Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
"Dark Resonator! Twin-Sword Maruader!"
A tuning fork thrust into the blade's path just before it could reach Yang's arm, the twin prongs catching the samurai's sword with a melodious clang. The blonde didn't waste a second continuing her retreat back, her panicked face morphing into a confident grin at the sight of the helmeted gremlin that'd saved her.
"Dark Resonator, I could kiss you!" Yang cheered, the musical demon laughing as its defensive maneuvering enabled it to fend off the samurai's greater attack power with its special ability.
Meanwhile, The Blood-Soaked Bull was forced to leap off her duel disk as a masked warrior with a trio of swords bound to each arm dashed out of the forest and took a swing at him. The faunus terrorist's other samurai immediately whirled to its feet and met the assailant's blades with its own, the clash of steel on steel resonating throughout the forest.
"Who's there?!" Adam shouted, fervently scanning the darkness of the trees as he readied to slap another monster on his duel disk to back up his existing force. "Show yourself, coward–"
A duel anchor ripped out of the forest before he could finish his sentence, a bright yellow whip of aura zipping through the night. Credit where credit was due, The Blood-Soaked Bull lived up to his reputation and actually dodged the line, snarling towards the dark trees as a bulky blond-haired figure darted through the foliage, always one step ahead of the faunus' sight.
"Old man, your timing is golden," Yang muttered with a smirk, indulging in her and her father's shared love of puns as she surveyed the clearing.
Twin-Sword Maruader seemed to be close enough in power to match the samurai closest to Adam in a pitched duel, but Dark Resonator was already being driven back by the enemy attempting to get at Blake and Yang. Its effect wouldn't keep it from being destroyed forever, so they needed to back it up.
The question was how. Yang's deck was still loaded into Ember Celica, in the middle of the fighting, so she couldn't summon any monsters to help. She could try to catch Adam in a duel anchor and cut off his aura to his monsters, then Twin-Sword Maruader and Dark Resonator could hit him while he was defenseless. But if the bull faunus was agile enough to dodge one of her dad's duel anchors, she didn't fancy her chances of catching him with one of hers, even if he was distracted. Meanwhile, Blake's aura had been broken so she couldn't summon a monster… but Yang could summon one of hers!
"Blake! Throw me your duel disk!" Yang called, holding out her hands to receive the powerful device. However, when it didn't come after a few seconds, the blonde could only hiss as she was forced to take her eyes off the battlefield to look at her partner. "Blake!"
The cat faunus didn't react to Yang's shouts, her amber eyes still locked on Adam in absolute terror. Her body shook, her chest expanding and deflating quickly as her lungs panted for breath. She looked one strong wind away from a panic attack.
"Blake!" Yang yelled again, running to her friend's side. "I know you're scared. But if you don't give me your duel disk right now we could both die–"
"Great Shogun Shien!"
Yang's head whipped back to the fighting, a new samurai manifesting before Adam, taller and more muscular than the other warriors, its blood-red armor resplendent and curling with smoke as if from an endlessly blazing fire. With a single swipe of its katana, the new monster cleaved Twin-Sword Maruader in half, its aura body completely shattered.
"Oh, not good," Yang muttered.
"Yang! Get down!" her father's voice hollered from the forest.
Well-trained as she was, Yang immediately grabbed Blake and dove to the ground, the samurai fighting Dark Resonator finally slaying the friendly fiend and swiping where the Team RWBY girls' heads were the moment before.
The trained warrior angled its sword downward, ready to strike again. Yang threw herself over Blake, hoping she had enough aura left to at least survive one strike.
Fortunately, she wouldn't need to.
Her father charged out of the forest, his right hand coated in a bright crimson glow. The samurai instantly angled its sword up to strike at the hunting duelist, but the blond man blocked the slash with his duel disk, the device dying in a storm of sparks.
However, in that time, Taiyang reached out and grabbed the samurai's face with his glowing right hand.
"Absolute Power Force," the hunting duelist calmly declared.
The crimson light burning over his arm blazed. His fingers closed and he crushed the samurai's helmet and head in his hand, the aura body crumbling to fragmented shards.
Yang and Blake gaped at the display. Even Adam seemed to be taken aback a moment before his teeth gnashed into a snarl. "Shien! Mizuho–"
"Enough of that," Taiyang cut in.
The blond hunting duelist threw out his muscular arm. The crimson light coating his limb swept off of it and into the ground. Adam made to dodge another duel anchor, but none came, the blazing scarlet shine shooting up from the forest floor and carving a circle of light around the bull faunus and Taiyang. The moment the arena was complete, the remaining samurais' aura bodies flickered and dissipated.
"So, you're Adam Taurus?" Taiyang whistled once he and his enemy were safely enclosed in his circle of light. "Man, the wanted posters don't do that jawline justice. You sure you wouldn't consider defecting to Beacon? Ozpin's insanely forgiving if you've got intel he can use and I can think of quite a few people who'd love looks like yours if you were on the right side of the law."
"Shut up, human," Adam sneered, glancing at the crimson glow surrounding him behind his masked eyes. "What is this?"
"This?" Taiyang jovially remarked, gesturing to the circle of light. "Long story short, neither of us is leaving it until we duel. Or you give a mystically binding promise that you'll leave without any more trouble."
"I see," Adam snorted. "A brighter version of the scorpion's trick."
"Sure, whatever that means," Tai shrugged. "Let's just say it's my way of saving you."
"Saving me?"
Taiyang's face turned serious as the grave, his bright blue eyes boring into the bull faunus with stormy countenance. "You would not be breathing right now if you'd harmed one hair on those girls' heads."
Yang suppressed a shudder at that uncharacteristically cold promise. Compared to her Uncle Qrow, who constantly went out on top-secret life-or-death missions on the frontier of civilization, it was easy to forget that her mild-mannered, combat school teacher of a dad who had to be careful to take his heart medication was also considered one of the most dangerous hunting duelists in the kingdom. Even with the consequences of his purge of the Xiong crime family still haunting him, there was a reason the crooks and underground duelists of Vale still checked under their beds for the Sun Dragon of Hell.
Still, those consequences were very real and they came out when he pushed himself, particularly with magic. Yang had never seen her dad use his Signer powers so much and despite his best efforts to hide it, she could spot the signs of the strain it was putting on him. A bit more labor in his breath, a bead of sweat slipping down his forehead. He'd resorted to his circle of Light Magic when he hadn't been able to catch Adam in a duel anchor and needed to keep her and Blake safe from the battle, but even if he was strong enough to take The Blood-Soaked Bull in a normal duel, there was no telling if his body would hold up long enough to do that.
And Adam had clearly noticed, smirking at the hunting duelist's threat and merely raising his sword-shaped duel disk for battle. "If you had the power to do that, you would have done it already. I'll make sure you finish breathing before your vile spawn does the same and I reclaim my darling."
Taiyang sighed. "Guess the whole 'Blood-Soaked' epithet should have tipped me off that you weren't going to do the smart thing."
"You don't even have a working duel disk," Adam shot back, nodding at the wrecked Signal-standard model on his opponent's left arm. "You think challenging me is 'smart'?"
Taiyang unlatched his duel disk, removed his deck from it, and tossed the machine away. Then, he grabbed the leather bracer on his right forearm and moved it to the underside of his limb. Revealed beneath the armband was a glowing crimson tattoo of a pair of magnificent dragon wings.
The Signer raised his arm and the shining pattern of his mark rose off his flesh and hung in the arm above his body. He set his cards down on the new projection, the mystical construct as solid as anything physical. "Ask me when this is over."
