Disclaimer: I do not own the blazblue franchise or the RWBY franchise they belong to their respective owners
(A/N) There's something I forgot to mention regarding the poll. I will keep the poll up until I'm ready to start the volume 4 portion of this story. So there's still plenty of time to cast your votes on how I can handle the appearance change.
Chapter 47 Double Trouble
(Festival Grounds)
When the combatants of the next doubles match were announced. Weiss and Bullet wasted no time in looking for Yang and Ruby. After the girls were reunited, they made it their mission to look for Bang and Amane. The reason for this is because when they knew that Bang and Amane's next opponents is I-No. Each of them made it their mission to find Bang and Amane and give them a great deal of motivation and/or incentive to win against I-No and her teammate Axl. Currently, the girls have found the two guys and are giving them a focused look.
"Is everything alright ladies? Because I get the feeling that all of you have something very important to tell us." Amane said to each of the girls in a slightly nervous tone
"Amane, understand that I have a lot of respect for you and Bang's skills. But what we're about to tell you is something very important. You two are NOT To lose your match against I-No. We have nothing against that Axl guy, but I-No is NOT TO WIN NO MATTER WHAT." Yang said with her red eyes to make her point clear
"I agree with my sister 100% on this guys. So don't lose to her no matter what." Ruby said agreeing with Yang
"I appreciate the competitive spirit, but I fail to see why you would emphasize this specific match." Bang told the girls
"Trust me when I tell you two that it would be VERY bad for you both if you lose." Bullet boldly responded to Bang
"Looks like you two need some incentive to win. How about this, if you two win I will guarantee you two as heiress a 20% discount on one elemental dust for a year." Weiss proposed to Amane and Bang
"Would either of you mind explaining why your so adamant on us winning against I-No? Amane asked in a curious tone
"Neither of you two have met her like we have. She's cocky, arrogant, rude, and she insulted us when we first met. She called me a fragile princess and was very rude to me. Both when we first met and during the Grimm Breach." Weiss answered to the guys
"OK, I admit that is a bit mean and disrespectful." Amane responded
"She insulted my mercenary uniform and called me butt-floss." Bullet told the guys
"Insulting person's uniform that is the symbol of a noble group's profession is not acceptable." Bang responded
"She called me a top-heavy bimbo with nappy hair and a bad temper." Yang told the guys
"Your hair is wonderful Yang, don't let her get to you." Amane told Yang
"She also called me a shorty that needs to drink more milk. I'll have you know that I drink plenty of milk." Ruby said causing Bang and Amane to share an awkward look
"Um . . . do you wanna field this one Amane?" Bang asked Amane in a cautious tone
"I'm just going to feign ignorance and keep the conversation going." Amane responded before he continued to talk to the girls
"Listen all of you, I know that there is a significant grudge against this I-No person. But that grudge is no reason for you four to give us misguided motivation to win the match against her. Isn't it enough for you all to trust our skills and abilities?" Amane asked the girls
"Again, you'll be changing your attitude when you meet her." Weiss warned in a cautious tone
"Good luck with the match you two and remember, don't lose to her. Or at the very least, knock her out so she won't have that smug look on her face." Yang advised to Bang while having her hand on her shoulder. Though she tightened her grip to emphasize her point.
"We will um . . . . . keep this in mind Yang." Bang said to Yang in a slightly nervous tone
(The Amity Arena)
After getting the motivated pep talk from most of team RWBY and Bullet. Both Amane and Bang made their way to the arena. As the both of them made it to the stage, they were greeted by the loud cheers of the audience. When they looked to see who was in the audience. They saw that their friends were in the audience seats cheering them on. When Bang looked further, he saw Baiken in the audience seats watching him and Amane with a calm expression on her face.
"I hope that I don't disappoint her during this match. She spent a great deal of time training me." Bang told Amane after seeing Baiken in the audience seats
"Bang, I'm sure that your skills came a long way since coming here to Beacon. I'm also confident that your skills improved even further since Baiken started training you. Besides, I'm more curious about our opponents. If most of team RWBY and our own teammate wanted to stress the point of us not losing." Amane said before him and Bang took a look to see their opponents.
"I'm also curious about the people we're fighting against. Above all else, I hope that our opponents are not as bad as our friends claims she is." Bang told Amane
"He better not slip up, if we still have more time for training. I would've been a bit more " Baiken commented to herself
"You need to have some faith in Bang's skills and abilities Baiken. Of the many kids that I look after, Bang has always shown an impressive desire to do good for people. Though I do admit that he does get a bit . . . . excitable and passionate regarding his duties. It doesn't change the fact that he works hard to better himself so he can protect the people." Tenjo said to Baiken while in disguise
"Faith can only do but so much, especially since he has a narrow view of the world. Especially if it gets in the way of him getting results. Remember, nobody thought I would make it as a Huntress when I only had one eye and one arm. Or did you forget about all the students and professors calling me the disabled warrior?" Baiken told Tenjo
"I never insulted you, in fact I never stopped believing that you would be able to make it." Tenjo told Baiken while in disguise
"Your always nice to everyone people, so you don't count. Besides, once you met me, we became friends over time despite our rough start." Baiken commented causing Tenjo to chuckle
"Hmm, not bad, not bad at all." I-No commented after looking at both Bang and Amane
After I-No noticed the to guys, she started to step to the middle of the stage. After she did so, she proceeded to bring out her guitar and play it in a mix of both passionately and intensely to the audience. While I-No was playing her guitar, the audience looked at amazement at how talented I-No is with the guitar. Once I-No was done playing the guitar, she proceeded to take off her jacket and threw it outside the arena. After I-No threw off her jacket. She was wearing a short red leather blouse, that is held together by some straps. The red leather blouse didn't look like it would come off any soon. But it was revealing enough to show a good portion of her upper body.
"That outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination doesn't it?" Pyrrha commented
"Yeah but that doesn't stop the guys from oogling her." Nora said after both her and Pyrrha looked around the audience to see a large number of males and some females enamored at I-No's body
"DON'T GET ANY IDEAS YOU TWO!" Nora yelled at both Jaune and Ren
"I don't know how to respond." Ren told Nora
"Um . . . . ." Jaune said before he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked to see who it belonged to. He saw that it was Makoto. When Jaune looked besides Makoto, he saw his girlfriend Noel and she had a nervous look. As if she's feeling insecure about something
"Anything you want to comment about Jaune?" Makoto asked Jaune while holding his shoulder with her immense strength.
"Why would I look at her like the other guys do. I have an awesome girlfriend and that is more than enough." Jaune told Makoto in a slightly nervous tone
"Excellent response, anything else and I would have convinced Noellers to cook you a lot of food for a month to help you focus on her completely." Makoto told Jaune before she let go of his shoulder. Once Makoto let go, Jaune sees Noel feeling a lot better. But his shoulder started to ache for a second. Which indicated that Makoto used her super strength on him.
