Team SCRN stood in front of their headmaster, shocked at what they had just heard. "So, all this time, the Maidens, beings that could probably hold their own against us back in our old worlds, are real and one of them had their powers stolen, so someone, presumably someone very dangerous, is walking around with half of that power, working for some evil witch who is the queen of all the Grimm?." Dante said.
"That sums it up almost perfectly, yes." Ozpin confirmed.
"So, shouldn't this be big news all over Remnant? So people know and understand exactly what's going on, so we can try to prepare for it?" Bayonetta asked.
"No. That would cause widespread panic. This goes against thousands of years of what mankind on Remnant has know. Some people wouldn't accept it. And we all know people can become violent in defending their ideals." Ryu explained, the other 3 knowing perfectly well what he meant.
"Precisely. We have to play this smart. And close to the chest. We can't let too much information get out, but clearly we need more help than we have now. Which is why we need your help as well. Now more than ever. We have all but confirmed that the enemy, presumably even the one who stole Amber's powers, have infiltrated the academy. I need you 3 to keep a lookout for anything suspicious and report back to either myself, Glynda or even General Ironwood. And please, much like your own secrets, keep this to yourself. Even to your siblings and loved ones." Ozpin asked, the team nodding.
"Believe me, we plan to keep them out of this as much as possible. So don't you try to bring them in later, either." Kratos said.
"I hope it won't come to that." Ozpin said, although he seemed to look away a bit at this, which Kratos found somewhat suspicious, but decided to let it go.
"So, are we free to go?" Dante asked.
"Indeed. We should have peace for a while now. With such a heavy blow to their operation, I doubt our enemies will make a move any time soon. So use this time to rest, relax, see your family. But don't forget to plan ahead for the Vytal tournament. It is just right around the corner. Beacon isn't the only school with students like you." Ozpin said.
Dante used Rebellion to stop his enemy's blade, a blade that was shockingly and somewhat disturbingly his opponent's entire right arm. We pan out to reveal a stadium of epic proportions was seen. Crowds were cheering in the stands, visitors from all over the world.
High above the action, two familiar teachers were sitting at a sportscaster's desk, with a microphone between them and the holographic image of the four kingdoms' symbols united as one.
"Hello! It seems that we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?" Port asked his co-host.
"Doctor." Oobleck corrected, annoyed, before brightening up excitedly again. "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!" He agreed.
Back on the arena, which consisted of a destroyed city and a swamp. Dante pushed back from his opponent, regrouping with the rest of team SCRN as the other team gathered in front of them. The first member and leader of the team was a white male with dark brown hair and green eyes with a muscular physique and tan skin-tone, wearing a green long-sleeved shirt with blue jeans and brown shoes. He also had a raccoon tail, a ring around his neck like a necklace. The most unusual thing was he didn't seem to have a close-combat weapon, instead mainly carrying a number of firearms: a 45. Defender, an AK-47 and a Condor shotgun.
The second, the one who Dante was facing, was a very pale boy with sickly gray tinting around his light blue eyes. The rest of his face and head was hard to see due to him having the hood up on his plain gray hoodie under his black leather jacket with a red tribal design on the back, On his lower body, he wore plain blue jeans and black shoes. However, the most interesting, or possibly disturbing thing was the boy's arms: the left one was a menacing claw that looked to be made of both flesh and metal, the right arm being a massive, equally menacing blade of flesh and steel.
The next was a pretty young woman with elegant facial features and deep brown eyes. She had thick, dark brown hair which she kept tied up in a pony tail, though she kept the front in a layered and choppy style. She had a slender and toned physique with a few scars on her arms. She wore a blue tank top over a white one, tan cargo pants and dark boots. Like her leader, she also had a variety of guns: a set of semi-automatic pistols with a back-up set of uzis, an AK like her leader, a combat shotgun and even a bow with assorted arrows. However, unlike her leader, she had close range weapons, a set of climbing axes.
And the final member of the team is another girl with fair skin, soft features, blue eyes and curvaceous figure, as well as long golden blonde hair, that was placed into two curled-point ponytails, by two pink with white trimmed scrunchies, and a few bangs across each side. Her outfit seemed more for a night on the town than combat, wearing a red short skirt, a tank top with stripes varying from whitish-pink to dark purple that revealed her midriff and a jean jacket over it (her Date Night skin). But without a doubt, the most interesting thing about her was the weapon she carried, a heavily modified and bedazzled chainsaw with a few hearts cut into the blade..
"Beacon's own Team SCRN vs. Vacuo's Team DMCS (Damocles)! Consisting of their lucky leader, Nathan Drake, their most unique and impressive fighter, Alex Mercer, Crafty and cunning Lara Croft and energetic attacker, Juliet Starling!" Oobleck explained as the team re-engaged, Bayonetta and Lara engaging in a shoot-off while Kratos rushed at Nathan, who ran towards the ruined city, firing back at Kratos with his AK while Kratos charged through the bullets with his spear and shield. Dante and Alex clashed once again, breaking off from the main group as Ryu rushed in, avoiding a low swing from Juliet's chainsaw and grabbing her with the guillotine throw, hurling her into the swamp, causing her to land in the water.
