Ayo everyone! Sorry for the later upload, I actually had to move countries for a bit due to medical and financial reasons and I had issues with getting internet, but don't worry, all is well and I'm only staying for around a month at most, then I'll be back home. That said, thank you all so much for your continued support, and I hope I can continue to impress! Now back to the show!

Fighting Rose

Chapter 37

Calm down and heat up

"…So you made the active choice to stay in the ring and fight with Mercury Black in order to protect the civilians still in the crowd, despite how drastically the fight had weakened you?" Lisa Lavender of Vale News asked, unmasked shock on her face.

"Well… yeah?" Ruby answered. Her cheeks were flushed, not used to being in front of a very big camera, but she steeled herself and answered honestly, "No offense to the Atlan Guard who were acting as security in the crowd, but they were too spread out to answer to a threat that fast. Heck, that's not to mention that the majority of them don't have aura. I figured that even if I didn't win, I'd at least buy enough time for some of the bigger guns to roll in and deal with Mercury."

"Still, to do such a thing in the face of someone who'd so ruthlessly attempt to kill you…" Lisa said, trailing off.

"I'm a huntress," Ruby answered without hesitation, "My job is to keep everyone safe from any kind of threat, not just Grimm."

"For someone so young, your bravery is astonishing," Lisa said, a bright smile on her face that make Ruby bashfully kick the ground, "The attempt may cast a bit of a pallor on the Tournament for a while, but there's no doubt that your actions will elevate everyone's spirits overall."

"Like I said, It's the least I could do," Ruby smiled back.

"On the topic of Mercury though," Lisa continued with a dourer tone, "It's now common knowledge that he's being kept in custody by General Ironwood, but a lot of people are levelling a great deal of scrutiny towards his teammates."

"…that's dumb," Ruby said blandly, grinning a bit as Lisa visibly fought to keep a laugh from slipping out. "They're nice people, and as far as I'm concerned, his leader Cinder apologised to me personally. From what she told me, Mercury was a bit of a loose cannon back in Haven's third year only kept in check by her and being at the top of his class in combat. I… probably didn't help when I embarrassed him in our sparring-session before the Tournament. Didn't think he'd go so far as to mentally snap but you never know with some people's situation. I only hope he gets the help that he needs and that people stop harassing his teammates whether they're currently here or not."

"And there you have it ladies and gentlemen," Lisa said as she turned to face the camera, "With the Vytal Festival drawing to a climactic finale, spirits remain high despite the attempt on Ruby Rose's life and the lingering questions on everyone's mind about Mercury Black's heinous actions. Tune in later tonight to see who wins the semi-final battles next for the title of Vytal Champion. Until next time, this is Lisa Lavender signing off!"

}-{

Pyrrha's arms blurred as she constantly shifted and angled her shield against the flurry of attacks from Sun's staff, only using her Semblance in small bursts in order to deflect his more dangerous strikes: the issue was that almost every single strike was dangerous, even so deep into the fight. He spun his staff in a whirling figure-eight motion, constantly rattling off her shield with the *BRAATATATA* like gunfire, forcing her to stay defensive before he suddenly feinted, stepping in and shifting his grip to one end and puffing his chest as if he was going to swing his staff like a baseball bat.

'Too close-!' She thought triumphantly as she thrust straight forward with her blade, only for him to duck under and swing hard. 'A low sweep-!' She thought as she dipped her shield down –

*CRACK*

Only for his staff to arch right up and smash into her chin at full force, her legs buckling as her vision flashed white. He seamlessly stood and dissembled his staff into his pair of nunchaku, laying into her with a flaying barrage that hit her in the temples, chin, ribs and collarbones before he suddenly snapped the nunchaku back together to form his staff, propping one end on her stomach to sharply shove her away. He leapt forward while pushing off the other end of his staff that was planted in the ground and shot both heels forward in a drop-kick at her nose. He yelped as her shield moved with a mind of its own and parried straight up, knocking his attack far over her head while he landed awkwardly on his back, a blade at his throat an instant later.

"Do you yield?" She asked plainly.

"…do you normally go this easy on everyone?" Sun shot back with a raised brow as he bat the spear aside with his staff and easily whipped to his feet, both of them now dancing at long range with staff ringing against spear in a flurry of lightning-fast thrusts and whipping parries.

"Hey, so…" Sun started casually, "Any reason you're holding back? I've seen you do way better than this."

"I'm… conflicted about something," Pyrrha admitted as she was forced to slip under a thrust for her eye, parrying straight up with her shield while Sun used the momentum to bring his staff around into an arcing swing for her ribs, seamlessly moving back into the flurry of thrusts after she easily swayed away from the swing. "…But I don't see you putting that much effort in yourself."

"Then it looks like we're both in the same boat, eh?" He chuckled almost humourlessly, a bit surprising from the normally bombastic boy. Peering closer, Pyrrha wanted to smack herself upside the head: the sheer melancholy he was radiating was too hard to miss even at a glance. Had Ozpin's offer thrown her off her game that much? More importantly, was she ready to-?

