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Chapter 94: MARZ vs CRAG

Team MARZ stood within the confines of the arena in which they would soon do battle and the air felt as though it was being torn asunder by the force of the cheers that greeted them.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED! IS THIS NOT WHY YOU'RE HERE?" Regalia spread her arms wide, turning and addressing the countless masses that surrounded them; allowing her true nervousness to show as she lowered her tone and added another of the movie quotes she was so fond of "You like me? You really, really like me?"

"They like us. The crowd looks even bigger from down here though" Astra whispered, taking several deep breaths to steady themselves; their partner and best friends' antics had gone some way to stifle and contain the latest wave of uncertainty to wash over the Deer Faunus as Team MARZ had stepped out into the stadium and been confronted by the reality that they were being viewed by thousands upon thousands of people in the venue itself but also Remnant as a whole and that their performance in the coming moments could potentially have long term effects on their careers as it put an idea of what the four of them were truly capable of in the minds of potential employers, allies or more experienced Hunters whose decision to work alongside them might be affected.

Oddly, given her usual reserved nature it was Zirconia Shadowmoon who offered words of advice.

"Perhaps you would do better to think of the stadium as though it were my Semblance" the Grasshopper Faunus noted, mismatched eyes roving across the sea of bodies around them and then up to the VIP seating where most of Team MARZ had family watching "Once the forcefield around the arena goes up it's like we're inside my Phantasmagoria….Nothing outside of it is real"

"Aww….That's no fun, I wanna think about putting a show on for everyone watching us" Athena-Jade gave a playful pout, the shortest and yet easily most muscular of Team MARZ giving her partner and girlfriend a playful wink as she continued to make a show of stretching her muscles and shifting her weight as though she might launch into an explosive burst of acrobatic motion at any moment.

"Yeah….Yeah" Astra found themselves puffing up with pride, a familiar confident smirk, bordering cocky falling onto their face as they instinctively fiddled with the tips of their black-dyed and pointed Mohawk, sea green eyes continuing to scan the faces in the audience at the lowest levels of the seating; finally halting and taking on a determined gleam at the sight of a group of teenagers surrounded by an ageing blonde man. Quickly recognising them as obvious students of Signal Academy Astra realised that not was their own former teacher present, her current students were here and watching.

Meaning Astra had to set an example.

"Team MARZ!" a voice that was deep and booming, albeit more friendly than the situation might have called for rang out and the four of them collectively turned their attention to opposite side of the circular arena where their opponents stood in what appeared to be a similar state of nervous but exhilarated readiness; with the speaker being the leader of the opposing team, the Flying Squirrel Faunus whom Astra's brief and ultimately forgotten interest in had been the subject of much teasing from the rest of Team MARZ.

"Team CRAG!" Astra called back with a familiar nod, studying their opposite number for any tells or hints that they might have missed during the various times the two teams had seen one another fight during their classes together. The Flying Squirrel Faunus was tall, broad shouldered and burly with a tanned and weather beaten complexion that as a native of Vaccuo he spent a great deal of time outdoors in the desert Kingdom and this, along with the untrimmed and deep brown hair of his chest, was left fully exposed by the fact he was shirtless in order to accommodate his own Faunus attributes; namely a coat of rich brown fur along his back and shoulders which reached out to partially cover a thin membrane of skin stretching from each of the young man's arms down to his waist. He wore dull and faded grey cargo pants with pockets in differing shades that appeared almost to have been stitched onto the pants after the fact, tucked into a pair of sandy brown boots with visible armour plating and held up by a plethora of heavy duty belts of the same colour worn at various angles to allow for more pouches to be added; the sole conceit to personal style and aesthetic being a series of deep green bandannas and fastenings around the legs of the pants at asymmetrical intervals. His face was square and blunt, with greenish brown eyes peering out from bushy eyebrows set into a heavy brow framed by messy brown hair and stubble that could not quite pass itself off as a beard.

Astra was pleased that they were no longer infatuated with him to any extent, they could admit he was certainly attractive but their was no interest there to distract them and before the Deer Faunus could reflect on that fact or any further exchanges between the teams could take place the familiar voices of the commentators, magnified to suit the occasion filled the air.

"LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND OTHERS WELCOME BACK TO THE VYTAL TOURNAMENT WHERE WE ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN ANOTHER MATCH!" Yang Xiao Long declared to a cacophony of cheers "THANKS FOR YANGING IN THERE WHILE WE PERFORMED SOME ROUTINE SAFETY CHECKS AFTER THE LAST MATCH, NOW QROWVER TO MY CO-HOST"

"A QUICK RECAP OF THE RULES FOR THOSE WATCHING AT HOME WHO MIGHT HAVE JUST TUNED IN" Qrow Branwen's voice was the familiar gruff drawl, coloured with the faintest hint of a smile at his nieces' beloved puns "THIS IS THE FIRST ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT, MEANING THAT IT'S TWO TEAMS OF FOUR STUDENTS. THE ARENA IS BROKEN INTO TWO HALVES AND WILL PROVIDE EACH TEAM A RANDOMLY SELECTED BIOME; A WINNER IS DECLARED WHEN ONE TEAM HAS HAD EACH OF ITS' MEMBERS REMOVED BY EITHER SUBMISSION, RING-OUT OR THEIR AURA BEING DEPLETED TO A CRITICAL LEVEL, AS SHOWN BY OUR MONITORS. YANG, WOULD YOU CARE TO TELL THE FANS WHO WE HAVE UP NEXT?"

"WE HAVE TWO SECOND YEAR TEAMS IN THE ARENA RIGHT NOW AND THIS IS A MATCH THAT I KNOW QUITE A FEW PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR DESPITE THESE BEING NEWCOMERS!" Yang announced, sending a fresh wave of cheers through the stadium "WE HAVE MENAGERIE VERSUS VACCUO HERE; REPRESENTING SHADE ACADEMY WE HAVE GIN BERRY!"

A small girl in a dress whose entire outfit was an eye-watering mix of yellow and purple gave a small curtsey to the crowd before turning her focus to Team MARZ and offering her soon to be opponents a wink as Yang continued.

"ACACIA THORNTREE!" A pallid girl with green hair tied back into a long ponytail gave only a slight nod of acknowledgement before taking a moment to roll of the sleeves of her shirt and adjust the suspenders she wore and crack her neck; a subtle but unmissable show all of its' own.

"RIO TORMENTOSO!" a young man who looked like the pinnacle of everything a Hunter should be waved to the crowd, olive skin, slicked back and immaculate glossy black hair and piercing blue eyes whose handsomeness were offset and yet bolstered by the pale champagne gold light armour he wore in uneven patches along with more practical clothing and a deep blue cape hanging over one shoulder.

"AND THEIR LEADER, FORRESTER CAIRNS! MAKE SOME NOISE FOR TEAM CRAG!" the crowd took delight in doing as requested and the air itself seemed to be pushed to breaking point by the fervour of their cheers as the Flying Squirrel made a show of bowing.

"Our turn" Astra chuckled, flashing each of their friends a suddenly far more confident smile which was readily returned in the brief moment before Yang spoke again as the cacophony began to subside.

"AND REPRESENTING BREAKTIDE ACADEMY WE HAVE ZIRCONIA SHADOWMOON!" the noise was deafening and instantaneous, with Astra inconspicuously darting their eyes around and seeing that Zirconia, almost certainly as a product of her guardians' public profile and her relationship with a member of an equally famous family had a plethora of fans bearing banners and chanting; something which Zirconia herself seemed quietly determined not to acknowledge as she simply stared dead ahead.

"REGALIA RUSSET!" Regalia reacted with far more energy and the amount of sheer joy that all who knew her might have expected; an almost rapt look upon her face as she realised that this was the moment she had waited for.

"ATHENA-JADE SLATE!" Athena's response was to summon a glyph and leap upon it, posturing and posing for her fans, of which there were a ludicrous amount and whose cheering lasted for almost a full minute; rendering Yang unable to continue and Astra simply looking up at their friend with a bemused, but still somewhat miffed expression as they knew that their own fanfare would now likely seem laughably paltry in response. Athena offered him an apologetic, toothy smile but before she could speak the commentary finally began again.

