Chapter 36: The Singles Rounds Part 1

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

Team RXDY

The next morning, the Vytal Tournament resumes after the teams who won the Team and Doubles rounds picked the team member who'll participate in the Singles rounds. A total of three rounds matches will take place where the winners of those respective fights will face each other and whoever triumphs is declared the winner of the Vytal Tournament and by extent the victorious academy.

Smith wakes up from his sleep to his alarm set on his scroll. He stretches and throws the covers off to get out of bed, turning around to set the covers back properly. He shuts off the alarm clock and walks into the bathroom closing the door to care of business and drinks some water to hydrate after his sleep. Once that's done, he ventures into the kitchen to make breakfast comprised of eggs, an apple, pieces of toast and milk. After the meal is ready, the blacksmith sets the plate along with the silverware on the table, he pulls the chair out to sit, he steadily eats his breakfast while the sun makes its slow ascent over the horizon through the open blinds of Smith's home. Eventually, the blacksmith is full and washes off the plate before setting it in the dishwasher. He next showers and gets dressed. He decides to set up a stand at the Vytal Tournament grounds while the place fills up with attendants and the team representatives approach.

Around 9a.m., Smith makes his way to the festival grounds, the stand he chose all set up and places some of his best forged weapons on display. He lately has considered writing a book on how to be a respectable blacksmith and what it takes to get there for those who want to pursue it as a career or people who have a liking to the history of blacksmiths and their importance in paving the way for weapons they create for their clients. Maybe after the Vytal Tournament is over and when he has free time, he'll stop by a general retail store and pick up a spiral notebook, pencils, eraser and pencil sharpener, preferably an electrical one.

Slowly, he sees the festival ground beginning to fill up. Before he knows it, he attracts a reasonably sized crowd who've grown curious of his weapons on display. To Smith's joy, some of the people in line ask him if he forged all of the weapons and Smith confirms with a prideful nod. It fills the young man with happiness knowing that blacksmiths aren't completely forgotten to the annuals of history. One curious child of probably no older than 5 asks him about the bow-sword he recently made. Smith goes into detail about it, being as simple as he can for the child's mind to process. The child listens with starry eyes as the parents laugh at his enthusiasm. The child next asks Smith if he has what it takes to be a blacksmith himself, Smith replies to the child he can if he puts in the work, effort and patience as with any skill, it takes time to hone it and that there will be mishaps along the journey. The parents bid Smith farewell and thanks him for showing their child his forged weaponry. The line of people slowly dwindles with many praising his craftsmanship and some going as far as asking Smith to teach them his ways much to the young man's amusement.

It's not long before his adopted daughter pays him a visit, embracing him with a smile. The two engage in civil chatter for a good 10 minutes until Rena hears her scroll vibrate making her fetch it out of her pocket. Bringing it up to her field of view, he notices a text from Sin.

It said, "Hey, beautiful. How's your day going so far?"

Rena texted back, "It's going fine, thank you for asking."

A minute later Sin replied, "I miss your presence, my dear goddess. Your presence fills my heart with joy." The one-eyed faunus can imagine the mischievous tone in Sin's voice.

Rena told him, "Oh? What about Rhia? Why aren't you flirting with her? She's your team leader, after all."

The human answered, "She's cute and all, I enjoy teasing her while having to contend with her protective sister. Although, I can tell Alena's starting to warm up to me, even if it's a slow process."

Smith asked, "Who's that you're texting?"

Rena directed her gaze to him, "A human my team and I met in Vacuo, Team RUST. The human's name is Sin Saber."

Smith said, "I've been hearing about that team. They're representing Shade Academy and vowed RUST is going to win the Vytal Tournament. I also heard the team leader Rhia and her sister Alena emerged victorious in their Doubles round against some representatives of a team from Shade Academy of Vacuo and someone from Team RUST plans on participating in the Singles rounds."

Rena nodded, "That's them. Sin's an interesting fellow. Who knows? You may run into him during the tournament."

Her scroll vibrating caught Rena's attention as the next text message, "What kind of underwear are you wearing today? Simple or something more sensual?" Right next to the message is a smirking emoji.

Rena replied, "You seriously ask me that?" She places a deadpan emoji before sending it.

Sin's next message said, "You have knack for picking the sexy undergarments, Goddess of the Faunus. You're hot, sexy and dangerous rolled into one. Which type are you wearing today? Simple or something spicy?"

Smith donned a smug smile, "Is it possible this Sin fellow is your boyfriend, Rena? I recall that you hate flirts because of your history and here's a human flirting with you."

