Fall.
The Tournament had been going well. The 2v2 rounds were over and the 1v1 rounds were almost about to start. Once they are over, the winner of the tournament will also declare which nation would win as well. Sadly, since one of the 2v2 rounds ended in a draw, Team LSBL would not be able to participate in the tournament anymore, something that bothered them a lot, Severa most of all, but luckily she did have Blake to help her cope with her failure to secure a spot in the finals. Right now, Bernadetta was reading a book under a tree, just trying to get in some alone time before she joins her team to watch their friends compete in the finals.
"Hello!" Came the sing song voice of a certain blonde brawler.
Bernadetta looked up "Hello Yang".
Yang smiled "Would you look at that, you are not nervous around me anymore. You've grown".
Bernadetta pouts at her "Well, I guess I've just gotten used to your forward nature. Did you want something?".
"Yes actually. The 1v1 fights will start soon, and I was picked to represent team RWBY" Yang answered.
"Makes sense. You are the toughest member of your team, so you do have the best chance of winning" Bernadetta said.
"A, thanks! But there is still time before the fights start, so I was wondering if you'd like to hang out for a bit?" Yang asked.
Bernadetta looked a little surprised "Are you... asking me out on a date?".
"Yeah, I guess I am" Yang answered with a smile.
Bernadetta blushed before closing her book "Well... I guess there is no harm in it".
Yang smiled more, part of her was worried that Bernadetta would say no. She was so relieved when she accepted "Great! Let's hit the fairgrounds!".
Bernadetta yelped when Yang grabbed her hand and pulled her along. On the fairgrounds, they were looking around at a lot of different spots. However Bernadetta came to a stop and looked at something. Yang noticed this and stopped as well.
"What's the matter Bernie?" She asked before she looked in the same direction as Bernadetta and finally noticed what she was looking at "Oh, you are interested in those cakes?".
Bernadetta blushed "I love cakes...".
Yang smiled at her "Alright, then let's get you one".
"I didn't bring any money" Bernadetta said sadly.
"But I did, it's be my treat" Yang assured.
Bernadetta looked at her in surprise "You sure? They looked pretty expensive".
"Then we better make sure to eat the whole cake" Yang said before once again taking Bernadetta's hand and pulled her over to the cakes.
Yang bought one of the smaller cakes since it was cheaper and it was still enough for both of them. Bernadetta really demonstrated her love for cakes as she was devouring every piece she got. By the time the cake was gone, Bernadetta had eaten at least twice as much as Yang did.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you loved cake" Yang said with amused faced.
Bernadetta blushed "Sorry, I ate almost all of it! You barely got anything!".
"Don't worry about it" Yang waved of.
"But... you were the one who paid for it, and I just devoured it like a pig" Bernadetta said, feeling ashamed.
Yang put her hand on Bernadetta's "Seriously, Bernie. It's ok. I bought you that cake because I wanted you to enjoy it. So no need to feel bad about enjoying a gift".
Bernadetta blushed again "Well if you say so".
Yang smiled "Hey I couldn't help to notice the book you were reading earlier. Was that The Girl in the Tower?".
"You know about it?" Bernadetta asked.
"Of course, who doesn't? My father read it to me when I was a kid. It's kind of sad" Yang answered.
Bernadetta took the book out of her bag "The Girl in the Tower... A story about a girl who was locked into a giant tower by her cruel father who allowed only himself and the girl's nanny to see. All because he grew paranoid after the death of his wife. She spent years locked up in what she felt like a prison. Until she realized that the magic border surrounding her tower would only block animate objects".
"And for her 16th birthday she asked for a pen and some papper, where she would write a lot of letters and send them out of the tower, hoping a hero would find them and save her from her father. Many brave warriors died, but one managed to defeat her father and finally freed her from the tower" Yang finished.
"It's been my favorite story ever since I was a kid... It reminds me so much of myself. I too was held prisoner by my father, and I wasn't allowed to see anyone... And everyday I felt so trapped... And even now I fear that he will show up and force me to come back home" Bernadetta said with clear fear in her eyes "But... I like my life here, I finally feel free".
Yang gently made Bernadetta lower the book "If that happens. I guess I will have to be the brave warrior who saves you from your cruel father".
