Chapter 24: Another Rematch

Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, I only own my OCs.

Team RXDY

Lunch time comes following the match between Team SSSN and Team NDGO. Team RXDY ventures into Vale City seeing people enjoy the Vytal Festival store owners are making record sales even the owner of Dust 'til Dawn is making a small fortune from the number of participants in the tournament, looking to refill ammo for their weapons. Restaurants are packed with customers looking to try each of the four Kingdoms' cuisines, retail stores offering discounts for merchandise.

The team debated where to eat when a familiar voice said, "Excuse me. What brings an angel and a goddess like the two of you to the mortal coil?" Turning around the mercenaries see Sin from Team RUST standing there.

Yumi exclaimed, hugging the human, "Sin! How are you?"

Sin smiled and shrugged, "Well, I was just alright until I saw you then I became happy."

Yumi blushed and took a step back, "You say that to every girl, don't you?"

Sin replied, "Only the ones I like." The statement makes the wolf faunus turn a deeper shade of red and even whimper a little at her failure to put a sentence together.

Rena crossed her arms, "Still a flirt, Sin?"

Sin told her, "So as long as you stay beautiful as you are."

Rena told him in a threatening tone, "Just remember to keep your hands to yourself."

Sin remarked as the rest of his team joined them, "Always."

Draco said, "We were about to have lunch. Wanna join?"

Alena declined, "We ate before Sin spotted you. But we can talk." Settling on a restaurant that's been getting positive reviews for the quality of food, customer service and working conditions, Team RXDY sorts through the menus with the waiter offering a few suggestions or what their staple meal is.

Rena decides to eat chicken pasta topped with creamy sauce and red pepper flakes, Draco settles for a burger cooked medium-rare and salad, Xavier chooses a steak cooked medium, rice and small bowl of mixed fruit and Yumi goes with a chicken sandwich and an apple. Writing down the orders, the waiter tells them it'll be ready soon.

Sin asked, "What have you four been up to since we last met?"

Xavier said, "Doing missions, collecting payments, meet new species of Grimm they don't teach you in school, saving villages from terrorists. The usual."

Rhia replied, "We heard about that on the news, you saved Iremia from the Black Star Terrorist organization. Or what was left of it."

Alena added, "I did some research on that group. It was comprised of wanted criminals or ex-hunters and huntresses, being it human or faunus. The leader's name was Azule." She saw them tense for a moment then relaxed, "I take it you had an encounter with the man?"

Xavier said, "We did. We were on an escort mission, riding a Dust train. Our objective was to guard it until it reached its destination to offload the cargo. The original train station came under attack by the Black Star Terrorist organization. Yumi was able to capture Azule and he was put behind bars after the train driver brought the Dust train to an alternate station for the offloading. But…"

Rhia asked, "But what?"

Rena took over, "The wretch somehow escaped prison and ordered someone to use their mind control semblance on my teammates to attack me." Team RUST falls silent at that.

Alena dared to ask, "And what happened? With your team?"

Rena replied, "I knocked them out and went out to find the person. After killing the man, I discovered who orchestrated it and decided to take matters into our own hands. The following day we launched a coordinated attack on recruitment camps. Once that was done, I set out on my hunt for Azule tracking him to a military base, safe to say everyone in there fell to my blade including Azule. After that, things were peaceful for a while. When we reached Iremia we found ourselves in the middle of an attack carried out by remnants of the organization led by the second in command Adra. Guess what? They failed. The survivors of the organization surrendered. After that incident we decided to come here attending the festival and watch the tournament."

Draco nodded in agreement, "I must say the matches have been great so far. Although Team SSSN still needs to work on team coordination." Soon the waiter returns with a folding table designed to hold multiple plates. Setting it up he places the meals on it before handing them individually to RXDY.

Folding the table he bowed, "Enjoy the food." The faunus team digs in, talking between bites.

After picking their meals clean, Draco pays the check.

Yumi asked, "I take it you four are in the tournament?"

Sin nodded, "Yep. And we plan on winning it."

Draco chuckled, "I'm sure you're not the only ones making that claim."

