And here's the next chapter!
This one is a little late though, I've been trying to post it for the last few days.
But I kept having something or other distract me and make me forget about it.
So, instead, you're getting this chapter now... and then another one right after.
Hope you enjoy the double post!
Round 2! Time to Rumble!
"Hmm, it seems Specialist Schnee is visiting… I wonder if she brought her mother again this time?" Ozpin mused as he saw Winter's personal ship land down in the air docks.
"Well, as much as I'd like to chat with Willow again, I doubt she came over this time, I mean, last time was an emergency, but I don't really see a need this time." Summer commented… before she reached out and grabbed Qrow, whom had been walking to the elevator "Where do you think you're going?"
"Oh, you know, just for a walk." he said, trying to get out of her grip… before Glynda's riding crop smacked him on the chest.
"No, we know what you were actually going to do, and you are NOT antagonizing her… more than you already do with your presence alone at least." Glynda told him, making him sigh.
"Why DOES she hate his guts anyway?" Summer couldn't help but ask.
"He got drunk and did something stupid… as usual." was the answer from Glynda.
"I'm always drunk." was Qrow's counter to that.
"Fine, you got MORE drunk then." was all Glynda added to her statement.
"You two are overreacting. What's the worse that could happen?" Qrow half-joked.
"I dunno. What's the worst you can think of with a mix of the relationship you two have, the fact Winter has a Digimon Partner who can probably reach Adult stage at least, and your...less than convenient Semblance," Summer said flatly.
Qrow thought about it for real...and gulped a bit. "Yeah...good point."
Down at the airdocks, Weiss went to the ship as the ramp was lowering, and likely would have been joined by a fangirling Yoshino, had Pyrrha and Thomas not dragged her off somewhere and made her focus on her own sister.
"You think your mom is with her this time?" Tentomon asked as he followed Weiss.
Weiss hummed in thought "Well…" she trailed off, as her scroll suddenly started ringing, pulling it out, and blinking when she saw it was her mother's number, accepting the call "Hi mom, how are you this evening?"
"I'm doing fine Weiss, thank you for asking. I just called to let you know your father cut off your credit card earlier after you refused a call from him. I only learned just now thanks to your idiot brother… sometimes I wonder if he actually HAS some of my genes." Willow answered on the other end.
"Uh… mom…" Weiss started in confusion.
"Yes, I know what I said, but he seriously acts nothing like me and everything like your father, so I wonder sometimes if he didn't do something one of the times I was asleep, you know how heavy of a sleeper I am after all." Willow said with a sigh.
"I… don't think I want to know what you're imagining right now." Weiss said slowly.
"Trust me dear, you REALLY don't." Willow said with a somewhat aggravated sigh "Anyway, I saw your match earlier. That was very well fought Weiss, you and your team work together very well."
Weiss smiled a bit bashfully "Thanks mom. We've been putting a lot of effort into our training, both as just us five hunters, and with our Digimon. Ruby managed to come up with team attacks for everyone, but she's still trying to come up with some specific ones for the Digimon."
"I'm very happy to hear that. You've got a good team and good friends," Willow smiled. "At any rate, I need to go for now. I'll call you again later. Say hello to Winter for me. I'd call her myself, but she's not always available due to her work."
"I will. Take care mother," Weiss smiled, before the call ended.
"Things have really gotten better with your family lately, huh?" Ruby smiled. Gyro had told her how things went originally...and it was honestly pretty sad how distant Weiss's family was.
Weiss jumped a bit "When did you get here?"
"Like a minute ago." Ruby said with a snicker.
"We listened to your call a bit, sorry." Palmon said with a laugh.
"Its fine," Weiss sighed.
"Just warn us a bit next time," Tentomon said.
"We'll keep that in mind," Ruby said sheepishly. Shortly after, several Atlesian Knights exited the airship, escorting Winter who was surveying the area, Lunamon at her side. Upon seeing her, Weiss smiled, went forward and called towards her.
Winter heard her and turned to the source of the voice, a small smile on her face as she moved closer, though still maintaining a military poise. After all, they were still in public.
"It's good to see you Winter. What brings you here today?" Weiss asked when she got close to her sister.
"Military reasons, I'm afraid I can't say much more than that." Winter said with an apologetic smile.
"Well, do you know how long you can stay? I'd love it if you could watch our next match, I'm representing my team in the next round." Weiss asked hopefully.
"I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do Weiss." Winter told her.
"Good enough for me," Weiss smiled.
"So how have things been in Atlas?" Tentomon asked both Winter AND Lunamon.
"Things have stabilized, though opinion regarding Digimon are still mixed," Winter said.
"But overall it's going well," Lunamon added.
"That's good to hear," Weiss nodded. This was a situation the group as a whole often worried about.
"I'm supposed to meet General Ironwood later, but as I'm early I have some free time," Winter said. "How about we talk more in your quarters?"
"Of course. I'll lead the way," Weiss smiled before she and Tentomon turned to leave, Winter and Lunamon following.
"I'll tell the others to give you two some space," Ruby added, earning a grateful nod from Weiss.
Meanwhile, in their dorm room, Cinder was busy going through her scroll, a look of annoyance on her face. "Things certainly haven't been easy lately," she frowned.