"Incredible," Blake whispered, her all-consuming terror beaten back just a bit by sheer awe. "Is that all Light Magic?"
Yang pursed her lips in worry. It was. And even though it was a better idea for conserving stamina to make a substitute duel disk rather than try to manually manifest every card he played, every last bit of that mystical power was straining Tai's heart as long as it was active.
"Duel!"
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH
Taiyang Xiao-Long: 4000 Life Points
Adam Taurus: 4000 Life Points
"Age before beauty," Taiyang joked, placing a spell card on his Signer Mark duel disk. "Pot of Greed. Two more for me. Then I'll summon one monster in defense mode and set two cards facedown. Your move."
That was it?!
Blake had gone through a whirlwind of emotions in the last minute. First, shame and guilt when Yang had surprised her when she'd tried to flee the cabin to go after the White Fang alone and spare her precious team the inevitable backlash of her trying to confront the sins of her past. Then, bone-chilling terror when Adam appeared out of nowhere like the specter of her fear he was, overwhelming her in seconds and coming a hair's breadth from murdering Yang because of her. After that though, she was blessed with a fraction of hope and awe when Mr. Xiao-Long arrived and impossibly not only held her nightmare off but sequestered him in an arena of Light Magic. With such a display of power, so similar yet so altogether different to the scorpion faunus who was one of the only people she'd ever known to be able to beat her old partner, the Odd-Eyed Bandit dared dream that maybe things would turn out alright.
Then the Signer's opening turn had been decidedly basic. Not poor by most standards, but not what one expected from an ace hunting duelist. And nothing less than an ace hunting duelist stood a chance against the Blood-Soaked Bull.
No, no, she was panicking. Just panicking. Sure, Mr. Xiao-Long was acting more dorky combat school teacher than legendary Signer, but… um… maybe Adam would get a bad hand.
Adam drew for his turn. When he saw the card, the masked bull faunus smirked.
Blake's hope sank completely. He hadn't gotten a bad hand.
"I activate the contentious spell Shien's Dojo. Then, since you have monsters and I don't, I can special summon Elder of the Six Samurai from my hand. Following which, I will activate Shien's Smoke Signal," Adam announced, his first card manifesting face-up while his second called for an elderly man in a resplendent palanquin (ATK 400/DEF 0) and his third morphed into an ancient smoke signal setup straight out of one of Blake's Ninjas of Love books. "I can now add one Level Three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck to my hand."
"Six Samurai?" Taiyang murmured, cocking an eyebrow. "Color me surprised. Even with the dossiers the police have been gathering about your deck, I didn't think any faunus would willingly use those."
It was an understandable sentiment. The Six Samurai archetype was forged after the Great War by certain groups within Mistral that found the Treaty of Vytal's provision outlawing the enslavement of the faunus to be… unsatisfying. Rallying around their own perversions of the ancient Anima warlord Shien and his loyal retainers as symbols, based on their selective readings of history, various anti-faunus duelists had favored and evolved the archetype over the decades.
Including the last SDC overseer that Adam had ever had.
"What better way to destroy an enemy than with their own sword?" Adam gloated. "I add Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki to my hand and then summon him. His effect then allows me to special summon a Level Four or lower Six Samurai from my hand. I choose the tuner monster Kagemusha of the Six Samurai!"
"Tuner?" Yang worriedly muttered.
"It's coming," Blake fearfully gulped, watching with dread as a samurai with two extra mechanical arms (ATK 200/DEF 2000) appeared and slashed the air around him, allowing a man with a strong resemblance to the warrior to appear kneeling beside him (ATK 400/DEF 1800).
Behind The Blood-Soaked Bull's assembled force, three tokens of feudal currency were stacked atop Shien's Dojo.
"Going for a Synchro Summon, eh?" Taiyang observed, flipping over a facedown on his Signer Mark's projection and sliding a card from his hand into his graveyard slot. "I think I'll have to say no to that. I activate Book of Lunar Eclipse. I discard a card and target two monsters on the field. Those monsters are switched to facedown defense mode."
"Nice, dad!" Yang fist-pumped, a tome covered in a blacked-out moon symbol manifesting before her father and shining on the Kagemusha and Kageki. "He can't tune his monsters if they aren't face-up."
"Who said I was going to tune with these monsters?"
Yang's cheer froze on her face. "Huh?"
"I activate the quick-play spell Six Scrolls of the Samurai!" Adam roared, sliding his spell card into his Wilt duel disk.
Six massive calligraphy-covered scrolls unfurled from the air, each of them curling around Kageki and the Kagemusha until the warriors were completely hidden from view. Then, beautiful texts, and the samurai under them, were set ablaze.
Across the field, Taiyang's Book of Lunar Eclipse cracked and fizzled without its targets.
"I tribute two Six Samurai monsters and in return, I call their lord and master to the field to serve me," Adam revealed, yanking a card from his deck and slamming it on his duel disk. "Heed this battle cry of vengeance! Depose the feeble cowards, Great Shogun Shien!"
A burning-red katana sliced through the blazing scrolls from the inside, the beautiful calligraphy crumbling to ash and blowing away into the night. The samurai that had felled Twin-Sword Maruader emerged from the fire, glaring across the field with imperious majesty (ATK 2500/DEF 2000).
"Ha! A lot of hubbub for only twenty-five hundred attack points," Yang laughed from the sideline. "You may have dodged one facedown, but the other will–"
"Do nothing," Blake revealed with a shiver, smoke curling off Shien's blood-red boiling armor and wafting through the circle of crimson light to press down on Taiyang's second facedown. "As long as Great Shogun Shien is on the field, the opponent can only activate one spell or trap card per turn."
Yang's eyes widened. "Okay, that might be a problem."
"Might be a problem?" Tai laughed, smirking back at his daughter. "Come on, sweetie. Have a little faith in your old man."
"Perhaps you should have a bit of fear for your better," Adam threatened. "Now that I have summoned three Six Samurai, Shien's Dojo has three Bushido Counters–"
"Which means you can send it to your graveyard to summon a Six Samurai monster with equal or lower level to the number of those counters," Taiyang said, cutting the bull faunus off with a warm smile. "The archetype may be rare, but I am a teacher. Barty would kill me if I didn't study up a bit in my downtime."
Adam scoffed, Shien's Dojo disappearing from his field as a familiar Kaegmusha appeared. "I summon another Kagemusha of the Six Samurai from my deck. Then, the Level Two Kagemusha tunes the Level Three Elder of the Six Samurai."
Blake's heart froze in her chest as the Elder of the Six Samurai morphed into a trio of twinkling blue stars and the Kagemusha broke apart into a pair of emerald tuner rings. "It's coming. And with the Great Shogun already on the field…"
It would be over. The lock would be complete. Taiyang would lose. He would die. Yang would die.
And it would be all her fault.
"Warrior savior lionized by history! Depose the feeble cowards too weak to take the prize! Mobilize from legend! Synchro Summon!" Adam roared, a pillar of blinding white light burning through his tuner rings. "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En!"
Perhaps predictably, the monster that descended from the afterglow looked very similar to Great Shogun Shien. Both bore crimson armor, but Shi En's was lined with sleek gold rectangles. Where the shogun was bulky and glared over everything before him as if he had already taken it, the Synchro Monster was lean and ready with his katana, eager to conquer all that stood in his path.
"That one's not in the police database," Taiyang noted. "Your own forge job? A representation of Shien from his days of conquering Anima instead of ruling as Shogun after he conquered it? I know an archeologist that would be very pleased by how well you know your history. If disappointed by how little you've learned from it."
