So, the time has come and so have I... with the new chapteeeer! Finally, the resolution to Ruby's madness is here in all its glory. Again, I'm so sorry for the wait, but worry not, this WILL be worth it. Again, thank you all so much for the continued support, it keeps me motivated to know that people want to see this story through, so this is for you all.

No more sappy stuff... let's get back to the show!


Fighting Rose

Chapter 18

Another step forward


"Then this giant crate was about to fall on us, so I jumped up and- *BANG* slapped it out the way! But Ruby was really cool too, she's not outright as destructive as me or has that much raw power, but her technique is probably better than my own on her best day, not to mention that aura-control!" Sun practically squealed.

"Huh, seems that this chick's made a pretty good first impression on you," The 'suave' blue-haired boy chuckled as he walked beside the blond. "Tell me… why is it that you get your rocks off on pretty gals who can fight well?"

"C'mon Neptune, you know it ain't like that!" Sun whined sheepishly, his cheeks pinking slightly. "It's just great to see that there's other people out there in the world who're a cut above the rest. And no, they don't gotta be a girl."

"Sure-sure," Neptune laughed, patting his comrade on the back, "Now let's see where this red-girl of yours is-!"

Sun suddenly placed a hand on Neptune's chest, stopping him from walking forward just in time as a red missile blasted right past them, a trail of petals in its wake and a deafening roar of pure fury emanating from it.

"The hell was that!?" Neptune cried, "Someone fire off a live weapon out in the open?!"

"No," Neptune was surprised at the sudden worry in Sun's voice, "That was Ruby."

…Moments before…

Ruby awoke with a start, eyes snapping open as she quickly took in her surroundings. She was back in her dorm, back in bed as if resting peacefully. For a moment, the peace and quiet soothed her, her eyes slowly drifting closed once more –

'After that, we'll settle the matter.'

Her eyes shot open once more, face contorted in a barely-contained rage as she checked on the state of her body. She was initially shocked to find that it was at 100%, her muscles and circuits brimming with power, her mind fresh and clear. Slowly, she sat up, making absolutely sure that she was alright as she rolled her shoulders.

"Ruby!" Weiss cried, now noticing that the younger girl was moving. "A-are you alright? How are you-?"

"Is she in the arena?" Ruby cut through Weiss, the latter wincing at the bite in Ruby's words.

"…yes."

Weiss was immediately thrown backwards as Ruby's aura erupted, the room bathed in a rich red glow, winds violently whipping her hair back and petals cutting through the air.

"YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!"

She turned into a blur of red as she launched herself right out of the window, the glass shattering in her wake. Weiss forced herself to her feet, trying to shake off the palpable rage that Ruby had practically slammed into her and opened her scroll.

"Y-Yang, she's awake and she's making her way towards you right now."

"Thanks Weiss. There's no professors in the Arena right now, so I'm good to go."

"I'll be coming over as soon as I can. I'll gather everyone else too."

"Good. See you soon."

Yang sat patiently in the middle of the ring, calmly breathing in and out as she waited. She found her thoughts to be empty for the first time in a while, surprisingly at peace within the empty room in spite of what had transpired for the past few days.

'Guess the common-sense realization of 'oh look I have friends' is something that'd calm me down,' She chuckled inwardly before a flicker of frustration and worry clouded her mind, '…But now it's just Ruby I've got to deal with.' Her worry squirmed in her a bit more, fingers gripping at her jacket a bit tighter. 'Both of us are gonna get badly hurt unless I get to her quickly. She's gonna be noticeably stronger thanks to all the training she's piled on, not to mention the extra aura she's probably gained from constantly draining it. So I have to…'

Yang's eyes opened slowly as she felt something amiss, quickly getting to her feet as she heard the sound of roaring wind in the distance, quickly getting louder and louder.

"ROYAL GUARD!"

Ember Celica deployed just in time as Ruby's fist crashed into her full-force, Yang skidding back from the speed and weight behind the strike, her arm ringing with dull pain. Still, the fight hadn't even really begun but she already had some kinetic force to charge her Semblance. Ruby flipped backwards, landing on her feet and with her hands up in a tight boxing-stance.

