A/N: Chapter 38 of REKT. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or teams of RWBY, they belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. What I do own are the characters and teams of my OCs: REKT, GTSY, KACE and DAZE.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.
Chapter 38: New Challengers (I)
At the tournament arena...
The air was buzzing with excitement as students comfortably took their seats, eager for the match to start. Some were waving flags and banners, others whistling and cheering till their voices became hoarse. Scrolls in hand students hoped to snag a video of their favorite matches for personal usage. With security footage everywhere the matches were recorded as well as live streamed, once the competition is over the content could be sold to those interested in re-watching.
"I wonder who would win." Mercury commented as he scarfed down a handful of popcorn, chewing thoroughly before shoveling another handful. Leaning back he propped his legs up on the seat in front of him and got comfortable. "This better be somewhat entertaining else I'll need another large bucket...or I'll have to make my own entertainment somewhere."
"Tch. As if we didn't already know." scoffed Emerald, rolling her eyes at the silver-haired man's statement. "This is going to be really boring I can already tell."
"Oh, come now. Even if you know how a story ends, that doesn't make it any less fun to watch." Cinder mused, taking a kernel from the bucket of popcorn and increased her Aura. Bursting open she popped the fully cooked popcorn in her mouth and smile. "Oooo, buttery. And just the right texture...for popcorn that is."
"I don't see those brats anywhere in the stands." Emerald spoke up as the leader took a seat behind the two of them, lighting up another popcorn kernel. Her sharp eyes swept across the sea of students, memorizing the faces and storing the information within her mind. "I assumed they would want to watch the other brats since they're friends and all. Kinda fishy if you think about this. And eww...I don't understand friendship at all."
"And you probably never will." Mercury chuckled before getting a stinging punch to the arm. Keeping a tight arm around his tub of popcorn he glowered at the green-haired huntress. "Hey, I probably wouldn't understand it either."
"Don't worry about them, pay attention to the ones on the field." advised the flame temptress, a knowing smirk playing on her lips as she ate another piece of popcorn. "We need as much information as we can get. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show."
"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" Professor Port's broadcasting voice boomed over the intercom as the students took their seats. Both teams, with their weapons drawn, stared at each other with anticipation. Little screens popped up much like a slot machine, dictating what the battlefield should be.
"Hey just out of curiosity but...um...I don't see Ruby and company anywhere." Nora whispered, getting a range of expressions from the others. "Like I know we're in the middle of a battle that could potentially make it or break it for us but they said they'd be here to cheer us on. And if they aren't here to cheer us on how would we ever live this down?!"
"That is a bit concerning isn't it? We don't even know what happened to them after that small attack." Pyrrha chuckled. "But we gotta focus on what's in front of us."
"At least we have a little luck on our side." Ren spoke once the slots stopped moving, picturing a green forest and a mountainous terrain with a thunder cloud over it. "Could possibly utilize that element to our advantage."
"Three...two...one. Begin!"
"Come on guys! Let's do this!" Jaune yelled.
Inside an armored vehicle...
"So you kids were eating when a mysterious person came and attacked?" A soldier questioned, looking up with a quirked eyebrow. He had what seemed to be a Scroll and pen in hand, documenting the interrogation. "And instead of taking initiative by alerting the nearest adult you took it upon yourself to retaliate?"
"She started it first, not us!" Yang jumped up, slamming a hand down on the table that made the rest of us jump. Her eyes kept flashing between red and lilac, indicating that she was having trouble controlling her emotions. "We're innocent!"
"Young lady I'm going to have to ask you to sit down and be civil!" The soldier barked, clearly not happy by the behavior. "Next outburst outta you and I won't be so nice."
"Yang, keep calm." Blake said and the brawler sat back down, letting the Faunus reassuringly touch her arm. Deep down Yang really appreciated her battle partner's presence, it made her heart flutter slightly and stomach drop. Blake removed her arm and placed it on her thigh, her fingers lightly touching Yang's.
"Please sir, we meant no harm in our scuffle." Weiss looked at her teammate out the corner of her eye, making sure Yang didn't have another outburst. "If we hadn't engaged in a fight then she would've dealt more damage than necessary."
"I'd love to commend you kids on your bravery but without a thought to your own safety I would have to call you all reckless. It's unfortunate that the fight all together destroyed a good chunk of property so our General would have to charge your head master for the damage."
