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Chapter 66: Showdown
Astra's entire body felt as though it were weighted down, such was the leaden sensation which overcame them as they had trudged numbly into the arena where Wolfram was waiting, the leader of Team WULF having been stunned enough to deprive him of much of his own previous confident and posturing aggression at Coco's announcement that the two of them were to face one another, meaning that only one of their respective teams could progress to the Vytal Tournament in New Vale.
The crowd had been wild with anticipation, a momentary pause as the context and emotional weight of what was about to unfold before them settled over the collected student body whilst even professors, Ruby Rose and surprisingly Arslan Altan amongst them could be seen exchanging nervous looks where previously they had been exchanging Lien wherever they thought their students would not see and then the entirety of the outdoor training arena, vast colosseum that it was had erupted into a deafening chorus which shamed even the frenetic savagery which Astra had been subjected to when they had entered into gladiatorial combat against an Alpha Grimm for the amusement of sadistic customers during their first mission. All bleak comparisons aside the leader of Team MARZ had been afforded only a few short moments of reassurance from their team, each of them making a futile offer to trade places despite knowing that it could not be done and then, with nothing left to prevent it Astra had entered the arena and listened to Coco Adel once again recite the rules of the bouts, hearing none of it as they locked eyes with Wolfram.
The match had begun several seconds ago and yet not a single blow had been traded.
"Not how I wanted this to go" Wolfram's voice was a low and filled with a dangerous tension and yet the admission, a sign that he was as uncomfortable at the current situation as Astra themselves hit the Deer Faunus like a splash of fresh, icy water and enabled them to speak once again as the two combatants began to slowly circle one another.
"Me neither….It wasn't supposed to be like this was it?" they breathed out, forcing themselves to keep their voice from wavering in a display of any emotion that might be taken as a sign of weakness.
"No" Wolfram shook his head even as he unslung and unfurled the shield component of Berserker, its' axe remaining collapsed and stored within it "I was hoping we'd both make it to Vale"
"Yeah me too" Astra nodded and swallowed thickly, shifting their weight but giving no indication to a strategy that was yet to form by deploying any part of Buckshot Ares and instead simply continuing to speak as the two circled another and made the first tentative inroads toward the centre of the arena.
"I know you don't really care about apologies" they continued "But for what it's worth I am sorry, I owe you that much at least….Things still aren't right between us now we're not gonna be able to fix it before I leave. I just want you to know that there's no hard feelings and everything I've said….It's just been me being an asshole taking jokes to far-"
"I get it. No hard feelings now and no hard feelings after this" Wolfram nodded, his expression tightening into a stern scowl being the first warning Astra had that they should brace themselves as the armoured fighter added "But you're not going to Vale"
And then Wolfram was in motion.
Astra saw his adversary break from circling and begin rushing directly toward them and so responded in kind yet before the two could meet in the centre of the arena Wolfram launched his opening assault which, as expected came in the form of his Semblance however rather than the moving shields with which Wolfram had pushed all obstacles aside in recent months it was the horizontal plane of solidified and chilling air intended to sever like a guillotine that came rushing towards Astra with a howling shriek of wind at face height and forced them to halt in order to react. The Deer Faunus came skidding to a halt, feet sliding on the smooth ground as they pivoted at the waist and arched their neck in order to weave around the blow and keep their antlers from being caught by the incoming attack, all whilst being painfully aware that they had lost the upper hand and that Wolfram had continued his own charge and was crossing the distance between them to begin the battle in earnest on his own terms.
Hearing booted footsteps thundering closer Astra finally drew Buckshot Ares and deployed the twin shields mounted at their forearms, bringing them together in order to send their Hard-light field expanding outwards however it was already too late and before the rose-tinted light could take form the Deer Faunus felt an explosive impact against their shields which sent painful tremors along their forearms back to their shoulders which almost buckled under the force as Wolfram launched a flying kick and promptly used force and friction to run a few paces up the surface of the shields before coming into view and swinging his own shield as a cudgel over Astra's defences, in turn forcing the Deer Faunus to once again evade and leave themselves open for the follow up blow where Wolfram finally drew his axe in his right hand swung it down in a hacking, pivoting motion that would have seen the blade meet the inner surface of Astra's right forearm,
They were not so easily bested however.
Before Wolfram's feet could touch the ground Astra had drawn their right arm clear and lashed out with their left, the blades of Buckshot Ares extending out beyond fists and transforming a simple punch into a ferocious stabbing attack which left Wolfram equally off balance and with the added issue of his Aura briefly rippling around his face so close to his eyes that it left him blind for a single brief moment, which was all the time Astra needed to counter in earnest. The two landed standing parallel to one another and Wolfram instinctively threw his shield up in front of his face yet the Deer Faunus spun clockwise and delivered a heel kick which rose high and slipped behind the larger teens' guard to strike him in the cheek and neck and send him stumbling back to a roar of cheers and applause which Astra was in no state to appreciate or acknowledge. Sparks and the screech of metal on metal filled the air as Astra used their momentum to attempt another left handed stab over Wolfram's defences yet the boy could see now and the element of surprise had been lost, allowing him to turn and swipe outwards with his axe, its' head being forced back before he used his shoulder to brace it; Astra tried to slash low with the blade upon their right arm only for Wolfram to pivot and bring himself forward into their guard and leave Astra staggering away as his shield collided with one of theirs with enough force to throw both of the less bulky teens' arms off-course.
From here, initial exchange of blows and testing of boundaries and limits which had been changed the last time the two had fought both combatants came to the conclusion that it would be wise to create enough space to regroup and find a new angle of approach and opening to exploit rather than allow themselves to be caught in the close-quarters tangle of limbs and battering shields that the fight was quickly becoming and of the two it was Astra who acted on this decision first, using their efforts to regain their balance to throw themselves into a leaping and crowd-pleasing kick of the variety that they were well known for, hurling themselves into the air with a spinning motion which saw the left leg which had been at their lead come scything around through the air to strike Wolfram's temple, being avoided by a well timed and efficient motion which sent the blow sailing by only for Astra to kick out in the opposite direction with their right leg and strike their opponents' right cheek once again with a dull thud that would have broken teeth were it not for the protections of Aura; unwilling to lose the initiative that they had seized Astra pressed on and used the awkward position which they had landed in to throw another absurdly acrobatic kick which saw both feet smash into Wolfram's shield as he brought it up to guard his chest and it was then that Astra managed to create the space that they had sought by bracing a platform-booted foot against the metal surface and pushing outwards with all of their Aura-fuelled might to deliver a front kick which sent Wolfram back and then keeping the leader of Team WULF at bay by levelling both of their arm-mounted guns at him and unleashing a maelstrom of bullets which left Aura visible as the sparked against his armour and pitted the ground around him.
"Not bad….Not good enough either" Wolfram snarled through gritted teeth as he dropped to one knee and sunk his axe into the ground whilst hiding behind his shield, allowing his Aura to fade for a split second as he focused his entire being into his Semblance for a single moment before launching himself forward, palm held vertically as he unleashed a moving wall of solidified air; the shield that was Wolfram's Semblance rushing toward Astra and remaining unbroken despite the gunfire which struck until in a mere fraction of a second it collided with the Deer Faunus and smashed them backwards, dragging them from their feet and sending them rolling in a confused and pained tangle of limbs until they managed to stab a blade into the ground and halt themselves, perilously close the edge of the arena and pull themselves into a crouch.
"Going for a ring-out? Really?" they laughed, conversational and faux indignant at the notion despite realising how close they had come to defeat.