"Oh, I've learned a great deal. A warrior must study the great conquerors of history when they are destined to be among their ranks," Adam smirked. "After all, the reason this monster isn't in any of your police databases is that no human has ever faced it and lived to tell the tale."
"No one?" Yang nervously chuckled, glancing at Blake. "I mean, there's gotta be someone, right?"
Blake shook her head. "Shi En can negate one spell or trap card per turn. As long as Great Shogun Shien is on the field, the opponent can only activate one spell or trap card a turn. Combined…"
"... They essentially can't activate any spell or trap cards," Yang gasped in horrified realization. "Dad!"
"Since I have a Six Samurai monster on my field, I can special summon Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan from my hand," Adam proclaimed, slapping yet another monster card onto Wilt as a black-armored samurai with a long no-dachi blade took the field (ATK 1800/DEF 500). "Deal with this fool's facedown monster and clear the way for your rulers to end this farce!"
"No!" Blake shrieked, Kizan's sword coming down on Taiyang's monster as its card flipped up…
… and a tuning fork caught the blade between its prongs, the fiend holding the golden instrument (ATK 1300/DEF 300) laughing mischievously at the austere samurai's clear frustration.
"The first time Dark Resonator would be destroyed by battle each turn, it isn't," Tai impishly grinned as his demon cackled. "Nice try, but no OTK tonight."
"Then you elongate your suffering," Adam sneered, nodding to Shien and Shi En.
The Shogun and his younger self immediately leapt forward, one warrior skillfully slicing Dark Resonator to ribbons in the blink of an eye. While the other landed a harrowing slash across Taiyang's chest.
"Gah!" the blond hunting duelist gasped, spittle flying from his lips as he stumbled back. He clutched at his marked arm, his crimson tattoo throbbing.
Taiyang Xiao-Long: 1500 Life Points
"Dad! Are you okay?" Yang worriedly called. "Your heart–"
"Still beating, kiddo," Taiyang jokingly smiled. "I know you haven't seen me in a real duel in a while, but I can handle a small scratch."
"A scratch?" Adam leered, his trio of samurai assembling before him and sheathing their swords as he set one card facedown. "Your brave face fools no one, human. Surrender now, and I'll make you and your spawn's deaths swift."
Taiyang frowned. "And Blake?"
"My darling will return with me," Adam ominous announced, his masked gaze drifting to Blake as the cat faunus' body locked up anew. "She must be made an example of for deserting the White Fang."
"You mean deserting you?"
Adam's head whipped back to Taiyang, his samurai tightening their holds on their sword hilts. "What?"
Taiyang was no longer smiling, his blue eyes pointedly glaring at Great Shogun Shien and Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En. "To play a Pendulum Monster as a Pendulum Scale counts as activating a spell card. Great Shogun Shien was designed by the worst of humanity to inhibit faunus duelists from using the summoning style they'd created. And you specifically created a Synchro Monster to enhance that lock. A lock that won't exactly do much against a standard SDC or Atlas Military Cyber Dragon deck."
"Don't try to play mind games with me, human," Adam waved off. "I am well aware of my deck's capabilities and how I have enhanced it to deal with any faunus traitors who dare side with humanity. I witnessed the Belladonnas' cowardice when the true war finally began. It was my responsibility to ensure that my darling did not follow her parents' sickening path."
"Your responsibility?" Taiyang mockingly repeated, disdain dripping from his words. "To make her afraid?"
"Obviously, I was too lax in that duty," Adam frowned, apparently not noticing the sarcasm. "I will have to redouble my efforts after reeducating her on what she owes me and our race."
"I… I don't owe you anything," Blake struggled to stammer, only to shrink back when her ex's glare returned to her. "Adam… I never wanted anyone to die. I wanted equality. I wanted peace!"
"As I said, I am a student of history. No peace has ever been brought about save for that of the conqueror over the conquered," Adam dismissed, Yang moving to shield her partner from the bull faunus as his every word cut down her resolve. "You quibble at that reality and whine for some nonexistent absolution. But there is no 'redemption', only treason against the side you were born to serve. You are not an idealist. You are a coward. Nothing more–"
"Okaaaay, that's enough edgelord abuse for now," Taiyang quipped in, drawing from his deck. "My turn."
Adam's teeth gnashed together as his head snapped back to his opponent. "Are you going to take this seriously at all, human? Do you think a mere faunus does not require your full strength?!"
Blake wouldn't phrase it like that, but she could admit she had similar concerns for Taiyang's performance so far. His uses of his Signer magic were awe-inspiring, but ever since he conjured the arena of light, he'd been all quips and playful, if biting at times, banter. Combined with losing over half his life points in one turn and being trapped by a lock that prevented him from using any spells or traps, the cat faunus was becoming more fearful that her teammates' father was treating the duel far too lightly. Or perhaps, he was treating it as he would as a younger man, before age and his heart condition wore away at him.
Case in point, Taiyang cackled at Adam's outburst, sliding a monster onto his projected Signer Mark duel disk as a Vice Dragon was special summoned to his empty field (ATK 1000/DEF 1200). "If it means that much to you, I'll let you know, I always duel seriously. It'd be against my philosophy of Burning Soul not to."
"Burning Soul?" Adam murmured.
Blake groaned. "This isn't the time for that."
"No time that isn't the time for it," Yang said, her confident smile returning as she gazed at her father. "It's a philosophy to live by and duel by. Not something that can be turned on and off. Every opponent deserves our best, deserves to clash head-on with what our spirits have. Even the pricks."
"Especially the pricks. How can we hope to understand each other if we don't bare all we have to those we stand against," Taiyang mused, sounding like he was quoting someone in particular as he gazed lovingly at a certain card in his hand. A card he then played in attack mode, a short, cutesy fairy (ATK 0/DEF 800) blooming before him. "I summon Trust Guardian."
Yang's blusterous smile turned tender when the bright monster appeared in her father's ranks. "Always pulling him out of a pinch, aren't you?"
Blake cocked an eyebrow. "Is there something special about that card?"
"It was a wedding present," Yang revealed. "From mom."
"Level Three Trust Guardian tunes Level Five Vice Dragon," Taiyang announced, Trust Guardian splitting into bright green tuner rings as Vice Dragon's twinkling stars steadily swam into them. "The pulse of the king now forms a line here! Witness the power of the rumbling heavens and answer to me! Synchro Summon! Red Dragon Archfiend!"
A pillar of light blazed through the steady pillar of stars, an earthshaking roar booming through the night. Frantic skittering sounded through the forest as every animal and critter in the woods ran for cover from the oncoming titan. Blake was not so frightened due to her familiarity with Yang's version of the monster, but she could admit that only helped so much as the enormous red and black dragon blazed with fiery power beneath the dark sky. Aside from its gargoyle horns bending down and toward the back of the head instead of toward the front, there was little physical difference to Hot Red Dragon Archfiend. But the power of it somehow felt more raw, unrefined, as if its very heartbeat thundered mystical might through its surroundings (ATK 3000/DEF 2000).
"Attack Great Shogun Shien," Taiyang commanded. "Absolute Powerforce!"
Red Dragon Archfiend's right claw lit up with an infernal orb of power. The mighty dragon let out a furious roar and smashed the fiery sphere down on Great Shogun Shien's head…
… only for Six Samurai - Kizan to suddenly leap into the attack's path, wailing in pain as its body was scorched to cinders.
Adam Taurus: 3500 Life Points
"When Great Shogun Shien would be destroyed, one of his loyal retainers, a Six Samurai monster, can do their duty and die in his place," Adam smirked. "If this is you taking things seriously, then this light show of yours really made me overestimate you."