'Stop that,' She chided herself, 'Now is not the time for-!'

*CRA-CRACK*

The butt of her spear and end of his staff simultaneously cracked into her chin and his temple, snapping them both out of the dance and sending them reeling.

"It seems that we both don't have our full hearts in this fight," Pyrrha sighed with a slight chuckle in her throat, Sun doing the same as they both stilled, much to the confusion of the otherwise delighted crowd. "And I don't think either of us will look back fondly on a half-assed victory."

"True that," He laughed before humming for a bit, stabbing his staff into the floor and beginning to take his red gauntlets off. "…How about this? Let's leave all our trouble behind and brawl it out right here right now. Not gonna lie, my blood's been pumping to fight the 'Angel of the Iron Sands'."

"Oh…?" Pyrrha said with a grin, "Not a lot of people call me by that title or even know it exists. But yes…" She snapped her shield onto her back and gripped her spear with both hands, going into a slight crouch while Sun did the same with his staff held loosely in one hand. "I'd very much like that."

"Then it's settled," Sun breathed out gently before his eyes snapped open, teal irises morphing to Primal yellow. "GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!"

They both exploded forward to the shock and delight of the crowd, staff smashing against spear as they struggled against each other for a moment. Planting their feet, Pyrrha lashed out with three stabs at his neck, heart and stomach, Sun spinning his staff so fast that it almost looked like a solid wall of red and gold to deflect her attacks before she moved in and tried to slam the butt of her spear into his temple, his staff abruptly halting to block the blow with a resounding *CLANG*, the impact visibly rippling through the air. She used the leverage from her spear on his staff to vault over his head, Sun sharply spinning around on instinct to slash through the aur where he though she was going to land only for him to grunt in pain as two laser-accurate stabs lanced from above directly into his shoulders and a slash that was far too heavy for a spear to lash across the side of his face, sending him skidding backwards to see Pyrrha suspended in the air upside-down. She spun and landed on her feet, a complete focus on the battle at hand overcoming everything else as her bronze aura shimmered around her and Grecian symbols glowing on her skin making look like a true goddess of war. She didn't give Sun time to speak as she threw her spear in an overhand throw, propelled both by its gunfire and her semblance to ridiculous speeds as he barely managed to slip to the side and catch it, literally yanking him off his feet for a moment before he grit his teeth and planted them hard, muscles tensing as he prepared to throw the spear back.

She suddenly made a motion as if she was slamming the end of the spear into the ground with her empty hand, the spear yanked out of his hand so roughly that he was sent flying forward right into Pyrrha's flying side-kick that crashed into his chest. He recovered quickly and sharply lashed his free hand out in an open-palm strike towards her face only for her body to be sharply yanked down and out of the way, every bit of metal on her body outlined in glowing black and bronze light.

'Too close, she can't do anything from here with her spe-!' Sun thought as he transitioned to a downward chop with his outstretched arm, only to realize something: 'Wait, where did her sp-?'

*GONG*

His head was snapped up as the edge of her shield snapped up onto her arm while she threw a short, sharp uppercut. The force of her physical strength, superb auric augmentation and semblance literally sent him flying into the air spinning head-over-heels. Pyrrha had followed him into the air, her discarded spear transforming back into a sword as she spun like a top, smashing Sun's shockingly accurate and solid strikes aside to deliver a cut from hip to shoulder, slashing down across his staff as he thrust it forward, against spinning rapidly and slashing across his shoulder before sending him flying back down by smashing her knee into his mouth. All confusion from the momentary stillness made way to roaring excitement as Sun tucked and landed on his knees, a massive grin on his face as Pyrrha did the same.

"Is this more like it?" Pyrrha asked with an almost savage grin of her own.

"Yeah! This is perfect!" Sun laughed back as he visibly grew in height and size. "Now let's DO THIS!"

Pyrrha grinned wider, her heart beating faster as she breathed in deep and shot her arms into the air as she let out a roar.

"MOLON LABE!" Pyrrha bellowed an ancient cry of her ancestors as pure adrenaline began to blast through her muscles and brain, driving her mind and body to heights she had so rarely touched before she moved. Each step broke the concrete beneath her and she had only needed one to cover the distance, her sword a smear of motion as it crashed down onto Sun's upward swing with the *BOOM* of thunder. They struggled against each other before Pyrrha shoved his staff aside with her sword and semblance while landing a vicious slash down his torso, yanking the blade back up to form a V-shaped slash that bit deep into his aura. Yet he remained unphased, laughing as he brought his staff up and swung straight down, Pyrrha swinging straight up as the resulting clash gutted the ground beneath them.