Bernadetta looked surprised before she blushed "Yang... you are something else".
Yang giggled at that "Thanks".
Bernadetta finally smiled back at her "No. Thank you Yang. For everything".
Now it was Yang's turn to blush. Bernadetta rarely smiled like that, and she looked so cute when she did. Took a lot of Yang's self control to not hug the life out of her, since she did not want to risk ruining the moment. They enjoyed their time together before the 1v1 rounds were about to start.
"Well, looks like the time has come" Yang said.
"Yeah... good luck" Bernadetta said.
Yang decided to tease her one more time "Maybe I could get a good luck kiss? Give me something to fight for".
Bernadetta blushed even harder than before "Wh-what!?".
Yang laughed "You should see your face! I'm just kid-".
Before she could finish... Bernadetta gave her a kiss on the cheek. Now Yang was blushing again and looked at Bernadetta surprised, and the smaller girl looked like she was going to faint.
"J-Just make sure you win!" Bernadetta said before hurrying away "Why did I do that!? Why did I do that!? Why did I do that!?".
Yang touched her cheek before she smiled. Well, she was certainly more motivated to win now.
Cinder sits in one of the Amity Colosseum's seats along with the rest of the cheering crowd, their screams being drowned out by the announcements.
"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!" Port said.
In the center of the battlefield's stage, Yang smirks confidently as she stands in line with the final fighters, a few new faces mixed in with Sun, Penny, Mercury, and a troubled Pyrrha at the other end of the line. Something Severa noticed, and made a mental note to talk to her cousin later.
"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" Port suggested.
"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!" Oobleck explained.
"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Port said.
Oobleck nods "Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!".
The energetic doctor points out to the screens above the stadium as the roulette starts spinning, before it stops to reveal the first showdown.
"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Port announced.
Ruby cups her hands to make sure her encouragement is heard from her "Break a leg, sis!".
Severa smirks, she will enjoy this one. Finally that smug jerk will get the beat down he deserves. Meanwhile, Cinder, still smiling, gets up from her place and begins walking out, eyes on the battlefield.
"Would all other combatants please leave the stage!" Port said.
The rest of the lineup does so, and Yang starts walking up to Mercury in the middle as the floor around them opens once more, with a ring of spotlights rising up to automatically fix their lights on the remaining two.
Yang smiles "You better not go easy on me".
Mercury laughed darkly "You wish".
Both brawlers face the crowds one last time, then slowly start advancing on each other, arms raised defensively until their hands can almost touch, as the final countdown commences "Three! Two! One! Fight!".
Immediately, Yang throws a punch, and Mercury spins his foot to meet it, creating a shockwave between the weapons that launches him back. He closes the distance quickly and aims at her feet with Talaria, but she leaps over it and fires off a shot of her Ember Celica that he rotates to avoid. They fight fist-to-fist for a moment, Yang getting in a fiery blast on her opponent at the cost of him also landing a blow on her. She falls back on her feet when Mercury shoots himself into the air to get farther away from her, looking up and smiling.
Yang doesn't relent for a second, launching shot after shot only for Mercury to dodge each of them, sliding around the stage on clouds of air until he attempts to come down on her with his leg. She blocks and pushes away the attack, but he goes under her shotgun burst and manages to land a kick on her, though she still lands in a crouch, now grimacing. She launches forward with a double blast and continues landing blow after blazing blow on him, right up to when he roundhouse kicks her in the back and attempts to hit her with his heel. She gets out just in time and punches he ground trying to get him, but he leaps out and twirls to get a hit on her. One of his kicks seems to pass over her, but then he brings it down hard enough to shatter the steel underneath, which Yang narrowly rolls backward to avoid.
They exchange kicks after this attack until Mercury hits her backwards, and he rushes forward only to receive a fist to his chin, then his torso, knocking him on his stomach. He gets up right as Yang starts raining down fire again, causing him to somersault back until one explosion causes him to get knocked off of the stage. He saves himself by firing his boots downward and flying back in front of his enemy, unleashing a series of kicks that put Yang on the defensive. She ducks under one attack only to receive another as Mercury jumps into the air to knock her back, and he follows it up with a shot from his boots. Yang avoids it effortlessly, not noticing it still hanging around behind her.
