Chapter 31: The Doubles Round Part 2

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

Team RXDY

The next day brings another series of doubles round with Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil taking on Russel Thrush and Sky Lark from Team CRDL in a mountain, ocean, cyber and geyser biomes.

Russel and Sky run towards the boulders while evading fire. Penny summons six blades and forms a shuriken with them before throwing it into the boulder Russel's hiding at and repeats the process with Sky. Penny grins and looks at Ciel who's tapping on her watch. Realizing they need to wrap the match up, Penny uses near invisible wires on the blades to lift the boulders taking the opponents with them and slams them to the ground, shattering the rocks and Russel's and Sky's respective aura while the blades return to Penny.

The buzzer sounded while Ooblock announced, "And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!"

The orange-haired girl bowed, "Thank you for a wonderful time." The victors walk off and Ruby leaves her seat to meet up with her.

She called out, "Penny!"

The orange-haired girl turned around, "Ruby!" She tackles the huntress-in-training to the ground.

Ruby groaned, "Why?"

After the two stood up, Penny introduced, "Ruby, this is my teammate."

The dark-skinned girl bowed, "Ciel Soleil."

Ruby waved, "Hi, I'm…"

Ciel interjected, "Ruby Rose. Fifteen, hales from Patch, leader of Team RWBY. Status: Questionable."

Brushing off that info, Ruby said, "So, Penny, you two were incredible out there. How do you keep control of all those swords? It's so cool!"

Ciel interrupted, "Penny, I believe it's best we move on to our next location."

Penny asked, "Can you give us a minute?" Ciel looks at her watch before stepping a distance, nodding her consent.

Ruby queried, "So is she your friend or…?"

Penny replied, "Yeah, in a way. She's like Blake but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."

Ruby reasoned, "Oh, so Weiss."

Penny nodded, "Precisely."

Ruby asked her friend, "So does she...you know, beep bop, does not compute?" She imitates a robot to emphasize her point.

The orange-haired girl shook her head, "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." After sharing a laugh, Penny said, "Ruby, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. I want to say at Beacon!"

Ruby counted, "But Penny, they won't let you do that."

Penny nodded, "I know. But I have a plan."

Ciel approached them, pointing at her match, "It's been one minute, ma'am."

Penny smiled at the huntress-in-training, "I'll talk to you soon, Ruby." The Atlas duo wave goodbye at each other.

Professor Port announced, "Our next match will begin in fifteen minutes."

Ruby realized, "Oh yes, it's for Weiss and Yang!" The said girls stand in a geyser, lava, desert and urban biomes as they prepare to take on the representatives of Team FNKI

Yang asked while stretching out her arms, "Well, now it's our turn!"

Weiss told her, "Just remember to keep proper form."

The blonde-haired girl replied, "Alright. You're from Atlas what can we expect?"

The Schnee heiress told her, "Well, seeing as their kingdom, academy and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict militants with advanced technology and well-rehearsed strategy." A rainbow streak zips past them and the two FNKI representatives appear, revealing themselves to be Flynt Coal and Neon Katt.

Flynt is a young, dark-skinned man with dark brown eyes. He wears rectangular sunglasses and a dark fedora with a blue trim on his head as well as an earring on his right ear. He wears a dark vest over an untucked white dress shirt with a loose tie wrapped around the collar, a pair of dark dress pants, silver dress shoes and a dark glove on his left hand.

His choice of weapon is a trumpet, indicating he's mostly likely a musician.

Neon is a young girl with light skin complexion, sea green eyes and moderate red-orange hair with light blue streaks and tied in two pig tails. Her feline faunus trait is of a cat tail covered with pink fur that becomes lighter toward the tip.

Her attire is a light blue cropped tank top over a dark purple bra, showing her upper cleavage. She also wears dark purple short shorts under a pink combat miniskirt and 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. 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 wears red trick roller blades, which she also uses to quickly move around. The roller blades each only have two wheels to assist her in her tricks. A tattoo of a shooting star with a red, green and yellow trail winds around her right arm. Neon wears two small gold earrings in her left ear and one in her right.

Her weapon of choice is nunchaku, which also appears to function as glow sticks as well as harness ice Dust.

Weiss said, "Or whatever they are."

Flynt queried, "Hey, you're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

The white-haired girl nodded, "I am!"

The dark-skinned young man, "I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then."

Weiss shrugged with a smile, "I do my best."

Flynt nodded, "Yeah. My dad was pretty good, too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own 'til your father's company ran him out of business!"

Weiss lowered her head, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Flynt replied with sarcasm, "Oh, sure you are."