"What?! She was the one who made the most mess!"
"You can't place majority of the blame on us!"
"But we should at least pay for the damage we did make...the ones we know for sure we made." I muttered under my breath, watching as the others other than Yang got riled up and throwing their arguments into the air. Although...even I had trouble doing damage control...I guess it's simpler to place the blame on one person.
"We prevented her from causing any more trouble!" Kairos glared at the man, eyes flashing in challenge. "Where the hell were you when that happened huh? Were you snacking at the food stands? And for that matter where were the other soldiers that were on duty?!"
"You must be blind, blaming a bunch of kids who risked their lives against an enemy like that mysterious woman!"
"She's really tough I won't lie but at least we tried to contain her!"
"You little brats..." The soldier frowned as the rowdy bunch voiced their opinions. Tightening his grip on a gun by his side he aimed the weapon in our direction and snapped, "By the orders of the General you must abide by the rules! Either own up to what you did or I'll have to throw you all into jail with no bail!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Yang and Kairos stood up at the exact same time, prompting everyone to quickly hold them back. The blonde's eyes were red and the Faunus had a hand on the hilt of her weapon. There was no doubt in our minds that if the two of them were to fly off the handle we'd be in much more deeper trouble. I was also surprised that they'd allow us to have our weapons on hand, bet that protocol would be reevaluated soon.
"Now now, what's all this I heard? Sounds like a bunch of banshees and not the magnificent huntsmen and huntresses from Beacon." A voice spoke up, getting our attention. Ozpin, with a twinkle in his eye, stood by the door alongside another male dressed in a white coat. "You guys are tournament participants so act as such."
"Professor!" Ruby and I spoke as he made his way over of us, his eyes twinkling all-knowingly from behind his spectacles. "What are you doing here?"
"Ms. Ruby Rose. Ms. Reina Raylan. Please escort your teams back to the arena while I take care of business here." His voice was stern but somewhat forgiving. He twirled his cane absentmindedly between his fingers. "Try to stay out of any more trouble since you guys are tournament participants." Bowing our heads slightly we shuffled out of the vehicle and closed the door behind us. The trek towards the arena was silent, each one of us lost in our own thoughts.
"Well look on the bright side, it could have been worse!" Ruby spoke up, her charming voice and enthusiastic vibe drawing the rest of us out of the slumps. "Professor Ozpin might have taken us out of the tournament or worse expel us from school!"
"I hardly believe he'd stoop as low as that." Yang laughed in response, running a hand through her blond locks. She had tamed herself and her eyes returned to their lilac hues. "...well, at least I think he wouldn't."
"This is Headmaster Ozpin we're talking about here, be serious!" Weiss stomped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked like a child throwing a tantrum. "We can't think badly about him!"
"Honestly he would have no problem throwing us out if he wanted to." Blake said, getting a couple nods of agreement from a majority of my team members. "The fact that he didn't shows that he has a strong faith in his students."
"Exactly and that's why we have to do our utmost best in order to not let him down!" The Schnee heiress let out an airy sigh before noticing the looks. "Don't give me that, we're representing Beacon and I won't have us out there looking like...like Yang!"
"What's wrong with me?" The brawler questioned when she heard her name, tilting her head to the side in wonder. "Besides not being gorgeous enough hahaha!"
"What you are is a giant oaf. That should be enough to suffice as a winning reason."
"C'mon Weiss, you know Yang is an awesome possum!" Ruby latched onto her sister's body and snuggled close. Yang chuckled in response, running her hand through Ruby's silky hair. "As awesome as an awesome possum can be!"
"Ruby you can say that because she's your sister. Totally not a bias opinion at all!" Weiss mildly frowned but shrugged her shoulders in defeat. Deep down she respected Yang and has seen the brawler hold her own in a solo battle as well as deliver in a team battle so she couldn't be anymore happier fighting with her in a double match. "Well nonetheless I'll do everything in my power to make us look good during our double battle."
"We'll blow away the tournament and take home the prize, no problem!" Yang put an arm around her double battle's partner. Weiss looked like she wanted to slap her away but instead she just leaned in closer, resting her head against Yang's shoulder.
"Son of a– We missed the beginning of Jaune's match! They must be half-way done by now!" Ruby squealed, sneaking a peek through one of the windows of a shop to see the fight. Panicking she grabbed Weiss' hand and ran off like her life depended upon it, "I'll never forgive myself if we miss it!"