Juliet popped up from the water and shook off a bit, groaning as she looked down at her clothes, which were covered in water moss and swamp scum. "Oh, man! Gross! You threw me into the nasty swamp, you ninja jerk-ass!" She snapped, popping up from the water and transforming her chainsaw into some form of cannon, shocking Ryu, who jumped from tree to tree to avoid the shots.
"Come on, Ryu! I know you got this! Take that swamp soaked cheerleader down!" Nora cheered from the stands above the arena
Weiss shuddered from her position. "A chainsaw. What a dreadful, unladylike weapon." She said.
"Aww, is someone still mad Dante had to save her from the big bad White Fang lieutenant?" Yang teased.
"Oh, hush, you! Bayonetta had to save you from that diminutive criminal girl and even SHE had to be rescued!" Weiss countered.
"Should you be more focused on your friends and siblings down there?" Blake asked.
"Go, Team SCRN! You can do it!" Ruby cheered.
Background Music: "The Remedy" by Seether
Back with Dante, he switched to Ifrit and seemed to be fairing somewhat better than with Rebellion, but it still appeared to a stalemate between him and Alex. His opponent countered an attack, leaving him open, but he managed to move his arms just in time to block the massive blade, shoving him back. Mercer then changed the blade into a whip and swung it at Dante's feet, but he managed to jump over it, pulling out Cerberus and lashing out with one of the prods, wrapping it around Mercer's ankle, yanking on it and pulling his feet out from under him, sending him to the ground, before spinning and swinging him over his head and through a wall of the abandoned building. "Oh, yeah! Guess he couldn't change enough to stop that!" He smirked, before gasping as Mercer stood up, his arm a blade once more as it now appeared he was in some kind of armor. "Or... Maybe he can..." He said.
"Most impressive! Dante is quite the skilled, capable warrior, but few can fight in ways Alex Mercer cannot adapt to. A rare octopus faunus, Alex's semblance reflects the creature of his animal traits, allowing him to change shape, size, color or even texture, allowing him to turn his arms into weapons and armor that rival the strongest metals on Remnant, regenerate severed limbs and even change his physical appearance, taking on the form of anyone he's ever seen in his life! Also, for anyone wondering if he should be in the water, depending on the conditions, an octopus is capable of remaining out of water for up to 60 minutes!" Oobleck explained.
"Oobleck pretty much said it all. There's nothing you can do I can't adapt to. May as well give up!" Alex said.
Dante smirked at this. "Oh, I think you'll find I'm pretty adaptable myself." He said, switching back to Ifrit.
Meanwhile, Bayonetta was casually strutting towards Lara, who stood her ground as the two endlessly shot at each other, the bullets bouncing off each other. Finally, when they were close enough, Bayonetta flipped forward, attempting to hit Lara with an axe kick, but the former tomb raider rolled out of the way, drawing her axes, lunging forward and striking at Bayonetta, who got back to her feet and readied her Rakshasa swords. The two matched each other surprisingly well, until Bayonetta used her feet, backflipping and knocking Lara into the air, turning her swords into Onyx Rose shotguns and blasted her twice with each gun, jumping and sending her to the ground with another axe kick. She then readied her rocket tonfas to blast Lara and take her out of the match, but then...
As this had been going on, Ryu and Juliet had been fighting in the swamp, Ryu now using his ninja skills to try and sneak up on Juliet after she had lost him in the treeline. He finally reached her and struck with his claws, but she spun and countered with her chainsaw, the two pushing each other back, before Juliet put the chainsaw back on her back and switched to, of all things, a pair of pom-poms, leaving Ryu slightly dumbstruck. He quickly recovered, though and the two struck at each other, Juliet matching Ryu's attacks, even managing to catch the ninja off-guard and hit him in the face with said pom-poms, to which Ryu felt a burning and shocking sensation. "Fire and lightning dust. Not bad." Ryu said.
"It gives them a nice sparkly look." Juliet explained as the two attacked again. They traded a few more blows, each managing to get through each other's guard and land a hit once or twice, but Juliet then noticed Lara getting axe kicked out of the air and to the ground. "Lara, no!" She shouted, backflipping to avoid a sweep kick from Ryu, hitting him in the face with a drop kick and sending him flying into a tree. She then grabbed her chainsaw and turned it back into a launcher. "Back off my bestie!" She said, firing at Bayonetta, who looked up just in time to dodge the attack by transforming into a swarm of bats, shocking everyone in the arena, including Juliet herself and especially a certain patron at The Crow Bar in Vale.
After reforming after evading the projectile and rushed in, delivering a powerful uppercut with her tonfas. "Ryu, now!" Bayonetta shouted. Ryu nodded, jumping onto and off a tree and slashed Juliet, making her spin and go higher into the air, vanishing and slashing her two more times, getting her up to 20 feet in the air, before grabbing her from behind and spinning as they plummeted to the ground, slamming her into the ground with a devastating piledriver known as the Izuna Drop, dropping Juliet's aura to red and knocking her out.
"Incredible! After a completely unexpected technique from Bayonetta, she executed a devastating team attack with her partner Ryu, allowing them to defeat Juliet! It is now 4 to 3! Team SCRN has the advantage!" Oobleck announced as Bayonetta carried Juliet to the the edge of the ring and dropped her out gently so she was out of danger.
"Excellent work." Bayonetta said as the two high-fived.