"Don't forget my rugged country muscles. Everyone thinks that just because I'm a big guy, I'm always gonna come at them head-on," Tai said, placing a second card facedown in his backrow, and gesturing at Adam to go. "I imagine you've had to deal with plenty of that yourself, given the stereotypes–"
"Don't try to compare our situations, human!" Adam snarled, his bull horns gleaming in the light of the circle of light. "I don't need your patronizing."
"I'm not trying to patronize you," Taiyang replied, without a hint of a joke in his voice. "I'm a teacher. It's my job to try to help duelists be the best, the best people, they can be. No matter their hardships. Or their mistakes."
Adam's hand closed into a fist, though Blake didn't miss how it nearly rose to his left eye. "You know nothing of me."
"About the discrimination you've suffered from humanity? You're right. I don't," Taiyang conceded. "But you're not here because of that."
Adam snarled, his glare listing toward Blake again. "What's your point?"
"You think you're the only man who's ever been left before? Who's ever had a love they thought would last forever suddenly ended? Do you think that fire in your chest that's burning down your heart is unique?" Taiyang challenged, his gaze narrowing as his voice grew more passionate. "Do you really think it's gonna end well for you if you don't let it go?"
"Shut up!" Adam screamed, wrenching his draw from the top of his deck, using the card to viscerally point at Blake. "You cannot conceive what she's done to me–"
"Even if I couldn't, it's already done," Taiyang pointed out. "Focus only on what you've lost, and you'll only find yourself losing everything."
"I focus only on what I deserve. On what I will take from those who've hurt me," Adam shouted, slamming the card he'd drawn into his duel disk. "Take with this power. I activate Polymerization!"
"No!" Blake shouted. "Mr. Xiao-Long! Get out of there!"
Taiyang didn't move a muscle, merely frowning. "So it's true. She has reached out to you."
She? Blake didn't remember a lot about the scorpion faunus who'd stormed into their camp and given them the case of fusion cards, but he'd definitely been male. Did Mr. Xiao-Long know more than he'd been letting on about that madman's 'master'?
"I fuse Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En with Freed the Matchless General in my hand!" Adam proclaimed, the two monsters flying into his stirring vortex. "Fusion Summon! Level Eight! Gilti-Gearfried the Magical Steel Knight!"
The fusion monster slashed its way out of the fusion vortex, a towering warrior with dark robes mixed in with gleaming iron armor plates. The knight slashed a blade attached to its wrist gauntlet, the razor-wind of the slice buffeted against the circle of light surrounding the match (ATK 2700/DEF 1600).
"Oh please. That thing can't take Red Dragon Archfiend," Yang scoffed. "And without Shi En, his lock on dad's spell and trap cards is broken–"
"I activate Back to the Front! Reviving Shi En in defense mode," Adam announced, flipping over his facedown trap card as his legendary samurai flashed back into existence before him.
Yang blinked. "... you know, that may not have been as good a move as you think it is."
Blake disagreed. Even if it couldn't attack this turn, Shi En's presence restored the lockdown on Taiyang's spell and trap cards. And even if it appeared to be at a disadvantage against Red Dragon Archfiend, she had a feeling that this fusion monster, even if she hadn't seen it before, had a trick up its sleeve.
"Gilti-Gearfried! Attack Red Dragon Archfiend!" Adam roared, his new knight leaping into action as Polymerization ejected from his graveyard. "When this monster battles yours, I banish a spell from my graveyard to boost its attack points by half of its current defense!"
Gilti-Gearfried's armor glowed with power (ATK 3500) as the knight leapt into the air and brought down its sword on Red Dragon Archfiend. The titanic gargoyle dragon let out a cry of agony as a jagged glowing scar was carved into its chest (ATK 2600).
But it did not die.
Taiyang Xiao-Long: 1000 Life Points
"What?!" Adam exclaimed. "Why wasn't it destroyed?"
"A Synchro Monster summoned with Trust Guardian can prevent its destruction by battle once per turn," Taiyang revealed, trying to hide his arm clutching at his chest from the shockwave of the attack. "However, that monster does lose four hundred points."
"You weaken yourself just to survive," Adam sneered. "What kind of life is that? To submit to the bootheel of others?"
Taiyang's brow furrowed. "Is that what you see this as? Why you can't just let her go? You see it as submitting to another, letting someone else hurt you? Again, I imagine."
"I told you not to try to psychoanalyze me, human!"
"I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you. I'm trying to understand you, as only a duelist can when they clash with another. I'm trying to save you," Taiyang nearly pleaded. "Because the person behind that fusion card you've got, the person whose bootheel you're really under? Following her isn't going to lead you anywhere good."
Adam… stumbled.
Blake could barely believe her eyes at the sight of it. After all, she'd lost count of the amount of times she'd pleaded with her former partner, trying to get through the walls of rage he'd built surrounding him to the friend she'd known before Fusion… before the worst parts of himself… before Fusion had turned him into a monster. She'd always gotten brushed off or gaslit for her efforts.
But for some reason, whether it was Taiyang performing much better in the duel against him than Blake ever had, or the sincere passion in the hunting duelist's voice despite the fact that the Blood-Soaked Bull had done nothing but try to harm him and his, Adam was seemingly rattled by his opponent's sincere overtures. Perhaps it was because there was no reason in the bull faunus' worldview for a human enemy to ever try to reach out to him.
For a brief moment, Blake dared to hope the Signal teacher had finally succeeded in getting through to her partner where she could not.
At least, until Adam spotted the beads of sweat trickling down Taiyang's forehead. The Blood-Soaked Bull's masked gaze flickered to the hunting duelist's panting breath… and smirked like a shark.
"Nice try, human. But you can't bluff your way out of your weakness. You're a turn away from death and we all know it," Adam taunted. "So draw your last pathetic card so that I can end this duel."
Blake clenched her eyes closed. She should have known better than to hope. Now they were all doomed. Adam had three times Taiyang's life points and monsters, with the blonde hunting duelist powerless to escape the spell and trap lock paralyzing him. The Signal Teacher had dueled well, but he was simply overwhelmed, even if the strain of the match and his previous displays of magic wasn't visibly taking its toll on his body.
"Summer always made this whole 'reaching out to your enemies' thing look so easy," Taiyang sighed, drawing for his turn with only resignation. "But only you can choose to change your path. And I can't let you hurt anyone else if you don't. I banish A/D Changer from my graveyard to activate its effect and change Great Shogun Shien to defense mode."
"A/D Changer?" Blake stammered. "When did that end up in his graveyard?"
"When he discarded it as the cost for his Book of Lunar Eclipse. Try to keep up, darling," Adam scoffed, his monster taking a knee. "Of course it doesn't matter. Even if you destroy one half of my lock, you still won't have enough breathing room to do anything before I restore it next turn."
"You assume you'll get a next turn," Taiyang warned. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En. Absolute Powerforce."
Its jagged, glowing scar running down its chest, Red Dragon Archfiend growled in pain as it stretched back its claw, an orb of fiery death growing in its palm. Letting out a cataclysmic roar, the mighty gargoyle beast crashed its fire down on the legendary samurai warrior.
"Congratulations, you can now activate a single spell or trap card," Adam snarked. "Which of the two facedowns will it be? Or have you drawn a new one? Or do have any last words?"
"Molten Crimson Flare."
Blake and Adam's faces both twisted in confusion, while Yang had the biggest side-splitting grin on her face.