"If those Foretellers weren't bad enough, now we've got a Huntsman with a Crimson Soul on our hands too," Emerald frowned. The Crimson Soul was similar to the Silver Eyes, in that it was a power that could be passed down. However, unlike the Silver Eyes, it wasn't always passed down and even if it was there is a certain...stimulus...needed to awaken it. As such many holders went through their entire lives never realizing they had it only for it to awaken a generation or two later. That naturally made it VERY difficult to find them. However, when they DID awaken, they often became what many would call a one-huntsmen army. Worse, that power could be used on anyone, not just Grimm. As such, when one appeared, it tended to be problematic for anyone opposing them.
"So what do we do now?" Mercury asked.
"We stay the course. Certainly a Crimson Soul wielder is problematic, as is the Foretellers, but most importantly, Ozpin's faction has no idea who we are," Cinder said, as she found access to what appeared to be a matchup selector for the tournament, and with a smirk, set the matches into something that would be favorable for Emerald and Mercury, namely team CFVY's representatives, Coco and Yatsuhashi. If there was one thing good about not having Digimon of their own, it was that it ensured their opponents were always Huntsmen, something they could definitely handle. "We're still in position to execute the plan, and once I've obtained the last of the Fall Maiden's power, not even they will be able to stand in our way."
"She REALLY has no idea how in over her head she is, does she?" Gomamon chuckled.
"She REALLY doesn't." Gyro chuckled as they were in JNPPR's dorm at the moment, having let Weiss use the team RWGBY dorm to have some private time with her sister.
"I feel a bit bad we're technically letting her manipulate the matchups." Pyrrha said with a frown as Azure confirmed tomorrow's first match as Coco and Yatsu VS Emerald and Mercury.
"Yeah, but this way she ends up feeling safe and will relax a bit." Yang said, grinning.
"Which will make it all the more satisfying when we kick her butt." Nora finished with her own grin as the two of them fist bumped.
"Does this make us mildly evil?" Patamon wondered.
"More like Chaotic Good." Wormmon corrected.
"Sides, we're not gonna let anyone get really hurt. Sure Coco and Yatsuhashi are gonna get knocked around a bit, but other than bruised pride, they'll be fine," Pierce reassured. "They kicked butt just fine in the Battle of Beacon anyway."
"I guess that makes it a little better," Blake shrugged. "Either way, I agree. For now we should let them think they're still in control."
"I can't wait to see the look on her face when her house of cards comes crashing down," Agumon chuckled.
The next match soon came and well….
"This isn't as painful to watch as when team SSSN was fighting," Veemon admitted.
"Maybe cause even if they're losing, Coco and Yatsuhashi are actually putting up a fight instead of getting steam rolled," Biyomon commented. True enough, like in the original timeline, it was clear Coco and Yatsuhashi were having trouble, but they were still landing hits and the like, making it a more or less even fight….that or Mercury and Emerald were purposely holding back, but that's besides the point.
"Gotta admit, those two are really good," Ogremon who was sitting not far away (and taking a few seats much to the annoyance of some of the other spectators) said.
"Are they REALLY in the same year?" Waspmon agreed. There was a certain difference in skill that seemed almost like someone who'd been fighting life or death fights that were VERY close calls for a while.
"Who knows?" Salamon commented, playing innocent, as did the rest of the chosen.
The fight continued on and after a while the victors were found, Emerald and Mercury completely outdoing Coco and Yatsuhashi.
"Well, at least they fought well," Dobermon sighed.
"Shame we're out of the Tournament though," Velvet sighed, but didn't seem TOO upset. After all, it was all just healthy competition.
Later, in a rather calming garden area, Weiss and Winter were seated at a tea table with their Digimon by their side. "You're leaving already?" Weiss asked, disappointed.
"Yes. The truth is that I was sent here to oversee the transport of additional units to Vale. The previous shipment was lost, some of which you encountered before," Winter explained.
"So that's where the Paladin came from," Weiss said, feigning ignorance.
"Yes. It was fortunate those were in the Prototype stage, or it might have been a lot more difficult for your teams," Winter said.
"Thank Oum for small mercies I suppose," Weiss sighed, once again feigning ignorance.
"I have to say though, despite the hiccups that have been happening, you've been doing rather well for yourself Weiss." Winter said, before chuckling a bit "And seeing father's face the day you left for Beacon was quite entertaining, Klein made sure to take a picture as well."
"I really want to see that. And I especially want to show him how far I've gotten and what I've learned." Weiss answered with a small grin.
"Oh? And what HAVE you learned?" Winter asked curiously.
"My glyphs have come a long way since home, I've just about mastered time dilation, and I can summon now." Weiss answered proudly.
"Is that so?" Winter said with a smile as she stood and walked out onto the terrace "Why don't we see what your summoning can do then?" she said, her own summon glyph appearing, and from it, a pure white Alpha Beowolf emerged."
Weiss got up with a slight smirk as her own summoning glyph appeared on the terrace "Gladly." she said, and from it came the Arma Gigas she had slain to prove herself.
"Impressive," Winter nodded in approval. "But let's see how well your control over it is," she said, before moving outside of the location, not wanting to damage it, Weiss following suit. Once they were in an open area, both of them summoned their choice of Grimm once more and at a silent signal, sent the two summons to fight each other. The Arma Gigas opened with a heavy swing, aiming to crush the Alpha Beowolf, but it easily dodged aside, and went straight for the Arma Gigas, leaving a few scratches on the armor. However, the damage was superficial, and the Arma Gigas was quick to counter. The fight soon became a somewhat stalemate as both sides were having trouble damaging the other due to higher mobility or defense.