"You set her up, I simply knocked her down." He said.
However, the two of them sensed danger and noticed Lara had gotten back up and was aiming an explosive arrow at them. "Then I guess it's my turn to knock you two down!" She said, releasing the arrow, forcing the two to dodge.
As all this was happening, Nathan was still running through the destroyed city, firing back at Kratos with his AK while the former Spartan plowed through the bullets with his shield, before launching out the head of his cestus as Nate rounded a corner, smashing a hole in the corner, making Nate run faster as he felt a few pieces of debris from the wall hit him in a back. "Alright, we're throwing stuff, huh?! Hot potato!" He said, throwing a grenade back just as Kratos rounded the corner, raising his shield just in time before the grenade exploded.
"Face me, coward! A true warrior faces his foes!" Kratos roared.
"Well, guess I'm not a true warrior! I'll just settle for being the guy that wins!" Nathan said on the roof of a nearby building, shooting at Kratos some more, the former Spartan growling he rushed in. "Oh, hey, watch your step!" He called out, shooting in front of Kratos. The former God of War didn't notice before, simply believing it to be a harmless piece of debris or rubble, but there was something on the ground right in front of him as he blindly rushed at Nate, a grenade, which the former adventurer shot, sending Kratos into the corner of another broken building which shattered at the force of Kratos hitting it.
"Ah, Kratos is a 4-time champion of the Mistral Regional tournament, but it seems without the calming support of his sister or teammates, he's letting his anger get the best of him." Oobleck announced.
"Yes and reportedly, Nathan Drake has always had a knack for angering people." Port agreed.
"Hey!" Nate said, looking at the announcer's booth, holding his arms out in the "what the hell?" manner.
"Do not take your eyes off the enemy!" Kratos snapped, rushing up the side of another broken building, using it as a ramp to get higher up as he closed in on the building Nate was on, leaping off and above Nate, swinging down on him with the cestus, but Nate dove out of the way, causing Kratos to crash through the floor.
"Heh. Even in the next world, I still got my good luck." Nate said with a smirk, approaching the hole to shoot at Kratos, but the former Spartan began shooting the cestus heads into the floor above him, tearing the floor down. "Followed immediately by shit luck!" Nate said worriedly, trying to get off the roof, but unfortunately, he stepped on a weaker part of the roof, causing him to fall to the level below with the furious Kratos. "So, uh... 4-time champ, huh?" Nate said nervously.
"What happened? I thought you were the guy that wins?" Kratos asked, before bringing the cestus heads down on him, breaking him through floor to the ground level, bringing him into the red.
During this, Dante and Mercer were still fighting, pretty evenly matched, although Mercer was landing a few more hits and had Dante's aura a good bit lower than his. Dante managed to deflect the blade and grab Mercer's claw hand before it could cut him, landing a few fire-enhanced kicks to the former bio-monster, before sending him flying back with a fiery uppercut, then pulling out Spiral and blasting him in the chest launching him back. Mercer rolled a few times and stabbed his blade into the ground to stop himself. Due to the damage he received, he didn't have enough aura to keep up his armor, turning him back to normal, growling at Dante. "Ha! How you gonna adapt to that?!" Dante asked.
Alex smirked, turning his blade into a whip. "Like this!" He said with a smirk, rushing in, avoiding the bullets Dante shot at him, slashing at him with his claw, which Dante dodged or deflected, but eventually left himself open to a hit from the whip, sending him flying though the wall of a broken building in the ruined city.
"Okay... So the guy IS pretty adaptable. Maybe I should get some back up." Dante said, getting up and hurrying into the city, making his way through several broken buildings or other structures and making his way through a hole in a wall, taking cover, before finally finding Kratos destroying the floor above him in the building he was in to bring Nate down to him. He chuckled a bit at this. "Kratos. Always knows how to bring down the house." He said, about to head to the building and retrieve his partner, before hearing a noise behind him, spinning and raising his sword to Ryu's throat. "Ryu! What are you doing here?" He asked.
"You looked like you were having trouble, so I came to help you out." He said.
"Awesome. He probably followed me into the city, so we just have to find him and take him down." Dante said, starting to head through the hole in the wall he'd just run through, but then saw Ryu back near the center of the ring after attempting a flying swallow, which apparently failed, but he did manage to disarm Lara of her axes. But if Ryu was there, how was he next to him? Unless... "Oh, crap!" Dante said, turning back as Alex turned back into his normal form and struck with his blade, which Dante blocked with his sword, but was knocked back into a large piece of a building broken off from the rest of the building.
As this had been going on, Ryu and Bayonetta were dealing with Lara. They dodged her explosive arrows, each taking off in a different direction. Running after Ryu first, Lara drew her pistols and charged into the swamp area, running around the tree Ryu had vanished behind and aimed, only to find the ninja wasn't there. She glanced around a bit, reaching for her climbing axes as Ryu slowly rose from the water behind her, ready to strike with his claws, but she blocked them with her axe. The two traded several blows managing to hold off each other's assaults. Lara managed to dodge one of Ryu's attacks, grappled him and threw him to the ground. He looked up at her as she drew her bow, ready with an explosive arrow. "Sorry. Have to do what I have to do." She said, preparing to fire the arrow at him.