"Yang," Ruby seethed.

"Ruby," Yang greeted back evenly, her own stance far more relaxed in comparison. "Finally up from your nap?"

"No thanks to you," She snapped back, "What, you want a fight now? Fine. I've pushed myself to my limits and now my aura's let me fully recover. I'll tear you apart and move onto Pyrrha!"

"That's not why you…" Yang started before sighing, "… never mind. I know what you're here for and vice versa. Now, are you gonna just sit there and talk out your ass, or are you gonna show me this 'power' bullshit that you keep ranting about?"

"Bullshit? Bullshit!?" Ruby gnashed her teeth, her aura already frothing around her. Yang fought her instinct telling her to step back as Ruby's aura rocketed dangerously high, veins beginning to pop on her reddening skin.

"RUBY!" Pyrrha shouted, getting her attention as she walked into the room right on time. "If you want a rematch with me, you'll have to battle Yang fair and square, under the same rules that we fought under."

"You…" Ruby ground her teeth before just barely restraining herself. "Whatever. Just hurry up and get on with it."

Yang and Pyrrha shot a look at each other, nodding as the latter went to set up the spectator-shields and aura-display.

"Set to full aura-depletion," Pyrrha called out after a moment. "I'll step in the moment you cross the line, understand Ruby?"

"Shut up and get on with it," She snarled.

"…So be it. Beginning in ten seconds."

The moment Pyrrha said that, Ruby deepened her stance and tensed her entire body, her aura once more violently swirling around her.

"A pound of flesh, a pint of blood, no matter what I shed, I keep moving forward…!"

"3…2…1… BEGIN!"

"Thus I ADVANCE!"

(Que Music: Dmc 1, Ultraviolet)

Ruby blurred forward in a dead sprint, the floor cracking with each footfall as she was upon Yang in an instant. Yang, caught off guard by Ruby's improved speed and straightforward charge, swung a powerful overhand-right, Ruby ducking under it with ease as her head rapidly weaved side-to-side in a figure-eight motion.

'Shit, a Dempsey Roll right off the bat!?' Yang's mind screamed before she steeled her nerves and stood her ground. 'This I can do!'

She didn't even get the opportunity to load up her hook as Ruby's own left crashed across her face, her head snapping to the side right into the path of Ruby's follow-up right, and then left, and right and left and right and left-

*BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG*

"IGNITE THE FLAME-!" Yang suddenly shouted right in the middle of the assault, smoothly weaving right under another hook. Off balance and confused by the unknown phrase, Ruby instinctively protected her stomach from what she expected to be a liver-blow, only for Yang to stoop low and leg-sweep her right from the floor. "NOW!"

Yang's body burst into intense flame, spinning and smashing a hook-kick right into Ruby's jaw. Not letting up, she grunted as she followed all the way through, stomping Ruby's head straight into the floor, hard enough to make sure she was stunned but restrained enough as to not stomp at full power. Wiping her split lip, Yang idly crossed her arms as she looked down at Ruby, shutting off her Semblance to ensure that she wasn't wasting power.

"Come on Ruby, the first thing you do is charge my Semblance up? Didn't think you were that dumb."

"Shut up!" She roared, wrenching her head from under Yang's boot and crouching, muscles tensing before she leapt straight up with a vicious uppercut to Yang's chin, her head snapping to the sky. Ruby unleashed a furious assault right off the bat, an overhand right cracking across Yang's temple, left-uppercut into a right hook that threatened to spin Yang's jaw, a right hook to the body threatening to snap her in half before Ruby set her feet and clenched her right fist, aura literally spiralling around her arm like a drill as it shot straight forward, little more than a blur of red steam. Yang brought her guard up but it didn't matter in the end, Ruby's fist ripping right through it as her knuckles smashed clean into Yang's mouth. It looked as if a red spear pierced right through Yang's face and out the back of her head, her body almost folding backwards as blood arced into the air. Ruby was already on her, grabbing Yang by the throat and slamming her into the floor with her Semblance-enhanced throw, screaming madly as she picked her up and slammed her down over and over again.

