So many reviews! I feel lucky to get so many. Anyway, new chapter! Hope you enjoy it, for it's finally time for team ARLN and JNPR to face off! Read and Review! Spent quite a bit of time trying to do this fight justice.
It was day three of the tournament! Now the doubles rounds would commence! The crowds were all cheering and excited, bets were being placed on who would win. As usual, NDGO, JNPR, SSSN, CRDL, RWBY, and CFVY were all sitting near each other. Seeing that there was no room, Cinder decided to sit across from them at the other side.
Team DSCO had gotten permission to perform another song for the beginning of the doubles round. Most of the crowd loved them from earlier. Dandy waved at the crowd as they got set up to perform. When everything was set up he looked at his teammates, who nodded back. Coral tapped his sticks together to begin the beat with Dandy getting ready to start the first lyrics.
Centuries-Fall Out Boys
Now one may think how they got the chorus going, well do to Corals semblance, he's only able to use one vocal at a time, which is why he did pre-recordings for Onyx to use while Coral done the main female voice.
With the song now coming to an end DSCO walked away with cheers once more as the tournament was about to start.
"The randomization process is complete! Ladies and Gentlemen, your doubles tournament fight!" announced Port. All the competitors in the front row seat were also cheering loudly. On the big screen, a roulette was scrolling through teams before stopping at Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco and Yatsuhashi.
For this part of the tournament, after the match was announced, the fighters had 20 minutes to prepare any gear and get ready to fight. Unlike the first part, where teams had a day to prepare who they were fighting, this part of the tournament tested teams to see how they could operate with a limited time span to plan. The fields, of course, were still randomized, so competitors couldn't bring field advantage into their plan. They could, however, try to plan out who was suited to fight whom with their chosen members or plan out strategies.
The fighters quickly got onto the field. Coco was standing on the field, confident. Yatsuhashi was meditating to prepare for the fight. On the other side, Mercury and Emerald were merely grinning, knowing they would win this fight. They had to, as they had been ordered, or else.
The fields had been randomized into quarter sections. It was the forest, savanna, urban, and geyser fields. Behind CMSN was the savanna, while CFVY had the geyser behind them. On the right of CFVY was the forest, and the other side was the urban field.
"Hey! Love the outfit, kid!" complemented Coco as she saw what Emerald was wearing, lowering her sunglasses to see better.
"I'll try not to get blood on it," replied Emerald confidently.
Yatsuhashi slowly stood up, drawing his sword from his back, "I can't promise you'll leave without a scratch."
"I won't be the one bleeding," smirked Emerald as she stretched out her arms, rotating them in a circle.
"Ooh, I like her!" said Coco.
Port then counted down, beginning the match. The combatants stared at each other, ready to see who would make the first move. Emerald and Mercury had smirks on their faces while slowly walking backward into the tall grass, disappearing from their sights. At this Jaune and Ren immediately activated their Aura sense to locate where they were. It was good practice, and they wanted to see what those two were planning.
Yatsuhashi and Coco looked at each other, smiling.
'Go for it,' gestured Yatsuhashi, slightly jerking his head towards the grass.
Coco replied by transforming her transforming her heavy handbag into a Gatling gun and fired her bullets into the field. She began to spray for a bit, sweeping the field from right to left and cutting down all the grass. Some of the bullets hit the other side of the forcefield, protecting those in the competitor seats. Coco stopped when she realized that the opponents were no longer in the plains anymore, and had disappeared. They looked at each other in confusion.
Suddenly, Mercury seemingly dropped from the sky, aiming a huge drop kick at Coco. Yatsuhashi pushed Coco out of the way before raising his blade to block the attack. As Mercury's attack landed on Yatsuhashi's sword, he could actually feel the power behind that attack and knew if Coco had taken the hit, her Aura levels would've gone down hard. He pushed Mercury away from him. Mercury merely flipped himself back onto his foot when Coco opened fire. He immediately ran, letting Coco try to hit him but only hit his trail. He was going way too fast for her to get a proper aim. In fact, while he was running in a curve on the ground, his whole body was tilted close to the ground, showing just hard fast and hard he was taking the curve.
"He's good!" commented Sun.
"Yeah, but where's the girl?" asked Scarlet.
"And where did Mercury come from?" piped Nebula.
"Emerald's in the forest, hiding," replied Jaune, "But for what?"
"Mercury split off from Emerald, going into the urban area and jumping to the top of the building before launching that aerial attack," finished off Ren.
Mercury got close to the two before kicking Coco's weapon away while dodging Yatsuhashi sword. He landed a heel kick, followed by an overhead kick onto Yatsuhashi. Coco fired a barrage of bullets, but he jumped into the air, his right foot landing on Coco's barrel before his left foot followed, kicking Coco on the top of her skull. Yatsuhashi quickly slashed, but Mercury dodged it easily. As he landed, he jumped in anticipation the Coco might try to fire at him. He misread it as Yatsuhashi landed a backhand swing on him.
He flew towards Coco but used the hit to his advantage as he grabbed her shoulder, flipping himself right behind her before maneuvering her weapon with his foot to force her to aim her weapon at Yatsuhashi stomach. Yatsuhashi looked down in shock, while Mercury smirked and Coco growled. She quickly transformed it back to its handbag mode and swung backward Mercury deftly jumped back, doing a few flips while Coco put her free hand on her cap to look cool while making sure her cap didn't fall off. Mercury landed on his back for a second before using the motion to push himself forward, launching two blasts from his boots at them. Coco deflected the attack while Yatsuhashi sliced the other one in half. Coco looked back at Mercury to see a handstand-spinning Mercury who was shooting out blasts from his boots. The blasts were all spiraling around him until he sent the barrage flying at them. They tried their best to block it, but it was creating lots of dust and smoke. As the attack finished, they didn't notice Mercury was already behind them. He grabbed their arms, his own crossed when he spun around uncrossed them, forcing them to switch places. He landed a few of kicks at both of them with his left leg only. His second kick forced Yatsuhashi to stumble away, letting him land a flurry of kicks on Coco alone before jumping and using his right leg to send Coco flipping into the ground.
Coco quickly got back up, ready to fight when a chain came from the forest trees to wrap around her. She looked quite surprised at this when she remembered there was another one. She cursed mentally, forgetting this was a 2v2 fight. Mercury had been kicking their butts quite nicely alone.