"I mean I honestly don't want to knock you out….You haven't been that annoying" Wolfram countered and Astra couldn't help but smile a little at that, sea-green eyes bright and determined amidst the black make up which framed them.
"But the crowd want a show!" Astra gestured to the cheering mass of bodies around them with the blade not currently embedded in the floor of the stadium "SO LET'S GIVE 'EM ONE!"
And with that they rose to their feet.
Astra's strides lengthened and their Aura became visible around them, the Deer Faunus seeing the world through a field of fiery red as their eyes shone with the same bright that enveloped and expanded from around them, creating the construct of the Semblance which they had jokingly dubbed 'The Bigger Person' a glowing form of pure Aura which sported both Astra's antlers and signature Mohawk rising to several times their height albeit lacking any weapons of its' own despite its' impressive size. The distance between themselves and Wolfram was closed in an instant and Astra loomed overhead with the right fist of their Aura-self reared back to deliver an earth shattering downward blow that would end the bout convincingly yet Wolfram, in a show of the unshakeable resolve which defined their style of combat and leadership did not balk and instead simply grit his teeth and prepared to use his Semblance again, hand flat as he launched a blade of air forward.
Slashing cleanly through the left leg of the Aura construct.
Astra was left stunned as they saw the limb fall away at the thigh, cracks extending upwards towards the tip of the translucent form whilst the leg itself collapsed into a cascade of embers which whirled and flickered before fading from existence and even with this critical blow landed Wolfram was not yet done, taking up his axe he combined it with the shield portion of berserker and swiftly levelled the oversized hand-cannon he wielded directly at the chest of the Aura construct, where Astra themselves was located and, by virtue of the way their Semblance worked unable to defend themselves as the low, warping bass note of Berserker firing rang out.
The single shot smashing Astra out of the back of their own construct, leaving them to fall painfully to the ground as the glowing form shattered behind them in the wake of the devastating blow.
"Well" Wolfram panted as Astra struggled to drag themselves to their feet, the leader of Team WULF clearly taxed by his own exertions and pained by the repeated blows to the face
"You wanted a show, got anything bigger and better than that?"
"I'm working on it, I'm sure I'll pull something out of the bag" Astra's attempt to sound confidently nonchalant was ruined by the pained wheeze that escaped them and devolved into a fit of coughing as they finally pulled themselves upright only to stagger several paces and almost loose their footing again; all whilst their mind raced in a desperate search for anything that they could use to their advantage.
They were known for their ability to create and execute impressive plans on the fly and Astra knew that they would need something truly impressive to win here.
They still remembered being Gestalt-Prime, though the memories were slowly becoming as distant as the thoughts of the hybrid Alpha Grimm were from their own physical form.
Weeks had passed since their attempt to keep the prey from their efforts to defile what had once been the territory of Salem herself and though the effort had borne some success, the Sleipnir managing to carve a bloody swathe through the encroaching humans before being unmade by the weapons of Hunters it had ultimately cost Gestalt-Prime greatly and transformed a state of being which had once been an escape from the utter devastation of their flesh into a labyrinthine prison and mind-shattering ordeal in its' own right.
They had been foolish to interfere with what lay within the crater, other Grimm were fearful of it and yet Gestalt-Prime had been secure in their superiority.
The Alpha had taken control of Spawning Pits by force before and had used lesser monsters under their sway to the same effect with lesser pits in order to create the network of interconnected forces which they had established prior to their assault on Port Alistair and in the half-crazed delirium borne of being adrift and stranded within the screaming sea of murderous and animal psyches that they now inhabited and the arrogance of their position as apex predator amongst their kin they hybrid abomination had thought themselves capable of bending Salem's legacy to their will and using it to advance their plans for the Grimm species even without a body to call their own. Ultimately they had preyed the price when the lone avian Grimm which they had sent to drop a rock into the Crater had been overwhelmed by one of the many embattled and tangled Spawning Pits which were locked in an endless cycle of symbiotic mutation and at the same time deadly war with one another had reached out, some obscene adaption it possessed allowing it to wrest control of the Grimm whilst it remained in a certain area of effect; the seizing of control had not been a neat or gentle thing and Gestalt-Prime had felt the psychic equivalent of a sledgehammer blow pulping and tearing through part of their being on a deep and fundamental level leaving them once again scrabbling at the precipice of sapience and coherency.
Left to fight a losing battle against the tide of shrieking minds that battered against their own.
Their intelligence and foresight defined them as something entirely separate, made them an island in a sea of roiling shifting darkness, leaving them with little to cling to as the same advantages which set them apart from the monsters they controlled left them effectively at the mercy of the senseless violence and urge to consume which served as their only directive which battered against the single more developed consciousness in their midst. Now Gestalt-Prime was trapped within the maze-like web of interconnected minds which comprised the section of the shattered Hive-Mind that they had thought themselves the master of, their plans a distant dream as the sense of self which had been forged in violent creation and triumph was reduced to a flickering, guttering flame in the darkness that surrounded their ephemeral and incorporeal form as they imagined it. So badly wounded and beleaguered was the hybrid Alpha that their higher consciousness had abandoned them almost entirely, leaving them reduced to fleeing desperately through the maze of primal rage in search of solace within which they could recover and coalesce.
They needed to fight, to tear through the lesser Grimm that intruded upon their every thought and violated the territory of the Alpha's mind, yet they had no claws or limbs.
They needed to scream, to give voice to the agony that every moment had become, yet they had no means to do so.
They needed to escape and with that thought something seemed to take shape in their minds' eye, Gestalt-Prime was not truly trapped within this maze after all, they were an Alpha Grimm, they stood above the monsters which snapped and nipped at their heels, they were separate in that they alone had plans and the means at their disposal to enact them, bringing the species into an age of bloody evolution.
They needed to seize the means of destruction, they needed to return to their body.
Yet in that moment, with howling and screaming minds echoing through the shared consciousness all around them Gestalt-Prime realised that in their frantic state they had lost their way and were unable to find their way back to their own self.
Astra was yet to form a workable plan yet this fact had little correlation with their immediate situation as Wolfram continued to assault them regardless, meaning that the battle between the two team leaders raged on.
Wolfram fought with the relentless forward momentum of one entirely assured of their own victory and from their current position Astra was forced to concede that the conviction seemed well-founded and yet the Deer Faunus could not allow themselves to do anything less than fight with equal determination until the last possible moment. The latest and most immediate rewards of the Deer Faunus's defiant resilience was that they had been sent hurtling backwards through the air by a punishing blow that had slipped through their defences; the crushing pain that consumed their chest and emptied their lungs with its' overwhelming force being highlighted by sharps cracks and thuds in quick succession at the small of their back and hip as they struck the hard ground and skidded along a surface that was now pitted with bullet-scars from previous exchanges until finally they brought themselves to a halt, Aura flashing visibly around the Faunus with strain and exertion as they stabbed downwards with one half of Buckshot Ares and used the impromptu brake and lever as a pivot-point to redirect their momentum.
"That all you got Wolfie?" the question, offered as a demanding taunt was the most obvious kind of ploy and yet still the dangerous overconfidence still served to keep Wolfram off-balance and force him to a cautious and defensive halt for the split-second it took Astra to fling themselves to their feet and rip the blade of their weapon free of the ground in the process; the Deer Faunus was in motion again from the moment they landed, the sash about their waist and their now sleeveless red leather jacket fanning out dramatically as they aimed and fired one of their arm-mounted guns in a staccato burst of fire before spinning away and using the shield fitted to the other arm to deflect as much of Wolfram's return fire as possible, though the blast of force form Berserker's hand-cannon form still threatened to knock Astra's feet out from beneath them before they could repeat the technique.