"Who do you think's gonna win?" Tentomon asked.
"Honestly...I can't say," Lunamon admitted. "Either Winter's Grimm whittles away at Weiss's or Weiss's Grimm gets a lucky shot and ends the fight in one hit."
And it ended up being the lucky shot, as the Arma Gigas suddenly struck out with one of its legs, hitting the Alpha Beowolf in the face, before impaling on its sword, and then crushing its head with its hand for good measure.
"Brutal, but efficient." Winter said with a raised eyebrow. "Nicely done Weiss."
"Not my usual preference I admit, but it has its uses," Weiss nodded. "Thank you for the practice, Winter."
"And I'm glad to see you've been doing well," Winter smiled. If she had to be honest, she'd been quite afraid for Weiss, especially when she learned she was literally in the center of the events happening in Vale not long ago. But it seemed her fears were unfounded, as whatever Weiss has been through, it had served to make her stronger. So strong in fact it was sometimes hard to believe that she was the same little sister who'd left home saying she wanted to carve her own path. However, her smile faded a little when she remembered the time. "Now, its time for me to go. The Airship leaves in an hour, and I can't be late," she said apologetically. The response she got was a hug from Weiss.
"It was really nice to see you again," Weiss smiled. "Take care okay."
Winter smiled warmly and hugged her sister back "I will, and it was nice to see you again too. I'll try to catch your match on the flight back at least."
"Until next time then," Weiss smiled. It wasn't long before Weiss was waving at an airship flying away, carrying Winter and Lunamon back to Atlas. As that happened, there was another sound of a Scroll ringing, Tentomon holding up her scroll which showed it was her father. Weiss just chuckled a bit, before grabbing the scroll and pressing one single button "And blocked." This was her path now, and her father had no say in it.
The next day came quickly, and with it the next set of matches. Next was team CRDL versus Team CYPT (Cryptic), and unlike the original story, the members fighting against two of the four stooges was Penny and Yoshino.
"This is different," Gyro mused.
"Who was fighting with Penny last time again?" Ruby asked.
"The walking time obsessed ornament named Ciel," Gyro snorted.
"That's not a very nice thing to say," Ren commented.
"Considering all she did was stand around, look at her watch while Penny did all the fighting, I think I'm justified," Gyro deadpanned.
"Well… when you put it like that." Jaune said with an awkward laugh. "So...how does Yoshino fight?" he asked, looking at Pyrrha.
"Well...let's just say her Semblance isn't what you'd expect. Not to mention she was always more of a singer than fighter," Pyrrha chuckled, before taking out...earplugs. "You might want to use these too."
The group put 2 and 2 together...and promptly grabbed the earplugs.
Any further conversation was put on hold as the fight began, and immediately Russel and Sky wasted no time going on the offensive...which didn't help them much as they were soon met with several swords, courtesy of Penny who skillfully manipulated them using her strings, causing the boys to have a hard time progressing. And even when they started to, they were met with gunshots from...honestly, Yoshino's weapon looked like an almost oversized gun so much so it felt more like a hand cannon rather than a gun. The image was further emphasized by how she clearly couldn't fire too quickly, but each shot had a sizeable amount of power behind it, proven by how it sent Sky flying right into some of the wreckage in the urban biome.
Russel was able to evade the shots...but was having a lot of trouble fending against Penny's blades, so much so he soon ended up slamming into Sky. "My sister was right. These guys are a joke," Yoshino chuckled, having had a chance to talk to Pyrrha before the fight...and learn that team CRDL was basically the bottom of the barrel to the point the biggest mystery was how they hadn't already flunked.
"Then let us not prolong this," Penny chuckled, before sending more of her blades flying, forcing Russel and Sky to evade, while catching them in the movements here and there, causing them to take damage...and never realize that the ones that missed were actually herding them. Yoshino likewise shifted her weapon, the barrel expanding till it turned into...a megaphone. Once the two stooges were lined up, Yoshino took a deep breath...and screamed. Right into the megaphone. What came out was a blast of pure sound in the form of a cone which caught both of them right in the middle, the force pushing them back, while the sound made them have to cover their ears, unable to brace, and before long they were launched out of the arena.
They weren't the only ones that had to cover their ears however, as many others had to do the same, the Chosen and their Digimon only saved thanks to the earplugs.
"Jeez, even with these on that was loud." Gabumon commented with a wince.
"Well… I guess she's a screamer." Yang said with a grin, before getting slapped in the back of the head by both Gyro and Blake. "Alright, geez, I won't go there again."
"Geez, what is she, Black Canary?" Pierce muttered, trying to get the slight ringing out of his ears.
"And with that, team CYPT advances to the finals!" Port announced after a moment "Our next match will begin in 15 minutes, I hope everyone's as excited as I am!"
During the intermission, Ruby made her way to the side of the stage, just in time to catch Penny and Yoshino as they were walking away. "Penny!" she called.
"Ruby!" Penny said in joy before glomping on the girl...and considering she was made of metal...yeah… "Sorry," Penny apologized as she helped Ruby up.
"You should be more careful, Penny. Someone could get hurt," Monodramon sweatdropped at his partner's...enthusiasm.
"Looks like you've made a good friend," Yoshino chuckled. "I'll leave you two alone for now, but don't take too long okay. You know how Ciel gets when we're behind schedule," she said before leaving them alone for now.