"Coco!" shouted Yatsuhashi, trying to reach for her in vain.
Coco was suddenly dragged into the forest, leaving him alone. Mercury spun in the air to land a kick on Yatsuhashi. He endured it, feinted his attack, making it seem like he was going for a slash. Mercury jumped into the air to dodge, only for Yatsuhashi to grab him by the collar with his left hand. Mercury tried to pry his hands off, but Yatsuhashi wasn't going to allow that. With a roar, he tossed Mercury into the geyser fields. Mercury landed on his back quite hard, and Yatsuhashi took this chance to jump high in the air and slash down at Mercury. Mercury, however, blocked it with both his boots. The impact, however, was so strong that a shockwave came out of the clash, driving the water away, cracking the earth beneath them, and forcing multiple geysers to shoot out around them.
Mercury fired a blast to get him out of the deadlock before doing a reverse sweep kick. Yatsuhashi as off balance, but managed to dodge it by jumping over Mercury's head. They faced each other, and Yatsuhashi slashed at Mercury, who dodged it with ease before blocking a few. Mercury did an arc heel kick from above, forcing Yatsuhashi to back up. The kick impacted the ground, kicking up some rocks. Mercury quickly did a jump thrust kick, firing a rock right at Yatsuhashi face. He stumbled before reversing his grip on the sword and slashed forward. Mercury was ready, though, and kicked the blade away before doing a capoeira spinning kick, launching two blasts towards Yatsuhashi. He blocked the blasts and tried to attack, but Mercury intercepted him with a swift heel kick to his stomach, following up with a somersault kick with his right leg, sending Yatsuhashi onto his back. It was unfortunate that upon landing, Yatsuhashi head was right where a geyser hole was, and it erupted, causing him to scream in pain. The crowd gave a cry of sympathy at that. He got up quickly, shaking his head to get rid of that pain. He opened his eyes in time to see Mercury already in motion, flipping and landing an ax kick on him, sending him flying towards the middle of the arena.
Meanwhile, a minute earlier, Coco had been dragged into the forest until she collided into a trunk of a tree. She shook off the damage until she realized that her 500 Lien sunglasses were lying on the ground, shattered.
"I take it back; I don't like her," Coco grumbled quite upset at the loss of her sunglasses.
She heard gunfire and dodged the bullet aimed at her head just in time before doing a few backflips to dodge some more bullets. She transformed her handbag back into a Gatling gun before firing at where Emerald was, up in the trees. Emerald moved, jumping from branches to branches while still firing until she transformed them into sickles and began using them to swing from tree to tree until she suddenly vanished.
Coco frowned when she somehow lost track of her. She heard Yatsuhashi call out to her, and looked back to see him walking towards her. Figuring that he had lost track of Mercury somehow since the buzzer didn't ring for someone had been eliminated, she merely gave him a glance before telling him that Emerald was in the trees somewhere.
The buzzer rang, and Coco looked up in surprise to see footage of Yatsuhashi being launched towards the middle of the arena.
"Oh, and with that final blow, Yatsuhashi is eliminated!" announced Port.
"What!?" Coco shouted in shock, her eyes widening. She looked back to see Yatsuhashi had suddenly disappeared. She started to shake, trying to find Emerald. She knew she was at a huge disadvantage. When she saw the screen, she saw that after all that fighting, Mercury still had 83% of his Aura left. Emerald had barely lost any, showing a 96% Aura level. She herself was only at 74%.
She slowly looked around, not seeing Emerald or Mercury at all. Emerald, though, had managed to sneak up behind Coco, her sickle raised up high. Coco heard a blade being unsheathed and turned around just to see Emerald slash at her. Unable to defend, she took the hit. Emerald wasn't done, though. After that slash, she dashed forward and performed a rising slash on Coco once more. Then, she transformed them into kusarigama, trapping Coco in her chains. Emerald swung Coco into some trees before launching her towards the middle of the arena. Right as she launched, she fired 4 shots into Coco's stomach. At this punishment, Coco was knocked out, her Aura level passing the threshold and eliminating her from the match. She landed right next to a knocked out Yatsuhashi.
"And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!" broadcast Oobleck.
Velvet was worried about her teammates, but Fox reassured her that they were tougher than this, and could easily recover. Amidst the cheers and boos, Cinder merely smiled. She looked to where Jaune was and smiled.
'I hope you can show me what you can do... devil boy,' Cinder laughed mentally. She had originally planned to just leave after Mercury and Emerald's fight, but she didn't want to miss out this special fight.
The next match was Sun and Neptune fighting against a team from Beacon. They easily won that, as the terrain had no water sources for Neptune to panic over. Neptune was able to shine as he showed his mastery over using the Guan Dao mode, landing multiple strikes before launching his opponent towards Sun. Sun took advantage of this and slammed the human projectile with a drop kick towards his opponent. Both of them were disorientated. Sun and Neptune ended it with a dual thrust into their stomachs.
The third match of the day was a team from Shade fighting a team from Atlas, with Shade winning. The next match, however, had people on the edge of their seats. It was Jaune and Pyrrha vs Aurelian and Roderick. The crowds were chanting Aurelian's name or Pyrrha's name. It was the 'Goddess of Victory' fighting the champion of the 39th Vytal Festival Tournament. The fact that it wasn't in the singles round made some people lament, but nobody cared. They wanted to see these two fighting against each other. There were even rumors that the two were dating. That was the result of Aurelian and Boyd spreading lies. The fact there were two extras, granted strong ones, didn't click in the crowd's minds.
During the preparation phase, Jaune and Pyrrha were in the locker rooms, grabbing their gears.
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked with a worrying tone. They were going against Jaune's "brother" after all.
"Never better," replied Jaune. Pyrrha didn't buy it. She could feel Jaune was anxious and nervous to fight Aurelian. His half-brother. The man who would inherit the Arc family, something that should've been his by right. As they walked towards the arena, a few spectators were gossiping as they were waiting for a friend in a bathroom. What the content they were talking about made Jaune pissed.
"I heard that Aurelian's dating Pyrrha."
"Wow, those two together would definitely be the power couple of the century."
"But I heard that she went to the dance with someone else, that she rejected him."
"Naaah. Boyd told me himself that she was playing hard to get. They got together after the dance, and she performed a little extra dance with Aurelian in his bed."
"Damn, fate must be cruel to put those two together."