"Let me guess, Makoto tried to help keep you out of trouble with Noel?" Ren whispered to Jaune
"Yep, and it worked like a charm." Jaune said as he was rubbing his shoulder
"This isn't something you should see Saya." Celica said while covering Saya's eyes
"The both of you look like a nice catch. What do you two say that after this tournament, I show you a true adult experience?" I-No said while making her cleavage more noticeable to the two guys
"Though your offer is quite um . . . . generous, we must respectfully decline. We have a prior engagement with our teammates and friends." Bang told I-No in a nervous tone
"Has muscles and polite, I wonder how you'll be when I break you into my world. Don't worry, I'll be gentle, and don't think I forgot about you slender and pink." I-No told Amane in a flirtatious tone
"From everything I've heard about you from my teammate and friends. Not to mention from what I'm seeing in person, I can confidently say that you're not my type." Amane told I-No in a calm and casual tone
"That's what they all say, but one night with me and you'll be ruined for everyone." I-No said maintaining her tone from earlier
"I-No, is this really the time for you to act like . . . . well you?" Axl asked his teammate
"Damn it, typical of you to get in the way when I'm about to have some fun." I-No told Axl in a frustrated tone
"I-No, you know how tiring it is to weather complaints regarding you. It's already bad enough that you talk down on the Faunus as badly as you do. But could you at least try to tone it down for a bit?" Axl asked I-No
"If I got it, I flaunt it, I can't help it if so many girls get jealous of something that they don't have. As for the guys, well if they show that they can handle me, then their welcomed to a piece. I even extend my little policy to those animals you call the Faunus." I-No told Axl in a confident tone
"Let's just get this match over." Axl said as he was getting weapon the Kusarigama ready. While I-No was already ready and armed with her guitar. After a brief second, the arena changed to a rocky area with several geysers coming out
"You four may now, BEGIN!" Professor Port announced before both groups split up to fight their respective opponents. Bang would be fighting against I-No while Amane would be fighting against Axl
Bang started things off by throwing several nails at I-No with the hope to keep her at a distance and see what she can do. Unfortunately for Bang, I-No smirked and proceeded to fire at each nail and deflected them with perfect accuracy and little effort. After the nails were deflected by I-No's shots, Bang decided to quickly ran to I-No and proceeded to attack her with a series of quick punches and kicks. Reacting very calmly, I-No was able to dodge all of Bang's attacks with ease. After dodging another punch, I-No used her guitar to attack Bang's side and was able to knock him back. Bang was able to stay in the arena, but after he regained his footing he was hit in the face by a geyser. After he got hit by the geyser, Bang maintained his footing. But had to quickly dodge the guitar gunshots fired by I-No.
"Your light on your feet, but I wonder how long that can last." I-No stated while firing at bang
When Axl was facing Amane, he decided to throw one of his sickles at Amane to make sure that he doesn't try anything. Amane quickly and gracefully dodged the thrown sickle and continued to do so for a few seconds. When Axl realized that Amane would dodge every attack he would throw at him. He decided to try a different approach to deal with the agile fighter. After a second was spent spinning his weapon. Axl decided to repeat his earlier action and throw it at Amane. Before the sickle reached Amane, some dark-blue smoke appeared in front of Amane and the sickle went through it. Another small amount of dark-blue smoke appeared behind Amane and the sickle quickly appeared.
By the corner of his eye, Amane was able to barely notice the sickle and quickly dodged the attack. Once the attack was dodged, the dark-blue smoke dissipated and Axl was holding his weapons. Amane launched his sash at Azl, but the dark-blue smoke appeared again and the sash went through it. To Amane's side, the dark-blue smoke appeared and his sash was launched towards him. Before the sash was able to hit him, Amane dissipated his aura sash preventing him from being hit by his own attack.
"It appears that Axl Low is using his semblance, warp smoke. Which allows him to create smokes that can make him teleport to wherever he pleases. As long as its within reason and that there's another warp smoke he's made is nearby." Dr. Oobleck announced to the audience
After Amane dodged his own redirected attack, he realized that he's going to have to deal with Axl in close quarters. So he decided to run towards Axl as fast as he could. Unfortunately for Amane, before he got too close Axl created another warp smoke and Amane went through it. When Amane came out, he was behind Axl and before he could do anything. Axl proceeded to attack him with his sickle. Reacting quickly and gracefully, Amane proceeded to gracefully dodge Axl's attacks. After dodging several of Axl's attacks, he resumed his pursuit to fight Amane in close quarters. Unfortunately, Axl used his semblance and was able to teleport Amane to a different location. After Amane was teleported, he found himself in the rocky part of the arena with several geyser's coming out. Before Amane could process his location. He was hit on the shoulder and part of his outfit was ripped. When Axl made another attack, Amane was able to quickly dodge the attack and regain his footing. Once Amane regained his footing, he looked at Axl with a smile.
"It's clear that you're an experienced dancer. I supposed that our tango will be very entertaining." Amane said before he continued to fight against Axl
While Amane spent time fighting against Axl, Bang was fighting against I-No. Unfortunately for the Ronin-Gai ninja, I-No is a lot stronger than Bang thought and much more skilled. Every last one of Bang's attacks were easily dodged by I-No and it was becoming a problem. To add insult to injury, I-No didn't even look like she was even trying. After a few more minutes were spent trying to attack I-No through normal means. Bang decided to quickly attach a cloth to a nail and throw it at I-No. Like earlier, I-No easily dodged the nail, but this time when the nail hit the ground. There was a small burst and several nails came bursting out and headed towards I-No.
The red-leather clad warrior wasn't worried but instead remained calm the entire time. After the cloth exploded, I-No was able to quickly block the nails that were heading towards her. By using her guitar to block the nails that were heading for her. After I-No blocked the nails with her guitar. She quickly dodged another punch from Bang with little effort from her. Though at the corner of her eye, I-No noticed that Bang was holding a white ball. When Bang dropped the white ball, there was a large smokescreen appeared and it covered the area.
Despite a large part of the area in smokescreen, I-No remained calmed but constantly looked around to see if Bang would try anything. A brief second later, Bang was able to kick I-No in her stomach and get away from her before she could retaliate. I-No tried to fired at the location Bang was at. The good news is that I-No was missing each shot, the bad news is that she is getting much closer to hitting Bang with her shots. After a few more seconds, Bang was able to land another successful hit on I-No and was able to knock her back.
"Bang is using his tools and skills to give I-No a run for her money. Can the mature and lovely lady find a way to get out of this?" Professor Port announced to the audience while watching the match. After I-No was knocked back by Bang's attack, she managed to regain her footing and had a smirk on her face. After regaining her footing, I-No decided to prep her guitar and had a plan in mind.
"Glad to see that I'm not going to be disappointed in this fight. But I wonder if you can still hold your own after I play a quick melody." I-No said with a smirk before she played her guitar
After I-No played her guitar, she released a powerful sound-based shockwave and was able to blow away the smoke with the shockwave. After the smoke was blown away, I-No saw Bang and started to play her guitar. Once I-No played her guitar, several powerful shockwaves were sent towards Bang. He endured the shockwaves as best as he could, but it was slowly overwhelming him. After enduring the shockwaves for a few more moments, Bang was able to muster up enough strength to throw a red nail at I-No. When the nail got close to I-No, she quickly moved to the side and an explosion quickly followed that came from the red nail.
"FU-RIN-KA-ZAN!" Bang yelled activating his semblance and decided to rush I-No at a blinding speed. Unfortunately for Bang, I-No had a smirk and was able to dodge each of Bang's attacks like earlier. But this time though, I-No had to move much faster, because Bang's attacks are much faster than before.
After avoiding Bang's attacks for a few more seconds, I-No was able to quickly jump back from Bang and make some distance between the two of them. Once the distance was made, I-No fired at Bang but he deflected a good number of the shots. After Bang deflected the shots that fired at him using his gauntlets. He found himself blocking a guitar smash from I-No himself. When Bang attempted to counterattack, I-No was able to either dodge or block everything that Bang does.
