New chapter! Hope you enjoy this! Also, yaa, I surpassed my other story in review #s. Enjoy, for it's time to start the 3rd volume!
It was tournament time! 32 teams, all fighting to be the winner of the tournament! Each team had received a message telling them who they were fighting, leaving them one day to prepare. When Sun found out his team was fighting NDGO, he slightly frowned, but after meeting his girlfriend in secret, he came out with a smile. Both had promised to fight each other without holding back. None of them had shared any information and both teams hadn't sparred with each other before, making it fair. RWBY was fighting ABRN of Haven, and JNPR vs. BRNZ of Shade. Jaune was slightly upset he wasn't fighting any Arcs. He would've relished on crushing them.
As each teams were doing last minute checkups on their weapons on the last day, Pyrrha received a surprise visitor.
"Did you miss me!" bellowed a man with a red beard and a beer belly.
"Uncle Hephaestus!" shouted Pyrrha, running to him to give him a hug.
"I came to see if you needed a professional to check up on your weapon," laughed Hephaestus, giving his niece a crushing hug. He saw Jaune and went over to hug him too.
"Did you miss your 'wife'?" Asked Hephaestus with a joking tone.
"It was good to see her, yes," replied Jaune. Then he frowned for a second. Since he was here, might as well get it off his chest.
"Hephaestus... There's something I need to tell you. It involves Pyrrha, and I do have to tell her parents about it, but I appreciate if I can tell it to you in private."
"Hmm? Well ok then," said Hephaestus, tilting his head in confusion before letting Jaune lead the way. Pyrrha went with him. Saying their goodbyes to Ren and Nora for a bit, they went to find a private room. On their way, they passed by team RWBY. Ruby gasped as her eyes turned to stars as she saw Hephaestus
"Oh my gosh! Is that...?" trailed off Ruby.
"Ruby, what's wrong?" asked Weiss.
"That's one of the legendary blacksmiths Hephaestus! His weapons and shields are one of the top tier works! I've always wanted to meet one of the legendary blacksmiths in person!" squealed Ruby, dashing off with a trail of rose petals. However, she was caught by Yang by the hood.
"Whoa, there, little sis. You can talk to him later. Jaune looks like he needs to have a private word with him. Might be about the harem he has to make," said Yang, lifting a chibi size Ruby.
"Aww.. fine. But I want to meet him after!" said Ruby with a puppy glare. "IwannaIwannaIwanna!" shouted Ruby while flailing her arms and legs.
Weiss was chuckling when she found her Scroll ringing. She looked at it to see it was her father calling her again. She was about to hang it up when she remembered Jaune's words. Sighing and knowing that he would just keep calling, she decided it was time to at least say hi. She excused herself from the group, taking a deep breath, and answered the call.
"Hello, father," said Weiss into her Scroll.
"..."
"Father? Hello?" asked Weiss, confused at the lack of words. She was wondering if her father had somehow pocket dialed her and was about to hang up when she finally heard words.
"You... actually answered," a shocked Jacques Schnee answered.
"You did call me, father," replied Weiss in an annoyed voice.
"I was actually expecting you to ignore my calls as usual," confessed Jacques, "Now this is just awkward, especially since I have a meeting in 3 minutes. I only called because I had some time, and didn't expect you to pick up."
Weiss had to roll her eyes at that, "You can thank Jaune Ryu-Long for that. He convinced me to at least give you a status update about my life here at Beacon."
"Ah, so Jaune is there too? I guess I don't have to worry too much with him there. Is he on your team? And have you decided if he is a potential suitor?" asked Jacques.
"Father!" yelled Weiss, embarrassed at that, "No, he's the leader on another team, but our teams do work closely with each other. And he is... kinda my boyfriend?"
"Explain," said Jacques immediately.
"We're testing the grounds, you could say" explained Weiss, "To see if it can become something else."
"Excellent!" beamed Jacques, "So I can expect him to be my son-in-law? You've chosen well."
"Is there anything else?" whispered Weiss in a mortified tone.
"There is more I want to ask, but I have to head off to my meeting. I was going to halt the flow of Lien into your account if you kept ignoring me, but there's no reason for that now. Especially since you need some of it to convince Jaune to be with you. Good bye, and perhaps we can talk a bit longer. Klein misses you, as well as Winter. I do as well."
"You're missing someone," said Weiss.
"Ah, well I'm sure Whitley does too, even if he hasn't vocally voiced it," admitted Jacques.
"Goodbye, father. It was... nice to talk to you. I've learned so much at Beacon than I thought possible," said Weiss.
"I was opposed to you heading to Beacon... but I can see you seem happy there. That, and by luck, you met Jaune again. Goodbye, and please answer my calls."
"I'll try to, but don't hold it against me if I don't. I might be busy," said Weiss.
Jacques grunted in agreement before hanging up. Weiss was feeling... a bit more refreshed after that conversation.
"It's going to be awkward when I tell him that Jaune's dating several other girls, too," grumbled Weiss, "Wait, did he say he had been planning to stop sending me Lien!?"
"Huh. That's... well I dunno what to say," said Hephaestus, rubbing his beard with his hand after Jaune confessed to him about dating several girls at once, and why. Pyrrha helped explain, saying that she was fine with it. "To be honest, I thought you called me here to tell me that you were dating Pyrrha, and were planning to marry her for real. That, or tell me you accidentally knocked her up."
"Uncle!" shouted Pyrrha with embarrassment.
"What?" said Hephaestus, "It was obvious you two were made for each other. I would've been able to play the angry uncle or the fun uncle while my brother plays the threatening father. We even had it planned out!"