"So...Yoshino's part of your team?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, you know her?" Penny asked in surprise.
"We met at a noodle shop the other day. She's Pyrrha's older sister," Ruby explained. "Huh, does that mean Thomas is part of your team too?"
"Why yes. He, Yoshino, and Ciel are all my teammates, though Ciel isn't around right now," Penny nodded. "I'll introduce you sometime."
"I'd like that," Ruby nodded. "So...you were great out there. How did you control all those swords?" she smiled.
"It's...a bit complicated, and has to do partly with...you know," Monodramon spoke up.
"Yeah, it might...take a while and I don't think we have that long," Penny sweat dropped a bit.
"Right, Ciel," Ruby nodded, remembering what Yoshino just said. "So...are they all your friends?"
"Well...sort of. Yoshino's probably the one I'd call a friend the most. She's friendly, and she even snuck me out for some fun every now and then. Karaoke's pretty fun," Penny smiled. "Thomas is polite, but he kinda keeps his distance here and there. As for Ciel...she's kinda like Blake...only if she were ordered to spend time with you…" she sighed at the end.
"Ah...so like how Weiss used to be," Ruby nodded.
"That's painfully apt," Monodramon laughed.
"Do they know about...you know. Beep boop bop, does not compute?" Ruby asked, doing the robot a bit for emphasis.
"Oh no," Penny said shaking her head. "General Ironwood doesn't want anyone to know."
"REALLY awkward for team building," Monodramon supplemented with a sigh.
"Especially with that magnet. Good thing I was able to play it off," Penny said, before telling Ruby what happened quickly, causing both girls to laugh, while Monodramon snorted, remembering how funny it was having to cover for his partner.
"So anyway, it was nice talking to you," Ruby smiled...before frowning. "Remember the plan?"
"Of course. Pyrrha and I will make it look good, then I'll aim a few swords at her shield so she gets pushed out," Penny nodded. They'd already planned for this and agreed that considering the circumstances, one of them would be best throwing the fight. Of course, with Penny possibly being graded on performance, they'd decided that Pyrrha would throw the fight, cause really, beyond losing her 'Invincible Girl' title, she lost nothing whatsoever from losing a match.
"And JUST in case anything goes wrong, I'll be ready," Monodramon nodded as well.
The intermission was soon over, and the next fight was Team RWGBY vs Team FNKI...with the lineup being exactly the same as the show, as the group had decided they'd rather not provoke the universe more than necessary after the sizeable butterfly that was Team SSSN's complete defeat.
"Hey Weiss, you know how Atlas is supposed to be all military and uniform?" Yang started.
"Yes, that's usually how it goes, why?" Weiss asked.
"Well...then why are THEY so different?" Yang asked, as Flynt Coal and Neon Katt entered the field.
"...I honestly have no idea," Weiss admitted, wondering how a team like FNKI was even possible in Atlas.
"Hey, you're Weiss Schnee right? The heiress." Flynt asked, tipping his hat up a bit as his shades slid down slightly.
Weiss sighed, knowing where he was going to head with this as she remembered what Gyro had told her "Flynt Cole yes? I know about your father's store. Rest assured I've mentioned it to my mother and she'll be trying to get it back up and running while giving everything back to him."
Flynt stopped short, as did Neon as the two just stared at Weiss "Uh… thank you?" Flynt said unsurely, honestly thrown for a loop.
"Let's just say my father will be answering for a lot of things he's done real soon if things go as planned," Weiss said with a small smirk. "Now then, shall we begin the match?"
"Uh...sure," Flynt blinked, still a bit thrown for a loop.
"Nice one," Yang grinned, right before Neon spoke up.
"Hey, so, just, question, how do you run around with, you know, how… top heavy you are?" she asked, her tail swishing a bit idly behind her.
"Hey you leave th-" Yang started, only to be cut off by Neon opening her mouth again.
"You know, you should totally try rollerblading, might help you practice balance, after like, a hundred lessons." she said with a laugh.
Yang gave the cat faunus a deadpan look before looking to Flynt "She's not all there is she?"
Flynt laughed awkwardly "Me and the others have to remind her about social norms a LOT."
"NEON! QUIT YAPPING AND GET TO FIGHTING!" somebody in the stands shouted, a girl by the sounds of it, with the Chosen still in the stands turning to see not far from them was a girl who looked like she was part of a KISS tribute band with her makeup, looking a bit like a punk rocker honestly, and next to her was a young man who looked like he jumped out of the Phantom of the Opera.
"I think I've seen fan art of those two before." Pierce muttered "I think they were supposed to be fan characters."
"Guess the universe decided they fit well enough to complete Team FNKI." Gyro shot back.
By then the Biomes had been selected, and the countdown began. At the signal, Flynt and Neon immediately went into action, Flynt firing off a blast of sound from his trumpet...which while loud honestly wasn't as bad as Yoshino's scream. Still, it was pushing them back, and with the noise, it was hard to defend, something Neon made use of to separate Yang from Weiss. "Okay, so that still happened," Weiss muttered with a frown, but focused on Flynt who'd ended the initial attack. Looking at the weapon, she could tell the main weakness was the fact that well...it was a trumpet. How long he could use it each time depended on how much lung power he had, which she'd assumed would be a lot. Still, he was human, and like all humans, needed to breath every minute or two at least.