Rena told her adopted father, "Sin's not my boyfriend."

Smith's smug expression grew, "Oh? Judging by your back-and-forth texting to each other, I'd say you are growing attached to the human. Possibly falling in love with him. Who knew the fearsome One-Eyed Devil would fall for someone. Have you two started dating yet? Or even better, done the deed?"

Rena retorted, "That's none of your business, father."

Smith pointed a finger at her, "Aha, you did have adult fun with him. You two gave up each other's v-cards."

Rena placed an armored hand over Smith's mouth, "Shut up with that! Like I said, it's none of your business, father."

The one-eyed faunus' adopted father removed the hand from his mouth as he continued to mess with his daughter, "So, when's the wedding?" Then he witnesses something he never saw before. Rena's entire face burst into a cherry red color at the mere thought of her being married to Sin.

Rena glared at him, "Sin and I are not getting married, we aren't even an official couple! We just went on two dates, that doesn't mean anything significant. You're messing with my head, stop that!"

Smith laughed, "Then why are you getting defensive? It's all right to fall in love with someone, Rena. Perhaps Sin can help relieve of some of your pent-up frustrations and make you be waifu material."

The one-eyed faunus grunted while her face stayed cherry red, "You're lucky you are my adopted parent, otherwise you would be in the hospital with broken bones." She then pointed her own finger at Smith, "What about you? I bet you haven't gotten some action in who knows how long. It was probably a one-night stand, huh?" Smith finds himself getting hit by metaphorical arrows with each fact until he falls out of his chair.

Smith pulled himself up to the table, "No need to go there."

Rena said, "You tease me, I go for the jugular."

Her adopted father, "I sometimes forget how brutal you can be with words." Rena's face returns to its normal color as they continue talking when they hear the Singles rounds are about to start.

Rena bids her adopted father good-bye and meets up with her teammates and see Yumi make her team proud.

The wolf faunus stands among the finalists which is comprised of herself, a hooded man from an unnamed team from Shade Academy of Vacuo, Alexia from Team TEAL, Sin from RUST, Yang from Team RWBY and Mercury representing Cinder's team. She feels butterflies fluttering in her stomach, nervous as hell. She feels her scroll vibrate making her briefly fetch it out to read a group text from her teammates.

A "You got this, Yumi. Stay calm and you'll pull through" from Rena, a "Show your opponent just how dangerous a wolf can be" from Xavier along with a thumbs-up emoji and "Kick ass, Yumi" from Draco. This motivation helps calm the wolf faunus down.

Up in the commentary booth, Professor Port announced, "And now, the moment you've all be waiting for. The one-on-one finals! Marty, why don't you explain the rules."

Doctor Ooblock said, "It's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each final's round will be randomly selected immediately before the match starts."

Port added, "And like any good hunt there'll be zero time to prepare."

Ooblock agreed, "Yes, yes, yes! Now, let's see what our first match will be." The match selector begins to randomly select the combatants for the first fight until they're chosen.

Professor Port announced, "Yumi Asuma and Alan Trax!" The two combatants take their positions while the others step off the stage.

Alan Trax is a human male around 6'1" tall, possibly in his late teens, has a lean, athletic build, deep olive skin tone, amber eyes, red warpaint running vertically down his nose and under his eyes, his attire was composed of a black hood that reached his shoulders, a gold earring on his right ear, a teal jacket that stopped at his wrists with a white button-up shirt, a brown fingerless glove on his left hand, golden plated armor on his dominant arm and same colored gauntlet on the right hand with a large bead secured by twin red ropes going diagonally across his torso, gold tasset held in place by a larger, thicker red rope-like sash, dark brown pants, and gold greaves covered his black boots. Strapped to his waist is a scimitar with a rust-colored hilt that can morph into a pistol with reasonably strong firepower thanks to using Dust bullets as ammo that hold up 12 bullets per magazine.

Yumi draws Hermes holding it across her torso while Alan sets his scimitar at the dominant side of his body.

Professor Port said, "3,2,1, begin!" Alan rushes at the wolf faunus utilizing swift swings of his weapon, Yumi deflects them with Hermes keeping the dagger close to her body to protect vital points.