"Umm. Thanks?" said Jaune, not sure what to say about that.
They continued on and told Hephaestus most of the Jaune's life. The dragons, the reason why, and even a little about Jaune's past.
"Wait, so you're saying you used to be an Arc?" asked Hephaestus, "And that your stupid man banished you without even attempting to unlock your Aura to train?"
"Yea," said Jaune.
"Hmm, going to need to make some calls," growled Hephaestus darkly as he rubbed his beard, "Perhaps putting his family name on the blacksmith association blacklist will take them down a notch."
"Thanks, but there's no point on that," said Jaune appreciating the gesture, "Both his sons are fighting in the tournament. It'll be fun to destroy them in a fight."
"That's the spirit, boy!" clapped Hephaestus as he patted Jaune on the back. "Let's get your weapons and shields checked out. I'll take care of any chips on them, and make sure they're in the best conditions for your fight. Lead me to a forge!"
As they walked out, Jaune whispered to Pyrrha, "I'm surprised your uncle is actually ok with this."
Pyrrha whispered back, "Well... his uncle, my grand uncle, Zeus, was a playboy. He loves his wife, Hera, but the man just couldn't keep his pants up when it came to woman. Almost every month, he was sleeping with someone besides Hera. In the end, she just accepted it but bought a special Dust belt that would shock him if he even attempted to pull his pants down. Only she could pull it down, even if he needed to use the deal became that Zeus was to be faithful on certain days, and if he wasn't, it would zap his manhood. Needless to say, he got the message."
They both giggled at that before catching up to Hephaestus. They introduced him to the rest of the team and RWBY. Ruby was going ecstatic, even to go so far as to get an autograph from Hephaestus. He chuckled with good nature and signed it, even agreeing to check over RWBY's weapons. He was quite impressed with Ruby's scythe.
As they were all walking to Beacon's forge room, someone called out to them. Or more specifically, to Jaune.
"So. It's true. My failure of a son is here."
They turned around to see Vlad Arc, along with his sons trailing behind him.
"I am no son of yours," retorted Jaune coldly, his fist clenching tightly.
"I admit, I am quite surprised to see you still alive, and with your Aura unlocked," said Vlad, "I was sure that you would die within a day. If it wasn't for that freak incident, I would've dropped you off at the nearest Grimm infested forest and wash you off my hands."
Jaune was having trouble controlling his temper, his instincts roaring, telling him to kill Vlad Arc, regardless of it being in public. Blake, noticing this, grabbed his hand. Jaune relaxed a little, but he was still tempted to do it. She had to have Yang back her up, and Yang grabbed his other hand to calm him down.
Vlad didn't notice it, but Aurelian did. He shelved that in his mind, thinking he finally had the edge to nab Pyrrha Nikos.
"Ah, master blacksmith Hephaestus! A pleasure to meet a legend," said Vlad with fake sincerity, "I didn't think you would be here today!"
"Came to visit my niece," replied Hephaestus, giving a fake smile.
"Ah, yes. The famous Pyrrha Nikos. The 'Goddess of Victory'. Why don't we get acquainted? You and your niece can come eat lunch with us, and my boys can get to know your niece. I have reservations at a nice place, where they serve the finest wine and fish," said Vlad.
"I'll be busy looking over my niece's weapons and her friends," returned Hephaestus, "After all, the tournament is coming. Have to make sure their weapons are in the best conditions."
"A shame," said Vlad. He looked like he was pondering about something when he continued, "How about looking over my son's weapons too? And I can take your niece out to a nice lunch with my boys as payment. Who knows, my son might be a good match with your niece. The winner of the 39th Vytal Festival Tournament and the Goddess of Victory, dating. It has a certain flair to it."
"Not gonna happen," growled Jaune, "I wouldn't trust Aurelian with Pyrrha at all. Nor would I trust you to try to help your son rape my teammate."
Aurelian looked angry, while Boyd was mad. Vlad, however, kept his cool. Inside, though, he was pissed. He had heard from his son that the boy had friends who already knew about his disgrace and yet stuck with him. How Pyrrha seemed to be under some sort of spell that she would choose Jaune over Aurelian. He had planned to use the excuse of a lunch to 'break' the spell. A drug to help Pyrrha see the light, perhaps.
"Pitiful, but you don't speak for the girl. Why don't you let her choose?" asked Vlad.
"Not interested," said Pyrrha flatly, "Nor will my uncle help maintain your weapon."
Aurelian glared at Pyrrha for a second, "Why? Just because you want to be with that... that failure? Who are you to him?"
"His wife," said Pyrrha flatly, surprising them all, "I was the one who unlocked his Aura 3 years ago, at my house. I was the one who took off that accursed lock Vlad Arc placed on him. My parents and my uncle were the witnesses."
While Boyd looked confused at what that meant, both Vlad and Aurelian narrowed their eyes.
"That old tradition," scoffed Vlad, "Only some cultures recognize it. The Arc family certainly does not, making your claims to be invalid.
Aurelian took a step forward towards Pyrrha, trying to use a different tactic with a sincere voice, "Don't you see his falsehood? You realize he is two timing you with those girls behind you! You must've not noticed, but allow me to comfort you at the grievous news. There is no point in binding yourself in a 'marriage' that he clearly doesn't show loyalty to you."
Aurelian tried to hug her, only to be met with a punch not from Jaune, not from Hephaestus, but rather from the silent one of the group. Ren had taken it up to protect Jaune's potential mate with a punch to his face.
