suspicion?" Ozpin questioned with a solid gaze towards the general.
Returning his gaze with one equally as intense, Ironwood responded. "It's regrettable that her life must come to an end, but we need the maiden's power to be usable before the worst comes to pass." Ironwood reasoned.
It was into this intense atmosphere that Glynda re-entered the room to meet. The sound of the elevator reaching the floor wasn't even enough to shake the two men from their little staring contest. The file held beneath her left arm was clenched with a little more strength at the feeling.
"Ahem." Glynda said with emphasis to get their attention. "Judging by the tension stifling the air, I'd wager you two were discussing the Nikos matter." Glynda stated more than asked, causing both men's eyes to slightly darken. "Unfortunately, I've come bearing more news that complicates things…" She said as she shifted the file into her hands.
"This file," She said looking down at the manilla folder. ", holds the simplified medical information of every student that mysteriously came up sick before the festival. The statistics showing the varying levels of their symptoms are also included." She summarized as she handed the file to Ozpin, allowing him to open it and browse the simplified data.
Usually, such data would be highly confidential and only distributed upon the signing of numerous consent forms, but these circumstances are incredibly unique.
"Aura-based sickness…?" Ozpin questioned as he flipped through the diagnoses written by the various medical staff they had on hand.
"Yes. It's unlike anything we've ever seen before… The oddest part is the distribution of such an affliction. I went took the liberty of contacting the other headmasters and commissioning their medical data for comparison and the results were… shocking… to say the least." Glynda added, as Ironwood looked through the graphs comparing the local cases to those at other academies.
"The symptoms include: Weakness, inability to use semblance and general issues manipulating aura… What a malicious sickness. The targets are too specific to be a coincidence, however." Ironwood pointed out upon seeing those afflicted. "These cases are only students, every time. And they only seemed to affect those with a chance of going to the Vytal Festival, every time." He emphasized.
"This is most concerning… The enemy would have to have accessed our databases directly to have gained such information…" Glynda thought aloud before her eyes widened. "The breach of the CCT! Ms. Rose thought she foiled the break-in, but if she'd actually failed…" Glynda left hanging.
"Then we have a much larger issue at hand than any of us realized…" Ozpin concluded with a grim tone.
The heavy tone of the conversation seemed to take its toll on the occupants of the room as a pregnant silence overcame them.
"We need to end the tournament." Ironwood spoke. "We need to end the tournament and get all of the civilians to safety. We have no idea what the enemy may be planning, but if they managed to hack the CCT, then anything could be a danger." He said, thinking about the schematics of the very ship they were riding.
"I agree- "
"No." Ozpin silenced Glynda with a stern opposition. "The tournament must continue." Ozpin strongly insisted, getting shocked looks from the other occupants of the room.
"Ozpin, are you out of your mind?" Ironwood said tersely, clearly holding in the yell he wanted to unleash. "We just found out that the students are in danger, as well as countless civilians, on top of the fact that our entire informational network has been compromised and you want to continue a silly tournament?" Ironwood said, volume increasing with each word. So mad, was he, that he rose from his chair to stand before the target of his rage.
"James, control yourself." Glynda said, attempting to assuage the general's burning ferocity. "Now, Headmaster. I've served under you faithfully for years and questioned many of your decisions, but this? This is beyond the scope of any of that. You're asking us to ignore such dangerous circumstances and continue the tournament, and for what?" Glynda asked, giving Ozpin the chance to explain himself.
"I understand how insane this may sound to you both, but I beg of you to understand." Ozpin said as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. 'This course of events must come to pass.' Ozpin thought to himself. "James, I don't care how tightly you bound the security, but I beg you to let the tournament go on." Ozpin said, recalling his earlier position of using less security.
"Is that supposed to appease me?" Ironwood asked incredulously. "What we need, Ozpin, are solid answers. Not appeasement." He specified with a deep frown.
"Then so be it." Ozpin said as he raised his head and fit Ironwood with the most chilling gaze he'd ever felt.
This gaze made Ironwood have to take a step back out of shock at the aura being emitted by the gray-haired man. He no longer felt like James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian army. He felt like James Ironwood, helpless human before a force of nature.