Yang came to her teammate's defense, "Hey, what don't you…"

Neon interrupted, mimicking the blonde brawler, "Hey, you! That's what you sound like."

Yang rubbed the back of her hair in confusion, "Uh…"

Neon asked, "Where did you get those hair extensions?"

Yang replied, "This is my normal hair. There aren't any extensions. Is that a problem?"

Neon twirled around, "You should try rollerblading sometime, it's super fun. It'd probably take you a while since you're so top-heavy." The biomes selector pops, beginning the selection of which biomes the fight will take place on.

Yang glared, "Excuse me?!"

Up in her seat, Ruby rolled her eyes, "Oh boy, here we go." The bio selector chooses a lava, geyser, desert and urban biomes.

Professor Port counted down, "Three...two...one...begin!" Flynt uses his trumpet, generating a sound wave-based attack at Weiss and Yang while Neon uses it to boost her speed, ramming into Yang knocking her into the urban section and away from Weiss, who uses a Gravity glyph to keep herself steady.

The Schnee heiress speeds toward Flynt as he uses his trumpet's sound wave-based attack again forcing Weiss to use Gravity glyphs to walk through the sound wave but then Flynt halts the attack causing Weiss to tumble forward and Flynt kicks her square in the back, making her collide with a lava crystal as Flynt turns around chuckling with a grin.

Neon uses the open space of the urban part of the biomes to evade shots from Ember Celica, leaving a rainbow trail, hopping and grinding along a railing, pulling her right lower eyelid down and blowing her tongue at Yang, the blonde gives chase and shoots, but Neon keeps dodging.

She said, "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat." She returns to the ground and strikes Yang with her nunchaku from random directions faster than Yang can react. Neon squeezes her weapon, making the nunchaku light up with ice Dust before charging, skating along the wall of a destroyed building and hits Yang's leg, encasing the limb in ice.

Neon taunted, "Look. Now you're bottom heavy." Yang stomps to free her frozen leg only to have her opponent freeze her left arm, pulling fancy moves then heads back toward Yang and uses the momentum to land a drop kick sending the blonde brawler crashing against the wall, cracking it.

Up in the stands, Draco commented, "Using the environment and her speed to keep Yang off-balance is a good strategy. How long can she keep it up, though?"

Back with the combatants, Neon mocked, "You should cool off. Get it? Because you're angry." Yang slams her frozen arm against the wall freeing it while annoyed that Neon is using puns against her.

Weiss generates four glyphs to launch ice shards at Flynt, the young man slides toward a lava geyser and uses his trumpet on it, using the geyser to melt the approaching ice shards.

He rose to his feet, "Too bad all that money can't buy you skill." Grunting, Weiss switches to air Dust to combat Flynt's sound wave attack and uses her free hand to create glyphs around her opponent, using them to hit the dark-skinned young man from all directions. Flynt activates his semblance, Killer Quartet. This creates three copies of himself. This cancels Weiss's attack. Sharing a quick look at the aura monitor, Flynt grows confident that he and Neon have this match in the bag, walking over to Weiss while deactivating his semblance.

Yang chases after Neon, getting more irritated by the feline faunus' taunts.

She said, "Ooo, flashy eyes. They're actually kinda pretty when you're angry."

Yang exclaimed, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She fires a round from Ember Celica to proper herself.

Flynt places his foot on Weiss's rapier, Mrytenaster while Yang said, "You're really starting to piss me off!"

Neon said, "I'm not saying you should go on a diet I'm saying you really need to go on a diet."

Yang shouted, "THAT'S IT!" Flynt targets Yang and activates his semblance again. Realizing his intentions, Weiss pushes both of them into a lava geyser, seemingly producing a double knockout but when the steam clears Flynt is still in the fight, his aura near the red but not empty.

Flynt walks to join his teammate in the middle of the arena, confident their victory is at hand.

Yang bares her teeth and cracks her knuckles, having enough of the faunus' taunts and stomps on the ground, lava geysers erupt in unison.

Up in her seat, Yumi yelled, "Yang, target the ground! Making it uneven will give you an edge over Neon!" Realizing this as well, Yang does just that but first she needs to separate the two challengers. Soon, the blonde brawler shoots at the ground blowing chucks of it.

Once Neon is out of the picture, Yang goes after Flynt flying within the sound wave attack with her semblance activated as indicated by her red eyes. Despite Flynt using his semblance on her, Yang shoots Ember Celica behind to close in on him, clamping her hands over the trumpet and fires, eliminating Flynt from the match.

