-Legend 25-

Supremacy: The Omega

-Pt.2-

…

"Hey boss? How come we don't the shindig with the big entrance and theme songs and the like?"

Cid took only a moment in answering this, his eyes and ears on the expectant ruckus around them in the arena. "As you know, Irvine, we at Balamb Garden do not partake in the excesses of showmanship. Our skill speaks for itself."

"Easy for you to say, with that big fancy ship of yours…"

"Angelo!" did Rinoa chastise her Ghost, but not without a clever giggle.

Squall, his level-purple sword, Hagakure (Arc affinity) was already shouldered, primed for action. "This is just like Ironwood. Always making people wait…"

Irvine turned to his leader. "Gettin' antsy there, partner?"

"That's none of your-"

"-Business," Rinoa swiftly input.

Squall turned to Rinoa, one of the few people in this world or any other that could make him smile unguarded. "I am so calling off the wedding," he said bluntly, his grin widening all the time.

Rinoa's smile was of equal width as she wiggled her fingers in a precise motion. In her hand formed a sphere of Void energy, which then proceeded to fly circles around her being. "Irvine's right though; James needs to get on with it." She then ticked off her next few points on her fingers. "We trounce Vector; Redwing obviously obliterates Cinder; and then it's us versus the Night Witches."

After a subtle adjustment to his stetson hat, did Irvine say, "And what does the good lady think will spare us from the same fate of obliteration?"

Rinoa held up but a single finger in response, beaming away.

Cid had removed his glasses, wiping them clean upon his vest. "I hate to break up this lovely exchange, but I do believe the General and his team are on approach.

The Ishtar arena was then swallowed by the shadow of the approaching Martian fleet.

…..

"Alright everyone, five minutes to transmat! We're making the final approach now."

James Ironwood watched as the little lady from vector industries fussed about the state of his top Fireteam. Their reactions to said fussing, varying between the three of them.

"Sheesh! I'm fine, Shion!" did Jr. cry.

Shion made an adjustment to his coat's collar anyway.

Nodding her approval, did she turn to Ziggy. She ran the lens of her scroll over his form and frowned at the findings. "Ziggy, your external appearance is down by about five percent…" She sighed rather mightily, brushing a fleck of dust from his shoulder. "Not much we can do about it now though."

"Nothing for you to worry about," did the half-exo intone.

Lastly, she turned to Chaos, to find the young man in a meditative state. "All good, Chaos?"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion...Zinthos…"

"Oh yeah, he's good," Jr. supplied.

Ironwood chuckled. "You really are quite the force, Miss Uzuki."

Shion nodded resolutely. "All in a day's work." She frowned academically. "Three day's work really, but who's counting?"

Ziggy raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, transmat time!" Shion sung. "Go and kick some butt, boys!"

And Ironwood and Team Vector were swept away in a flash of blue.

…..

"And now, for the entrance of Fireteam Balamb's opponents! I give you, Fireteam Vector!"

Shaxx motioned with grandeur to the sky above. Although said sky proceeded to remain empty.

"What gives?" Ruby said aloud. "What's taking Vector so long?"

"He always does this kind of thing," Weiss said. She discarded the empty bottle of fizzy punch in her hand and reached for a second. "Especially when it comes to trade meetings with my father." Her chest heaved merrily, relishing the thought. "Drives him absolutely mad."

Another few anticipatory moments crept by as the crowd began to grow restless.

"Who the hell does Ironwood think he is keeping us waiting like this!"

"Maybe his team wussed out!"

"Just like a Martian!"

Boo's and restless jeers issued from the onlookers, wanting the show on the road already. And then…

Ruby's head snapped upwards, her eyes and ears pointed to the eastern sky.

"Was?"

Yang sneered knowingly. "Hunter senses," she said to Weiss.

"Something's coming…" Ruby whispered.

And barely before the end of her statement, did an enormous Starship roar in from orbit.

All heads whipped towards the darkened sky, now set alight by the combined navigational luminescence of not just one, but two great ships. Both accompanied by a flock of smaller vessels.