"Dammit, it's the same as her fight with Pyrrha!" Weiss hissed drawing Myrtenaster, "This was already a bad idea from the start, but Ruby's only become more dangerous after having her recover so quickly. We need to stop this!"

"Wait," Blake held stopped Weiss, "Look at Yang's aura."

Even as Yang appeared to be taking quite the beating, each punch Ruby landed cutting or tearing skin, Yang's aura didn't dip nearly as much as it should have, only at 89%. Regardless, Ruby was still utterly dominating Yang in every exchange. Yang tried to move in with her guard up only for Ruby to forcibly pry her arms open, steam bursting from her skin as she snapped her head into Yang's brow, another cut opening up with shocking ease. Even as terribly fast and powerful as Ruby's attacks were, practically skipping frames to near-instantly smash into Yang, the blonde never once closed her eyes. In fact, she was tracking Ruby's every attack, right up to the point of impact. Ruby slipped under Yang's right-cross, crouching low before springing her entire body-weight forward with an uppercut to Yang's solar-plexus, a savage *SNAP* cutting through the air as Yang grunted in visible pain. Her body folding slightly, Yang's face was left entirely open as Ruby's left hook sent her stumbling backwards before the storm of red blasted towards her, hand drawn back for a punch that would surely concuss Yang if it landed.

*BANG*

The air seemed to crack for a split second the moment her left-straight landed… right into Yang's open palm. In a flash, Yang's body ignited yet again, easily the most intense that everyone there had ever seen from her. Pure golden fire seared the air itself, the wounds on her body healing rapidly as her aura surrounded her like a golden nimbus, unleashed from just under her skin where she had been intentionally concentrating it to heighten to defensive properties of Royal Guard.

"Trigger, Act 3!"

Slack jawed, Ruby barely got her arms up in time as Yang returned her own right-straight, the punch literally exploding off of Ruby's guard and sending her tumbling back like a doll with its strings cut. She bit back a scream of pain, keenly feeling the fractures riddling both her arms like burning knives through her flesh, the lack of working to repair or replace her broken armaments now forcing her to pay the price. Yang hesitated for a second, flinching as she witnessed the pain she had inflicted upon her sister before she hardened her heart and stood straight, though taking a mental note to limit the power of her strikes from now on.

"I warned you," She said, "You're not gonna beat me, not in a fight like this. A hand-to-hand brawl is where I thrive, and I will always overpower you."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ruby screamed, petals and steam bursting from her body even more violently, thorn-patterned skin turning bloody red as veins and arteries visibly throbbed, the whites of her eyes equally crimson. She forcibly pooled her aura into her arms to fix the damage, prepared for the pain of forcing aura through her circuits at such an extreme rate.

"NEVER!" Yang roared right back, her own power climbing even higher, tiny sparks of black dancing through the air as they both charged right at each other, their punches clashing right in the centre of the arena, Ruby's arm instantly blown back by Yang's superior strength. "All those scars, all that blood, and for what!? Nobody ever doubted your dedication or the work you put in Ruby, but it's killing you!"

Ruby screamed as she wildly fired off random punches with the full breadth of her semblance, red bullets that threatened to tear through Yang, only for them to whiff and skim right off her tight guard as she sharply weaved her head from side to side, constantly shifting closer and closer to Ruby. Once close enough, she leapt right up into a Gazelle-punch aimed at Ruby's chin, the latter fruitlessly trying to clash headfirst with an overhand left, only to be blown back yet again with her fist throbbing.

"The scars you bear and the blood you've shed is a big-ass sign of the body you've abused! You want power you can't handle yet, and now you're paying the price! Trickster!"

Focusing her strength into her legs, Yang sharply backstepped, leapt over and dashed around Ruby as she blindly fired off lethal punches like there was no tomorrow. Snarling as she turned to lunge at Yang, the blonde had already flipped directly over her, suspended upside down in the air.

"Gunslinger!"

She spun like a top, firing off a storm of explosive bullets that crashed into Ruby and cut off any potential escape, bringing her to a knee as blood began to spurt from her nose.