Meanwhile, Red Dragon Archfiend's gullet filled with blazing fire, which it gladly proceeded to blast all over Great Shogun Shien, the ancient warlord of Mistral letting out a howl of agony as he was burned alive just as he had been in his own castle in life.
"Shien!" Adam cried. "What did you do?"
"When Red Dragon Archfiend attacks a monster in defense mode, all the opponent's defense position monsters are destroyed after the battle. Both the legendary warrior you see yourself as and the ruling shogun you want to be are gone," Taiyang proclaimed. "Not to mention, I can use all the spell and trap cards I want. Like this. Time to Stand Up! Creation Resonator! Barrier Resonator! Come on out!"
The trap card the Signer had set back on his first turn popped up drawing two more cards from his deck in a crimson glow. Two fiends very much like Dark Resonator manifested onto his field, one with a fan on its back (ATK 800/DEF 600) and one with a strange electronic battery pack (ATK 300/DEF 800).
"When I have a Dragon-Type Synchro monster on the field, Time to Stand Up lets me summon a mix of two Resonators or Level One Dragon-Types from my deck," Taiyang explained, before slamming the card he'd drawn for his turn down on his Signer Mark duel disk. "I then activate the Quick-Play Spell Burning Soul! If I control a Level Eight or higher Synchro Monster, I return a card from my graveyard to my hand and then immediately Synchro Summon with the monsters on my field. For the rest of this turn, you can't target Synchros on the field with card effects."
"Nice!" Yang fist pumped. "Come on, old man! Time for the big guy to take the field!"
"But will he be big enough?" Blake worriedly inquired, recalling Gilti-Gearfried's attack-boosting effect. "He's got a Level Three Tuner and a Level One Tuner. So is he going for a Level Nine or a Level Eleven?"
Yang shot her an excited smile and gave her partner a reassuring pat on the back. "Just sit back and watch, kitty cat. You're in for a show tonight."
What on Remnant did that mean?
"I tune both Level Three Creation Resonator and Level One Barrier Resonator with Level Eight Red Dragon Archfiend!"
"What?!" Blake squealed.
"What!?" Adam roared.
"This is the purest manifestation I've yet forged for my Burning Soul," Taiyang proclaimed, sweeping his blazing scarlet Signer Mark duel disk through the air, as a vibrant crimson glow crackled through his aura. "Double Tune!"
Creation Resonator and Barrier Resonator broke apart into emerald tuner rings, zipping around Red Dragon Archfiend. But they did not line up and the red and black dragon did not break into twinkling stars like all the Synchro Summons Blake had ever seen before. Instead, the tuner rings lit ablaze, whirling around the draconic gargoyle, compressing tighter and tighter as the beast within curled in on itself, its muscular body steadily glowing with scarlet light as it was consumed in a sphere of brilliant, unyielding inferno.
"The king and devil now merge here! Give the roar that created heaven and earth! Burn hotter than the sun and answer to me! Synchro Summon!" Taiyang howled. "Red Nova Dragon!"
"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"
Blake had to cover her ears as a deafening roar split the night sky like thunder, the tuner sphere's fire surging out and crashing against the circle of light's barrier. A gargantuan dragon, its four wings sharp as scythes and its armor thicker than any Atlesian battleship's, emerged from the flames, soaring above the treetops and into the heavens. Hellish flames blazed across the great beast's body, the mighty dragon throwing its head back and howling once again, challenging any star above to contend its supremacy (ATK 3500/DEF 3000).
"Double Tuning. That's impossible. Unless…" Blake's eyes widened on Taiyang, before whipping toward her partner in shock. "Your dad is–"
"The Sun Dragon of Hell," Yang nodded. "What? Did you think Ruby was just being poetic was she was describing him how she did?"
Well, yes. If only because the rumor of that permeated the Vale underworld, of an impossibly powerful hunting duelist wielding a Synchro Monster summoned with two Tuners that had stormed through the underground duel circuit and singlehandedly wiped out the Xiong crime family that'd ruled the city over a decade ago, had sounded like the usual urban legend nonsense. A Tuner monster's purpose was to act as a keying frequency for the aura bodies of the other monsters used in a Synchro Summon, bringing their disparate forms together into a single stronger creature. Having two of them involved in a single summon should have been outright impossible.
And yet, the volcanic dragon shrieking before her, its muscles growing as a blazing crimson aura burned around it (5500 ATK), bluntly proclaimed that it was not only possible but monstrously powerful.
"Red Nova Dragon gains five hundred attack points… for every Tuner in my graveyard," Taiyang revealed, the older man failing to hide the panting in his breath. "Which counting the three Resonators and Trust Guardian, is four."
Adam gulped as his enemy's fearsome new ace towered over him and his Fusion Monster, bathing them both in its hellish shine. "Then you'll win this round. But you can barely stand, human. Do you think you'll be able to keep going through my next turn?"
"Again, you assume you'll get a next turn. Incorrectly," Taiyang declared, his final facedown card flipping over. "Trap card open! Red Reign! When I have a Level Eight or higher Synchro Monster, the monster or monsters on the field with the highest level become unaffected by other cards' effects. And all other monsters on the field are banished."
Adam gasped, the firmament above suddenly burning as if sunrise had come early. Red Nova Dragon roared and a storm of blazing meteors soared down from the heavens. Gilti-Gearfried let out a horrific death knell as the glimmering warrior-mage was shredded by the fiery comets. And its master was left wide open.
"Battle," Taiyang bit out. "Burning Soul!"
Red Nova Dragon's body erupted in a volcanic inferno, the titan's wings folding inward as it divebombed at breakneck speed. Hellish flames screeched off the dragon's scales and lit the night sky as if a second sun had descended to enact divine judgment on those below.
The blazing dragon smashed into Adam with all force of one of the meteors that had obliterated Gilti-Gearfried. The bull faunus braced himself but could nothing could stop him from being bashed backward, his feet digging trenches through the forest floor as he was rammed against the barrier of scarlet light behind him, the circle shattering as the Blood-Soaked Bull was blown back into the trees by a trail of furious flames.
Adam Taurus: 0 Life Points
Winner: Taiyang Xiao-Long
Blake could barely process the sight before her. The amazement at the impossible summon she'd just witnessed, the euphoric relief that Mr. Xiao-Long had actually defeated Adam, conflicted concern gazing at the trail of burning destruction that'd been unleashed on her old partner, all the emotions stirred together in a messy metaphorical soup she couldn't parse through.
Which wasn't made any easier as Adam, bloody and burned, staggered up against a blackened tree trunk. His Grimm mask had been shattered in two, his hand shoved over the left side of his face, hiding the thing Blake knew he hated most, as he stared at the towering Red Nova Dragon in abject horror.
The dragon… and its summoner.
"Let… go…" Taiyang warned. "Hold onto your… pain… your anger… and she'll just use it to make you her… pawn–gah!"
The blond hunting duelist gagged, clutching at his chest as he fell to one knee. The light of his Signer Mark dimmed, its crimson projected duel disk vanishing as his deck cluttered to the ground.
"Dad!" Yang shouted, dashing alongside Blake to her father's side, catching him before he tipped over onto his side.
Adam recoiled in shock as the human who'd beaten him suddenly collapsed. For a moment, his face warped into a murderous sneer, shoving his battered form off his tree and staggering for the hunting duelist.
Until Red Nova Dragon smashed down to the ground and roared in his face.
The Blood-Soaked Bull's face paled with terror, turning tail and fleeing into the depths of Patch's dark forests.
As soon as the faunus vanished into the night, Red Nora Dragon snorted a billow of smoke from its nostrils, the ultimate Signer Dragon twinkling away into shimmering sparks of aura.