"Holy shit, it's The Rhine Maiden!" Someone in the crowd supplied.

"That's gotta be bigger than a Fallen Ketch!" Yang all but screamed this as the roar of the fleet overpowered normal conversation.

"And The Woglinde to boot!" said another onlooker. "Ironwood and Vector are really bringin' it!"

The Rhine Maiden and her accompanying fleet took their stations at several points over the arena's skybox. A great beam of blue shone from the Starship's belly, right into the open roof of the Ishtar arena. And from it, emerged James Ironwood and Fireteam Vector.

Their appearance was met with thunderous support from the Martian contingent, countered with boo's and hisses from the Earth side.

"Damn, this is gonna be fucking good!" Yang said, charged with anticipation. "Who you girls got?"

"Balamb, obviously," Weiss said, watching the two teams and their representatives square off in the arena's center.

"Says here that Leonhart guy has a really cool Blade Dancing technique…" Ruby's eyes were on her scroll and the great screen almost at the same time.

"A full three-on-three it is then!" Announced Shaxx as the two teams came to terms.

This was met with roars of approval from the spectators, Team Rosenkreuz included.

Ruby watched as the teams reported back to either side of the ring, discussing tactics. Her eyes fell on James Ironwood, who despite all but being in the center of the madness...seemed oddly distracted. His gaze was averted to his left, looking for...something. The ultra-high definition of the screen captured the furrow of his brow as his eyes combed the area around his team's pen. Ziggy called him back to reality and they proceed to discuss their battle plan.

"Ironwood best get his head in the game," Weiss said.

"Yeah, cause it's about to be on!" Ruby shouted.

Balamb and Vector faced off in the arena's center, their weapons ready.

The crowd's pitch was but fever as they shouted for action.

"And now, let the match between Balamb and Vector begin!"

…

"I'm not really one to challenge you, sir, but don't you think you've had enough?"

Qrow focused his gaze upon the bartender as best as his drink-addled wits would allow. "I'm not gonna dignify myself with a response ta that." He tapped the counter again.

The barkeep shrugged and supplied the demanded concoction. He then looked to the "empty" seat next to the man. "Anything else for you, Miss Branwen?"

"She's gone." Qrow said, halfway through his glass already. "Scampered off for the arena soon as she learned Ironwood was featuring." He chuckled then, the heaving of his shoulders sloshing whiskey on the counter. "She's my older sister, but she still acts like a schoolgirl with a crush sometimes…"

The barkeep paid this almost no heed as his attention had been captured by the action on his mounted screen then. "Woo-wee!" was his reaction to the joined battle. "That half-exo guy is tough! Two downs already! But they just can't scoop up those crests; Balamb's sniper is too good."

He turned to Qrow, perhaps to judge his reaction to the onscreen melee. "Seriously, this isn't doing anything for you?" he said, seeing the Blade Dancer looking sullenly bored.

Qrow cast a glance at the screen. "Fucking amateurs," he growled, throwing back the rest of his drink.

He disappeared from sight entirely as a flock of about ten or twelve rowdy young men barged into the pub. "Can't believe they kicked us out like that! And for what? Showing support for our girls Lilysteel?"

"We can still watch the rest of the fights from in here though."

The barkeep clapped his hands for attention. "You wanna watch, fellas? You gotta buy somethin'," he said sternly.

"Fine. Give us a round, and put it on his tab."

"Fuck right off!"

The barkeep rounded up the drinks as the gaggle shouted at the screen.

"How did he get that rez? Jr. is mad quick!"

"No crests either side, but Vector is pushin' 'em back!"

"Has that Warlock girl been in Super this whole time?!"

The small rabble watered and currently occupied, the barkeep looked back to Qrow's stool. "You gonna call it, Mr. Witch? Or you want another?"

When no response came for several seconds, the man then slowly, cautiously, reached out his hand into the space where Qrow was sitting.

Only to find it empty.

He shrugged and turned back to watch the battle on screen.

…

"Magnificent! Another clean shot for Irvine Kinneas!"

The crowd roared at the action and Lord Shaxx's color commentary.

