Here we are at Chapter 35. Time for more fights in the tournament. Also, I posted my new story in the Misc. Category, in the misc. Anine/manga section. The title is "Master the Blade, Master the Heart", based on the anime Reborn to Master the Blade. I wrote it purely for fun. Anyway, I do not own RWBY or Genshin Impact. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 35. Enjoy.
Chapter 35: Multiple Pieces
It's a new day at the Vytal Festival, and for the combat tournament. Now that all the team rounds have been completed, the time has come for the doubles rounds. Fights between two members of one team facing off against two members of another, with the winners moving on to the tournament finals. The crowd cheers before the fighting has even begun yet.
"Good morning, friends and all, and welcome back to the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Port says.
"Yes, we're here as the tournament continues, and the amount of participants continues to decrease, leaving only the best of the best," Oobleck says at his side.
"These next set of matches will only get more challenging and more interesting. And speaking of challenges, here comes our first pair of challengers," Port says as the camera changes to one of the entry ways into the arena.
"From our very own Beacon Academy, it's one of the teams that's taken this tournament by storm. From Team RDCN, it's Candace and Dehya!" Port announces.
Ei and Nilou watch in the stands as their teammates head into the arena, waving to the crowd who cheer in response.
"Go get them, guys!" Nilou cheers.
"We love you, Dehya!" and Dehya's fan girls cheer, waving signs again.
"Oh yeah, I'm definitely winning this one," Dehya cracks her knuckles.
"Oh and why is that? The glory of winning?" Candace asks.
"That, and because my girls promised me a special reward if I... actually, never mind," Dehya glances away with a slight blush, making Candace chuckle.
"Opposing them, from Team SSSN, representing Haven Academy is Sun and Neptune!" Port announces.
The girls look over to see the boys from Haven enter the opposite side of the arena. Girls in the stands cheer for the boys, who wave in kind. The four meet up at the center of the arena.
"Man, while I'm stoked to be fighting you guys, I'm also a little concerned about hurting such lovely ladies as yourselves," Neptune flirts with them.
"Ignore him, for he... yeah, he's dumb," Sun pats his shoulder, while Neptune just winks at them.
"BREAK HIS STUPID FACE, DEHYA!" Dehya's harem shouts out, angry that someone is making a move on their lioness.
"Sorry boys, but we're winning this one. Don't be too upset if those handsome faces of yours get a little less handsome," Candace replies, drawing her spear.
The arena round them changes. One section is a geyser field. One is an ice field. One is a savanna. And the last is a mountain. The rest of the fighters draw their weapons.
"3... 2... 1... Begin!" Oobleck starts the match.
Dehya charges at Sun while Neptune fires a shot at her. However, Candace blocks the shot with her shield and goes after Neptune. Dehya swings her greatsword at Sun, but the monkey boy flips over her and races to the ice field. Dehya gives chase while Candace stays behind to fight Neptune. The blue-haired boy steadily steps back while firing shot after shot at her. All the shots get blocked by her shield as she closes in. The two end up at the geyser field where Candace throws her spear at him. Neptune rolls under the flying spear, but Candace uses her gravity Dust to pull it back. Neptune changes his rifle into its trident form and jumps in the air towards her. Candace catches her spear in time to block a downward swing from him.
"Don't suppose you'd be willing to go on a date with me if I beat you, would ya?" Neptune asks, smirking.
"Maybe, but I'm afraid I'm not looking for romance right now," Candace pushes him back with a shield bash to his chest. "Besides, you'd still have to win first, and I don't see that happening any time soon,"
Back with Dehya and Sun, the monkey fighter flips and jumps around Dehya as she swings her blade around. He finally takes out his staff, twirling it around. Their weapons meet, but Sun parries the blade to the ground, knowing he can't match her in pure strength. Once the blade is down, Sun throws a quick roundhouse kick to her face, followed by a strike to her side with his staff. He goes for a third strike, but Dehya catches it in her left hand and counters with a front kick to his chest. Holstering her blade on her back, Dehya rushes in to throw a quick one-two punch to Sun's face. Sun spins his staff around for another strike, but Dehya spins around to block the swing with the sword on her back, following it up with a spinning back kick to his stomach.
