Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.
A/N: The poll is down and yes won. I will leave it up until this time tomorrow to let people see it and will skip uploading Shinobi for another rotation (Ch 69 for Ninja in the Web.) to think up ideas for not only what fruit Naruto will get, but the prize for the colosseum fight.
Beta ANUBIS the god king.
Chapter XX.
Last Time.
Night.
Later at night, Weiss is in the school courtyard, waving goodbye at the airship carrying her sister. She stops just as her Scroll starts vibrating with an incoming call with "FATHER" on the screen, and her finger hovers over the screen in uncertainty until she closes her eyes and forces herself to press it. Suddenly smiling at the sight of her closed Scroll and she puts it away.
"What's up, girlfriend?"
And stopped as Naruto appeared beside her. "Uh, sorry about that."
"No worries figured you blurted it out if your sister was teasing you." He said as she looked down.
"No… Nothing like that… I lied as I do want a boyfriend."
"And you chose me?"
"Because I like you."
Naruto blinked at that. "You do?"
"Yes."
"You wanna go on some dates to see how it is?" He asked with a shrug as she smiled.
"Sure."
"Don't tell Nora, I think she'd kill you as she's telling people I'm her boyfriend."
Now.
Beacon Arena.
Naruto watched as Penny and her teammate fought Sky and Russel.
Her teammate has dark skin, short, Dark Teal hair, and blue eyes. She also has a gold marking consisting of an oval shape surrounded by four smaller circles in the center of her forehead. She's wearing a blue beret, a plain off-white golden button-down shirt with an asymmetrical collar, a blue combat skirt with a black waistband and fingerless, elbow-length black gloves with a wristwatch on her left hand and black shoes alongside white, golden buttoned boot chaps.
Russel and Sky are running for cover in the mountain biome as several explosions go off behind them. The two dive behind large boulders in the mountain biome and exchange looks of terror. Penny uses Floating Array's swords and embeds them in the rocks that the pair are hiding behind. Ciel gets her attention and taps her watch meaningfully.
Using her strings, Penny lifts both the boulders and Russell and Sky-high into the air before slamming them both down into the floor violently, knocking them out.
"And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!"
Penny placed a fist in her palm and bowed in respect to her fallen foes, still smiling. "Thank you for a wonderful time."
The two victors turn to leave the stadium as Russel feebly reaches out, only to get hit in the head by an errant stone. Watching from the stands, Ruby Rose sees them start to walk away and excitedly gets up from her seat with the rest of her team to meet them at one of the exits. "Penny!" She yelled out as she caught up to the two.
"Ruby!" Penny lifted her arms, and she tackles her friend into a hug that leaves them both of them on the ground.
"… Why..."
Penny gets up energetically and gestures to the other girl. "Ruby, this is my teammate."
"Ciel Soleil." Ciel greeted with a bow.
Ruby raises her hand in greeting at that. "Hi! I'm Ru-"
"Ruby Rose. 15. Hails from Patch. Leader of Team RWBY. Status: Questionable."
"Sooo... Penny! You two were incredible out there. How do you keep control of all those swords? It's so cool!"
"Penny?" Ciel asked as she looks at her watch and gestured at it. "I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."
"Could we have just a minute to talk?"
In response, Ciel checks the time, then takes a step back and nods, starting the countdown as Ruby looked at Penny.
"So is she... Your friend or..."
"Well, in a way. She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."
"Oh. So, Weiss." Ruby said with s smile.
"Precisely."
Ruby then leaned over to whisper. "Does she know about... Y'know... Beep boop bop, does not compute?" She said moving like a robot.
"Oh no. General Ironwood doesn't want anyone to know. There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off." Penny replied smiling. "Ruby, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about… I want to stay at Beacon." She finished looking at Ciel for a moment.
"Penny, they'll never let you do that."
Penny frowns but then grins. "I know, but I have a plan."
"It's been precisely one minute, ma'am," Ciel said walking over.
"I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby."
Later, Naruto was watching Team RWBY's doubles match before seeing Weiss and… Ruby. 'Huh, thought they would have Yang.' Naruto thought as he glanced at the other doubles team.
