Next Round
Streets of Vale
Moreno Dickeyi, member of Beacon Academy's team JADE was walking alone. After his team's match defeat against team CRDL, the young coyote Faunus was brought to the infirmary to patch him up after Russel had slashed him. That was when he was told of how his Aura wasn't activating, nor could he draw it out. At first, the nurses assumed that his Aura was resealed and tried to awaken it but were unsuccessful. After several doctors were called in to examine him, Moreno was told that his Aura's connection to his body had been severed.
At first the young coyote Faunus freaked out, assuming that it meant that he was dying, but the doctors assured him that he still had his Aura, but it simply could not flow through his body like it used to before his injury.
"Damn, that freak," Moreno cursed as he clutched his chest, feeling the scar Russel had left on him through the fabric of his shirt. "I swear I will get him for this," he muttered as he turned a corner.
"Looks like you are in need of some help," a male voice said, causing Moreno to look up.
Standing before the Beacon student was a large man dressed in white and black. The main thing that caught Moreno's attention was the Grimm mask, the telltale sign that this man was member of the White Fang. Moreno let out a short gasp as he took a step back.
"Wait," the White Fang member said. "I just want to talk," he told the student.
"About what?" Moreno snapped at the terrorist.
"About dealing with that monster from the tournament," the White Fang member told Moreno.
The memory of Russel's monstrous form popped into Moreno's mind, causing the boy's blood to boil as his rage started to build up. It was because of him, that Moreno had lost his Aura, it was because of him that his dream of being a huntsman was shattered.
It was because of him that Moreno was now just another Faunus.
"What do you need me to do?" Moreno asked the White Fang member, staring straight into the man's mask.
Amity Coliseum
After getting some snacks from the concession stands, the assembled group composed of Sho, Cinder, Ruby, Velvet, and Fox made their way to a reasonably empty row of seats. Once they took their seats, Sho couldn't help but notice something about their seating arrangement.
"Can't help but feel like I'm in some cheesy romantic comedy scenario," Sho commented, between Cinder and Velvet.
"It certainly looks like one," Fox commented as he felt the auras of the two young women surrounding Sho's. The dark skinned tried to suppress a chuckle.
"I thought you were blind," Sho said, not finding this arrangement funny.
"Cheer up Sho," Ruby said as she leaned forward to talk to Sho. "We got some good seats, we're among friends, and I have this!" she cheered while holding up a freakishly large bag of cookies.
"Ignoring the bag of cookies, I'm a little underwhelmed on the friends' part since most of them are not here," Sho pointed out.
"The match is starting," Velvet said, causing everyone to turn their attention to the arena.
After hearing Velvet's statement, Sho watched as the match began with Mercury and Emerald slowly backed away into the long grass much to the confusion of not only Coco and Yatsuhashi, but also Velvet and Ruby. Cinder on the other hand gave a subtle smile at how her followers were fighting smart.
"Why did they do that?" Ruby asked, wondering why Emerald and her teammate was retreating instead of meeting Coco and Yatsuhashi.
"They plan on using the terrain to advantage," Sho answered as he watched Coco sent out a barrage of bullets at the long grass, actually cutting down the grass. "That was a good call," he added, only for his eyes to widen when Emerald and Mercury were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did they go?" Velvet asked, but she didn't get a response.
Cinder on the other hand, simply looked up to see Mercury descend from the sky to ambush the Vale students. However, Yatsuhashi upon seeing Mercury's descend, pushed Coco out of the way before pulling out his massive sword, blocking Mercury's attack. The larger teen pushed the smaller one off his sword, allowing Coco to fire at their opponent.
The audience watched in excitement as Mercury dodged each shot before jumping into air and landing between his opponents. After landing, Mercury turned his attention back to Yatsuhashi and unleashed a flurry of kicks, forcing the larger male on the defensive. As for Coco, she aimed her weapon at Mercury but wasn't able to get a clear shot.
