Here we are at Chapter 8. Time for a little game of four-on-four. I do not own RWBY or Genshin Impact. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 8. Enjoy.
Chapter 8: Team Battle
Another day, another set of mostly boring classes for students at Beacon. Thankfully, today is also the day that one of their favorite classes comes around. Combat training with Professor Goodwitch. One of the very few classes at Beacon where students can get some physical and practical training in with their abilities and weapons. As everyone gets ready to head to said class for their next lesson, they make idle chatter.
"So, I heard that Professor Goodwitch is having students do sparring matches today. If that's true, who do you think we'll go against?" Yang says.
"Well, whoever it is better be ready to feel a lioness' wrath," Dehya cracks her knuckles.
"Hmm, if I'm sparring against other students, even with their aura, it would be best to be careful. I don't want to accidentally kill anyone here," Ei thinks.
"Ei, what are you thinking about?" Nilou notices the thoughtful expression on her leader's face.
"Oh, nothing in particular. Just wondering how I'll fight when my opponent is chosen," Ei says.
"Well, I'll be claiming top marks in this class just like all the others," Weiss waves a hand through her ponytail.
"Hmm, we'll see about that," Candace notes.
...
Everyone arrives in the training arena in their combat gear while Professor Goodwitch stands before them on the arena floor.
"Quiet down, everyone. Now then, I'm sure you all already know, but today we'll be having sparring matches to test your skills. How we will be doing this is two teams will be randomly selected. From there, each member of said teams will be randomly chosen to fight in one-on-one duels. The team with the most single duel wins in the end will claim victory. Given the number of students in class, this lesson will take place over the next few days you have me," Goodwitch explains.
Pyrrha raises a hand, "Professor, what if the teams have two wins and two losses each?"
"Then there will be a fifth match between leaders of the two teams and the winner of that match will claim victory for their team," Goodwitch responds.
"Oh, this is very exciting!" Nora is getting pumped.
"Now then, let's not waste time and get on with the first match," Goodwitch types away on her scroll. Screens above the arena pop up and start spinning with the students' faces. "It will be... Team RWBY versus... Team RDCN," she shows the first teams to fight.
The girls from each time eye each other, confident in their own victories.
"May the best team win," Ei says.
"Yeah, and that's going to be us," Yang smashes her fists together.
"The first match will be... Nilou Soraya versus... Yang Xiao Long," Goodwitch announces.
Everyone waits in the stands as the two fighters take their positions in the arena. Yang activates her gauntlets while Nilou readies her sword.
"And... begin!" Goodwitch starts the match.
Yang makes the first move, charging at Nilou with her right fist reeled back. Nilou dodges the first punch with a quick twirl around her punch. She swings her blade at Yang's head, but the blonde leans her head left to narrowly dodge it. She turns with a left hook, but Nilou parries the strike. They would continue the cycle, with Yang throwing punches and Nilou dodging them while dancing around Yang. Yang changes it up and fires off a few shots from her gauntlets, but Nilou backflips over the shots. Yang fires her shots behind her to shoot towards Nilou. Nilou brings out some water with her semblance from her canteens and has it form around her blade. Yang throws a hard right, but Nilou deflects the strike with her sword and then makes a counter strike. The water along the blade extends into a whip and strikes Yang in the face. She's stunned for only a moment, but it gives Nilou the chance to make two more strikes with her water whip on her body. Yang growls and goes back in.
Nilou swings her sword, but Yang ducks under it and throws a punch to Nilou's stomach, followed by an uppercut, and then rounding it off with a right cross. Nilou slides back on her feet, collecting herself. Yang fires off more shots at Nilou, forcing her to twirl and flip around them. She separates the water from her blade, having the liquid float around her in mid-air. Yang jumps into the air with her fist reeled back. She falls down, intent to smash her fist on Nilou's head. Nilou jumps back to avoid the strike and explosion. Yang looks up just as Nilou attacks with a thrust of her blade. Yang blocks with her left gauntlet and counters with a right cross. Nilou hops onto the cross and jumps off while swinging two blades of water at her. Yang takes the hits before going after Nilou again. She throws a roundhouse kick which Nilou leans back under, and then throws a few more punches. Nilou parries the punches, but then Yang grabs her by the arm and throws a knee to her stomach before throwing her over her shoulder. Nilou rolls along the ground before getting back on her feet. She raises her water around her and forms a makeshift shield in front of her.