"You can't handle what I've got"
"I've handled you pretty thoroughly before Wolfie" Astra's own thoughts were a wordless groan of dismay at that, the rebuttal was far less impressive than anything they might have hoped for and was a telltale sign of desperation in one regard that could easily be misconstrued as equal desperation in other directions; Wolfram however clearly did not deign to entertain such ideas and merely rushed forward again.
"Gonna try distracting me with a kiss again?….There's no ledges to throw me off of this time"
Astra glowered at that yet was unable to offer a counter as Wolfram had closed the space between them already, the larger team leader opening this latest round of combat with a heavy-handed haymaker from his right which was delivered whilst still on the move, Astra's response being to evade with a single step backward rather try to block the blow only for Wolfram to reveal the attack to be a feint as he deployed the true intention hidden within it; a roundhouse kick from their right leg which had been at their rear, followed by a side kick from the same limb in an affair that was clearly inspired by Astra themselves though neither combatant took the chance to discuss the fact as Wolfram continued the halted arc of his roundhouse kick to bring himself back into a ready stance with his left arm sweeping up and out for what might have been a back-handed strike but in fact brought the barrel of Berserker level with Astra's face and at point blank range.
"HOLY SHIT!" Astra's exclamation was one of naked panic and yet the adrenaline and chilling fear pushed them to act on well-honed instinct, both arms coming up from beneath Wolfram's to cross the blades of Buckshot Ares in a scissor motion at the underside of his forearm which bit into his Aura as it forced the weapon-arm upwards, the booming report of Berserker unleashing a punishing downforce which left ears popped and both fighters blinking and dazed for a single moment, their stances splayed wide as they fought to keep their balance and from there Astra quickly brought their arms back to cover their face and chest so that their twin shields connected and launched a curved plane of rose-tinted Hard-light outwards to push Wolfram back several paces.
He renewed his assault again in the next instant.
"Y'know, this looks like you're throwing everything at the wall just to see what sticks!" Astra declared in a breathless pant, a fresh attempt to distract their opponent enough to create an exploitable opening in the midst of their evasive manoeuvrers "Looks like you don't actually have a plan or any real win conditions here-"
"Have you always talked this much and I just didn't notice?" Wolfram demanded, his own voice ragged with heavy and laboured breaths that shook his armoured chest yet did nothing to slow the storm of attacks, leaving Astra leaping, weaving and rolling between concussive blasts from Berserker in Wolfram's left hand and rushing blades of solidified and chilling air as he manifested his Semblance in his right in a near ceaseless barrage that ripped across the open arena.
"You used to listen and actually learn stuff, so here's to the good times I guess!" Astra shot back, throwing themselves into a particularly acrobatic leap that culminated with them tucking their limbs behind their shields and landing in a crouch and then immediately aiming their weapons forward and firing. Wolfram gritted his teeth and braced himself, lowering his weapon and using his Semblance to defend himself from the hailstorm of bullets rather than separate Berserker into its' constituent parts again; the solid air weathering the assault that buffeted it remarkably well.
And yet Astra still smiled, they had been planning even as they chatted with Wolfram and that plan was now in motion.
Outwardly it would seem that Wolfram was dominating the fight, keeping the leader of Team MARZ not only at bay but limited to fighting in ways and at distances of Wolfram's choosing yet what this observation did not take into account was that whilst Wolfram threw his all into the battle and fought without restraint he was still not without his limits, even with the modifications to mitigate its' bone-breaking recoil Berserker was still an unstable weapon that chipped away at Aura reserves with each discharge, his Semblance too judging by its' size, scale and reach suggested that it was both intensive and expensive to use as freely as the armoured fighter had been to say nothing of the Aura depleted weathering the blows that Astra had landed. Sea-Green eyes were sharp and intent as the Deer Faunus studied their opponent, seeing first hairline cracks of ghostly light set against rippling air as Wolfram's Semblance began to give way under the sustained attack, the buckling shield cast in a stormy glow by the light of his Aura which had begun to flicker around his entire body with his hands and forearms being focal points and it was then simply a matter of waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Seconds slowed to a crawl and Astra could their heart thundering in their chest, perceptions altered by sheer force of will and desperation as they braced themselves for what would be their only chance at victory, their entire body uncoiling and firing forward the moment they saw Wolfram's weight begin to shift. The leader of Team WULF, knowing that his shield would break raised a booted foot and kicked the plane of solid air forwards to hurtle towards Astra in the obvious hope that it would force them to cease fire, the Deer Faunus did indeed silence the deafening report of their weapons yet only so that they could sprint directly towards the oncoming attack and rear back their fist.
With their Aura glowing around them and fiery red light spilling from their eyes.
Wolfram had managed to break the Aura construct that the Deer Faunus had formed around themselves earlier in the fight with remarkable ease, yet he had been miscalculated by assuming that Astra would not be able to use their Semblance again and with that error left a fatal flaw in their defences. Astra felt the now familiar lengthening of their strides and steady changing of their perspective as their Aura-self began to form, they felt the silver hoops with dangling black ornaments which lined the shell of one ear jangle as a shot ripped passed them and yet they refused to allow themselves to be distracted; instead drawing back their now titanic right fist for a clearly telegraphed blow.
Only to shift their weight once they barely more than a single pace away from Wolfram and deliver a side kick with their left leg.
The massive, glowing and ephemeral limb snapped out and the facsimile of a foot roughly the same size as Wolfram himself collided with the armoured teen, sweeping him from the ground with a rush of wind and a dull, clattering thud of flesh and metal being struck to send the leader of Team WULF hurtling backwards and head over heel through the air in an arc that would end in a certain destination. Astra released their Semblance, sinking to the ground as they wheezed and shook with the strain of what they had pushed themselves to endure and the last blazing motes of fiery red had subsided enough to let them see clearly as Wolfram landed outside of the arena with a jarring and nerve-rattling crash.
"ASTRA MARS WINS BY RING OUT!" Coco Adel's voice rose above the deafening chorus of the crowd which Astra now allowed themselves to pay attention to, a cacophony of such impossible intensity that it felt as though the ground shook under them and the Headmistresses follow up confirmation that Team MARZ would indeed be travelling to Neo Vale and well-wishes, a verbatim repetition of what had been offered to Nugget of Team NUGT and other previous victors went entirely unheard amidst the noise.
To Astra it made little difference, they would still have been unable to believe what had just happened even if they had heard Coco say it.
Diabla's fist hit the wall with enough force to crack plaster, though given the strength she possessed even without the use of her Semblance it could be taken as an act of self control that the wall was not entirely demolished, or at least that her arm was not buried within it at shoulder depth.
Hours had passed since Team WULF had lost their chance to compete in the Vytal Tournament and she was no calmer than she had been when the blow had first been struck.
The sound of blow echoed through the dormitory that Diabla was currently the sole occupant of, its' volume jarring the distraught young woman enough that she was dissuaded from a follow-up assault on the inanimate surface that would have promised further damager, instead she withdrew her fist and used her other hand to support her weight and balance her as she leaned against the wall in a dishevelled, dejected and clearly distressed state; her blazing orange eyes wide and lacking any semblance of her usual sharpness and clarity. Diabla's punch, delivered as it had been without Aura had grazed and bloodied her knuckles, with corresponding stains of red dotting the epicentre of the crack in the walls' plaster and more fresh blood, vivid and uncomfortable for her to look at welled up from the small wounds and trickled along her fingers as she flexed them to ensure that nothing had been broken, recovering a modicum of her awareness as she did so and realising that she should probably clean the injury and find something to wrap around her right hand however she made no effort to do so and instead simply stared in a disconnected daze whilst her blood continued to thunder and pound in her ears, thoughts rampaging through her mind in a senseless flurry which left her breathing shallow and ragged until the singular idea that she was perhaps lucky that she had not been wearing her gauntlets as the hassle of explaining the matter would be more trouble than the grazed skin.