"Your friend is practically in a class of his own," Sho commented to Cinder as he watched Mercury evade a swing from Yatsuhashi's blade before landing behind Coco and pushing her toward her teammate, gun pointed at the young man's gut.
Velvet let out a gasp of horror as her mind raced over the possibility of Yatsuhashi being filled with bullets. Luckily Coco didn't fire, much to Velvet's relief, but instead changed her weapon back into its purse form and took a swing at Mercury, only for the man to dodge the attack.
"He's just toying with them," Fox stated, sensing how the fight was not going in his teammates favor.
'If I had a 100 yen for every time, I was thinking that,' Sho mentally thought to himself as this was not uncommon amongst nearly every match that he had seen so far. Though, even he had to admit that the sight of Mercury's shots encircling him like a cyclone was very over the top, and frankly quite ridiculous looking to him that he couldn't help but crack a smile.
Cinder took her eyes off the match to look at Sho and noticed his smile.
"Impressed?" Cinder asked.
"Not really," Sho answered. "It just looks so stupid seeing your friend surrounding himself with so many bullets," he said, trying his best not to laugh.
"And how would you handle this match?" Cinder asked, interested in finding out how Sho would fight.
"If I was fighting them without killing them, I would key my vibration globes to the molecular frequency of their weapons to destroy them. Once they are rendered weaponless, I would rush them so that I can knock them out before they could react," Sho answered.
"Vibration globes?" Cinder wondered what he meant by that.
"Two small orbs that my armor has that sends out high frequency shockwaves that can destroy a target on a molecular level," Sho explained while watching Mercury's bullets fly towards Coco and Yatsuhashi, but only explode around them, creating a smokescreen.
"I see," Cinder replied, amazed that Sho possessed such a weapon.
"I remember that," Ruby joined in, taking her eyes off the match as Coco was ensnared by the chain part of Emerald's weapon. "You used it against Yang and destroyed all of her bullets," she added as she remembered that day.
"I remember that day too," Sho said as he focused on the match. "I held back that day," he added.
"You held back?" Cinder asked, curious as to why he would hold back.
"If I didn't, Yang would have been dead before she landed her first punch," Sho stated as he watched Mercury dominate over Yatsuhashi. "Your teammate is going to win against him," he told Cinder, much to the confusion of the other three Beacon students.
"How can you say that!?" Ruby cried, shocked that Sho would say something like that.
"Yeah, Yatsuhashi's not some amateur," Fox defended his teammate and friend.
"How are you so certain?" Cinder asked, starting to think that Sho isn't like the other students.
"All of Yatsuhashi's attacks are quite powerful, but Mercury was able to avoid those attacks with ease and when he blocked one of Yatushashi's attacks, there was a shockwave that was strong enough to shatter the rocks around them, but Mercury wasn't harmed in any way," Sho explained. "Even when taking Aura into account, a blow like that should be able to take a pretty good chunk of Aura out of their meters," he added.
"So?" Fox asked, not getting where Sho was going.
"Their meters have only dropped a small margin," Sho pointed to the monitor displaying the aura meters. "But Mercury's is much higher than Yatsuhashi's," he continued.
"Meaning that Mercury has the advantage," Cinder said, smiling at how Sho was able to notice the difference in skills between Mercury and Yatsuhashi.
Locker room
Russel and Sky were waiting for their match while watching the current match. Sky was feeling very nervous as he watched that Mercury guy shake off Yatsuhashi's attacks and counter with ease.
"Shit," Sky said as he watched Yatsuhashi have the misfortune of having a geyser erupt right in front of his face after he landed on it.
"He's done," Russel said when he saw Mercury take advantage of the large member of team CFVY being is disoriented.
"Russel," a female voice called out to the young Zoanoid.
Russel turned around to see Nebula entering the locker room. The mohawked boy was happy to see her as he made his way to talk.
"What's up?" Russel asked.