Even with her absolute maximum output it was clear that Pyrrha was being steadily pushed down, Sun's grin wide as his growing hair pulsed with golden light in accordance to his increasing raw strength. So she twisted her wrist and leapt forward, letting Sun's swing carry him straight down with no resistance, severely overbalancing him and leaving him wide open as the edge of her shield exploded into his cheek, snapping his entire body back before she dropkicked him in the chest right into the floor, flowing into a throw of her spear into him, letting it ricochet off his body before she used the flat of her shield as a hammer to parry it back at him again with full force.

Somehow, even as his body bounced off the crumbling ground from the force of her first throw, he snatched the spear out of the air on the second one and launched it right back at her, Pyrrha barely able to raise her shield in time as it blasted into it so hard that it launched her into the air and sent her weapon flying out of bounds, lodged a foot deep in the stone. Her instincts screamed at her as she whipped around using her semblance and parried as hard as she could right as Sun thrust his staff forward, a shockwave blasting her back down to the floor so hard that she barely managed to find her footing as Sun rocketed after her. He was spinning randomly through the air so fast that the audience could barely tell where his weapon even was in the blur of red and gold before he lashed out with all his stored-up momentum, his Semblance shining around his staff as it exploded in a flash of gold light against Pyrrha's raised shield.

"BLACK FLASH!"

A bell-like *GOOOONNNNG* followed a split second after a flash of black light and lightning seemed to devour the golden explosion entirely, Sun's smouldering and ruined half of his staff breaking against the Hardlight shield and leaving him gaping for a split second.

*CRA-BANG*

Her fist thundered across his open jaw in a devastating right hook, blood flying from his mouth as he was sent stumbling backwards and barely able to maintain his footing as his vision swam.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Pyrrha roared, her fist shaking as she slowly forced herself to try and even her breathing and emotions, "HAAAH, HAAH…haah…haah…!" She knew her hand and arm was broken from that punch. A stupid move, when she should have just followed up with her shield, but even as the needling pain fired up her arm, she couldn't help but smile almost wildly, and the crowd loved it. Not as much as she did: how rare was it that she could truly enjoy an all-out fight to the fullest, against a worthy opponent so powerful? The last time she'd felt this was during her second Tournament run in Mistral, in the finals against an opponent whose defensive skills were so good she couldn't help but get fired up, only to finish the bout in a single blow. Worried, she wondered if –

"Heh…" Sun chuckled lowly as Pyrrha sighed in relief, "There she is. There's the Angel of the Iron Sands." He rolled his tongue in his mouth, barely audible clicking sounds heard before he spat out two bloody wisdom teeth.

"Not bad, huh?" Pyrrha grinned shakily, very aware of the sweat pouring down her skin. 'Had I really expended that much energy…? No, I feel like I can go on forever, but…!' It clicked with her then. 'Those times we clashed… he was doing that much damage even through my aura!?'

Not to mention, even the feeling of landing a blow on him was like trying to strike an iron wall with a wet sponge.

'He's radiating so much power that it becomes a defence on its own!'

"No, not bad at all," He agreed, appearing to loom over Pyrrha as he stowed the other half of his staff away, "Looks like you're a bit worn out though."

"Oh don't worry about little old me…" Pyrrha chuckled as her blood began to rush once more, "It's what I get for being a bit too reckless."

"Hey, so long as you're having fun," Sun laughed as he put his fists up in a simple fighting-stance, "Now… let's wrap this up."

"You say that as if you'll win. I say, MOLON LABE!" Pyrrha roared again as they launched themselves at each other, sharply sidestepping away from his open-palm strike and spinning to smash the flash of her shield into the back of his head. He planted his feet and sharply elbowed behind him with his outstretched arm, Pyrrha managing to yank her shield out of the way and spinning again to lash out with a roundhouse at his head. His other hand shot up and caught it easily, Pyrrha wincing as the impact rattled her from shin to brain.

'He caught m-!'

His other hand shot into her stomach with a *BANG*, doubling her over as he grabbed her armour and smashed her into the floor, his head snapping to the side as she immediately clocked him across the temples with a right and left hook, the latter making her shield ring like a bell once more. His grip loosened just enough for her to fly out from between his legs with a quick pull of her semblance on her greaves, spinning and clipping his ankles as she exited to overbalance him before front-flipping and aiming to bring the edge of her shield down on the top of his head.

"Kaio-Ken."

His golden aura flared into brilliant scarlet as his pivoted around far too quickly for Pyrrha to react to and easily caught the edge of her shield in his hand, fingers piercing through the metal as he yanked her forward and rocketed an uppercut into her stomach. The air was blasted from her lungs as her vision warped, yet she realized that he had enough control and skill to shut down his strength-multiplying skill right before he threw his punch in order to keep her safe.

"Paper!"

His palm-strike smashed into her face, her mind flashing white as she was sent flying backward yet she could feel him race past her and prepare another attack for her to fly straight into, Pyrrha commanding her body to twist and readjust as she clashed with him shield-first: instead of hitting him, he slashed straight up with his ring-finger pressed to his pinky and index pressed to his middle to form an imitation of a clawed hand, ripping up and through the edge of her shield.