"He maintained an aura body for a monster like that without a duel disk while he was having a heart attack?" Blake muttered in amazement.
"Yeah, yeah, he's not an ace huntsman for no reason. Now help me get him up!" Yang yelled. "He should have a pack of his heart medicine on him, but we need to get him back to the house and–"
A flurry of rose petals burst into the forest clearing before she could finish, an energetic canine bark replacing Red Nova Dragon's deafening roar.
"I've got Zwei!" Ruby frantically announced, rushing forward with the panting corgi. "I saw Red Nova Dragon and I ran to the house, but I didn't know if I'd be fast enough–"
"Don't worry, you did good, sis," Yang reassuringly smiled. "Come on, get him over here. Blake, help me lay dad down."
"I thought you wanted to get him up–"
"Now!"
Blake did not give the matter another thought, simply obeying Yang's command and helping set her father on the forest floor. Her partner clearly had experience taking care of Taiyang's condition and she really didn't want to be the reason for his death after he'd just defended her from her abusive ex. Though she wasn't sure why Zwei was the crucial ingredient for helping him.
Ruby brought the corgi over and set the dog on her father's rapidly expanding chest, Yang grabbing the man's arms and planting his hand in Zwei's fur. The corgi mewled in concern for his owner as he was petted, laying down over Taiyang's lungs as the hunting duelist's fingers were helped to pet him. A soft white glow began to glimmer through the canine's aura, seeping up into his human charge's limb.
Slowly but surely, Taiyang's panting began to slow, his breath coming back under control as color returned to his face. Zwei's glow swam over the hunting duelist's glistening body, his already present sweat remaining but unjoined by any new perspiration.
"What's happening?" Blake asked.
"Zwei's a trained therapy dog," Ruby said, as if that explained everything.
"How does that help with a heart attack?" Blake queried.
"He's a trained hunting duelist therapy dog," Yang elaborated. "He's got all the training to help with panic attacks and other mental trauma, but he's also for helping mitigate the physical trauma. His semblance lets him help regulate the heart rate and other bodily functions of someone while they're petting him."
"The dog has unlocked his semblance?" Blake repeated in utter befuddlement. "I know people who've never unlocked their semblances."
"Yes, yes, we all know Jaune has a lot of catching up to do," Yang waved off, letting out a sigh of relief as her father slowly managed to pick his head up, Ruby helping him begin to sit up. "But give a break. A lot of people need time to get onto Zwei's level."
To her shame, as she gazed on the happy family that had just nearly been torn apart because of her past, Blake felt like she was one of those people.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH
"Good boy," Taiyang smiled, now laying on his own bed back at the cabin with Zwei sitting atop his chest. His loyal pup happily licked his face as the blond hunting duelist continued to pet him, his body feeling slightly less horrid it had back in the forest.
It'd been a long time since he'd had to go that far in a duel against anyone but Qrow, even longer since he'd had to call on that much Light Magic from his mark and Red Dragon Archfiend. He'd have to take it easy for a few days, give his body time to recover from the strain, and let his metaphysical scales tip back to balance. Sometimes he really envied the maidens, getting a complete package of Creation and Destruction Magic from Oz and the Legendary Dragons back in the day. He still had no idea how he got the Queen's away from her when he did that, or how he'd convinced the card to help.
But he supposed none of that complaining mattered at the moment. He hadn't been able to accomplish his stretch goal of convincing The Blood-Soaked Bull to, if not defect, at least let go of the anger that was motivating him to come after Blake. But he'd been able to accomplish his primary objective. The kids were all safe. Physically speaking.
Emotionally, there still seemed to be some work to do.
"I know you're there. You're not the first brooding loner who's ever felt guilty for something that's not their fault in this house," Taiyang spoke up, Zwei's face perking up with a wide smile. "Come on in. He won't bite."
For several long seconds, only the impassive door to his room greeted him. However, in time, a nervous cat faunus shuffled through it, a new bottle of heart medicine and a glass of water in hand.
"I'm honestly more worried about you," Blake confessed, bringing the medicine and water over to Tai's bedside table.
"I'm flattered," Tai chuckled. "To think the Odd-Eyed Bandit's scared of little old me."
The young girl did not perk up as he'd hoped. "You have a reputation of your own, Sun Dragon of Hell. People know I exist, but you? You're an urban legend."
"Only because I haven't figured out how to make Double Tuning more widespread," Tai said. "It doesn't take a Signer to do it, but I've only seen one other person figure it out. Admittedly, she was a Signer too, but it doesn't strictly require Light Magic to do it… I think… I'm researching it."
"And the part about you singlehandedly wiping out the Xiong crime family?"
Tai's face fell. "Not my proudest moment."
After Raven had left, he'd been as furious as The Blood-Soaked Bull, but Summer, miracle-worker that she was, had been able to get through to him before things had gone too far. But when his second love had disappeared on that personal mission to Solitas of hers, that grief had caused his rage to boil over and he'd thrown himself into underground duels, an excuse to make some thugs hurt, to imagine that every last one was whatever monster had taken her from him and their daughters. He'd taken more than his share of damage from the shock collars, abusing his Signer Mark to dope himself with Light Magic, and tear his foes apart. Until finally, he'd been away one day… and a young Yang had taken Ruby on a wild goose chase for her birth mother that had nearly gotten them both killed by Grimm.
Only Qrow, who'd supposedly been away on one of his secret missions for Ozpin, miraculously arriving had saved the girls. It had served as a wakeup call to Tai… one that he, with his mental state severely compromised both by his emotions and the boatload of magic he'd unbalanced himself with for weeks, had not taken nearly as productively as he'd needed.
He'd returned to the underground dueling rings he'd known about and unleashed Red Nova Dragon's fury on each and every one of them. The Xiong family head had burned attempting to challenge his rage, his lieutenants either following him to the grave or taking their own trips to the hospital. When the police had arrived at each site, their new crime scene natures allowed them to search the previously restricted private property and get their hands on documents that allowed them to cripple the syndicate's operations. In the moment, Tai had felt unstoppable, an avenging god, making the world safer for his girls, hurting the world that had taken those he loved…
… and then his heart had given out from the strain, the flood of Light Magic he'd been pumped through himself finally catching up to him. If Qrow hadn't already tracked him down to knock some sense into him that night, he would never have been brought to a hospital in time.
Blake flinched away from his sudden moroseness. "I've had a lot of those in my life."
"You're young. Believe me, you're gonna have a lot more," Tai snarked, though he matched his words with an encouraging smile. "But you've also clearly grown from those you've had already. You should be proud of that. It's not an easy thing, to recognize that you're on the wrong path. It's even harder to do something about it like you have."
"I haven't done enough," Blake insisted. "Something is off about the White Fang, or at least the Vale Cell. They're working with Roman Torchwick and they're planning something big. And Adam… I left him behind with those Fusion cards and he's only gotten worse–"
"You are not responsible for his choices," Taiyang cut her in, using his full teacher/dad voice to get through to her. "Neither is Fusion. Trust me, I've got more experience going up against that style than I'd wish, but it doesn't make anyone evil. All it does is give people power. Through power, opportunity. And when some people see opportunity, they can be unwilling not to take it. Adam made his own choices."
"No, he…" Blake murmured. "He used to be…"
"Even if he was, that does not excuse what he is now," Tai pointed out, Adam replaced by another figure wearing a Grimm mask in his mind, making off with the card that she'd gotten the entire team together to forge for in celebration of her daughter's upcoming birth. "Believe me, it's never easy to watch a lover fall into the worst parts of themselves. But it won't do any good to ignore it."