"That won't work on me!" Yang charges in and throws a right punch to break through the water.
She does so easily but sees that Nilou is gone. Yang looks up just as Nilou swings her blade down across her body. Nilou sends out her water blade again to deal two more slashes on the blonde. Up in the stands, the others watch with bated breath to see who will come out on top. Nilou swings her water blades again, but Yang punches through them, making the water scatter around them. She gets in close and hits Nilou in the head with a pair of hooks, making her stagger. Yang follows it up with a spinning back kick that sends Nilou flying back. Nilou rolls back onto her feet and faces Yang again.
"Anymore water tricks up your sleeve?" Yang taunts her.
"Maybe..." Nilou smirks.
Using her semblance, she makes all the water across the floor come up and form several small blades around Yang. When she punched the two blades before, that was exactly what Nilou wanted. She sends the blades to rain down on Yang. Yang gets hit from all sides from the aqua assault, her aura dropping fast. It looks like the battle is about to end... until one of the blades cuts off a few strands of Yang's hair. Yang notices and is not happy.
"You..." Yang's eyes turn red.
"Oh no," Ruby knows what's about to happen, and she doesn't like it.
"You cut my hair!" Yang's semblance explodes and she shoots over towards Nilou.
Nilou sends out more water blades, but Yang's fire burns it all away into steam. When she gets close, she blocks a strike from Nilou's blade and then throws several punches on Nilou. Her blade gets knocked out of her hands, followed by Nilou getting punched under the chin. Yang uppercuts her in the stomach and then throws a hard right to send Nilou crashing into the arena wall. Nilou's aura breaks, ending the match.
"And the winner is Yang Xiao-Miss Xiao Long, stop!" Glynda shouts when the angry Yang charges at Nilou.
Nilou looks up just in time to see Yang jumping towards her with her right fist reeled back, her eyes burning red. She throws her punch, but suddenly gets knocked aside by a swift strike from Ei's naginata that sends her into a wall.
"That's enough, Yang," Ei commands, lightning sparking around her blade.
Yang slowly gets to her feet and shakes her head, her eyes returning to normal.
"Huh? What did I...?" Yang looks around and notices everyone staring at her with unpleasant expressions. "Uh oh,"
"Miss Xiao Long, while you won the match, I cannot condone attacking an opponent who has already been defeated. Her aura was depleted," Glynda says, her scroll showing that Nilou's aura was gone while Yang still had a little left. "What would've happened to her if Miss Inazuma hadn't intervened?"
Yang looks at Nilou as Ei helps her to her feet, with Candace and Dehya standing beside them.
Yang looks away guiltily, "I'm sorry, Professor Goodwitch. I guess the adrenaline got to my head,"
"You have great strength, Miss Xiao Long, but that strength is useless if you cannot control yourself in the heat of battle. That leaves you vulnerable, and that is how the grimm will gain the advantage over you," Glynda instructs her. "I suggest you take a few minutes to cool off,"
"Yeah, right," Yang mutters and walks away. "Sorry," Yang says as she walks by Ei and Nilou.
"Oh, Yang," Ruby says with worry.
"Ruby, what was that about?" Weiss asks.
"It's..." Ruby sighs. "It's a long story."
...
In the locker room, Yang rests her face in her hands, "I can't believe it happened again. I'm a huge idiot,"
"Yang?" Yang looks up to see Blake enter the locker room. "Are you okay?"
Yang sighs, "No. Sorry you had to see that. It wasn't my best,"
Blake sits next to her, "Do you always act like that when your hair gets cut?" she asks.
"Yeah. I mean, I don't like it when people mess with my hair, but... I know I shouldn't flip out like that. It's just... my semblance. I take damage, store it up, and then dish it back twice as strong. But, it also flairs up when I get angry, or when my hair gets cut. When it's the latter, I just... lose it sometimes. That's why I'm here at Beacon. I want to learn to control it... before I do something I'll regret," Yang says melancholy.