Chaos Blinked forward, faster than Ruby had ever seen a Warlock move. He unleashed a Nova bomb at his opponents. At least...she thought it was a Nova Bomb.

"Mein Traveler!" Weiss exclaimed. "What kind of…" She retreated to her scroll for answers.

The huge Void projectile moved slowly across the arena, Chaos using it as a cover to move in and revive his downed teammate.

"Thanks, man" Jr. said to him. "That guy's a better shot than I thought." He readied his level-purple Painted Big Chief hand cannon. "Time to settle the score!"

"Rinoa, incoming!" Squall shouted this to their Void Walker, seeing the massive projectile en route.

The Warlock readied herself. Extending her left arm forward, did she hover her right hand over a glowing band that circled her bicep. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

"What is she doing!?" Ruby screamed. "That thing is gonna obliterate her!"

"Patience, liebchen," did Weiss say. "Watch a Void Walker at work."

Said Windig in her head, "Wie hast du sie gerade genannt?"

Weiss colored at the question. "Uhh...nothing."

Rinoa's body exploded with Void energy, coating the whole of her being. Her hands extended outward, did she tear a hole in the fabric of time around her. The slow-moving projectile was then lost to the Void.

"Absolutely incredible!" Shaxx exclaimed. "Balamb's finest Guardians indeed!"

Ruby's eyes, agile as they were, could barley keep up with the furious flurry of action on screen. Squall's swordsmanship was nigh peerless as he charged Jr. outright, cutting him down. His crest tumbled free. Squall dove, but ran headlong into a barricade cast by Ziggy.

Rinoa cast a Vortex Grenade at Chaos. Chaos met this mid-air with one of his own. The two phenomena being equal, they canceled each other out.

Fresh from his resurrection, Jr. unleashed his Golden Gun Super, aimed straight at Irvine. The fiery projectiles hit only air as the Gunslinger performed a calculated Marksman's dodge. He tipped the brim of his hat to his opponent, along with a dazzling smile.

"Oh, Irvine, you're so hot!" Many of the female contingent had rallied around the handsome Gunslinger.

This deep into the match, with so many downs and no crests collected, the action began to slow just slightly. Formation and positioning became the prevalent strategy for both sides.

"How long can they keep this up?" Ruby said. "Their Light has to running low by now…"

By now, the two teams had split into three separate face offs. Perhaps coming to the conclusion that at full strength, neither could fully suppress the other side.

Squall faced off with Ziggy, the two locked in a stare down.

"That's some body you've got there," said Squall. He noted the blade mounted on the Titan's left elbow. "Those arms as dangerous as they look?"

Ziggy, his expression never changing said, "Right arm...hospital." He flexed the blade on his elbow. "Left arm...cemetery." He cocked his head. "I assume you have a preference?"

Squall, his own countenance severe said, "Let's go with the latter. I like a challenge." His body then exploded with Arc energy as he brought Hagakure to bear.

"Ah! It's Leonhart's famed 'Renzokuken' technique!" Shaxx bellowed.

Even on her toes and bouncing in excitement, Ruby found herself leaning forward.

His Arc energy peaked, Squall charged forward in a blaze of lightning.

"Holy hell he's fast!" Yang shouted.

His speed being what it was, Ruby's eyes followed perfectly Squall's every movement; his every step; his every slash.

As did his opponent.

His own elbow blade charged, Ziggy met Squall's every blow. Electricity exploded around the two as they went blow for blow, strike for strike.

"C'mon Squall! Show what Blade Dancers are made of!" Ruby's cry was lost in the cacophony of urgent cheers that roared from the crowd.

"Try this!" Squall broke off his attack as he hefted his sword across his shoulders.

'He's charging up his finisher!' said Ironwood through Ziggy's Ghost. 'Strike him now!'

Like a missile, Ziggy launched himself from the spot, his fist pointed at his opponent.

Charging the last of his Light, Squall unleashed a colossal beam of Arc energy at the incoming Titan.

"Whoaaaaa!" The crowd were in awe at the sheer amount of Light put forth by the two of them.