"I think it's romantic. Two lovers fighting to show their strength. To show their love."
"What about Pyrrha's partner? I thought those two fought very well together. It certainly showed during that fight against BRNZ."
"Aurelian told me that Pyrrha told him the boy's a creep. A stalker. One she just smiles and puts up with it."
"Wow, I hope that jerk get's his ass kicked."
Jaune's anger was about to hit critical when Pyrrha grabbed him, taking him to an empty hall. Before Jaune could say anything, Pyrrha kissed him fiercely. Jaune's anger slowly dissipated, but it was still there when Pyrrha slowly leaned back. It was, however, within Jaune's control level.
"Never doubt that I love you," whispered Pyrrha, "That you're the only one for me. If it wasn't for your self-control and reasoning, I would proudly be bearing your mark right now. But I will always love you, and can't wait when you do mark me."
"You were always my goddess," Jaune whispered back. Pyrrha put her forehead on his, both enjoying the warmth.
"Let's go," said Jaune. Pyrrha happily followed him, ready to destroy Aurelian Arc.
'Lung Wang,' thought Jaune mentally.
"Yes, Jaune?" asked Lung Wang.
'I'm beating the shit outta Aurelian. I'll be linking with your power, along Fafnir and Alaerth possibly. Full immersion link' snarled Jaune.
"Good. Show them what it means to try to steal a mate," growled Lung Wang.
"You set that fight up didn't you?" asked Mercury as he was sitting next to Emerald and Cinder. Cinder had saved them seats.
"What makes you think it wasn't fate?" replied Cinder coyly. Mercury scoffed before grinning, anxious to see this fight. He had grabbed some popcorn and was actually willing to share it with Emerald and Cinder.
Coco and Yatsuhashi had woken up from their fight and were now occupying Jaune and Pyrrha's previous seat. Both were a bit depressed that they had been basically slaughtered. They didn't even make their opponent's Aura level drop to at least half. Still, they were here to support Jaune and Pyrrha.
"I heard a rumor," began Coco, remembering some gossip she had heard while walking to the seats, "That Aurelian is apparently dating Pyrrha."
"What!?" shouted the whole group of friends.
"Pyrrha would never ditch Jaune and date that jerk!" shouted Nora, to hear such a thing made the hyperactive girl quite upset.
"Calm down, thunder girl," said Coco, "Like I said, a rumor. But thanks for confirming the fact that Jaune is dating Pyrrha."
"Wonder where that rumor came from," pondered Blake.
"Who else? Probably the Arc brothers," scoffed Russel.
Ren gripped his seat in anger. He would have to make sure to send Nora to break a few legs later.
"I fear for Aurelian's life," stated Yatsuhashi.
"Huh? Why?" asked Gwen, who was sitting next to Sun and cuddling with him. They had let them all know she was dating him.
"I remember the people Coco was talking about. And I also saw a flash of red hair and yellow hair disappearing into a hallway," answered Yatsuhashi.
"That means!" started Weiss.
"Jaune's going out swinging for blood," finished Yang.
"Well, I can't say I pity Aurelian," started Cardin as he crossed his arms, "I remember being on the end side of Jaune's fist. That was not pretty. So many days of trying to get my face back to normal. But I'm also excited to see somebody else be pulverized."
They all leaned forward, eager to see Aurelian receive the ass-kicking of his life.
In the stands, Winter was sitting with Xanthe and Saffron in a private room in the stadium.
"So. We get to see our little brother fight our half-brother," commented Xanthe.
"Yes. It would be interesting to see how Jaune has grown since I last saw him. I wonder how much he has improved," Winter nodded with interest.
"You're leaving after today?" asked Saffron
"Yes, I was only here to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale, as well as the remote controlled Paladins," replied Winter.
"Why not stay for the tournament? You should at least watch your sister fight!" Saffron exclaimed.
"I do not have much free ti-," explained Winter until she received a whack to the head by Xanthe.
"Bah, this is family! Ironwood can let his lieutenant stay for a few more days. You can even say you stayed here just to make sure the shipment was correctly delivered and not robbed the day after it arrived."
"I... guess that could work?" hesitated Winter. She cringed when she saw Xanthe raise her hand for another slap, "I mean, I should stay to make sure!"
"Good," said Xanthe elegantly before turning her attention back to the match, "I hope Jaune can beat his half-brother and show our father what he failed to see."
"Wait, his? I thought Jaune wasn't related to you?" questioned Winter. Saffron ended up cringing before explaining why they had lied in the past. Winter wasn't pleased, but she was also angry at the Arc family. Especially Aurelian, as he was the one who put the rumor that Winter didn't participate because she was scared. She would've annihilated the brat back at the 39th Vytal festival tournament if it hadn't been for Raven.
Ozpin almost never went to the stadium to watch a match. Even though there was a private booth for any Headmaster that was hosting the tournament, he used that privilege when his school was hosting it. He was content with just sitting in his office to watch the tournament. This time, though, he decided to use that opportunity. He was sitting inside with Glynda, sipping on his coffee with a bucket of popcorn next to him. He had invited her and three others.
"It's rare to see you actually here, Professor Ozpin," said Glynda.
"There was a match that caught my eye," said Ozpin cryptically.
"Ah yes. The 'Goddess of Victory' against the 39th Vytal Festival Tournament winner," nodded Glynda, as if agreeing with him.
"I would agree with you, but I think Oz is more interested in Jaune and Pyrrha."
Glynda looked back to see Ironwood walking in to take a seat beside her.
"One for the obvious reasons, and the other to see why he managed to get three recommendations from the hardest people to get."
Glynda thought about it and nodded in reply. Jaune Ryu-Long was indeed an enigma.
"Psh, I just want to see him crush that Aurelian Arc's face."
Qrow had come in, carrying his usual flask and a tub of popcorn. He took a seat next to Ozpin.
"Gotta say, Oz. Never thought you'd actually be here watching. You're usually content just watching from your office."
"I merely wanted a change of view this time. And to also observe our candidate closely," replied Ozpin.
"And to observe how far Jaune Ryu-Long has come from exploring all of Remnant," said a third feminine voice.
Glynda and Ironwood were surprised to see Raven walking in. Ironwood immediately pulled out his gun, but Ozpin raised his hand.
"Calm yourself, James. Raven is here as a guest. She has promised not to do anything."
"But, Oz! She's-" stuttered Ironwood.