"Scissors!"

She still flew up and spun with the flow of the impact to throw her shield, her final mistake in the match. Three golden clones of Sun sprouted from him body, leaping up one at a time and exploding as they landed single punches and kicks that launched her shield back into her stomach, mouth and head. Even as the last blow clanged across her forehead, she managed to catch it just in time as she felt Sun's presence right above her, along with the sensation of his potent aura coalescing into his palm. Whipping around, she saw two semblance-constructed hands almost cupping his clenched fist, encased in a swirling sphere of pure aura, and she knew that now was the time to put everything she had into one shot. She pushed her semblance to its max, the magnetic forces around her shield squeezing and pulling as it turned into the equivalent of railgun-ammunition, and she hoped that she'd retain the necessary control for her to pull off one more Black Flash.

"Die on my wrath…!" Pyrrha roared.

"Paper, Scissors and Rock…!" Sun intoned as their auras clashed against the other, gold pushing against bronze.

"OUTRAGE AMAZON!"

"JANKEN: KAME-HAME-HAAAA!"

Pyrrha's shield shot forward, yet she couldn't help but smile as she knew that she failed to use the Black Flash: good as she was, nobody was simply that lucky, especially given how unfocused she was. Sun's fist blasted her shield to the side and stopped just an inch away from her stomach before the concentration of aura exploded point-blank in a flash of golden light. Blinded and insensate, she could barely feel herself tumble head-over-heels through what she assumed was the air for a moment before she landed on something that felt both airy and springy, a faint buzz echoing through the ringing in her ears a moment later. A few seconds passed as she closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, doing her best to calm her heartrate down before she opened her eyes to find herself staring up at the arena's ceiling for the first time in her life. She groaned as she sat up, idly looking at what she landed on: a mesh of hardlight and gravity dust acted as a sort of trampoline to keep the combatants who had fallen off with a fully depleted aura safe from harm. She barely had a sliver left, and that too faded away a moment later as it aided her crying ribs.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Professor Port announced, "With a spectacular win by explosive ring-out, we proudly present our first contender for the title of Vytal Champion! Please give it up for Haven's self-proclaimed 'God of Gainz,' SUN WUKONG!"

There were a few moments of stunned silence before the cheering slowly began to worm its way through the crowd. Oddly, the feeling of losing didn't sting to her. There were no feelings of disappointment, no wishing that she'd used a different attack or technique… she felt oddly light.

"Ah geez," Sun said as he knelt beside her, worry clear on his face, "Are you okay? I tried to control that last attack but I was so into it that my focus wasn't at my best!"

"Don't worry," Pyrrha coughed slightly as she was helped up by him, "Just some bruising. Besides…" She gripped his wrist and raised his hand over her head, "Chin up. You are the victor and you should be proud to hand me my first official loss."

"…Huh…" Sun chuckled, a bit of his usual confidence returning as he raised his hand a little higher, the crowd cheering harder in response. "Guess you're right. I could afford to be a little bit selfish."

'Selfish…' Pyrrha wondered as she looked into the crowd to see her teammates and friends. She could see that they were a bit sad at her loss, but they never stopped supporting her even in defeat, Nora waving her banner like a madwoman, Ren clapping and nodding with his usual soft smile and Jaune cheering with all his heart as her own soared. '…Perhaps… I should learn to be more selfish too.'

Ruby was there to greet them as they walked off the stage while supporting each other, the three of them hugging it out.

"You guys did awesome!" Ruby squealed for them both, "Your control on your Semblance was almost perfect Pyrrha, you've gotten way better using it for offense as well. And Sun, the way you used the Kaio-Ken for a split second to turn the tide was amazing!"

"Ah geez," Sun said bashfully, "Jus' wanted to win was all…"

Pyrrha looked at the two of them, clearly amused at the way they started to grow shy around the other.

"Well on that note," Pyrrha said as she pat them both on the shoulder, "I'm going to freshen up and meet with my team for some r&r. You two have… fun." She snickered as Ruby turned red and elbowed her lightly in the ribs. "Really though, good luck Ruby. Penny is a tough one, but I don't doubt that you'll find a way to win."

"Thank you Pyrrha," Ruby nodded gratefully as they hugged one more time before Pyrrha made her way to the changing-room. Ruby and Sun's eyes met and they both couldn't help but chuckle shyly again, averting their eyes from each other. Ruby was surprised at the sudden shudder of shame that rippled across Sun's aura.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked softly.

"Me? Oh uh, yeah, I'm cool…" He said, trying to control his emotions but failing as Ruby just raised an eyebrow, something he couldn't help but laugh at a little. "…Well, I'm okay, it's just…"

Ruby suddenly grabbed his wrist and gently guided him to a nearby bench where they sat down shoulder to shoulder.

"Hey," She said softly, "You can tell me what's wrong. It's the least I can do since you've already helped me so much."