"Just wanted to wish you good luck," Nebula answered. "But I don't think you'll really need it," she added.
"I don't know, our opponent is that girl with the flying swords," Russel said, feeling a bit nervous.
Nebula nodded her head, remembering a video of the girl Russel was referring to. If her team had faced that girl from Atlas instead of team SSSN, Nebula was sure that her team would have lost without even making a move. However, Nebula was sure that Russel could find a way to take the Atlesian girl down, at least that's what she wanted to believe.
"I'm sure there is way that you can beat her," Nebula reassured Russel before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You just need to believe in yourself," she told him.
"Yeah," Russel agreed, smiling at Nebula before kissing her in return.
"Well here's a piece of advice kid, each sword is attached to a wire. So cut the wires to reduce the number of weapons she has," Aptom said as he appeared in the locker room, causing the three teens to jump in surprise.
"Where'd you come from!" Sky shouted, hating how this guy just appears out of nowhere, but he was ignored by the older Zoanoid.
"Wires?" Russel noted what Aptom said.
"Yeah, wires that are thin enough to be practically invisible to the naked eye, yet strong enough to pull the swords back to her," Aptom explained. "I'm sure your claws are strong enough to cut through them," he added.
"How can you be so sure?" Russel asked looking at his hands in wonder.
"Back on Earth, Chronos created a power type Zoanoid with large claws capable of ripping through armored vehicles with ease," Aptom answered. "Yours may be smaller, but I doubt the Creators would make a living weapon with sharp claws just for show," he pointed out as he took his leave.
"Why are you telling Russel this?" Nebula asked, still wary of the older Zoanoid.
Aptom stopped, but didn't turn around to face the kids.
"That's a good question," Aptom said. "Maybe I want to see him at his best," he added before continuing to walk out.
"And with Ms. Coco Adel knocked out, that concludes the match,"Doctor Oobleck announced the end of the match.
The three teens looked up to the monitor to see both Coco and Yatsuhashi knocked out, signaling that the match was indeed over. Russel and Sky looked at each other before nodding their heads. Sky was the first to leave the locker room while Russel hanged back for a bit longer.
"How about after the match we go out for dinner tonight?" Russel asked Nebula. "Just the two of us," he added.
Nebula smiled, liking Russel's offer while thinking of a nice place to eat.
"You're paying," Nebula told him in a teasing manner. "And I get to pick the restaurant," she added.
"That's fine," Russel agreed before giving Nebula a kiss on her cheek before following after Sky.
Back in the stands, Sho, Cinder, and Ruby watched Coco and Yatsuhashi pick themselves up to leave the arena, saddened by their loss. Velvet and Fox had already gotten up to meet up with their teammates to comfort them. Ruby felt bad for her upperclassmen, but when she saw how the next team fight was Penny, she was excited that her friend was up next. However, her excitement lessened when she saw that Penny opponents was Russel and Sky. Even though Penny was a robot and had a lot of power, Ruby couldn't help but be worried since Russel's Zoanoid form was still an unknown factor to all but Sho and those like him.
While Ruby was worried over her friend, the four contestants had entered the ring. Penny waved at the crowd for a brief moment before turning her attention to Russel and Sky. Her partner for the match Ciel, stood impassively while checking her watch.
"It is so nice to meet you, fellow competitors," Penny greeted the two boys while the arena's stages were being selected.
Russel and Sky looked at each other, confused by this girl greeting them so nicely.
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too," Sky said as he got his halberd, Feather's Edge, ready while Russel cracked his neck as his eyes glowed yellow.
The selection was made and the arena had changed into a mix of forest and mountain. As the artificial terrain set itself up, the four combatants waited for the buzzer to go.
"You ready man?" Sky asked Russel.
"Oh yeah…" Russel replied, his voice lowered as he started transforming for all to see.