"Not a threat at the moment," finished Ozpin, "I believe we are all interested in watching this match. Let us have peace for this moment."
Seeing Raven just sitting down next to Qrow, Ironwood warily put his gun back and sat down. While they were waiting, Ozpin chuckled a bit, causing them all to look at him.
"I did spar with him once," explained Ozpin. Ironwood and Qrow raised their eyebrows in surprise.
"I wonder if he's gotten stronger since the last time I fought him," commented Raven, "He is the only boy who I know so far who has actually landed a hit on me at his age."
Qrow coughed a bit while saying "Cougar". Raven frowned and slapped him on the head for that comment. While she was interested in Jaune Ryu-Long, she was not one to steal her daughter's boyfriend.
"I do admit, he's stronger than the average Huntsmen-in-training," continued Ozpin, "In fact, if I was to rate him, I'd say he could graduate within the first half of the second year just due to his experience in the wilds alone. The only thing he needs is some more theoretical knowledge that's spread among the four years."
"Did he land a hit on you?" asked Qrow.
"No," replied Ozpin, "I might've gone at him with more seriousness than I usually do. But I can't shake the feeling that even though he looked like he was going at full power, there was something hidden inside that he wasn't using. Perhaps this fight might reveal it."
At this point, all five of them looked forward to this fight.
"So, you've decided to show up. I'm surprised you didn't go running scared," sneered Aurelian as he and his partner approached the center of the arena.
"From you? Please," scoffed Jaune, his eyes closed for now.
"Oh, not scared? Why don't we make a deal?" taunted Aurelian, "If I win, I get Pyrrha, and you have to strip naked in front of everyone in the stadium and say you're a worthless stalker who doesn't deserve to even exist."
"What type of deal is that? That's not even fair, and you haven't even stated what would happen if you lose," frowned Pyrrha. This certainly wouldn't be a fair agreement after all.
"No worries, my dear. There's no point in saying that since I won't lose. Soon, you'll have a proper husband at your side. Me," leered Aurelian as he pointed at himself.
"Don't forget your promise, Aurelian," grunted Roderick, a brown haired Faunus with a ragged wolf tail, "I get to have a turn." He grinned menacingly, wielding a flail with three spiked iron balls.
Pyrrha looked at him in disgust, while Jaune tightened his grip on his sword. Roderick really shouldn't have said that.
Back in the Headmaster's booth, Raven was frowning.
"It seems like Aurelian is trying to claim Pyrrha for herself and making a deal without even naming what happens if he loses," said Raven.
"How-" started Glynda.
"We can read lips," began Qrow, also squinting down, "Man, that guy's lower than scum"
"Well, this should prove interesting," stated Ozpin.
"That no-good spoiled brat!" roared Xanthe. She was also reading his lips and wanted to go down and rip Aurelian apart. It was even worse when she looked into the crowd to see Vlad nodding with approval. She also saw Boyd grinning with excitement.
"Oh boy," said Ruby. Blake and Sun had heard what Aurelian said, and was not happy. They quickly told them all, and it took great restraint on Ren to not jump in and pound the crap out of Aurelian for that comment. His pride as Jaune's retainer wouldn't allow him to get away with this.
The fields had been selected. They were urban, ice, desert, and cyber. Desert was behind ARLN, Cyber behind JNPR. Urban was to the left of JNPR, and ice on the right.
"Still haven't heard you accept it, scum," taunted Aurelian, "Tell you what. If I somehow lose, which isn't even divinely possible, I'll give you the Arc name and heir."
"Not interested," replied Jaune, "I have no desire to take on such a shameful name."
At this, the three Arcs bristled in indignation at that.
"How dare you," growled Aurelian, "Fine. You would've still died if you did win. Would've made it easier for dad to force you to come back, stating family business."
"The only thing I'm interested in is if you strip down naked and confess to everyone how you lied and spread rumors about dating Pyrrha," stated Jaune.
"Fine. It's a deal," grinned Aurelian.
As Port was counting down, they got into their fighting position. Jaune had changed stances. His shield was on his back. He was using one of the sword styles he had learned in conjunction with the original style that the dragons taught him. He, of course, was trained to be ambidextrous. He dropped into a partial crouch, left arm drawn back, holding the hilt of his sword with it. His right hand was extended forward, the fingertips of it touching the tip of his sword. He held his blade slightly over his head. This style was called Gatotsu, and since he was linking with Alaerth for speed, Fafnir and Lung Wang for power, it was perfect for this first shot. Then he noticed Aurelian was somehow being protected. He used his Aura sense and saw Boyd had stolen a Semblance involving an invisible barrier protection and was invoking on Aurelian. Jaune merely growled, as this sort of cheating was something he should've expected. No matter, it wouldn't protect him from a dragon's rage.
Ren had also activated his Aura sense to see Boyd cheating.
"That bastard! He's using a Semblance he probably stole from a friend to give Aurelian the extra edge," growled Ren. Before they could do anything, the match had started.
What happened next confused many in the crowd. Even the hunters watching would be flabbergasted. Only the top hunters or strong people would be able to catch what happened. Ruby, with all her speed, would barely be able to keep up what happened.
The match had started. In the next millisecond, as Aurelian was about to step forward, Jaune had already dashed in front of Aurelian, still in the same stance. His eyes open to reveal his slitted eyes. Then, he thrust his blade forward right into Aurelian's face, sending him flying towards the desert. That attack alone, even with the barrier around him, sent his Aura levels from 100 to 60.
"Whoa. And Jaune lands the devastating first attack on Aurelian!" announced Port.
"Indeed. That attack alone took out 40% of Aurelian's attack! I'm sure many could barely witness what just happened. In summary, Jaune leaped towards Aurelian and stabbed him in the face, sending him flying just as the match began!" shouted Oobleck.
Roderick tried to fight Jaune, but Jaune, who had thrust his sword forward, took this chance and swung right at Roderick's body and landed another hit, sending him flying to Pyrrha to deal with. He jumped forward to deal with Aurelian, switching back to his right hand while drawing out his shield. Jaune landed to where Aurelian was slowly picking himself up, his face completely enraged.
"You... YOU SCUM! You will not stand in my path! You are destined to be underneath my foot while I claim Pyrrha and anything you have of value," roared Aurelian.