Blake thinks for a moment, "Well... I don't know much about this stuff. But, if you need help keeping your cool, I might have a few ideas,"
"You think so?" Yang cocks an eyebrow.
"No guarantees, but it's a shot," Blake replies.
Yang slowly smiles, "Thanks. I appreciate it, Blake,"
Blake stands up, "That's what partners are for. Come on, let's go see who's in the next round. You got one win for Team RWBY. Let's try and keep the streak going,"
Yang nods and stands with her. They head back out to the stands, and after assuring everyone that Yang's alright, they get the class back underway.
Glynda types on her scroll, "Alright, everyone, the next match will be... Weiss Schnee versus... Raiden Ei Inazuma,"
Weiss eyes Ei, "I'll show you what I can do, Ei,"
"I'd expect nothing less," Ei replies.
"Ei, I'm sorry about losing," Nilou apologizes.
"It's fine, Nilou. It happens to everyone. Don't worry, I'll win this next match for you," Ei pats her teammate's shoulder before heading down to the arena.
Ei and Weiss meet in the arena and draw their blades.
Glynda raises her arm, "And... begin!"
Weiss shoots over with her rapier aimed at Ei. Ei twirls her naginata around and deflects the strike. Weiss flips over her, landing behind her before stabbing her sword into the ground to unleash a surge of ice at her. Lightning surge around Ei and she swings her left arm, unleashing a shard of her Plane of Euthymia to destroy the incoming ice while also creating an Eye of Stormy Judgment above her. Weiss is momentarily stunned her ice didn't work, but she focuses on that eye. It came in handy during their initiation, but now she would be the target of its attacks. Weiss rotates the chamber on her rapier before creating some white glyphs and skating over towards Ei. Ei twirls her naginata and parries Weiss' thrust. Weiss makes a few sword strikes at her, but Ei dodges each one and then counters with a swift swing of her blade at Weiss' back. Weiss stumbles for a second, but uses her glyphs to aid her. She then uses them to fire off some ice shards at Ei. Ei, however, destroys them all with a few swings of her blade. She charges at Weiss this time and makes a downward swing at Weiss. Though Weiss blocks the strike, Ei's Eye of Stormy Judgment hits her side.
"So even if I block her strike, that eye will still attack?!" Weiss curses.
And since the attacks seem to come out of nowhere, Weiss can't predict their direction. This pattern would continue for a few moments, with Ei striking at Weiss, Weiss blocking or deflecting her strikes, only to get hit by her thunderous eye. Ei follows it up with an upward swing to send Weiss flying back. Weiss lands on a white glyph and creates a few more around them. She starts jumping from one glyph to another, trying to find an opening to exploit on Ei. The archon watches Weiss move around, looking for the right time to strike.
"Your semblance is quite unique, Weiss. Very impressive... but, at this level it won't be enough to defeat me," Ei notes.
"We'll see about that," Weiss retorts.
Weiss attacks Ei's rear, but Ei counters by thrusting the pommel of her weapon into Weiss' stomach, followed up by a side slash across her chest to knock her back. A strike from Ei's eye does extra damage. Weiss rolls on the ground before getting back onto her feet. However, Ei is right on her, making a swing with her blade as she swings around her opponent and then forcing her back. Just as Ei goes for another strike, Weiss stabs the ground in front of her, sending out a surge of ice that freezes Ei's legs in place.
"Don't underestimate me. I'm more than just my name," Weiss says as she aims her rapier at Ei.
"Indeed. Someone back home told me that they knew your grandfather," Ei replies.
Weiss's stance stumbles, "What? They... knew him?" she can't believe it.
"Yes. They said he was an honorable warrior and a kind man. I see that same honor in your eyes, Weiss Schnee. Deep beneath the icy veil you through around yourself. However..." lightning sparks around Ei's body. "If you wish to bring honor to your family name... then you must first cast aside everything you thought you knew and start anew,"
The lightning breaks her free of the ice and Ei brings out her blade, the Musou Isshin. Weiss finds her left hand holding her rapier shaking a bit. The sheer power of that blade was unlike any semblance she's ever seen. Ei's eyes glow as she stalks towards Weiss. Weiss creates a few more of her glyphs and launches fireballs at Ei, but they are cut down so fast no one sees Ei ever lift her sword. Weiss is dumbfounded. She saw Ei take out that grimm with a single strike back in the Emerald Forest, but to realize that same power is now aimed at her is frightening. Making one last desperate gamble, Weiss rotates her chamber again and a red glow envelopes her rapier. She charges at Ei, only for Ei to end up right behind her after dealing a series of super-fast, but powerful strikes. Weiss' aura hits zero as she collapses to the floor.