"Ruby Rose, you slow down this instant!" The heiress screeched, stumbling over her own feet to keep up with her leader's speed. She quickly brushed her hair out of her face with a huff when it whacked her in the face. "I can run on my own!"
"She's really booking it! If she activates her Semblance I don't think we'd be able to keep up!" Efram laughed as the rest of us full-on sprinted down the street, darting between crowds and even parkour our way to the transportation station. Using our scrolls to get through the checkpoints we boarded an airship and made our way up towards the floating structure in the sky. Chests heaving for air we stepped off the vehicle and was met by the roar of the audience blaring through our eardrums.
"Oh good, we'll be able to see the ending! Come on I found us some front row seats in the participant section!" Ruby ushered us over and sandwiched herself in a seat between Yang and Blake, Weiss taking occupancy on Blake's left. I sat right behind them with my team, more specifically right behind Weiss' seat. Before I could get comfortable a small bucket of popcorn was pushed into my hand followed by the butter and salt packets that just fell into my lap.
"Who's their opponent?" I asked, taking both packets and opened them as carefully I could before dumping them both onto the food. "I sense three of them on the field...is the other one hiding or something?"
"That would be Team BRNZ and yes their sniper is in the trees. Not a bad strategy since the other members seem to be close-combat fighters and I heard they're a team from Shade. I've actually never been there before...Shade I mean." Kairos stuffed a handful of popcorn in her mouth and began chewing. "Hopefully the weather would be pleasant."
"Then how about after the semester is over why don't we take a team trip out there? Just us four?" I suggested, getting excited looks from my teammates. I could tell they were already formulating a plan inside their heads: what to bring, what to wear, how long to stay, where to eat, those sort of things. "I can tell that it's settled. There should be some breathing room for us to go out there and enjoy ourselves."
Back in the arena...
"Having a sniper in those trees is very inconvenient I tell you. Very inconvenient!" Jaune had to yell as his team hunkered down behind some rocks. He ducked as a bullet whizzed past his head before taking a little peep. The three males of the opponent team – Brawnz Ni, Roy Stallion and Nolan Porfirio – were rushing forward with grins on their faces. "C'mon brain! Think think think!"
"Oh hey! I see our friends in the stands! Neat!" Nora exclaimed with a huge grin on her face. She didn't dare to wave her arm least she wanted her hand blown by a bullet. "They made it in time to watch us cream our opponents into the floor!"
"Nora!" Firing two rounds simultaneously from his weapon Ren turned to give his partner a look of semi sternness. There was never a time where he could be fully mad at Nora, he didn't have it in his heart. "Now's not the time to get distracted!"
"Sorry!"
"So what's the plan now?" asked Pyrrha, narrowing her eyes as a bullet ricochet off her shield from the sniper. Taking a chance she stood up, took aim with her sniper rifle and returned fire. "We can't stay hidden forever, least we get pushed into a corner."
"Try and keep moving! I'll try to think of a plan!" Jaune nodded, spurring his team to retaliate. Jumping over the rocks that served as a cover he raised his shield, catching Roy's fist and swung his sword to counter. The close-combat specialist didn't bat an eye as he kept the swordsman on the balls of his feet.
"Ah!"
"Ren!" Nora looked up suddenly as the man crashed in front of her, his body twitching as if he had been shocked. Glaring at the person who dared to harm her Ren she rushed forward, her hands gripping the handle of her weapon tightly till her knuckles turned white. She missed, catching Nolan's weapon dead center and received the same shock that Ren did. However all she did was smile in response, causing the member of BRNZ to frown.
"Oho, looks like one of my favorite students, Nora Valkyrie is charging up to use her Semblance!" Professor Port commentated with a chuckle. "We're definitely in for a nice surprise here!"
"What?" Nolan questioned as he turned to look at the hologram monitor, unaware that the orange-haired Huntress was still sucking up the attack. "Her Semblance?"
"Yes, Miss Valkyrie's Semblance lets her produce, as well as channel, electrical energy straight to her muscles." Professor Oobleck explained with excitement in his voice. "This allows her to jump explosively into the air, wield her mighty hammer, or in this case, absorb Nolan's attacks and send the young man flying."
"It's like he's narrating the next play before it even happens." I spoke, watching as the aura representing Nora literally blew the aura representing Nolan back with just a thrust of her hammer. The man grunted as he hit the ground and crashed into a bolder. "Although it could also give the fighters ideas."