Rhia said, "Maybe not. But the difference is the others are wrong, we're not." Everything fell quiet at Rhia's statement making the normally reserved fox faunus look at them confused, "What?"

Xavier smirked, "Nothing. That's just something we'd expect Sin to say."

Yumi agreed with a smile, "Yeah."

Sin said, "Well, she's not wrong. Those other people are boasting, we aren't. RUST is going to win." A brief laugh is shared between them.

Draco told them, "We'll hold you to that. Don't disappoint us."

Sin looked at Rena, "Too bad you're not in the tournament. Wouldn't mind having with you."

Rena told him, "Then let's have one. There's a nice open spot just outside the city where we can do it."

Sin said, "Phrasing."

Rena groaned, "Perv."

Sin asked, "Shall we?"

Rena nodded and stood up, "Follow me." Team RUST and RXDY depart the restaurant and head toward the located for Sin and Rena's rematch.

'Hm, issuing two rematches within the first week of the Vytal Tournament. Guess I'm a battle magnet.' The one-eyed faunus thought.

As they walk Alena can see Sin trace Rena's body with his eyes making her frown in disgust, tempted to sock him but she'll let Rena do that for her. Besides she doesn't want to cause a scene.

Yumi suddenly feels someone painfully grab her tail causing her to yelp, the noise alerts the others. They turn around and spot a human holding the wolf faunus' tail with a sneer.

He said, "A filthy dog like you deserves to be in the Dust mines not walking around freely."

Yumi said, "Please let go."

Her request was ignored so Xavier walked over repeating it, "Sir, can you let go of my teammate's tail?"

The human glared at him, "Why should I?"

Xavier said, "Because she asked you. So please do."

The human dared the ox faunus, "And what will you do if I don't?" Sin glares at the man, not enjoying seeing Yumi in pain.

Xavier shakes his head and grabbed the human's hand squeezing it hard enough to make him let go of Yumi's tail. Almost immediately afterward, Yumi leaps at the human with an angered look on her face. The normally cheerful and happy girl scratches the assailant's face until Xavier pries her off.

He said, "Okay, I think he gets the point, Yumi. No need to claw his face off." He escorts Yumi away while the human glares at them, his face covered in scratches.

The man seethed, "You little…" Cocking noises grab his attention, turning his head to the left he sees Draco and Sin aiming their guns at him with a look that dares him to pull the stunt again.

Sin said, "You have two choices, pal. One: You can turn around and walk away with only a scratched-up face. Or two: Try pulling on Yumi's tail and see what happens. Choose wisely." Snorting the man chooses the second option and walks away, once he's a good distance away Sin and Draco lower their weapons.

The dragon faunus shook his head, "It's because of people like them that make us faunus want to lash out."

Xavier said, "He got off easy."

Draco asked his teammate, "You okay, Yumi?"

Yumi nodded, "Yeah, thanks to you three."

Sin holstered his gun, "Anytime, angel."

Rena said, "Let's continue our way." They soon reach the designated area, both combatants stand on opposing ends with Draco serving as the referee.

He told them, "Rena, Sin, both of you will continue until your aura is depleted or if one of you is unable to continue. Lethal force is prohibited. Both of you may start after my call. Understood?" They nodded in sync, "Okay."

Sin gets into his fighting stance while Rena looks to draw Scarlet when she gets a different idea. She decides to go hand to hand with Sin. She knows Sin is aware of her fighting style and she knows his so Rena decides to try a different approach since using her maiden powers would be overkill in addition to not wanting to catch whoever's hunting the Maidens attention.

Draco raised his arm, "Ready?" He brought it down, "Begin!" Rena plants her foot in the ground gathering aura there and with a burst, speeds toward Sin.

The young human brings his hand up to retaliate when Rena dashes around getting behind Sin and wrapping her arms around his waist.

Sin blinked, "What the…" He doesn't get to finish the sentence when Rena hoists Sin off his feet and nails the German suplex, driving his head into the ground with an earth-shattering impact. She lets go and backflips away with elegance. She grabs Sin's shirt collar, balls her free fist and drives it into his chest rocketing the human into the ground, kicking up dirt until he comes to a complete stop. Sin gets up still dazed from the German suplex then claps his hands against his temples to stabilize himself.