With that in mind she focused on evading the follow up notes, while using her Glyphs to launch attacks from various directions. A sound based weapon could only go forward, with the cone being very visible, so trying to overpower it wouldn't help her in this situation. True enough, Flynt wasn't stupid and moved to counter as many of her ice projectiles as he could, using a mix of the fire biome and his own skills...but as it was, he couldn't get all of them, and thus was forced to take several hits...not to say Weiss was getting out of this unschathed, as every now and then she took a hit from the cone of sound whenever Flynt managed to move fast enough to catch her. For now though it was a stalemate.
Meanwhile, Yang was stuck playing a game of, pardon the pun, cat and mouse...though who was the cat and who was the mouse was hard to say as Neon used her roller blades to slide jump and generally run circles around her using the urban biome as an impromptu skate park, all the while tossing insults and the like. Now, had this been the old Yang, she'd have probably flown into a rage by now. But then, the time in the Digital World and the knowledge the brothers brought had taught her to temper her anger. Oh sure, she still wanted to feed Neon a knuckle sandwich, but flying off the handle sure wasn't gonna help. With that in mind, she focused more on trying to read Neon's movements. Hard to do even with a cooler head, but would have been impossible for her once. That opening found itself when she noticed Neon going for an impromptu ramp...and shot it, turning it into a pile of rubble. Neon was going too fast to turn at that point, and was promptly tripped up when she hit it...an opening Yang capitalized on and punched her in the face, sending her flying into the desert biome.
Weiss and Flynt were in a back and forth fight, neither giving an inch, before Flynt decided to kick it up a notch, waiting for the timing where Weiss would be near his front and activated his Semblance, Killer Quartet. Splitting into 4 copies, all four blew on their trumpets, creating a massive cone of sound which Weiss couldn't evade...but having known about it beforehand, she was pushing back, and quickly used her weapon to get some footing...and activate a summoning Glyph. If he was bringing out his big guns, then it was time she brought out hers. Literally.
Flynt wasn't sure what the Glyph was doing, but he quickly got his answer, as rising from it was… a HUGE set of cannons "What the flying heck?!" he and his three copies spoke in unison.
"Wait… those are Machinedramon's cannons." Pyrrha noticed with a blink.
"How the heck did she summon those?" Nora wondered.
"Well, since Veemon and I were the ones who beat him, we ended up learning that whatever I beat, Weiss can summon herself. We tested that out the other day and she ended up summoning a Devidramon by accident." Tentomon explained.
"Well… I guess Weiss has a huge arsenal then." Ruby said after a moment.
"Ready… aim…" Weiss said to herself, the cannons reacting to her words, first lifting up slightly and starting to charge, and then taking aim at Flynt, whose eyes widened when he realised what was about to happen. "Fire Infinity Cannon!"
Flynt had exactly 2 seconds to undo his Semblance and duck for cover, just BARELY managing to get out of the way… not that it helped as the blasts hit the center of the Volcanic Biome...and caused a mushroom cloud explosion, the force sending Flynt flying till he landed outside of the arena, dazed and dizzy, but unscathed… which was a lot more than could be said for the Volcanic Biome which now had a large crater in its center.
"Uh…that was rather...destructive…" Port blinked, as literally everyone had stopped and stared at the destruction. Even Weiss was wide eyed at how much damage that caused and was now VERY glad she hadn't actually hit Flynt with that.
"Uh...I don't think you want to use that again...or at all…" Yang blinked owlishly.
"Yes, please Miss Schnee, save that for the vicious monsters rather than people." Leomon added through the speakers, not expecting the girl to end up pulling the weapons of one of the Dark Masters into the fight.
"Noted." Weiss said after a moment, dismissing the cannons.
It took a few moments for the shock to die down, but the fight quickly resumed...with the notable difference being Neon was notably….mute. Apparently she'd decided that it was better to NOT risk Weiss pulling out anything else that might be very...destructive…
Even with her teammate down, Neon was still hard to catch, maintaining her speed this time to focus on control, which proved quite difficult for Weiss and Yang to catch. "Okay, we need a new plan. Either some way to get us closer to her, or some way to make her stop moving," Yang frowned.
Weiss didn't say anything, looking around...and spotted some of the geysers. "I think I have an idea. Just be ready to shoot," she smirked, before creating several more Glyphs, all of which she used only a bit of dust to create some ice spikes. Still they had the intended effect as Neon moved to avoid them.
Yang saw where Weiss was looking and nodded in understanding, firing shots as well, further adjusting Neon's movements...right till she aimed a shot at the ground, at the same time Weiss created a few more pillars, forcing Neon to trip and fall right into a geyser which shot her into the air, followed by Weiss launching Yang through the air, and right at Neon who got a punch in the gut, and was promptly sent out of the ring.
"And just like that, Team RWGBY wins the match!" Port cheered.
"Well, that went well." Yang grinned a bit.
"Certainly better than canon." Weiss muttered next to her.
"Well, considering you pulled the big guns...literally...I can imagine how it'd go well for us," Yang chuckled.
Weiss didn't say anything in response as they left the arena, and soon the next match was being announced. The results being Team JNPPR versus...Team NDGO.
"Oh no." Pierce groaned that NDGO had opted to send Nebula and Marcus on to the doubles round, while their own team had sent him and Pyrrha.
Pyrrha herself winced at the sight "Well… this is going to be difficult." she said.