"AND THEIR LEADER, ASTRA MARS! MAKE SOME NOISE FOR TEAM MARZ!" The crowd erupted and Astra's predictions were proven correct though they merely consoled themselves with the fact that their parents were here, their brother was watching elsewhere and that they would leave this stadium as an inspiration to the students of Signal.

"AND NOW LET'S SEE WHAT KIND OF BATTLEFIELD THESE TWO TEAMS WILL BE WORKING WITH!" Qrow declared happily, his words being followed by a deafening mechanical screech and clang, undercut by the buzzing thrum of shielding being brought into life as the rotating halves of stadium began to produce new biomes and the domed forcefield encasing it all was reactivated. After a few moments Teams MARZ and CRAG faced one another across an arena that had been wholly transformed to such an extent that actually seeing their opponents was difficult.

"ON TEAM CRAG'S SIDE OF THE FIELD WE HAVE THE TALL GRASS….REMINDS ME OF WHEN I FIRST LEFT HOME AT TEN YEARS OLD; BE CAREFUL KIDS THERE'S MONSTERS IN-"

"AND ON TEAM MARZ'S SIDE OF THE FIELD!" Qrow interrupted, much to the amusement of the audience "WE HAVE THE PILLARS!"

"My Semblance should fix that" Athena muttered as Team MARZ stared out at a stretch of freezing, swirling water from which a series of stone pillars emerged, each large enough for perhaps two people to stand on and arranged in such a way that they formed several loose routes towards the opposing side of the arena where blades of grass taller than the average person rose up in thick patches broken by narrow and criss-crossing alleyways with only a small, central stretch of unchanged ground between the two halves.

"Good….Don't show 'em everything just yet" Astra murmured "I'm gonna hold back on my Semblance as well, keep things up our sleeves for a while-"

"AND NOW WE'RE READY!" Yang exclaimed happily "UNCLE QROW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO THE HONOURS!"

"WITH PLEASURE! TEAMS, READY! THREE! TWO! ONE!….BEGIN!"

Team MARZ were in motion in an instant.

The pillars were not so tall that they could not be leapt up onto, the recessed nature of the riverbed they were built into keeping the heights of the two halves of the arena comparable however as they reached the peak of one of the stone monoliths Astra realised that they provided enough of a vantage point to be a distinct advantage and as they glanced over their shoulder to see Regalia and Zirconia following their lead, with the formers' experience in climbing and the latter using her mechanical legs to great effect whilst Athena-Jade simply relied on her Semblance for mobility the Deer Faunus prepared to call out that by simply looking down and shooting into the points where grass rustled they could take an early lead.

Only for the counterargument to be made before the Deer Faunus could speak in the most blunt of terms.

If they could see, then they could also be seen.

Astra was unable to turn around fast enough to see what struck them and was thrown several dozen feet into the air by the force of a bone-rattling collision which flung them clear of the pillar they had been perched on. Their response was to deploy Buckshot Ares in the rarely used glider configuration which had been part of their landing strategy whilst Regalia used her harpoon to bring her partner back down safely on another pillar which, whilst effective did leave the Deer Faunus with the undignified prospect of being flown like a kite for a few moments and seen by all of Remnant.

Their focus was redirected a moment later.

"Oh cool, your landing strategy is similar to mine!" Forrester Called out as they landed in a crouch on a pillar with their arms extended outwards and the skin trailing from his arms blowing in a forceful wind which seemed to swirling from his open palms in twin nexuses. It took Astra only a moment to realise several things in quick succession and come to the conclusion that Forrester Cairns would be a very difficult opponent to overcome.

His Semblance gave him a degree of control over air currents around himself, which he had used in conjunction with his Faunus attribute to not only glide but truly fly.

He was also fully willing and able to use himself as a living cannonball in a display of brazen nerve which Astra could only respect; making him formidable even without a weapon, though Forrester now reach behind his back to draw one from a hidden compartment.

It was however as the rest of Team CRAG began to open fire that Astra realised that their leader had used himself as a distraction to brilliant effect and that Team MARZ were now on the defensive.


Amidst the packed stands of the arena and in the midst of a sea of bodies whose enthusiastic waving and flailing, punctuated by the painfully annoying need to leap upwards and obscure the view of the person behind them was swiftly beginning to grow tiring Tiger Santara was still managing to have a thoroughly enjoyable time.

She and the rest of Team MARZ had managed to procure seats for themselves that, when they weren't being blocked offered an exquisite view of the arena and allowed the leader of Team TRQS to see almost every exchange of blows and every strategy that was implemented and swiftly readjusted; though she would almost certainly spend a great deal of time obtaining and watching footage of some of the more impressive bouts from other angles so that she could study them in more detail.

The rest of Team TRQS were, as expected still gathered around her although as the opening matches of the tournament had progressed her friends had come to the understanding that bothering and interrupting their leader would be ill advised. At present, taking advantage of the fact that the seats directly behind them were currently empty Amaya had clambered up onto the shoulders of her partner and boyfriend and was casually stealing handfuls of Rye' popcorn as she used his height to peer over the heads of those had risen to their feet.

Immediately beside Tiger was her own partner, Stygian was currently devouring a junk food concoction which looked like the sort of monstrosity Regalia Russet might produce when feeling peckish and creative, something doused in so much cheese that commenting on it would almost feel like casting aspersions about the boys' heritage as a Mouse Faunus whilst also watching the match between Team MARZ and Team CRAG as it proceeded below; the young man with blue dreadlocks predictably paying the most attention to where Athena-Jade slate was the most active, currently using her Glyphs to evade blows from Gin Berry who at the same time seemed skilful enough to avoid being lured into a position atop the pillars that would be difficult to fight from.

"Wanna try some of this?" Stygian asked, showing that he was at least paying some attention to his surroundings and after regarding the creation of melted cheese, carbs and some unknown meat Tiger finally shrugged and took a small portion of the proffered snack; admitting to herself after the first bite that it was indeed far tastier than it looked before returning her attention to events below and watching with studious attention as Regalia used her weapon in an effort to ensnare Forrester in a twisted parody of the kind of team efforts that the Racoon Faunus and her partner often employed, though the leader of Team CRAG showed his own skill and remained airborne.

"Heads up" Stygian nudged Tiger's shoulder as he distracted her with the quiet murmur, Tiger's own irritable response to the interruption being halted as she saw the reason behind it.

The vacant seats behind them had belonged to Team SHMR and as Stygian moved into Amaya's seat whilst she remained on Rye's shoulders Tiger looked over her shoulder to see that half of her fellow team had returned.

"Hey, brought you something" Ravi declared as he clambered into Stygian's now empty seat, carefully balancing a collection of comically oversized drinks and tubs of popcorn as he did so.

"Is there a reason everyone is pressing junk food into my hands today?" Tiger asked pointedly as she relieved her twin brother of some of the snacks.

"Well you do forget to eat when you concentrate on something" Ravi answered, the exchange being watched by Stygian who, after a moment of being pleased that his partner had repaired her relationship with her only remaining relative turned to Snapdragon Majus who had taken her seat behind Team TRQS and wore a satisfied smile despite some visible burns and bruises.

"Hey Snap, where are Marsh and Hibiscus?" he asked, nodding to the space the absent half of Team SHMR should have occupied.

"They got out of medical check ups after us….Hibbs took a pretty big hit to the head but it's nothing major" Snapdragon shrugged "I think the two of them are enjoying all the attention and people wanting to get selfies with us outside, Team SHMR might be new crowd favourites now"

"You did well, I'm happy for you" Tiger interjected, the praise being offered to both Snapdragon and Ravi, perhaps more so for her brother which was why she made no effort to offer a scathing retort to the idea of Snapdragon being a crowd favourite.

"Yeah" Snapdragon beamed, adjusting her sunglasses and beret as she leaned forward to more easily join the conversation "Doesn't look like Team MARZ are doing so well though….Team CRAG are tying 'em up pretty well"

"Maybe so" Tiger murmured, eyes gleaming as she leaned forward "But it does give me more of a chance to see first hand how everybody fights when they're holding back less then they do in class….it makes planning for every eventuality a lot easier"

"You seriously make plans for everyone you could possibly end up fighting?" Snapdragon lowered her glasses to give her fellow team leader a disbelieving stare. Stygian and Ravi by contrast, both far more familiar with Tiger's methods shared a knowing look and waited with bated breath for whatever barb would be offered in response to what she would no doubt see as a lack of effort on Snapdragon's part.