In the audience, Boyd and Vlad had taken the time during the preparation period to spread rumors of how Jaune was keeping Pyrrha hostage, raping her, abusing his power, etc. They started a chant for Aurelian. It soon spread, and people were booing at Jaune and chanting on Aurelian.
"What's wrong with these people!?" shouted Yang.
"I think Boyd started another rumor," said Dove before asking someone behind him. He turned back to them, "Yep. There's a nasty rumor saying Jaune raped Pyrrha."
"Wow. That's a nasty rumor," said Mercury as it reached him. He had been impressed with Jaune's first attack.
"This works well with our plans," grinned Cinder. All this negativity would attract the Grimm much easier.
With Team DSCO, the rumors did not settle well with the four musicians, especially since one of them wanted to murder some Arcs and had full on demon mode going on.
"LET ME GO! I'M JUST GONNA HAVE A 'TALK' WITH BOYD, AND MAYBE SHOVE THOSE LIES SO FAR UP HIS-!" The last part of what Soul was about to say was cut off after his mouth was clamped shut by Onyx who was currently holding said man down from getting out of his seat.
"Soul please calm down! You're making a scene! We all want to teach those Arcs a lesson for those lies but we can't! If we do, we'll ruin our reputation! Ain't that right Dan-" before Coral could continue to calm Soul down, as soon as he looked towards his leader, he seen Dandy was trying his hardest to control his anger, a massive tick mark could be seen on the lion's forehead, while the right arm rest was currently crushed and bent due to Dandy's prosthetic arms grip from squeezing it so hard.
"N-never mind.." Coral quickly took his attention away from Dandy, rarely had he seen Dandy pissed, and when he did, whoever pissed Dandy off would surely face the wrath of the lion.
"Ah know you ain't that type of person Jaune, so show these blinded people the true light that is the truth…" Dandy said in a low tone as he was trying his hardest not to punch the spectator below him that was chanting for the Arc. Though this did give Dandy an idea for a song he knew Soul would love to sing, especially since it won't just be about a certain someone with a V in his first name, but for all the other liars, cheats, and down right assholes on Remnant.
"What's going on down there?" asked Glynda, noticing people were starting to boo at Jaune.
"I believe Vlad Arc and Boyd Arc has started a rumor that involves destroying Mr. Ryu-Long's reputation," said Ozpin. He had noticed Vlad and Boyd whispering something to the people next to them before it started to spread.
"Poor man," said Ironwood, "When this is over, I'll offer him a place at Atlas if he wants to lie low from the crowd."
"Don't bother," said Raven, "A feeble plot like this won't stop him."
"Can you hear the crowd?" laughed Aurelian, "They're cheering for my victory. No matter what, you'll lose. So just give up now, and I'll take Pyrrha and show her who she truly belongs."
Jaune ignored him completely in favor of smashing his blade towards Aurelian's face, who barely dodged it.
"You bastard!" spat Aurelian, swinging his sword. He swung and swung, but never landed a hit. He made a mistake and did a thrust. Jaune dodged it while spinning, winding his blade and using the spin to add momentum and slashed, sending Aurelian's Aura level to 25%. Jaune was about to follow up when he suddenly felt the gravity around him increase. He looked down to see a few dark purple Dust crystals around him, noticing them as gravity crystals. However, although they seemed to be glowing a little, he could sense that they were inactive. He looked and glared at Boyd, noticing his hand was up and grinning while channeling another Semblance he had stolen. They were using the crystals as a disguise to hide the fact Boyd was the one pinning him down. Before he could move, Aurelian had grabbed his arm and was also grinning as he began his drain.
Roderick sneered as he got up to see he was fighting Pyrrha. He thought the 'Goddess of Victory' was just an over-hyped title people gave to her. What could a first year do against a Huntsman that has already gone through four years of training? He charged in with his flail just to receive a flying shield to his face. Stunned, he stumbled back and had his legs taken from under him and Pyrrha transformed Milo into a javelin and struck at his legs. Pyrrha recalled her shield back before transforming it to another xiphos. Roderick flipped back to his feet and looked up to see Pyrrha slashing with her two weapons. However, she didn't stop after her fast attack. She kept slashing and stabbing, getting faster and faster that her weapons were glowing. Roderick had no way to defend himself. At the last attack, Pyrrha stabbed while transforming Milo into a javelin while letting the butt of her spear explode, sending Roderick flying off to where Jaune and Aurelian was. She quickly dashed forward in time to see Aurelian grabbing Jaune's arm. She was confused. How did Jaune somehow get caught?
"Hehe," grinned Roderick as he got back up, "Looks like your little leader got caught by Boyd."
Pyrrha's eyes widened and looked at Boyd to see his arms up, sweating slightly. They were cheating! She tried to move in to attack Aurelian, but Roderick activated his Semblance, Prism Trap.
At once, Pyrrha found herself within a triangular barrier, still able to see through. However, she tried to get herself out of it and found it impossible.
"It looks like Roderick has activated his Semblance! From what it seems, Pyrrha Nikos can't get out of it, leaving it 2v1!" announced Oobleck.
"Hehe, have fun in there girl," leered Roderick, "We can't hurt you, but the same applies the other way. So we'll take care of your partner, and soon, you'll be ours."
Pyrrha banged her fists at the trap, but couldn't get out.
'Please be safe, Jaune,' whispered Pyrrha.
"Hmm. Something doesn't seem right. Jaune shouldn't have been caught like that so easily," mused Raven, "Even with those gravity Dust crystals, they shouldn't hamper his movement that much."
"True. His past fighting skills show that he is more than capable of dodging Aurelian's grab. So why didn't he?" said Glynda out loud. "Professor Ozpin? Professor?"
Ozpin was staring at Boyd Arc, his eyes narrowing. He suddenly stood up.
"Aurelian Arc is cheating, using Boyd Arc. He's using a stolen semblance to trap Jaune Ryu-Long long enough for Aurelian to grab him."
"We should stop this match!" shouted Ironwood, "It's a disgrace to everything this tournament stands for!"
"I wouldn't count him out, yet, Jimmy," said Qrow as he narrowed his eyes, "Take a look at the screen, and you'll see why."
They all did, and various reactions, from amusement to shock could be seen.
"Something's wrong," said Winter, "Something is off."
"Look at Boyd!" shouted Saffron. They looked to see his hands raised and sweating. It was obvious he was doing something and was responsible for Jaune's current predicament. And from the looks of Vlad, they had his full approval of this plan. Xanthe growled as she was about to stomp away, but Winter stopped her before pointing at the screen.