He commented, "Woo, you caught me off-guard with that surprise attack. My turn." He rushes Rena meeting her head-on, catching a punch and lands a hit on her stomach his aura increasing the power behind the attack. Rena skids back and crouches down, planting her hand on the ground to halt the momentum. She charges again, Sin's semblance slows down the perception of time allowing him to sidestep Rena's punch and lands an aura enhanced palm strike to her face. Rena recovers and scores a heel kick to the back of Sin's head launching him forward and grabs his foot, tripping him and slamming him back and forth numerous times following that up with an open palm strike to the chest, rocketing the human back.

Throughout their match, Sin finds himself enjoying it. Rena's aggression is matched with Sin's timed and aura enhanced strikes. It grows to the point where Sin pulls out his gloves, goggles and earplugs again, Rena pops her neck.

Rhia uses her scroll to check the combatants' respective auras. Sin's approaching orange while Rena's nearing light green.

Rena dodges Sin's strikes remembering the last time she got hit by those gloves until one connects setting off a loud explosion and intense flash of light, disorientating her. She gets pummeled with successive hits but the one-eyed faunus refuses to quit relying on her durability she knows at some point Sin will begin to tire out from using his aura. With her sense of touch, her hand finds Sin's face and slams him to the ground. Her vision returns but ears are still ringing. Placing her other hand on his face, Rena pulls Sin to his feet and toward her driving her knee into his sternum and one strong thrust knocks Sin back, grabbing hold of his arm she pulls him in for a hard clothesline turning the young human inside-out, his aura struggling to absorb the hit. A hard kick to the chest sends Sin flying onto his back. Rena waits for him to get up. She hears him laugh.

He smiled at her, "Damn, girl. You're hot, sexy, deadly and feisty. I'm liking you more and more. I think you'd make a great combat teacher at any of the academies. Hell, I'm sure Professor Eden wouldn't mind having you as a substitute teacher for our combat class."

Rena said, "Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Sin."

The human stood, "I'm being honest with you. Let's up the anty, shall we?" Rena switches to defense as Sin releases a barrage of punches and strikes on her. The ringing of the flash bangs is annoying but Rena withstands them.

Rhia watches via her scroll Sin wear down Rena's aura all the while his is draining quick and his semblance helping him evade the one-eyed faunus' counterattack although Rena still gets a few hits in. Rena sidesteps a palm thrust wrapping her hand around Sin's throat, lifts him up and drives him back down to the ground in a one-handed chokeslam.

An additional 10 minutes go by and Rena's aura is in the red and Sin's breathing means he is nearing exhaustion. This last attack will decide the outcome.

Without any change in her expression Rena watches Sin prepare his final attack. The human runs at her with his remaining flash bang glove ready, time slows down for both of them as Rena sidesteps the attack, a wide-eyed expression forms on Sin's face before he collapses to the ground.

Draco said, "The winner is Rena Schwartz." Sin has enough strength to roll onto his back as he processed the results in his head.

The human asked the one-eyed faunus, "What are you made of?" Rena's answer is a mere smirk knowing it would embed in his mind and fester, driving him mad.

Sin stood up, "Oh well, there's always next time."

Rena asked, hoping to stir him even more, "Want to lose again?"

Sin reminded, "I didn't lose this time. It was a draw, not a loss."

Rena smirked once more, "Yes, out of two matches so far you haven't won either."

Rhia said, "We should be heading back to Beacon. Maybe over the weekend we can have a match together?"

Yumi perked up at the thought, "That sounds like fun. Rena, can we?"

Rena, despite being normally stoic, couldn't resist Yumi's energy and shook her head smiling, "Sure. But you better not go easy on them."

Xavier said, "I admit after seeing two matches between yourself and Sin I want to have a go myself."

Rhia admitted, "It'd be a good practice for the tournament and it's not fair Sin gets to have all the fights to himself."