"Striker!"

Yang descended with a diving punch, the impact like a meteor against Ruby's sloppy guard, driving her into the floor to hard that her body bounced off of it, Yang sharply pushing Ruby away to give herself some space. Ruby still recovered quickly, shrieking as she dived in with the same wild punch, Yang spinning on the spot and shooting her heel out in an arrow-straight back-kick, scraping right under Ruby's arm and blasting directly into the side of her ribcage with a cringe-inducing *CRUNCH*. All the air was ripped from Ruby's lungs as she almost fell to a knee, Yang not letting up in the slightest as she shifted in and slammed a left-hook into Ruby's liver.

"The Advance works by increasing your heartrate to supply oxygen to your muscles so much faster than before," Yang said as Ruby clutched at her side, falling to both her knees as the Advance suddenly shut off. "And it works by increasing your blood-pressure. I'm no genius on anatomy, but everyone knows a liver-blow decreases your blood-pressure. As you are now, you don't stand a chance!"

Ruby still sprung and lashed out with a one-two, Yang slipping both of them before countering with an uppercut right into Ruby's stomach, her body launched into the air completely stunned. Still, Yang stood on the spot, crouching down again as she grit her teeth and drew her right hand back, the flames coalescing around it in a burning spiral.

"RISING DRAGON!"

Her uppercut seemed to yank her straight into the air, spinning like a burning drill as she crashed directly into the plummeting Ruby, burning flames tearing into her as she let out a wordless scream. Still Yang did not stop, unleashing attack after attack on the vulnerable Ruby in a mid-air combination.

"GUN-TRICK-STRIKE-TRICK-STRIKE-GUN-TRICK-STRIKE!"

An upside-down spin unleashing another hail of bullets, a burst of fire from the sole of her boot to remain in the air, uppercut left-hook right hook, rinse and repeat, the blonde ragdolled the smaller girl for a time before finishing the combination off with a two-handed slam, Ruby crashing into the floor and rolling across it like a limp noodle. Yang landed smoothly a moment later, the flame roiling from her body rapidly extinguishing with each passing second.

'Three… two… one… zero.' She counted down, the flames completely out, though the glow of her aura remained. Looking back at Ruby, something broke in her chest seeing the pitiful state that Ruby was in, sleeves burnt away to reveal more of the ugly bruising that no doubt covered the rest of her body. Even still, she struggled to her feet, flaring her aura yet again before she blindly dashed in with yet another reckless haymaker, Ruby forgetting to even use her Semblance properly for the strike, landing square across Yang's jaw with no real effect whatsoever. Yang didn't even budge as her lip split once again, looking directly into Ruby's eyes and seeing the rage, frustration and growing fear written all over her face before smashing her forehead right into Ruby's cheek, the poor girl reeling back as her brain shook in her skull.

"You are not me!" Yang screamed, "Stop torturing yourself for raw power like mine! I don't want to lose you to something stupid like this, not when I can actually hep you! No more sitting on the sidelines, watching you hurt yourself and suffer alone! I should have done this long ago the moment you began to break your body down no matter the justification…"

Yang hated this, hated the twisted look of pain and fury on Ruby's face, but now there was no other choice.

"It's time I be a decent sister and make you stop this bullshit." Ruby was never really one to retreat when it came to a fight of any kind, always proud to show off her martial prowess when put on the back foot. Yet once again, Ruby was utterly consumed by bone-shaking fear as Yang slowly advanced on her, her figure overlapping with the image of the girl who had approached her on that fateful night before she was nearly disembowelled. Not simply on the back foot, she stumbled backwards, cowering away even as she attempted to put on a furious façade.

"The fight is over," Sun sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "With a spirit as broken as that, she'll never be able to throw a strike with anything but desperation."

"You really think so?" Pyrrha spoke up, Sun raising a brow at her in curiosity, "Under normal circumstances and if Ruby was a normal fighter, that'd be true. However…" Even looking up at the sheer difference in aura, Ruby at 33% and Yang at 82%, Pyrrha looked absolutely confident. "I have faith that she'll pull through. Just watch."