One look into her pleading eyes almost broke him on the spot, but he managed to hold on for a little longer.

"I'm…" He started, "I'm sorry."

"Eh? Sorry for what exactly?" Ruby asked, confused.

He was quiet for a moment before he let out a heavy breath, "…I… was too reckless, helping you figure out the basics of the Kaio-Ken. If I'd taken the time to show you the process step-by-step, then maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly. Hell, even with Jaune's help you still haven't fully recovered! You could've died and it's all my-!"

He was silenced as Ruby gently planted a kiss on his cheek, right by his lips and freezing the words in his throat. Her cheeks were horribly red, but she remained resolute as she stared him in the eyes.

"Sun," She said firmly, "It's not your fault. I came to you because I needed something that could beat Mercury. I knew the risks involved with what I was planning to pull off. I still am willing to put my life on the line if I can save people, and if I can grow stronger while doing it? Then so be it. If it hadn't been for your help, I probably would've just come up with something stupider to try and beat him."

"…But…" Sun started.

"No buts," Ruby put her foot down with a little grin, "Besides, what I want to say is thank you. If you hadn't helped teach me, I might've died in there."

Logically speaking, Ruby was correct: being able to break her limits had led to her survival in the long run, but what he had done ultimately didn't feel right. However, the fact that Ruby had listened to him and had not only soothed the sting of his actions but also went so far as to thank him for it… helped. The kiss was definitely a bonus as well.

"…You've got a hell of a way with words Ruby," Sun said warmly.

"Main character status or something," She sighed, "The 'power of love and friendship' and all that jazz is part of my DNA."

They both laughed and hugged one more time, Sun's usual confident grin now back on his face.

"Make sure you win this one," Sun said, "Because I'm looking forward to a crazy punchout with you."

"When you put it like that," Ruby chuckled, "I can't lose now, can I?"

They bumped fists and parted ways, Ruby now making her way onto the repaired stage to the sound of the roaring crowd. Sun watched her for a moment, unable to wipe the goofy grin off his face. He was really looking forward to his surprise in the finals now.

An epic battle against a psychopathic killer was a story that the people of Remnant ate up, and she'd become something of a celebrity overnight. Even her humble Dustgram page had blown up in followers despite the minimal posts she'd made on it. All the eyes on her made her nervous, but she gently breathed out and centred her emotions, focusing on the upcoming fight. Besides, a good fight helped her keep her mind off of... that thing she saw.

But it won't help for long, now will it?

'Shut. Up,' Ruby snarled inwardly, just managing to keep her dread from showing on her face as she swore that it was snickering at her.

"Heya Penny," Ruby greeted as she pushed the crowd and the Thing's announcement from her mind.

"Salutations Ruby!" Penny greeted in her usual upbeat tone, "I am incredibly happy to see you here! Your performances up to this point have been astounding."

"Same to you," Ruby grinned, "But… I've got a fight to win, and I hope you don't hold anything back on me."

"Of course, I will do you the honour going all out!" She said, cheerfully as ever, "You are among the few people who I believe can safely withstand my maximum output without being too badly beaten."

"…Oooh?" Ruby teased, a challenging grin on her face as she got into her stance, "So you believe you can win, huh?"

"Naturally!" Penny said, a teasing smile on her own face as her backpack opened up and her floating array of blades were bared, "I did not come here to lose after all."

"Three, Two, One, BEGIN!"

"Then come and try to win!" Ruby shouted as her aura swirled around her, though noticeably not in its 'Trigger' state.

"For the New Imperium!" Penny shouted back as they rocketed at each other, eight blades slicing through the air towards Ruby and to everyone's shock, immediately putting her on the back foot. Ruby's hands shot up to block the first slash with her gauntlets, the force of the first blow almost throwing her off her feet. She relaxed and black-flipped with the flow of momentum only to frantically lean back dramatically as Penny's blades hounded her from every single conceivable angle.

"Damn!" Yang whistled, "Those swords sure are something else!"

"I'm not sure Ruby can deal with them without going all-out," Blake hummed, "But thanks to those injuries, we know she can't do that unless she wants her muscles to seize up. That's not to mention that Beowulf isn't even fully fixed-up."

Weiss was dead-silent while staring intently at the battle, something the others noticed.

"You good Weiss?" Blake asked, a hand on her shoulder startling the heiress slightly.

"Mm? Oh, yes," She said as she almost immediately focused on the fight again, "…Those blades of Penny's though…"

"You 'see' something about them?" Yang asked.

"…Well, they're definitely swords," Weiss said slowly, "But their metallic composition feels almost… fluid. And the name that's popping into my head isn't a metal I recognize. Necrodermis."

Weiss' eyes suddenly widened as she leaned froward at the same moment Ruby raised her arm to block the side of her head, only to yelp as one of Penny's blades raked across her guard, not with the sound of metal screeching against metal. Ruby quickly Tricked away and was visibly confused as she shook out the same arm that the blade hit.