Sin agreed, "It's good exercise. Besides, unlike the rest of you I'm not afraid to ask for a match between friends."

Rena hummed, "Oh? We're friends?"

Sin told her, "Well, we have been through a lot together. There was that Gloom Widow, there was...okay just that and our two fights."

Rena crossed her arms, "And that's enough to make us friends?" For some reason she finds herself unable to resist attempting to rile the human. In fact, she finds herself enjoying it.

Sin said, "Yeah, why not? But if you want more than just friends…" He took her hand, "...I'm sure I can find us a nice restaurant to have dinner."

Rena told him, "So long as you can eat with one hand." She holds her claymore against the wrist of his hand that was holding hers.

Sin remembered, releasing her hand, "Right. You don't like flirting. Hands to myself, I got it."

Rena returned her sword to its scabbard on her back, "Good. Best you keep that mind, Sin. There's one other team you'll have a blast with. They're called Team TEAL. They attend Beacon Academy. Perhaps you four will face them during the Vytal Tournament. The team is comprised of three humans and one half-dog faunus."

Rhia asked, "What are they like?"

Xavier explained, "Tira Cage is the leader that has endless energy, thrill seeker and flirt like Sin, her adopted sister Emmara Ace is shy but knows how to cook and is a photographer, Alexia is essentially a ninja and Cassandra Lynch is not much of a social person and has a deep hatred for the Grimm. They killed her family and gave her scars. Watch yourself around her. You as well, Sin."

Yumi said, "Hope to see you this weekend. Good luck in the tournament."

Rhia waved, "Thanks." After they were gone the fox faunus smiled, "They are certainly an interesting bunch."

Sin nodded, "Yep. I can't decide who's better. Yumi with her cuteness or Rena being so badass and sexy."

Rhia sweat dropped, "Are you for real? She threatened to cut off your hand if you didn't let go of hers."

Sin turned around to face her, "Why not? Come on, even you have to admit that she's gorgeous, Rhia. But that doesn't make you any less beautiful." The fox faunus blushes crimson.

Alena growls at Sin for him flirting with her sister but sucks it up.

Following an encounter with Team RWBY and flirting with Yang, RUST retreats to the guest dorm. Hearing Weiss introduce herself triggered some bad memories for Rhia and Alena. A scuffle between Sin and Alena happens until the boy is able to calm both sisters down.

That night he ventures into town to get some groceries so he can cook something for his team when he engages in a fight with Ashton and Klawdia, the former saying he wants to see how good Sin is. The boy proved him right with practically one-sided. Giving Ashton a warning that should they encounter each other again Sin won't be as merciful. As he heads back to the dorm with the groceries, he wonders how Ashton knows him despite this being the first time they met. Deciding not to dwell on it he returns to cook for his team.

Rena sits alone in her team's guest dorm after her teammates said they'll be out exploring. The one-eyed faunus allows them. Bidding them good-bye for now Rena takes in the silence of the room finding it alien but comforting at the same time. After showering Rena puts her black panties and eye patch back on and is about to put her bra on when she hears the scroll on the bathroom counter vibrate. Picking it up she sees the caller being Ashton. Titling her head in curiosity she answers the call as she walks out of the bathroom and onto her bed, thankful the curtains are closed.

She asked, "Yes, what is it?"

Ashton said, "Rena, we need to talk. It's about Sin, the boy from Vacuo."

Rena queried, "Why? Found out more about him?"

Ashton said, "Can we speak in person? You don't know if someone's listening in."

Rena raised her hand nonchalantly, "No one's here but me."

Ashton sighed, "Fine. Alright here's what information I dug up. Possibly something juicy."

Rena laid down, "I'm listening."

A/N: Chapter 24 done.

Here Rena and Sin have their rematch and like their first one Rena emerged victorious, this time around though he brought her aura down to red. Rena's durability and her ability to adapt rendered the match a close draw.

Rhia also proposed a team battle between RUST and RXDY sometime, saying it'd be a good exercise before RUST has its turn in the tournament.

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Stay tuned for chapter 25.

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