Yang's basic jab cracked across Ruby's cheek, the girl in red unable to even put up her guard properly as she desperately threw out random attacks to stop Yang from moving forward. She shouted in exertion as her left hook impacted Yang's liver, the blonde giving little more than a grunt before her own right hook snapped Ruby's head around like a tetherball, the girl shrieking as she poured her aura into her arm for an overhand-right, Yang easily countering with a jab like a sledgehammer, her longer arm reaching Ruby's mouth long before Ruby could properly extend her comparatively sloppy punch. Yet again, Ruby tried to step straight in and swing an uppercut into Yang's jaw, the latter not even bothering to move out of the way, taking the shot full to the face as she sharply exhaled, her overhand right exploding directly into Ruby's temple at the same time.

There was a split second of stillness as their fists remained planted into each other's heads, only for Ruby to be sent crashing to the floor in a heap by the full force of Yang's blow, the blonde's own head slightly moved back as she stumbled a bit to regain her balance.

Ruby was down on her knees, her vision spinning and her head throbbing with agony as she shakily looked up at Yang. Emotions continued to swirl within her, red aura twisting and sputtering off of her bruised skin before she shrieked in fear and hastily put up her guard for a vicious hook that raced for her mouth, the force blasting her all the way to the edge of the ring.

'Is this it?' A single line of thought pulled through from her jumbled mind. Yang marched forward before gradually going into a sprint. 'Is it that no matter how hard I work… I'll always lose to someone else because they're powerful? Am I just that weak?'

As Yang launched her body forward, body igniting once more as she threw a straight-right to truly finish Ruby off from this pitiful fight. Ruby's mind continued to swirl and swirl, every emotion boiling and thrashing as equals until in the end, she simply thought nothing.

*BANG*

Though she didn't expect to end up on the back of her neck. Confused, Yang blinked as she looked towards the ceiling, her legs still up in the air, her head and jaw suddenly throbbing with pain at being turned upside down so sharply… and of course having her head smashed into the floor. Her eyes snapped open as she quickly recovered, whipping onto her feet with her hands up. Ruby just stood there for a moment, an open palm outstretched as she herself seemed confused.

Hope lurched in Yang, her eyes going wide for a split second before she reined herself in. Once more she charged at Ruby, feinting a low hook to the liver before using Trickster to shift to Ruby's other side, a right-cross for Ruby's head. Again Ruby seemed to cower away, only for her body to shoot up and wrap around Yang's arm in an instant, continuing to spin in an attempt to rip it clean from its socket. Grunting in pain, Yang let her body go limp with the flow of momentum and ended up with her back on the floor, struggling against Ruby's armbar. The latter however was still shocked at the sudden response of her body, not properly locking herself in place and giving Yang enough room to bodily throw her off with a single empowered arm. Both of them rolled to their feet, Yang wincing a bit as she rolled her shoulder before she look at the still-confused Ruby.

"Are you starting to get it?"

There was a flash of something in Ruby's eyes as Yang spoke, Yang betting everything she had on that spark as she reloaded Ember Celica and unloaded the entire clip from range. And yet again Ruby simply reacted with ease, her foot lashing out like a storm of whips to deflect every single shot send her way, the dust-rounds ricocheting harmlessly into the shields protecting the small gathering outside. Sun was on his feet, an utterly ecstatic look on his face, his smile growing wider and wider by the second. Pyrrha chuckled and shook her head, though couldn't take her eyes off the fight blooming in front of her.

"When there's truly nothing left to give," Pyrrha muttered, "The body takes over in the place of the mind. And once Ruby gets back into her rhythm… then we'll see what she's truly capable of."

Once more, Yang used Trickster to close the gap rapidly only for Ruby to sharply shift in as well, her foot shooting out with piercing kicks to both her knees, halting Yang's charge as her legs threatened to give out before a spinning hook-kick crashed into her jaw in the next instant, sending her tumbling across the floor. Even as her vision swam slightly, Yang couldn't help but smile as she set her feet under her and looked back at Ruby, the girl staring at her open palms with tears in her eyes. Yang sharply shifted her feet into her tight boxing-stance, a beaming grin on her face as her aura shone around her.