"Though you have much to learn, perhaps the honor that Nicholas Schnee supposedly once showed flows in your veins as well," Ei notes as she glances down at her opponent.
"And that's the match. The winner is Raiden Ei Inazuma," Glynda announces.
Ei holsters her sword and turns to Weiss, who is apparently unconscious.
"Weiss!" Ruby yells.
Ei leans down to check on the Ice Queen, "It's alright, she's just unconscious,"
Yang jumps down to carry Weiss out of the arena and brings her down next to their team.
"Well, there goes our winning streak. Weiss is gonna be pissed when she wakes up," Yang jokes.
Weiss groans as she stirs awake, "What... what happened?" she groans.
"Ei beat you," Blake replies.
Weiss covers her face, "Drat! I lost in front of everyone. You guys better keep this quiet,"
"Yeah, it's probably too late for that," Ruby rubs her head. "Don't worry, Weiss. I still thought you were awesome out there," she pats her head.
Weiss is too embarrassed to push her away, wanting to cover her own face instead.
"Quiet, all of you. We still have our next match. It will be... Blake Belladonna versus... Candace Irtyu," Glynda announces.
"Guess I'm up then," Blake says.
"Bring us back to the winning circle, Blake," Ruby cheers.
Blake smirks, "I'll try,"
She enters the arena across from Candace as they ready their weapons.
"Candace's eye allows her to catch glimpses of future events. She might be able to see my moves before I make them. I'll need to find a way around that," Blake thinks.
"And... begin," Glynda throws down her arm.
Blake makes the first move by jumping in the air towards Candace. She throws an axe kick down on Candace, but the latter blocks with her shield. Blake jumps back and then goes in with her katana. Candace makes a thrust of her spear, but Blake dodges it with her semblance and gets in close. However, Candace blocks her strike with her shield again. Candace makes a swing of her spear, but Blake ducks underneath it and fires her pistol. Candace jumps over her, blocking the bullets with her shield, and lands behind her. Blake draws her second blade and goes back on the attack. She twirls in the air with her blades, but Candace leans out of the strikes and parries one strike with her shield. She then throws a sidekick at Blake's ribs, making her step back. Blake jumps and twirls in the air as she closes in. However, Candace spins her spear in front of her and knocks her away. As Blake lands on her feet, Candace's spear flies by, grazing her face. Candace smirks, and Blake runs at her. But, Candace holds out her hand and her spear comes right back towards her, aimed at Blake's back. Blake realizes what's coming and slides under the spear which returns to Candace. Blake swings her blades at her, but Candace thrusts her spear at her. Blake dodges with her semblance and tries several strikes around her, looking for an opening.
But, Candace's defense is spotless. She manages to block and deflect every strike she makes with her shield and spear. What's worse: Blake notices that Candace's golden eye isn't glowing.
Blake steps back, "She's not using her semblance? This whole time, she's only been using her fighting skills. Living in the desert for her whole life... She knows how to survive and more," she realizes this fight will be much tougher than she thought.
Blake changes her katana into its chain-scythe form and throws it at Candace. Candace knocks it away with her shield, but Blake pulls on the ribbon, causing it to go off behind Candace and attack her rear. Candace barely ducks her the spinning blade as it flies past her. Blake goes in and starts twirling her chain-scythe around, hoping to get past Candace's defense. Candace throws her spear at her, but Blake flips into the air, sending her chain-scythe everywhere. Candace blocks one strike and brings her spear back to her. Blake dodges it with her semblance and gets in close. Just as Candace catches her spear, Blake shoots past her with a strike on her chest with her sheathe blade. Candace grits her teeth before turning just as Blake comes at her again. She blocks Blake's strike, and then flips over her chain-scythe. Just as Blake swings it around again, Candace stomps down on the ribbon, stopping it. Blake gasps, only to get nailed in the face by Candace's shield and then sent flying back with a swing of her spear. She ends up near the arena wall and rolls out of the way when Candace tries to smash her into said wall.
