Round One.

The Vytal Festival Tournament is the ultimate battle of skill, pitting the world's most powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses in training against one another... and it has finally arrived. The first rounds had already begun, and Team LSBL where facing of against a team from Atlas. The team consisted of two boys named Inigo and Niles, and two girls name Beruka and Peri. The battle was far from one sided, as Atlas' training was nothing to scoff at, they did indeed produce formidable fighters.

Severa blocked an strike from Inigo who smiled at her "My you are beautiful. After I beat you, how about we go on a date?".

"Even if you could beat me, I still wouldn't say yes. Now shut up and fight!" Severa said as she kicked Inigo away "And for your information, I have a girlfriend".

"Really? That's actually kind of hot" Inigo said as he got ready to continue, and his words did annoy Severa.

The two engaged again, blocking and parrying each other's strikes in rapid successions. As this was happening, Beruka looked down on them before leaping towards Severa, hoping to take her down before she noticed. However, Lyre quickly leaps and tackles Beruka out of the air, causing both of them to tumble across the ground before they separated and looked at each other.

"You aren't sneak attacking my teammate while I'm around" Lyre declared.

"Then I simply have to remove you" Beruka said before readying her short blades and both rushed at each other.

Meanwhile, Lucina was fighting Peri who was really skilled with a spear. Lucina knocked aside Peri's stabbing moves, but her opponent's longer weapons was a considerable advantage as Peri had a much easier time attacking from a safer distance. Didn't help she was also insane, which made her very unpredictable. When Lucina finally managed to fight back, Peri moved her sword to the side before jabbing the blunt end of her spear in to Lucina's gut, making her slide back.

Peri laughed in delight "I was worried this tournament was gonna be boring! But you are fun!".

Lucina said nothing as she stood ready to continue their fight. Not far from them, Bernadetta was in quite a pickle herself. Niles proved a formidable archer himself, easily rivalring her own. She looked nervous, since while she knew this was a tournament with rules, and not a battle to the death, she still didn't want to lose in front of so many people. Every time she peeked out of cover, she was almost hit by an arrow, she needed to make a plan, and quickly.

"Come now, don't be a naughty girl. Just come out of hiding and I will end this quickly" Niles said in a creepy tone.

Bernadetta checked her dust supply and saw she had some gravity dust. She had an idea and she hoped it worked. Niles waited for her to come out of cover. But suddenly a Gravity arrow was fired, and was traveling towards him. He simply moved his head to the side and avoided the arrow. But this brief distraction was all Bernadetta needed to step out of cover and she shot a fire arrow at him and it was a direct hit, sending him flying in to a boulder, and before he could recover, he was hit by an ice arrow, which froze him in place. Bernadetta walked up to him, trying to ignore his glare.

"Please don't hate me for this" She said before she used her bow to hit him hard in the head, knocking him out and draining his aura enough for him to be eliminated "Oh god that was scary!".

High above the action, Port and Oobleck are sitting at a sportscaster's desk, with a microphone between them and the holographic image of the four kingdoms' symbols united as one.

"And Niles is eliminated, putting Team LSBL in the lead" Port said.

"A truly brilliant plan from young Bernadetta! She has clearly improved!" Oobleck praised.

Back with the others, they were struggling with their opponents, until Lucina had an idea "SWITCH!".

Knowing right away what she meant, Lucina and her teammates traded opponents. Severa blocked a strike brom Beruka and parried her, which sent Beruka a short distance in to the air. And Severa had used her semblance to borrow Lyre's power right as they were switching, and now with an charged up fist, she punched Beruka square in the chest. Beruka coughed before she was sent flying out of the ring.

"And young Beruka is out. A clever use of Severa's semblance" Port said.

"Yes yes! Severa's semblance allows her to copy other's powers through physical contact, and while it only lasts for one use, she can still posses any power she wants. So she cleverly copied Lyre's feline semblance, allowing her to strengthen her blow with the charged up energy" Oobleck explained quickly.