"Of course" Tiger breathed out "Some of us can't dance our way out of difficult situations; some of us actually have to work and train and plan ahead….Not everyone can spend all of their free time with my brother's tongue half-way down their throat"

"Sometimes it's all the way….and it's not his tong-"

"And we're stopping this conversation right here" Ravi interrupted, choking on popcorn though still unable to keep himself from managing a small swagger despite being sat down as Snapdragon gave her partner and boyfriend a flirtatious look and Stygian, whilst laughing bumped their knuckles together before taking pity on the Santara twins and moving the conversation along.

"So, who do we think is gonna take this?" he nodded down to where Astra had managed to launch a counterattack with a degree of success but referring to the match as a whole.

"I didn't expect Team MARZ to get this tied up" Ravi admitted, sharing his partners' views.

"They're holding back" Tiger answered flatly as she shook her head "Astra and Athena-Jade specifically; neither of them are using their Semblances to their fullest extent yet….They might be conserving their strength for a final push, but Team CRAG shouldn't be overconfident just yet"

"They can still win though" Stygian noted, not particularly enthused by that prospect and focusing on another part of the arena with his electric blue stare "And it looks like Zirconia is struggling"

"She is" Tiger agreed, pleased that the Mouse Faunus was analysing the unfolding events accurately before offering her own take on the situation.

"She's a capable fighter but a tournament setting puts her at a natural disadvantage"


Zirconia was forced to take another evasive leap to avoid the incredible range of Acacia Thorntree after being effectively cut off and drawn away from the rest of Team MARZ in an arrangement which, whilst entirely in keeping with the Grasshopper Faunus's own goals and intent did manage to irk her more than she allowed herself to show simply by virtue of it being her opponents' choices that were currently controlling the pace and direction of their duel.

Acacia Thorntree was proving herself more and more capable with each exchange of blows.

She was tall and lean in a way which would have been regarded athletic and willowy if not for her unnaturally pale and gaunt features, hair a shade of green that put Zirconia of chemical plants for some strange reason being tied back and kept clear of a sharp face with a pointed chin; dull ash-grey eyes and a pointed chin given an almost mischievous look by the confident smirk she wore as she fought. Her attire was less dramatically flamboyant than many Hunters wore and yet it suited it her immensely, the plain grey button down shirt she wore with its' rolled up sleeves being tucked into a pair of slim fitting black pants which were in turn tucked into thigh high armoured boots whilst the shirt was also paired with a tie the same shade of green as her hair and suspenders whose brown leather colour was matched by her fingerless gloves and fastenings of armour pieces strapped to her forearms.

Zirconia could privately admit that her younger self would have found Acacia very attractive, now however she simply suffered from the disadvantage of being everything Athena-Jade Slate was not.

Though she could hardy afford to concern herself with that as her opponents' latest attack exploded against the latest pillar the Grasshopper Faunus had leapt onto, hidden and retractable features within her cybernetic legs allowing her to perch and balance against the vertical surface of yet another of the stone constructs as she avoided being buffeted by both the attack and the falling rubble it sent spraying out in all directions; steadily drawing closer to the dividing line between the two halves of the arena where Acacia had positioned herself.

'Ice, Hard-light!' Sunriser Cain announced as Zirconia attempted to counter the incredible range and aim Acacia's Semblance gave her by using the twin Dust chambers of her weapon to create a barrier directly ahead of her which curved around her sides enough to obscure the Grasshopper Faunus from view as she leapt down from the pillar she was balanced on the side of and instead using the chunks of blasted stone now resting in the swirling and freezing water which filled Team MARZ's side of the arena as stepping stones in order to close the distance between herself and her opponent; her own barrier being destroyed in the next instant.

"Clever, but you'll have to do better than that!" Acacia laughed, her smile widening as ice shards rained down. The tall and pallid young woman fought using a segmented whip, with each of its' individual sections being capable of being fitted with a Dust crystal for added effect although Zirconia was pleased to see that her opponent was running out of that particular resource. The real threat however came from how this weapon interacted with her Semblance and allowed her to overcome its' lack of a ranged mode; she was capable taking the damage that her attack would have landed and simply transferring that burst of explosive and kinetic force along with the Dust-based effects to another area within her field of vision without the need to physically touch it.

Meaning that Zirconia had been the natural choice to face off against her.

"Rest assured aiming for better is something I make a habit of" Zirconia declared bluntly as she appeared in front of her opponent without warning, having finally managed to draw close enough to leap up onto the dividing line between the two halves of the battlefield and deliver a crushing, leaping kick to Acacia's ribs which sent her staggering backwards and allowed Zirconia to press the advantage and swing Sunriser Cain in its' melee form

'Fire, Lightning!' one of the attacks that long been a staple part of her repertoire and Acacia was forced back onto the defensive, slamming her whip against the ground and using Ice and Gravity Dust fitted within several of its' segments to produce a chilling wind which disrupted to wall of fire and lightning that Zirconia had sent sweeping through the space her opponent had occupied; the entire exchange being calculated on insectoid Faunus's part in order to deliver upon a single goal.

She slipped into the tall grass on Team CRAG's side of the field and hid herself from view; thus putting herself out of the range of Acacia's Semblance.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE SHADOWMOON IS PLAYING SMART!" Qrow Branwen's voice was filled with genuine praise at the tactical thinking; though the comment seemed to be enough for Acacia to realise the nature of the game that was being played.

"Oh I get it" she called it in a tone that was both mocking and undeniably cheery, a voice that seemed to promise that there would be no ill will between them after the bout "You want me to come into the grass where I can't see and then you're gonna jump me….No thanks, I can just set fire to the grass; or I can go and fight someone else while you hide in there, I'll let Forrester deal with you later"

Realising that her opponent was no fool and possibly equal to herself in her cunning, which forced Zirconia to take a calculated risk.

Shifting Sunriser Cain into its' long barrelled pistol form she snapped off a well placed shot which left Acacia's Aura rippling as it clipped her right shoulder, followed by another which took away the girls' confident smile as it struck the top of her ear, tremendously painful even through her Aura and serving the twin purposes of both infuriating Acacia Thorntree whilst also deliberately giving away Zirconia's position.

"There you are" Acacia snarled, Gravity Dust making the downward crack of her whip for more powerful that it ought to be as she rushed towards the tall grass and attacked, being forced to use the actual surface of her weapon rather than her Semblance's ability to relocate damage until she could actually find her opponent. As her assault pushed the grass downwards in a wide area around her and revealed Zirconia to her Acacia was forced to experience a single moment of stomach churning panic as she realised that she fallen victim to layered ruses and plans within plans, the realisation coming as Zirconia simply waited for the incoming attack to strike her and held her own weapon aloft.

'Magnetic!'

Sunriser Cain's synthetic voice was a jarringly loud mockery to Acacia though Zirconia herself remained determinedly unreadable as ever; barely a flicker of emotion as she used her own Dust-based counterattack to draw Acacia's whip and force the taller girl off balance and more importantly to hold her in place for the few moments it took for Zirconia's own Semblance to take hold; the irises insectoid Faunus's mismatched eyes glowing pink and orange whilst her pupils seemed to diffuse link ink in water into their white surroundings and the world around the two of them fell away, consumed by a featureless and unfathomable void.

"Now it's just us" Zirconia noted conversationally "And I am in control here"

With that she summoned a wall of shadows up from the equally dark an indistinct ground to mask herself.

"Well….Damn" Acacia struggled to keep a hint of nervous laughter from her words as she strained her senses in a futile effort to detect anything at all whilst privately being impressed by the trap that she had fallen into.

She was unable to leave, unable to target any of team MARZ's other members to draw Zirconia out or coordinate with her own friends and if she were to fight Zirconia at all it would be entirely on her opponents' terms as between her control of the interior of Phantasmagoria and the fact that despite appearances they were still standing within the tall grass she had managed to utterly negate Acacia's reach.

Zirconia launched her offensive a moment later.