"I hate to say it, but I-No is a lot stronger than she looks. She's even able to give Bang a hard time in this fight." Ruby said while watching the fight
"Everything that Bang is doing, I-No is either countering or dodging. If this keeps up, then he's going to be in a lot of trouble. His aura is already at 70% while hers is at 82%." Weiss said while observing the match
Amane has spent a good deal of time fighting against Axl. Unfortunately, the fight between the two mainly consists of Amane gracefully and skillfully dodging each of Axl's weapon attacks. Whenever Axl would swing his Kusarigama at Amane, he would dodge it in a variety of ways. Amane would either move to the side or flip over each of the sickles and avoid the attacks with grace and style. When Axl created several portals to blindside Amane with a surprise attack. The graceful dancer would parry each attack with several kicks or use his sash to knock the sickles back.
"This is going nowhere, I have to kick things up a notch." Axl said before he started to activate the fire dust within his Kusarigama and started to swing them in a circle. As Axl was swinging his weapon in a circle, flames were generated and he was walking closer to Amane.
"Turning up the heat for this dance are you? I appreciate the style, but I would prefer it if my clothes doesn't get singed." Amane said with a smile before he proceeded to dodge the fire-based attacks
Every swing that Axl is making, creates several fire waves that's heading towards Amane. Realizing that deflecting the attacks were no longer an option, Amane decided to put more focus into dodging each attack as best as he can. Dodging the attacks wasn't the problem but being led closer to the edge of the arena is. When Amane realized what Axl is trying to do. He thought of a plan and decided to place small amounts of his aura sash to the ground while making sure that Axl doesn't notice anything. After a few more minutes, Amane was close to the edge while Axl smirked.
"There's nowhere else for you to go mate. I've got you cornered and you have no more options. Keep fighting, and you'll either be burned or knocked off. You put up a good fight, but this is it for you." Axl told Amane in a confident tone
"I've enjoyed this dance myself, and I appreciate the praise your giving me. But you've made a very big mistake. The only place to go now is up." Amane told Axl in a confident tone in response
"What, don't tell me that you know how to fly." Axl told Amane
"I wasn't talking about myself." Amane said with a smirk before he dissolved the aura sash he placed earlier. When Axl looked around in confusion, he felt a rumble and quckly realized where it was coming from once he looked down. When Axl realized what Amane did, he didn't have enough time to react before the geyser spouted underneath Axl and raised him up into the air. Before Axl could do anything to save himself, another geyser spouted underneath Amane and he used it to launch himself towards Axl. When Amane got close to Axl, he wrapped his sash around Axl and threw him outside the arena before he landed.
"That was clever, but I'm not out of this yet. I still have another trick up my sleeve." Axl said before he quickly created two portals to get back to the arena. The second Axl got back to the arena, he found himself being hit with a flurry of slashes. When Axl was able to look, he saw that it was Amane slashing him with his sash. Once Amane was finished hitting Axl with a flurry of aura sash slashes. Amane kicked Axl off the arena. This time he was unable to save himself and was out of bounds.
"Dang it, I-No is going to kill me for this." Axl muttered to himself
"With impressive use of the environment, and his abilities. Amane Nishiki was able to eliminate Axl Low." Professor Port announced to the audience
"Alright, now I-No doesn't stand a chance." Yang said in an excited tone
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Weiss commented causing her nearby friends to look at I-No fighting Bang
Despite activating his semblance, Bang is having a hard time holding his own against I-No. A good portion of Bang's attacks are consistently blocked, parried, or avoided entirely. If Bang is lucky enough to land a hit against I-No. I-No would retaliate with a strong and brutal counterattack that would hurt Bang greatly despite his boost in power. When Bang decided to use his enhanced speed to get closer to I-No, she released a powerful sound-based shockwave once Bang was close. It was powerful enough to knock Bang back and stun him at the same time.
"I . . . can still. . . . keep fighting." Bang said while struggling to stand up. When Bang took a quick glance at the large arena screen, he saw that his aura is at 45% while I-No's is at 64%. When Bang was trying to recover, the giant nail on his back glowed for a moment which has gotten I-No's and Bang's attention. Before anything could happen further, the nail stopped glowing and Bang was slightly confused about what was going on.
Wha . . . what's going on?" Bang asked slightly confused at the development
"Looks like there's more to that giant nail than I thought. I need to end this soon before that thing on his back causes me problems." I-No thought before she focused on Bang
"Quick tip from me, pay more attention to your surroundings." I-No said with a smirk causing Bang to look around. When Bang took a closer look, he saw that there was a large amount of yellow dust around him and had a shocked look on his face.
"Thunder dust makes for great ammo, and an even better sound conductor." I-No said with a smirk before she started to play her guitar. Once the guitar was played, the thunder dust that was near Bang started to discharge a lot of electricity for a few seconds. After the electrical discharge was finished, Bang was greatly injured and started to fall to the ground with his aura depleted.
"With that shocking move by I-No, Bang Shishigami has been eliminated." Dr. Oobleck announced
"Ouch, at least Bang held his own against her. I guess that I-No is a lot stronger than we thought." Ruby told her friends
"I hate to say it but your right, looks like she can walk her talk." Yang told Ruby
"Bang did exceptionally well Baiken, you have nothing to be ashamed of regarding his skills and capabilities." Tenjo told Baiken while in disguise
"I know, to be honest I'm not too surprised that he lost to her. One look at I-No and you can see that she has a lot of skills and experience. More than most other fourth year students tends to have. This just means I need to make sure Bang's training takes his opponents experience into account." Baiken told her friend
"Your right, but looking at the match closely, its like I-No was able to predict everything that Bang was going to do." Tenjo said while observing the fight
After Bang was eliminated, I-No quickly jumped to the side and was able to avoid a sash punch from Amane. Once she dodged the attack, she started to fire at Amane, not wanting to give him the chance to plan anything like with Axl. As Amane was running around I-No, he did various flips while moving to continue avoiding I-No's gunshots. A few seconds later, a geyser sprouted under Amane and he was launched into the air. Seeing this as an opportunity, I-No proceeded to fire at Amane while he was in the air.
Reacting quickly, Amane rolled forward allowing him to be protected by his sash before he landed. Once Amane landed, I-No had a smirk on her face and was prepared to play her guitar like earlier. This time, Amane was prepared, because a split second before I-No played her guitar. Amane threw the thunder dust at I-No, thus putting I-No into her own trap.
"OH S#!T" I-No yelled in surprise before the thunder dust gave off the powerful electrical discharge that she was caught in
"Can I-No be disqualified for using foul language?" Noel asked
"No but it is heavily looked down upon." Pyrrha answered while watching the match
"Alright, I-No is done." Ruby said in a happy tone
"I don't think so Ruby, look a bit closer." Yang said causing Ruby to take a second look and see that I-No rushed towards Amane at a blinding speed.
"She's a lot stronger than she looks, I see why Bang was having trouble with her." Bullet said voicing her thoughts
"I noticed that Bang's aura weapon was glowing for a second but stopped. Did something happen to him that's preventing him from using it?" Ruby asked in a curious and concerned tone
"I don't know, but whatever the situation is. It doesn't matter right now and we need to focus on what's going on now." Bullet said while watching the match
A quick second after I-No ran out of the dust cloud. She was able to have a clash against Amane. The clash consists of I-No's guitar against Amane's kick covered in his sash. After the clash was made, the both of them jumped back and space was made between the two. Before Amane decided to do anything, he was caught off guard by I-No laughing.
"Hahahahaha." I-No laughed which surprised Amane
"Did you find something funny?" Amane asked in a curious tone
"I'm just laughing at myself, I finally noticed something that I should seen much sooner. I can't believe I'm such an idiot." I-No briefly told Amane
"Would you care to explain further, all of a sudden you now have me curious?" Amane asked while on guard
"Let's just say that I've figured out your little secret." I-No told Amane
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an open book, I have no secrets that I'm keeping from people." Amane responded to I-No
"Sure keep telling everyone that. You know what, if we keep fighting like this, then this'll end up being a draw. The tiebreakers that will follow will make this more of a pain in the ass than its worth. So you know what, I surrender you can have this win. I had my fun and had a nice workout. Good luck with your team for the tournament. You seem to know your stuff, but I bet if you keep observing things, you'll end up learning more." I-No said putting emphasis on the word observing. Causing Amane to give her a focused look.