"…damn," Ruby chuckled, her voice tight as she wiped her eyes. "I've been a real idiot for the past while, haven't I?"

"A bit more than normal, yeah." Yang quipped back.

"Mm," Ruby hummed before looking up to her sister. "I'm… I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that."

"Apology accepted," Yang chuckled before returning the sad look. "And I'm sorry for not having done my job as a teammate… as family should."

"Apology accepted," Ruby giggled back, wiping the last of her tears from her face before she too shifted her feet into her own stance, the truest expression of herself. Lightly clenched fists, one down at her waist and the other by her chin, bouncing on the ball of her feet as if she was as light as a feather. "Enough of the sappy stuff. Now… now I'm a little motivated!"

Yang laughed, both of their auras bursting to life as they charged right at each other. "Show me what you've got!"

(Marvel vs Capcom 3: Dante's Theme)

Ruby seemed to phase through Yang's opening hook, appearing behind her with a kick a thousand times sharper than any of her previous attacks. Yang had quickly locked onto Ruby, whirling around blocking the kick head-on with Royal Guard and a cheeky grin.

"Dismal!"

Ruby rolled her eyes with a grin of her own, quickly hooking Yang's arm with the crook of her foot and launching herself right into the air, her body spinning like a buzzsaw and her heel the blade as Yang's guard rattled under the continuous attack, soon splitting wide open. The blonde didn't hesitate to launch a fierce uppercut counterattack, only for her fist to hit air as Ruby Tricked right in front of her to fire off a side-kick into Yang's stomach, the air-ringing *POW* accompanied by Yang sliding backwards while clutching her stomach.

"O-okay," Yang coughed, "That's worth a Crazy."

"Then I've got to keep racking up those style-points!" Ruby said with a grin as she vanished, reappearing right in front of Yang even faster than before. Surprised, Yang tried to backstep only for one of her feet to be swept out from under her before Ruby's leg shot out like bullets, heel after heel pummelling Yang before she could try to regain her balance. Even as she did, her right-straight roared through the air only to once again hit nothing, Ruby already jumping into the air to grab it for another arm-lock.

'Not gonna get me twice with that!' Yang thought as she sharply yanked her hand back the moment Ruby grabbed her wrist, bodily throwing her right into the floor though not before Ruby managed to twist and land a quick uppercut on Yang's chin. Her body slammed into the concrete, lungs and organs ringing with pain as she rolled across it.

'Damn, I gassed myself out with the Advance and throwing out those wild shots!' Ruby groaned as she shakily but quickly climbed to her feet. 'Not to mention all the damage Yang's managed to do to me before she woke me up. Good thing I shook her brain up with that uppercut or she'd be on me.' She carefully watched as Yang stood on shaky legs of her own, eyes slightly unfocused and chin quickly bruising, though she was quickly recovering thanks to her potent aura. Ruby quickly checked their gauges, herself resting at 26% and Yang now at 60%. 'Now that I'm striking properly I'm doing more damage and at this rate I might win, but… she still has that up her sleeve if I let her focus too much. No choice then, I just gotta bring out ALL the stops!'

"The rose blooms…" Ruby intoned, breathing in deeply as her circuits were flushed with aura. "The petals Scatter!"

Just as Yang set herself into her stance, she was immediately hit with a left-straight to the face, head snapping back as she tried to launch a left hook, Ruby ducking under for a quick uppercut to Yang's solar plexus. Once more, Yang set her feet and threw an overhand right, clipping Ruby's cheekbone before she could Trick off to the side. Even as a graze, Yang's raw strength was not to be underestimated, Ruby sent reeling as her vision spun. Fire burst from Yang's feet as she rocketed forward with a terrifying left hook. Her mind empty once more, Ruby sharply moved in faster than Yang could punch, her elbow smashing right into Yang's stomach once more as the blonde almost folded over the counterattack, her face snapped back by the follow-up backfist. Spinning with the impact, Yang sharply breathed out as she took a small step back before her spinning hook-kick cut through the air, right where Ruby's head was, only to see that Ruby had already Tricked right in front of her with her back facing Yang and upper body curled tight like a ball, petals whirling around her body.