"So glad you understand then." Bayonetta said, Lara turning just in time to see the former Umbran hit her with a jumping kick that sent her flying to the very edge of the swamp area. "Having a bit of trouble?" Bayonetta asked as she helped her partner up.
"She's not bad. But if we get those climbing axes away from her, she doesn't stand a chance." Ryu said, rushing in. Lara recovered as Ryu jumped and flew towards her with his claws out and ready for the Flying Swallow attack. She managed to block his strike, but was knocked down on one knee. She turned towards him and raised her hand in preparation to strike, but was shocked to see he had disarmed her, her climbing axes now in his hands, which he simply tossed to the ground on either side of him.
"Pretty cheeky, but you seem to have forgotten I still have guns!" She said, drawing her shotgun.
"But she didn't." Ryu said, pointing behind her. She turned again in time to see Bayonetta come down on her with an axe kick, knocking her out.
"Excellent! With some impressive teamwork, Ryu Hayabusa and Cereza Xiao Long have eliminated Lara Croft from the battle, leaving the entirety of Team SCRN against the lone Alex Mercer." Oobleck announced.
Back with Dante, he looked up after Alex had knocked him away, looking up as the faunus jumped at him, lunging at him with his blade, ready to strike. He readied to block the attack, but it never connected, as Mercer was blasted in the back by a ball of lightning, sending him crashing to the ground. "Having trouble with your opponent, Dante?" Kratos asked.
"Guy's pretty tough. But I think the 4 of us are tougher." Dante said as he got back to his feet.
"Dammit! You got lucky! No I'm getting serious!" Alex said, changing his arms into hammerfists, about to charge at the two, before having to block Ryu's claws.
"We don't need luck. We have skill." He said, dodging Alex's attacks and landing his own.
"And numbers!" Bayonetta said, jumping in and cutting into Alex' right arm with Shuraba.
"Looks like you couldn't adapt, Alex!" Dante said as he and Kratos readied their guns, aiming at him.
"I told you, I can adapt to ANYTHING!" He shouted, suddenly shooting out a giant mass of tentacles, forcing Ryu and Bayonetta to jump back and dodge with help from Bayonetta's Witch Time while Kratos and Dante dodged as well. The tentacles finally reeled back in and the team used the time to advance, Ryu and Bayonetta hitting him with their tonfas, battering him and leaving him open as Kratos rushed in and launched him into the air with an upward slash from his swords.
"Time to send you off on a high note!" Dante said, sliding and playing an amazing rift on Nevan, shooting a pillar of electricity upwards to electrocute Alex, depleting his aura and winning the match.
End Music
"Incredible! With amazing teamwork, a powerful combo and a stylish finish, Team SCRN has won the match!" Port announced.
"An unbelievable match that will surely be difficult to follow! Now let's see which match will follow!" Oobleck said, turning to the randomizer screen that appeared, the images of teams RWBY and ABRN appearing.
"Ah, there we have it! Team RWBY will be facing off against Team ABRN! Will both teams please collect their gear and make their way to the arena?" Port instructed as team SCRN left the arena, where they met up with Team RWBY.
"You did it! That was awesome!" Ruby said, jumping into Bayonetta arms, hugging her sister, who happily returned it.
"Yeah, that was great, sis! Since when can you turn into a bunch of bats?!" Yang asked.
"Just something I picked up recently." Bayonetta said simply.
"Wonderful job out there, little brother." Weiss said approvingly.
Dante rolled his eyes, but chuckled a bit at this. "Thanks, sis. Good luck keeping your eyes off Ruby long enough to fight." He countered.
"Oh, hush, you!" She snapped.
"You all did great." Blake said supportively.
"Thanks. I'm sure you will as well." Ryu said with a polite bow of his head.
"Best of luck to you, Team RWBY. I'm certain you'll win. Give it your all." Kratos said.
"We totally will." Ruby said.
Team SCRN made their way into the stands, taking the seats RWBY previously sat in, beside JNPR. "You guys did amazing! Great work out there, Kratos!" Jaune said.
"He's right. You all fought exceptionally well out there. Well done, brother." Pyrrha said as Kratos sat beside her.
"I admit, it felt awkward fighting in a tournament without you, but it was still nothing I couldn't handle. I've dealt with many fools that talked big, but failed to back it up. He was no exception." Kratos said.
"You were awesome out there, Ryu! You were jumping through the trees and swimming through the swamp to sneak up on those guys like a total ninja!" Nora said happily, hugging her boyfriend.
"You're cheering gave me the confidence I needed to keep fighting." Ryu said to her with a smile, kissing her cheek.
"And you did so excellently. Well fought, my friend." Ren said to him with a smile, which Ryu returned, the two placing a hand on their chest and giving each other a small bow of the head.
"Well, anyway, no more talking, let's see Team RWBY kick some butt!" Dante said, leaning back in his seat with his arms behind his head and his feet on the back of the empty chair in front of him.
Background Music: "We Will Rock You" by Queen
In the field of volcanic earth and icy glaciers below, Ruby fired and swung her Crescent Rose at an off-screen target as Blake exchanged blows with Reese Chloris, the blades of her Gambol Shroud colliding with the hoverboard of her opponent until she flipped away, readied herself, and charged in again. Behind her, Weiss waved her Myrtenaster as the sound of her mystical power was heard, and finally Yang dodged the explosive force of Arslan Altan's fist before returning fire with her own Ember Celica.