"What on earth…?!" Weiss gasped before she concentrated, eyes glowing as she peered further into the weapon's workings, "…overall a Necrodermis structure, but each edge has… anti-molecular high-frequency phasing technology. What kind of swords are those!?"

"Uh, could you repeat that in low-gothic please?" Yang said dryly.

"Yang, Penny's sword just phased through Ruby's gauntlets," Weiss said as Yang and Blake's jaws dropped.

"Those are some really nifty blades you got," Ruby acknowledged with a grin, "Didn't think that Atlas had that kind of tech."

"I am something of a special case," Penny said almost bashfully, "Both the Warmaster and I are the only people I know who make use of this technology."

"That's a relief," Ruby chuckled before she got into a sprinter's stance, "…But you'd actually have to hit me in the first place."

Her aura flared as Ruby concentrated, almost closing her eyes for a moment until she yelped and dashed away as Penny's blade locked together to form a bladed wheel and tore across the ground that she once stood at. They immediately broke apart and sliced through the air in completely random patterns to try and keep Ruby off balance as Penny looked on with a cheeky grin.

"I apologize, but I am not going to give you the chance to think of a way to beat me!"

Two blades detached from the pack and circled around Ruby as they shifted into strange rifles glowing with green light, Penny pointing two hands forward and commanding them to fire bursts of energy that narrowly missed Ruby as the latter frantically dodged.

'Holy crap she REALLY wasn't kidding!' Ruby thought as she backflipped from a slash to her legs, twisted and spun sideways to avoid a stab to her stomach and landed in a deep crouch to duck under another swing at her neck. 'I can barely react to all of this in time, and I can't use my Trigger without screwing my body up!'

Then stop reacting.

Again, that whisper. It took her a few moments to realize what it meant as she frantically dodged blades and energy blasts before it finally clicked.

'…I have to respond with my experience,' She agreed, 'But what's the best response? What I can I do to negate all these attacks?'

"It seems that the battle against Mercury Black is still affecting Ruby's otherwise perfect performance and has impacted her peak condition!" Port pointed out, "Could this be the end of her impeccable winning streak!?"

Her arm lashed out to intercept a blade only for it to again phase right through Beowulf and score another painful slash across her wrist, the strange discharge making her hand go completely numb. She winced and rolled to the side only for another two cuts to land on her shoulders before a beam hit her directly in the stomach, exploding in a clap of green light and sending her flying backwards. Even her lungs went numb and she struggled to relearn how to breathe, landing messily on her back. Her muscles were already crying out in pain as she scrambled to her feet and saw every one of Penny's blades turned to point at her as they shifted into their rifle-forms and opened fire. She could only gape at them, her body going entirely limp as her mind went completely blank.

Thus kindly you Scatter.

The beams seemed to punch right through Ruby in a shower of red and for a moment everyone went silent in horror, Penny's eyes also going wide and in shock as a look of horror crossed her face… before Ruby stood up. No, more than that, she was floating now, her body appearing to go hazy every now and then as petals seemed to peel off of her body, becoming a swirling mass that surrounded her as equally as it was her.

"This…" Ruby realized, her voice both tinny and light, "…Pft…"

She clapped a hand to her mouth, appearing to double over as if ill.

"Friend Ruby…?" Penny said slowly, "Are you… well?"

"BAAAHAHAHA!" Ruby broke down into laughter, slowly spinning head over heels as she couldn't help but slap her hand onto her forehead. "I'm a complete dumbass! Hell, I've been capable of this for a while now, but I didn't even realize it: I think my Semblance already evolved!"

She whooped in joy as almost lazily flew around, the crowd cheering in awe at the beautiful display, Penny herself clapping excitedly before Ruby touched down, the swirling petals slightly calming down as she bounced on her toes in her signature combat-stance.

"Sorry about that," Ruby grinned, entirely re-invigorated, "Let's get back to it!"

"Right!" Penny agreed as they instantly picked up where they left off, green light flashing as Penny once more rained blast after blast down on Ruby, the latter far calmer now as she steadily made her way forward, far calmer now as she used everything at her disposal and let her body do the talking for her. She wasn't frantically moving around anymore, staying on the ground as much as possible, ensuring that Penny's lasers would always aim in the same relative spot and letting her dodge at the last moment. What she couldn't dodge, she redirected, adjusting to the blades' strange ability to pass through Beowulf and deflecting with her wrists on the flat of the blades. When she couldn't redirect, she allowed herself to fully relax as her semblance flowed through every fibre of her being, her body becoming undone and the blasts passing through her in a small spray of petals.

'Fast and hits like a truck,' Ruby thought with a grin, far calmer and more aware now that she wasn't panicking, 'But there's a rhythm to her attacks. Is it because of the way she computes information during a fight? Does she have a set amount of moves?'