That thought her reduced her to a fit of giggles and trying, yet failing to clamp down on the sound which was so unlike everything she considered her core nature afforded her enough focus that her volcanic Aura flickered into life just long enough to steam the flow of blood from her knuckles before she was startled by a voice behind her.
"Hey….Dumb question but are you okay?" a half turn revealed Laser in the doorway, cast in shadows yet clear enough to see that he had shed the modified remains of the jacket which held his endless supply of secret pockets and his weapon along with its' harness and was currently in the process of removing his signature visor whilst holding the door open with his elbow and running fingers through his hair in a tired gesture which forced Diabla to grit her teeth and bite her tongue as she realised that it reminded her of Wolfram.
"Where are the others?" she managed to croak out after a moments' pause, appalled at how weak and watery her voice sounded to her own ears yet more troubled still by the potential answer. Wolfram had been taken to the medical wing to be checked over by Nurse Kintsugi following his violent exit from the arena and the evident Aura strain and various smaller injuries that had preceded it and it had been there that the rest of Team WULF had joined him and from there which Diabla had stormed towards the dorms; entirely unable to find the words she needed in the moment as her hopes and plans were once again crushed underfoot through no fault of her own.
"They'll be a few minutes" Laser answered, slinking into the dorm and making himself comfortable far enough away from his partner that she could choose if she wanted his company before adding "Ursinia numbed his leg after he landed on it wrong but Nurse says not to put any strain on it….Between that and the busted ribs he's limping, even with Ursinia's Semblance and the painkillers"
"Right" Diabla ground out, unable to find the anger that she had expected and being left with a hollowness in its' stead "I need to go and clean my hand up"
"Okay" the nasal whine of Laser's voice was a defeated, clearly worried sigh however he did not challenge her and Diabla stepped into the dorms' bathroom; the sound of running water and fresh stinging of her injury, minor as it was clearing away the jumbled mess that littered her mind enough for her to marshal her thoughts over the course of several minutes so that by the time the familiar murmurs of her absent friends could be heard outside the bathroom she was at least somewhat ready to face them. Squaring her shoulders Diabla strode out into the dorm only to halt at the sight of Ursinia whose expression was a blank slate, her innate toughness doing nothing to aid the usual cheery brightness that had been wiped away by defeat and then of Wolfram who sat at the edge of a bunk, smoky blue hair unbound whilst his head was buried in his hands for several moments before he looked up at her with eyes that could only be described as lost.
"I'm sorry" the words sounded as though the choked him as he forced them passed his lips "I hate apologising….I try and just fix the problem, but I don't know how to fix this-"
"What the hell happened out there?" Diabla's voice was forceful, some of the anger she had been searching for igniting within her only for the dull thud of the Adventurer, still sheathed striking the floor as Ursinia unslung it from her back to break the brief spell the anger had over her.
"Hey now-"
"No!" she cut the Scorpion Faunus off, finger of her bloodied hand jabbing at Wolfram with every word she barked out "We trusted him! He promised us that he could handle this and he let us all down, we were counting on him and we deserve to know what the fuck went wrong!"
"Ursinia" Wolfram rolled his shoulders back as though spoiling for a fight but remained seated "She's right….I just wish I had a better answer to give"
"Try the one you've got" Diabla snarled, eye twitching as her knuckles clenched in a way that caused a fresh wave of pain.
"They were…." Wolfram trailed off, hands gesturing futilely "They were Astra, everything Astra is….They were good, they fight as well as I do and they think faster, they've always been better at big grandstand plans and I should have expected something but I don't even know if I could have stopped them if I did"
"Okay" Diabla's throat was dry yet her eyes stung, she took several more shaky breaths to steady herself as she asked the only question that could be deemed important in that moment "Just tell me you gave 'em everything you had….Tell me you did everything you could and that you didn't go easy on 'em just because of who they are?"
"I did everything I could" Wolfram murmured, eyes downcast as they shook their head slowly "And it wasn't good enough"
Hearing those words broke something in Diabla.
"Yeah, that part fucking hurts doesn't it?" the question came with a bout of harsh and bitter laughter, her shoulders sagging and a single strangled sob escaping her as memories of Atlas came flooding back to her "Life isn't fair….We all know that but damn it all, I just hoped that maybe, just this once it could be!"
"There there darlin'" Ursinia's words coincided with muffled footsteps as she kicked off her boots and trudged wearily behind Diabla to take the hand she had wrapped in makeshift bandages and gently clasp it as she used her Semblance to numb the obvious pain whilst Diabla simply stared at the Scorpion Faunus, abject horror slowly creeping across her stern, lightly scarred face
"If we're not heading to Vale then Huck-"
"Will be mighty disappointed, same as we all are honey" Ursinia draped an arm across Diabla's shoulders for a loose hug which was more than the shorter girl would normally allow "Gosh darn it would have been nice to have my parents, to have my grandparents see us on TV and know that I really have made my way in the world….but you needn't worry your head about little ol' Huckleberry, she's sweet on you"
"But-"
"So what we're gonna do is get you cleaned up, call her and explain what happened and the three of us, maybe some of my other cousins if they're around can commiserate and then we can figure things out from there….Darlin' I know we all had our hearts set on the Vytal Tournament, but you and Huckleberry don't need an excuse like that to happen to see each other-"
"Take it from someone who lived in Overspill….Gutted out airships, there's plenty of empty space in those big liners; you can get to Neo Vale and back a dozen times without a ticket before they ever see you; it'll be fine-"
"Laser….Never change, we really do need you to keep us sane" Wolfram managed to laugh "As weird as that sounds out loud"
"You don't change either boss….Just maybe look the other way once in a while" Laser winked a poisonously green-yellow eye in Wolfram's direction and the leader of Team WULF scoffed before taking a breath before asking.
"So is everyone gonna be okay?….If anybody wants my head on a spike over this then I'll understand, I wanna just get the hard feelings out of the way if we can"
"It was bad box and you did everything you could" Ursinia shrugged "What happened happened and there's no point caterwauling about it now"
"Win some lose some….I'll find a silver lining that I can weigh in as scrap somewhere" Laser said, lips curling at his own butchering of the idiom whilst Wolfram focused on Diabla who had clearly been more upset than she allowed herself to show.
"Life's not fair" she repeated glumly "But it's no so bad….There's worse people I could have been stuck on Menagerie with"
"She likes us, she really likes us!" Laser crowed, all but throwing himself into the loose hug that Diabla and Ursinia were still participating in, only to be elbowed in the stomach by his partner whilst Wolfram merely laughed before rising to his feet.
"Yeah that's something I suppose. Diabla, Ursinia I'm gonna head out while you two make that call….Unless you want me to grovel for everyone I'm gonna go and get some air, takes the edge off of the painkiller fogginess"
A moment later Wolfram was limping out of the dormitory, a destination slow to come to mind.
Team MARZ, along with the other victorious teams had decided to celebrate no matter how ill-conceived that decision might ultimately prove to be.