As for Lyre herself, she was fighting Peri and was easily moving around her spear before she leaps as Peri tried to stab her. She lands on the spear with one foot, and with her catlike balance she stood on it and kicked Peri in the face. Peri looked dizzy, allowing Lyre to charge up her semblance and delivered three strikes on Peri, and her aura fell in the red.

Meanwhile Lucina and Inigo were clashing blades. Lucina made sure to keep the pressure on, knowing she couldn't give her opponent the chance to fight back. Her attacks were so quick that Inigo could barely even hold her of. Lucina kept this up and when she was certain Inigo was on his back foot, she leaps in to the air. Using her semblance to power up her sword, Lucina came back down with a much stronger blow than before, which Inigo blocked, but by doing so, he was smashed in to the ground. With Inigo's aura depleted, the match was finally over.

"And the winners are, Team LSBL from Beacon!" Port announced.

"WE WON!" Lyre cheered.

"Was there any doubts?" Severa asked with a proud smirk.

"Yes..." Bernadetta admitted, earning a frown from her partner.

Lucina smiled at her team "We won, but the tournament is not over yet. I think Team RWBY is up next. Want to stay and watch?".

"Duh. No way I am missing Blake's match" Severa said and the others agreed too.

So they headed to the spectator area and found good seats where they could watch their friends fight.

Team RWBY whee fighting Team ABRN from Haven. A team consiting of Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko.

Reese steers her board through the ice. She twirls herself until the board gets launched at Blake, but she's able to knock it away, only for Reese to direct it back at her opponent. Blake blocks it again, but the board rotates back to its wielder just in time to defend Reese as Blake delivers several slashes and kicks. Reese deflects each attack and spins her weapon around until she can flip away and ride it again, rushing towards a smirking Blake. She collides with the frozen shadow clone, and Blake uses his opportunity to slice the board in two, only for the halves to become dual katars that in turn fold up into bayonet-bladed revolvers. Reese manages to fire off a few green rounds before her tailbone collides painfully on the cold ground. Blake winces with sympathy.

Meanwhile, Yang lands mere feet away from Arslan, who backs away before being pounded by two quick punches. The pair dodge each others kicks then Arslan delivers her own hits, launching a series of hammer blows. Yang defends herself and retaliates, the clash ending with the two smashing fists and creating a shockwave of force from the impact. Yang and Arslan are both thrown back, but Yang reaches her and tries delivering more blows before Arslan flips away then uses her rope dart to tangle up her blonde adversary's leg and land a kick of her own to send Yang skidding on the ground. While Yang tries to get her balance back on the slippery surface, Arslan rushes forward and knocks her back even further.

Nearby, Nadir tries aiming with his assault rifle at Yang before a sudden burst of frosty blue explodes behind him and leaves the whimpering gunner in a block of ice up to his thighs.

Ruby looks up from her sniper scope "Got your back!".

"But who's got yours?" Ruby looks up behind her as Bolin twirls his staff, right when a black snowflake glyph appears to his left and Weiss kicks him through it into a rock.

Ruby smiled happily "My BFF!

Weiss deadpans No".

Ruby pumps her fist, whispering to herself "Yes".

Bolin crouches with his weapon as he sees a white glyph appear in front of him. A second later, Weiss dashes by and slashes at him, then leaps up and attempts an aerial attack, which he's able to block. She readies her sword while preparing a glyph behind her, and Ruby uses it to launch herself straight up and come down spinning on Bolin, who manages to block the curved blade. Ruby grimaces and blasts herself away to Weiss' side, and Bolin rushes at them, rolling away from the shards of ice that rain on him and jumping over Ruby's swing as he continues running.

Bolin manages to reach an orange crystal deposit and slice off a shard, which he throws to Reese over in the icy half of the stadium. With Dust in hand, Reese fuses it with her board, turning the aqua lights to a crimson shade. She winks at Blake, then uses the board's heat to free Nadir from his icy snare.