"For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament, broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum!" Port announced as he waved his arm to gesture at the entire event from his place on the gigantic screen over the crowds.
The Coliseum was shown in its full glory, as shuttle crafts transported people to and from the various floors while the entire structure hovered around the airspace of Beacon Academy. Explosions were seen throughout the battlefield, but the view shifted back to the announcers as they began speaking again.
"If this is your first time watching, allow us to break down the rules." Port started.
"The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds; teams, doubles, and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant! In this tournament, your only attribute being tested... is skill." Oobleck explained as he held up the appropriate number of fingers for each of his explanations as a hologram to his side illustrated the rules.
Port nodded as another hologram popped up to do the same thing. "Correct! The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round, followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!" He explained as the hologram disappeared with the image of a victorious figure, sword raised and wearing a crown.
"And yes, Peter, these certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to spectate on! I don't think anyone tuning in around the world is going to disagree with me on that!" Oobleck said as he pushed up his own spectacles as he says this. As he said this, the scene changed to their televised broadcasts all around the kingdoms, from a row of holographs above the patrons in the Mistral Distillery to an Atlas home with a group of friends seeing it together, a bar in Vale where everyone turned to view the screen, and outside a mobile home in Vacuo being watched by a few Faunus on a projection.
"Ahh, and why would they? Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBY of Beacon, and Team ABRN, of Haven." Port explained.
The announcements cut back to the action, as Reese steered her board through the ice. She twirled herself until the board got launched at Blake, but she was able to knock it away, only for Reese to direct it back at her opponent. Blake blocked it again, but the board rotated back to its wielder just in time to defend Reese as Blake delivered several slashes and kicks. Reese deflected each attack and spun her weapon around until she could flip away and ride it again, rushing towards a smirking Blake. She collided with the frozen shadow clone, and Blake used his opportunity to slice the board in two, only for the halves to become dual katars that in turn folded up into bayonet-bladed revolvers. Reese managed to fire off a few green rounds before her tailbone collided painfully on the cold ground. Blake winced with sympathy.
Meanwhile, Yang landed mere feet away from Arslan, who backed away before being pounded by a flurry of punches and kicks until she delivered her own hits, ending with the two smashing fists and creating a shockwave of force from the impact. Yang and Arslan were both thrown back, but Yang reached her and tried delivering more blows before Arslan used her rope dart to tangle up her blonde adversary and landed a kick of her own to send Yang skidding on the ground. While Yang tried to get her balance back on the slippery surface, Arslan rushed forward and knocked her back even further.
Nearby, Nadir Shiko tried aiming with his assault rifle at Yang before a sudden burst of frosty blue exploded behind him and left the whimpering gunner in a block of ice up to his thighs.
"Got your back!" Ruby said, looking up from her sniper scope.
"But who's got yours?" A voice asked behind her.
Ruby looked up behind her as Bolin Hori twirled his staff, right when a black snowflake glyph appeared to his left and Weiss kicked him through it into a rock.
"My BGF! Best Girl forever!" Ruby said.
Weiss deadpanned at this. "No." She said, before running off.
"Yes." Ruby whispered to herself, pumping her fist.
Bolin crouched with his weapon as he saw a white glyph appear in front of him. A second later, Weiss dashed by and slashed at him, then leapt up and attempted an aerial attack, which he was able to block. She readied her sword while preparing a glyph behind her, and Ruby used it to launch herself straight up and came down spinning on Bolin, who managed to block the curved blade. Ruby grimaced and blasted herself away to Weiss' side, and Bolin rushed at them, rolling away from the shards of ice that rain on him and jumping over Ruby's swing as he continued running.
"Whaaat!?" Ruby said in disbelief.
Bolin managed to reach an orange crystal deposit and sliced off a shard, which he threw to Reese over in the icy half of the stadium. With Dust in hand, Reese fused it with her board, turning the aqua lights to a crimson shade. She winked at Blake, then used the board's heat to free Nadir from his icy snare.
She came back to Blake and slammed her board into her enemy's blade, but propelled herself backwards and knocked Blake through a frozen pillar. Reese attempted to use her board to slam her foe into the ground, but when she dodged that, she spun around in a flaming arc that Blake narrowly missed thanks to her shadows. Changing tactics, Blake launched the pistol part of Gambol Shroud at a nearby glacier and launched herself behind it, as Reese follows her and saw Blake with her back turned to her under an arch. Reese grinned before riding in to deliver a flaming spiral at the shadow clone, only to see the ribbon Blake was launching to trap her opponent a moment too late. She pulled tightly and caused Reese to slam body-first into the string, only to use a final kick to knock her out of the stage. Reese crashed into the wall of the stands before landing on the ground, defeated.
"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ring-out and Aura level!" Port announced as Reese's Aura level dropped in the team display until her image was crossed out and she angrily slammed her fist on the ground.
"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck quipped.