"You may be faster than me, banana breath. But, you're not smarter than me when it comes to fighting," Dehya taunts him.
"Oh, we'll see about that. It's on now!" Sun gets excited and goes right back into it.
"Dehya and Candace are doing good so far," Nilou notes.
"Yes, but the fight has only just begun. While I can't say anything about their demeanors, Sun and Neptune do have skill as future huntsmen. It'll be up to whoever can outmaneuver their opponent first," Ei critiques the match.
Back with Candace, Neptune thrusts his trident at Candace, but she deflects it with her shield before countering with a thrust from her spear. The thrust grazes Neptune's shoulder as he leans to the side. He kicks back against Candace's shield to get some distance, turning his trident back into its rifle form. Neptune fires a few shots, but Candace blocks them all just like before. However, a sudden eruption from one of the geysers in between them blocks their vision of the other. Neptune fires off a shot, but Candace still blocks it. Neptune looks around at all the geysers around them and gets an idea. He fires his shots at the geysers, making them erupt to spew gas and vapor in the area, causing a slight fog to mask his presence. Candace slowly follows into the fog of vapor, intent on finding him. A shot rings out from the mist, and she ducks to dodge it. A second shot comes from her left, but she blocks with her shield.
"Ah, intent on using the environment to try and gain an advantage. Not bad. But... that still won't work on me," Candace mutters as her golden eye glows.
Now she can see where the next shot will come from. Two more shots come out from her right side and she deflects them with her spear. A third comes at her rear, which she blocks with her shield. This pattern repeats for a few moments before the mist dissipates and reveals Neptune.
"What? I was sure that would've worked!" Neptune sure is shocked.
Candace shrugs her shoulders, "That's why you need to read up more on your competition instead of flirting with every pretty girl you see. Now, it's been fun, but I think it's about time I ended this," she charges at Neptune.
Neptune brings out his trident and swings it down on Candace. Candace spins around while deflecting the strike with her spear and hits Neptune in the face with the edge of her shield. She doubles it up with a thrust of her spear to his chest, making him stumble back. Neptune tries to make a move, but Candace swoops in under his guard and throws a backflip kick up his chin. She finishes it up with a shield bash powered by her hardlight Dust that sends Neptune flying. He lands hard on the ground, but doesn't realize where he's fallen exactly. As he gets up onto one knee, he looks at Candace who merely points downward. Neptune looks down, only to go wide-eyed as he realizes he landed on top of one of the geysers. Said geyser then erupts, sending him flying into the air. Candace aims her spear and then launches it. The weapon nails Neptune in mid-air and sends him crashing to the ground with his aura gone.
"And in a painful defeat, Neptune is eliminated. It's down to Sun to defeat both of his opponents now," Port calls out.
"What?!" Sun yells as he looks up, showing the replay of Neptune getting creamed. "Ah man, come on Neptune!"
"Hey, you've got bigger problems to worry about," Dehya grabs his attention as she swings her sword down on him.
Sun flips back to dodge her and turns his staff into his trusty nunchucks. Twirling them around, Sun goes in on the offensive. The fast speed of his weapon, combined with the barrage of gunfire, puts Dehya on the defensive. Luckily, she's able to block most of the shots with the sheer side of her sword, but at this rate, she may be in trouble. Hitting the switch on her blade, flames erupt around it and she swings wide to try and cook the monkey Faunus. Yelping, Sun jumps back to evade the flames. Dehya swings her blade a few times, sending out archs of fire at him. His weapon won't be of much use if he can't get close enough to use them. She makes a wide swing, sending out a large arch that hits Sun, sending him to the ground. He looks up, only to see Dehya with her sword aimed above him.
"Ready to give up now?" Dehya asks.
"Um, let me think about it. How about... no," Sun wraps his tail around her ankle and pulls her off her feet.
This gives him the opening to get back up and attack her this time. However, before he can, a spear suddenly appears and flies in between them before imbedding itself in some rubble. They look to see Candace calmly walking towards them.