"How did Jaune get caught like that?" shouted Russel, "He's more slippery than this!"
"There are gravity Dust crystals around them, but I don't think that's the cause," commented Nebula.
"It may have to do with Boyd Arc. If you look at him, his arms are raised and he is sweating," pointed Yatsuhashi. They all turned to see what Yatsuhashi just said, from their guess it had to be a semblance. This got everyone upset.
"Alright, boys. Go show them what it means to try to cheat our friends," stated Coco. SSSN, RDL, Fox, and Yatsuhashi were prepared to intervene when Ruby piped up, "Wait! Where's Nora, Ren, and Cardin?"
Boyd was starting to sweat as he felt Jaune trying to get out of his grip. He was laughing inside, as they now had him in a trap. Aurelian would finish this, and nobody would know. Jaune would then have to face humiliation and watch as Pyrrha was placed in her rightful place, as a possible matriarch of the Arc family. Suddenly, someone punched him on top of his head. Distracted and losing focus, he looked up to see Ren, Nora, and Cardin, all with a rather displeased look.
"Follow us now, or Nora will break your legs right here, right now," demanded Ren. As to emphasize his point, Nora and Cardin both cracked their knuckles. Boyd sneered until Ren shot his hand at his throat. At the same time, he activated his Semblance on the four of them so nobody could see them. Boyd looked around in shock to see nobody even doing anything. He looked into Ren's eyes to see he was quite serious and felt the grip on his throat tighten. Seeing no choice, Boyd obeyed. Ren looked back at Jaune as Cardin and Nora hauled him towards the exit.
'I've got the distraction down. Now beat those two up,' thought Ren as he disappeared into the shadows with Cardin and Nora manhandling Boyd.
Sensing that he was no longer captive, Jaune immediately punched Aurelian in the gut, forcing him to let go and clutch his stomach before Jaune followed up with a high kick, sending Aurelian flying. Aurelian landed next to Roderick, his tongue tasting the bruise. However, he had the advantage. His Aura had been almost fully restored, and Roderick was next to him. He took a look to see Boyd missing, but dismissed it. He didn't need him now.
"You see, you have no chance. So save yourself the embarrassment and just give up," taunted Aurelian.
"Umm, Aurelian?" asked Roderick, his eyes wide as he stared at the screen, "You tried to drain all his Aura, right?"
"What type of question is that?" spat Aurelian, taking a glance at the screen. Roderick had 40% of his Aura left, and he had 90% after that drain. The attack Jaune had launched costed him 10%.
"Then why does he still have that much Aura left?" asked Roderick, slightly whimpering. Aurelian looked at Jaune's status and froze. Before the drain, Jaune had 95%. After the drain, his level was now merely at 65%. That meant that 30% of Jaune's Aura level was the equivalent of Aurelian's 75%. Many people in the crowd were also realizing this fact now.
"Kick his ass! It's still 2v1!" growled Aurelian as he charged forward with Roderick. Both with the intent to eliminate Jaune from the fight.
Jaune was furious as he charged to attack Aurelian, briefly forgetting about Roderick at all. His rightful victory stopped because of outside meddling! As he ferociously attacked Aurelian, he took a nasty hit on the back by Roderick. He ignored it in favor of attacking Aurelian
"Jaune! Calm down!" roared Lung Wang as Jaune took another hit, this time to his stomach. Jaune seemed to ignore Roderick until all three dragons he was linked with roared as one to get his attention.
"I know you're angry," snarled Fafnir, "But attacking like a berserker will get you nowhere. You could lose everything you've worked for because of your blind anger."
"Show him what it means to fight us," said Alaerth, "Show them that our wrath is not merely one that burns indiscriminately. But rather, your wrath should be like a calm deep sea, one that swallows everything. Show us and to everyone that you have complete control of your rage, and that you use it to empower your attacks."
"Announce to the world that you will not have your pride as Jaune Ryu-Long smeared, and your mate stolen!" bellowed Lung-Wang.
Jaune grunted as he jumped back to gain some breathing ground. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. They were right. He had taken two hits that he could've easily avoided. It had dropped his Aura levels down a bit.
Aurelian and Roderick charged in, thinking they had the advantage when Jaune was in his 'berserker' state when he suddenly changed his movements back to his regular style.
Jaune parried, blocked, and attacked them with even more ferocity. It was truly time to show them what they had provoked. The crowds were cheering, no longer caring about the rumors. Port and Oobleck were announcing with excitement what was happening. People were captivated at the fight as they were watching it on a television set. Aurelian showed them that he had indeed earned his title, and Roderick was no slouch. However, Jaune was dealing with both of them, not allowing them to get a direct hit on him.
Jaune jumped into the air slightly at one point, doing a spinning kick into Roderick's chest. Aurelian tried to take advantage of this from attacking behind when Jaune suddenly twisted in midair, going completely in the other way and kicking Aurelian in the chest too. Roderick and Aurelian shook it off, slowly surrounding him once again before attacking once more.
Aurelian yelled as he slashed down on Jaune's shield, trying to break through it. Roderick swung his flail on the other side. Jaune was busy parrying Aurelian's strikes as it was getting harder to just block it when Roderick managed to disarm Jaune with an upward swing. His face was filled with glee until Jaune spun and kicked Roderick away with a spinning thrust kick. Roderick flipped himself back onto his feet, but his breath was taken from him.
Jaune immediately dodge-rolled after his attack, narrowly dodging Aurelian's downward slash. He shifted his shield to a hand cannon and fired at Aurelian's body, who blocked it with his sword. At the same moment, Jaune had clenched his right hand and swung it, manipulating and firing stones at his feet. Aurelian didn't notice and was hit, knocking him off his feet. Jaune quickly dashed forward and kneed Aurelian in the face. He followed up with a shield bash to his head while in midair, knocking Aurelian into the ground. Aurelian immediately rolled away, feeling the concussion. He looked at Roderick, and both nodded. They loosened something in their clothes before charging in again.