The first is a young, dark-skinned man with dark brown eyes. He's wearing rectangular sunglasses and a dark fedora with blue trim on his head as well as an earring on his right ear. He also has a dark vest over an untucked white dress shirt, with a loose tie wrapped around the collar. Completing his attire is a pair of dark dress pants, silver dress shoes, and a dark glove on his left hand.
The second is a young girl with a light complexion. She has sea-green eyes and moderate red-orange hair with light blue streaks in her bangs. Naruto noticed she was a feline Faunus, due to her cat tail that was covered with pink fur that becomes lighter toward the tip.
Her outfit has a large range of bright colors, a light blue cropped tank top over a dark purple bra, showing her upper cleavage. She also has dark purple short shorts under a pink combat mini-skirt and a white belt with a yellow winking smiley face on the buckle. Two buttons are fixed to her tank top over her right breast, one purple with a cat design and another green one with a heart.
Her hair was done up in two pigtails. She also has a white cat bell collar around her neck, a pair of bracers on her arms, and pads on her shins and knees. She's wearing red trick rollerblades, the roller blades each only have two wheels. A tattoo of a shooting star with a red, green, and yellow trail winds around her right arm. And two small gold earrings in her left ear and one in her right.
Flynt opens up the fight with a massive blast from his trumpet, aiming to push Weiss and Yang back with its sound waves. Weiss anchors herself in place with a glyph, and Yang throws two punches, attempting to fire Ember Celica, before being hit into the urban biome by Neon. With the Team RWBY pair split up, Flynt ceases his trumpeting, and Weiss stands up to face him.
An ice-dust crystal terrain came up behind Team RWBY while a fire came up behind the other team.
"The match between Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Flynt Coal, and Neon Kat will begin in three… Two… One… Begin!"
Flynt opens up the fight with a massive sound wave blast from his trumpet, aiming to push Weiss and Ruby back with its sound waves. Weiss anchors herself in place with a glyph, and Ruby uses her weapon to stay in place, before being hit into the urban biome by Neon. With the Team RWBY pair split up, Flynt ceases his trumpeting, and Weiss stands up to face him.
Flynt begins blowing into his trumpet again, and Weiss uses black glyphs to push against the sound waves., slowly making her way toward her opponent. Seeing this, Flynt quickly stops trumpeting and watches as the sudden lack of resistance sends Weiss speeding toward him. As she nears him, he turns and kicks her in the back, sending her crashing through a large orange Dust crystal cluster and skidding across the ground in the lava biome.
Meanwhile, Ruby fires Cresent Rose bullets trying to hit Neon who was skating around. Ruby then chases after, continuing to fire at her elusive opponent, who grinds across a rail while making a rude face. Neon then hops off the rail, does a handspring off a roof onto another roof, and leaps over another barrage of bullets while chanting "Never miss a beat."
After dodging a few bullets, she lands on the edge of a fallen support beam and grinds across it, before skating down another structure. Neon quickly zigzags her way to Ruby and begins repeatedly speeding past her opponent, hitting her with her nunchuck each time.
When the assault comes to an end, Ruby reloads and turns to face Neon, who bends her nunchuck, activating a light blue glow. Neon charges forward, skates along a vertical wall, and hops off it toward Ruby, who slices at her. However, Neon leans sideways, ducking under the swipe and taking a swipe at Ruby's right leg with her nunchuck.
Ruby looks down to see her right leg covered in a thick chunk of ice. Neon once again taunts her, and Ruby hits the ice with the end of her scythe having it crack before breaking free. When she looks up again, Neon has disappeared. Surprised, Ruby turns around to see Neon heading toward her and gearing up for another attack.
Neon skates past Ruby hitting her arm then grinds across a rail, and performs some maneuvers through a pair of arches, stopping once she is far enough away to have a running start. She then charges toward Ruby, the expression on her face growing wilder as she accelerates. Once she has gained substantial speed, she leaps, places her feet on Ruby's stomach, and kicks off, sending Ruby flying backward against a wall.
Ruby then has her blade hit a beam and spins around to face Neon as the beam then fell over from being sliced through. In the lava biome, Weiss summons four vertical glyphs around her and spins around, repeatedly passing Myrtenaster through the glyphs. She then points Myrtenaster at Flynt, and each glyph produces and launches a large, pointed chunk of ice toward him.