"And DEFINITELY not in the original plans," Gyro added with a groan.
"Well, guess we have no choice but to plan accordingly," Jaune sighed. "Any ideas?"
"Well...I'd say either issolate or avoid Marcus. One on one I don't think anyone can beat him," Ruby frowned.
"That...actually, we MIGHT just be able to work with that," Pierce mused, the gears turning in his head.
Pierce cracked his fingers a bit nervously as he stood with Pyrrha in the arena, right across from him were Marcus and Nebula.
"Huh… always wanted to see just how invincible the 'Invincible Girl' was." the brawler mused.
"Does that mean he's gonna gun right for me?" Pyrrha whispered to Pierce, just a tiny bit on edge.
"Highly likely, be ready to dodge." he shot back, hoping the bare minimum of a plan he had in mind would work.
Right after he said that, the roulettes to select the biomes started spinning, eventually landing on Icefield, Savannah, Mountain and… City Ruins.
"Oh thank god my semblance gave us an edge." Pierce said with a sigh of relief, having felt a small pulse from his Crest just before the fourth biome was chosen.
"We can work with this." Pyrrha said, feeling a bit more confident with the terrain they were given.
The countdown began, and the moment it hit 0, both Pierce and Pyrrha split up, Pyrrha going straight for the City Ruins, while Pierce went for the Savannah.
"Nikos is mine," Marcus grinned, looking forward to the fight as he ran straight for the City Ruins.
"Hey wa-!" Nebula started, but too late. "...musclehead…" she groaned before aiming for the City Ruins...until a grappling hook came flying and pulled her into the Savannah.
In the City Ruins, Marcus was walking through the biome, looking around for his opponent, before he saw a glint at the corner of his eye, and in a flash, grabbed a rock and hurled it in that direction, hitting whatever made it...and found it was a piece of metal that had a reflective surface. Frowning, he was on guard...before he heard some rocks shifting, and quickly turned...and found nothing. "Stop running away!" he growled, starting to run through the Biome in search of his target.
At the same time, Nebula had been dragged into the Savannah Biome, and groaned as she got up, the grappling hook having unwinded and retracted before she spun to a halt. Looking around she was in the middle of the tall grass and thus unable to easily see. Frowning, she got her crossbow out, and carefully walked through the grass, trying to find her opponent. She was so focused on what she could see, she never noticed a small object roll around near her leg, before she bumped it and an explosion occurred, knocking her back on the ground, to which she quickly rolled to her belly...and saw several more of those balls roll near her. "...crud…" she managed to say before several more explosions hit, knocking her out of the grass, and taking about half her Aura with them.
Marcus heard the explosions and almost turned to see if Nebula was okay...only for Pyrrha to show up on the top of one of the ruins, before she threw a pair of metal poles, which he managed to avoid one and knocked another aside, his fist starting to ignite with a small aura when he punched it aside. "Finally got tired of running?" he smirked.
"Oh, something like that," Pyrrha chuckled, before throwing Akuou, which rebounded off the ground in a way that forced Marcus to evade, before it rebounded back to her, though Marcus took advantage of that and charged at her. However, using her Semblance, Pyrrha carefully manipulated the metal that encircled parts of her body to help her twist and dodge Marcus's punches, while countering whenever he she could. She knew the plan. She had to keep Marcus busy until Pierce was done dealing with Nebula.
Speaking of which, Nebula was pinned down as every time she tried to find Pierce, she was met with a shotgun blast, followed by a figure darting around, changing hiding spots quickly, making it hard for her to pin him down. Worse, she realized Marcus had walked into a trap of some kind, cause every time she TRIED to get to the City Ruins, she was met with gunfire, followed by a whip which snared her leg, pulling her off her feet, and pulling her away from the City Ruins.
She groaned, getting more and more annoyed.
"Dammit stop hiding!" she growled a bit.
"If that's what you want." he said… right behind her.
She barely had time to turn around before she was socked in the face with a hard straight, sending her flying out of the tall grass, dazed for a moment, before falling unconscious as her aura fell in the red.
"And Nebula is out of the match! Now it's only Marcus against both Pierce and Pyrrha." Leomon announced, getting Marcus's attention.
"Wait, what?!" he shouted incredulously.
"Yeah, you fell for it," Pierce chuckled, before he fired a net, hampering Marcus's movements. "See, after we saw the match against Sun's team, we realized going head on against you is suicide, so we came up with this plan to keep you two separated."
"We even requested not to have any Digimon join us so you couldn't get GeoAgumon's help," Pyrrha agreed.
"Well that's a dirty trick," Marcus growled ripping the net off.
"Sorry musclehead, it's just tactics," Pierce said, before the two of them began circling him, both attacking in perfect coordination. True enough, while Marcus was able to fend off one attack, the others started to get in, while Pyrrha also grabbed some of the surrounding debris to use as additional projectiles, using her powers subtly to manipulate them, and even tripped Marcus up using some metal rods. At the same time Pierce was peppering him with various fast attacks, both of them pinning him down. Even with Marcus activating his semblance on some parts, he just couldn't keep up, and before long his aura hit the red.
"And in a complete victory, Team JNPPR has claimed the match!" Port said.
"A rather impressive show of tactics and the use of previous knowledge, they completely outmaneuvered Team NDGO," Leomon nodded.
"Hook line and sinker," Gyro couldn't help but chuckle as the rest of the group had been watching.