"How dare you!" shouted Boyd, intent on showing Ren who was the better man.
"Stop," said Vlad, "There are better ways to show who is superior."
With practiced gesture and grin, he openly accused Ren of being violent, while displaying Jaune's past to the public, trying to humiliate both of them.
"Also, you're coming back with me, Jaune. I need to correct a mistake," ended Vlad, "And don't give me that bullcrap reason. I'm an Arc. I have the right to fix someone of my blood. Not even Ozpin can stop me from doing that. Bylaws of the family line pass through your so-called 'protection'. You have no choice. You're dropping out of this tournament and coming with back home right now."
"Actually, we do," interrupted another voice. Vlad turned to see Ozpin and someone who he dearly hated just as much, Henry Winchester, a man who was rather influential in the political field. Team CRDL had joined to see what was going on.
"Team JNPR is scheduled to fight in the Vytal Festival Tournament. Not only that, but Jaune is a Huntsman in training, no matter how much you try to deny it. And it is clear in the laws that you are not allowed to withdraw someone from any Academy if the person in question does not want to. And also, you relinquished all rights to Jaune Ryu-Long when you banished him," stated Ozpin, a firm grip on his cane and a rather serious expression. His left hand was not carrying his usual mug on his hand.
"If you try to use your influence, know that the Winchester family will fight against you," declared Henry.
Seeing that he had no choice, for now, Vlad backed off, but not before declaring, "This isn't over, boy."
Ozpin watched Vlad walk off, and as soon as he went around the corner he turned towards the group "Enjoy the rest of the day. Don't let this ruin it." He left to deal with some other stuff, dispersing the crowd that had gathered.
"So, this is the boy who caved in my son's face," said Henry, looking at Jaune directly. Jaune gulped slightly but stood his ground.
"Dad, I told you it was my fault and I took full blame," said Cardin, a bit embarrassed.
"I know. But I still want to see the face of the man who helped my son realize his true self," grinned Henry.
"What?" asked Jaune.
"My boy Cardin," explained Henry, grabbing his son and giving him a noogie on the head embarrassing his son a bit more, "Can be difficult at times. I told him not to discriminate, but he still has the tendency to do so. I am to blame, but I am sometimes blind to my son's habit. It doesn't help that the cause of his mother's death was because of the White Fang. It has led him to hate Faunus more than usual."
JNPR and RWBY didn't really know what to say at that. Cardin was still struggling to get out of it.
"And so," continued Henry, finally letting go of his son, "I must say thank you. If you need political power against the Arc, you merely need to ask. The Winchester family name holds quite a bit of influence, especially in Vale."
At that, he left. Cardin apologized for the awkwardness and left to join his father. The rest of CRDL joined him.
"Well... That was a thing," said Yang in a daze.
"Who knew a former bully would help you," said Weiss.
"I guess Cardin does have his reason why he hates Faunus, even if it's not the best reason," sighed Blake. After hearing that his mother died because of the White Fang only made her wish to stop Adam and his madness stronger. To stop families from being separated. It was already bad enough with the Grimm.
"Come now," bellowed Hephaestus, "Let's get your weapons checked out for any flaws. The matches start tomorrow!"
"Yea!" shouted both Ruby and Nora.
"It would be good to get our weapons in the best of conditions and relax for the day," agreed Ren. With that in mind, both teams went to the forge. After declaring all their weapons to be fine, Hephaestus left to head back home. He had to get back to his forge, as he couldn't afford to close it for a long time but promised to watch their matches.
It was time for battle! The day had arrived! All 32 teams lined up in the arena, divided by academies into 4 sections, with the leader of each team in front of their team. In front of each section was a flag bearing the symbol of which academy they would represent. Ozpin himself was up on a podium with Glynda. Behind them was a curious looking box that was covered in curtains. The stadium was filled with people of all ages, excited for the tournament. As the time grew closer, Ozpin coughed into the mic, causing everyone to settle down to be quiet.
"Welcome…. to the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament!"
Everyone immediately cheered at that announcement, making Ozpin wait a few seconds before waving his hand to have everyone quiet down again.
"Today, we have 32 teams that have excelled among their peers to compete in the tournament. They will prove to you all today that as usual, Huntsmen and Huntresses, the ones who choose to guard humanity, will never settle for mediocrity. But to strive to be the best. We stand here in the Amity Colosseum today, the pinnacle of technology that combined all four kingdom's efforts to create this to show that we can all work together, no matter where we are."
Behind him, the screen flashed a symbol. It was the symbol of the Vytal Festival Tournament. All four symbols from each kingdom combined into one.
"For today, all these competitors will show you just how far they have gotten with their training. And how all of them will help protect and serve humanity. And to never give into the darkness. So please, let us have a moment of silence for all Huntsmen and Huntresses, past, present, future, living, retired, training, and dead."
Everyone bowed their head in respect as they remembered those who chose to protect humanity. About 30 seconds later, Ozpin tapped his mic, getting everyone's attention.
"And so, before we begin, for once in the tournament, we will be having a band to perform as an opening act."
He chuckled at this as he continued, "They managed to convince me after so many hours of pleading. And once they performed the song they had chosen and how it related to the tournament, I had no choice to agree. Who knows, I may just let them perform a bit more if the crowd likes what they hear. So without further ado everyone, please welcome from the kingdom of Atlas, team DSCO!"