Ziggy, like a guided missile, swam around the beam aimed at him. He collided with his target in a crash of thunder.

The blast of Squall's laser dissipated as he was sent careening backwards; his body disintegrating as it was consumed by Arc energy.

"No!" Rinoa screamed. "His crest! Where's his…" she looked across the ring to see Squall's crest clenched in the Exo's mechanical hand.

"That's it for Squall!" Yang said as the crowd erupted. "You can't be rez'd once your crest is taken!"

"Figures the Blade Dancer would die first…" Ruby muttered.

'Alright, counter attack,' said Cid through Rinoa's own Ghost. 'Ziggurat's Light is all but depleted. Start with him.'

"Irvine, set me up!" Rinoa called to her partner as she charged Void Light into her body.

Irvine, almost in the same motion, shouldered his Shepard's Watch sniper rifle and pulled the trigger.

Ziggy's moment of triumph was cut short then and there. His crest flew skyward as his great mechanical body toppled backwards. Chaos activated his Void glide, attempting to catch the flying crest mid-air, but Rinoa was faster. Opening a tear in space time, was she able to capture the crest. And in a flash, was the thing in her hands.

"Man, Void Walkers do some freaky shit!"

"That's one apiece now!"

"This could really go either way…" Ruby said through the thumbnail she was chewing on.

Crest claimed, Irvine looked to his partner. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Rinoa gasped. "Just need to…"

"I got it." Rifle shouldered, did Irvine make for the center of the ring.

"What are you doing?"

Irvine looked at her over his shoulder. "You gotta recover. "I'll buy ya some time."

Vector knew not what to make of this Lone Gunslinger stalking oh-so casually towards them. Chaos readied a Void Grenade in his hands. But his assault was stayed by his partner.

"No."

"You sure?"

Jr. readied his hand cannon in response. "Yeah." He smirked. "Watch this, I'm gonna take 'em out, right now!"

And so the two Gunslingers faced off in the center of the arena.

"Oho, looks like a wild west face off! Which of these two marksmen will land the telling shot?"

Shaxx's declaration was about the only sound to be heard. Every breath in the arena was held at the suspense developing at it's center.

Irvine strapped his rifle to his back as he reached into the folds of his duster. He withdrew a level-gold Tex Mechanica hand cannon, spinning it artfully into readiness. "Well, a boy gunman? You know what awaits you if you are defeated in a gunfight, boy? And you still dare to challenge me?"

Jr. readied his own weapon in response. "You don't scare me one bit, cowboy," he said back. "Cuz I don't have time for wussies like you!"

"Dude, what's this guy gonna do against The Last Word!?" Ruby said. "His gun is never gonna out-shoot that!"

Irvine hovered his palm over the hammer of his fan-fire hand cannon. "Well, this should be somewhat entertanin'. Time to die boy."

Time around the Gunslingers all but stood still, the only movement in the arena the ripple of their long coats. Both held their nerve; their shooting stances primed.

"Nobody blink…" though only a whisper, this carried true through the intensity of the silence. A bead of sweat rolled down Ruby's face and into the corner of her mouth that was quirking its way upward. Almost...almost….

BANG!

In all but perfect synchrony, were the two Guardians blasted backwards, their crests flying free from their forms.

"Un-fucking real!" Yang, along with the entire arena exploded into rapturous screams.

"Can you believe that!" Shaxx exclaimed. "Incredible nerves of steel and precision from both gunmen. And now, we've one left standing on each side! Who will take the honor of the final crest?"

The gunmans' part played, a new face-off developed here at the arena's center. The two Void Walker's eyed one another, the Light of The Void dancing in their gazes.

"Your Light's pretty low, Rinoa," did Angelo tell his Guardian. "You're gonna have to dig deep…"

"Noted," was her simple response.

Their gazes still locked, did the two Warlocks salute one another; a final show of grace before the coming ferocity.

The two of them, in perfect sync, swept their arms from the sky to the ground, swirling pools of Light coming alive beneath their respective feet.

"Empowering Rifts..." Weiss breathed.

"What are those, Zwei?"