Blake fires her pistol, but Candace blocks with her shield and throws a roundhouse kick at her opponent. Blake backflips under the kick and readies her blades, but Candace comes down on her with a swing of her spear. Blake dodges to her right, but then her eyes widen when she sees Candace's left eye glowing. Candace, using the gravity Dust in her spear and armband, propels the spear itself forward and pins Blake against the wall. Her wrists are bounded by the polearm and she can't move in time before Candace smashes her shield against her skull, sandwiching her between it and the wall. Momentarily dazed, Blake gets sent up into the air by the spear, only for Candace to jump up and throw an axe kick to send her crashing into the floor. She just gets onto her hands and knees when Candace crashes down on her with her shield again, pinning her to the floor. Blake finds her spear at her throat. While she still as a little aura left to fight, at this point, it would be pointless.
"I yield," Blake concedes the match.
"And the winner is Candace Irtyu," Glynda says.
Candace helps Blake up, "Not bad, Blake. You actually had me on my toes enough to get me to use my semblance. So you know, not many can do that,"
Blake smiles a little, "I'll take that as a compliment. I wasn't expecting to use your spear's gravity Dust the way you did,"
"Gravity Dust as more applications that you realize. I simply took advantage of it," Candace replies.
They return to the stands with the others.
"Alright, it's clear who will be in the last match, so let's get on with it. Ruby Rose versus Dehya Naar," Glynda says.
"Come on, Ruby. Bring this to overtime for Team RWBY!" Yang cheers.
"Good luck," Weiss adds.
"Yeah, just leave it to your leader," Ruby says.
"Alright, Dehya, bring this one home," Candace says.
"Sure, no pressure or anything," Dehya smirks.
The last two fighters take to the arena. While Ruby draws out her scythe, Dehya keeps her sword on her back.
"You're not gonna use your weapon? Seems like a waste," Ruby asks, confused.
"Use can bring out wear, tear, and rust, and that's a real waste," Dehya replies.
"Enough. Alright then, and... begin!" Glynda starts the last match.
Ruby aims her scythe behind her and pulls the trigger, shooting herself over towards Dehya. Dehya waits for her to approach before Ruby makes the first strike with her scythe. Dehya turns halfway to cause the blade to her sword instead, stopping it. She counters with a roundhouse kick to knock Ruby back who lands on her feet. Ruby starts twirling her scythe around to overwhelm Dehya with a flurry of strikes. Dehya dodges left and right around the strikes and finds herself getting put on the defensive. Ruby may be the youngest here, but she sure doesn't lack the skill of a future huntress. Dehya ends up having to bring out her sword to block a strike from Ruby's scythe. Ruby pulls the trigger again, swinging her scythe around and making Dehya spin in the air. Ruby swings again, but Dehya blocks with her blade and flies back, only to land on her feet. Ruby zips over with her semblance for another strike, but Dehya deflects it and then grabs Ruby's arm. She pulls the younger girl in for a knee to the gut and then a right hook across her face.
Dehya swings her blade, knocking Ruby back who blocked with her scythe. Ruby fires off a few shots but Dehya uses her sword as a shield as she closes in. Dehya makes a downward swing on Ruby, who swings around her with her semblance. She goes for a slash, but Dehya kicks her blade up to bring it back to block the strike. She makes a spinning slash to knock Ruby back again and then holsters her blade. Ruby spins her scythe around and brings it down on Dehya, but the Faunus narrowly avoids it and punches Ruby in the stomach. She makes a few more punches before throwing an uppercut to send Ruby into the air. Ruby sees Dehya ready another fist as she falls and uses the recoil of her scythe to shoot herself around Dehya, making at slash on her chest as she passes by. She fires off a shot and nails Dehya's left knee.
"Argh! You're a wily one, huh" Dehya grits her teeth.
"No one can beat me when it comes to speed," Ruby smirks.