"Yes, with how Marcus was, it was easy enough to guess he'd go after Pyrrha looking for a fight," Weiss nodded. Really, Marcus's personality from what they'd heard from Sun was as easy to read as an open book, something they'd taken full advantage of.
Later in the evening, things had started to settle down around the school, the sun setting on the horizon.
It was to that, that Pyrrha was called to Ozpin's office.
"Well… seems like we're heading straight to it then." she said, feeling a bit nervous as Jaune hugged her.
"You'll be alright, just do your best to act like you don't know what's going on." he reassured her.
"And of course, we'll be listening in, just to make sure nothing goes wrong." Gyro said as he handed her circlet over to her, showing a little chip had been put on the inside of it.
"And they can't stop me from going with you even if they tried." Gabumon added with a smile.
"Right… wish me luck everyone." Pyrrha said, before she and Gabumon left the room and headed towards the elevator, taking it up to Ozpin's office.
When they stepped in, they saw Qrow leaning against one of the pillars in the room, Ozpin sitting at his desk patiently. "You wanted to see me, Professor Ozpin?" Pyrrha asked, doing her best to act like she had no clue what was going on.
"Yes, welcome Ms. Nikos," Ozpin said with a small smile. "Come, please have a seat," he said to which she obeyed, Gabumon standing next to her. "Now then, I see your team has been doing well in the tournament. A fine use of teamwork in your last match," he said. "And it comes as no surprise they've chosen you to move on to the finals. After all, your performance has been exemplary."
"Thank you, Professor, but I couldn't have gone this far without everyone's help," Pyrrha said with a smile, which Gabumon returned, even if he didn't say anything.
"Well, good teammates DO make a good team," Qrow chuckled.
"Ah yes, it's nice to meet you again Mr. Branwen," Pyrrha chuckled, before her expression turned serious. "Though...if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?"
Ozpin sighed a little at that. "Tell me Ms. Nikos, what is your favorite fairy tale?"
"That's...a strange question to ask, but I suppose there's the tale of the two brothers, the shallow seas...oh and the tale of the seasons," Pyrrha said with a small chuckle, having purposely dropped that one.
"Ah yes, I was hoping you'd know that one in particular," Ozpin chuckled, before his expression turned serious. "Now...what if I told you it were true?"
"I'm...sorry?" Pyrrha blinked. "I must admit, even with the Digimon and everything that's happened, that's really quite...something…"
Ozpin nodded in understanding "True, however, it's the truth. Those four maidens exist, and they wield amazing power, not like a semblance, but like magic."
"Are we talking magic like Wizardmon or…?" Gabumon asked unsurely.
"I guess it's kinda similar." Qrow mused "But, it's also on a whole other level, literally. If I were to compare it, a Maiden is as strong as a Perfect Level I figure."
"That would be accurate." Summer said as she suddenly arrived through the window with Renamon.
"Must you always use the window?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If it makes me badass? Yes." was Summer's simple answer.
"So, you say that a Maiden would be roughly at the level of power of a Perfect Level? That's… certainly strong." Pyrrha admitted, but kept to herself how there was far stronger standing right next to her.
"Yes… and we believe that YOU, Miss Nikos, are next in line to inherit that strength." Ozpin told her.
"I… see." Pyrrha said, even already knowing in advance, this was still hard to hear. "But...I don't fully understand…"
"Of course, I hadn't finished explaining," Ozpin chuckled. "But suffice to say, we need your help," he said, and on cue, the elevator opened, with Glynda and Ironwood walking in.
"Sorry we're late," Ironwood said.
"Okay...I get the feeling this is gonna be a long story," Gabumon sweat dropped.
"Yeah, you'd be right about that," Qrow chuckled.
The ride down the elevator was… certainly cramped, what with 6 people and 2 Digimon piling in.
"How much longer?" Renamon said, just a slight bit of irritation in her tone as she was squeezed a bit between Summer and Qrow.
"We're almost there." Ozpin said with a sigh, himself feeling a smidge uncomfortable with Gabumon's horn poking his side slightly.
"Maybe two trips back up would be best rather than all piling in." Ironwood suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea. Let's do that," Summer sighed.
Eventually the ride came to an end and everyone got out with a sigh of relief.
"Maybe you should consider getting a bigger elevator...or more than one," Gabumon suggested as he got out.
"I would but adding more would be a security risk," Ozpin sighed, before they continued onward.
"Where ARE we going actually?" Pyrrha asked, as the brothers hadn't given her ALL the details, just enough she wouldn't be caught flat-footed, but they told her there were some things it was best she saw herself.
"Well, we're in the vault, WAY deep below Beacon. You won't find it on any maintenance plans or things like that." Qrow explained.
"We're below sea level, if that helps a bit to figure out how deep exactly." Ironwood supplied helpfully.
"I see. So, you said I'm next in line to inherit the powers of a Maiden? How does that work exactly?" Pyrrha asked.
"Through a series of dumb and annoying rules." Qrow said with a snort.
"He's not wrong." Summer said with a sigh.
"True." Glynda sighed, before turning to Pyrrha "At first, it was believed that the powers were just simply passed on to young women, but over the years, it was found that there are a few more rules at work. The first candidate for inheritance is always the last person to be in the thoughts of the previous maiden upon her death."
"Which can probably be abused by evil people." Gabumon said with a frown.