She errs on the side of caution, her smaller height along with her agility makes Yumi a harder target she doesn't know what her opponent's semblance is. She jumps away from a downward strike by Alan then retaliates with hit and run slashes on him, targeting exposed body parts. Alan surprises her at deflecting her attacks and counters a leaping slash with a kick to the chest, Yumi lands on her feet then charges again but it's a feign attack designed for Alan to swing his sword-pistol, she swerves around to his back to land a quick strike with all of her weight behind it taking a decent amount of his aura off. Alan spins around grabbing Yumi's face and slam her to the ground, her aura flashing from the impact she kicks the side of his knee making it buckle and chains it with a kick to the chin hard enough to stagger Alan for her to kick-up and land a leaping jump kick before making a quick retreat. She remembers her training under her team leader with Rena stating that at times it's better to fight with brains over physical might.

Yumi will have to be creative in this battle against the bigger and stronger Alan. She next witnesses him switching his scimitar to pistol mode and taking aim. She zigzags to keep his aim off, Alan tries timing his shots, but Yumi's superior speed and agility prevents him from doing so. She dashes forward with Hermes at her dominant flank, running faster this time. Alan quickly shifts his scimitar back into its blade form to block a side swing from the dagger, a powerful gust of wind blows through the arena before Alan shoves Yumi back. She feigns a rapid strike when she aims for the legs, specifically the thighs, scoring two hits before Alan can react. Her hit and run tactics gradually wear down his aura while keeping the young man guessing what she's doing. Turning to his left, Alan halts an attack by grabbing Yumi's weapon arm then counterattacks with a kick to the chin, Yumi's head snaps back from the hit then feels her opponent's fist collide with her face staggering the wolf faunus. Yumi makes a retreat while wiping a drip of blood from her jaw. The two take a moment to catch their breath among a roaring crowd.

Professor Port commented, "This is certainly an interesting fight, folks. Yumi seems to be giving Alan a challenge with her hit and run attacks."

Ooblock agreed, "Absolutely. However, Alan seems to be holding up against the wolf faunus."

With the combatants, Alan told his opponent, "For someone of your size, your strikes pack a punch. It's unfortunate you never enrolled into Shade Academy, Ms. Asuma."

Yumi replied, "My tail wouldn't like the desert sand nor the extreme temperatures Vacuo is known for. Besides, I'd get serious sunburn and sand in my shoes." She crouched slightly, ready to attack, "I like hanging with my teammates. Given my occupation, I don't think everyone in Shade Academy would accept me or my teammates." They run at each other and Yumi jumps to evade a low swing from Alan's scimitar then uses it as a springboard to leap to his eye level and lands a drop kick.

Up in the stands, Draco cheered on, "You can do this, Yumi!" The wolf faunus deflects a series of rapid strikes from Alan's scimitar, kicks the back of his knee making fall to one and jumps to land a heel kick to the side of the head. Catching herself as she lands Yumi lands a quick slash across the chest.

The two continue to wear down each other's aura, the audience watching the gauges gradually change color from green, to light, then orange and inching closer to the red zone.

Alan's aura gauge is in the red signaling it's near depletion while Yumi's is close to red. Now that the latter's aura is nearing the danger zone, the wolf faunus is fighting cautiously. She has scrape marks on her arms and torn sleeve on her shirt. She wipes blood from a cut on the left side of her lower lip with top of her fingerless glove.

'One more hard physical strike will most likely knock out the remains of my aura if I'm not careful. But Alan's aura is faring no better, one well-timed attack or a series of them will take out the rest of his.' Yumi thought.

Alan panted, "All right, our respective auras are near depletion. This next determines the winner and loser, are you willing to risk it, Yumi?" The wolf faunus silently stared at him, "No words? Fair enough. Now then, let's get to it, shall we?" Yumi tightens her grip on Hermes as she formulates her attack plan.

They rush at each other, Yumi bats away a sideswipe from her opponent's scimitar and leaps at him landing a hard punch to the temple staggering Alan then uses him as a springboard to leap into the air as she activates her semblance, moving so fast she disappears from view of the audience. Yumi lands a downward slash with precision, but she isn't done she strikes from different angles, each hit taking out Alan's aura until one final strong slash across the chest takes out the last bit of her opponent's aura. Yumi appears into view when her semblance deactivates then slowly sheathes Hermes. When it's fully sheathed leaving only the hilt visible it acts like a signal for Alan to collapse onto his side.

Professor Port declared, "The winner is Yumi Asuma!" The crowd roars as she heads over to her fallen challenger and checks to make sure he's still alive and that there's no injuries. To her relief, Alan is fine. Just knocked out. She gently taps his cheek to wake him up. The young human stirs and sits up to see Yumi kneeling in front of him.

She asked, "Are you okay?"

Alan nodded, "Yeah, just a little dazed. I'll live. You're quite the fighter, Yumi."