"James. Glynda." He said, causing a shiver to run up both of their spines at the tone being used to address them. "This is all the information I am willing to give on the matter of continuing the tournament. None of this shall ever leave either of your mouths, understand?" He asked, getting two stiff nods in response. Confirming their responses, Ozpin toned down his aura so the two could listen properly.
Upon the release of the intense aura, James and Glynda took the breath neither knew they were holding to calm their rapidly beating hearts. Neither had time to question just what it was they felt as Ozpin began to speak.
"Within this tournament. Among all of the candidates, there are two very special individuals." Ozpin said, confusing the two present.
'Two? Pyrrha Nikos is one, but who's the other?' they thought in sync.
"What makes these two special is that, between them, they may hold the key to defeating Salem and ending this god-forsaken cycle, once and for all." Ozpin said with such seriousness that it caused the other two occupants to immediately understand Ozpin's decision.
"But Ozpin." Ironwood voiced. "Why continue the tournament instead of contacting these individuals directly like we did with Nikos?" He asked, confused at the roundabout way of going about this.
"The answer to that is simple, James." Ozpin said as he looked towards the bracket and analyzed the list of students that he was handed. "Whether we like it or not, this is all the work of fate." He said as he sent a message to the color commentators on a last-minute change.
-GoR-
'This can't continue…' Arlo thought as he barely dodged another kick from the monkey faunus he was facing.
Arlo and Mori were still fighting on the surface of the water, using their respective semblances to stay afloat while they engaged in hand-to-hand combat. This was a mistake, Arlo soon realized as Mori was quickly turning him into a punching bag.
Mori's cloud-like semblance was nebulous like well… a cloud. So, it was more flexible than Arlo's barriers, which were rigid in form. This allowed Mori to maneuver with less set-up than Arlo, giving him more angles to attack from.
"Hah!" Mori called out as he jumped and sent a spinning kick towards Arlo's face. The kick was blocked by Arlo's arms as well as a round barrier that seemed to function as a held shield.
Arlo was prepared to use Mori's disadvantageous position to his advantage when he noticed a small cloud forming under Mori's unused leg. Before Mori could fall from his kick, he lashed out with a stomp towards the cloud, using it as a foothold to flip over Arlo. With Mori in his blind spot, Arlo could only guess where the next kick would come from, so he did the safe thing and created a long barrier to protect himself.
The issue with this strategy was that Arlo's semblance had a major weakness. The strength of his barriers was indirectly proportional to their surface area. Meaning that the smaller they were, the stronger they were. This was an issue against an opponent like Mori who managed to crack one of his small barriers with a punch.
Thus, when Mori lashed out with his kick, his barrier shattered like glass. This allowed Mori's kick to impact his right shoulder with almost full force, forcing Arlo down to a knee as he struggled to stay above the water's surface. Quickly looking over his shoulder, Arlo saw Mori rolling on his already repositioned semblance.
The speed of Mori's semblance was also proving to be an issue as any time Arlo tried to move away from him, Mori followed closely enough that not focusing on defending would prove a costly mistake. Frankly, the only reason Arlo was still in this was because of his large aura reserves and even they were beginning to run low. Deciding on a course of action that may end the match, Arlo willed another barrier into existence.
Mori wasn't sure what happened. One minute, Mori was rolling away from his opponent, the next he was being lifted in a golden enclosed rectangle.
'What the hell?' he thought as he tried to move but found his movement mostly restricted, only barely having enough space to move his hands up to his face.
"I hope you don't have claustrophobia." Arlo said to the trapped faunus between pants from the sudden reprieve he'd given himself.
At hearing his opponent's voice, Mori began to struggle against the barrier holding him. This caused Arlo to gain a peculiar look on his face as he noticed his opponent's movements.
"I recommend you give up, unless you wanna feel as close to a pancake as humanly possible." Arlo suggested, slowly shrinking the space a little for effect. "I will, however, commend you for your efforts." He praised honestly. "You were one of the strongest people I've ever fought and the fact you haven't given up yet is something many could stand to learn from." He concluded.
Arlo couldn't make out the noise Mori made next as he held his hand next to him as if he were holding something cylindrical. But the next thing he knew, there was a gray staff in the box with Mori that extended to the length of his barrier and held strong against the encroaching force.
'Where the hell did that thing come from?' Arlo thought in shock at the seemingly growing staff. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when his barrier gained a large crack in it, coinciding with a large pain that struck his chest.