Glynda waved her riding crop, and the curtains fell off, revealing team DSCO, all dressed up in their usual battle gear to sing and rock. Dandy had a bass guitar and was standing in the front, strangely with his weapon placed standing up in front of him.. Soul was next to him, hood down, mic of his own and his weapon in its standard form strapped over him connected to one of the speakers. Coral was in the back spinning his drumsticks with a mic attached to his face for he was the drummer of the group. Finally, Onyx also had the weapon set up to where it was in its stand from, piano keys were lined up before him for him to play. Dandy took a deep breath, before sporting a toothy grin, with a nod of his head to his team he began the first note of the song starting off what could be described as quite the hype starting song.
Uncontainable-Set It Off
The song finished with everyone cheering wildly. The competitors felt the fires lit up under them as the song was indeed what could be described to each one of them.
As DSCO got off the stage, Dandy giving a wave, Soul giving a peace sign without turning towards the crowd, Coral giving fist pumps and finally Onyx giving a bow here and there as they all walked off stage, they soon passed by Jaune and his team.
"So that's what you guys were planning," whispered Jaune giving a bit of a smirk to the fellow team leader.
"Eeeyep," replied Dandy as he had quite the smile on his face, "Getting our name out there. If we somehow get famous as a band, you're more than welcome to come to our concerts, free of charge. Take it as thanks for saving my niece. But if you ever need anything else let us know, we'd be happy to help!"
And with that, DSCO left the arena to find some seats in the arena. The teams all left the arena to also take a seat in front row seats, reserved for competitors with exception to certain people.
RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, NDGO, and CRDL were all sitting in one area. Discreetly, Sun was sitting next to Gwen, holding her hand when nobody was looking. A few matches had gone by, and they were now watching team CFVY beating up an Atlas team.
"Damn. Now I'm glad you stopped me bullying Velvet!" exclaimed Cardin as he saw Yatsuhashi slam his blade on his opponent, sending him flying. The IFO (Identified Flying Object) was intercepted by an ax kick by Velvet, rocketing out of the arena. Coco was busy using her gun to occupy her opponent, who was using her shield to defend herself. "I don't fancy being Swiss cheese!"
Port and Oobleck were the announcers for the whole tournament. It was somehow fitting to see Port commentating. Apparently, his skills at telling stories helped maintain interest in the tournament and also guide those whose eyes weren't able to catch all of the action, including those who were content watching it on their Scroll or T.V. One match later, and it was team CRDL was actually going against team BYYD.
"Kick his butt!" cheered Ruby.
"Wipe that smug smile off his face!" screamed Dew.
"Do it, and I might give you a kiss Cardin!" shouted Nebula.
If the earlier encouragements didn't do it, this one put him into overdrive.
"All right! You heard her. We gotta win!" shouted Cardin, extremely enthusiastic.
"Of course that gets him hyped up," grumbled Sky, but agreed with him. They had been training for this and were not about to be kicked out in the first round.
"And BEGIN!" shouted Port. The arena had transformed into savanna fields and urban setting.
"Show them what it means to be winners!" shouted Boyd as he charged in. Soon, it became individual fights. And Cardin was fighting Boyd.
"Winchester!" growled Boyd. Taking in the pride of Arc meant also taking in the grudge against the Winchester family. Both had their weapons in a gridlock.
"Heh, so you're Jaune's half-brother. Guess I'm glad he's not an Arc anymore, otherwise, I would never hear the end of it from my cousins. Being saved by an Arc," chuckled Cardin as he kicked Boyd's knee. Boyd fell down but managed to block the mace coming into his face with his buckler. Being tossed back, he shook his head before transforming his scimitar into a pulse rifle. Cardin deflected the shots with his mace before slamming it into the ground, activating his Semblance to form a destructive wave of continuous explosions towards Boyd. He leaped out of the way and charged forward, scimitar back in hand. Both clashed their weapons against each other. Soon, though, the Arc style was starting to shine as Cardin felt his hits being powered through. Then, Cardin saw him reach out with his left hand and managed to touch his face. Cardin tried to activate his Semblance, only to find it was gone.
"What!?" shouted Cardin surprised that he couldn't activate his semblance. Boyd smirked as he slammed his blade into the ground to form a destructive wave, just like Cardin. Cardin quickly dodged it but lost his weapon in the process.
"Like it?" asked Boyd with a cackle as he saw Cardin's confused face, "My brother can steal Aura, but I can steal some Semblances! Just a touch, and it's mine! Don't worry, it's temporary. But long enough to kick your URK!"
Cardin had punched him straight in his smug face. He followed up with a double hammer fist on top of Boyd's head. Followed by a drop kick, punting Boyd into the Savanna field.
"Just because you stole my Semblance and I lost my weapon doesn't mean I'm helpless," grunted Cardin as he picked up his trusty mace. "That much was drilled into me thanks to Port."
"Glad to see young Cardin has taken my teaching to heart!" announced Port.
All of team CRDL had to resist a shudder at his teachings. Fighting Grimm with only their fists was not fun. Port even had them fight against an Ursa with just their fists. When they complained that it was impossible, Port proceeded to show them just how impossible it was by beating up an Alpha Ursa that had just shown up. The poor Ursa never stood a chance as Port had managed to get it on its last legs, its head trapped under Port's arms as he continued to punch it in the face until it disappeared.
Boyd got up, growling at this. Seeing as it was a perfect chance, Cardin yelled out for all his team to get out of the Savanna. They quickly obeyed, getting an idea what Cardin wanted. Russel grabbed his daggers and used the fire Dust in it, shooting out some fire. Sky followed up with a wind cyclone, using the wind Dust crystal in his halberd.