Jaune caught Roderick with a leg sweep before pointing his shield at his chest, changing it to a shotgun and fired, all while using his right forearm guard to deflect another slash for Aurelian. As Roderick was sent flying, he had dropped several fire Dust crystals on the floor in front of Jaune. Aurelian quickly jumped back, dropping wind Dust crystals. Both of them transformed their weapons into their range function, Aurelian with the RPG, and Roderick with a mortar. They both fired at once right where Jaune was with all the fire and wind Dust crystals. There was no time for Jaune to dodge or run away. The attacks hit the crystals, causing a chain reaction. The end result was a huge explosion, with Jaune at the center. The competitors could feel the heat from the explosion.
"No way he can live through that," cackled Aurelian.
'Excellent. That stain has been erased,' thought Vlad.
Others in the crowd had the same idea, thinking it was over for Jaune.
'Is this all you have, Jaune Ryu-Long? Was I mistaken?' thought Cinder.
"All right, let's get Pyrrha. I'll build up the momentum, and you release the prism when I say so. She won't be able to handle it," instructed Aurelian. As they were walking towards Pyrrha, they noticed the buzzer for an elimination still hadn't been rung.
'Such a cockroach. No matter, she will be mine after this,' thought Aurelian as he turned around to see where Jaune's mangled body should be. As the dust cleared, what everyone saw instead was red scaled wings, positioned as if protecting someone.
"What's this? What a turn of events!" shouted Oobleck.
The wings slowly parted, and everyone saw that it was Jaune who had grew the wings. With a quick slash of his hands, his wings spread out for everyone to see. *
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Jaune Ryu-Long remains standing! And with such a minimal loss in his Aura after such an attack!" shouted Port.
They all looked to see he was right. That attack overall had only taken 15% of Jaune's Aura, leaving him with 35% left. He had 50% after fighting the two. Meanwhile, Roderick was at 15%, and Aurelian at 70%.
Before the two could move, Jaune flew forward, grabbing Roderick by the face before dragging him on the ground face first, throwing him out of the arena, causing him to be eliminated by Aura levels and ring out. He turned to Aurelian, growling before kicking the ground, causing the earth to shift under his sword and send it back flying at him. Jaune caught it with a flick of his wrist before hovering in front of Aurelian.
"So that's how he got away," smirked Raven, thinking of how she lost track of him before.
"I was not expecting this. He never showed this before," said a dazed Glynda.
"Huh. I thought you said his Semblance was manipulating the earth, Oz," inquired Qrow, taking a sip of his flask.
"A Hunter capable of flight. Who knows how much that can change things," mused Ironwood out loud.
Ozpin was gazing at Jaune curiously. Those wings... could be mistaken as the devil, but he had a feeling it was something more. Something far more ancient, like he first suspected. What, though, he couldn't place it. None of the legends he had learned fit into this. And not to mention he didn't reveal his wings during their own fight.
"Amazing," breathed Cinder in awe. She had been amazed by just the video, but looking at it live, she felt the video hadn't given it justice.
"Whooo! Go Jaune!" shouted Ruby, ready to see Aurelian lose.
"You guys knew he can do this?" asked Velvet in amazement. She looked around to see RWBY, NDGO, and Sun being the only ones not in shock.
"Leader?" asked Sage to Sun.
"He told me about it once," shrugged Sun, "I have to admit, it looks impressive."
"I was not expecting that," said Winter to Saffron and Xanthe. They could only nod in agreement.
"Hmph. Just because you can fly doesn't me-," started Aurelian before Jaune took out a fire Dust crystal, and chomped down on it.
Before anyone could figure out why, Jaune took a deep breath and spat out hot fire, blazing towards Aurelian. He dodged it and was about to launch a counter strike with his RPG when Jaune had already flown next to him, attacking with no mercy. Slashes after slashes, Aurelian's Aura level went down. Aurelian struggled to keep up, trying to build up momentum, but Jaune wouldn't let him. Each slashed was intercepted before Aurelian could attack.
Finally, Aurelian spun, trying to hit Jaune with a spin attack. Jaune leaned back to dodge it, letting the attack barely touch his hair. Aurelian used the momentum of his spin, letting go of his sword with his left hand and trying to punch down at where Jaune would be when he was facing him again. Before he could do so, Jaune raised his right leg while he had leaned back and kicked Aurelian in the face as he threw his momentum down for a punch. Disorientated, Aurelian stumbled back from the attack. Jaune decided it was time to finish it and fired, to everyone's surprise, what seemed to be nine simultaneous attacks, all flying right at Aurelian, all striking at nine vital spots on the human body. He couldn't dodge or block, and so all 9 attacks slammed home. Aurelian was eliminated by Aura level after such a devastating attack, landing face first into the desert.
"What an amazing match! Jaune and Pyrrha win this match!" announced Oobleck.
"It looks like Aurelian won't be a repeat winner this time," added Port.
The prism had broken off when Roderick had been eliminated, but Pyrrha stayed to watch Jaune rip Aurelian apart. As Aurelian struggled to get up, Pyrrha asked, "So, are you going to follow your end of the deal?"
Aurelian spat out sand before replying, "Like I would honor a deal with a bastard."
"Funny. I was under the impression you're the bastard. At least Vlad was married to Yu when she had me," replied Jaune. He didn't care about the deal anymore. Pyrrha, however, did. She would not let her future husband be slandered like this!
With a firm decision in mind, she decided to put all those rumors to rest.
"Excuse me, everyone!" shouted Pyrrha. Everyone became silent, wondering what she had to say.
"There have been rumors about me and Aurelian. I want to say, that none of those are true. I do not want to date Aurelian Arc, nor will I ever want to. I have never even given him the chance to do so, as I find him quite atrocious. So to all those who believed those rumors that I was with Aurelian, or that Jaune was a stalker or raping me. I only have one thing to say. Shame on you. And I will fight anyone who thinks they are true!"
With a flourish at that declaration, Pyrrha walked back to Jaune's side before giving him a hug. Jaune affectionately wrapped his wings around Pyrrha in response. The two stayed in that embrace for a few seconds and before anyone could do anything, Jaune had picked Pyrrha up bridal style before launching into the air. His next location? At one of Junior's hideouts. He needed to hide for a bit from everyone.
As everyone was walking away, they were all talking about Jaune and his wings. How he dealt with two at once. How it seemed that Pyrrha was actually dating him. Vlad, though, was furious. How could his 'true' sons lose? And where was Boyd? As he went to a bathroom to wash his face, one of the stalls creaked open. There he saw Boyd with his head inside a toilet seat. He yelled in rage. He would have to deal with Jaune personally, it seemed.