"Now, now, it's not nice to play tricks like that," Candace waves a finger before bringing her spear back with her gravity Dust.
"Oh, nuts. I was hoping to fight you guys one at a time," Sun curses.
"Don't worry, I won't interfere much. That would take the fun away from Dehya," Candace says.
Sun turns back to the lioness as she gets back on her feet. He swings his left nunchuck, but she catches in in her hand. He repeats the process, but gets the same result. Now both of them are caught in her hands.
"Gotcha," Dehya growls.
"Um, maybe we could get a time out?" Sun begs.
"Sure. You'll get a time out... after I kick your butt all the way out of this arena," Dehya replies.
She headbutts him in the face and then starts throwing punches. One punch to the ribs. One across his face. Another to his left side. Being that close in his range makes it hard for him to use his nunchucks. Clenching her fist, she throws a hard uppercut to knock him into the air. Jumping up to meet him, Dehya performs an axe kick to send him crashing into the ground. Sun slowly gets up, but as soon as he looks up, Dehya crashes down on him with her fist. When the dust settles, the audience see Dehya standing over a defeated Sun and the bell goes off. Dehya looks up to see Sun's aura gone while she had less than half of hers left.
"And that's the match. Dehya and Candace from Team RDCN have eliminated Sun and Neptune from Team SSSN. Team RDCN are moving on to the tournament finals!" Port announces to the roaring crowd.
"Yes, they did it!" Nilou cheers, hugging Ei.
"Yes, they did well," Ei agrees.
Down below, Candace and Dehya high-five each other, "Well, that was certainly fun," Candace notes.
"Yeah. Anyway, should we carry the dorks out of here?" Deha nods to the groaning Sun.
"No. I think their pride has taken enough damage for one day," Candace begins walking off.
Dehya cringes before following her. Despite her usual calm and mature demeanor, Candace can be pretty ruthless when she wants to be.
...
Later that day, far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the festival, Ei and Nilou are sitting under a tree alone together. It's been a little while since they last had some time to themselves and they wanted a little peace and quiet. Ei rests her head on Nilou's legs after she offered, giving her a lap pillow.
"Things have pretty exciting lately huh?" Nilou notes while stroking Ei's head.
"Indeed. We're in the finals now. I swear I'll win for our team and our school. They haven't had their matches yet, but I have no doubt that Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CLDN will make it to the finals as well. They're too skilled to lose just yet," Ei says.
"Hmm, we came out here for some time to ourselves away from the tournament, and yet you're still thinking about it," Nilou teases her.
"Sorry, I guess it was the first thing that came to mind when I wasn't thinking about the mission," Ei apologizes.
"Yes. We haven't seen nor heard of any signs from Signora. Maybe all the extra activity here in Vale because of the Vytal Festival is making her more cautious. Even if it's mainly students from the other academies, there are many more warriors here now. And that woman, Arlecchino, destroyed a good portion of her forces from what we saw back at Mountain Glenn? I sometimes wonder if she's an archon like you," Nilou notes.
"I don't think so. Her power was not like an archon's. A powerful semblance, perhaps. Still, we need to be wary of her as well," Ei says.
Nilou sighs, "Sometimes I wish everyone could just get along in peace without ulterior motives,"
"Maybe one day, they will. Humans are a young people. Even now, they still have much to learn. As someone who has lived for a very long time, I can say that with certainty," Ei says.
Nilou giggles, "Did you just call yourself an old lady?"
"No, but then again, you ARE dating said old lady, hmm," Ei counters.
Nilou is impressed by how much Ei has mellowed since she came to Beacon. It seems she's learned much about humans since coming to Vale.
"Whatever happens Ei, I know we'll be ready," Nilou says, brushing Ei's bangs.
"Thank you, Nilou. I guess I just needed to hear that," Ei slowly drifts off.
Nilou continues to stroke her girlfriend's hair, watching her sleep.
...
Meanwhile, Ozpin is in his office, having a discussion with Nahida.
"So, you think Signora will make her move during the tournament?" Ozpin asks.