Penny and Ciel had looks of shock and horror when they saw Russel's body rapidly change into the large reptilian bird creature from his first match. The audience had mixed reactions as this was the second time, they had seen this form. Many were still shocked by this transformation while a smaller group within the audience cheered when they saw Beacon Academy's resident Zoanoid change and were eager to see what else he was capable of.
Right next to Sho, Cinder's eyes widened when she saw Russel transform. This was something she was not expecting even in her wildest scenarios. She had assumed that the robot girl had this match in the bag, but this unexpected development could prove to make things difficult for her.
Back in the arena, Russel wrapped his tail around his waist as he waited for the match to start.
"Hey Sky," Russel got his friend's attention. "You hang back and take shots at beret girl while I deal with the one with the flying swords," he told Sky.
"You sure you can handle her?" Sky asked.
Russel was silent as he watched Penny drew out her weapon, Floating Array, from her backpack. He focused his eyes on the space between the backpack and the blades. It was brief, but he caught sight of a wire from one of the blades when the light of the sun reflected on the wire. That was more than enough for him to figure out what he needed to do to win this fight.
"I'll manage," Russel finally answered as he took a step forward before lunging at his prey when he heard the buzzer go off.
The sight of the Zoanoid coming toward her, caused Penny to jump back in fear before regaining her composure and unleashed four of her blades. Ciel on the other hand was still in a state of shock as the blades flew past her and toward Russel. As the blades got closer, Russel kept moving forward until just the last second and moved to his left, dodging the blades.
Once the blades brushed past him, Russel swiped at the air on his right side with his right arm, much to the confusion of the audience. Russel felt two of the wires on his claws snap, it wasn't all of them but to the young Zoanoid, this was a good sign as it meant that his opponent was down two weapons. His thoughts were confirmed when he heard the clatter of two blades hitting the tiled floor, much to the awe of the majority of the audience when they saw two of Penny's blades drop to the ground while the other two were still up in the air.
"Two down," Russel said as focused his attention on Penny.
Over where Sho was sitting, he couldn't help but nod at how Russel quickly figured out how Penny's weapon worked.
"How did he do that?" Ruby asked, shocked by how the match was beginning.
"You're the weapons nut of your team Ruby," Sho pointed out. "How do you think that girl's weapon works?" he asked the girl.
"Well, Penny can deploy her gun-swords from her backpack," Ruby said as she thought about the question. "I thought they were remote operated and stayed in the air by the use of Gravity Dust," she guessed.
"I would think so too," Cinder agreed, "She is from Atlas, so she would have access to more advance gear," she added.
"Well, I would say that the answer is a much simpler one," Sho said. "The blades are controlled by wires," he told the two girls.
"Wires?" Ruby and Cinder said in disbelief.
"They would still have to be some advance wires that would transmit signals to the blades in order for this girl to control them," Sho stated. "Kind of like some of those machines in one of those Gundam shows," he whispered that part since he was positive that Ruby and Cinder wouldn't know anything about Gundam.
"So, she is using wires that are too thin to see but capable of transmitting electrical signals to the blades in order for them to change their trajectory," Cinder summarized. "That is very advance," she added.
Ruby on the other hand was silent as she looked at her friend's weapon in awe at how advance it actually was.
"But I guess Russel's eyes while in that form are sharper than any of us thought if he was able to see the wires, making this a more even match," Sho pointed out.
'Perhaps too even,' Cinder thought as she considered options on how to revise her plan if this creature were to win instead of the robot.
Back in the arena, Penny's demeanor was not as cheerful as it usually was. Instead the poor girl was doing her best to keep Russel at bay with the blades of Floating Array, but the bird-like Zoanoid was dodging her attacks easily and taking down some of the blades. Her processors were calculating Russel's speed and attack pattern in order to provide Penny with as many options on how to deal with her opponent. However, this was proving difficult as she had no data on a creature like this in her database.