"Firestorm!" shouted Cardin. The attack promptly set the Savanna field on fire, with Boyd and one of his teammates in it. Panicking they quickly ran to the left. Just as they go tout, Cardin and Dove were waiting for them. Sky and Russel were busy distracting the other two. Cardin and Dove swung their weapon as hard as they could, sending Boyd and his teammate off the arena. Before they were disqualified, Boyd grabbed his teammate and used him as a foot stool to launch himself back into the arena.
"Hmm. Interesting way of avoiding a ring out. However, I can't say I approve of it. Nor does it look like his teammate appreciates it either. Not to mention his teammate has more Aura than he does right now. It would've been a better choice if he threw his teammate back in," commentated Oobleck.
"Quite disgusting, in my opinion. But a legitimate strategy," said Port.
Boyd huffed in anger. What did they know? Boyd roared and charged at Winchester and Dove, activating his Semblance to create another destructive wave. Dove and Cardin dodged it, but Dove suddenly dashed forward, pointing his weapon at Boyd and firing. Boyd blocked it with his shield and focused on Dove, who came in slashing. He was distracted, and Cardin took the chance to land a direct hit on Boyd's face. Upon impact, Cardin grinned and activated the fire Dust crystal on the center of his mace. The result was an explosion, sending Boyd off the arena once more. This time, Boyd was not getting up.
"Oooh, a double humiliation. Boyd Arc is out by ring out and Aura level!" announced Port.
"I think we need a medic over there. Boyd doesn't seem to be moving," commented Oobleck, lifting his glasses to take a closer look at Boyd.
The rest of the match was pretty much over with a 2v4 situation. Pyrrha may be able to handle all 4 of them, but the opponent was not her level. Soon, CRDL was back heading back to the lockers to shower up. RWBY, JNPR, NDGO, CFVY, DSCO and SSSN met up with them after they came back out.
"Nice going!" congratulated Nora, "But you really should've tried breaking his legs."
"Perhaps next time," chuckled Dove.
"Here's your reward, big boy," smiled Nebula and kissed Cardin on the cheek. Cardin's face flushed red, and his mind was gone as he gave a goofy smile. Seeing as the rest of them didn't have their matches until tomorrow, they went to the fairgrounds to eat.
Slap
"How dare you lose!" shouted Vlad Arc to his son Boyd Arc.
Boyd was stewing from the humiliation of losing. Not only had he lost to Ren, he lost to a Winchester!
"Relax, dad," drolled Aurelian, "I'm still in the tournament. And I won't lose to anyone. You have to admit, you were focused more on training me to be the heir of the Arc family."
"He still has no excuse to lose," growled Vlad.
"Didn't say he did. It's just a fact. He should be punished, but not as much as you think," said Aurelian, "After all, he still showed more promise than him. Boyd still has his uses."
Vlad lowered his arm, "That's true. Boyd will be very useful, along with you, to wipe out a grievous error. One that should've never existed."
The next day rolled by fast. Team ARLN went first on the second day of the competition and decimated a Beacon team. After his team won, Aurelian looked straight at Jaune before putting his finger at his throat before dragging it across his neck and then pointed at Jaune. Jaune responded with the middle finger.
Soon, it was team RWBY's turn to fight against team ABRN, fighting in an ice and lava field. The fight started, and soon it was obvious that RWBY had better teamwork skills. However, ABRN was no pushover. Arslan, the leader of ABRN, was able to match Yang in hand to hand combat even while Yang was blasting away with her Ember Celica, while Reese was keeping Blake occupied. The other two were busy trying to fend off Ruby and Weiss, with Nadir being less successful than Bolin.
"Hello! It seems that we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?" announced Port.
Oobleck looked at Port, annoyed that he always got his title wrong, "Doctor," he grumbled before brightening up, "And yes Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be the closest we've seen of the four-on-four round of the tournament!"
"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcasted live from the Amity Colosseum!" announced Port as he gestured to the general area.
From there, they decided a quick refresher was needed for any viewers
"Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBY of Beacon, and Team ABRN, of Haven," announced Port.
Reese was on her hoverboard before shooting it forward as a projectile towards Blake, who parried by slicing her weapon upwards. Reese grinned as it came back to her and punched it, sending it flying back at Blake. Blake kicked it away, but it came back to Reese, as if she was controlling it to make it come back. Seeing her chance, though, Blake charged in to launch a fury of attacks, using her Semblance to add more hits while duel wielding Gambit Shroud in katana mode and sheath. Reese blocked it with her hoverboard, using it as a shield before she twirled it around her body. She parried the first slash from Blake before overpowering her second slash, causing Blake to stumble back. Taking this chance, she did a few backflips before landing on her hoverboard. She hovered forward, intent on using her board to bash Blake. Blake, however, smirked as she prepared herself.
Reese jumped into the air with her board, doing an ollie and flipping and spinning her board like a dangerous helicopter. Blake, however, used her Semblance in conjunction with ice, creating an ice clone to take the hit. Just as Reese was about to land on her board, Blake struck with a double slash upwards with her weapons, causing Reese to fly back, her board split in half.
The audience gave a slight gasp, seeing Reese's weapon seeming cut in half until she surprised them when they transformed into dual revolvers. Showing her acrobatic skills and control of herself even when spinning in the air, she grabbed them and started firing at Blake, who blocked the shots, deterring her from following up with her attack. Unfortunately, Reese didn't plan out her landing strategy well enough. She forgot that she was fighting on an icy terrain. When she landed on her feet, she slipped and collided down onto the cold ground on her tailbone. She wasn't able to cancel the momentum, so she cringed in pain when it hit. Blake could only wince with sympathy at that landing before running up to Reese to attack. They were in a tournament, and any advantage they could take was always advised. Reese got up as fast as she could and started shooting with her dual pistols, hoping to keep Blake away.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," said Jaune. The others could only agree with him.