The four second year students had, along with what had ended up amounting to a sizeable portion of the student body first made their way to the campus's medical wing in the moments after the initial glow of euphoria and disbelieving shock had begun to subside, leaving another qualification match to begin as soon as swarms of nanobots flooded into the various bullet-holes and other instances of damage that littered the arena and began to repair them at a hurried pace; Athena-Jade, Regalia and Zirconia each making efforts to both support Astra's weight and guide them forwards whilst talking to them incessantly in an effort to ensure that they did not lose consciousness, Athena's worries that the Deer Faunus might be concussed quickly spreading to the rest of the team until the four of them reached Nurse Kintsugi and her attendant staff. Upon reaching the medical wing they had found it less crowded than first feared owing to the staggered nature of the fights which had sent the majority of the current patients in search of aid, with many of those who had arrived with their teams having received injuries minor enough that they could be sent on their way with painkillers, Aura stimulants and in very few cases a compression bandage or sling though still the facility was crowded than was normal by far.
In the brief wait for Astra to receive treatment Team MARZ had collectively seen Team WULF arrive, Wolfram being all but carried by his team-mates though Team WULF had been too distracted to notice that they were being observed and it had been a silent and completely unanimous decision on the part of each of Team MARZ to not interact with their presumed friends in that instance; with Regalia being focused on Astra who was in turn distracted by their efforts to communicate with one of Nurse Kintsugi's assistants and explain the nature of their injuries whilst Zirconia chose to follow Athena-Jade's lead, with the Bear Faunus adamantly assuring herself within the privacy of her own head that she was no longer afraid of Diabla Fuego but still was in no hurry to have a direct encounter with her given the mental state she was likely to be in.
It was upon leaving the medical wing, with Astra being cleared to leave with a small amount of painkillers that the four of them had been made aware of a small celebration for the victorious students who would be departing for Neo Vale the following day along with their team-mates; nothing so adventurous as to be called a party in any real sense and instead simply a gathering in one of the common areas exclusive to those who would be representing Breaktide Academy in front of all of Remnant where a few drinks that had been brought onto the ground despite rules against it were shared out and the fortunate few allowed themselves a few hours to relax and truly bask in the glow of their achievements.
They had earned that much at least.
Astra was, as expected close to the centre of attention with Regalia close by, the Racoon Faunus not quite dancing but animatedly tapping her foot and shuffling on the spot to music that she would make an effort to seek out more of in the very near future. The Deer Faunus was not however, as might once have been expected using their placement in the thick of things and the rushing high of their win and Team MARZ's qualification as an excuse for overly boisterous, if largely playful and superficial flirting with anyone who would entertain it; of which there were certainly a number of possibilities even in such a small gathering and was instead putting themselves to use as the resident expert on all things relating to Neo Vale.
In a secluded corner of the room far from the chattering and drinking that Astra and Regalia had found themselves a part of Athena-Jade and Zirconia had found a measure of solace and privacy that would not require them to depart for their dormitory and be subjected to any number of teasing comments wolf whistles or baseless rumours in the process and, whilst neither of the young women would ever imagine making themselves a spectacle by making out in a public place where they could fully expect to be seen, their photographed kiss notwithstanding the two of them were content to simply enjoy one another's company and share a single chair with the Grasshopper Faunus sat on her girlfriends' lap, cybernetic legs positioned so that they would not cause discomfort and head resting on a broad shoulder.
Until their privacy was interrupted by someone calling over to them.
"Slate, AJ? You're related to Professor Rose right….Both Professor Roses?"
"Yeah, they're my Aunts" Athena studied the person who had addressed her, an older student she had exchanged a few conversations with in a little over a year and decided against pointing out that this was in fact common knowledge, seeing no reason to spoil a good day by being needlessly rude.
"So their kids are your cousins, cool….Just checked my scroll and your cousins' team just dominated their last game"
"Wait, that was tonight?" Athena-Jade's eyes grew wide "Oh I suck, I suck so bad!"
"Something important?" Zirconia queried, fingers lacing through those of Athena's unoccupied hand whilst the Bear Faunus quickly found her scroll with the other; the question being heard loud enough for the older student who had caused the interruption to hear and supply an answer.
"Summer-Pyrrha Rose, she plays for one of the big college baseball teams in Atlas; she was the big new start last season and she's carrying that on-"
"And I completely forgot to check in with her and see how she's doing, I am such a bad cousin, I suck so much" Athena's words were a rapid-fire mutter unlike her usual confident self as she hurriedly composed a text message, pausing only to look up and give Zirconia's lips a brief kiss before nodding towards the older student "You follow Atlas college teams?"
"My Mum played for the same team when she was in college. Families' originally from Atlas but we settled here before I could really remember it….See if you can get a signed Summer Rose jersey and my sister will adore you forever"
"That might be the first time AJ's been hounded over Professor Rose's kids instead of just Professor Rose" Astra noted, the sly comment getting a round of laugher which Athena responded to with all the good nature she could manage, which did not preclude her slouching in her seat and giving her friend and leader the finger; which only caused more laughter.
"Aunt Ruby, Aunt Penny….Both of my parents, my brother, Aunt Winter, Uncle Whitley" she sighed "Everyone in my family is an A-list celebrity and everyone wants me to get them a favour with someone; you see why I needed to come and do my own thing?"
"Yeah but you're still a Hunter though" Regalia chimed in, making the observation as though it were the most simple thing in the world before adding "I mean, why wouldn't you be it's the coolest thing ever….But if your cousin is Ruby Rose, the Ruby Rose's kid why didn't she want to be a Hunter?"
"Neither of the twins did" Athena shrugged "Summer and her brother TJ just wanted to be as close to normal as they could, they didn't want to live their whole lives with the expectation that they have to fight hanging over them; I get it, they shouldn't be forced into this just because it's what the family does….Besides, it would have been awkward for Summer anyway; she used to date Professor Adel and Professor Scarlatina's son-"
"No way?" the question was gasped by a handful of students scattered across the room who had somehow been unaware of this detail; Athena presumed they were either First Years or else entirely immune to gossip in a way which the Bear Faunus wished she could be.
"Still" Astra laughed, their features a smirk made slightly wild by the unfocused look that painkillers gave to their eyes "That would have been one hell of a showdown to see if they both trained-"
"Yeah but it's fine though, you and Wolfram gave us the same deal; fighting a bitter ex to the bitter end" another random interjection, followed by raucous laughter cut Astra's comment off only for the noise to peter out slowly as many around Astra saw the way their face fell at the comment, shoulders sagging as a slow sigh escaped them.
"Now look what you've done" Regalia rounded on the speaker, only to turn back to Astra and make her way closer to them as the Deer Faunus rose to their feet with a slight lurch "Don't go-"
"It's fine, I promise I'm fine" Astra flashed their partner the best smile they could manage before adding "Painkillers are making my head spin, I didn't eat enough today so I'm gonna go see if I get somewhere to deliver food to the gate….I'll get you some wings and meet you back at the dorm?"
"The dorm?" Regalia cocked her head "You're already packed right?"
"Mostly" Astra admitted "Stuff I needed for classes this week I left out, I'm gonna bag that and make sure I haven't lost anything then try and get a few hours sleep"
"Heh, okay. I'll meet you there….In fact I should probably let my people, Mum especially know that I'm leaving the island. Heh, ET phone home" as Regalia spoke she studied her partners' face for any sign that they might be once again allowing themselves to suffer in silence or sparing her feelings for any reason but found none and a moment later the Deer Faunus was trudging towards the exit to the common area, offering a small wave to Zirconia and Athena-Jade whilst a smattering of goodbyes sounded out only for Astra to pause and seek out the person who had soured the evening's atmosphere and vibe by mentioning the situation with Wolfram which they had been actively trying to avoid processing; feral smile forming on black-painted lips as they found their target and called out with all of their customary bravado.