"Most people I know don't have super fast reflexes, everyone except Ruby. So even if the tournament participants hear the commentary whether or not they act based on what was said all depends on them. Of course sometimes the commentary provides very good information." Kairos told me.
BZZZT~ BZZZT~
"Hmm?" Hearing a cackling sound Jaune turned to see the misty clouds forming over the mountain terrain. Wires of lightning slowly crept through the clouds before disappearing, but that one moment was enough to sow an idea in his mind. He quickly turned to look at his teammate. "Nora! Get to the mountain!"
"Aye aye sir!" She saluted him playfully before making her way across the arena. Bunching her leg muscles she jumped, scaling up the side of the structure like a mountain goat.
"Ren, try and distract the sniper!" Opening his mouth to respond Ren slightly flinched when a bullet barely grazed his head. He sighed, sarcastically remarking that he was made for such a job. The blond gave Pyrrha a nod and the two of them rushed Roy, keeping his attention solely on them.
"Yeah, go get 'em Jaune!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fists into the air. "There you go!"
"Well, he's certainly improved." said Weiss, nodding her head slightly as she analyzed the fight in her head. "Much better than the last time he fought, I'm surprised."
"Yeah, but he ain't got nothing on Pyrrha." Yang chuckled, clearly enjoying the match and keeping her eyes on the spartan. The red head was ganged up by Brawnz and Roy but she seemed to be handling them with ease, making effective use of her Semblance. Soon she shrugged off Brawnz and decided to focus her energy on Roy, her body flowing as if she was dancing.
Ren for his part rushed the sniper, sliding underneath Pyrrha when she twisted her body mid-air. Getting back up on his feet he ran straight into Nolan who managed to drag himself out of the rubble. Since he had a much clearer understanding about his opponent Ren got the upper hand and quickly put Nolan into a head-lock; using the blades of his weapons and Nolan's own weapon to keep his opponent locked tight.
"Nora!" He exclaimed when he realized the sniper had changed gears, her sharp eyes noticing the lack of one member and caught the orange-haired huntress among the rocks. Nolan tried his best to get out of the head lock but Ren just tightened his grip and refused to let go.
"Pyrrha, up!" Jaune shouted, parring a blow from Brawnz as he shouted another order. Understanding the call she executed a series of somersaults, blocking a shot from Roy, before landing on the blond's shield. Holding her own shield in front of her chest she jumped as high as she could, getting into the sniper's cross-hairs as it was aimed at Nora's back.
"Shit!" May growled to herself when she fired, the bullet ricocheting off the metal and sent Pyrrha flying from the resulting force. "It got blocked so easily!"
"I have the power!" Climbing to the very top of the mountain Nora lifted Magnhild into the air, letting the lightning from the storm clouds come down upon it. Slamming the hilt down she changed its form into a grenade launcher and took aim, her eyes focusing on the area where May was hiding in. With a finger on the trigger she sent the projectiles soaring overhead, watching as the trail of pink dust fluttered out behind them.
"Oh crap..." May watched as the attack – the pink grenades coming together to form a giant pink heart – flew right at her. She jumped to another tree at the last minute, watching the massive amount of damage that had been dealt. Feeling choked up from the smoke she quickly got out, a hand covering her nose.
"HIYYAAAAAAAAAAH!" Not letting up Nora came down with her charged up hammer, slamming it into the ground and sent the other three fighters flying back. May backed up when her teammates crashed by her feet, looking at them worriedly as she held her weapon against her body. "How do you like that?!"
"This is it guys! Let's finish 'em with team attacks!" Jaune exclaimed excitedly, seeing a good opportunity. Lifting his sword he shouted, "Ren, Nora, Flower Power!"
"Wait...what?" Nora's confused voice reached his ears and he turned to see his very confused teammates. "What did you just say?"
"F-Flower Power." He repeated himself, seeing even more confusion spread across their faces. In the back of his mind he wondered why he bothered to repeat the name if the first time didn't click. "That's your team attack name."
"Since...when?" asked Ren and Nora smiled apologetically to Jaune since she didn't know it either. "Did I miss something here or what?"
"Guys, we went over this!" Jaune huffed as he proceeded to explain, turning his back to the enemy to lecture his team. "Flower Power is Ren and Nora. Ren brings the flower, Nora brings the power."