The ground beneath Acacia's feet warped and shifted, with the shadows rolling like a tide and throwing her off balance for just long enough for the roguish Hunter to come streaking into view for just long enough to deliver another punishing kick, this one Acacia's already pained shoulder and follow up by striking her across the face before slinking back out of view and disappearing into the tall grass.

Which Acacia now realised, as she blinked spots out of her vision from the pain and sudden influx of light that she could actually see again.

"AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SHADOWMOON LANDED A SOLID HIT!" Yang Xiao Long cheered.

"Okay, what gives?" Acacia demanded, thrashing her whip and shifting her weight as she prepared for the next inevitable assault.

"This is a tournament, a chance to show off our skills….Fighting inside of an impenetrable bubble of darkness doesn't showcase much" Zirconia's voice came from within the tall grass "And besides, if I were to beat you within the confines of Semblance I could easily be accused of foul play"

Before Acacia could retort, more than a little annoyed at the implications that she would be such a sore loser if she were indeed beaten Zirconia came into view again; firstly using a small bust of power from her weapon to make the grass ripple and redirect her foes attention before leaping upwards and out of the grass, sailing overhead with her weapon at the ready and leg aimed for a flying kick if the first blow failed.

"Not a chance!" Acacia called out, reacting with well practised speed and precision to send her weapon lashing out without any Dust or use of her Semblance involved, the weapon coiling around Zirconia and holding her so securely that Acacia could swing with all of her might and send her opponent crashing face first into the ground with a painful thud which drew deafening cheers from the audience, flattening the grass around her enough for Acacia to still have a clear line of sight and from there she drew her whip back and engaged various Dust caches within its' surface as she used her Semblance for several assaults in succession. Zirconia was blasted backwards step by painful step with almost no chance to recover as ice erupted from the ground at her feet in jagged spires, a warping surge of a magnetic field left her mechanical legs unsteady and repelled them away to send her sprawling and prone as the follow up lightning bolt struck her in the back before finally an eruption of flames launched her through the air and sent her rolling to a stop at what she quickly realised was mere feet away from the edge of the arena.

"AND SHADOWMOON IS ON THE ROPES RIGHT NOW! IT LOOKS LIKE THORNTREE MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE AN EARLY LEAD FOR TEAM CRAG!" Qrow's voice boomed through the air and behind the shawl covering the lower half of her face Zirconia could only smile.

All according to plan.

It was regrettable, she did after all enjoy having an opportunity to prove herself and test her abilities to their fullest and the idea of she and Athena-Jade competing together in the doubles round, taking on the best that the Hunter academies could produce side by side was undeniably romantic, making her smile every time she considered it but the fact remained that the mission took priority. Damascus would have important work for her soon enough as the moment to reveal their plans for Remnant drew close and as his eyes and ears within the academies it would be more beneficial if she were free to move and act with less attention paid to her, which would be an impossibility if she allowed herself to truly see how far her talents could carry her and found herself one of the potential overall winners of the tournament; something which meant giving herself a justification to bow out gracefully without causing alarm was an unfortunate necessity.

Though she could still make her presence felt and give Team MARZ one final favour.

With that she readied Sunriser Cain and shifted her stance, preparing to unleash one of her most devastating and visually stunning attacks.

'Hard-light, Gravity!' the semi-solid beam of cyan light lanced through the air and struck Acacia in the torso with enough force to rip her from her feet and leave her Aura rippling and fluctuating around her in the same instant that she launched her own attack; her whip cracking and her Semblance relocating an explosive blast of Dust-infused power from empty air to a point at Zirconia's feet.

Throwing the Grasshopper backwards the final few feet towards the edge of the arena.


Athena-Jade felt that saying so out loud would be needlessly rude and unsporting in a way that her parents would almost certainly give her a piece of their minds for but the fact remained that she had honestly expected her current opponent to have already been beaten by now.

It seemed she had vastly underestimated Gin Berry.

Her opponents' waifish build and attire, in Athena-Jade's defence rather disarming; she wore a strappy sundress which reached to just above her knees and whose colouration was a mixture of shades which in nature were reserved only for warnings displayed by venomous animals and toxic plants, a pair of frayed and faded shorts peeking out from beneath them to protect her modesty when she performed more agile and acrobatic techniques. The vivid purple and garish yellow garment was paired with a wide brimmed hat in the same shade of yellow which covered dark hair worn in a short pixie cut and tinted sunglasses with thick purple-rimmed frames in a cheerful and somewhat childish shape which covered eyes Athena knew to be an almost sparkling shade of magenta. She also wore comfortable and flat-soled shoes in a creamy white colour and a single glove on her left hand in the same colour, reaching back to her elbow and appearing as though it were secured by a dizzying collection of beaded bracelets worn over it whilst her right hand was left bare to aid with the use of a Semblance which Athena-Jade had seen enough of the girl to know to avoid during lessons.

Her touch wasn't poisonous or electric, but it did have distressingly adverse effects that even Aura did not wholly defend against.

At present however it was Gin's weapon that was causing the Bear Faunus so much trouble as her opponent used it to continue her impressive streak of pre-empting and countering each attack or attempt to build any forward momentum and seek out angles of attack that Athena made.

"Oh hey, I know we don't really talk in class but I've gotta say it's cool that I get to face you here, cos I know this probably TMI but like….I actually used to have a poster of your brother in my room as a kid. He's a big part of why I wanted to be a Hunter….And he's really hot" Gin's voice was as cheery and upbeat as her attire, her accent far removed from the usual Vaccuan drawl to suggest that she was not a native of the desert Kingdom whose academy she had enrolled in and whilst Athena had been ready to respond positively and entertain the idea of Teams MARZ and CRAG meeting up after the match concluded her opponents' final words had thrown the Bear Faunus so entirely that all she could do was scrunch her features and fight the urge to make an immature gesture such as miming gagging whilst confirming that it had indeed been far too much information.

The momentary stunned and distracted confusion was all the opening Gin needed for a particularly cheap shot.

Her weapon was a single pair of nunchucks, somewhat oversized and fitted with small Dust chambers which could also be reformed into a double barrelled handgun of immense power and whilst Athena allowed herself to be distracted Gin swung the nunchucks directly at the end of her nose for an eye-watering blow which left her staggering. Athena-Jade had been the first of Team MARZ to cross over from the side of the arena filled with stone pillars, her Semblance allowing her to move more freely than her friends and she was fortunate for it as if she had still been atop a pillar the hit would have sent her toppling into the water below.

"You suck, so bad" Athena growled, shaking her head to clear it before throwing herself into a counteroffensive and swinging Mould-Breaker in its' hammer form with all of her might; the rocket booster in the head of her weapon reducing both her and it to a blur of motion as it pulled her off balance and allowed her to close the distance between herself and Gin in an instant.

Gin yelped as she was forced to throw herself to the ground to avoid being smashed across the arena.

"NO MORE CHEAP TRICKS!" Athena roared as she carried her momentum into a spin and created a series of glyphs to balance and rebound from, allowing her to alter her angle of attack and seamlessly launch another swing of her hammer which this time came downwards from directly above. Gin had, in Athena's mind the sheer audacity to look as though there was a particularly glib and teasing retort she would like to offer but was denied the chance as the ground shaking impact which came before she could properly stand again managed to lift her into the air at which point the Bear Faunus created a glyph directly between them, its' surface a Gravity Dust infused lattice of shimmering black which Athena promptly used an acrobatic spinning kick to smash into Gin and send her hurtling backwards through the air to land crumpled in a heap.

In all honestly Athena had expected her Aunt Yang to comment on that and was a little disappointed that she did not, which caused the snowy-haired girl to pause and realise that she had largely lost track of the match around her; the realisation coming just in time for her the crowd to erupt in cheers at an announcement which made her stomach plummet.

"AND ZIRCONIA SHADOWMOON HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE ARENA BY ACACIA THORNTREE! TEAM CRAG HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD!"

"Damn it!" Athena's voice wavered more than she would have liked to admit upon hearing that and in response she simply ran forward at full speed, creating a staircase of glyphs to hurtle upwards as she went until finally she had a vantage point from which she could see her new target. Acacia was staggering and clearly in pain, her own Aura rippling around her after whatever final exchange she and Zirconia had been locked in and it took no time at all for Athena-Jade to decide the form her retaliation would take and then enact it.