Yang gave a battle cry as she jumped into the air to dive down at Arslan. She got in two good punches on her before trying to roundhouse kick her. Arslan ducked under it while trying to sweep kick Yang, but missed. Her technical skill, however, was nothing to scoff at. She was able to halt Yang's assault before landing a sickle punch downwards. Yang flinched before using that time to deliver a right straight. Arslan countered with a Seiken right punch. Both punches collided into each other, creating a shockwave of force from the impact. Both girls were thrown back afterward. Yang immediately tried to take advantage of this with a double spinning crescent kick in the air. Arslan dodged it before shooting her rope dart, latching on to Yang's foot. With it, she pulled, causing Yang to lose her balance. Taking advantage of this, Arslan landed a hook kick right into Yang's stomach. Gasping for air, Yang was shot from the lava terrain to the ice terrain. However, she managed to flip herself back on her feet, hands on the ground to help stabilize her. She looked up to see Arslan coming in with a right straight. Quickly, Yang crossed her arms together to form a cross guard, taking the hit. She flew slightly back but was still ready to fight. Her feet, however, were slipping a bit, as she was not used to the ice terrain just yet.
Nadir, who was standing on a platform of ice looking a bit clueless for some reason, turned around and was about to shoot Yang when the ice behind exploded, sending him forward a bit. He then looked down to see that he was stuck in a block of ice that went up to his thighs. Upon explosion, he had dropped his weapon. He whimpered as he knew he was screwed, as he was now the perfect punching bag. Before Yang could take advantage of it, Arslan came in, delivering a flurry of punches to prevent Yang from attacking Nadir.
Meanwhile, Ruby, who was on the floor with her weapon in rifle mode, looked up from her scope, grinning. She had been the one to make the shot. Now Nadir was useless for the while, it was a 3v4.
"Got your back!" yelled Ruby.
"But who's got yours?" scoffed a voice behind her.
Ruby looked back to see Bolin twirling his staff, ready to attack Ruby. Strange how he seemed to want to taunt first before just attacking. Ruby frowned, knowing that she was in a bad pinch when a black snowflake glyph appeared on his left. He looked at it in surprise before Weiss kicked him through the glyph, sending him flying into a rock before tumbling behind it.
"My BFF!" cheered Ruby happy to see Weiss had saved her.
"No," deadpanned Weiss, but her small smile said otherwise before running off to deal with Bolin.
Ruby did a fist pump as she whispered to herself before running to take on Bolin with Weiss.
"Seriously, who actually taunts on a perfect opportunity?" scoffed Sun from the seats. Looking around, he saw Russel raise his hand in guilt.
"I'm trying to stop," whispered Russel quietly, "Port drove that message in during our detention."
Bolin was struggling to get back up, using his staff as support when he noticed a white glyph in front of him. Suddenly, Weiss dashed right passed him, landing a stab across his chest before jumping over Bolin to slash at his head. Bolin managed to block that hit before getting into a more defensive position. As Weiss landed, she already channeled another glyph behind her. Ruby came running in before being launched upwards by the glyph, spinning before slamming her weapon downwards at Bolin. Bolin blocked it with his staff, causing the ground below him to shake from the impact. Ruby gave a cute growl at him before pulling the trigger, catching Bolin off guard as the shot hit him in the face. He stumbled backward into the ground while Ruby landed on her feet, right next to Weiss.
Bolin got back up, taking a quick peek at his teammates. Ruby did the same, and Bolin took advantage of Ruby turning her head to dash forward. Weiss summoned ice shards to rain upon him, but Bolin did a dodge roll, going right past Weiss, seemingly aiming for Ruby. Ruby slashed forward, only for Bolin to actually jump and flip over Ruby herself, before continuing to run off in the direction he had been running
"Whaaat!?" thought Ruby out loud, surprised and not knowing what Bolin was doing.
She figured it out a second later when Bolin reached a fire Dust crystal deposit and sliced a piece off. He quickly yelled out Reese's name and threw it to her. Reese, who had managed to back off from Blake to get a breather, caught the crystal before slamming it into her hoverboard, causing the green glow to turn red.
Blake, who was gritting her teeth, looked at this new mode with interest. Reese winked at her before quickly hovering her board over the ice trap that Nadir was in, melting it instantly. He cheered, picking up his weapon to help before being attacked by Ruby.
Reese then jumped into the air with her board and slammed it on Blake, who blocked it. Blake was unprepared for a sudden explosion from the board, sending her flying through an ice pillar. Reese flipped onto the ground safely, grabbing her hoverboard and boarding it, trying to smash it into Blake's body. Blake quickly recovered to dodge it. Reese then jumped and spun with her board, seemingly hitting Blake only to discover that Blake had used a shadow to take the hit. Switching tactics, Blake threw Gambol Shroud into a nearby glacier, using it to launch herself behind it. Reese quickly followed to see Blake standing beneath an arch, with her back turned. It looked like she had trapped herself. Reese grinned as she rode in to deliver a flaming spiral kick at Blake, just to find out she had been tricked again. This time, though, Blake threw her weapon into a glacier right after the shadow had been destroyed. In slow motion, Reese started to panic as she knew she had been tricked into a trap. It was too late, though. Blake pulled on the ribbon attached to her weapon, causing it to form a tripwire for Reese to fall into.