"How do I bring a flower? There's not even a small one in this arena."
"No, silly! Not 'a flower'! Flour!" Nora chirped as she looked at Ren with bright eyes when she understood. "Like the thing you use when you make pancakes!"
"...and how is-what? I'm even more confused." Ren sighed as he thought about it, rubbing his head with his fingers. "Okay say that it is sort of like baking, how exactly do I bring that?"
"I, uh, no, it's your symbol!" Jaune explained. "Your symbol is a flower!"
"So...what are we?" Pyrrha gestured to him and herself, a confused expression on her face. She had kept silent while Nora and Ren tried to decipher what Jaune meant by 'Flower Power' but curiosity got the best of her. "Surely you figured out a name for us right?"
"Pyrrha! You're supposed to back me up here!"
"Sorry! I just wanna make sure it's clearly defined." She said pleasantly, noting how irked the blond was. "Jaune you have to communicate effectively."
"Pyrrha, you and I are Arkos. It's the thing, where we take our shields, remember." By now the other team got back on their feet, ready to continue fighting when they noticed that their opponents were talking. "Yeah, it's that kind of power move."
"Arkos? Huh..."
"Awesome name right? It's our names put together. You know, Arc and Nikos."
"Right...no, I get it."
"What? You don't like it?" There was the sound of hurt in his voice and one could imagine the puppy-dog eyes that followed.
"No, no, it's..." A brief pause before the spartan continued, "good?"
"Mmmm, I sensed hesitation!" Nora sang, nudging her teammate with an elbow. "Pyrrha you need to be more honest with your feelings and not be afraid to hurt Jaune's!"
"Hey!" Brawnz yelled, clearly having enough of standing idle and waiting for the other group to break up whatever it was they were doing. The entire JNPR turned to look at him with bewilderment, almost forgetting they were there. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Trying to have a team meeting, obviously." Jaune stated, not bothering to conceal the sarcasm in his voice as he turned back around to address his team. "Thank you very little."
"Yeah! Team ears only!" Nora gestured to her ear as she said so. "This is super duper top secret stuff!"
"What the-" Brawnz turned to look at his teammates who all just shrugged their shoulders before yelling, "We're in the middle of a fight!"
"And we're in the middle of a conversation! What don't you get about that?!" Something within Jaune snapped and he yelled right back with his nostrils flared. "Jesus Christ didn't your mother teach you any manners as a decent human being?!"
"Um...Jaune?"
"Yes, Pyrrha?" He huffed, trying calm his rage. This was a first for him to lose his temperament so he focused on regulating his breathing. "What is it?"
"I think he means we're ALL in the middle of a fight?" She gestures to the stadium where the students were continuously cheering. Opening his ears he glanced around in awe as realization dawned upon him, sometimes he wondered if he was dreaming.
"Nora just...hit them with your hammer." Jaune sighed loudly after a moment of appreciating the voices of the student body, deciding that the next best thing to wrap up the match was permitting Nora to go all out. The orange-haired huntress had the biggest grin possible and leaped into the air.
"You got it...one home-run smash comin right up!"
"Wait...what?!" Brawnz uttered as the orange-haired Huntress, with one mighty swing sent him and his team flying right into what seemed to be an invisible shield that protected the stands.
"And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout. Literally." Port announced before adding, "Can someone go make sure they're okay?"
Other side of town...
In a little secluded section where the smaller shops were there was a small drinking bar named Crow Bar. Normally it would be full of patrons but only at night time when customers came in expecting to get wasted. It had a good reputation and at the moment it was empty except for a spiky dark-haired individual sitting by the counter, his tattered red cloak draped over his back. Swirling his drink lazily in hand – once in awhile glancing at the rings on his fingers – he gazed up at the television for a bit, his red eyes drinking in the both the headline as well as the faces of Team JNPR after they won their match.
"Huh. Those kids weren't half bad, even if they were in a small pinch with their opponent." The bartender said as he wiped a glass cup with a rag. He was surprised to get even one customer during the day so he thought to strike up a conversation instead of letting the awkwardness settle in. Shooting the individual a curious gaze he asked, "What do you think?"
"Meh. They still have a long way to go." The dark-haired huntsman stated before downing his drink in one swift gulp. Glancing back up at the television he placed his empty glass down and said, "Give me another round. A little stronger this time."