She wasn't a fool: trying to maintain that fully intangible state, even for that brief period of time, had left her breathing harder than she'd expected. She could feel the build-up of lactic-acids in her muscles and wondered if this ability of hers prevented oxygen from reaching her muscles, so she only turned sections of herself into petals the moment it was necessary. It wasn't perfect by any means, still taking glancing and rarely direct hits that stunned her for a moment before she dispersed for an instant to immediately shake the feeling off. Ruby wasn't content with only defending however, lashing out the moment she got close enough.

"Crescent PISTOL!"

She was still several meters away from Penny yet her fist shot forward in a basic jab, flashing across the distance to land with a sharp *POW* into Penny's cheek, the sudden attack stunning her and everyone else in the crowd.

'It's the same sensation as my Crescent Judgement!' Ruby realized as she put the pieces together and threw out three more Crescent Pistols while Tricking around Penny to attack her from different angles before the android could recover, 'Being able to relax and go with the flow was always something secondary to me before I came to Beacon and met Sun. If it hadn't been for that, would I have ever figured this out? Was this always something that I could do or…?'

Penny fired high and Ruby's body skipped a frame to crouch low as the beams flew over her head, Penny firing straight down the pipe in response while three rifles shifted into their blade-forms to stab into the ground where Ruby once stood, the girl in red leaping forward and spinning sideways through the air, her leg flashing out in a roundhouse-kick to slam straight down on Penny's collarbone with a ringing *CLANG*. Hitting her was like hitting a steel wall, fitting considering her anatomical structure. All eight blades thrust at her now, piercing through air as Ruby Tricked down to crouch in front of Penny and fire a side-kick straight up into Penny's jaw while allowing another blade to pass right through her torso, another *GONG* echoing through the arena as the crowd cheered at Ruby's sudden reversal.

'Our souls are shaped by our choices and experiences,' Ruby concluded as she fell into the bliss-like feeling of battle, Tricking next to Penny and launching a leaping roundhouse at the back of her head only to be blocked by an array of overlapping blades acting as a shield, 'Good and bad. And with each passing day, so long as we keep moving forward, we will continue to grow.'

Hooking her foot on a stationary blade, she pulled herself up and above Penny with a leg raised high.

"Lunar PHASE!"

"Combat Style Analysis complete!"

Penny backflipped as Ruby's heel came down, the former spinning her body and narrowly letting the latter's kick pass right in front of her face before tucking and shooting both feet out in a drop-kick that smashed into Ruby's mouth and nose, her head snapping back and body sent flying through the air as the crowd cringed at the sudden and almost vicious counter. Ruby spun with the flow of the attack, taking a bit of the bite away from Penny's dropkick and landing on her feet to wipe the blood from her nose with a grin.

"Hey, since when could you fight hand-to-hand?" Ruby chuckled.

"It is part of me," Penny answered as cheerfully as ever, "But I have never had the opportunity to test Panzer Kunst in the field. I hope you can withstand everything I am capable of Ruby!"

"Come and find out!" Ruby laughed, two blades attaching to the back of Penny's boots and acting as rockets to send her into a flying sidekick right at Ruby. She ducked under Penny's kick, pivoting around and finding herself face-to-face with Penny's oncoming fist. Ruby tried to parry only for Penny to barrel right past her arm and smash her knuckles into her face in a short, sharp jab that made Ruby's vision flash white. Penny grabbed her exposed throat and yanked her head forward to elbow her in the temple. Ruby's head turned blurry as Penny's hand lost its grip and her elbow passed through her temple, Ruby retaliating with a spinning elbow to Penny's head only for the latter to sharply block with her palm. Penny yanked down and threw three short, sharp punches at Ruby's face only for her fists to pass through as Ruby spun and slashed down with a chopping-roundhouse that scored a clean hit on Penny's collarbone.

Penny threw a palm-strike up at the same time, Ruby's ribs creaking as she was thrown into the air, spinning uncontrollably for a moment before she sharply righted herself in a burst of petals upside down.

"Crescent Judgement!"

The first two attacks blasted into Penny dead on before her blades snapped into place in front of her in time to defend the final one, two of them breaking off to fire away at Ruby as she darted around the air, having fun simply experimenting with her new 'Scattered' state as she used her propulsion right before Scattering to practically teleport, pulling silly faces each time as the crowd and even Penny laughed. Ruby's petal-strewn form suddenly zig-zagged through the air like a red lightning-bolt to Penny's side, kneeing her hard the in the liver (or whatever counted as a liver in Penny's body), knocking her back just far enough as Ruby's same leg shot out three times in a second to the hip, liver and ribs before Penny recovered and threw a terrifying rocket-propelled hook-kick of her own, Ruby flipping right above it with a quick burst of her semblance to shoot a flying side-kick right into Penny's exposed head.

'Hey, something's weird,' Ruby realized, 'She's got a great style that uses her weight and momentum without being wasteful, but it's too limited and simple… on top of that, why isn't she using her blades?'