'Now for the pest.' Yang thought.

She watches Neon struggling to roller skate on the uneven terrain of the lava section of the biomes until she trips, rolling into an awaiting geyser that launches Neon upward. A well-timed shot by Yang's shotgun gauntlets eliminates the feline faunus, making her and Weiss the winners.

She took a moment to catch her breath until she realized, "Weiss!" Her eyes returned to their normal lilac color as she rushed over to the heiress, "Are you okay?"

The Schnee heiress sat up covered in soot, "I may not be singing for a while."

Yang smiled, "You know, I'm sure that wasn't proper form." Weiss laughs in sarcasm before coughing.

Neon said, "We lost? Team FNKI lost? That was…that was…" Her eyes lit up, "Amazing! Oh my gosh, you guys were super crazy awesome! We should definitely party together sometime! Right, Flynt?"

The dark-skinned young man stood up, "That was a gutsy move, Schnee. I dig it." Ruby, Blake and Yumi join them.

Blake commented, "Good job, you two. We're advancing to the Singles round!"

Yumi launched herself into Yang's arms, "I knew you could do it! You took my advice!"

Yang hugged the wolf faunus, "I sure did even though I couldn't hear you over the roaring crowd."

The wolf faunus beamed at her, "Who knows? Your team may win this tournament."

Yang ruffled Yumi's silver hair, "We will win this year's Vytal Tournament, you can count it." Yumi escapes the blonde-haired girl's embrace to fix her hair.

She helped Weiss up, "Flynt is right, that was gusty of you, Weiss. The gamble paid off, though." She took the Schnee's hands in her own, "You have the potential to be a great Huntress. All four of you do. I just know it. Still a little rough around the edges when it comes to teamwork but you four are improving. It won't be long before you're a well-oiled machine.

Weiss smiled, "Thanks for the encouragement, Yumi."

Yumi offered, "Wanna take a picture?"

Ruby nodded eagerly, "Sure!"

Weiss objected, "I don't look presentable, though."

Blake gently nudged Weiss's shoulder, "Don't be a spoil sport." Team RWBY huddle together, each smile with Yang closing her eyes and giving the double peace sign with a grin. They hear the click of the camera and wait for Yumi to show them, in no time she does. Yang has to withhold a snicker seeing Weiss smiling while covered in soot. Yumi sends the picture to Ruby's scroll.

Yumi commented, "Your parents must be cheering you on from home."

Ruby nodded, "Uh-huh, Dad sure is." Blake and Weiss don't answer.

The wolf faunus noticed it, "Something wrong?"

Blake shook her head, "It's nothing to worry about, Yumi." The girl blinks in confusion before shrugging it off with a smile.

Yumi said, "Good luck in the Singles round. You'll need it." Team RWBY watches her walk away when she stops halfway and turns her torso to look back at them, giving them a wholesome smile that reminds Ruby and Yang of their mother, Summer Rose.

Once the wolf faunus is off the biomes Yang said, "Yumi's so cute and kind, isn't she?"

Weiss agreed, "She sure is. Certainly energetic. I can see why her team likes Yumi. Don't you think so, Ruby?" The heiress notices her team leader not responding, "Ruby, you there?"

The huntress-in-training blinked, "Oh, um, Yumi really is kind." In their guest dorm room, Cinder sits on the bed looking at her scroll, Mercury does push-ups and Emerald reads something on her scroll.

The black-haired woman perked up, "Oh!" That catches her underlings' attention.

Emerald voiced it, "What?"

Cinder replied, "Oh, nothing. We're just going to be making a slight alteration to the plan."

Mercury and Emerald exchange glances at each other before the gray-haired teen resumed doing push-ups, "What does that mean?"

Cinder said, "It means this'll be easier than we thought despite the increase in security."

Emerald queried, "What about those mercenaries?"

Cinder told her, "All in good time, Emerald. All in good time." Ozpin sits in his chair looking out the window of his office when the door hisses open and Qrow walks holding a cup of most likely alcohol.

He commented, "You know he's making you look like a fool."

Ozpin brushed it off, "His heart is in the right place. He's just...misguided."

Qrow pointed out, "Sometimes I think he doesn't even have a heart." He took a sip of his beverage then asked, "So, have you chosen your next guardian yet?"

Ozpin turned his chair around to look at the Branwen, "Maidens choose themselves, Qrow. I simply found the best candidate. Even since the day I met her, I knew she'd be the right one. She's strong, intelligent, caring and most of all, she's ready."