As for Russel, he had taken down another three blades before jumping to the side to avoid another blade. Rather than take down the most recent blade, Russel chose to charge at Penny, much to the robotic carrot top's dislike as she brought out another pair of blades. This time she had the blades transform into their gun modes and began firing at the charging Zoanoid. Russel stopped himself and blocked the shots with his arms.
"Of course, the swords are also fucking guns," Russel muttered to himself, annoyed by how the shots stung more like bug bites rather than how most bullets felt on his body when he used his aura to block them when in his human form. He took a brief glance at the monitor displaying everyone's aura meters and found his was still in the green. "Damn, I love being a Zoanoid," he said when he realized that he was still in the game.
Off to the side, Ciel was quite shocked at what Penny was dealing with. She knew she had to do something to help Penny, but what she was considering would be risky, especially since the other member of team CRDL hasn't made his move yet.
"It appears that young Miss Polendina is have some trouble," Port voice was heard through the speakers in the stadium.
"Indeed," Oobleck agreed with his colleague. "Mr. Thrush had surprised us all with his semblance," he added.
"It was quite unexpected when he used it during the team matches," Port added. "And it would appear that it still has quite an effect on his opponent," he pointed out.
"Yes, it would appear so," Oobleck agreed as the two of them returned to overseeing the match.
The match between Russel and Penny continued with Penny doing her best to keep Russel at a distance, but the young Zoanoid was easily closing the gap between them. After ducking under several of Penny's blades, Russel leapt toward the young robot girl, claws drawn out and ready to strike.
Penny braced herself for the incoming attack, but it never came. Instead, Russel was moving in reverse much to the confusion of everyone watching. Penny looked to her left to see Ciel moving her right hand in a counterclockwise motion while Russel was continuing to move backwards before finally stopping. The Zoanoid looked around, astounded by what had just happened while Sky had a confused look on his face.
"What in the…" Sky started to say before remembering that the girl in the beret was a part of this match too.
"Sky!" Russel called out to his friend. "What the fuck just happened?" he asked, more pissed than confused.
"I have no idea!" Sky shouted back. "It's like she just rewound you or something," he guessed.
"That was indeed quite a surprise," Port said from the commentator's box.
"Indeed, it would appear that young Miss Soleil's Semblance allows her to reverse the flow of time of her opponents," Oobleck explained after reading the Atlesian student's profile.
"A very handy Semblance if I do say so myself," Port commented.
"That's fucking BULLSHIT!" the Zoanoid shouted as he dodged a flying blade.
Once the blade past him, Russel grabbed the hilt of the blade and cut the wire that was attached to it. He turned his attention back to Penny and glared at the robot girl.
"You're starting to get on my nerves," Russel growled before throwing the blade right back at Penny.
Before the sword touched her, Penny had one of her still usable swords intercept it. While she was relieved that she deflected the attack, the ginger haired girl couldn't help but feel bad that her opponent was upset with her.
"I am so sorry for getting on your nerves," Penny apologized sincerely, bowing to the Zoanoid.
Russel was slightly taken aback by his opponent's apology before shaking his head at this girl's stupidity.
"I'M YOUR OPPONENT, YOU IDIOT!" Russel shouted as he charged toward Penny, causing the poor girl to launch her swords at him once again on reflex.
Seeing the attack coming, rather than jump out of the way Russel dove forward. His body lower to the ground allowed the blades of Floating Array to go over him while his clawed hands touched the floor. He dug his claws into the tiles while his feet touched the floor before Russel launched himself forward, chunks of the tiles ripped off by his claws.
As Russel got closer, Penny's processors were calculating how much distance was between them and how much time she needed to recall her weapons. However, Russel wasn't going to give her the chance as he threw the clutched debris in his hands at Penny's face. The debris was a mixture of tile and dust, which was effective in temporary disorienting the robot girl. While Penny tried to clear her vision, Russel grabbed her outstretched right arm, twist his body and flung the robot girl onto the ground, cracking the floor tiles.