At this point, Arlo didn't even need to glance at the scoreboard to know what he should do. Releasing Mori from his prison, allowing him to catch himself on his cloud, Arlo coughed one last time to utter his last words of the match.
"I surrender."
-With Seraphina-
As soon as Seraphina reached John, their fight began anew.
"John." Seraphina said as she sent a punch towards the boy's face. "Why are you doing this?" She asked as the boy evaded her punch. Her talking was stopped by a palm thrust John landed on her exposed stomach, causing her to wheeze as the air was forced out of her.
"I have no idea what you…mean!" John said as he spun around her, attempting to bash her with clasped hands. This attack missed, however, as Seraphina used his repositioning to move forward, out of his reach.
"Alright." Seraphina said as she regained her breath and charged him once again. "I'll be more specific." She said, launching a spin kick at the boy's head that got blocked.
John countered by pushing her off, so she'd be off balance and lashing out with a punch aimed for her head. Having predicted this, Seraphina used the force of his push to continue spinning, causing his punch to miss by a hair, and counter with a punch of her own that knocked him off-balance.
"Why have you been taking out your anger on everyone around you?!" Seraphina asked as she jumped in the air and tried to land a downward punch on the boy.
"That's simple." John said as he evaded by spinning to his right. He used the same motion to send a kick towards Seraphina's face as soon as she landed. Expecting this, Seraphina blocked the kick, but was still pushed back. "Because you were all complicit when I was the one on the receiving end!" John said as he rushed the still-blocking Seraphina.
"What?" Seraphina said as she blocked the two quick punches John lashed out with, holding his fists to restrict his movement. "But most of these people didn't even know you, nor did they have a direct role." Seraphina attempted to reason but was only met with John's unmoving frown.
"You're right… But they also had the power to put a stop to it but didn't" John said as he used Seraphina's grip on his hands to pull her forward before crashing his knee against her jaw. This caused her to loosen her grip as she was sent stumbling back for a few steps. "There was no problem for them when I was the powerless one." John said as he stalked towards Seraphina. "But as soon as I'm the one with power, there's a problem?" He said as he began his assault anew. "that's… just… Bullshit!" John yelled as he lashed out with a flurry of punches that Seraphina blocked with crossed arms.
Amidst the storm of punches coming her way, Seraphina couldn't help but feel bed for the boy before her. "your anger is understandable, but what about you? What makes you different than those who wronged you?!" Seraphina asked, causing John to slightly slow his assault.
"Who the hell do you think you are to question me?!" John yelled as he sent out a punch with all of his might. The punch landed squarely in Seraphina's guard, breaking it but also sending her skidding back.
Breathing hard after the attacks she weathered but not done yet, Seraphina hardened herself. "I am…" Seraphina began as her eyes began to glow. "just a girl trying to save her friend…" She continued as she appeared behind John with a fist cocked, eyes still glowing.
John spun to face her but was too late on account of Seraphina's physics-defying semblance.
"From himself!" Seraphina yelled as she slammed her speed-enhanced fist into John's cheek.
The impact of the punch was so great that it sent John to the ground and caused his body to roll for a few feet before slowly coming to a stop.
Seraphina began to trek towards the boy, who was attempting to stand, when a familiar sound played over the intercom.
"John Doe's aura has fallen below the aura threshold and therefore has been eliminated! Thus, Team JS Wins!" Port announced, causing the crowd to cheer loudly. This didn't include many young women in the crowd, however, as they were sad to see Arlo's performance end.
-GoR-
After hearing that John lost his fight, Arlo let out a sigh. Whether it was of relief or disappointment, not even he knew.
'I guess that's it then…' he thought as he slowly began to make his way off the field, having wordlessly navigated himself back to the shore after surrendering to Mori.
"Hey, Arlo!" Mori called, weapon put away and still riding Kinto'un.
Turning to acknowledge his opponent, Arlo wondered what he'd have to say. "What is it?" He asked the boy, just a little sore about his loss.
"I saw what you did for Neptune, so I know you're not a bad guy. So, I hope we can fight again sometime!" he said with one of his trademark grins.
Scoffing in annoyance, Arlo turned away and began walking once again. But not before giving Mori an answer. "Sure, challenge me whenever." He said with a small smile on his face.