After noticing some bubbling magma on the ground, Flynt drops to his knees in front of it and blasts his trumpet just as a pillar of lava spews up from the ground. The sound waves. from his trumpet direct the lava toward the ice projectiles, melting them before they can reach him. He then insults Weiss, causing her to take things up a notch.
Weiss spins Myrtenaster's revolver and directs a funnel of wind toward Flynt, who fights back with another blast of his trumpet. While the sound waves and wind remain at a stalemate, Weiss creates a loose ring of nine vertical glyphs around herself and Flynt, then uses the one behind her to launch herself to another glyph.
She begins hopping from glyph to glyph, each glyph she visits forms an ice projectile and then launches it at Flynt, who is unable to keep up with the attacks coming from all sides. Flynt activates his Semblance, forming three clones of himself. The four of them combine the sound waves. from their trumpets to catch Weiss and throw her across the biome. After checking the scoreboard, Flynt absorbs his clones and begins walking toward Weiss.
Flynt steps on Myrtenaster to keep it from a collapsed Weiss, but he is soon distracted by a frustrated shout from Ruby. He glances at Weiss, then turns his back to her, activates his Semblance, and gears up to attack Ruby. Before he can pull off his sneak attack, Weiss tackles him, into bubbling magma, which soon erupts into a pillar of lava. The lava takes Weiss' Aura down to 0% and Flynt's to 16%.
Ruby then fires upon Flynt and Neon, who dodge her bullets. Flynt and Neon team up, with Flynt blasting his trumpet toward Ruby while Neon skates over. Ruby dodges and rushes to Flynt before dodging a sound wave. Neon skates over and hits a glyph on the ground having her speed up into Flynt having them hit a geyser that sends them up in the air and having Ruby shoot them causing an explosion for the win.
Later Ozpin's Office.
Qrow walks in, flask in hand before seeing Ozpin looking out at the clock face. "You know, he's making you look like a fool."
"His heart is in the right place. He's just... Misguided." Ozpin spoke from his seat.
"Sometimes, I'm not even sure he has a heart," Qrow said as he takes a drink from his cup and shifts his weight before asking. "So, have you chosen your guardian yet?"
Ozpin swirls his chair around to face Qrow. "Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe I've found the right candidate. Ever since the day I met her, I had the feeling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, caring... but most importantly, she's ready."
Unknown to them, Pyrrha was getting in an elevator smiling as she hit the button to Ozpin's office.
A few minutes go by before she comes in and sits at the desk in front of Ozpin who spoke. "Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the tournament. Your performance was exemplary."
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I would never have made it this far without my teammates," Pyrrha said with a smile before Qrow spoke up from behind.
"I think it's the other way around."
Pyrrha turns around and gets up from her chair. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced."
"Name's Qrow."
"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine," Ozpin spoke as Pyrrha looks at Qrow for another moment before looking back. "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?"
"Please, take a seat," Ozpin replied with a smile. When she does so, he puts his fingers up to his lips and leans back. "What is your favorite fairy tale?"
Pyrrha gained a confused look at that. "I'm... Sorry?"
"Fairy tales, stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them."
"Well, there's The Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower…" She trailed off as Ozpin leaned forward.
"What about The Story of the Seasons?"
"Well, of course! A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him."
"And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has, and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant 'til the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens. My mother loves that story."
"Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin asked as Pyrrha laughed.
"You're not that old, Professor."
Ozpin gained a serious look at that before speaking. "Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?"
"… I beg your pardon?" She asked nervously after a moment.
"What if I were to tell you that four maidens were existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power, without Dust?"
"You mean... Like a Semblance?"
"Like Magic," Ozpin replied with a smile.
"I..."
Qrow then spoke up at that. "Yeah. First time hearing it's pretty crazy."
Pyrrha turns her gaze from Qrow back to Ozpin. "You're serious?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin asked with a straight face.
"… No. Why... Why are you telling me this?"
Ozpin glances at Qrow, who nods his approval, before looking into Pyrrha's eyes. "We are telling you this, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."