Switching tactics, Mercury starts shooting his foot out in every direction, each kick into the air accompanied by a silvery blast that are barely even aimed at Yang. She dodges each one coming her way and gets in close through the circling barrage of shots, fighting with their fists again until Mercury kicks her into the air and knocks her right back to the ground, followed by the dozens of swirling shots that now converge right on to Yang.
When the blasts stop coming down on his opponent, Mercury gets up from his crouch and grins to himself, dusting off his outfit and seeming as happy as can be until the smoke from behind him erupts into flames. His momentary shock turns into another smile as he turns around to see the red-eyed Yang slam her knuckles together and come at him. Screaming, she lands a punch that sends him back, and she rushes up avoiding each kick and even taking one with no effect to pound at him with an unrelenting bombardment of left-right blows. He has enough time to let out a pained groan before she hits him in the stomach, his Aura sparkling up to try and defend him from the last hit to the face by the upset blonde. He lands on his back as the buzzer sounds over the roars of the audience.
"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port speaks as Yang lowers her fists and closes her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief before opening them back up to her usual lilac and raising her arm in victory.
"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck announced happily.
Ruby splayed her arms in excitement "Yeah! You did it, sis!".
Blake gives a standing ovation as Weis pumps her fists "Way to go, Yang!".
"Oh yeah! She kicked his ass!" Severa shouts in happiness.
Lucina chuckled "Well, at least we can take comfort that our friends can win this tournament".
"Yeah! Always a silver lining" Lyre said in a up beat tone.
Bernadetta only smiles. She was really happy that Yang won... she wondered if the kiss she gave her helped push her to fight harder.
Yang wipes her brow with an arm as she addresses the hunched-over Mercury "Better luck next time".
She starts walking to the exit, getting pretty far away before Mercury seems to get up outside her peripheral vision and murderously angry "There's not going to be a next time, Blondie!".
A sharp sound is heard in the sudden silence as Yang turns around just in time to see Mercury leap forward with a kick to his unsuspecting victim. Yang scowls as she just manages to both bring her gauntlet down on and shoot his leg before he hits her. The second she does so, there is a sound of something breaking. The audience gasps in shock, and Mercury reels back from the pain.
Oobleck getts up from his chair "My word!"
Port contancts someone "Cut the cameras!".
In Mountain Glenn, two Goliaths walks near a ruined hamburger joint and a pack of Beowolves are up in the construction beams of an unfinished building all look towards the Colosseum floating near Beacon... sensing all the negative emotions.
Back in the arena Mercury was still grasping his injured body part, rocking back and forth "My leg, MY LEG!".
"That's what you get, you little- Huh?" Yang stops as she notices the Atlesian Knight-200 droids and two Soldiers circling the Huntress-in-training and raising their guns to her.
"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" One of the soldiers ordered.
Yang didn't have a clue of what's going on "What!? Why!?".
"Mercury!" Emerald rushes over to her partner's side to comfort him.
Mercury was crying hysterically "Why'd she do that!? WHY'D SHE ATTACK ME!?".
Yang receives a disgusted scowl from Emerald, only now looking up at the screens above her to see the footage of what just transpired: Yang circling the crouched-down Mercury until the footage cuts to him just standing there and her suddenly shooting him in the leg. The sound of something breaking rings out, and Mercury screams and falls over in pain.
Lyre had a shocked look "What... What just happened?!".
"Yang... she attacked him for no reason... But why?" Lucina asked.
"He has to have done something! Yang would never attack anyone unprovoked!" Severa said, trying to defend her friend. Yes Murcury deserved a beat down, but Yang would never seriously injure him if she could avoid it.
Bernadetta said nothing as she just watched what happened with a scared expression.
It takes a moment of staring at the images until Yang finally understands what she did, and her gaze turns up to the wide-eyed, terrified faces of Blake, Weiss, and Ruby. She looks around at the guns aimed at her and the people cursing her name, still not knowing what just happened or what will come next.
Meanwhile, Lif had been watching the fight on his scroll and he smiled darkly "So it begins".
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Last chapter before Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone!
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Tell me what you think, please!