"You were all for trying to get him to see sense back in the forest," Blake shot back. "Maybe if I tried it–"
"Arff!" Zwei barked, standing on his hind legs and shaking his head.
Blake skittered back on reflex, glaring at the corgi. "What'd you know?"
"You'd be surprised," Tai said, fixing the young cat faunus with a serious stare. "What I did back in the forest was something I could try because of the comparability of our strengths, and something I only did out of empathy for the pain he's going through. But that pain does not justify his actions and most certainly doesn't give him license to hurt you. And if you of all people try to reach out to him, he will use it to hurt you. And given the difference between your dueling this week and the panicking mess you were when he showed up tonight, you can't afford any disadvantages against him if you hope to even survive a match with him. What were you even thinking running off on your own tonight?"
"You saw what he nearly did to Yang," Blake mewled in shame. "I can't put my friends in danger by dragging them into my fight."
"This is not your fight. Not yet, at least," Tai firmly declared, raising a hand when the cat faunus looked like she was going to argue otherwise. "I know you are capable. But it takes more than 'capable' to dive headfirst into stuff that most veteran hunting duelists would get backup for. Especially when you're not even able to use some of your most powerful monsters. Beacon isn't just a fortress, it's a school. Use the next few years there to grow your skills, and learn more about dueling and your friends."
"Our enemies aren't just going to wait around for graduation day," Blake insisted. "The White Fang is planning something now."
"And hunting duelists and police are working to stop them now. That drama at the docks didn't exactly go unnoticed," Tai countered. "If you really need to help that badly, tell Ozpin what you know about the White Fang's strategies and bases. Because going after them in some one-woman crusade is just going to end you up right back where you were tonight, only then Yang and I might not be there to save you. I know this may be hard for you in particular to believe, but there are worse things than Adam out in the world."
Blake's brow furrowed in thought. "Like her?"
"Her who?"
"I don't know. You were the one who mentioned her," Blake accused. "The woman behind the Fusion Cards."
Taiyang's heart skipped a beat, his hand clenching around Zwei as memories of a realm of darkness and a woman with ash-white skin flashed through his mind. He might have had a relapse if his corgi didn't engage his semblance right then.
"She… is one of the worse things out in the world. Maybe the worst," he settled on. "Do not go looking for her."
"But if we can cut off the Fusion Cards at the source, we can stop whatever she's using the White Fang for–"
"You will die!" Taiyang shouted.
Blake stumbled back, her amber eyes wide at his first instance of raising his voice with one of Team RWBY. Zwei whined in concern, pressing his furry chin down to Tai's chest.
Only the old Signer's scroll suddenly buzzing saved him from a very awkward explanation.
"Get some sleep, Blake. You've had a heck of a night and you've got promotion exams when you all head back to Beacon tomorrow," Tai sighed, sitting up and reaching for his scroll. "Trust me. Those things are no joke."
"Right…" Blake murmured, slinking out of the room and locking the door behind her.
Letting Taiyang see who was calling him… and stiffen as he answered it.
"Ozpin," he greeted as calmly as he could. "To what do I owe this late-night call? I'd imagine you'd want to get as much sleep as you can on the eve of the new semester. Or is Glynda getting dumped with all the paperwork?"
"I assure you, despite her protests to the contrary, I am doing my fair share," Ozpin chuckled, though Tai could hear a hint of strain in his practiced jovial countenance. Which, considering how impressively the old man had perfected that persona over the centuries, was worrying enough all on its own. It took a lot to get that mask to slip. "I wanted to check in and make sure everything's okay over there."
Taiyang paled, his mind instantly going to Pyrrha and the card in her possession. He'd had many issues with Ozpin over his time in the Inner Circle, but few greater than the standing edict for Over One Hundred Numbers and those who forged them, those chosen by them. If the headmaster had discovered that The Invincible Girl had created Number 101, then it would only be a matter of time before he, Glynda, or Qrow came for the girl. She'd have to run, just like Rhodes did all those years ago.
Tai clutched Zwei for strength as he made ready to try to prevent that.
"Been a hell of a night actually," he confessed. "The Blood-Soaked Bull paid us a visit."
"What?! Are you all alright? Did he hurt Ms. Belladonna?" Ozpin asked, his voice overflowing with genuine compassion and concern. "Do you need any assistance? Glynda and I can be there in a few hours."
"Thanks, but no need," Tai said. "It was touch and go for a bit, but I sent him packing. Had to use Red Nova Dragon to do it though. The reports did not understate how dangerous Taurus is. Especially since he now has fusion. Just basic stuff so far, thank goodness, but with his skill and what he's already got, it's only a matter of time before he figures out how to pull off more advanced techniques."
"I dread the day," Ozpin hummed. "Red Nova Dragon… that could explain it."
Taiyang cocked an eyebrow. "Explain what?"
"I confess, I was not awoken by my usual restless sleep. Timaeus sensed a surge of magic over on Patch. You're too far away for an exact reading but the fragments that he was able to sense were… troubling."
"Usual troubling or–"
"Excessively troubling," Ozpin insisted. "A presence we have not felt since… we could easily have been mistaken. Did you or your dragon sense anything? You were much closer."
"I can't say we did," Taiyang honestly replied, though he neglected to mention that with the circle of light and Signer Mark duel disk he'd conjured, their attention had hardly been on sensing their surroundings. "Though if it was as dangerous as you say, I don't know how we could have missed it."
"You couldn't have. Not if it was really there," Ozpin sighed in relief. "It was just Red Nova Dragon. Just Red Nova Dragon. My apologies for disturbing you, old friend."
"No trouble, Oz," Tai assured his old headmaster. "Maybe the promotion exam prep really is getting to you."
"With James deciding to bring an entire battle squadron with his students, it's certainly more complex than past years," Ozpin groaned. "Please give my best to Qrow if you see him before me."
"Same," Tai replied, the scroll line clicking off.
The blond huntsman set down his device and sagged back in his bed, petting Zwei as fervently as he could as he reached for his heart medicine on the bedside table.
Some sun dragon he was.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH
Ilia couldn't remember the last time that Adam had called for an emergency pickup. So when she found him burned and bloody with his mask broken in half, she'd just helped him onto the cot in the bullhead and started bandaging him up.
"Fall doesn't find out about this," he warned.
"Of course," Ilia nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem. She and her green-haired crony have already headed out to join their third for… whatever their parts are in 'stage two'. What… what did this to you? Did Blake–"
"Blake could not do this," Adam fiercely claimed. "This was the work of the ally of Ozpin protecting her. He possess mystical abilities similar to our new allies. And… he can double tune."
Ilia recoiled, blinking numbly to make sure she'd heard her old friend right. "Double tune? That's… are you saying you duelled the Sun Dragon of Hell?!"
Adam nodded, clutching the putrid crimson brand over his left eye as a rare expression of contemplation flickered over his face. "He was… impressive. Makes one wonder just how far an Extra Deck style can be pushed."
Ilia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"... has her human highness handed down any orders for what she wants us to do for her 'stage two'?"
"Me, Torchwick, and Banesaw are supposed to stay and gather up as many new recruits as we can for the Mountain Glenn project," Ilia explained. "She wants you over there to supervise… whatever's being done there."
"Mountain Glenn?" Adam mused, before slowly nodding his head. "That will do nicely. Plenty of time and space for forging. There should be plenty of extra dust from the robberies for the experiments. I'll need all the notes you and the Albains have on that 'Contact Fusion' phenomenon you discovered."