Reese's momentum was suddenly halted, causing her to be vulnerable in the air. Her board had continued forward without her, leaving her weaponless. Using this chance, Blake kicked Reese on her stomach, not letting her fall on the ground.
Reese was shot off out of the arena, into the stands, where she bounced off the energy shield with her weapon behind her. She heard the bell ring for ringout before another bell signifying Aura level out.
"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ringout and Aura level!" announced Port.
Reese looked at the screen to see that her Aura levels had dropped below 20%, disqualifying her from the rest of the fight. Not that it mattered, since she was also out of the ring, but she felt quite humiliated to be eliminated due to both reasons.
"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" commented Oobleck.
"Oooh, double shot," winced Dew, "That's gotta suck."
"That was a good move from Blake, tricking her like that," observed Pyrrha, "Though I would've thought Reese to shoot first."
"Probably got cocky," commented Velvet.
Arslan was running from Yang, using her rope dart to help swing around corners. Yang was right behind, use the shotgun blasts to propel her forward.
Nadir dodged an attack Ruby, spinning in the air as he changed his sword back to an assault rifle. As he landed to shoot someone at least, Weiss launched Bolin right into him via glyph. Seeing her chance, Weiss summoned a black glyph under both boys, causing them to float in the air helplessly before causing them collide into each other hard. She quickly summoned a white glyph underneath them while they were still stunned, concentrating as hard as she could for this one, summoning as much Aura she could bring forth. A giant ice fist came straight up, grabbing Bolin and Nadir, trapping them from the chest down. The fist curled up into a ball, and sent the two helpless fighters rolling towards the edge of the arena for an easy ring out.
Arslan saw this, annoyed at the state of her team.
'The boys really can't do anything without me bailing them out,' thought Arslan as she rolled her eyes and changed directions, sliding right in front of the rolling ice sphere. Focusing her Aura into her fist, she slammed her foot down to stabilize herself while granting her more power into her posture. With a slight roar, she shattered the ice sphere with her punch, freeing her teammates.
Weiss had been closely watching this, and when she saw Arslan stopping in front of the ice sphere, she knew this was the perfect. She quickly called out to Yang as she used her glyphs to create a large frozen side ramp. Yang nodded as she started to propel herself with shotgun blasts into the ramp. Blake quickly threw her Gambol Shroud towards Yang, who caught it. Blake quickly used her strength to propel Yang forward before jumping onto Ruby, who had been waiting in front of her. Blake got on her, and Ruby used the recoil from her sniper to push Blake forward, going past Yang. With the additional force, Blake was sent flying forward before pulling her ribbon attached to her weapon as hard as she could.
Arslan was busy trying to get her boys back up when she heard someone screaming, getting closer and closer to them. She turned around to see a flying Yang coming right towards them. She also noticed that her team was just in the perfect position for Yang to hit them all at once.
'Ah crap. We're screwed, and this is going to hurt. I blame the boys,' was Arslan last thoughts as she felt Yang punch her in the stomach with all her strength, sending the rest of team ABRN flying across the stage and into some boulders at the lava stage. The blow had been powerful enough that all three of them hit the Aura threshold, giving RWBY the victory.
Team RWBY were at the fairgrounds, starving. Even Blake's stomach let them all know that she was hungry. The other teams had gone to check out some other cultural events going on. For now, all the teams were on their lunch break, allowing them to get some food before resuming the tournament. Weiss then forgot that Ruby didn't understand sarcasm well as she made a sarcastic remark. When Weiss tried to explain herself, she forgot to use simple words. Ruby completely misunderstood what Weiss was trying to say. In the end, Yang was going to lead them to a place to eat. Weiss got a phone call from her father, but she hung up before sending a message to her father saying she was busy celebrating their victory with friends.
"Hey! Might be hard to eat without this," yelled a voice to Ruby.
Ruby turned around to see Emerald holding her wallet in her hand. Ruby frantically patted her outfit, panicking about. Emerald laughed before giving it to her. Ruby thanked her while putting her wallet in her bag.
"What's up, Em?" asked Yang.
"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!" complemented Emerald with a smile. Ruby was blushing while muttering incoherent words.
Blake decided to ask how Emerald's team was doing, considering they rarely see them at all. Mercury was only one that they really saw. Cinder was barely seen, and their last member Noire they never even met.
"How'd they do in the fight?" asked Yang. They had missed it when they went to congratulate Cardin's team back on the first day.
Emerald tilted her head up in thought, remembering the fight. It had been against team BLCK of Atlas, and it was pretty much a massacre. One of them had been viciously curb stomped into the floor by Noire, who was really Neo after Cinder kicked him down.
"Really well," said Emerald, finishing her flashback.
Ruby suggested some victory food together, but Emerald kindly shot it down, saying that her teammates were all introverted. After excusing them from meeting RWBY, she decided to change the subject, asking who they were planning to send in. Ruby tried to look impressive, but Weiss put that down. In the end, they had voted Yang and Weiss to the doubles round. Emerald excused herself, saying she was going to watch a few more fights with her team. As they parted ways, Mercury was back at Emerald's side, teasing her how her new friends were. Emerald scowled before replying how she hated them for being so happy and naive, before telling Mercury it was the heiress and the bimbo, aka Weiss and Yang.
Yang ended up leading them to the Simple Wok, where the aged Shopkeeper had set up. Except for this time, it was much bigger than the original stall, and some of Junior's men were helping the shopkeeper with orders. When Jaune had mentioned about the shopkeeper's good food, Junior took it upon himself to invest in the shop, sending some of his men to help out while learning how to cook. According to Junior, it had been a good investment and was planning on also investing the remaining quadruplets in each major city.