Back in the fight, Arslan used her rope to swing around and avoid Yang right behind her, using shotgun blasts to propel herself forward. Nadir came into the picture, aiming his rifle at Weiss as she summons another glyph and launched Bolin at him. The two teammates were helpless as Weiss created a whirlwind from underneath them and slammed the two together until she formed a giant ice fist straight up from the ground to trap the two. It reformed itself into a ball that rolled around the field. When Arslan saw her team in this state, she rolled her eyes, annoyed, before changing direction and sliding into the path of the ball. She readied her stance and drove her hand into the sphere, which cracked under her power and freed her allies.
"Yang!" Weiss called, Yang turning to look just as she created a large frozen slide-like shape. "NOW!" She ordered.
Knowing what to do, Yang blasted herself forward and skimmed over the wall of ice, catching Blake's pistol as her teammate used Ruby as a launch pad to jump off of towards the remaining members of ABRN. The three only had a second to look, horrified as Blake whipped a screaming Yang around to land a devastating punch that sent the trio flying into their elimination.
End Music
"Yes!" Yang cheered as the buzzer sounded and Ruby cheered "YAAAAAY!" in the background.
"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Port announced.
"That's the way, sis! Great work out there!" Dante cheered.
"Yang! Ruby! I'm proud of you girls!" Bayonetta cheered as well.
"We... did it?" Weiss asked, looking around and sounding surprised.
Ruby looked at her sister for confirmation, she smiled and leapt into the air, screaming. "WE DID IIIIII-
"-...is anyone else starving?" She asked miserably, suddenly hunched over as we see teams RWBY and SCRN in the fairgrounds.
"I may have worked up an appetite." Blake said, looking cool as ever with her arms behind her head, before the growling of an angry beast from her stomach proved her statement, much to its owner embarrassment.
"Really, you're hungry? I never would've guessed. I think that stomach growl from yours was louder than the rift Dante played earlier." Bayonetta said.
"Hey, I had to give the crowd something special for the end." Dante said.
"What we had to do was win the fight, but in the end, we did win and that's all that matters." Ryu said.
"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here." Weiss said, sarcastically shrugging her arms, the view zoomed out to show a myriad of tents and small shops wreathed in colorful flags in a large forest clearing as people mill about to experience it all. "Oh, wait." She said in mock realization.
"It's okay, Weiss, I forget about the fairgrounds, too." Ruby said, taking Weiss' shoulder.
"I was being facetious?" Weiss said, knocking Ruby's arm away.
"Gah! Well if you were hungry, why didn't you say so!?" Ruby said, freaking out a bit.
"We're all too hungry for your sarcasm, sis." Dante said.
"Come on! I know just the place." Yang said, walking off.
"It better be good. The only thing mightier than my fighting spirit is my appetite." Kratos said.
The two teams started to follow Yang, but Weiss suddenly stopped as she heard a ringtone on her Scroll. Pulling it out, she saw the caller ID labeled "FATHER", and glares at the device, putting it back from where she got it, unanswered.
"Dear old dad again?" Dante asked.
"Who else?" She asked.
"You know, he'll find a way to get you to answer him." Dante warned her.
"I'd like to see him try." Weiss said, following the others.
Off-screen, a dark-skinned hand was raised into view holding a red wallet filled with Lien. "Hey! Might be hard to eat without this." Emerald said.
Ruby turned and was shocked to see her wallet in Emerald's hand, frantically patting around her outfit. "No, no, no, no!" She said, panicking.
Emerald laughed at this. "Good to see you, Ruby." She said.
Ruby took the wallet back from her "friend" and put it away. "Oh! Thanks, Emerald! Oh. Guess I dropped it. Girl pockets are the worst!" She said, slouching as she said this.
"Yes... Good thing Emerald was here." Bayonetta said, giving Emerald a small glare, looking at Ryu and flicking her head, the ninja vanishing behind a nearby stand. For a while now, Team SCRN had been suspicious of the team, with Mercury usually acting shady and picking certain people to spar with in combat class rather than waiting for Glynda to select him a partner, plus Bayonetta had caught Emerald pickpocketing before, so for her to have just FOUND Ruby's wallet after she dropped it was more than enough to make her suspicious.
Team RWBY, however, did not share the other team's caution or suspicion. "What's up, Em?" Yang asked,
"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!" She said.
"Oh, shut your stupid little face..." Ruby said, embarrassed, blushing and mumbling.
"We got the right skills to win, what can we say?" Dante said with a shrug.
"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Blake said over Ruby's incoherent gushing.
"You know, I feel that we haven't seen your other teammates." Weiss said.
"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.
Emerald tilted her head up in thought, remembering how she blasted opponents with her revolvers, then slashed behind her as Mercury kicked out a shotgun blast with his boots. Cinder delivered a powerful kick to her own target, landing the poor soul at the feet of their teammate, a mysterious black-haired girl who leaned over and stared down as the camera focuses on the blue fire in her hands, before going back to her face as she smirked while delivering a stomp on her victim's face, sending him into darkness.
"Really well." She said, coming back to reality, nodding.
"Good for you, then." Kratos said.
"That's great. Uh. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together?" Ruby offered.
"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." Emerald started, looking back at Mercury as he sniffed the inside of a boot, looking perplexed after he did so. "...introverted. Really socially awkward." She finished.
"Ooh, yeah, I could see that." Yang said, nodding.
"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?" Emerald asked.
Ruby looked pretty proud of herself. "Well, as the leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision." She stated.