'Oh SHIIII-!'

"SHAAA!" Ruby slammed her shoulder into Yang's sternum, her entire body-weight and a full-speed burst of her semblance blasting Yang backwards, her knees hitting the floor from the sheer piercing sensation rammed through her organs, trying not to throw up but unable to stop smiling. Ruby too fell to a knee, gasping for air but giddily grinning right back at her sister.

"Good God, a Tetsuzanko!?" Sun laughed, absolutely thrilled at what he was witnessing.

"Seems that Ruby has a plethora of techniques under her belt to make up for a lack of raw physical strength," Pyrrha noted excitedly, etching every single one of them down in her mind.

"…they look so happy," Weiss muttered, everyone able to see the exhilaration and joy on the sisters' faces as they clashed over and over, something warm blooming in her chest as her eyes started to moisten. Blake silently put her hand on her back, soothing the girl in white as she kept her eyes glued on the fight.

'She's so alike him! That raw power, that expression, even their taunts!' She marvelled at the joyous expression on her face, the proud roar of her aura and the unknown something burning just underneath the surface. 'Something here doesn't add up at all. Similarities are one thing, but for them to be so alike without ever having met each other…' She chuckled to herself, '… then perhaps it's fate that I've met them.'

"Sei!" Ruby shouted with exertion as her dropkick impacted against Yang's defence, the blonde quickly throwing her off and landing a handful of dust-rounds before Ruby used her Semblance to regain distance. 'Okay, holy CRAP I'm tired. Could be worse though, but I'm still taking too many hits. Can't just throw up regular Crescent Rose Kicks from down range either, she can just dodge or absorb those. Which means… all that mindless training DID serve a purpose.'

There was a bit of a standstill, both fighters bouncing on their toes as Ruby deeply breathed in, aura slowly coalescing around her legs.

'Don't just power-up my muscular system,' She thought, 'Let my Semblance itself activate through my aura. Set my feet, lock on and…'

'What've you got planned in that crazy head of yours now?' Yang wondered, eagerly waiting to see what Ruby had in store. 'Or rather… can she pull it off now?'

"Crescent…" Ruby muttered, "…Judgement."

*VWOOM*

Yang didn't even have time to blink as something smashed into her, a flash of red engulfing her vision for a split second before she felt as if a blunt blade slashed across her torso before exploding outward, almost knocking her onto her back. Looking back at Ruby in bewilderment, trying to understand what she just did, Ruby herself was grinning ear to ear, but it was clear that whatever she did seemed a bit much for her current state, sweat dripping from her as she favoured her other leg for a moment.

"You finally got it down, and you didn't even need Dust as a crutch!" Yang clapped, "But it looks like it's still a bit too early for that."

"Eh, you win some you lose some," Ruby shrugged. "Though who said I was done?"

Yang immediately put as tight a guard up as possible right as another near-instant attack crashed into her, unable to fully use her Semblance to mitigate the damage before Ruby had appeared crouched below her. She dashed backwards expecting a sweep only to be hit across the temple as Ruby Tricked right above her with another sharp spinning hook-kick.

"You're mine now! Burning Buster!"

Her right-straight burrowed into Ruby's stomach as her own kick landed, the sisters launched back from each other but not before Ruby's leg seemed to blur in a sharp twitching motion, a flash of red lashing out like a whip as Yang was hit dead-on by it, eyes going vacant as the burst of aura caught her straight on the temple.

'NOW'S MY CHANCE!'

Pushing past her pain and exhaustion, Ruby launched herself right back at Yang and unleashed a barrage of full-power strikes, every ounce of training and experience behind them.

'KICK 13!'