"Just so you know I hope Team MARZ gets to kick your ass in the tournament, just for that" and with that Astra left before a retort could be offered. The declaration of war, such as it was being enough to inspire a round of cheering, both genuine and in jest in almost equal measure before prompting a fresh outburst of excited conversation which saw Athena-Jade and Zirconia join the talk more actively.
All whilst allowing Astra to stand a little straighter as they walked away, feeling a little more like themselves.
Freezing darkness had long since swept over the wastelands of Menagerie as the sun fell and in truth it would be only scant few hours before it began to creep above the horizon once again, though the unsociable hour was of little concern to one who had long since devoted herself to a path, both figurative and almost ironically literal, that would see her regarded as a brand of evil almost cartoonish in its' overarching ambition by almost anyone who learned of it, almost certainly including many of her own followers.
Though Aefen Cruor was similarly unconcerned about this fact at present and was instead allowing herself to remain absorbed in the relative comfort of her surroundings and the work she had set out upon.
The abandoned house she had claimed for herself in the surprisingly untouched remains of Jidhir Town in which she had based herself following the Path of the Apex Beings' escape from the Hunters that had intercepted them at the Crater had been made habitable along with enough of the abandoned settlement to house her remaining flock of devotees whilst at the same time keeping enough of a low profile to avoid the attention of anyone who might grow curious. Furniture had been scavenged and salvaged from across the settlement as a whole and with it Aefen had managed to craft something of a base of operations that was largely to her tastes and sensibilities, the once humble family home was now somewhat inverted with its' lower floor serving as Aefen's living quarters and also an office, meeting hall and place of worship for her congregation all in one with its' windows covered by black fabric to ensure a permanent gloom that was in turn kept at bay by flickering candles set within holders of silver and bone whilst the upper floor of the house was something far more pristine. The same dark styling persisted, though the disgraced doctor turned fanatical preacher and twisted genius would never dream of brining a naked flame into this part of her new lair; each dimly lit room now being filled with countless papers and whiteboards filled with research along with computer systems and other machines and pieces of equipment dedicated to her disturbing field of research that had been carried across the island Kingdom in ornate boxes by her unassuming followers who had thought they carried relics or artefacts of some sort and it was one of these computers, bolstered by equipment provided by her as yet unknown Benefactor which Aefen sat in front of slender and pale legs crossed beneath her as she lounged in a large leather recliner and compiled several key data points into a notebook and then began to extrapolate outwards to devise new theories and vast webs of interconnected, rambling thoughts in a display that might have felt familiar to many had it taken place in a college dorm.
Were it not for the stylised mask that she wore, its' crimson lenses glowing faintly in the screen-lit gloom as she awaited an impending discussion with the Benefactor and prepared herself by taking on her own mysterious guise as the High Speaker. She affected the now familiar imperious and commanding charisma of the alter ego which which she wrangled her flock just as the scroll perched against the screen of her computer and connected with a single wire began to vibrate.
"Lo and behold, the living shadow arises as foretold by tidings-"
"Spare me" her scroll transferred the image from the incoming video call to the screen of the computer where the featureless and inky black humanoid form of the Benefactor flickered and crackled into view, the subpar reception of the wastelands doing nothing to mitigate the sound of a distorted and heavily modulated voice letting out a sigh; something to prove that Aefen was indeed speaking with another human being.
"I suppose that the theatrics do lose some of their lustre when I'm speaking to….Well, we could consider you the special effects department of this particular show" Aefen retorted delicately, splaying her hands wide in a gesture that encompassed her surroundings whilst privately wishing that she had stood so that she could pace and wield her staff dramatically if the conversation called for it, whilst at the same time noting that maintain her current seated position might offer a sense of aloofness which she could use to present herself as more confident than she truly felt in the presence of the Benefactor.
"Special effects, props, casting director and studio executive as the situation requires….But I did not reach out to make idle talk about cinema" the Benefactor's response held a subtle reminder as to the power imbalance at play which Aefen was astute enough to catch, yet keep herself from scowling at "How goes your research into Grimm biology?"
"Varied and utterly horrifying to the masses I've no doubt" Aefen answered airily with a dismissive wave, unwilling to give up the illusion of holding some power in the exchange after having gone so long with little to answer to beyond the opinion of those firmly in her thrall.
"And many of those amongst your own ranks I would wager, given the false pretences that you joined them under" the Benefactor noted, distorted voice having an unmissable edge of testiness to it as though the person behind the shadowy figure already grew tired of the posturing on both of their parts.
"Indeed, but misfits do tend to find their way to one another….They're not bad people really, the Path I mean. Many of them lost people, homes, livelihood and everything between and needed a way to make sense of the world, a belief that offers no salvation is something those with nothing left to salvage can rally to as an anchor" Aefen paused, surprised at her own insight and the faint compassion for the underlings she had so readily used and subverted to her own ends before quickly mastering herself and adding more briskly "Though I assume you mean the specific aspect of my research that could help yourself and your equally mysterious assistant?"
"I do" the Benefactor's shadowy image nodded faintly yet betrayed nothing else "Things are gathering pace and my plans need certainties to proceed; can you provide them Doctor?"
"Nothing in this field is certain!" Aefen snapped at the patently unreasonable demand "How can it be when any research into it is enough to have one excommunicated and living in some degree of hiding or disgrace for the rest of their lives? How can you expect certainties with only the vaguest outline of what it is I am supposed to be certain of?"
"Knowing the risks as you do, you would expect me to give away my plans to someone whose services I am merely acquiring through financial compensation? It would be sloppy on my part" the Benefactor answered conversationally before becoming more insistent "The use of living Grimm tissue in order to restore the test subject that was described to you to an active state, naturally without creating undue danger. Have you found a way to reduce variables?"
"Described is a….generous term for the redacted information I was given" Aefen fought the urge to sound petulant at the rebuttal and instead gave a businesslike answer of her own "With what conjecture and extrapolations I can draw from the extremely limited datasets at my disposal….I see no reason that the Grimm tissue still needs to cohesive at the time of transfer; that is to say that having your subject simply inhale or be otherwise exposed to the remains of deceased Grimm before they can properly fade will potentially be enough….It's also possible that the mental state of the Grimm prior to its' consumption by your test subject could have an effect, given their gestalt nature"
"An intriguing possibility that I had not considered" The Benefactor admitted.
"Few would, they see only the monsters and not what makes them operate" Aefen positively beamed beneath her mask as she found herself discussing her favoured subject with a willing and interested partner "Fascinating things, if we allow ourselves to look beyond our base instincts….I simply must know more about what it is you intend-"
"An idle curiosity or an attempt to see how my plans factor into your own?" the Benefactor challenged, modulated voice calm "Do not think me naive enough to believe that all of your work has been out of a simple desire for knowledge"
"I want to see a better Remnant than the one we live in" Aefen's voice was suddenly harsh "One where we are free! We live in a class, no a caste system that Remnant is too blind to see! An invisible prison where the Grimm dictate where we can and cannot live, the Grimm are the root of so many of our problems and they cannot be stopped in any real or meaningful way; even the best weapons have failed and so we turn to the Hunters….All of the Kingdoms are at the mercy of Hunters, here on Menagerie there are settlements where individual Hunters have set themselves up as lords and reign unchallenged because there is no one to challenge them. My research, Merlot's research and countless others was halted because it drew too close to the truth and risked their power structure….Whoever can control the Grimm controls all of Remnant! A new order, that's what we both want isn't it?"