Leaping into the air, shifting Mould-Breaker into its' laser cannon form and firing from the hip as she fell.

"AND ACACIA THORNTREE IS OUT! AURA IS IN THE RED AND THAT BLAST FROM ATHENA-JADE SLATE KNOCKED HER JUST OVER THE EDGE OF THE ARENA AS WELL!" Qrow declared, whilst Yang could be heard whooping and cheering with no pretence at all about the fact she was biased, some comment being muffled and indistinct as Qrow playfully pulled her microphone out of reach.

And the Gin entered the fray, unleashing a revenge attack of her own.

"YOU GET PAYBACK FOR YOUR PARTNER, I'LL GET IT FOR MINE!" the words came at the exact same moment that Athena-Jade's world erupted into pain, Gin aiming her double-barrelled pistol and landing a perfectly placed shot at on the Bear Faunus ankle just before she returned to the ground, sending her toppling and allowing the more waifish of the two girls to come rushing towards her in a streak of jarringly bright colours.

The next blow sent Athena-Jade falling to her knees, a Gravity Dust imbued nunchuck to the jaw almost spinning her around with its' impact and from there Athena was left unable to properly defend herself as Gin switched her weapon to her left hand, leaving her ungloved right hand empty and swirling with an eye-watering and crackling nexus of light as she activated her Semblance before delivering a palm strike to the face.
"AND IT LOOKS LIKE SLATE IS ON THE ROPES HERE!"

"GET BACK UP AND AT IT! YOU DON'T NEED TO PAWS FOR EFFECT!" the commentary and subsequent cheering and jeers went largely unheard by Athena herself as her senses were consumed by a ringing, stinging and overall unpleasant sensation that felt as though everything were being painfully scrubbed away. The next distinct feeling was another explosion of pain Gin swung her weapon once again and pitched her opponent backwards though as she came rolling to a stop Athena was glad to find that she had at least managed to retain her hold on her weapon.

"Aunt Yang wants effect, I'll give her effect" the Bear Faunus muttered as she pulled herself to her feet and shifted her weapon back into its' hammer form.

Gin was already rushing towards her, crazed and furious in a way which suggested that her relationship with her partner was as serious as Athena's own relationship with Zirconia; the Bear Faunus might otherwise have been sympathetic but in that moment with pressure building, the crowd going deafening and her body still buzzing with the lingering effects of the brightly coloured girls' Semblance such understanding was hard to find.

Instead she focused and glyphs began to form around her, rotating and swirling until they gathered at a point at the small of her back.

"Come here Slate!" Gin's voice was a war cry in sharp contrast to its' earlier cheeriness and yet she was quickly rendered powerless as Athena lashed out with limbs that were not her own.

"THAT'S SOMETHING WE HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE! NOT A PART OF THE SCHNEE FAMILY PLAY BOOK!" Athena allowed a detached part of herself to swell with pride as her Aunt Yang positively erupted at the sight of the new technique she had devised. The majority of the Bear Faunus's attention was focused on Gin Berry though, whom she had assaulted with a quartet of spectral Beowolf claws and hurled into the air.

She struck the girl with her hammer as she fell and before Gin could even strike the ground Athena was on her again.

"THIS IS MORE OF WHAT WE EXPECTED TO SEE FROM SLATE GOING INTO THE TOURNAMENT!" Qrow's voice rang out, Athena could barely hear it however and was instead consumed by her own determination as she formed more glyphs beneath the feet of the partial Grimm construct which acted as a part of her own body, using her unrivalled speed and power to deliver one crushing blow after another, smashing Gin Berry across the arena with thundering impacts until finally her Aura flickered and wavered and she was brought to the dividing line between the two halves of the arena where she braced herself; gathering all of her remaining power into her Semblance so that whatever finish strike Athena landed would likely disable her.

Only for Athena-Jade to break off and leap away at the last moment, revealing that she was more than capable of her own underhanded ruses.

"What the-" Gin Berry was cut off by her own yelp of pain and surprise as a harpoon struck her and she promptly lifted into the air and swung; seeing even in the midst of the blur of motion that it was Regalia Russet who had caught her. The Racoon Faunus having perched atop one the stone pillars on Team MARZ's side of the arena and waving at Gin as she threw her out of the arena.

"HASTA LA VISTA BABY!"


"AN INCREDIBLE COMEBACK BY TEAM MARZ!" Yang Xiao Long cried out "AN EXCELLENT SET UP AND EXECUTION BY ATHENA-JADE SLATE AND REGALIA RUSSET GIVES THEM A LEAD OF TWO TO ONE!"

Regalia managed a weary smile beneath the armoured faceplate that had been deployed from her visor in response to the praise from the legendary Huntress, sister of Professor Ruby Rose and teacher whom her partner greatly respected.

She had been the last member of Team MARZ to be pinned and stranded atop the stone pillars after a ploy concocted between herself and Astra had allowed the Deer Faunus to get down to the ground and engage with Rio Tormentoso by sending a hailstorm of gunfire into the tall grass the caped and armoured young man was hiding in, plainly contradicting the heroic and gallant image his attire sought to present.

A consequence of this minor victory however was that Regalia herself had been forced to contend with Forrester Cairns and his ability to fly which made him very difficult to counteract; it was a small mercy that the hirsute Flying Squirrel Faunus was unable to effectively aim or fire his weapon, a mace with a blunt but ridged and brutal looking head which doubled as the cylinder of a comically oversized revolver capable of firing far too many shots in succession which Regalia had learned was named 'Tree-Feller' and it had been this which had allowed Regalia to come to Athena-Jade's assistance and remove Gin from the battlefield.

Though now it was clear that Forrester intended to make her pay for it.

"Aww nuts!" she yelled out as a gunshot whizzed by her shoulder and threatened to send her toppling from her perch into water which she was not entirely certain constituted part of the arena; she hastily aimed Apex Scavenger and opened fire almost blindly with her shotgun, unable to spare the loss of focus on her immediate surrounding that would come with using her Semblance and being made painfully aware of the fact that she had missed her mark by the rush of air that announced another airborne attack.

"REGALIA GET CLEAR!" hearing Athena's yell the Racoon Faunus simply leapt free of the pillars, acting on trust and instinct alone and managing to narrowly avoid what would have been an utterly crushing swing of Tree-Feller in its' mace form which the large and burly Vaccuan student had launched the moment he had secured his footing.

Even as she fell Regalia could see Athena-Jade use the latest evolution of her Semblance to pounce and scale the vertical surface with her own blunt melee weapon at the ready, though Forrester evidently did not plan to stand and fight and instead took to the air once more which forced the Bear Faunus to give chase to the best of her abilities.

Though it did allow Regalia a moment to seek out Astra, finding them a moment later as they were all but flung backwards into view; the hard-light field projected by Buckshot Ares flickering as it weathered another lethal slash of Rio's curved sabre, which could also double as some sort of ranged weapon if the components that Regalia could see were any indication.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE EVEN WITH THAT MOVE OF HERS SLATE IS STRUGGLING TO GET TO GRIPS WITH CAIRNS!" Qrow's voice rang through the stadium and the flash of light which could only have come from Mould-Breaker being discharged seemed to give both Regalia and Astra a moment of clarity as they shared a single, tense glance which could have held an entire conversation given how well they had come to know one another's plans and thinking.

Athena had unveiled her crowd-pleasing technique, it was now time for Astra to do the same.

"COME GET SOME!" Regalia bellowed as she hurtled towards Rio, her weapon shifting into its' pickaxe-headed quarterstaff as she did so and promptly swinging at her opponents' gut; Rio responded with a somersault over the attack, blocking the follow up blow with the harpoon tip which formed the opposite end of the weapon and using a twirling flourish of his sabre to spin away, offering a bow and a smile as he did so.