"Now don't look at me like that, I just happen to be much more knowledgeable and perceptive than I look. The things that I want is nothing for you to worry about. But if you and musclehead want to take up my offer. Then all you have to do is look me up." I-No said as she was leaving the arena
"Once again, not interested." Amane said before he left to tend to Bang
"Well that was quite the quick development. Since I-No has left the arena first, team BLST are the winners and will proceed to the finals." Professor Port announced to a cheering audience
"Aw man, I was looking forwards to seeing that I-No get a beating." Yang said in a slightly disappointed tone
"I supposed we'll have to settle for her surrendering the match. It's still a plus for us, but its just not the same." Weiss said sharing in Yang's disappointment
"At least we can look forward to more matches. By the way, do any of you know where Ragna is?" Ruby asked causing Yang to respond
"He's probably gone to get some last minute training done. I guess he wants to take some of the edge off since the doubles and finals round will be happening today." Yang told Ruby
"That's if Ragna and Makoto wins their doubles round." Weiss quickly stated
"Ye of little faith Weiss, are you saying that because your boyfriend isn't fighting in the doubles round?" Yang said in a teasing tone to Weiss
"For your information, I know that both of them are very strong. But Ragna has much less coordination than Ruby. Because Ragna has little to no teamwork coordination with his team. Noel and Makoto knows each others strengths and weaknesses which allows them to coordinate in harmony with each other. Jin knows how Noel and Makoto fights and can easily adept to their fighting styles. Ragna on the other hand only does the bare minimum and in team based activities, he's at a significant disadvantage. In the doubles round, his coordination skills will be tested to there fullest." Weiss explained to everyone she's with
"You do have a good point, but don't forget that there are other factors that can affect the battle aside from coordination. So the bare minimum in terms of coordination might be enough if the both of them could come up with a plan on the spot." Bullet explained voicing her opinion
"So your saying that if you and Weiss ended up fighting Ragna and Makoto, They would lose because we have the better teamwork?" Ruby asked
"Precisely, so I hope for their sake that their current level of collaborated skills can pull them through." Weiss stated
"Or at the very least, one of them is so strong that they can handle two strong people." Ruby quickly said in an optimistic tone
(The Forest near the Fairgrounds)
Ragna spent a good deal of time practicing with his weapon alone and separated from everyone else. After taking the picture with Jin, Saya, and Celica, he had a quick talk with Jin about things that's been happening recently. The bad news is that neither of them weren't able to find anything that could be used against Cinder in terms of evidence. Making things worse is that thanks to an unintended slip up from Jaune, Cinder knows that Jin is Ragna's and Saya's brother. Which also confirms that he has a connection to Celica. Ragna wanted to yell in fury and find and kill Cinder.
Fortunately, Jin warned him that knowing their related doesn't prove anything. Not to mention that Jin pointed out to Ragna that stopping the breach with his power already put a target on his back. Eventually Ragna calmed down and the brothers were lost at what Cinder could do with the information. Being related to someone wasn't illegal in any way, though they did have to acknowledge that there is a chance that Cinder could suspect that Ragna went to Jin for help. The main thing that calmed Ragna down so he could focus on the tournament is that Jin said he would always near Celica and Saya in case something happened. Also while Jin left to investigate, he would have one of their friends keep an eye on them to make sure nothing happens. Since Celica has the worst sense of directions (Which is unfortunately true)
"Damn, its like that arrogant bitch is always one step ahead of me. Or if she's not ahead, luck is on her side. If anything happens to either of them because of her, I don't know what I'll do." Ragna said as he was swinging his sword. After a few more swings, Ragna's sword slipped for his hand and got stuck on a nearby tree.
Ragna made a motion to go and grab his sword, but before he went closer. Ragna stopped to think about his realization about his new ability. First he was being able to absorb memories, then he was able to copy some else's semblance. Even though he used those abilities once, Ragna still wants to see what more can he do with his new powers. While he was thinking about this, he took a look at Bloodedge and thought about its special function that Rachel told him about.
"That rabbit said that my power is connected to Bloodedge for some reason. I wonder if I can . . . ." Ragna said as he was reaching out his hand reaching for his sword. After concentrating for a few seconds, Ragna's sword made some slight movement. When Ragna increased his concentration for a few more moments. Ragna's sword went to him, like a sword is returning to its rightful owner.
"Woah, looks like I can bring Bloodedge back to me from a distance. Guess it'll save me some time looking for it. I bet if I put some thought into it, it can be really useful in battle." Ragna muttered to himself before he made a motion to leave
"Not bad." A female voice said causing Ragna to quickly be on guard. When Ragna looked around to find the source of the voice. He was able to find a woman standing on a tree. The woman has long black hair and is holding a weapon case that contains a katana. What made the woman stand out further, is the mask she's wearing that is very similar to the mask of the Grimm. Ragna can see that the woman is not a member of the White Fang. But it is clear that there is a lot more to the woman than he's seeing.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Ragna asked the woman
"I was in the neighborhood and I decided to check out the local talent. You'll know who I am soon, but first there's something we need to discuss." The woman said to Ragna in a calm tone
"I don't discuss things with people whose name I don't know. I don't even know what you look like, so how am I supposed to listen to you?" Ragna told the woman while on guard
"Trust me boy, I wouldn't be here only to be wasting either of our time. One of us can walk away and we never see each other again. Or we can have a civilized discussion, because you intrigue me Ragna the Bloodedge." The woman told Ragna
"You must've been paying attention to the tournament if your calling me by that name." Ragna commented to the woman
"I pay attention to a lot of things, including the things your capable of. Like how you were able to hold your own against the infamous Mad Dog Azrael. An accomplishment that not a lot of people can claim so easily." The woman said to Ragna
"You know who that sadistic freak is?" Ragnaa asked the woman
"I'm much more knowledgeable than I look. I saw the whole thing and I'm impressed at your skills and capabilities. Then you impressed me once again when you fought that Atlus Specialist and held your own amazingly well." The woman told Ragna
"As much as I appreciate you telling me the things I've done. You need to get to the point on why you're here." Ragna told the woman slowly losing his patients
"The reason I'm here is quite simple, I want you to join my tribe." The woman told Ragna
"You want me to join your tribe?" Ragna told the woman
"That's right, I'm not telling you the name because we have a bit of an infamous reputation. But after spending some time seeing you in action, I can tell that you would be a great addition to our family. Besides, I heard what you said to that Schnee and I've done some research on you. We're similar in several ways and I get the feeling that we want the same thing. Your skills, beliefs, and power, it would be nothing short of a shame for your talents to go to waste at Beacon Academy." The woman told Ragna
"Since you mentioned your tribe has an infamous reputation, it's safe to say that your tribe are bandits. I've been around the Kingdoms to know the kind of damage that people like you cause." Ragna told the woman ready to swing his sword
"We are seen as bandits I admit, but we do what we need to do to survive. Since you've been around the Kingdoms, you know that the Kingdoms don't really care about everyone's well-being. Why do you think that there's so many villages trying to form their communities away from the Kingdoms? Ronin-Gai is doing well for itself, but how long do you think it'll be before the Kingdoms turns on them to make themselves look powerful? I know that I've made some mistakes doing the things I do. But as the leader of my tribe, I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family. Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to protect your own family?" The woman explained to Ragna causing him to think for a second
"You have no idea what I'm prepared to do to protect my family." Ragna said as he was grabbing his sword
"Then you can relate to my position. In time, you'll make a great addition to our family. I know you have a tournament to fight and win, so I'll give you some time to think it over. I've told some members of the tribe of your exploits and they are quite impressed with you. You join our tribe, and there's no doubt in my mind that you'll have quite the following. But I'll give you some time to think all this over." The woman said before she created a portal
"I still don't know who you are." Ragna told the woman causing her to take off her mask and look at Ragna. The woman has bold red eyes and when Ragna thinks on it further, she reminds him of Yang.