"The– are you insane?!" Ilia exclaimed. "The entire point of fusion is to let the spell card do the work of summoning the monster. In those accidents we had, the Fusion Monster's empty shell was summoned first and had to be fueled with the aura of the material monsters while it was already on the field. Maintaining all that without something, and therefore all it, collapsing is impossibl–"
"I will decide what is possible," Adam coldly growled, the blocky red letters of his brand boring a hole through his lieutenant with his unyielding determination. "If the Sun Dragon can evolve his power to such a state, then there is no reason that I cannot do the same. I will not exist under anyone's bootheel. Understand?"
"... I'll transfer the files to your scroll," Ilia acquiesced.
Hopefully, Blake had had enough fear put in her from Adam's attack that night to learn to keep to Beacon. Because if she came after them again and The Blood-Soaked Bull somehow did figure out the chaotic technique that had nearly taken the Albains' heads off back during their experiments on Menagerie?
It would take the power of the gods to save the Odd-Eyed Bandit.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH
"You tried to run off to fight the bad guys without us?!" Ruby gasped. "First the late-night forging session and now this? What is it with tonight and my friends betraying me by trying to do cool hunting duelist stuff without me?"
Blake bowed her head to her team leader in shame. "Ruby… I'm so sorry for what happened to your dad."
"Don't worry about it," Yang waved off. "He's alright, and your ex could have tried attacking when we were asleep whether you ran off or not. Probably better for the house that the duel happened further away."
"And the others' sleep schedules," Weiss groaned, a vexed glare pointed toward the guest door where Nora's snores thundered out. "We're going to need to catch a nap on the flight back to Beacon tomorrow if we're to be appropriately rested for our promotion exam duties."
After all the chaos of the night, Team RWBY and Jaune (who was up for some reason that Blake didn't understand currently both awake and eating her leftover tuna like it was some science experiment) had gathered in Xiao-Long family kitchen to catch up. Apparently, while Blake, Yang, and Taiyang had been dealing with Adam, Ruby and Weiss had taken on Jaune in a late-night practice duel. Though, all three were oddly tip-lipped about how the match went aside from Ruby ultimately coming out the winner. Given that the others were being as forgiving as saints about her almost running off, Blake didn't push her luck pressing for details.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Ice Queen. You and I just gotta give a seventy-percent duel to some Ra Yellows," Yang said. "Though, Jaune, you sure you want to load up on fish this late when you're going to be flying tomorrow? Right before you take on a Ra Yellow?"
Jaune looked up from the (sweet, delectable, rich–) tuna he was eating and quirked his head to the side. "Why should I be concerned by flight–"
"The vomiting," Weiss cut in.
"Oh, yes, Jaun–I mean, I have difficulty maintaining my stomach's integrity on aircraft," Jaune said, his cadence strangely robotic as he pushed his fish away. "I suppose I should put this back in the refrigerator–where did it go?"
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all lazily pointed their fingers at Blake, the last of the fish slurping into her lips.
It'd been a stressful night! She needed tuna!
"Hmm, I see. Well then, I will go find some sheep to count–"
"Not necessary," Weiss declared, looking pointedly at Jaune. "Get to bed. Now."
Jaune blinked at her a moment before shrugging and shooting her and Ruby grateful bows. "Understood. Again, thank you both for your assistance tonight."
"You're welcome," Ruby grinned. "What're friends for?"
"Sleep," Weiss warned. "'You' will need a full night's sleep to have any chance at the exam tomorrow."
Jaune smiled at both girls and walked into Team JNPR's guest room.
"Bit harsh on him, don't you think?" Yang mentioned. "I know you're not his biggest fan, but he wasn't even going for a flirt this time."
"Nevermind that," Weiss scoffed, her icy eyes landing on Blake. "... this isn't going to stop you, is it? You're going after the White Fang, no matter what."
Blake sighed and reluctantly nodded. "I have to."
"Then we have to," Ruby declared. "Tomorrow, we head back to Beacon and make Team RWBY an all-blue team, and after that, we become the greatest team of 'underage huntresses dedicated to uncovering the nefarious plot against the Kingdom of Vale' ever!"
"If we are, I insist that we shorten the name this time. And I want it formally on the record that I am against this course of action," Weiss growled, only to preen her chin as she looked back at Blake. "But if you think that we're going to let you charge off into danger alone again, you've got another thing coming. I may be conflicted about quite a bit in this venture, but not about that."
"You're stuck with us, partner," Yang smirked, wrapping an arm around Blake's neck. "We may not have found out everything we wanted to know about our dragons this break, but we're a team through and through now. You ain't leaving us behind any time soon."
"I… thank you," Blake sighed, a pair of tears pricking at her eyes.
She'd never dreamed that she'd make such true friends when she'd defected to Beacon. And from a pragmatic standpoint, she couldn't ignore that Taiyang hadn't been completely wrong. If she wasn't going to use fusion, then she needed some other way to close the gap between her strength and The White Fang forces she'd be going up against. As terrible as she felt about putting her team in danger, they were definitely an option.
But then she remembered how Adam had ambushed her and Yang, how powerless she'd been as her partner had desperately scrambled to keep them both alive. If she was going to involve her friends in this mission, she couldn't let something like that happen again. If they were going to have her back, she needed to be strong enough to have theirs.
But did that mean that she needed Fusion? Even if she believed what everyone had told her about the style being no different than any other Extra Deck summoning method, about how they'd only given Adam… opportunity… which she didn't know if she did… what did that change? Were her monsters just supposed to forgive her for using them as a scapegoat and demeaning them for months? It was just another sin she couldn't be forgiven for.
Which meant she needed to get started making reparations as soon as possible. She couldn't let the White Fang hurt any more innocents, whether it was Adam, Ilia, Torchwick, or some random grunt. Nothing could stall her–
"Yeah! All-Blue Team RWBY!"
Blake instantly deflated. Right. School. That waste of time.
Why hadn't she just shown up to a huntress license exam instead of putting herself through the annoyances of academia?
"Ruby, I don't mean to burst your bubble," Weiss spoke up. "But Team RWBY won't be an all-blue team after these exams no matter what."
"Huh?" the silver-eyed girl queried. "Why not?"
"The promotion exams are designed to let students gradually move up to more advanced tracks as they get used to a higher pace of learning," Weiss reminded them. "You take a written test and duel a student, ordered to hold back from using their Extra Deck if they are capable of utilizing it, in the track you wish to enter to test your abilities?"
"Oh, I know," Ruby grumbled, an evil grin lighting her lips. "But with all the studying help you've given me, Weiss, no infernal written test will stand in my way again."
"No, you dolt!" Weiss shrieked. "You are a Slifer Red! You can only get promoted one track at a time! Therefore, even if you pass the written test and win your duel, at most you'll only be a Ra Yellow!"
"That? Oh, don't worry about that," Ruby snorted, before her evil grin returned. "I've got a plan."
And that's the Patch Arc. Two fun duels in three swift chapters setting up lore and character motives going forward. Taiyang and Adam's duel here was very much to let Tai show off some of the basic stuff that magic can do in this version of Remnant, while his backstory showcased the mental and physical dangers of overusing that power without careful balance. Hope you all enjoyed this first original arc!
Next up we got the Promotion Exams Arc, which at current projections should be four duels in five chapters... which means a total of eight extra chapters to Volume 2... ugh. I need to find some way to keep the overall pacing from dragging.
Remember to check out and add to this story's TVTROPES PAGE! I check my stories' pages often and I always enjoy it when they grow. :)
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!