-GoR-
As she approached John, Seraphina was unsurprised to find a frown aimed in her direction. The boy had given up attempting to stand and was simply seated with his legs out in front of him. The final punch from her had most likely not been cushioned with enough aura, so he was likely slightly concussed from the impact.
"Hey… did you mean what you said at the end?" John asked, frown still in place, but his eyes contained less of the anger that they held before. Now they only contained a mixture of anger and what appeared to be frustration.
Stopping about a foot in front of him, Seraphina responded. "About us being friends? Yeah, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. Ouch…" Seraphina answered, but had to hold her right hand in pain immediately after finishing.
The purple coloring of her knuckle and the resulting pain must mean that she damaged her hand by hitting John with the newest application of her semblance. Ignoring that for now, though, Seraphina refocused on the seated boy before her as he asked another question.
"Then why… Why did you just up and leave back then? John asked, clenching his teeth as he aimed his frown down at the ground.
"John…" Seraphina began "I- ".
"Are you able to walk?" A medical official asked, interrupting Seraphina. Several of them arrived with a stretcher upon seeing that John didn't move after the match was called.
Ignoring the question and sending a look at Seraphina, John waited for her to continue.
"Just go. We can talk later when you're not concussed, and I don't have a potentially broken hand." Seraphina said as she began to walk off.
Watching her go, John and the paramedics sat in silence as she exited the area.
"So, are you going to get me up on to that stretcher, or not?"
-GoR-
After the field had been cleared of people and the stage reset to it's normal, metallic floor; the screens once again displayed Ozpin.
"Good Afternoon, all. I do hope you are well." He said, getting the pleasantries out of the way. "First, I'd like to apologize to you all. I'm apologizing on behalf of myself and the tournament staff because there will not be a second match being held today." He said, getting sounds of confusion and groans of disappointment from the crowd.
"The reason the second match is cancelled is due to the fact that Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren of team JNPR are unable to fight for medical reasons I am not at liberty to say. Unfortunately, we will have to disqualify them due to this, meaning that Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc of team JNPR win by default, qualifying them to send a representative into the semifinals." Ozpin stated in his usual detached professional tone.
"In light of this, I have already collected the names of the representatives that will continue into the semifinals." Ozpin said, as a bracket with three spots showed up on the screen in front of him. "First, representing Team JS, we have Mori Jin." He said, as Mori's name and picture filled in one of the slots. "Second, from Team IJSS, we have Ilpyo Park." He said as, once again, Ilpyo's information filled in the slot. "Finally, from Team JNPR, we have Pyrrha Nikos." He finished, as Pyrrha's information populated the screen.
"Now, as there are three candidates, this will have to be handled a little oddly." Ozpin warned as the crowd was left to wonder what he meant for a couple seconds. "Similar to the rounds we just had, I will permit one candidate to go straight to the finals. This will be based on a random selection and completed immediately." Ozpin said as the positions of the information on screen began to shift around.
As the motion of the names and pictures stopped, the results displayed left the crowd highly anticipating the next day's match.
Mori Jin vs Ilpyo Park
Winner Fights Pyrrha Nikos
Chapter 14 End
A/N: Hey, guys. It has definitely been a minute since I've updated the story and for that I want to apologize (I do that a lot in these…). Usually, I say I'll be back in two weeks (that usually turned to three…), but this time it turned more into a month and about a week. Honestly, the only excuse I have is writer's block because I knew what I wanted to write but figuring out how to write it was kind of tough. While waiting let me see how Uru-chan handled John and Sera's fight, I still feel bad for making you guys wait.
Anyways, this fight was one of great importance for setting up John and Sera's interaction in the future, so I'm glad I finally got it down. I also originally had a much grander idea for Mori fighting Arlo, but I decided last minute that Mori would prefer using his weapon and semblance as last resorts.
Overall, while these fights may not have been too exciting, I'm definitely going to make the next one an absolute spectacle because I'm finally going to be able to include more GoH elements. Also, almost all of the questions I've been asked in reviews will be answered in the next 3 chapters, so I hope you all look forward to that.
Lastly, I wanted to thank you guys once again for sticking to this story and for getting it past 200 followers. I know my writing skills aren't the best and my story isn't the greatest, but I'm grateful for all of your feedback and support.
Anyways, I'll see you guys on the next installment of GoR.