"My name is Raven Branwen, if you want to know more about me. Just ask my brother, he's the one who argued with that Atlus specialist." Raven said before she walked through the portal
"Will Ragna and Makoto please come to the arena. It is currently time for your match." The announcement said which has gotten Ragna's attention
"Good thing this tournament will help take my mind off of things." Ragna said before he left to go to the arena while thinking about Raven's words
(The Amity Arena)
"Where were you, I was afraid that they were going to disqualify us when it took you a while to get back." Makoto told Ragna
"I was out doing some training and thinking, can you blame me for trying to get ready for the tournament. If we win this then I get to go to the finals." Ragna responded
"What makes you think that I don't want to fight in the finals?" Makoto asked
"Then I guess your ready to fight against Sol in the finals?" Ragna asked causing Makoto to have a brief chill through her spine at the thought of fighting Sol
"You know what, given that you get in trouble a lot with the Professors at Beacon. It would be best if you have a chance in the spotlight. If I win, I could end up stealing your thunder and we don't want that." Makoto told Ragna
"Glad to see we're in agreement about me fighting in the finals." Ragna said in a confident tone to Makoto
"That's if we win, remember Ragna we haven't really fought together. I mean you have a basic idea on how to work with my fighting style. But nothing too in depth like team RWBY, JNPR, or BLST has with each other." Makoto briefly explained to Ragna
"Then we'll just have to adjust on the fly. Worst case scenario, we just need to split them up to make things easier for us. Besides, its not like we're fighting family members or something." Ragna said in a confident tone
"Now here's a real treat for you all. Both Ragna and Makoto will be fighting against the Valentine sisters who just happens to coincidently be on the same team from Shade Academy. Ragna and Makoto will be fighting against Ramlethal and her sister Elphelt." Professor Port announced to the cheering audience
"Ever heard of a thing called tempting fate?" Makoto asked an embarrassed Ragna in a sarcastic tone. A brief second later, two ladies came to the stage. One of them who is Ramlethal has dark skin with amber eyes and is wearing a white outfit. As for weapons, she's wielding to katanas on each side that is in there sheaths. As for her sister Elphelt, she has pink hair and is wearing a white dress with some red trims.
"When I've heard that we would be fighting against team RJNN. I was looking forward to testing my skills against the Hero of Vale. When your bested in battle, please do not bore me before you lose." Ramlethal said to Ragna and Makoto
"Fair warning for you, I'm a lot stronger than the Hero of Vale. So the second you underestimate me, is the second your guaranteed to lose." Ragna said in a confident tone
"We work pretty well together, but I hope that we can enjoy ourselves at least." Elphelt said in an optimistic tone. When Makoto looked at her, she started to feel a bit light-headed. Ramlethal and Elphelt didn't notice it, but Ragna was able to notice
"That Elphelt girl, now that I look at her she's pretty cute. Maybe I can . . . no, I have to focus on the match. But I can't deny how irresistible she is." Makoto thought to herself
"You alright Makoto?" Ragna asked in a concerned tone
"I'll be fine Ragna, some of the food I ate from the food stalls just isn't agreeing with me." Makoto said not wanting to worry Ragna
"A fair heads up, my semblance is automatically activated. It's called ccharm, whenever I'm in someone's presence they get attracted to and it gets intense over time. I can't control it and you need to either have a strong will to be able to resist or be able to break my aura. That's the only warning you guys will get from us." Elphelt said in a slightly embarrassed tone
"Her semblance is a big problem for me." Makoto thought in caution. After a few seconds, the arena changed and a lot of geometrical blocks appeared that consistently changed the lighting colors from white to purple.
"You may now BEGIN!" Professor Port announced causing the four to be on guard
"Since your not feeling too well, let's stick to divide and conquer." Ragna said with a smirk
"What are you . . . ." Makoto was asking before Ragna grabbed her and threw her into the air to one of the blocks. The throw was able to catch Makoto by surprise, but she was able to get close to one of the blocks. When the blocks color changed to purple, Makoto stuck to the surface that has the purple light
"I see, so these blocks have gravity dust, that's new." Makoto commented before she noticed Ramlethal running up the block towards her.
When Makoto noticed Ramlethal running towards her, Makoto decided to do the same and go after Ramlethal. When Makoto got close, she made a series of quick jabs with the intent to knock her out in one move. Unfortunately for Makoto, Ramlethal was able to dodge a good number of her punches. In a blinding speed, Ramlethal was able to quickly draw one of her katanas and was able to parry one of Makoto's punches. The parrying quick draw was strong enough to push back Makoto a small distance. Fortunately, Makoto was able to maintain her footing. But she quickly found herself blocking and dodging each of Ramlethal sword attacks. Unfortunately, Ramlethal's attacks are much faster and stronger than Makoto expected and she was unable to make a counterattack.
While Makoto was blocking several attacks, she was able to notice that one of the blocks changed its color to purple. When Makoto noticed this, she was able to jump over Ramlethal and get to the purple-lighted surface and was standing there due to the gravity dust. The light that Ramlethal was standing on was about to change its color to white. When Ramlethal noticed this, she was able to quickly get to the surface that the gravity dust wouldn't affect. Ramlethal succeeded and quickly found herself standing on the surface that is beneath Makoto's surface which is upside down.
When Makoto saw where Ramlethal was, she proceeded to quickly run towards her and leapt to deliver a strong punch. The attack has enough strength to knock back Ramlethal even if she would have blocked it. Before Makoto's punch could reach its target, Ramlethal stretched her arm to the side and a strong burst of wind blew Makoto to a different surface. When Makoto landed on a different surface, she found herself on a different gravitational platform that is across from Ramlethal.
Not wanting to give Makoto the chance to get back to the platform that she's at. Ramlethal decided to draw her other katana and started to focus on her aura. After a brief second, Ramlethal proceeded to create several sword waves and started to send them to Makoto at an intense speed. Makoto was able to use her speed and reflexes to avoid the slash waves, but she knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. After a few more seconds, the surface panel lights changed colors again and Makoto jumped to a different surface that has its gravity shifted. After doing so, Makoto was able to buy herself some time and decided to bring out a dust marble from her pocket. Once she did so, she proceeded to punch the fire dust marble to Ramlethal. Seeing the launched fire dust marble, Ramlethal proceeded to make two separate slash waves. The first wave destroyed the fire-dust marble and the second one went for Makoto that she was barely able to dodge.