She comes back to Blake and slams her board into her enemy's blade, but propels herself backwards and knocks Blake through a frozen pillar. Reese attempts to use her board to slam her foe into the ground, but when she dodges that, she spins around in a flaming arc that Blake narrowly misses thanks to her shadows. Changing tactics, Blake launches the pistol part of Gambol Shroud at a nearby glacier and launches herself behind it, as Reese follows her and sees Blake with her back turned to her under an arch. Reese grins before riding in to deliver a flaming spiral at the shadow clone, only to see the ribbon Blake is launching to trap her opponent a moment too late. She pulls tightly and causes Reese to slam body-first into the string, only to use a final kick to knock her out of the stage. Reese crashes into the wall of the stands before landing on the ground, defeated.

"Ooh, a double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ringout and Aura level!" Port said as Reese's Aura level drops in the team display until her image is crossed out and she angrily slams her fist on the ground.

"Oh, she really should've worn a helmet!" Oobleck said.

"HELL YEAH, BLAKE! KICK THEIR BUTS!" Severa cheered, earning some cuckles from her teammates.

Back in the fight, Arslan uses her rope to swing around and avoid Yang right behind her, using shotgun blasts to propel herself forward. Nadir comes into the picture, aiming his rifle at Weiss as she summons another glyph and launches Bolin at him. The two teammates are helpless as Weiss creates a whirlwind from underneath them and slamming the two together until she forms a giant ice fist straight up from the ground to trap the two. It reforms itself into a ball that rolls around the field, and when Arslan sees her team in this state, she rolls her eyes, annoyed, before changing direction and sliding into the path of the ball. She readies her stance and drives her hand into the sphere, which cracks under her power and frees her allies.

"Yang!" Weiss called out, Yang turns to look just as Weiss creates a large frozen slide-like shape "NOW!".

Knowing what to do, Yang blasts herself forward and skims over the wall of ice, catching Blake's pistol as her teammate uses Ruby as a launch pad to jump off of towards the remaining members of ABRN. The three only have a second to look horrified as Blake whips a screaming Yang around to land a devastating punch that sends the trio flying into their elimination.

"And that's the match! Team RWBY is victorious!" Port annouched.

"YES! WOHOOO!" Severa cheered.

"Alright, settle down Severa. We should congratulate them" Lucina said as she stood up "And I am getting a little hungry".

"Me too. And after a battle like that, I bet they are too. So I know exactly where they would go" Lyre said as she licked her lips.


After winning their match against Team ABRN, Team RWBY goes to the Vytal Festival fairgrounds to eat. A pink-haired girl with a beanie walks by a hut with several posters, inside one man holds a cup. At another one of the unassuming huts set up in the fairgrounds stringed with paper lanterns with a sign overhead saying A Simple Wok, Team RWBY sits at the stools outside, ready to order.

"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please" Yang said and a large bowl of noodles slides in front of her.

Ruby stares at Yang's meal "Oohhh... I'll take the same".

A large bowl of noodles slides in front of her, as she clasps her hands in excitement, while Weiss looked concerned "Do you have anything with a low-salt...?" A large bowl of regular noodles instantly slides in front of her instead "Um... okay...".

Instead of saying anything, Blake merely gives a nod and smile to the Shopkeep, who returns the gesture as he rushes through one door of his shop and comes out the other to leave a large bowl of noodles topped with fish in front of her. Blake's eyes light up as she drools over her order. While Weiss looks strangely at her teammate, she gladly offers 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 answered before her joy is ruined when the card is flung back at her, and the annoyed Shopkeep points to his register as it beeps DECLINED "What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!".

Blake looking around panicked, not wanting her food to be taken away. But before it could be, Severa showed up out of nowhere held up some money "It's fine, I'll pay for her order".

The Shopkeep nods and accepts the money, and Blake got to keep her food. Instead of a simple thank you, Blake gave Severa a strong kiss on the lips, earning a large blush from Severa and amused looks from their teammates.