The wolf faunus smiled, "Likewise. You were determined to win the match. But you know what they say. There's always next year."

Alan smiled a little, "Yeah." Yumi handed the young human his weapon, "Thank you. Let's have a rematch sometime should we see each other." He offers his hand to shake.

Yumi accepted, "I look forward to it, Alan Trax." The crowd at the case of sportsmanship.

Alex takes his leave while Yumi stands before the roaring crowd, laughing jovially and waving at them as the monitors display her face.

Yumi's teammates clap and Draco whistles, Xavier praises Yumi's performance through a yell even though she won't hear it. A few minutes later, the wolf faunus is hoisted onto Xavier's broad shoulders while Draco and Rena stand next to him, applauding her. Draco has a smile on his face and Rena has a small one on hers while her arms are crossed.

That evening, Draco encounters Weiss and Yang.

He greeted, "Evening, girls. How's it going?"

Yang grinned, "Hey there, Draco. Ice Queen and I are doing well, thanks for asking."

Draco asked, "So, who among your team is moving on to the Singles round?"

Yang banged her knuckles together, "You're looking at her. We put it to a vote among the team and Ice Queen was the only one against it."

Weiss retorted, "Why do you insist on calling me that?"

Yang chuckled, "Hehe, because you are one."

Draco offered, "After Yang triumphs in her against whoever the opponent is, I'll treat you two to something like tasty desserts or something like that."

Weiss blushed while Yang giggled, "Is that a date you're proposing?"

The dragon faunus gave a smug smile, "What if it is? Would you still accept it?" This time, Yang blushes. No one has ever asked her out in her life and yet here is a revenge-driven faunus proposing one.

Weiss fidgeted in her position, "I-I'm not against the idea. The last time we spent together was enjoyable and I'd like to experience that again. S-Sure, I accept your offer, Draco."

Yang regained her composure, winking at the dragon faunus, "I too accept your offer. Can't have the Ice Queen hog all the fun."

Weiss glared at her teammate, "Quit calling me that!"

Draco shook his head with amusement, "I'll see you two then. Good luck, Yang." He turns on the heel of his shoe and departs the area. Draco returns to his team's dorm room to see his teammates relaxing on the couch, Yumi and Xavier are watching some random show while Rena reads something on the web via her scroll.

Xavier looked over his shoulder, "Hey there, where were you?"

Draco shrugged, "Just walking around. Met up with Weiss and Yang."

Xavier raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What did you say to them?"

Draco said, "If Yang emerges victorious in her match against whoever her opponent is, I offered to take both her and Weiss to something like a dessert."

The ox faunus gave a teasing grin, "You're a player, Draco. Asking two pretty girls out on a date."

Draco asked, "Does it matter if it's a date or not?"

Xavier snickered, "I never knew you were a lady's man, Draco. Real smooth."

Draco laughed, "You should've seen Yang's face, it was priceless."

Xavier advised, "Just don't get too handy with them unless Yang to send you flying." He makes the groping gesture with his fingers to emphasize.

Draco waved it off, "Yeah, yeah, I'm not some deviant."

The ox faunus egged him on, "But I bet you imagined yourself doing the deed with either of them or maybe both."

Draco said, "Xavier, don't make me kick your ass." Xavier laughs tapping his thigh enjoying teasing his teammate.

Elsewhere, Ashton finishes rebuilding his mask and tests it out. The optical lenses turn on smoothly, the soft sound of recycled breathable air barely touch the skin on his face, testing the alternative vision modes, the cloaking device, etc. All systems are green.

Satisfied with the result, he removes his mask and decides to perform maintenance on his sword-pistols Wrath and Vengeance for a little bit, disassembling and cleaning the barrel and bullet chamber of any dirt or contaminants. After a thorough inspection, he reassembles the dual weapons, engaging the safety before setting his weapons in their respective holsters on his belt. He cleans his face of grime, wiping it down just as his partner Klawdia shows up with their dinner which is comprised of a meat sandwich, apple, lightly salted fries and bottled water for him and two ½ pound grilled chicken breasts for the disguised theropod.

Walking to an outdoor table of the main lobby of the hotel they're staying at, the pair eat their dinner.

After taking a sip of water, Ashton said, "Klawdia, I have a task for you." That night, the second match of the Singles round has Yang Xiao Long taking on Mercury Black.

Up in the commentary booth, Professor Port ordered, "Will all other combatants please leave the stage." The said individuals follow the order, leaving just Yang and Mercury.