"They amplify a Guardians Light output, especially Warlocks. Let's them do things that break the laws of physics."

"Don't they do that already?"

This question was met with no answer, as though even Ruby's Ghost was awed into silence at the spectacle of space magic that was soon to be.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

The arcane chant rose from both combatants as their powers rose to their peaks.

And at once, did Chaos strike.

He unleashed a calamity Nova Bomb, the massive sphere of energy on deadly course with it's target.

Rinoa waited just an instant...before unleashing her own.

The two Nova Bombs collided in a cataclysm of light and sound.

And they kept coming.

Stood firm within their rifts, did Chaos and Rinoa let loose Super after Super. The air was filled with volatile sparks of Void Light, splintering off in every direction imaginable.

The ground shook.

The air burned.

And there was no quarter from either.

"THIS IS AMAZING!"did Shaxx roar with his every ounce of might.

The crowd concurred, whipped into an all-out frenzy as the two Warlocks continued unloading the fury of their Void-powered arsenals.

"More! More! More!" There wasn't a still body in the stadium or on the grounds as the onlookers frothed and screamed.

Like a fireworks display from The void, the two Warlocks lit up the night.

"Twenty! Twenty-one! Twenty-two!"

Here and only here, did Weiss sense a change in the battle's tide. "Rinoa is fading…"

Indeed, the Supers from her side were become more measured…more labored.

"Come on, hang in there!" The Earth contingent rallied behind their champion. But there was no denying that each subsequent cast was becoming more and more strenuous for her.

Chaos loosed a final Nova Bomb, his rift sputtering beneath him.

Rinoa raised her arm, calling to her Light…

But no response came.

Her rift was extinguished as the great Void calamity exploded upon her being, wiping her from the face of Venus.

"And that is the match!" Lord Shaxx erupted. "The winners: Fireteam Vector!"

Absolute madness broke out from the Martian contingent, their riot apparent even from here in the picnic area.

"That was Amazing!" Ruby squealed. Her hands had actually grown sore from clapping so hard. "What did you think, Weiss?"

The Warlock looked upon the screen with her chin resting upon her fist. "Twenty-nine Nova Bombs in a row…" She shook her head slowly. "Utterly astounding."

The Guardians on screen, having been revived and refreshed by their Ghosts, convened in the ring's center.

"It was an honor, Lady Warlock," said Chaos to his former adversary.

"The honor was mine, Void Walker."

The saluted each other again.

Irvine chuckled as he shook hands with Jr. "I lost...I let my guard down. But still, that was some gunmanship. You're a man worthy of calling a friend."

"Back at 'cha," Jr. said. "Hey, can you tell me where you got that hand cannon?"

"You're a fine sword fighter. I haven't been on my toes like that for a while," Ziggy commended Squall.

The young man nodded. "Looks like I had to keep up with you in the end. But you have moves, old man. It was a pleasure."

"A splendid display all around!" Shaxx boomed to the onlookers. "There will be a thirty-minute intermission as we prepare for the semi final of Red Wing versus Cinder. Take this time to refresh and prepare yourselves for the action to come!"

"Good, cuz I gotta take a leak!" Yang said. As she walked away, she called to her Ghost, "Celica, call Blake…"

"Hey, Weiss, do you want to grab something else to eat? The vendors are still open."

Weiss took Ruby on her offer. "Ja. Let us see what we can arrange."

And from there, as though by reflex, did they join hands and set off across the grounds.

….

"Dude, I am freakin' beat!"

Jr. tucked into his super turbo energy drink, lost to further conversation.

"Balamb were quite the adversaries," Ziggy said coolly, inspecting the machinations of his bodily robotics. "We can only assume we face The Night Witches from here."

Chaos nodded as he looked to their commander. "Are you alright, James? You've been oddly distant all night."

Ironwood indeed had to bring himself back from his abstract diversion as he acknowledged the statement. "I do apologize, to all of you." He huffed a steeling breath as he righted his posture. "Ziggy is very much correct. While I do not find myself particularly fancying the prospect, we will in all likelihood be pitted against Red Wing in the finals. Shion is formulating a strategy for said confrontation as we speak."