"We put it to a vote." Weiss said, popping in to remind her, straight-faced.
"Yes, so, but I decided that we should put it to a vote." Ruby nervously tried to backtrack.
"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake answered for her.
"I will happily represent Team RWBY." Weiss said, curtsying.
"Yeah, we're going to kick some butt!" Yang said, pounding her fists together.
Emerald laughed at this. "Awesome." She said, looking at Team SCRN. "What about you guys?" She asked.
Dante smirked and shrugged. "You're just gonna have to wait and see." He said.
Emerald frowned at this, but shook it off and smirked. "Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya." She said.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang said as she and Weiss returned Emerald's confident smirk with their own.
"Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights." Emerald said she turned and walked away from them as they do the same.
"Have fun!" Ruby said, waving her arm.
Emerald cheerfully gave her own wave. "See you later!" She said, then immediately dropped the act as she walked with Mercury and looked disgusted. Unknown to them, however, Ryu was on the other side of the tents from them, listening in on them.
"So, how are the new friends?" He asked.
"I hate them." Emerald grumbled, scowling.
"Orders are orders." He with a shrug.
"I just... how can they be so happy all the time!?" She demanded, mashing her fingers together angrily.
(Well, what do you have to be so miserable about all the time?) Ryu mentally countered
"Did you at least get what we want?" He asked.
"For Team RWBY, It's the heiress and the bimbo. Team SCRN wouldn't tell me. They wanted to keep it a surprise!" She said angrily, upset she failed her mission for Cinder.
Mercury even growled at this. "Those bastards were always good at getting on my nerves. At least we know who we're working with for Team RWBY." He said.
Ryu sighed at this. "Nothing too suspicious. All I can get from this is they want to prepare who they may face in the next round. Nothing wrong with that. Still, there's definitely something off about those two, along with the rest of their team." Ryu said, returning to his own team.
At one of the unassuming huts set up in the fairgrounds stringed with paper lanterns with a sign overhead saying" A Simple Wok", Teams RWBY and SCRN sat at the stools outside, ready to order.
Yang spoke to someone off-screen. "I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." She placed her order, a large bowl of noodles was quickly slide in front of her.
Ruby stared at Yang's meal. "Oohhh... I'll take the same." She ordered as well, a similar large bowl of noodles was slid in front of her as she clasped her hands in excitement.
"I'll have an order of seafood salad." Bayonetta said, a large plate full of crab and celery, coated with some sort of cheese sauce being placed in front of her.
Weiss looked concerned. "Do you have anything with a low-salt...?" She asked, before a large bowl of regular noodles instantly slid in front of her instead. "Um... okay..." She said awkwardly.
"Any chance you got some kind of pizza here?" Dante asked. In an instant, a pizza was placed in front of him. "Nice..." He said, about to dig in, before he realized. "Oh, come on! There's olives on this thing!" He grumbled.
"I'll have some sushi, please." Ryu said. In seconds, a large boat with a vast variety of sushi was put in front of him.
"Surprise me." Kratos said, before a rotisserie chicken was placed in front of him. "An excellent surprise." He said, tearing a leg off and tearing some meat from it.
Instead of saying anything, Blake merely gave a nod and smiled to the Shopkeep, who returned the gesture as he rushed through one door of his shop and came out the other to leave a large bowl of noodles topped with fish in front of her. Blake's eyes lit up as she drooled over her Weiss looked strangely at her teammate, she gladly offered her Schnee Dust Company credit card to the Shopkeep.
"Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion!?" Yang asked.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round." Weiss said happily, but her joy was ruined when the card was flung back at her, and the annoyed Shopkeep pointed to his register as it beeped "DECLINED". "What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!" She asked in disbelief.
Blake looked around panicked, she attempted to slowly slide her bowl closer to herself before the Shopkeep disappeared with her food, causing the poor girl to slump over in defeat. "Nooo!" She cried.
"I told you, sis. He's gonna try and make you call him one way or the other. I thought Winter would've told you that." Dante said, handing a card of his own the the cashier. A regular bank card, not his Schnee Dust Company card. "I figured how to get around it a long time ago. Take a bit of your allowance each month and open up a new account dad can't access." He explained. With money so tight in his last life, he made sure that in this life that when he had money, he wouldn't lose it.
"So, you do take some things seriously." Kratos said.
"Yeah, dude. If there's one thing I never joke around about, it's money." Dante said.
"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked as Team JNPR approached the stand.
"We'd be honored if you did." Ryu said, waving over Nora, who happily sat beside him, followed shortly by the rest of the team.
Later on, the bowls were empty, and each student was either content with their meal or holding their stomachs sickly.
"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked Pyrrha.
"Of course! It will give us energy!" Pyrrha said as the Shopkeep quickly gathered the bowls and vanished.
"It is important to get some energy before any strenuous action. But don't worry, you'll work off that stuffed feeling on the way back to the arena." Bayonetta said.
Nora simply gave a hearty belch. Ryu chuckled at this. "I think your belches are stronger than ever. Pretty soon, they'll shake all of Vale." He said.
"Aww, thank you!" Nora said, hugging him.
Jaune splayed himself over the counter. "If I barf, I'm blaming you." He said sickly, pointing at Pyrrha.