Pyrrha's eyes grow wider and wider until she realizes... "We?"
At that moment, the elevator doors open, and she sees Glynda and James stepping out. "Sorry, we're late."
Pyrrha was overwhelmed, then narrowed her eyes at Ozpin. "Wait, what is this? Who are you?"
Glynda then walked up at that. "You know who we are. We're still the same teachers and Headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon."
"'Cept we've got a little part-time job," Qrow said moving off the beam.
"We are the protectors of this world," James spoke up before Ozpin stood.
"And we need your help."
They then get in the elevator then go down as Pyrrha looks at Ozpin and Glynda. "Where are we going?"
"The vault. Under the school." Ozpin replied as they went past the ground floor.
They then stop after another minute before the door opens to reveal a large, sparsely-lit hallway. "I'm sure you must have questions," Glynda said as they walked down the hall.
"Maybe one, or two… I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Maiden's power. What do you mean by that?"
"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold on to that power forever." Glynda explained before Pyrrha looked over.
"So, how does the power choose?"
Qrow then looks over his shoulder. "Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules."
"Qrow," Glynda spoke as he shrugged.
"Hey, don't get mad 'cause I'm right."
"At first, the only certain thing was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... Intimate." Glynda continues before Pyrrha looks over.
"… Intimate?"
"As we understand it now when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power."
"Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then the power goes to someone random, and our job gets a lot harder." Qrow spoke up hands in his pockets.
"Why tell me all of this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?"
"Honestly, we've run out of time," Ozpin explained as they came to the end of the hall. "I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, and more prevalent. And it's not going to be much longer before the peace we've been enjoying so much goes out the window."
"You're not... Talking about a war?" Pyrrha asked before James looked back.
"Not a war between nations."
"We can fill you in on the details once we know that you're with us. For now, all you need to know is that one of the Maidens has been attacked. And for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen." Qrow explains before they heard a humming of electricity.
They see a large machine at the wall with lit screens hooked up to two rectangular pods, one of which is upright to show through the glass window a young girl dressed in minimal clothing with a burn scar over her left eye and across her face.
"Is that…" Pyrrha asked as Ozpin sighs heavily.
"The current Fall Maiden, Amber."
"She's... still alive."
"For now," Ironwood spoke. "We're using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But there is a lot about this situation that is... Unprecedented."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we don't know what will happen if- when she passes," James replied closing his eyes after sighing again.
"Won't... her power... just transfer to the next host?" Pyrrha asked as Qrow looked back.
"Look who's been listening!" He sarcastically spoke before leaning to whisper to Ozpin. "She is smart."
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be of their attacker." James explained before looking at Amber. "And to make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half."
"... Her assailant."
"And that would not bode well for any of us," Ozpin said turning to face Pyrrha.
Pyrrha lowers her head in thought, then suddenly comes forward and places a hand on the glass of Amber's pod. "If all of this is true, why keep it secret!? If this girl is so important... if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone?"
"From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge," Glynda said shocking the redhead.
"Excuse me?"
Qrow then pulls his flask out at that. "How do you think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones come from somewhere." He takes a swig as Glynda continued.
"Our group was founded to protect both mankind and the Maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."
"And as you can imagine, the ones that succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want to have unimaginable power." Qrow wiped his mouth after taking his swig.
"And so this brotherhood chose to remove the Maidens from the public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend."
"The things we're telling you to go against hundreds of years of human history, religion," Glynda spoke before James nodded.
"No one would want to believe us. It would cause an uproar."
"It would cause panic. And we all know what that would bring to clawing to our Kingdom's walls." Ozpin said before he turns his gaze away from the others. "Which is why we would like to..."
"I'll do it," Pyrrha said as Ozpin looks up, surprised, as she stares at the ground, continuing. "If you believe that this will help humanity… Then I will become your Fall Maiden. She stated as the others silently turn to each other with wary faces. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
Ozpin then steps towards her. It is, but I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution."
"For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what's it made of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it." James explained before Qrow spoke.
"Capture it and cram it into something else." Qrow gestures to Pyrrha as she takes a second to realize. "Or in your case..."
Pyrrha then looks at Ironwood at that. "That's..."
"Classified."
"Wrong!"