She realised that she had devolved into conspiratorial ranting only when she was given a slow and disparaging sigh in response.
"Your reasoning was sound, your fire was promising and you showed every sign of being someone who could, despite appearances be relied upon" the Benefactor let out a low chuckle "You were so close Doctor, so very close to seeing the bright new tomorrow I envision….Take time to consider where you might have failed to convince me that you can be trusted"
And without further ado the video call ended.
Wolfram had departed from Team WULF's dormitory without weapons or armour and without company save for a brief conversation with his mother over the scroll wherein he had informed her of his loss against Astra and she in turn had sought out a silver lining, noting that if her son and his friends were not departing as they had expected to then they would be free to make their way to Stalwart and enjoy a proper home cooked meal. Immature as he felt it might've been Wolfram could not deny that the prospect of simply returning home and spending time with his mother over the weekend would be a good thing, at the very least offering a place for him to work through he and his team to work through their turbulent feelings without being reminded of Wolfram's loss at every turn. That talk had been a short while ago, though it felt longer as Wolfram's thoughts once again grew glum as they turned inwards; his silent and thoughtful introspection, of a variety that he was still largely unaccustomed to and not entirely comfortable with going at least some way in allowing him ignore both the biting cold of Menagerie's night and the various aches and pains which they were beginning to feel once again now that both Ursinia's Semblance and his prescribed medicine had worn of. His aimless wander through the campus took him out through the many flowerbeds curated and tended to by Counsellor Daichi and towards the high perimeter wall and main gate until the temporary reprieve from the world around him was broken by a rustling and scrabbling sound nearby.
Followed by the sight of Astra clambering over the wall and dropping down into the campus with an uncomfortable sounding thud, the plastic bag giving off the distinctive smell of fast food of a certain calibre being responsible for the rustling and joined by at least one pizza box tucked underarm.
"Hey" Wolfram didn't exactly call out of his ex, but his voice was clear enough in the otherwise silent darkness to get Astra's attention with ease and they managed an uncertain smile as they pulled themselves into a standing position, flexing and stretching their limbs out experimentally as they did so.
"Hey" their grin faltered before widening "We're both gonna pretend you didn't see that right….these boots are nice but that would've been easier to land in my old trainers"
"It's not like you have to worry about looking cool in front of anyone here" Wolfram shrugged "So what, felt the urge to sneak out one last time just because you could?"
"Nah" Astra managed a genuine chuckle at that, which went some way to lessening the evident tension and awkwardness that hung between the pair "Delivery driver got awkward about coming on campus, said they've been searched here before and it made them late for their next delivery so I just met 'em outside….The whole team missed dinner so I said I'd get something"
"Well, may as well head inside then; no point standing out here letting it go cold" Wolfram noted, gesturing from Astra toward the main entrance to the academy and taking a single limping step to indicate that he would join them, the slightly unbalanced motion and faint look of discomfort which accompanied it catching the Deer Faunus's attention.
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine" Wolfram shrugged "Your Semblance hits a little harder than I was expecting"
"So….Are we gonna talk about it then?" Astra asked, voice both cautious and hopeful in equal measure as they stepped ahead of Wolfram and took the lead, the two of them trudging slowly back towards the academy, casting furtive glances at one another as they went with conflicting thoughts as they both hoped that the other would notice, yet at the same time found the idea of being noticed unthinkable.
"I mean the talking isn't gonna change anything" Wolfram breathed out, taking care to bury his usual displeasure at such idle and pointless conjecture "It had to be one of us who won, you won….Congrats"
"But it doesn't feel right" Astra admitted with an equally emphatic sigh of their own.
"No, no it doesn't" Wolfram nodded before realising how the comment might sound "Not because you made it….I hope you do great, you will do great"
"Thanks" Astra smiled "But I wish it could have been both of our teams….Both of us. I know we're not together Wolfie….I get that you've pretty much moved passed the idea us being a thing, I know that we're probably never gonna have what we had before again but I still wanted us to at least be friends; even with how much of an idiot I've been acting while I try figure things out I always wanted us to have something y'know?….And now we can't, I don't wanna sound like a spoiled kid or anything but it isn't fair"
"No, it isn't….But like Diabla said to me earlier; life isn't fair even we hoped that maybe, just this once it could be" hearing that Astra turned to face Wolfram, fully intending to ask him if Diabla and the rest of Team WULF were handling the defeat they'd been unable to play any part in preventing well, yet was halted by the expression he found on the boys' face; strained in its' firmness as though he were holding back a well of emotions and so instead the Deer Faunus reached out and gently placed their unencumbered hand on his bicep.
"Hey….Are you okay? I know I've been complaining a lot, but if anything-"
"Yeah, I'll manage" Wolfram ground the words out, before screwing their eyes shut and wiping them with more force than was needed before wrapping and arm around Astra's shoulders "I'll get over losing….And if it had to play out this then fine, I'm honestly glad it was you who beat me"
"Really?" Astra couldn't help but cock their head and offer a smirk at that "Is that not a little bit poetic and touchy-feely for you?"
"Fuck off and don't interrupt me, I'm trying here" Wolfram laughed, voice less strained and watery than a moment ago "Honestly, it's kinda like vindication or something….I always knew that whatever your Semblance ended up being it would be something awesome and it was, you're gonna be one the best to do this Astra I can already see it and it's gonna be great to watch, even if I'm watching it on TV in the common rooms or at a bar in the city. Besides, we keep trying to figure out where we are with each other and maybe some time apart that isn't a mess like the summer will help; gives us a chance to move forwards a bit"
"You really believe that last part?" Astra asked, folding their arms as much as they could with the food still in their hands as the two continued to walk slowly towards the academies' main doors.
"Gotta tell myself something right" Wolfram sighed before offering a tight smirk "Otherwise my ex just beat me in front of everybody and the best ass on campus is leaving tomorrow"
"Dumb ass" Astra laughed before taking a deep breath to steady themselves and reaching up to plant a gentle kiss on Wolfram's jawline, murmuring an explanation as they withdrew "One for old times' sake….I'm gonna miss you Wolfie"
"I'm gonna miss you too" Wolfram answered, taking the moment to pull the shorter teen into a hug that was looser than it might otherwise have been if only to keep from further aggravating either of their injured ribs "I'm supposed to be heading home for the weekend tomorrow….I'll hang around to see you guys off if you want?"
"I'd like that" Astra beamed as they broke apart.
"Now go on, that's gonna get cold" Wolfram indicated to the food Astra held "Your team are gonna be pissed if I'm the reason they end up eating cold take-out….You ever tried to reheat the pizzas from that place? Disgusting"
"Yeah Regalia is calling her people to know that she's leaving the island for the first time….She's gonna need her hot-wings and dips after that" Astra agreed with a nod of faux solemnity before pausing and withdrawing a box from inside the bag and handing it over "Vaccuan lamb curry, I got extra….Give some to Laser, if he hears you were standing around talking to me for this long and didn't try to steal my food he'll complain"
"And that is why you're an amazing team leader" Wolfram laughed "Good night Astra….And good luck, with everything"
"Thanks, you too Wolfie" and with that the two parted ways, only the knowledge that they would see each other one final time for a brief goodbye before Team MARZ's departure for Neo Vale keeping the whole affair from having an anticlimactic feel about it. Ultimately there had been no heartfelt confessions or dramatic final showdowns beyond the qualification match itself and it was now an inevitability that the two team leaders would grow apart from one another as their futures, at least for the rest of the school year lay in different directions; Astra's relationship with Wolfram was concluded and there was nothing that could be done to salvage it now.