A huge circle of overhead light rises from its hiding spot on the platform soon taking its place above the two, seconds later the lights turn on.

Yang said with confidence, "You better not go easy on me."

Mercury shook his head with a chuckle, "Heh, you wish." They enter a battle pose, slowly inching closer to each other as Professor Port begins the countdown.

Once he shouts "begin", Yang throws a punch with Ember Celica and Mercury blocks it with a kick from Talaria. They block and parry each other's strikes, scoring a hit simultaneously that knocks both backward. Mercury evades every shot from Ember Celica then leaps into the air for a falling ax kick that Yang blocks, ducks a retaliatory shot and uses Talaria to execute a back flip kick. Yang closes the distance and the two do another round of parrying the other's attacks until Yang hits a rotating uppercut followed by a double punch. He quickly gets to his feet and back flips to evade rounds from Ember Celica when he accidentally falls out of the ring but quickly uses Talaria to get back inside, launching a flurry of kicks until he lands a kick on Yang then starts firing round Talaria in a circular pattern until it forms a tornado-like structure. Yang runs toward him Mercury scores a hit on the blonde then launches Yang into the air with a kick and slams her back to the ground via aerial heel kick. The bullets from Talaria swarm on Yang. Mercury turns his back, walking away, dusting himself off thinking he's won when a loud explosion happens behind him. This is Yang using her semblance.

Eyes red, Yang slams her gauntlet hands together and rushes her opponent, blocking attacks then retaliates with a flurry of powerful punches, each hit reducing his aura until one final punch to the gut and face ends the match.

Doctor Ooblock announced, "The winner is Yang Xiao Long!" The blonde brawler exhales as her semblance deactivates, raising her arm in the air in victory.

She directed her gaze to Mercury, "Better luck next time."

The gray-haired teen said, "There won't be a next time!" She turns around hearing that and sees Mercury charging at her with a kick and is just about to retaliate when she remembers Ashton's warning of if something seems out of the ordinary, don't counterattack. Yang follows the advice and doesn't counter.

Up in her seat, Emerald was using her semblance to trick Yang into getting disqualified when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice said, "And what exactly do you think you're doing, Emerald Sustrei?" That voice sends a chill down the mint-haired girl's spine which in turns causes Emerald to lose concentration, causing the illusion being generated to dissipate. Emerald slowly turns her head with wide, fear-filled eyes to meet Klawdia's red-orange irises.

The dinosaur True Grimm shook her head like a parent scolding her child, "Now, now, there's no need for you to get involved and pull one of your fancy tricks to alter the outcome of this match."

Emerald gulped, "H-Hi, Klawdia. How are you?"

Klawdia said, "Doing well, thank you for asking. Now, be a good little girl and sit down and don't stick your nose in someone's business. Unless you wish to experience a repeat of our...question and answer session."

Emerald quickly shook her head, "No, please, not that! I'll be good!"

The disguised Tyrannosaurus Rex patted the girl's head, "There we go, that wasn't so difficult. I'll be going now." She moved to Emerald's ear, her voice turning darker and having a slight growling edge, "But if you get involved any further, I will hunt you down like prey and eat you. No matter where you hide, I will track you down. Never underestimate my species' acute sense of smell. I always wondered what dark meat tastes like, so far I've only ate white meat." Her eyes turn red and her teeth become serrated dagger sharp as she runs her tongue across Emerald's cheek in both an act of intimidation and promise she'll carry out her threat.

Feeling the mint-haired girl gets the picture, Klawdia departs and meets up with Ashton.

He asked, "It is done?"

Klawdia nodded, "Worked like a charm. If Emerald is smart, she'll heed my warning." As promised, Draco takes Weiss and Yang on a so-called date that Xavier puts it and buys them delicious milkshakes with Weiss choosing vanilla and Yang settles with a chocolate chip cookie dough flavor.

After taking a sip of hers, Yang said, "Ah~, that hits the spot. That's a victory well-earned! Team RWBY is one step closer to winning the Vytal Tournament!"

Draco chuckled at the blonde's enthusiasm, "You two deserve to be spoiled a bit. We were lucky that food stand was open, so the milkshakes are on me."

Yang said, "Good thing Ruby isn't here, otherwise she would've gone crazy at this chocolate chip cookie dough flavor."

Weiss smirked, "Hm, she'd be on a sugar high for hours until that awful crash strikes."

Draco looked at Yang, "Your sister likes sweets that much?"

Yang snickered, "You have no idea. My dad calls her the Residential Cookie Monster."