Yang managed to snag some seats near the counter for them, as there were quite a few people also eating there. It had gotten quite famous. They got their orders pretty quickly, and Blake got a large heaping of fish on hers. She was drooling with stars in her eyes as soon as she saw this dish. Weiss paid for them all, saying it was thanks for sending her to the doubles round.
Jaune was with his team, trying out a Mistralian dish that Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha pushed him to try. He took a bite of it, enjoying the flavor before his face started to sweat and spat out fire, not because of his link with Lung Wang, but because that was how spicy the food was.
"Oh god, my tongue burns!" shouted Jaune, panting and grabbing a cup of water to drink. He found out his mistake as it spread.
"Oh, don't complain. That tastes great. You should eat some more," cackled Lung Wang, enjoying the spiciness. He was the dragon of fire, after all.
Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were all laughing at this before grabbing a cup of milk for him to drink instead. Jaune gratefully took it, letting it sit on his tongue, feeling a bit better.
"What is that dish!?" asked Jaune, trying to air his tongue.
"A famous Mistralian dish that all citizens and newcomers have to try once," giggled Pyrrha. "Spicy Gumbo Delight!"
"It's deliciously spicy!" cackled Nora. "Out of all of us, Ren's the only one that can eat this without even changing his expression."
As if to show off, Ren took a spoonful to eat, chewing it and swallowing it without any changes in his face. The other two did, and their faces twitched, with Pyrrha's face turning slightly red.
"Urg, you guys are trying to kill me with your dishes," groaned Jaune.
As he continued eating, he suddenly felt an Aura that he hadn't felt in two years. Along that person was 7 others. Before Jaune could do anything, he heard his name screamed out, and then he was promptly dog piled by seven women.
"Jaune!"
"You're alive!"
"My baby brother!"
"Urg... Can't breathe.." moaned Jaune, as he was underneath seven grown women. On top of that, he was still recovering from the spicy gumbo.
When they finally got off, Jaune saw all seven of his sisters standing in front of him. Then, they parted way to let Yu come forward.
"My baby boy... What Ozpin said was true. You're alive!" cried Yu as she hugged her son.
"Hey mom," grinned Jaune, relishing the hug and hugging her back.
"Don't we get one?" teased Xanthe, the eldest of his siblings.
Jaune grinned as he greeted all his sisters with hugs. Apparently, they had all changed their last names to Romee. Out of all of them, the two of them had married. The other five were either dating or single.
Jaune quickly introduced his sisters and mother to his teammates. NPR was surprised to see Jaune even had twin sisters, while the others were barely a year apart. Pyrrha was impressed that a mom could have so many children.
"Jaune, how did you live?" asked Xanthe.
"We were surprised when Saffron told us that you healthy, and even kicking butt," said the second eldest sister named Peta.
"You're Aura shouldn't have been unlocked so easily," chimed the twins Orabella and Orabelle.
"Yea, and according to Saffron, you managed to land a hit on Raven Branwen of all people!" piped the youngest one Vanna.
"Well... guys? Meet Pyrrha Nikos, the one who happened to be the key to unlocking my Aura again," said Jaune, introducing Pyrrha to his family, "She was the one who did the ritual for unlocking my Aura when we were 14 while I was traveling through Remnant."
"Hello," waved Pyrrha nervously.
The seven sisters and Yu stared at Pyrrha for a bit. She was starting to get nervous when she was suddenly hugged by Yu.
"Welcome to the family!" cheered Yu. The other sisters were all cheering, congratulating Jaune for getting such a beautiful and famous woman as his wife.
Ren and Nora couldn't help but laugh as Jaune and Pyrrha sputtered, trying to explain to them they weren't married, that they had done the ritual without knowledge of this tradition. Jaune quickly looked at the time before telling them that they had to leave for the battlegrounds. As JNPR left, Jaune gave his family one last goodbye.
"We'll be cheering you on!" said Yu.
"Kick Aurelian's butt!" shouted Saffron.
"Just so you know, apparently Vlad's here too," said Jaune softly.
"Of course he is," sighed Xanthe, "Be careful, little brother. Mom and most of us can't stay for the rest of the tournament, but we'll be watching your first match live at least. After that, we have to get going back to our jobs. At most, only Saffron and I can stay for another day."
"Oh don't be like that," said Yu, "You two should stay here for the rest of the tournament. I've already asked Ozpin for help, and he's agreed to hire you two as extra security for the tournament."
"Well, guess that solves that problem," said Saffron.
"Good luck, brother," cheered the twins.
Jaune nodded and quickly left with his team. He felt much better now that he had finally seen his family. It had been seven years since he saw most of them. They had grown and changed so much.
"He's grown so much," smiled Yu softly, "And he looks so strong. With Pyrrha as his future wife, I don't have to worry about him so much anymore."
"Cmon, let's grab some seats! I wanna see him fight!" said Vanna.
As they all left for the stadium, they had the unpleasant time to run into the Vlad and his two sons. They stared at each other for a bit, glaring before just turning their heads to leave.
Next up, JNPR vs BRNZ and SSSN vs NDGO! Least that's the plan for the next chapter. Read and Review, and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. Team BYDD is out! I know some of you guys wanted me to have Jaune annihilate him, but I figured I'd spin the Winchester and Arc feud a bit. I didn't want to do Team BYDD vs Team JNPR, and then for the doubles or singles have Jaune fight Aurlian. Plus, I figured it was time for Cardin to have a bit of spotlight after having him undergo personal detention and training from Port.