"It appears that both ladies are making use of the gravity dust based geometrical environment. But will Makoto's skills be enough for her to overcome Ramlethal's capabilities. Especially with Ramlethal's semblance, Wind Gale. Which allows her to create and control the wind as she pleases." Dr. Oobleck announced to a cheering audience
"A setting where gravity plays a crucial role, while fighting someone who can control the wind. That's not exactly a favorable match-up in Makoto's favor." Ren said while watching the match
"I'm certain that Makoto could pull through, she's a lot stronger than she looks." Pyrrha said to her team
After he threw Makoto to the surface that has the gravity shift, Ramlethal started to run to where Makoto was. Ragna found himself fighting against Elphelt with little chance for interference from her sister. Unfortunately, Ragna quickly found out that Elphelt is a gunslinger and spent a good deal of time dodging and deflecting her gunshots. Whenever Ragna tried to get closer to Elphelt, she would keep Ragna away by shooting him. Ragna was able to block the gunshots, but quickly realized that because he doesn't many ranged combat options. He was at a major disadvantage against her. Ragna knows that he could release his seal and use his aura stream attacks. But that would run the risk of wasting aura and he needed to conserve as much as possible for the finals. After dodging a few more gunshots, Ragna transformed Bloodedge into its scythe form and threw it at Elphelt. Reacting quickly, Elphelt cartwheeled to the side to avoid the thrown scythe.
"Very careless of you to throw your only weapon." Elphelt commented to Ragna before she got ready to take another shot
Real careless of you to underestimate me." Ragna responded before he focused on his aura. A brief second after Ragna concentrated, his weapon was sent back to him with Elphelt in its pathway. Before Elphelt could react, the scythe was able to hurt her back and staggered her for a second before the scythe continued to return to Ragna. Before the scythe went too far from Elphelt. Ragna ran towards Elphelt and was able to grab his weapon. After Ragna grabbed his weapon, he proceeded to attack Elphelt with a series of quick slashes using the scythe form of his weapon.
"Ragna can now call back his weapon, that's not fair. First his sword has that cool function, then he can copy other people's semblance, and now he can do this. It's like he won the superpowered lottery. It would be so cool if I could have a cool power like Ragna or Jin. I might be able to do something cool with my baby Crescent Rose." Ruby said in a slightly disheartened tone
"Look on the bright side sis, it looks like Ragna doesn't know how to use his new abilities. So if I end up fighting him, he won't have a chance to test out his new powers." Yang said in a confident tone while watching the match
For a few minutes, both Ragna and Elphelt were fighting at a stalemate. Ragna would throw his scythe at Elphelt while dodging the gunshots. When Elphelt saw the scythe being thrown at her, she would focus on avoiding the thrown scythe and its return. After she avoided the scythe, Elphelt would focus on firing at Ragna. A small number of her gunshots was able to hit Ragna. But nothing significant enough for Elphelt. After a few more seconds, Elphelt decided to put her guns together and form them into an assault rifle. After the assault rifle was formed, she proceeded to rapidly fire at Ragna while he used his scythe to block the gunshots. Unfortunately, Ragna was unable to do anything further and found himself with limited options.
While Ragna was stuck dealing with Elphelt. Makoto found herself avoiding Ramlethal's slash wave attacks. Unfortunately, Makoto's fighting options were as limited as Ragna's. Since Makoto learned earlier that her projectile options were no longer viable. Since her dust marbles were limited and she needed some time to launch them with her punches. Time that Ramlethal was obviously not going to give her for obvious reasons. After Makoto spent a few more minutes dodging Ramlethal's sword waves. The surface's gravity started to shift and Makoto took this chance to get closer to Ramlethal. Once Makoto got closer, she decided to attack Ramlethal at an intense speed.
In response, Ramlethal used both of her swords to parry a good number of Makoto's punches. Makoto's natural reflexes allowed her to prevent any attempts of a counterattack that could be made by Ramlethal. Whenever Ramlethal tried to make space between the two so she can use her semblance. Makoto would quickly close the distance and prevent her from doing so. Realizing that things can't go on the way they are, Ramlethal decided to hold her ground and block Makoto's punch with her swords. After blocking the punches, Ramlethal focused her aura and conjured up the wind to send Makoto off the platform. Fortunately, she landed near Ragna while he was blocking Elphelt's gunshots. When Makoto saw Elphelt again, Makoto started to feel funny and did the best she could to focus on the fight and not fall under Elphelt's semblance.
"I hope you have some ideas Makoto, because I'm not doing any good against her." Ragna said while blocking the gunshots
"It's hard to fight and resist Elphelt's semblance at the same time. Your natural stubbornness is actually helping you against her semblance." Makoto said in a joking tone to Ragna
"Funny, but we still need a plan." Ragna said before him and Makoto noticed Ramlethal running towards them
"I have an idea, I figured out how long it'll take before the gravity shifts on one of the surface panels. when I tell you to, you need to hit one of my dust marbles in the direction I toss it at. After you do it, I'll do the same thing. We only have one shot at this so we need to work together." Makoto instructed Ragna with him nodding in agreement.
While Ragna was blocking Elphelt's gunshots, Ramlethal was on the arena ground and started to run towards her opponents. In a slow second, Makoto was mentally counting while hoping this plan would work. Because if it failed, both her and Ragna would be at a major disadvantage. After a brief second, Makoto brought out one of her dust marbles and tossed it in Elphelt's direction after figuring out the timing and a brief second before the light changed.
Once Ragna noticed the dust marble, he focused on hitting the marble and was able to hit it at the geometric surface behind Elphelt. After Ragna hit the dust marble, Makoto did the same thing with her own dust marble and launched hers in the same location. Elphelt had a confused look for a brief second. But it was soon replaced when she noticed her body being pulled away to a different direction. A moment after Elphelt was pulled, she found herself stuck to the surface that had its gravity shifted.
"Such a wonderful display of cleverness and teamwork. Makoto was able to successfully predict the gravitational shift timing and used her dust marbles to intensify the gravity. From observation alone, the dust marbles that was used held gravity dust which intensified the gravity on the geometrical surface." Dr. Oobleck announced in an impressed tone to the audience
"That was clever, I could never have predicted the timing." Weiss said to her friends giving Makoto praise for her actions
"Yeah, I'm impressed too." Yang said in an impressed tone as well
Once Elphelt was stuck to the surface with the intense gravity. Ramlethal quickly found herself fighting against both Ragna and Makoto. Once Makoto got close to her two opponents, she made several attempts to attack the two with her swords. Fortunately, Ragna was able to parry the attack with his scythe and knocked back Ramlethal by a small distance. After Ramlethal was knocked back, Makoto threw several punches at Ramlethal while he had the chance. By a mere thread, Ramlethal's reflexes allowed her to parry Makoto's punches and was able to avoid them. However, this didn't prevent her from getting hit from Ragna after narrowly avoiding Makoto's punches. Ramlethal was able to quickly recover, but she was hit by a series of quick jabs by Makoto.
After taking several jabs from Makoto, Ramlethal quickly stretched out her arm and was able to push Makoto away with a strong burst of wind. After Makoto was blown away by the wind, Ragna proceeded to pursuit Ramlethal and attacked her in a quick speed. Reacting quickly, Ramlethal was able to parry a good number of Ragna's attacks and the two were on par for a few seconds. When Ramlethal parried another one of Ragna's attacks, she was able to kick Ragna away. However Makoto was able to rush her and give her a strong direct punch. The attack was strong enough to send Ramlethal back a good distance. But as she was launched, she threw one of her swords that Ragna and Makoto was able to avoid. A brief moment after the sword was thrown, both Ragna and Makoto felt a strong gust of wind from behind them. Ragna quickly realized that what Ramlethal was trying to do and decided to act quickly.
"IT'S COMING BACK!" Ragna yelled before the both of them noticed the sword was being blown in their direction. Makoto was able to do a backflip to avoid the sword. Ragna on the other hand wasn't fast enough to avoid the sword and decided to endure the sword attack. After Ragna endured the sword attack, Ramlethal was able to regain her katana.
"Ragna, the geometrical surfaces gravity is going to be returned to normal soon." Makoto told Ragna before Ramlethal started to pursue them.