"Yes. While there is increased security here due to the festival, there are far more civilians here than there are security personnel or huntsmen. If Signora caused some issue to happen, it wouldn't be long before the people flew into a panic. At least half of your troops would be focused on getting them under control to minimize casualties, which will give her more of an opening," Nahida says.
"Worse, the panic would attract the grimm. A few people or even a few dozen would draw in grimm in numbers which we could handle with our current strength. But, with so many people here, it would draw in hundreds. She may use that to come after the remaining Gnoses while we're stuck dealing with the grimm," Ozpin surmises.
"I also believe that I might be the next likely target," Nahida theorizes.
"How so?" Ozpin asks.
"We know she wants Ei's Gnosis, but with so many eyes on her and her team, all capable fighters, there would be less openings. She already has the Pyro Gnoses and the Ameno Gnosis, but the Cryo and Hydro Gnoses are gone. And Zhongli is to adept at hiding his presence, even from me. Besides, as the oldest of the last living archons, Zhongli is stronger than even Ei herself. If he were to use his real power, most threats would be dealt with swiftly," Nahida explains.
"Then why doesn't he? Deal with those threats?" Ozpin asks.
"I believe he doesn't want people to come to rely on him too much. Rather, I believe he wants mankind to stand on its own, without the aid of the archons. All birds much eventually leave the nest, or else they will never be able to fly. Back on point, I believe Signora may come after me first for my Gnosis since aside from maybe Venti, I am the weakest of the archons when it comes to combat. Getting my Gnosis would increase her power, and increase her chances of getting the rest of them," Nahida says.
"Then perhaps we should have you go somewhere with even tighter security. At least until Signora has been defeated," Ozpin suggests.
Nahida shakes her head, "No. That will hardly change anything. This conflict has been coming for a long time. I will not simply wait for it to pass. I must bear witness to its end, whatever that may be. Plus, I am placing my faith in Ei and the others. I believe they will succeed," Nahida says.
"Hmm, a god of wisdom relying on faith? That's quite a statement if I ever heard one," Ozpin sips his coffee.
"Perhaps. Or, my wisdom is simply telling me to believe in Ei and the others. Either way, I will not leave. As an archon, I have a duty to see this through the to end," Nahida remains resolute.
Ozpin sighs, "Then, let's at least prepare for that possibility,"
...
"Are preparations in place?" Signora asks one of her henchmen.
The soldier bows his head, "Yes, Lady Signora. Roman Torchwick's compatriot has infiltrated the security personnel at the coliseum. Once the operation commences, she will get into the security system and we will be able to control the arena as you see fit,"
"Good. Having hostages will give us more control over the situation. More people are continuing to arrive in the kingdom. They will reach their peak by the time the tournament finals begins. That will make their security forces too busy for what we will do. What of Adam Taurus and his loyalists?" Signora asks.
"They've captured a suitable number of grimm, though not without difficulties. Adam knows his part of the plan. The panic from the grimm will surely draw more in, forcing our enemies to spread their forces thin to deal with multiple threats at once," the soldier explains.
"Good. We still haven't found Zhongli, but even he may make an entrance if the situation forces him too. We'll take Nahida's Gnosis, then Ei's, and then his. Then, I will become a god and lead this world into a new era. Make sure the final preparations are ready before the finals commence. Time is of the essence," Signora commands.
"Yes, Lady Signora," the soldier bows again before leaving.
Signora smirks, "The time draws near, Ei,"
...
"Father. We have accomplished the tasks you set out for us," Lyney and Lynette bow their heads to Arlecchino.
"Good. There's no doubt Signora will be making her move during the tournament. That's when the House of the Hearth will move as well," Arlecchino says.
"Father, if I may ask, what will you do to Signora when you confront her?" Lynette asks.
"It's quite simple. She tried to kill Her Majesty's daughter. Though she is no longer with us, our loyalty remains and even in death, she gave us one last task. Any who seeks to harm Ruby Rose... will burn," Arlecchino declares, the red crosses in her eyes glowing.
And that's the chapter. Even as the tournament continues, more and more pieces are moving on the chess board. What pieces will remain when 'checkmate' is called? Until then, please Read and Review.