"Don't blame others for your shortsightedness, Jaune. You should've stopped before you started feeling sick. It isn't Pyrrha's fault." Kratos scolded.
"Y-yes, sir!" Jaune said in fear.
"Ooh!" Nora exclaimed, grinning evilly. "Aim at the enemy!" She said devilishly
"Nora, that's disgusting." Ren said, disapprovingly, before thinking. "But if you feel the urge..." He started.
"Why, Ren, I thought you were supposed to be the saint of your team." Ryu said in mock surprise.
"We all have our dark sides. If I recall, I wasn't the one beating up all the other kids in town." Ren countered, but Ryu simply smirked in pride at this.
"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha said, standing up from her stool.
"You'll do exceptionally as always." Kratos said supportively.
"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asked.
"Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!" Nora said as she gestured to each of her teammates.
"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked Jaune.
"She's not wrong." He groaned.
To Jaune's surprise, though, Kratos put his hand on his shoulder "She is. I wouldn't have trained you all this time if I didn't believe you could handle it. And not only have you handled it, but you've excelled. You are no longer the lovable idiot stuck in the tree as his friends fight for their lives, Jaune. You are as much a warrior as the rest of us. I know it, they all know it. It's time for you and all the people who doubt you to know it." Kratos said awe-inspiringly.
"Wow... I never though you'd say that to me... Thank you, Kratos..." Jaune said, hugging him.
"You've got 5 seconds to let go of me." Kratos growled, Jaune quickly leaping back.
"A fine speech, brother." Pyrrha said, smiling proudly at her brother.
"Yeah, what he said, Jaune! No need to be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" She spoke quickly, her color slowly draining away as she got more worried, until her mad laughter turned into sobs as she slammed her head on the counter.
"So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good." Ren said, unperturbed.
Ryu put his hand on Nora's back. "It's okay, Nora. You're an incredible fighter. There's no way you'll lose here. And even if everyone else abandoned you, I'd always be there for you, even just to sit with you in the cafeteria if that's all you needed." Ryu said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Oh, my hero!" She said, hugging him, but unlike Kratos, he happily returned this hug.
"Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well, ...murderers." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before." Yang said.
"Let's see. Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath..." Blake listed, counting off the threats on her fingers.
"We're just that amazing." Bayonetta said.
"And that's all while were still in training! Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!" Ruby said excitedly.
"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss sarcastically mumbled to herself.
"It's okay, sis. After the fights, I'll take you to the bank and set you up your own account." Dante said.
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!" Port ordered over the intercom system.
"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck added to Port's order.
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha said.
"Best of luck to you, my sister." Kratos said, before looking at the rest of Team JNPR. "Best of luck to all of you." He said.
"We'll all be rooting for you." Bayonetta said.
"Go get 'em!" Ruby said to Team JNPR as they walk away, Nora now walking on air and Jaune walking tall and proud.
"Break a leg out there, Nora!" Ryu called, before a horrible thought dawned on him. "NOT LITERALLY!" He called again.
Teams RWBY and SCRN entered the Coliseum through one of its tunnels and headed to their seats as Emerald and Mercury were seen walking behind them to do the same. Down in the field below, the scorched ground and cold plains were no more, and only a layer of white mechanics was left, with a central stage on which the two teams gathered.
"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury asked as he found his seat with Emerald, munching on a large tub of popcorn.
"Tch. As if we didn't already know." Emerald scoffed.
Cinder walked up behind them, showing off her new outfit of jeans, an orange jacket, and sarashi bandages over her chest as she took an unpopped kernel from Mercury's bucket. "Oh, come now. Even if you know how the story ends, that doesn't make it any less fun to watch." She said as her eyes glowed with her fingertips and the kernel finally popped, which she was about to eat, but it was suddenly snatched from her hand by Neo's replacement. "Azula..." She growled.
"Don't assume anything, Cinder. Even the best laid plans can fail if someone is too sure of their victory. You should know this well. How many times has that girl with the sniper rifle already stopped you?" She taunted, eating the piece of popcorn.
"She never stopped me. I already had what I needed and decided to leave each time we fought. And if we ever fight again, it will be the last time." Cinder said, glaring at Ruby from across the stadium.
"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" Port announced over the cheering of the crowds.
As each team readied their poses, a circle of holographic roulettes started spinning frantically through various symbols and colors before finally landing on a green pine tree and gray thunderstruck mountain. With these random selections, half of the field opened to reveal a tree-filled forest, while the other raised a small rocky outcropping to fill in the circle. Jaune narrowed his eyes in concentration while Ruby "WHO-HOOOO"d loudly from her seat.
"Three, two, one, begin!" Port announced.
As the match started, each team leapt forward at the other, ready to begin fighting just as the scene cut to black.
AN: Finally! Hello, everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long, I've just swamped myself with work, trying to write like 5 different stories all at the same time, but here we go! I'm sorry for the delay, but hopefully I can get chapters out more regularly after this. And for those of you who are curious why Azula has entered the story and replaced Neo, remember our favorite mutli-colored, adorable mute has abandoned Cinder's faction in order to free Roman, alongside her sister. How will this effect the story? Honestly, hell if I know. But leave your thoughts in the reviews. Each one helps me work a little faster and make this story a little better.