Left hook-kick, right roundhouse, right hook-kick, left roundhouse, left axe-kick, right roundhouse, right sidekick and a final left front-kick impacted Yang all across her body in a single moment, weaving past her defences and piercing into vitals. Floating ribs, femur, hip, liver, stomach, solar plexus, neck, collarbone and chin, all were hit precisely with Yang unable to defend herself, Ruby's final kick snapping her head to look straight into the sky. There was a moment of calm, Ruby in a deep stance as she almost gently brushed her pointed fingers against Yang's stomach. Her entire body blurred forward, barely moving past a foot in length as her fist was driven directly into Yang's stomach, the air itself around the strike appearing to crack before Yang was shot backwards, blood flying from her mouth and her eyes wide in shock. And then she grinned.

'SHIT, IT DIDN'T FINISH HER OFF!' Ruby panicked internally as she felt the spike in heat radiating from Yang's body, keenly aware that Yang's aura was at 22% while Ruby's was barely at 12%. 'OH GOD, SHE'S GONNA USE THAT ON ME AND THERE'S NO WAY I CAN-!' Ruby stopped herself, biting her tongue hard before gently breathing out, lightly bouncing on her feet at she zeroed in on Yang. 'Remember what the Tome of Sparda said. To react is to lose focus, and to lose focus is to die. Respond as your training dictates, and with it…' Ruby's eyes began to glow slightly, a bit of drool leaking from her mouth as she let go of everything except her focus on her opponent, her previously swirling aura becoming calmer and calmer, a lake on a windless day. 'There is no enemy I can't defeat.'

*SCREEEEEEECH*

Her heels and toes dug into the ground so fiercely that grooves were cut into the stone floor, shards flying into the air before finally, Yang well and truly showed her absolute full power. The room itself turned gold as Yang's very bones seemed to glow with infernal might, eyes completely red and teeth looking suspiciously sharp within her massive grin, the haze of heat surrounding her appearing to give her the mirage of draconic horns on her head. She planted her foot hard, the floor shattering as she exploded off of it like a bullet right towards the exhausted Ruby, fist outstretched as the flames around it turned completely dark. An odd phenomenon that only a handful of people on Remnant could achieve, some with different effects than others no thanks to the sheer individuality the world had to offer, yet it just so happened that Yang Xiao Long was one of the few blessed by the oddity known as…

"BLACK FLASH!"

It was barely an instant, but the fighters saw everything, felt every moment. Yang's eyes went wide as Ruby seemed to take the strike right on her guard, feeling the bones in her right arm breaking with ease as black sparks crackled around them. And yet despite the agonizing pain, Ruby calmly deflected it off to the side, almost all of the crushing force redirected away as her body smoothly and sharply turned, Ruby's leg coming up so fast Yang simply could not react in time.

'Hua-Jin into Fa-Jin, Crescent Rose Strike.'

(Music End)

Yang could only smile proudly as her vision was engulfed by Ruby's heel, an ear-ringing *BOOM* sending the spectators onto their backs. Her spinning back-kick extinguished the flame from Yang's body as she was flung clean through the spectator-shield and bodily embedding into the far wall before her aura finally gave out, a massive bruise covering half her face forming near-instantly as her consciousness faded.

"Now that's…" Yang muttered with a grin, "…worth a Savage."

"HAI!" Ruby shouted almost deliriously as she landed on her feet in as deep and as strong a stance as she could muster, legs shaking and right arm hanging limp at her waist. Pyrrha was the first to right herself, signalling the end of the match with one final call.

"Winner by Aura-breakage and Ring-out, RUBY ROSE!"

"Jackpot!" Ruby wheezed as her vision spun, the ground seeming to rise up and swallow her sight. Even that wasn't enough to erase the blooming joy in her heart as her vision went black.

(TWBY Continued...)


And so it ends! Ruby has finally come to understand her path to power, not via strength but via her innate skill. Just a few things to clarify though, since some new terms have been introduced.

...

Hua-Jin: Soft movement, essentially going limp to disperse the force of an impact, found in many Chinese (aka Mistralian) martial arts!

Fa-jin: Explosive movement, being able to utilize your entire bodyweight into one strike via high speed. Especially effective with Ruby's Semblance!

Black Flash: ...Come on now, I'm sure you're not living under a rock XD. This'll be explained a bit later on for those who don't know ;D

...

With that said, I hope you all enjoyed, so peace OUUUUT!