"The feeling is mutual," Glynda said glaring at James before she switches her gaze back to Pyrrha. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
"And these are indeed desperate times," James said looking over. "We can't transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those powers are bound to."
"... Her Aura."
"Her life…" Ozpin spoke getting her attention. "Would become intertwined with yours. The question is..."
"What's that going to do to you?" Qrow finished before Ozpin looks at Pyrrha.
"You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this transfer will work. And there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer." Pyrrha doesn't respond, instead placing her hand on the glass, seeing her scared expression reflected on the scarred face of the dying girl, before turning away as Ozpin gives one final warning.
"The assailant that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move. And there's no telling when their next move will be."
Later, Pyrrha stood with the other finalists, Naruto, Ruby, Penny, Mercury, and three young men. Soon they randomly chose the first fight before seeing it was Naruto and Mercury having Mercury look back at Cinder who was typing hard on her tablet when she saw the pictures.
All but the two boys walked off as lights moved to shine down on the field. They dashed at each other as Naruto threw a haymaker and Mercury launched a jumping back kick. Mercury then rushes in and attempts to aim for Naruto's foot with a running jump back kick, but the latter leaps in the air behind him and attempts to land a right jab.
The two each land a spinning back fist that is both blocked. Naruto jumped back before stumbling. He glanced around as everything went in slow motion before seeing Mercury be replaced by another boy with red eyes for a split second. Naruto took a breath to calm down he closed his eyes before snapping them open.
Mercury dodges a barrage of rounds from Sage and Shusui while closing the distance, jumping into a downward axe kick blocked by Naruto. He then leaps into the air to evade a low roundhouse and spinning back fist with a Dust blast, before delivering a kneeling flash kick to his opponent.
Naruto lands in a crouch then dashes with several jabs at Mercury, who continues to block with his arms, before the two exchange a spinning back high kick. Mercury then forces Naruto back by striking the back of his knee with a low side kick, before forcing him away with a front flip that sets up his Capoeira-style Macao kick.
Mercury uses the momentum to perform a break dance air twist, balance himself on one hand, and land two more chapeau de couro kicks to Naruto, who continues to block the attacks. He then launches a spinning back high kick, with his right leg that pivots into an axe kick with the instep, cracking the pavement as Naruto is forced to backflip away.
Mercury then launches a back kick, before dodging Naruto's spinning back high kick as he sets up his next offensive combo. Only to jump up to dodge an air blade that Naruto threw with his semblance. After he falls flat on the ground, he finds himself shocked as he is forced to back flip. away from the following salvo of rounds fired from the blades, until one round nearly sends him off the arena, forcing him to propel himself back up the stage using air blasts from Talaria.
The silver-haired fighter then immediately launches a lightning-fast flurry of kicks, starting with a triple-turn kick at the legs, followed by two roundhouses and a front kick at the blonde's sides and arms. He then performs a spinning low back kick to force Naruto's foot back, before landing both a high and regular roundhouse at his arms.
Naruto then spins and hits Mercury with his elbow before performing a Pele kick. Naruto then kipped up and dashes at Mercury to drop kick him in the stomach and off the platform. "WINNER NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
Later, in an empty storage room, Mercury picked up a screwdriver and moved to his robotic right leg, and started tightening bolts on t as Emerald and Cinder looked at him. "I don't know what happened, all of a sudden he got faster." He said as Cinder waved him off."
"I don't know what happened, you were supposed to fight that blonde chick with the temper so people wouldn't think twice when Emerald used her powers to make it seem like she attacked after the match."
"We should be careful then," Mercury said as Cinder once again waved him off.
To Be Continued.
A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know of any mistakes.
Beta: ANUBIS the god king.
Sorry for the canon parts, got to a section that was a plot dump
The poll is down and yes won. I will leave it up until this time tomorrow to let people see it and will skip uploading Shinobi for another rotation (Ch 69 for Ninja in the Web.) to think up ideas for not only what fruit Naruto will get, but the prize for the colosseum fight.
So this time tomorrow remember to go vote in the next story poll!
Next to be updated will be Ninja in the Web.
Nothing else to say.
Talk To You Later,
Lone Wolf Out.🐺