"TORMENTOSO IS DEFINITELY PUTTING ON A SHOW DOWN THERE" Qrow noted "HOLDING OFF TWO PEOPLE AND MAKING IT LOOK GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE AT HOME, NO DOUBT HE'S GONNA HAVE SOME FANS BY THE END OF TODAY"

"Sorry I won't be one of them pretty boy" Regalia chuckled shifting her weapon to its' shotgun mode and firing, far less interested in appealing to the cameras in that moment than she was simply keeping Rio busy as Astra prepared their Semblance.

The fiery red glow that washed over her from behind and sheer wall of noise that closed in on her from all sides as the crowd exploded into cheers making it clear that she had succeeded.

"ASTRA MARS'S SEMBLANCE IS DEFINITELY AN EYE CATCHING ONE! RIO TORMENTOSO MIGHT PUT ON A SHOW BUT IT LOOKS LIKE TEAM MARZ CAME TO UPSTAGE PEOPLE!" Yang Xiao Long yelled into her microphone, the words seeming to be the final push needed for Astra to lunge forward with the Aura-self enveloping them entirely and duck low, aiming to deliver a single blow with a giant fist which would have battered Rio only for the caped young man to duck into a crouch and allow the attack to pass over him whilst at the same time stabbing his blade down into the soft ground in a way which sent chills down Regalia's spine and made her bushy tail stand on end.

The move seemed far to well rehearsed and the swirling blue light which enveloped Rio was all the confirmation she needed.

"ASTRA MOVE!" Regalia tried to turn and sprint towards her partner only to find herself unable to do so; looking down she was horrified to see that the solid ground beneath her feet had begun to liquidize itself, becoming a sludgy mire whilst retaining its' original colour and texture on its' uppermost layer; the same effect extending to where Astra's construct-form was now held firmly in place, forcing the Deer Faunus to either relent or endure the coming onslaught.

"AN AMAZING COUNTER FROM RIO TORMENTOSO WITH HIS OWN SEMBLANCE, CAPABLE OF TURNING ANY SOLID FLOOR AROUND HIM TO A NEAR LIQUID STATE...WE DON'T THINK THAT RUSSET AND MARZ WILL SINK OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE ARENA BUT IT GIVES THEM SOMETHING TO CONTEND WITH!" Qrow could not help but sound overly impressed at the skill on display, his opinion being given additional context by Yang as she quickly chimed in.

"AND IT PAIRS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL WITH HIS PARTNERS' FLIGHT" there was a collective intake of breath from the crowd which set alarm bells ringing in Regalia's mind "AND CAIRNS HAS MANAGED TO SHAKE OFF SLATE! HERE HE COMES!"

And then Regalia's world exploded into pain.

The scream that escaped her was agonised as Forrester hurtled in close and swung his mace at full force into her chest and left her Aura visibly fluctuating around her entire body as air was forced from her lungs and fire and broken glass rushed to claim the space, all of her senses being rocked into incoherence save for her awareness of her own body which was consumed almost entirely by the waves of agony coming from her legs which had been trapped within the altered ground and forced into odd angles almost to breaking point by the forces exerted on them.

"THAT WAS A BIG HIT! RUSSET IS STILL IN THE GAME BUT SHE'S LOOKING VERY-"

"AND THERE'S ASTRA MARS LOOKING LIKE THEY TOOK THAT VERY PERSONALLY! AN ASTRA-NOMICAL AMOUNT OF FIREPOWER!" Yang cut through Qrow's assessment of the situation and Regalia, through her pain was vaguely aware of the fact that Forrester hadn't delivered a finishing blow to the face of the back of her head whilst she was prone and defenceless and the reason became apparent in short order as the sound of compact Mini-guns sawed at the air, implying that Astra had abandoned their Semblance to come to her aid; the warm and fuzzy feeling in the Raccoon Faunus's belly that this knowledge brought being swallowed a moment later by the realisation that if Rio were to use his Semblance again then Astra would be almost as headless as she had been.

And then there was a deafening impact from somewhere above her and with her senses steadily reasserting themselves Regalia became aware of a few things at once in a jumbled, disorienting way.

Firstly, something had slammed into Forrester Cairns with tremendous force and sent him crashing to the stadium floor as he tried to take flight.

Secondly, as a consequence of this Rio Tormentoso had been forced to release his Semblance to prevent himself from accidentally ensnaring his own partner, which allowed Regalia to pull herself back onto a solid surface; though standing was so difficult that she was forced to accept with a sinking feeling that she would likely be unable to contribute anything further in terms of direct combat.

Thirdly and most interestingly of all in an almost nonsensical way, that the entire match had come to a halt whilst the crowd and announcers erupted into deafening noise which washed over Regalia and jumbled into itself in so many ways that it was rendered entirely impossible to distinguish and as such the Racoon Faunus's only real clue was the direction that the majority of gazes seemed to be turned.

Upwards.

Behind her goggles her own purple eyes widened in shock as she saw that it had been Athena-Jade who had relieved Forrester Cairns of his prior air superiority and it was she who had captured the attention of every pair of eyes within the stadium as she revealed that what she had revealed thus far was not the final and completed form of her new technique.

She had chosen that moment to show all of Remnant exactly what she was capable of and it was awesome in a way few could match.


Far away from the Capital City of Neo Vale and the enormous festival which had overtaken it those with ill-intent were using the Vytal Tournament as a welcome distraction from their own affairs.

In Chairman Damascus Nero's mind the final moments of the plan, where their goals would be revealed to all of Remnant had drawn so close that operating solely in the shadows and through unknowing proxies was no longer viable and to that end Carmesi Hueso had been tasked with bringing key voices and figures within the ranks of their usual agents and cats' paws more fully into the fold; a task which would have fallen to Petrol had the avian Faunus not proven himself to be unsuited to it prior to his own demise.

Carmesi with his usual bluntness and disdain for those he was currently forced to tolerate had almost predictably used coercion and abduction to gather the people he needed.

"Follow me" he rumbled out, hellish red eyes regarding the small crowd gathered before him as the last of their number stepped out of the vehicles they had travelled in; seeing the hesitation amongst them he bared sharp teeth in a smile which contorted his scaled features into something ferocious "Or you can stay here indefinitely, I'll have one of you friends dig the hole"

"Man this is some bull-" the complaint from one of the gathered faces was silenced by a backhand that left the speaker barely clinging to consciousness before Carmesi turned and departed without another word, the crowd exchanging a few nervous glances amongst themselves before following after him.

They were the leaders and potential replacements for leaders whose own loyalty or abilities were in question of the various gangs whose cooperation could still be relied upon in the wake of the various problems Petrol had caused after violently forcing the various factions within the city into compliance and whilst they were, in the Komodo Dragon Faunus's mind a group of detestable wretches their presence was a necessary evil; they would be the initial members of the fighting force Nero intended to create in order to both overtake and replace the Hunters until more suitable and decent soldiers could be assembled and it had been decided that it was time for them to learn of their purpose despite how utterly undeserving of it they truly were. To this end Carmesi had visited each of them in turn, finding each of them whilst they were alone and offering them the choices of willing compliance, the indignity of being blindfolded, gagged and stuffed into the back of a truck or simply being killed and left for their friends and family to find before driving out of Neo Vale, several hours away from the Capital towards some of the Kingdoms outermost settlements where the towns and villages themselves were greatly dwarfed by the vast swathes of land between them.

Where the real planning and work had been done.

"Spread out, be silent and watch" he rumbled out as he brought the small crowd of thugs to the location he had chosen, the peak of an almost sheer rock-face overlooking the western bank of a stretch of winding river whose eastern bank was a sodden mess of churned mud littered with trees which formed the furthest reaching edge of small woodlands close by.

Though the attention of the gangsters was naturally drawn to the ongoing violence.

"Holy shit" one of their number breathed out, prompting Carmesi to debate gutting the idiot and throwing him into the river simply for failing to follow a simple instruction.

Below were a pair of Hunters, young, likely having graduated within the last few years and apparently struggling to find work until they had taken on the task of seeking out the 'New strain of Geist' which Qrow Branwen and his minions had described the Cyber-Grimm as in an effort to discredit and pre-empt their true reveal. Whilst the pair had thus far been successful in their stated goal, largely owing to the Cyber-Grimm having not been deployed for anything more strenuous than field testing against Creatures of Grimm since the events at the Spawning Pit the two Hunters below had at least managed to find enough work to build some confidence and move from village to village tackling relatively minor problems.