"RESTRICTION RELEASE!" Ragna yelled releasing his seal and causing a burst of aura. While changing Bloodedge from its scythe form back to its sword form.
Ramlethal was caught in the burst but she continued her pursuit. When Ragna's sword clashed with Ramlethal's katana. His strength surprised Ramlethal's and she was knocked back and staggered. Seeing this as a good opportunity, Ragna was able to land a follow-up attack and landed a hit while absorbing her aura. After Ragna absorbed Ramlethal's aura, he felt his body filled with a new sense of energy. A brief moment after Ragna felt his newfound energy, Elphelt returned to the ground indicating that the gravity on the surface that she was stuck on wore off. After Elphelt and Ramlethal was reunited, Ragna stepped towards the two.
"Let me try something Makoto." Ragna told Makoto before he took a quick breath.
Not wanting to give Ragna the chance to try anything, Elphelt tried to fire at Ragna while Ramlethal charged towards him. Before either Ramlethal or Elphelt's gunshots could reach Ragna, he quickly reached out his hand and generated a strong burst of wind that is similar to what Ramlethal did. This time though, when Ragna did it, instead of a regular gust of wind like with Ramlethal. With Ragna, the wind that was generated by him had an ominous feeling and felt sinister. When Ramlethal and Elphelt felt the wind, the both of them shared a feeling of dread and their aura was flickering as if it was weakening. Once a moment have passed, Ragna stopped conjuring his ominous wind and staggered a bit due to exhaustion. Before either Ramlethal or Elphelt recover and attack. Makoto was able to quickly run towards the two and delivered a strong punch to each of them. The punch was strong enough to knock the both of them out of the arena.
"With that impressive display of teamwork and an impressive yet surprising ability. The winner of this match is both Ragna and Makoto of team BLST!" Professor Port announced to a cheering audience
"That was new, I received the text message from Ruby that you copied Weiss's sister's semblance. Glad to see that it wasn't a one-time deal and that it helped us." Makoto told Ragna in a happy tone
"Thanks, but I still don't know how to fully use my copy power or understand. I mean I had just learned how to bring back my weapon." Ragna responded to Makoto
"I'm sure you'll figure it out someday Ragna, but from what I was able to notice so far. It looks like that when you can copy some else's semblance, the semblance you copy slightly changes as if its adapting to your aura and personality." Makoto told Ragna
"Huh, now that you mention it, you do have a point and it does make sense." Ragna told Makoto
"The both of you have fought well." Ramlethal told Ragna and Makoto quickly getting their attention.
"Yeah, its not often someone could give us a run for our money like that. Not to mention that there's not a lot of people who can resist my semblance easily." Elphelt told the both of them
"Umm . . . . is there a way for you to turn off your semblance? I mean, it might cause some problems for um certain situations." Makoto asked while trying to resist Elphelt's semblance
"I'm sorry, but it's like I said earlier. You have to either break my aura or be at a far distance from me. A very strong will help resist it but if I'm fighting them, the person's resistance will gradually get weakened. To make things more awkward, it doesn't discriminate between gender so that makes things a bit more awkward for me when I'm trying to find that special someone. Especially since I'm a big fan of everything involving love and romance. I mean I have a lot of dreams for my wedding with that special someone who I'll meet one day and . . . . ." Elphelt started to say before Ramlethal covered her mouth
"My sister loves to talk about love and romance. But the point is that nobody is immune to her semblance charm." Ramlethal told the two after covering Elphet's mouth
"Well, thanks for the heads up I was just curious about it. We gotta get going, Ragna's going on ahead to the finals and he needs to get as much rest as he can. I also need to rest up too, that fight was a bit intense and there were some close calls too." Makoto said before she left with Ragna.
"Hey Makoto, Ragna, we should have a rematch sometime. Oh in case either of you forgot, my name is Elphelt, my sister's name is Ramlethal." Elphet told Makoto in a happy tone
"I agree, the both of you are exceptionally strong. The only one who proved to be a challenge to me so far is both Ky and his team leader Sol." Ramlethal told Ragna and Makoto
"Sol huh, looks like I might end up fighting him in the finals." Ragna thought to himself as he was leaving the arena with Makoto
"Don't worry, I'll hold you to that rematch Elphelt." Makoto happily told Elphelt as she was getting of the arena with Ragna
"Hey Makoto, you didn't eat any of Noel's cooking did you?" Ragna asked Makoto in a concerned tone
"No, why do you ask?" Makoto responded
"Because you were looking a bit lightheaded during the match and I thought you ate her cooking." Ragna briefly explained (Not knowing that Elphelt's semblance affected Makoto more than he realizes)
"Hahaha, no I didn't eat her cooking again. Its just the food from the food stalls not agreeing with me. Though I will be eating her food later on though after the tournament. Noel thought of a lot of recipes and insisted that both me and Jaune eat them." Makoto said in a dreaded tone
"Ouch, well it won't be that bad." Ragna said trying to cheer her up
"You have no idea." Makoto responded Ragna with dread not looking forward to Noel's cooking
(The Arena Audience Seats)
"Alright, our friends are going to the Finals. I can't wait to show everyone how awesome team RWBY is." Yang said in an excited tone
"Oh yeah, well don't count out our other friends Yang. Amane has never lost a fight, and Ragna is a powerhouse like me who is crazy strong." Nora told Yang in an excited tone. As Nora and Yang were going back and forth. Pyrrha received a message on her scroll, when she checked the message. She saw that Professor Ozpin wanted to see her in his office.
"Is everything alright Pyrrha?" Jaune asked in a concerned tone
"I'm fine Jaune, I just need to go and take care something, it's probably nothing to worry about. I'll be back soon, so don't worry." Pyrrha told Jaune before she left to see Professor Ozpin
"Well you can say and believe whatever you want Yang. Amane is one of our strongest team members and with him fighting, this tournament is as good as team BLST's. So you can start coming up with excuses." Bullet said to Yang in a confident tone
(Moments Later)
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Bang yelled loudly enough that a good number of nearby students heard him
"I'm serious, I'm not fighting in the finals. I already discussed it with Professor Goodwitch and made up my mind. You'll be going to the finals round and fighting instead of me Bang." Amane told Bang in a calm tone while drinking tea causing Bang and the rest of his team to give him an awkward look.
(The Hidden Alley within Vale)
A strange man was walking through this alley. What makes this man stands out is not just his mask. But also that he's being accompanied by a crimson colored doll. When Relius walks, its as if he knows where he's going and what his activities are going to be. Even though the alley is abandoned and hidden. It would not be hard to believe that the man's intimidating presence alone had caused people to run off in fear. As Relius was walking deeper into the alley. Relius came across the silhouette of a slender individual. Upon closer inspection, the slender figure is wearing a yellow coat with a hood. Even though most his face is obscure, the main thing that is visible aside from his mouth. Are the sharp yellow eyes that looks lethal, similar to that of a deadly snake.