Glynda nodded with her own frown "Yes, it's believed to have happen a few times in history. However, if the last person in the maiden's thoughts is a man or an elderly woman, the powers will fly off randomly."
"Making our job FAR more difficult." Ironwood added.
"I...can imagine that would be problematic…" Pyrrha sweat dropped. The twins had already explained that bit, but no matter how many times she'd heard it, it still felt extremely cumbersome. "But...if I am to inherit this power, why not wait until I've graduated?" Pyrrha asked. It was an honest point.
"Honestly? Because we're almost out of time," Qrow sighed.
"Out of time? Is the maiden dying?" Gabumon asked.
"That and many more things," Qrow sighed. "The world's been getting scarier lately and I don't mean because of wild Digimon. Tensions are rising, Grimm are getting stronger and more prevalent, and at this rate the peace we've been enjoying is going to come to an abrupt end."
"I'll be honest, compared to 10 years ago, Remnant has gotten worse than I remember," Summer frowned. "Sure it had its problems, but nothing we couldn't handle. Now...I KNOW the Grimm weren't this strong in some cases."
"And that's without counting the insane weather patterns, it's like somebody up there is trying to say the apocalypse is coming." Glynda added with a sigh.
"That's...very worrying," Pyrrha frowned, though inwardly she and Gabumon, as well as Summer, Renamon and the other Chosen listening in all sweatdropped, knowing that there WAS someone upstairs who had something in the works...just not for Remnant. "But...with the way you're talking, it's as if you're expecting war."
"Not between nations at least," Ironwood sighed.
"Well, that can wait for now. First of all you just need to know that the Maiden we want you to inherit the powers from was attacked, and for the first time in history, part of her powers were stolen," Qrow frowned.
"So, somebody out there is running around with a portion of her power and likely doing something evil with it." Gabumon frowned, trying not to get TOO angry as he knew who, and he KNEW he was going to kill her if she tried to hurt his partner.
"That's the gist of it yeah." Qrow sighed, as they reached the end of the corridor, and sitting in some sort of pod was a young woman with dark skin, burn scars on her face.
"That's her? The real Fall Maiden?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yes, this is Amber. It's sad to say, but her life hangs in the balance. And we don't know what the portion of the powers she still holds onto will do upon her death." Ozpin said sadly.
"But the highest chance is that it'll try to reunite with the rest of itself." Gabumon said, earning nods.
"Then just how would I even inherit these powers?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's where General Ironwood comes in." Ozpin said, directing her attention to the Atlesian General.
"In recent years, Atlas has been studying Aura, and the way it works, as deeply as possible, and we've made… significant strides." Ironwood said, and Pyrrha knew he was referring to Penny "We believe we may have found a way to capture Aura."
"Capture it… and then put it into something… or in this case, someONE." Qrow said, taking a sip from his flask.
"That's… wrong! On SO many levels!" Pyrrha couldn't help but say.
"You're basically saying that this would fuse Amber's soul to Pyrrha's own, that just… that sounds so crazy!" Gabumon added.
"Trust me Pyrrha, you're not the only one who brought that up." Summer said, shooting Ironwood a look.
"But desperate times call for desperate measures." Glynda added with a frown.
"Of course, question is, what's the merging of those two souls going to do to Pyrrha Nikos? Will she still be here, or will someone new be in her body?" Qrow said, swirling the drink around in his flask.
"That's insane!" Gabumon growled, finding it harder and harder to keep his emotions under control.
"We understand it is, but as it is, this is our last resort," Ozpin sighed.
"But if this is so important, why have you kept it secret?" Pyrrha asked, even if she had an idea.
"Because once upon a time people did know, and when they did, everyone who wanted the power, everyone who SHOULDN'T have it, went after the Maidens," Qrow said bluntly.
"If this were to get out, it would cause panic, it would cause chaos," Ozpin sighed. "That is why we would like you to-"
"I'll do it," Pyrrha sighed.
"Pyrrha!" Gabumon said in alarm.
"I can't just do nothing, Gabumon," Pyrrha sighed. "I have to at least try to help."
"Miss Nikos… are you absolutely positive about this?" Ozpin asked her seriously.
"I want to help sir, if this can let me do it… then I will." Pyrrha said, Gabumon frowning but keeping quiet.
"Alright… now, this will take a few days to set up, so we can't do this now, however, know that within those days, we won't blame you if you change your mind." Ozpin told her.
"Thank you professor." Pyrrha said with a nod.
"I can't believe you agreed." Gyro groaned as Pyrrha had returned after about half an hour.
"Sorry." Pyrrha said with a blush "I just thought that maybe we would get lucky, so I thought it was worth a shot."
"Well, what's done is done," Pierce sighed. "Let's just continue with the plan as much as we can."
"Right, first things first, Mercury," Ren agreed. "Knowing that we'll likely never get to see the end of the tournament, there's little point in maintaining our standing."
"I know I know, make it look good then throw the match," Yang sighed. Though she didn't care much for the plan, she knew it was the better option all things considered.
And there's the chapter!
So, now you all finally know what a Crimson Soul is.
Yeah, it's... scary to imagine going up against one.
We also showed off Yoshino's fighting style, and yeah, she's basically like Black Canary, while her gun (when IN gun mode) is basically Carmelita's Shock Pistol in Sly Cooper.
Other than that, Volume 3 is progressing... pretty quickly at that, but, either way, see you in a few, because...
The Adventure Evolves.