The slight distraction was enough for Penny to exploit an opening in her guard, putting her full weight into an elbow to the solar plexus that flung Ruby backwards, only for her to flip with the blow and disperse the kinetic energy of the attack and land on her feet easily, looking back at Penny and almost eating an energy-bolt to the face because of it. She threw her head back in time, the buzzing energy just barely brushing her lips and making them tingle before she tucked and blasted into the air, pure glee on her face as she sped down through the hail of bolts to close the distance. Penny immediately stopped firing and switched back to melee as she blasted up to mid Ruby mid-air, flying sidekick ready to meet flying sidekick.

"Can't use them at point-blank huh!?" Ruby teased as she quickly hooked her foot behind Penny's calf, pulling down just enough to throw Penny's kick off course as Ruby spun and smashed her boot into Penny's face before Penny could throw her blades forward in a desperate attempt to ward Ruby off, all of her momentum turned against her as Ruby roared, "Rip right through: DEEP STINGER!"

Though weaker than normal, the raw force and momentum behind the piercing attack slammed Penny right into the ground in an explosion of stone, Ruby continuing the drill her bodily into the floating arena before both of them punched right out the bottom while containing to throw punches and kicks at each other mid-air, though the gap in experience was beginning to tell. Penny now struggled as Ruby picked up on the patterns of her attacks and freely brawled with her at point-blank range, no longer bothering to try and redirect the heavier girl's attacks and instead fighting toe-to-toe, constantly shifting her body into slightly different positions as she attacked in time with Penny. The latter's right-cross brushed past Ruby's cheek as she leaned back and threw a sharp roundhouse into Penny's jaw, spinning into and past Penny's left uppercut to elbow her in the chest before following up with a backfist to the face using the same hand. Penny tried to recover with a swift roundhouse to the head only for Ruby to have already Tricked away while lashing out with Crescent Judgements to slam into the wide-open Penny before she could bring her blades up to defend herself. Her Floating Array whipped around to charge up and fire at Ruby –

"Crescent GATLING!"

Throwing her blurring fists forward, they turned into streaks of red and smashed into Penny's blades before they could fire, knocking them off course as Ruby dashed in once more as Penny struggled to realign them, completely wide open as Ruby spun and lashed out with a hook-kick towards Penny's chin, eyes shining as her leg became a line of pure red light.

"Crescent Reap."

Ruby seemed to reappear behind Penny, the impact of her kick completely invisible for a moment before the latter's head snapped back with a ringing *BANG* in a shower of petals, Penny's eyes going dull as she dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Ruby floated triumphantly for a moment before shooting down as Penny fell before the android girl seemed to jolt back to life, almost frantically righting herself in the air and looking up at Ruby with a beaming smile on her face, her own eyes glowing pure emerald as she prepared to blast at Ruby-

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Only to look down and realize that the very tip of her foot was touching the ground.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, WE HAVE OUR FINALISTS!" Port spoke as the crowd roared in approval, Penny and Ruby flying back onto the descending stage and embracing each other.

"That was sensational!" Penny cheered, still holding onto Ruby's shoulders, "I have been forced to reboot before, but never have I been hit in such a precise manner that I have been shut down in a single blow!"

"You sure as hell made me work for it," Ruby giggled, "I hit you there and assumed that you'd at least be stunned long enough for me to hopefully finish the fun myself but looks like I just got lucky."

"Probability plays a significant factor in any fight," Penny agreed, "But it is up to a combatant's individual skill and might to either manipulate or overcome such a factor. All statistics indicated that I had the highest chance of beating you here, yet you overcame it with technical precision and creativity."

"Oh, wow uh…" Ruby started, a but lost for words at Penny's matter-of-fact speech, "…thank you?"

"You are most welcome!" Penny clapped cutely, appearing to snap back to her usual self. "Hold your head high friend Ruby. You have made it to the finals!"

Ruby looked around at the cheering crowd, taking in the adoration and love pouring in towards her. It felt good, really good, there was no denying that. The acknowledgment of her strength, the sweat, blood and tears that paved her way here, the realization that she was going to face Sun in the finals, all of it bloomed through her body like a warm summer day. But it wasn't enough to erase that cold feeling crawling down her neck, like someone was breathing down her spine, nor was it enough to make her forget that face. For the sake of appearances, she continued to smile and wave, but it would never be enough to erase that feeling of dread. Her eyes darted around before they met her team: they were all cheering their hearts out for her, and she could spot a tear or two in Yang and Weiss's eyes.

…So maybe it wouldn't be enough to erase that dread crawling up her spine or the shame of not telling her sister, but it was enough to power through it, at least for now.

For now.

And to the finals we GO! I know this was a fairly short chapter, but I wanted to get through the more important plot-points while keeping everything engaging, so I hope I managed to pull that off. As for Ruby's apparent level-up, let me know what you guys think and how you feel about it! I wanted to incorporate parts of her Canon semblance and use it in my own way without making it overly explained for complicated while keeping it fun and dynamic. No more rambling though, hope you enjoyed and as always, peace out!