Qrow added, "You do know the Queen won't be satisfied with just the Fall Maiden, right? The other three have targets painted on their backs."

The Beacon headmaster said, "I'm well aware of that. Keeping the remaining half of the Fall Maiden's power out of Cinder's hands is crucial."

His confidant queried, "And what about sorting the little problem with that all faunus team? Any progress on that?"

Ozpin said, "It's proving to be more difficult than I first thought."

Qrow asked him, "Do you think the Queen sees them as a threat? If so, you know she'll send Grimm after them."

Ozpin replied, "They're seasoned fighters even though they're so young. Besides, their leader will make sure they survive."

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Speaking from experience?" Ozpin nods in confirmation.

A bit later, Sin visits Team RXDY's dorm, knocking on the door.

Draco greeted, "Hi, Sin. What's up?"

The human said, "Nothing much, just chilling. We're slowly seeing the Doubles round thinning out and who's proceeding to the Singles round." Draco stepped aside for Sin to enter, "I've been watching you guys advance through the Vytal Tournament. However, you four don't attend any of the academies so it's a violation of rules."

Draco replied, "Ozpin said he'll look into it. We haven't heard a word from him since."

Sin looked around, "Where's your team leader?"

Xavier said, "She's out with Blake, saying about wanting to spend time with her. Anyway, what brings you here?"

Sin replied, "I was wondering if I could take Yumi out for some fun." As if on cue the wolf faunus appears.

She asked, "You want to take me out?"

Sin said, "The innocent kind. You know, walk around Vale City, maybe enjoy the sunset and cook something for you. I may not look like it but I'm an amazing cook. Why don't we head to Beacon's cafeteria, and I'll show you?"

Yumi blushed, "Um...well…"

Xavier assured, "Sin's a good person, Yumi. He won't hurt you in any way."

Sin offered, "So? How about it? Would you like to join me in having fun this fine evening, my cute angel?" Yumi's cheeks light up at the nickname.

She nodded nevertheless, "Sure." The wolf faunus exits the room with Sin while Draco closes the door.

Yumi and Sin head for Beacon's cafeteria in awkward silence.

Sin decided to break the ice, "So... have you and your team been enjoying the Vytal Tournament?"

Yumi nodded with a cheerful smile, "We sure are. This is the first time we've witnessed it, let alone be part of it. Although it's against the rules to do so because we don't attend none of the academies. But Ozpin said he'd make a special case. Something along the lines of letting the public see my team in action since we're famous."

Sin returned the smile, "I know I said it before, but I'll say it again. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend, Yumi."

Yumi blushed, "You think so?"

Sin nodded, "I do. You're cute, friendly and can get along with almost anybody."

Yumi averted her gaze, "I don't think I would be girlfriend material."

Sin asked, "Why do you say that?"

The wolf faunus replied, "The thing is I suffered a head injury when I was a little girl. As a result, I tend to have memory lapses, meaning I don't remember what was happening at that exact moment."

The human placed a fist over his chest with a theatrical tone, "In that case, I, Sin Saber will make sure this angel has a great time this evening." He directs his gaze to Yumi happy to hear the wolf faunus giggle at his antics. The noise makes his legs weak and heart speed up.

In no time, they reach the commons and Sin asks Yumi to have a seat while he whips up a tasty meal, engaging in small chitchat during that time.

Yumi queried, "If you didn't want to a hunter, Sin, was there any other field of interest you'd pursuit?"

Sin occasionally flipped the sliced-up chicken breast, "I guess I'd pursuit a boxing career, becoming a world-renowned champion. How about you?"

Yumi looked at the table, "Be a photographer, travel the world. See various forms of life outside of Grimm." As the two chat the aroma of the cooking food reaches Yumi's nose causing the wolf faunus to drool. It takes a second for her to realize what she's doing and corrects it with a red face.

Soon the meal is finished, and Sin brings two bowls on a lunch tray over where Yumi sits, placing her bowl in front and sets her napkin and silverware next to it then repeats the process with his.

Sin bowed theatrically at his guest of honor, "Here you go, my cute wolf faunus. Chicken stir-fry with chopped up veggies, rice and the perfect amount of teriyaki sauce. I used the less sodium version, but it'll still be salty, hence why I brought us a glass of water for both of us. Enjoy." Stars fill Yumi's eyes as she stares at the food in front of her.

She picks up her fork and scoops some up, blowing on the steaming-hot food to cool it before putting it in her mouth. Her taste buds erupt with pleasure along with a matching expression.

Sin asked, "How is it?"