"Well you certainly took your sweet time Relius. I was beginning to think I would have to find another way to do your job as well as my own." The figure told Relius
"You were the one who told me to send that message to Kokonoe's former assistant Terumi." Relius responded to Terumi
"Well you're here now and that's all that matters. Did your recruitment pitch work, or did that turn out to be a waste of time?" Terumi asked in a curious tone
"I've spoken to Dr. Watts before I arrived in Vale. She's recruited, once we're done here, we'll find a task for her to do. Though until then, Dr. Watts should be able to teach her a few things. I must admit that it is a bit refreshing to be around another scientific mind." Relius told Terumi
"The does that mean you've done that other task?" Terumi asked Reluis
"Finding him took a bit more time than I expected. But once I picked up on the trail, the capture was quite simple. He's in a secured location, when we return, I've no doubt that both Dr. Watts and the assistant will spend a lot of time with that nuisance. How is everything proceeding on your end Terumi?" Relius told Terumi
"Everything is set to go Relius, first Cinder has to do her part. Then it will be my turn, once I'm finished all of us can have some real fun. Cinder will get what she needs and take care of a few annoyances in the process. Salem will be satisfied and that will leave us room to take care of our own errands." Terumi told Relius in a tone that is mixed with sadistic and satisfying
"Which brings up another question, did you inform her of what's going on? I would very much like to avoid as many nuisances as possible due to miscommunication." Relius stated to Terumi
"I already gave her the heads up and she gave us the go ahead. Once everything goes down, your going to have to use your semblance and find the eye of blue. You do know what to do once you find it right?" Terumi asked in a mocking tone
"I'm fully aware of my expected activities in the upcoming events. Though I'm still surprised that the Power of Order was activated during the breach. I assume you had a hand in that Terumi?" Relius stated to Terumi
"I did have a hand in the breach occurring the way it did, but the Power of Order being awakened is a surprise to me as well. Jin hasn't fully mastered that power yet. But if he does find a way to make that power truly his own, like with Yukianesa. He could be as much of a pain as Hakumen or that cat. I've already set up some safeguards for the Hero of Vale to stop him frim trying anything. But I'm trying to avoid as many surprises as I can. Especially since Jubei is here in Vale and isn't too far from Beacon. Thanks to that shitty vampire, he knows that I'm here. So once everything goes down, he'll be gunning for me. So your going to have to slip through the radar and do what you need to do." Terumi explained to Relius
"Is your cover still intact regarding General Ironwood?" Relius asked
"Yep, he doesn't suspect a thing with me. Officially as far as he knows and suspects. I'm in the process of a deep investigation and will be out of contact for a while. I've set up some precautions in case someone goes snooping around. It will all go down tonight, so you better be nearby and ready." Terumi stated to Relius
"That will not be a problem." Relius stated to Terumi
"Ooh, I'm just giddy with excitement for what's going to go down tonight. This'll be a tournament that nobody won't be forgetting anytime soon. I cannot wait to see how all of Remnant will react, for when we RELEASE THE BEAST! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Terumi laughed sadistically as both him and Relius disappeared into the darkness
(A/N)
Since this chapter is at a good point for volume 3, there's no harm in giving you guys the heads up for volume 4. For starters, the volume 4 portion of this story will give me a chance to dive deeper into the blazblue side of things. So until further notice, I suspect that volume 4 of this story will have more chapters than volume 2 did. I'm not sure on how much more, since I'm still hashing out the concepts and nothing is set in stone. Also, since the Guilty Gear characters have gotten so many positive responses. The Guilty Gear characters will return post volume 3 of this story. They will even show up for the Chibi chapters of this story. I will make it clear once again that they WILL NOT overtake the main story from blazblue and RWBY and they WILL NOT overshadow the main cast. My statement that I made in the author's note of Sol's debut chapter is still in effect.
Now for the fights
For the first doubles fight in this chapter Bang and Amane vs I-No vs Axl
Amane is a very agile and adaptive fighter which has been established in this story. Even though Axl's weapon and abilities gives him a lot of options in a fight. Amane's adaptive skills and quick thinking allowed him to beat Axl. Especially when Amane decides to make clever use of the environment.
For Bang fighting against I-No, the fight is so painfully one sided against Bang. I-No is a LOT STRONGER than she looks and even though Bang is skilled in his own right. I-No's overall skills and options in a fight gave her too many advantages against Bang. Even though Phoenix Rettenjo would have helped out Bang greatly during the match. Bang still doesn't have a proper idea of how to use his weapon. Which is a big problem for him in the long-run.
For Amane fighting against I-No, the both of them are on par with each other in terms of skills and abilities. The fight would've dragged on for a long time and it would have ended in a draw. For I-No's statement about her knowing Amane's secret, that is a MAJOR SPOILER so I'm not giving away those details. But I will say this, I-No has the ability to predict the future, which is how she was able to predict everything that Bang was going to do in their fight. Future sight is only ONE PART of I-No's abilities. For Axl, he's able to create portals, but its not his true semblance and there are limits to them.
As for I-No's behavior before the match, I based it off of her infamous win animation in the Guilty Gear games. For her behavior in the chapter, its been stated that I-No is a very disrespectful, vulgar, and flirtatious person. So I wanted keep that in the chapter while within the T rating.
Interesting fact, there was moment in this chapter that I had to cut out because it would have been redundant and added too little to the story. It would have been I-No insulting team RWBY and Bullet a lot more. Also, if anyone from team RWBY or Bullet fought I-No, they would have lost VERY BADLY.
For Ragna and Makoto vs Ramlethal and Elphelt
One of Ragna's biggest weaknesses is his lacking teamwork skills. Though he's able to adept to Makoto's fighting style. Against more experienced people that are much better coordinated with each other. Ragna and Makoto would have had a much harder time.
I've read that Ramlethal's ki structure is like the wind instrument in the guilty gear games has an affinity with the wind. So I decided to base her semblance off of that. Which looks like a good fit since the clothes she wears are white and green.
Ramlethal is very skilled with her katanas and even though Makoto is a very strong character. It was only a matter of time before Ramlethal was able to overwhelm Makoto with her semblance, weapons, and skills. Fortunately, Makoto is a lot more durable than she looks and is very agile. So Makoto was able to more than hold her own during the fight.
Ragna's fighting style is heavily reliant on close range. So fighting against a gunslinger like Elphelt was a big problem. If it wasn't for his newfound ability and his teamwork with Makoto. The fight would have lasted much longer. It has been established in the Blazblue games that Makoto is a lot smarter than she looks. Even though her school grades don't reflect this. So I figured that it would be possible for her to predict when the gravity will shift in the arena.
As of this chapter, Ragna has the ability to call back his weapon. In a way that is similar to Thor calling back his hammer or Kratos calling back his axe. The reason he can do it is becase he has a connection to his weapon. Which was established in chapter 18 because Rachel told Ragna that even though Jubei gave it to him. He's the only one can fully use the weapon. Its just that Ragna never put any thought into his connection to his connection to his weapon until he started to notice his new abilities. There is a good reason as to why only Ragna could use his sword, but that is another MAOR SPOILER that I won't give away details of anytime soon.
Another thing, Ragna's aura is compatible with Ramlethal's which allowed him to copy her semblance Wind Gales. When Ragna copies Ramlethal's semblance, the ability becomes Ominous Wind. If someone is caught in Ragna's Ominous Wind, it fills the person with a strong sense of dread and it gradually weakens their aura while they are inside the wind. When the Ominous Wind stops, the person will be able to recover their aura much fast than normal, but not too much of it. Which makes it ideal for team based strategies.
Elphelt's semblance is called charm, similar to Qrow's and Azrael's semblance. She has no control over it. If someone sees her and is in her presence, the person will have an attraction to Elphelt and it will gradually increase. Unless her aura breaks or the person has a strong will that will allow them to resist it. Ragna's stubborn will allows him to resist it, but it would have been a problem for Makoto. She has a strong will as well, but she doesn't suppress her emotions when it comes to the people she cares about. Not to mention since she still doesn't want people to know that she's a lesbian, being near Elphelt would have been a potential problem. Focusing on the fight helped mitigate the issue, but even then it has limits. So Ragna helped out Makoto greatly during the beginning of their match.
Another thing that helped Ragna resist Elphelt's semblance. He's as oblivious to love almost as much as Jaune is.
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Thank you