"Cool," said Jr., finished with his drink. "Say, did you ever close that deal with, Qrow? Kinda still in the dark on that one."
"We will discuss those terms when time for the contingency arises. For now, we focus on the battle right in front of us."

"If you say so," Jr. said as he rose from his seat. "We're gonna zap up to The Durandel right fast; she brought up the tail end of the fleet." He spoke to his Ghost as his teammates filed behind him out the office's door. "Get a hold of Shelly and Mary; establish a transmat zone…"

Left alone in his quarters here aboard The Rhine Maiden, was Ironwood finally free to fully engage the sensation that had been pestering him all night.

He moved slowly to the center of the office, his every sense on alert. Someone...something had been tailing him all night. He knew this on only the very outer fringes of his mind; his being.

But he was all but sure.

He slowly, very slowly, un-holstered his level purple hand cannon, Not Forgotten. Hardly daring to breath as he did so. He cast his senses about the room as best he could, his eyes darting this way and that. And then at once, did he whirl around, the barrel of his gun pointed square at a face he could only dream of seeing again.

"Tch. If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me," did Raven Branwen scoff.

Ironwood let the tension out of his body with a great heaving of breath. "My apologies, Miss Branwen. Purely a reflex," he said, tucking away his weapon.

Raven folded her arms over her chest. "I must say, I am mildly impressed, James." Her sneer, while sardonic, was in a sense, genuine. "I can't think of too many Titans with a sense as keen as yours."

"I had to keep my Light peaked constantly to just barely detect you. It was actually quite taxing."

"I'm sure," did Raven say.

Ironwood found his gaze arrested by the woman's marvelous eyes of crimson.

Eyes that were doing funny things to his heart rate.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The semi finals match between Team Red Wing and Cinder will commence in ten minutes time! Please find your way back to your seats."

"Hmmm. Well, that's my call." Raven turned, her helmet-like mask already in hand.

"Miss Branwen, wait!"

She turned.

Ironwood straightened his posture, his spine rivaling the blade of any sword. He cleared his throat. "You've much to see to, Miss Branwen, I understand. What with the tournament, and your pending operation against the House of Truth. Not to mention-"

"You're rambling, James." Raven's smirk grew as her eyes narrowed mirthfully.

Ironwood cut the rest of his query with a breath. "If you would be interested, perhaps you would consider accompanying me on an outing into Ishtar? From what I read, there is any number of eateries and hotels and other sights within the city."

The Steel Witch perched her hands on her hips, her eyes locked on the General before her. "James Ironwood…" did she say then. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were asking me out." Her smirk evened out into a full tilt smile, though it exposed none of her teeth. "Is this an attempt at...romance?"

Ironwood took just one step closer to the beautiful and imposing woman. "As a matter of fact, Raven Branwen, yes, it is."

Raven took the solitary step that stratified them, her head tilted back just slightly as was the height difference between them. Hands still on her hips, did she lean forward ever so slightly. Her smirk-smile reached its absolute peak as she said, "You'll have to do better than that."

And she was gone.

James relaxed his posture, out a sort of...relieved disappointment. He laughed softly to himself as he envisioned just what romantic measures he must undertake in order to court a Witch. And, just then, did the door to his office swing open.

"Sir, I have the data I collected from the last match and…" Shion let her statement hang as her blue eyes blinked behind her holographic spectacles. "Um...did I walk in on something?"

"No, Miss Uzuki," did Ironwood say. "You didn't disturb anything at all."

….

-End of Legend 25-

…...

A/N:

Note: this chapter was actually meant to be a lot longer. Simply because I initially planned to put the semi finals match in here as well, but I decided on having these chapters be at least readable in one sitting so...I cut it up again. It was getting pretty darn lengthy anyway, as is this author's note. A big thank you though for all the new favorites and followers, there are hundreds of these fics on the site, and I am honored that you took the time to read mine.

And as always, if you liked what you read, a fave or follow would be greatly appreciated. If you didn't like what you read, I thank you for reading this long. See you again.

-B. D. Skunkworks