Weiss said, "Although, she needs to cut back on them. Her teeth and overall health will thank her one day."

Draco told them, "Anyone would be lucky to have you two as their future wife. Sure, you're a little rough around the edges but you both have your own unique charms. Weiss has elegance, royalty despite your family being led by an asshole of a father and desire to see her family reputation be restored to it once was. Very commendable. Your white hair tied in an off-center ponytail, icy blue eyes, pale complexion and attire make you like a warrior princess. Yang, your long yellow hair is like a waterfall cascading down your back, your pale skin helps empathize your gorgeous lilac eyes and despite being really protective of your hair, you're a party girl who likes adventure. I can tell you work out when given the chance. Who knows? There may be a man out there who likes strong women. No, no, not the stuck up, pompous bitches. I'm talking about the kind of women who are strong and don't flaunt it in an arrogant manner." He formed a coy expression, "And if I dare say, some men would like to be dominated by a strong woman." That last sentence almost makes Yang choke on her milkshake making her have a coughing fit and lightly pounds her chest with a free fist.

After recovering she looked at the dragon faunus with red cheeks, "Huh?!"

Draco laughed, "I'm kidding on the last part."

Weiss smiled despite her own, "That's tempting but I prefer not to."

Draco looked at the heiress with a sly smile, "Are you sure about that? Oh, I know. You must have a kink of being dominated by someone, right?" Weiss's face glows red while her mouth falls open, rendering the Schnee a stuttering mess.

Weiss struggled to speak, "Wha-? I-."

The Draco laughed, "I'm just messing with you two. Chill out." Wiping a tear from his eye, "Sorry about that, it was too tempting not to tease you two like that. Aside that, whoever becomes that special someone, love each other unconditionally and be loyal to each other. There will be bumps in the relationship but you and that special someone will have to make it work." He stared at them with his yellow draconian eyes, "We only live once, especially as a Huntress or a mercenary. Few are lucky to make it to old age." Both Yang and Weiss see behind those eyes, beneath the burning rage and desire for revenge is the same innocent dragon faunus from 15 years ago. Before Salem turned his life upside down.

'Draco.' Both Huntresses-in-training thought.

They decide to head back to Beacon Academy so that they can see the second bout of the Singles round tomorrow.

Emerald walks to her team's guest dorm still rocked by Klawdia's promise.

"But if you get involved any further, I will hunt you down like prey and eat you. No matter where you hide, I will track you down. Never underestimate my species' acute sense of smell. I always wondered what dark meat tastes like, so far I've only ate white meat." That dark predatory tone in the disguised dinosaur True Grimm along with the feeling of her tongue along Emerald's cheek and predatory vibes makes Emerald shiver. No way she wants to be chased by Klawdia.

She takes a moment to calm herself before entering the room seeing only Mercury.

The mint-haired girl asked, "Where's Cinder?"

The gray-haired teen replied, "She said she was going to look for that boy Sin. For what reason, I don't know. You can ask her if you want. Also, why did you stop using the semblance? You do know Cinder won't be happy when she finds out you failed in your objective." It took a moment for it to click in Mercury's head, "Klawdia interfered, didn't she?"

Emerald nodded, "Yes." She shivered, hugging herself, "That voice she used. It was like standing in the presence of a predator. She warned if I got any further involved, Klawdia will hunt me down like prey and most likely devour me especially given her statement of wondering what dark meat would taste like since she's only eaten white meat." She loses contact with reality as Emerald enters a catatonic state with wide, horror-filled eyes while countless scenarios run through her mind. Mercury's voice registers in her ears until he shakes her.

Mercury asked with concern, "Are you okay? You spaced out."

She said, "I need to lay down." That night, Cinder returns from her time with Sin. She enjoyed seeing the boy squirm at her teasing and tantalizing view of her cleavage. No matter how much he tries with other girls, he always freezes up with hers. It amuses Cinder.

She steps foot inside the guest dorm and sees Mercury holding Emerald again.

Mercury looked at her, "Cinder, we need to talk about someone."

Cinder gestured, "Go on." She closes the door and locks it before hearing what Mercury about the person who spooked Emerald.

A/N: Chapter 36 done.

Here, we enter the Singles round of the Vytal Tournament with Yumi defeating Alan Trax, the minor character we briefly see in Volume 3. Since we never got see what his semblance is or what what weapon he uses, I made it up.

Second, I did a slight deviation from canon match between Yang and Mercury as you saw.

Read and review.

Stay tuned for chapter 37.

Vader 23A