Making them the perfect targets for Carmesi's current exhibition.

It had been a small matter to lure them out to this stretch of river with the promise of a reward for felling the nest of writhing salamander Grimm which they were currently engaged and only a marginally more difficult thing for the rogue Hunter to move the Cyber-Grimm into position in such a way that they would go undetected until it was far too late.

"It's time for you to learn what you were really hired for, why your Benefactor has armed you with Mech-suits, why I had some of you brought out to the wilderness to see how you fair against Creatures of Grimm….Why you were united and organised into something more than you were" Carmesi's voice raised in intensity if not in volume and he was certain that the Hunters below were far too distracted to look upwards; around him the gathered criminals shared a fresh round of nervous glances until the reptilian Faunus spoke again.

"You were told that the city is to be yours" Carmesi continued, fighting the urge to snort in disdain at that obvious lie "The Hunters are a corrupt institution, the Benefactor wishes to replace them with something better; an organisation that does not rule from the shadows through fear and lies and coercion….To that end you are to be part of his army, you, your forces and the weapons you were given forming a key part of the command structure-"

"You think we can take on the Hunters?" one of the crooks asked, Carmesi's temper only being kept at bay by the fact that the speaker was at least self aware enough to know their own limitations.

"Yourselves, no" he admitted before chuckling darkly "But with the tools that we have at our disposal now….Our victory is assured"

With those words, at some unseen signal the Cyber-Grimm attacked.

There were yells and panicked outbursts from all parties as the latest batch of the amalgamated horrors Pantheon had helped bring into existence emerged from the nearby treeline, their weapons already unleashing punishing volleys into Grimm and Hunter alike as the machine Grimm spread out and moved in coordinated formation. The criminals were left watching in silent, open-mouthed awe and varying degree of fear as the Creatures of Grimm were rent apart in a matter of moments and the Hunters, seeing the target that they had ventured out into the outer territories for threw themselves into battle.

Their deaths came less than a minute later.

"Ready your people for battle, remain organised, keep your weapons maintained; tell those you trust some of what you saw today and that you are all meant for greater things. You will be told more when you need to know more, but trust that the moment to strike will come soon" Carmesi spoke slowly and calmly, regarding the most gathered gangsters with eyes which bored into the most visibly nervous amongst them before he added.

"Naturally the punishment for anyone who betrays the trust you were shown today will be a painful death, either at my hand or theirs" he gestured down to the Cyber-Grimm which stared obediently up at him.


Athena-Jade Slate had finally succeeded.

Her new technique had brought the entire match to a halt and left the crowd stunned into a silence that was immediately followed up by an uproar of unspeakable proportions which Astra was certain could be heard in all corners of the city. Their team-mate had once again summoned parts of Creatures of Grimm that she had bested and was using them as extensions of herself though where before she had relied solely on the claws and overlong lupine limbs of Beowolves Athena had this time taken parts of a Nevermore or some other similar winged monsters as well; meaning that the Bear Faunus now hung in the air with her weapon in its' hammer form clutched in a single hand and a pair of clawed Beowolf limbs reaching out from behind her back close to her hips whilst she was kept aloft by the powerful beats of a pair of enormous and glowing white feathered wings.

For Astra it was inspiring and whilst the urgency of the situation and the hints of a furious red haze creeping over their vision at the way excessive force had been used against a pinned Regalia and her scream of pain were both still very much present they were joined by a sense optimistic determination, a genuine belief that Team MARZ could emerge victorious and with it came the beginnings of the familiar racing in Astra's mind as hope became plans which would then become action.

Though the remaining members of Team CRAG knew better than to let Astra Mars begin putting their plans into motion.

"HOLD 'EM STILL!" Forrester called out to his partner whilst in the same moment bringing his Semblance howling into life, the air currents visible as they rushed and whipped around him; flinging off dirt and debris after he had sent careening by Athena.

"IT LOOKS LIKE CAIRNS AND TORMENTOSO HAVE AN IDEA!" Qrow declared, happily feeding into the crowd' excitement.

"THEY'RE GONNA NEED ONE! IT LOOKS SLATE IS BACK ON THE MOVE!" Yang added with equally electric energy, prompting Astra to pay more close attention.

Forrester had taken to the air in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to ram Athena-Jade and take her out of the sky despite being unable to effectively use his weapon as using his Semblance along with the flaps of skin that would enable him to glide limited the way he could move his arms; in response to this Athena had already pivoted in the air and proven beyond doubt that she was as fluid and agile here as in any other style of fighting she chose and landed a hefty blow to Forrester's back which had threatened to send him crashing to the ground once again, he had remained airborne however and begun leading the flying Bear Faunus away, forcing her to chase him and focus her attention as she shifted her weapon into its' ranged form with flashes of ephemeral green light following soon after.

Just as Rio Tormentoso began to make his presence felt again, causing Astra to begin slinking slowly into the liquidized surface of the stadium.

"AJ!" the Deer Faunus called out, gesturing wildly to the cape-wearing and suave swordsman of Team CRAG; desperately trying to make themselves heard and understood "Switch targets! Rio's Semblance won't work on you!"

"IT LOOKS LIKE TEAM MARZ HAVE A COUNTER TO THE COUNTER, THIS IS SOME REALLY HIGH LEVEL PLAY WE'RE SEEING HERE PEOPLE!" Qrow declared proudly "BUT I DON'T THINK CAIRNS IS GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN WITHOUT A FIGHT!"

"Shit!" Astra spat as they saw Forrester come hurtling out from behind Athena-Jade, making another effort to distract her and keep her at bay so that she would be unable to intervene and handle Rio from the air; showcasing how the pair likely fought together in most real world situations.

Astra, with the ground still slowly giving way beneath them and having already claimed their mobility aimed Buckshot Ares and unleashed the short, controlled bursts of rapid gunfire but was quickly forced to halt as the ongoing dogfight between the two flying students became too dynamic for it to be worth the risk of hitting Athena.

And then a single projectile surged upwards and halted Forrester, catching him by the ankle in an undignified and almost certainly painful way.

"RUSSET IS STILL IN THE GAME!" Yang cheered.

"AFTER SUCH A HEAVY HIT AND ARGUABLY UNSPORTING HIT FROM CAIRNS HE REALLY SHOULD HAVE MADE SURE TO TAKE HER OUT, NOW HE'S PAYING FOR IT!" Qrow noted "HER AURA WAS NEVER DEPLETED, SHE NEVER TAPPED OUT AND SHE NEVER LEFT THE ARENA….THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN AFFORD TO OVERLOOK"

"My trap is baited and set, and then revenge! Ah, revenge!" the Racoon Faunus cackled dementedly as she used the harpoon of Apex Scavenger to limit Forrester's movement; she was still unable to stand and still in obvious pain even with her face obscured. Her Aura visibly rippled around her under the strain of her exertions and as she began to be dragged across the ground, Forrester using his noteworthy physical strength along with his Semblance and Aura to power through the air and turn his captors' own gambit against her by physically and painfully swinging Regalia through the air, towards Team MARZ's side of the arena and sending her crashing back-first into one of the stone pillars.

"AND THAT'S RUSSET'S AURA BROKEN! REGALIA RUSSET IS OUT MAKING THIS A TWO ON TWO FIGHT TO THE FINISH!" Astra gritted their teeth at that, wincing at how painful the impact had looked and the following splash as the Racoon Faunus fell into the cold and swirling water without her Aura to aid her.

The expression quickly turned into a confident, if feral and somewhat bloodthirsty smile however as the reality of the situation was driven home.

Regalia's distraction had worked and Astra resolved to do something nice for her to repay her.

There was a rush of air as Athena-Jade dove low, almost touching the ground but still unaffected by Rio's Semblance as she hurtled towards him and in the next instant Astra felt the ground beneath their feet solidify once again as Rio Tormentoso had his concentration broken completely; Athena slamming into him with her hammer and whilst he managed to use his sword to block the initial strike the pair of glowing Beowolf arms that she kept as part of this new iteration of her latest technique quickly reached out and seized the swordsman and allowed the Bear Faunus to carry him up towards the highest point within the domed forcefield.