'She's a lot heavier than she looks,' Russel thought to himself.
Off to the side, Ciel caught a glimpse of Russel throwing Penny to the ground. She tried to use her semblance again, but she was caught off guard when Sky suddenly appeared in front of her, Feather's Edge by his side as he swung it at her. Acting quickly, the Atlesian student used her semblance on the young man, causing him to vanish and reappear fifteen feet away from her, on top of a large boulder. Rather than be confused, Sky simply turn his halberd over and pointed the barrel portion of Feather's Edge at Ciel and fired at her. The round from Feather's Edge knocked Ciel off balance, not enough kick to seriously injure her but enough to lower her Aura as the monitor above showed the girl's Aura was now in the yellow.
"I guess she doesn't have a massive Aura reserve," Sky commented. "Which means that she can't use her semblance for too long or in rapid succession," he theorized as he teleported once again.
Back in the stands, Cinder watched the match with a small sense of dread as Russel tossed Penny away from himself. Even when the robot managed to regain her composure and countered with a barrage of swords, the half Maiden could see how this creature was able to read its adversary's moves so easily.
"COME ON PENNY!" Cinder heard the silver eyed girl cheering right beside her, but she didn't care.
"Russel has already memorized his opponent's attack pattern," Sho said as he watched Russel effortlessly dodge all of Penny's attacks while getting closer to her.
"This semblance of his is quite amazing," Cinder said, maintain a level head despite how much this turn of events could result in some hasty alterations to her plan.
"He is a lot stronger than I expected him to actually be," Sho said, feeling a bit uneasy with how Russel's skills and strength in his Zoanoid form were far different from what he suspected of this 'Scout-type' Zoanoid.
'Damn it, if only there was a way to make that thing stop attacking,' Cinder thought to herself, her eyes focused on the Zoanoid.
Back in the arena
Russel drew back his left arm and was ready to strike Penny. He had made it past the girl's weapons and was too close for her to draw them back without risking harm to herself. Penny could only watch as Russel's clawed arm head toward her face.
…stop attacking
Suddenly, Russel found himself unable to finish his attack, inches away from Penny's head. Penny was confused as to why her opponent stopped attacking. She was not the only one as everyone was silent as Russel stood still. Realizing that this was her chance, Penny deployed two more blades from her backpack and transformed them into their gun forms.
Russel struggled to move his body before Penny could fire, but he didn't move an inch. Luckily for the Zoanoid, Sky appeared behind him, grabbing him by the tail and teleported them away from Penny. The next thing Russel knew, he and Sky were standing behind a large boulder.
"What happened man?" Sky asked Russel, wondering what was wrong with his teammate.
Russel was finally able to move, ducking his head just in time to avoid one of Penny's blades from hitting him.
"I…I don't know," Russel finally answered. "I heard a voice and the next thing I knew, I couldn't move," he explained, silent for a moment before gasping as he remembered something Sho said.
"The Zoalord is a more advanced type of Zoaform with powers beyond that of any Zoanoid." "Their greatest power is the ability to control Zoanoids with just their thoughts just like the Creators,"
"Sky, I think there is someone here that can control me with just their mind," Russel told his teammate.
"Please tell me you're joking," Sky pleaded to Russel, but Russel's shocked face was enough for him to know that the Zoanoid wasn't messing around with them. He peaked around the boulder and saw Penny ready her weapon to attack them once again. He could feel his nerves going into high gear, but he steeled himself as he tightened his grip on Feather's Edge. "I'm taking her out," he told Russel before teleporting.
"Sky…wait!" Russel shouted as he watched Sky vanish.
Penny was about to send the blades of Floating Array straight at the boulder Russel was behind when Sky suddenly appeared in front of her. She let out a short gasp as the halberd wielder reached out to grab her right arm, but Ciel reacted quickly and used her Semblance to reverse the flow of time, sending Sky back to the boulder.