"Well, I suppose I'll just have to turn up the heat in here, then," Dehya draws her blade and hits a button on it.
The edge of her blade becomes superheated before flames erupt around it. Ruby is pleasantly surprised by the show. If they weren't fighting, she'd want to inspect it herself. Dehya swings her blade, sending out an arch of flames at the younger girl. Ruby flies over them and swings her scythe around at Dehya. The Faunus deflects the strike and swings her blade down on Ruby. Ruby escapes with her semblance and fires off a few more shots at Dehya, who blocks them with her blade before sending out more flames at her. Ruby jumps over them, spinning in the air with her scythe as she falls down on Dehya. Dehya blocks the strike, but Ruby fires her scythe again, knocking Dehya back.
"Yeah, get her, Ruby!" Yang cheers.
"Ruby's got the edge in speed, but...," Blake trails off.
"Huh? What is it?" Weiss asks.
"Yang, how good is Ruby in unarmed combat?" Blake asks.
Yang deflates, "Um... well... not very good, sadly,"
"Meanwhile, Dehya is the opposite. If she figures that out, Ruby will be in trouble," Blake says.
Down below, the battle rages on. Both fighters have dealt a few more blows on each other through the conversation and their auras are dropping. While they're around the same, Ruby is looking winded while Dehya can keep going without much issue. She hasn't been running around as much as Ruby, nor has she used her semblance as much as her. The battle will be decided shortly. Ruby aims her scythe behind and pulls the trigger. She flies at Dehya who swings her sword down on the approaching scythe wielder. Ruby uses her semblance to fly right under the swing and imbeds her blade in the ground, using it to swing around to kick Dehya in the head. She pulls her blade out and swings around to hit Dehya's back with the back-end of the scythe. Just as she goes for another strike, Dehya stabs her blade into the ground and unleashes a big, fiery explosion that sends Ruby crashing into the wall. Dehya swings her sword, sending out another arc of flames at her which connects. Everyone watches as Ruby emerges from the smoke, her aura spent.
"And the result of the match is... a draw," Glynda announces.
"Huh?" Nilou utters.
"Wait, Ruby didn't lose?" Yang is confused.
Glynda shows a replay of the fight. It shows Ruby aiming her scythe and firing off a shot. The shot flies much faster than the flames, and hits Dehya right as the flames connect with her. Both their auras hit the red at the same time.
"Impressive. She couldn't win, but she prevented her opponent from claiming victory. Well done, Ruby," Ei notes.
Dehya walks over to Ruby, "Heh, and I thought I won that one. You're sneaky, Ruby," she holds out a hand to her.
Ruby accepts the hand and gets pulled onto her feet, "Well, I couldn't let my team down, though the outcome wasn't what I was hoping for,"
"All four matches are concluded. The results are one win for Team RWBY, two wins for Team RDCN, and one draw. As such, Team RDCN is the overall winner," Glynda announces.
Ruby walks up to her team, "Sorry I couldn't turn things around, guys," she rubs her head.
"You did well, Ruby. Technically, you didn't lose. Besides, Weiss and I lost our matches, so the result is because of us. Right Weiss?" Blake asks.
Weiss sighs, "As much as I hate to admit defeat, Blake is right. I was the first one to lose on our side. But, I will NOT lose the next match,"
Ruby smiles, "Yeah. We'll beat them next time,"
Dehya joins her team, "I thought I had her for a moment there,"
"Guess you'll just have to learn from this one, Dehya. But, still, a good fight," Candace says.
"Even though we won, I feel bad that I'm the only one that lost on our team," Nilou sags.
Ei pats her shoulder, "This was a team battle, and we won. This victory is as much yours as it is our, Nilou,"
"Besides, you said so yourself. You were a performer before you were a warrior. They've been training to be warriors longer than you have. But don't fret, we'll help each other become true huntresses. That's what being part of a team is all about," Candace adds.
Their words seem to cheer Nilou up and she smiles, "Right. Thank you,"
And that's the chapter. I had the fights end the way they did because I didn't want Team RDCN to crush RWBY, so I made the overall fight a close one so to speak. Anyway, the classes continue at Beacon for Ei and her friends. What other lessons will they learn at school? Until then, please Read and Review.