Forrester Cairns tried to fly after Athena-Jade, using her preoccupation to his advantage but before he could reach her Astra was after him; Semblance reasserting itself in another expanding wave of fiery red light now that they were free to act and move without the effects of Rio's Semblance.

"AND THIS MIGHT JUST BE IT!" Yang's voice filled the air and yet Astra, for all their eagerness to make their former teacher proud and show that the time and effort she had put into them had been worth it barely heard her. Instead for several seconds that lasted an entire age the Deer Faunus's focus was narrowed to nothing more than themselves, Forrester Cairns and the space between them until finally, with their blazing Aura construct still expanding Astra bent their right arm and drove their elbow upwards; the size of the construct making the point of contact engulf the Flying Squirrel Faunus's entire torso and slam them upwards into the surface of the shielding which buzzed and thrummed under the assault.

"WHAT A HIT!" Qrow's voice was ragged with the force of his own cheering as he sought to be heard over the crowd and yet Astra was not done, reaching up to grab a dazed but still conscious Forrester in a giant, glowing hand before seeking out Athena-Jade who continued to grapple with and maul Rio in the air.

"AJ! LET'S FINISH THIS OFF!" the Deer Faunus yelled, rearing their hand back and pitching Forrester towards the Bear Faunus. Athena-Jade responded by spinning in mid-air and throwing Rio Tormentoso with her glowing Beowolf claws, the angle and timing perfectly calculated to ensure that the two partners collided in mid-air and from there Athena swooped towards the pair at blinding speed as they began to fall, engaging the Dust booster in the head of her hammer to deliver a final, unspeakably powerful blow.

Forrester Cairns and Rio Tormentoso tore a trench into into surface of the arena as they hit the ground.

"AND THAT'S THE MATCH!" Yang yelled.

FORRESTER CAIRNS AND RIO TORMENTOSO ARE BOTH IN THE RED! THAT'S A DOUBLE TAKE-DOWN AFTER AN AMAZING HIT FROM ATHENA-JADE SLATE AND SET UP FROM ASTRA MARZ! TEAM MARZ WILL BE ADVANCING INTO THE DOUBLES ROUND!"

"We did it, I can't believe it we actually did it!" Astra turned at the sound of a voice in their ear and found that Athena-Jade, with her wings still spread and hammer held aloft victoriously had landed on the shoulder of Astra's Aura-self to thundering applause.

"We can do anything, we're Team MARZ" Astra managed to breath out weakly before the first fits of exhausted and almost delirious laughter began to pass through them. Hearing the name of their team being chanted by countless thousands of fans Astra remained as they were, Semblance in full effect for a moment longer; giving the image of themselves and Athena-Jade with their abilities on full display to be captured with a degree of certainty and pride in the fact that it would go on to become one of the defining moments of the tournament and something that could well be recreated on posters.

Then, just as their strength began to waver Astra released their Semblance and rushed, even whilst staggering towards Regalia in order to help her out of the arena and onto a waiting stretcher.

It never occurred to Astra that this itself might become another popular and gossiped about image.

Author's Notes:

So, funny thing. I actually didn't write this chapter until a few weeks after Chapter 93.
I wrote the MHA story "Training Buddies" and three chapters of my Parahumans Story "Fifty-Three Seventy" between chapters of this story during my Christmas break from work.
I was worried I might have lost my vibe and the feel of things, thinking that maybe taking a break like that right after ending on a cliffhanger would mess me up….I feel like my worries were misplaced because I honestly had a lot of fun writing this and feel like I did it justice.
Seriously though, the interaction between different Semblances and making a tournament-fodder team feel like there weren't just there to be dismantled and could actually pose a threat was tricky but thoroughly enjoyable.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Is there a more perfect movie quote for Regalia to open up with?
And today Astra becomes Astra Senpai to the current batch of Signal kids.
The Flying Squirrel Faunus who is more shirt-phobic than Sun Wukong, he's been a background character since we got to Neo Vale and now we see why.
I behaved myself with the Yang puns, but I had to write at least a couple or what would be the point.
Figuring out how much description to give each of Team CRAG at the start of the chapter Vs their individual scenes was a balancing act….Also I'm fairly sure I've used a couple of these names for background characters at other points in the Spiral-Verse; but honestly if Rooster Teeth can get away with putting two different characters called May in RWBY.
AJ's crowd reaction completely shutting down Astra being announced….Harsh but expected.
Choosing arenas that complimented the kind of fight I wanted this to be but didn't add too many additional factors was another tricky bit….And yes Yang made a Pokemon joke about the tall grass.
That was not the first impression Astra wanted to make.
If you are surprised that the flying squirrel can fly then I don't honestly know what to tell you.
Having Team TRQS in the stands was honestly just a nice way to break up the chapter by switching perspectives and camera angles.
The Mouse Faunus eats his junk food slathered in melted cheese, to nobodies' surprise.
The birds' eye view was a good way to show off who is facing who without focusing too much on any one fight for a moment.
Team SHMR already won their match, with Snapdragon making herself the example Nero used to show why Hunters are dangerous last chapter.
Of course Tiger plans ahead.
"Sometimes it's all the way….and it's not his tong-"….I am not sorry; but yeah...Throatgoat Snapdragon confirmed lol
Tiger is right, Zirconia is a rogue; she's not meant for tournament showdowns.
Acacia's design was heavily inspired by Rika from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
Her Semblance was actually based on Jack Slash from Worm/Parahumans except its' a whip instead of knives.
Yeah if the opponents' were dumb enough to run straight into the obvious trap then this would have been over in minutes; but the counter-plays were fun.
We don't see enough of Zirconia's Semblance….But she was right in her reasons for turning it off here; besides turning the lights on and off is just as good of a way to blind and disorient.
Surprise, if Zirconia loses it's because she planned to all along.
I felt like it had to be pointed out that these kids have spent months training together at this point so AJ knows to dodge Gin's touch.
The trash talk was cheap but AJ was dumb for falling for it.
Of course AJ went for the revenge kill, eat laser.
AJ got the moment she wanted, absolutely stealing the show with the new move from the Vol.05 finale.
Gin almost pulled off the sacrifice play and disabled AJ but she didn't count on Regalia…..With the steel chair and another one liner.
Yeah Regalia Vs Forrester is a bad match up for her, but she managed to make it work for a while.
I can't remember exactly who it was I based my mental image of Rio on, but he is one of the students who will be on posters just based on how hot he is.
His Semblance is based on Mud-Man from MHA, which is a great counter and also pairs really well with Forrester.
Yeah that was a really nasty hit Regalia just took there, her legs were stuck in place so that was almost two shattered limbs.
The Astra and Regalia moments are just funny at this point.
But now AJ is back and we get to have some real fun….Right after the commercial break.
It was mentioned last chapter that Carmesi had taken a new batch of Cyber-Grimm out for testing.
The thing with running a conspiracy is large and wide-reaching as this one is that eventually you can't have all of your people in the dark, they have to know what the goals are in order to carry them out.
So Qrow and co put the word out about the Cyber-Grimm but described them as just an adapted Geist as a way to make sure that any Hunters who encountered them were prepared and to make sure there were people looking for them….Nero and co have retaliated by using fake reports of where the Cyber-Grimm are to lure Hunters into traps for field testing.
Carmesi doesn't do the big, grand speeches….But he can achieve the results he wants with less words.
Should probably hold back on the casual violence and death threats though.
Having the reveal of AJ's new power up be shown from the perspective of the people looking up at her just felt more fitting….Now I'm thinking about it Regalia should have made an "Is it a bird, is it a plane?" joke, maybe in another chapter.
As soon as Team MARZ started working like a team and switching opponents and getting combos set up it was a definite win really.
You think I specifically had Regalia still be in the game for no reason? Nope, she's getting off one last good moment and a Robin Hood quote.
Might just be one of the most 'Anime bullshit' moments I've ever written and the best possible ending to a tournament fight….That was an excellent combo between two ridiculously OP Semblances.
The moment with AJ looking some sort of feral angel perched on Astra's Semblance is cinematic as hell and I wish I could draw just to get the idea out of my head and show it to you all.
….Oh for fuck sake Astra, you know she's hot, you adore her, you know she's into you just kiss her!

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.