However, the two girls had no time to feel relief as Russel launched himself off the boulder and was heading for Penny once again. Ciel, incapable of using her Semblance again after using it against Sky, she chose to push Penny out of the way. Once Penny was out of the way, Russel grabbed Ciel's head and threw her aside.
"Take her out of here Sky!" Russel ordered Sky.
After hearing Russel order, Sky teleported to where Ciel landed and grabbed her shoulders. Disoriented from Russel's throw, Ciel didn't have time to defend herself as she found herself outside of the arena with Sky still holding her.
"Sky Lark and Ciel Soliel are both out of the ring!" Port shouted. "Willingly taking himself out along with one of his opponents was quite a daring display," he praised his student.
"Now that just leaves Russel Thrush and Penny Polendina still in the match," Oobleck said as the match continued.
While the two teachers continued making their commentary, Russel continued dodging the barrage of Penny's blades and laser fire while getting closer. He grabbed a large rock and used it to block an incoming blade as he got closer and closer to the robot girl. Unfortunately, Russel's felt something forcing him to stop attacking once again.
"Damn it, not again," Russel growled out as he stopped four feet away from Penny.
Confused as to why Russel had stopped once again, Penny felt compelled to ask the Zoanoid what was wrong with him. However, this was her chance to finish the match and she took it as she guided the blades of Floating Array to encircle Russel, tying him up. Once he was wrapped up, Penny lifted the Zoanoid up into the air before swinging her opponent into the air and toward the artificial mountain behind them.
The mountain was getting much closer from Russel's point of view. Rather than freak out, Russel was enraged by how he couldn't do anything to prevent himself from hitting the mountain.
"DAMN IT!" Russel roared, enraged as hit body hit the mountain.
Russel's aura meter had gone down to zero, signaling that Penny had won the match. A large portion of the crowd cheered and praised Penny for her victory. Ruby was one of the loudest of Penny's supporters. Sho on the other hand was confused as to why Russel had hesitated twice during the whole match.
'Why did he stop attacking when he got so close to her?' Sho mentally asked himself until he remembered how his old comrade Murakami prevented the small group of Enzyme IIs that Guyo used against them when he and his friends tried to find a new place to hide from Chronos when they are around Mt. Minakami. 'It can't be,' he dreaded as he considered the possibility that there was a Zoalord in Remnant.
Sho's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Cinder groaning next to him. He turned to see the young woman massaging her forehead, as if she was suffering from a headache.
"Is something wrong Cinder?" Sho asked the dark-haired beauty.
"I'm alright," Cinder tried to assure Sho. "It's just a little headache," she told him but the stinging feeling in her head was growing stronger.
"Maybe we should leave," Sho suggested. "A large crowd can't be good for you if you're head is hurting," he told her as he got up and offered Cinder a hand.
Cinder briefly looked at Sho's hand before turning up to look at his face. The worried expression on Sho face looked very genuine was something Cinder realized she could use to her advantage.
'Maybe this annoying headache has its advantage,' Cinder thought to herself as she accepted Sho's hand.
"Ruby, I'm going to take Cinder out of the stadium," Sho told the fifteen-year-old girl.
"Is she okay?" Ruby asked.
"It's just a little headache," Cinder told Ruby. "But maybe it would help if I was somewhere less crowded," she added as she and Sho left.
"Okay, I hope you'll feel better soon," Ruby waved goodbye to the two of them before turning her attention back to Penny.
Ozpin's office
Ozpin watched the match on one of the monitor screens. He was quite surprised to see Russel lose the match, yet in a way he was glad as this loss may make James reconsider his plan on developing more Zoanoids. However, the headmaster couldn't help but notice how Russel lost in an unusual manner.
"I should have this looked into at a later time," Ozpin said to himself before turning his attention back to the image of Pyrrha Nikos. "It is time," he said as he decided to contact James, Glynda, and Qrow to inform them that they will move forward with the plan.