Yumi swallowed it, "It's delicious, Sin!" Hearing that praise boosts the human's pride and eats his own bowl of chicken stir-fry.

Not even 15 minutes later, their bowls are empty along with their glasses of water.

Yumi said, "That tasted amazing, Sin. Did someone teach you how to cook or are you a natural talent of it?"

Sin winked at her, "That's a secret." After placing the bowls and cleaning them, Sin returned, "Let's head for Vale City while we still have time." The two head there exploring the city and stopping by an ice cream shop. Yumi settles with a strawberry flavored ice cream and Sin chooses vanilla except he chose his to be in a cup.

They walk around town, stopping at random stores to look at the contents. They stop at a park that grants an unobstructed view of the sky. The duo watches the sun begin its slow descent beyond the horizon, turning the sky a beautiful orange.

Yumi said, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Sin stared at Yumi's form, appreciating her beauty, "Indeed. Hey Yumi, can I take a picture of us? That way, if you suffer a memory lapse you can use the picture to remember this." Yumi turns around to look at him, accepting his request. Sin walks over, joining the wolf faunus and aims his scroll, winking along with a peace sign and grin while Yumi dons a cheerful smile on her face before Sin takes the selfie.

Sin added, "And one more picture while the setting is still great." He returns to his previous position and readies the camera on his scroll when a breeze passes by making Yumi's hair flutter in it and making her raise her hand to keep it away from her face giving Sin the perfect shot asking the wolf faunus to smile. Yumi does with a small blush on her face. A click echoes through the area and Sin shows the picture to her.

He commented, "You look amazing with that sunset behind you. Straight out of a romance film or an action video game before the climactic battle."

Yumi said, "We better start heading back." It doesn't take long for them to reach Beacon's courtyard and reaching the dorms.

The wolf faunus smiled, "I enjoyed our time together, it was fun. Especially that chicken stir-fry, it was awesome. I could see you being a professional chef or even your own restaurant."

Sin laughed, "Now you're flattering me. I appreciate your idea, though. Who knows? Maybe when the Grimm no longer and things between our races are on stable ground, I might open one up with you and your team being the guests of honor."

Yumi's eyes beamed, "I'd like that."

Sin grinned in a friendly manner, "Never lose that smile, Yumi. Keep being there for your teammates, they need your light." Grabbing the girl's hand, Sin kneels and kisses it. Staring into Yumi's gorgeous amber eyes he watches the wolf faunus blush and place her free hand on her face at the display of chivalry.

She said, "Stop, you're making blush."

Sin replied, "It only makes you more beautiful." He stood up, releasing her hand, "I better be heading to my team's guest dorm. Good night, Yumi. Maybe you'll face me or one of my teammates in the Singles round." He waves good-bye and ventures to RUST's guest dorm.

Yumi enters her team's dorm room and closes the door.

Draco asked, "How was it?"

The wolf faunus said, "I had fun. Sin really is fun to hang around with. What did you guys do?"

Xavier said while sketching the star-filled night sky, "Just hung around here and had pizza."

At that moment Rena appears wearing only her short-sleeved shirt and leggings.

Yumi asked, "When did you get back?"

Rena answered, "About thirty minutes ago. Xavier told me where you went."

Yumi's ears lowered, "You're not mad, are you?"

Rena shook her head, "No. At least it was Sin and not some random Beacon student. You guys work so hard, you should have fun." She noticed her teammates staring at her with astonishment, "What?"

Xavier said, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with our team leader?"

The one-eyed faunus wondered, "What are you talking about?"

Xavier crossed his arms, "You're usually more uptight and serious."

Rena admitted, "I suppose it's because we don't have to constantly look over our shoulders in case an assassin or hit squad jump at us. That and my reunion with Blake made me realize that I may have deprived myself of enjoying life. For as long as I can remember, work is all I've known."

Draco placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's totally fine to enjoy life. Working too much leads to burnout. If you're burnt out, your work performance declines."

Yumi grabbed Rena's hands giving the older faunus her signature smile, "Remember, you always got us in case you want to do something that's not mission related."

A smile formed on Rena's face, "I'm grateful to have you three in my life along with my adopted father and the Belladonnas."

Xavier returned the smile with his own, "You've been there for us, let us be there for you. You're more than just a team leader, you're our friend." The four spend the rest of the evening and night watching TV then sleep in bunk beds.

A/N: First chapter of 2023 complete.

Here, the second part of the Doubles round in the Vytal Tournament takes place and sorting who goes to the Singles round.

Later on, Sin took Yumi out for evening fun and displayed his cooking skills to her.

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