"How nice of you, Severa. Can you pay for us too?" Yang asked with a teasing smile.

"Don't get any ideas. I am not made out of money, and I only paid for Blake because she my girlfriend" Severa said.

"Then maybe I could help?" The girls look up to see Team JNPR approach the stand.

Ruby flings her arms wide in delight "Pyrrha!".

"Hey cousin" Severa said with a smile and Pyrrha smiled back.

"Aw, you don't have to..." Yang said.

"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle" Pyrrha said.

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.

"Oh yeah! Let's eat!" Lyre declared.

Later on, the bowls are empty, and each student is either content with their meal or holding their stomachs sickly.

"My belly..." Bernadetta said weakly.

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asks.

"Of course! It will give us energy!" Pyrrha said in confidence and Nora simply gives a hearty belch.

Jaune splays himself over the counter, sickly saying "If I barf, I'm blaming you".

"Ooh!" Nora grins evilly "Aim at the enemy!".

Ren gave her a disapproving look "Nora, that's disgusting. But if you feel the urge ...".

Jaune gives a weak thumbs-up "Got it".

"Nothing like a full belly after a hard fight" Lyre said as she pets her belly happily.

"Those were some tricky opponents. We need a solid plan for the 2v2 match" Lucina said.

"So who did you pick for that match?" Ruby asked.

"Lucina and myself. We are the toughest members of our team, so we figured we had the best chance of winning" Severa answered.

Pyrrha stands up from her stool "Well, we should be off".

"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.

Ren looks at Jaune "Are you gonna take that?".

"She's not wrong" Jaune said weakly.

"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding. Don't 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!" Nora's mad laughter turns into sobs as she slams her head on the counter.

Ren was unperturbed "So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good".

Pyrrha put a hand on Nora and Jaune's backs "Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well, ...murderers".

Yang smiled "Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before".

Blake counts off the threats on her fingers "Let's see. Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath...".

"And that's all while were still in training! Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate!" Ruby said in excitement.

Weiss began sarcastically mumbling to herself "Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal".

"Now if we could only find the rest of the bad guys. I still want a rematch against that Black Knight guy" Severa said.

"I would prefer normal school years from now on" Bernadetta said.

"Well, we will see what comes our way" Lucina said.

Port began crackling in over the intercom system "Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!".

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck added.

"Well, it looks like this is it" Pyrrha said.

"You better win, cousin. I will be watching" Severa said.

Pyrrha smiled at her "Don't worry, I am certain we will win".

Team JNPR walks away, Nora is still depressed and Jaune is looking queasy.

"Go get 'em!" Ruby said.


Team RWBY and LSBL enter the Coliseum through one of its tunnels and head to their seats as Emerald and Mercury are seen walking behind them to do the same. Down in the field below, the scorched ground and cold plains are no more, and only a layer of white mechanics is left, with a central stage on which the two teams gather.

Mercury having found his seat with Emerald and munching on a large tub of popcorn "I wonder who's gonna win".

"Tch. As if we didn't already know" Emerald said.

Cinder walks up behind them, showing off her new outfit of jeans, an orange jacket, and sarashi bandages over her chest as she takes 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".

Her eyes glow with her fingertips and the kernel finally pops, which she enjoys while sitting down as Mercury and Emerald share a devious smirk. Líf arrives and sit's next to Cinder.

"Fun? This is just a charade, hiding what these schools are really doing. And They still don't have the decency of being honest. And all these cheep is just following their lies without a second's thought... Pathetic" Líf said, doing his best to hide his anger.

Port began announcing over the cheering crowds "Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!".

As each team readies their poses, a circle of holographic roulettes start 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 opens to reveal a tree-filled forest, while the other raises a small rocky outcropping to fill in the circle. Jaune narrows his eyes in concentration.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Port said.

As the start of the match, each team leaps forward at the other, ready to begin fighting.

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And here it is. Volume 3. Things will really heat up now.

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Tell me what you think.