"Is it me, or does it seem like Jaune is dating Pyrrha? But that can't be right. Weiss told me she was dating him," said Winter. Xanthe and Saffron looked at each other before chuckling nervously and told her to ask her sister for more details.
"I wished he would've come to my school," sighed Ironwood, "So many new tactics with that flying ability of his."
"Wait, hold on. Raven, you told me that Yang was dating him, right? Then why is he getting so cuddly with Cereal girl?" asked Qrow. He didn't want his niece to be dating a two-timing guy.
"So, I was right about the boy. He is strong," smiled Raven, "And who knows. Maybe he's dating both of them at once, and they're all right with it. He is strong enough, and his Aura level tells us how much stamina he has. With just one girl, he would just tire her out. Well, then. It was... nice meeting you all again. I must go." With that, she slashed the air, creating a portal before walking through it to disappear.
"Raven! That doesn't exactly.. Urgh never mind. I'll get it from Yang myself. Probably get Taiyang as backup," grunted Qrow as he also left.
"Well, that was an excellent match," commented Ozpin as he stood up, "I believe we should leave now."
*Insert Epic music at that point
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took quite some time just writing and rewriting the fight scene, trying to improve it as much as possible. Review if you can!
Let's see, I haven't done this in a long time. Review responses! I'm going to answer a few questions without spoiling too much of what I have planned as well as deal with some other stuff. Most of the response will be to the guest reviews, as I have responded to a few reviews with profile names.
IAMBECOMESNAIL- Thanks for the review, feel the love
Ricky- I did put that Summer was facing 7 people at once after dealing with a huge wave of Grimm and that she took out 5 before dying. I think that shows quite a bit of power to her.
Yes, I did a Might Guy Easter Egg for fun.
As for the other reviewers: Thanks for reviewing! Thanks for the positive comments! Helps me keep going.
And finally... the anonymous reviewer named "Truth" (cough don't think that should be your sn.) For all other readers, it's not very important down here, so you can skip this part of you want.
Thank you for actually expanding on your criticism instead of straight out insulting like you did last time. I'll take the criticism, but for someone to just come in swinging unprovoked and actually attacking the readers themselves is just ... stupid. And it's quite sad that you had to have somebody else write a perfectly good apology. Should've left it there instead of admitting somebody else wrote it for you. Kinda ruins the apology and makes it empty. And like TheDemonicSaint said, go have some PM wars instead of putting it in my review section. Like I said, easy to make an account. Plus, TheDemonicSaint actually PMed me and apologized to me about posting reviews arguing against you.
Now to deal with some of your points. And frankly, it would be just easier if you had a profile. If not, it's really easy to just make one so I could just send a pm. Also, I do have the future plot planned out till the end of the tournament, you can confirm that with my beta reader TheMischieviousPuppy, as I do discuss it with him. Also, team DSCO was his characters that he painstakingly created to match up with the RWBY universe, so do apologize to him about his team. I actually quite like his OC's, as they are quite unique, and yet still fit with the RWBY universe. So if some of what you think were 'your' ideas, it's not. They were ideas I had planned, and some I admit, influenced by with Saint Danielle when he PMed me and giving me suggestions way early on.
1- Aurelian was never supposed to be the 'end' boss, nor is Vlad. Their Jaune's personal demons/boss, but that's it. True enemy will be after the tournament. Might do something with Vlad, but that's in the air.
2-Tyrian's going to be interesting, I'll state that for now and not spoil it.
3-I can't bloody make them reveal themselves yet. Jaune hasn't even fully shown his powers to the world of Remnant yet. It's the first year of the Academy, and it's also the very first time Jaune's going to be shown to the world. Already had this discussion with Saint Danielle
4-Goes with part 3
5- Eh longest was Weiss. I actually had them break up for a bit in my earlier chapters. Had Blake slap Jaune and almost break up. But hey, please do note that they are just DATING to see if they like how the whole harem thing goes. I've not had Jaune given any Mate Marks, which would = marriage. As for Neptune, I literally followed Canon storyline for that. How am I bashing him when the original story has him doing that already? Granted the response was something I made up, but overall, Neptune did reject Weiss's offer to the dance. If that's still bashing, then blame the original authors.
6. The dragons are his advisors and basically replacement parents for him while he grows up. I gotta have him start somewhere, don't I? If you notice, I have the dragons talking less and less every now and then, and offering random advice every now and then compared to the beginning. Heck, I even had Jaune fight using Fafnir's powers only. And remember, the Dragon Contracts are his Semblance, and I've given him 7 years of bloody training before heading to Beacon. In the future, I might have something disrupt it, but that's still in planning phase. If there were no dragons, then my story would've ended at chapter 1, where he dies. I should make an omake for that!
7. And please don't insult my readers. They enjoy this story. The fact that you would go so far to insult them is quite vexing. Insult my story, criticize it, sure. I don't mind and might use some of your points to further my story. But if you just blatantly insult them and, I quote, "The only reason why people read this garbage is because most of them are as immature as you are." or "But why would you care when you get praised for the lemons and obvious wish fulfillment so many people here eat up like pigs with the dirt and feces."
That's just asking for your story to be punched in the face. And don't go, "Oh, my story is for those who truly understand entertainment and for the sophisticated." Only your die hard fans would continue reading your story after those insults that I mentioned above. Which is why you use the face of anonymity, I guess. So you wouldn't lose your readers. And like I said, your 'apology' feels empty after admitting you had someone else do it for you.
And do note that while I had to up my rating to M, most of the time, it was rated T. Even that fluff scene I made I used the vaguest sense of words possible, and considered it about rated T. It was only due to some good-hearted people that suggested I bump it to M just to make sure I don't get flagged. And there's no lemon in the story if you hadn't noticed.
Let's see... on another note. I highly doubt you talked with any of those writers you mentioned. If you did, do provide your profile name so they can confirm. Even Saint Danielle, one of the writers you 'claimed' to have talked to and know, doesn't recognize you. He even rebukes you for your insults.
Final note: I never claimed I was on the same level with Couer Al'Aran, but I am happy someone compared me to him. He's a better writer, I admit. He also has a ton of stories going off at once. Also, no idea what NTFF supposed to stand for.
That's all folks! And Truth, if you are going to post another review, please do make an account or use your real one.
And yes, I'm confirming I will be writing even after the vol 3 arc.