And yet somehow it no longer felt quite so important.
Team MARZ had a bright future on the horizon and Astra was simply happy to be a part of that.
Author's Notes:
Okay, this is the mid-season finale of Vol.04
At the time of writing I have a very rough, bare bones outline of the back half of Vol.04 which will provisionally stretch to Chapter 75.
I know I've said this the last couple weeks in author's notes but it bears repeating; I'm actually writing this a couple weeks ahead of when I'm going to post it so I'm not entirely sure how much breaks in my writing schedule will even be visible on the back end but I'm planning on taking a week or two (Two at most) away from writing MARZ in order to plan and recharge.
I'm also going to use that time to work on another project, I've got three different ideas for stories in the Parahumans fandom and I'm almost certainly going to write at least one of them, so if you're into that series of web-novels look out for it (And if you're not, honestly give it a try).
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
And here's the moment we've been waiting for, I feel like it needs dramatic music….I suggest The Last Agni Kai from the AtlA OST.
Of course the Professors take bets.
Astra does not have good luck when it comes to being thrown into arenas for a crowd...Let's see if the tournament is any kinder to 'em.
I felt like it would have been unfitting for Wolfram to actually enjoy the idea of this fight or get into it, he doesn't want this any more than Astra.
"But you're not going to Vale" come it's still Wolfram, he was never gonna let the match be easy.
In my head that opening exchange was just cinematic, this whole fight is supposes to be a show stopper from the get go.
The double kick that Astra throws at Wolfram is based on a move from the All Valley tournament fights in Cobra Kai season 4, I think it was Hawk that landed it; it's also the same move Astra used against Ruby in the training exercise.
Astra laughing about a ring-out hits different after the end of the chapter.
Semblance Vs Semblance throwdown….You didn't really think it was gonna be as simple as Astra just going giant did you?
I've said before that I really don't like writing scenes with no dialogue and this one was no exception.
Honestly this was largely filler with a few little titbits of information slipped in, it's a piece to break up the first and second halves of the match more than anything though.
The same advantages of being sentient and intelligent which set Gestalt-Prime apart are actually working against them now that they're having a prolonged out of body experience because their identity is like a rock being eroded away by the mass of other Grimm psyches.
They've actually been out of their body so long that they're losing the way back to it and losing their sense of identity along with it….That being said though, the reason Gestalt-Prime's continued modifications and consuming more raw material didn't change them much after a certain point was because they'd developed an identity, stripping that away or altering it could well have consequences.
Seize the means of destruction….You know exactly what I did there.
The whole stab-to-brake, breakdance back to feet, shoot, pivot and block with shield was all one motion and it was cool as fuck.
Astra just throwing out literally everything and anything that might work as a distraction at this point.
Okay Wolfram working Astra's style into his own attacks was fun and Astra's reaction was perfect considering it ended with them staring down the barrel of a cannon.
And here it is, the set-piece Astra plan that we've been waiting for….It comes down to timing, they always come down to timing and also letting Wolfram swing himself out.
The Diabla wall punch just felt like a perfect smash cut, pun intended when I wrote it.
Yeah Laser asking "Are you okay" when they're bleeding and mid insane giggle is a bit dumb.
That is literally the first time Wolfram has said the words "I'm sorry" it is a cardinal rule I have for writing him, that he does not do verbal apologies.
"And it wasn't good enough" and there it is, there's the words that broke Diabla because once again just like when she didn't get into Atlas and had her entire life uprooted there was absolutely nothing she could do to change an outcome.
On the bright side, this did end in a nice Team WULF bonding moment; this is a closing chapter for their part in the story….We'll see them again, but it won't be until Vol.07 unless I throw in a little cameo somewhere.
Of course they celebrated even when they've got a flight to catch the next morning.
No Astra and Wolfram didn't get a chance to talk while they were being patched up, that would have been too easy.
Coco knows that her students smuggle drinks onto the campus and turns a blind eye, it's a tradition and only even bothered putting the rule in place to uphold it.
So party setting, Astra is naturally in the thick of it but is currently too distracted to be actually flirting or partying, they've been doing less of that post-Wolfram anyway, Regalia is low-key hyped and AJ & Hops are chilling in a corner not making out because they don't really do PDA….That kiss that the press got a hold of was supposed to be private.
Honestly little things like other students watching sports outside of Hunter stuff is just to make the world feel more lived in.
Both AJ and Regalia make solid points….It's understandable that she wanted some time away from the family name and legacy so that she could spread her wings a little and be her own person; but at the same time she did still go into one of the two family businesses.
Yeah someone who really should have thrown a bottle at the idiot who said that to Astra.
It's not a scene with Regalia if she doesn't get some sort of quote or quip in and she can't phone home for the last time without making that joke.
Astra, by the same token had to get that parting shot in on the random ass-hat or they wouldn't be Astra.
God fucking damn Aefen Cruor is edgy.
"Spare me" Nero/Benefactor being the voice of everyone just out the gate.
Aefen's description of her people is an interesting one, the Path are wrong on very fundamental levels, but most of them are similar to people who got sucked into things like Scientology because they were approached at a low point in their lives.
So we already knew Carmesi was going to be retrieving live Grimm, this is Aefen confirming that it's intended to bring Gestalt-Prime back to consciousness, just as the hybrid Alpha was beginning to slip away and lose their body.
So, now we see what Aefen is really about; she doesn't worship the Grimm but she does want to use them….It's very "Whoever controls the Spice controls the universe" type thinking, mixed with conspiracies that do in fact have more than a little truth to them; most interesting though is how Nero reacts to her, with all his talk about bright new days and the way he shut Aefen down what he's planning is interesting if only because we can rule out things that he isn't planning.
And here's the talk that I couldn't have the mid-season finale without; next chapter will be a big paradigm shift where we start moving away from Menagerie and Team WULF will be getting left behind….Freeing up space for new secondary characters, including a certain blue haired student of Halo Academy whose name we didn't get.
Ah the awkward ex conversations….Multiplied by a factor of Fuck because they literally just had a fistfight in front of an audience.
Wolfram has never, not even for a second lost faith in Astra.
"Is that not a little bit poetic and touchy-feely for you?" I mean….Fair.
Seriously, reheated take-out pizza is grim; all the grease rises to the top and it loses all cohesion….Why that only happens to pizzas from a take out its weird.
Pizza, curry and hot-wings all from the same place; I don't know about Americans but here in the UK we have take-outs that have every single cultures' food all in one place, almost always owned and run by a Turkish family and catering to a single demographic that goes beyond ethnicity and nationality: Drunk people.
And there we have a happy ending, as much an ending as a mid-season finale can be considered.
Thank you to Lurkweed and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
First of all, good luck Major I hope things work out; life and employers have a way of fucking us all.
Was it raw and splashy enough for you?….pause.
Of course they were needling each other up to the last moment, that was the point.
I'll make Nugget a more prominent character and give them a melee specialist love interest just to have a ship with the name "Cockfighting" do not test me on this.
Oh I'm gonna have fun building everything up for a climax….Once again, pause.
Of course AJ and Hops had a mildly steamy moment...Astra and Diamond had a few, so did Weiss and Gangrel; it's a Slate thing every single one of them feel like they're dating out of their league and wastes no opportunities.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.
