And thus, the 2v2 rounds! As you may have noticed, I'm extending the Tournament a bit longer than normal. Why? Because Cinder can't manipulate the matchups, she has to wait for Lady Luck to be in her favor... and it may not be.
Volume 8 has been a rollercoaster. Anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I won't spoil anything for V8 specifically if I can help it, at least for a while. Anyone reading this is presumed to have watched up to V6 if not V7. If anyone complains about spoilers for anything beyond the current volume... go watch the show. Seriously...
Disclaimer: RDF1 doesn't own RWBY, WATCH THE SHOW!
(Chapter Begin)
(Recap)
"I believe this is where we will take our leave, Oz, Glynda," said James, "I will brief Winter on what's to come in the meantime. I'll also send this," James held up his Scroll, "to the Tech Labs to get scrubbed. I'll have to copy the data from scratch to avoid anymore compromises."
Ozpin nodded and let the Atlas General and his Specialist leave.
"Ruby, I want to meet your team, then we need a serious talk ourselves," said Qrow, taking another drink before heading to the elevator, "Oz, Glynda, Cinder Fall is not to be underestimated."
"I encountered Ms. Fall the day I met Ms. Rose," said Glynda, adjusting her glasses, "Indeed a formidable foe for anyone."
"Thank you, for allowing Winter to be brought in, Headmaster Ozpin," said Ruby.
"Ruby, it's not easy for me to let people in without them earning my trust," stated Ozpin, "But if you feel like Winter could help turn the tide of the battles to come, then I will trust you this time."
Ruby nodded and she and Qrow left Ozpin's office, heading towards the Dorms.
(Recap End)
"So..." started Qrow, glancing at his niece sideways.
"I won't apologize for what I've done," replied Ruby, rolling her eyes, "Ozpin and Glynda managed to figure out I should have been dead five years ago. I took a chance with Ironwood because of Penny, a new friend I made a few weeks ago. Winter... is a bit of a gamble, I'll admit, but Ironwood knows how much to reveal to her, since it's mainly my secret to share. Plus, she's Weiss's sister. I asked Weiss how much she trusted her, and Weiss told me enough to give her a chance. What, can't handle your girlfriend?"
(AN1)
Qrow rolled his eyes at the obvious tease, "Winter and I don't have that relationship. I'm way too old for her anyways. I was messing with her because I wanted to prove that she wasn't as perfect as she thought she was. Plus, it was good to show off in front of impressionable students." Qrow chuckled, before turning back to the subject at hand, "I will only say be careful who you trust. It can backfire on you."
"I got Raven to come home, and to actually cooperate," shrugged Ruby, "I'll take that as my biggest victory to date, which is saying something."
"Indeed, but don't let it go to your head," chuckled Qrow as they approached RWBY's room.
Ruby knocked on the door so the others would know that company was there. The door opened to reveal Blake on the bed, reading her "Ninjas of Love" book while Weiss was at one of the desks, working on homework, and Yang grinning at them as they walked into the room. Yang and Qrow quickly hugged, before holding her arm out to her teammates.
"Qrow, this is Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna, our partners and teammates," introduced Yang, "Weiss, Blake, this is Qrow Branwen, our Uncle."
"I've already had the 'pleasure' of meeting him," frowned Weiss, "The way you got my sister in trouble like that does not make a good first impression."
"That wasn't personal, Ice Princess," smirked Qrow, "Winter and I have known each other for years and it's fun to get her to show emotion, even if it is anger. She'll get over it."
"Did you and she...?"
"No, though I'm starting to suspect why people are thinking that now," replied Qrow, frowning a bit as he held his chin, thinking back on his previous interactions with Winter Schnee.
(AN2)
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Branwen," said Blake politely, having placed down her book and stood up to greet him.
"Just 'Qrow', Blake, and you have grown up pretty well," smiled Qrow, "It's been about twelve years since I last saw you."
"Wait, you knew me?" asked Blake, confused.
Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were intrigued as well. Qrow never shared this story.
"Twelve years is a long time, so I guess it's not surprised you've forgotten me. Back then, the White Fang was a lot different than it is now... no offense," explained Qrow, "I was in the area and intervened when some racist humans started throwing rocks at protesting Faunus. I managed to get the haters to leave and spoke with Ghira, your father..."
Blake looked down at that, holding her left arm with her right hand as her hair bow moved a bit, and everyone could imagine her ears going a bit flat in shame.
"I'm sure your parents would be proud of you for coming to Beacon, and learning what line you're not willing to cross," continued Qrow, getting a surprised look from Blake, "I can see a good future for you."
(AN3)
"So, what brings you here, Uncle?" asked Yang.
"Checking in with Oz and friends," shrugged Qrow, "But I'm sticking around for the rest of the Tournament. Heard my nieces are going to kick ass."
"That's the plan anyways," grinned Ruby.
The next day had Amity Colosseum as packed as it was before, if not more so with the defeated teams looking forward to seeing the rest of the tournament and the teammates of those moving on to the doubles round. The Random selection was indeed truly random as The Black Queen Virus didn't infect Ozpin's systems. The next Doubles round was Ruby and Yang from Team RWBY vs Reed and Silleste from Team SPRE(Sapphire) of Shade. Reed's weapons were Tonfas equipped with Wind Dust for Maneuverability while Silleste preferred to use Claws made of Hard Light Dust. Ruby and Yang shared a look, before nodding as the field randomized into a Mountain, Desert, Forest, and Flat Plains. As the bell sounded, Ruby and Yang charged forward before splitting up, getting Reed and Silleste to split up as well and face them respectively.
Ruby used the Forest to her advantage, avoiding the Wind Dust infused shots from the gun mode of the Tonfas by dashing through the trees in a seemingly random path. As the Forest gave way to the Plains, Ruby poured on the speed as she blurred into her semblance and got some distance, before rounding back and meeting Reed as he exited the Forest. Ruby attempted to slash at him with her Scythe, only for it to be blocked by a Dome Shield before her.
"Don't think I didn't know about your semblance, Rose," said Reed, Switching his guns back to Tonfas and knocking her back, "I'm not the smartest student at Shade for no reason! I planned this!"
Reed moved quickly, more quickly than Ruby did without her Semblance. Ruby was suddenly on the defensive, barely able to avoid the Tonfa strikes while trying to find an opening. Unfortunately, even for all her training, Ruby had to concentrate on dodging the attacks because any time she attempted to get distance and fire off a round, the Shield would come back as Reed closed the gap. Soon enough they were moving into the Desert area, which Ruby had to take extra precaution with the sandy floor, lest she get caught on one of the scattered rocks, and leaving herself vulnerable.
(AN4)
Meanwhile...
Silleste and Yang were using the Mountain to their advantage as they clashed and broke off several times. What Yang noticed was that Silleste was intentionally not using her Aura to tank blows and was gaining a few bruises and burns from both punches and gunfire. Yang's eyes narrowed, realizing Silleste had something up her metaphorical sleeve as she decided to avoid another clash, maneuvering to a different part of the mountain.
"Why aren't you using your Aura?" asked Yang.
"It takes a lot of training to access your Aura. It takes a great deal more to not call upon it until you need it!" replied Silleste.
To prove her point, her claws glows, as she focused her Aura into her claws and slashed through the mountain, forcing Yang to move or else fall down and potentially be buried. As Yang moved, she noticed the wounds healing, but not from Aura specifically.
"Your Semblance!" realized Yang.
"That's right," explained Silleste, stretching around her previously wounded joints, "I have regeneration. Can you defeat someone who doesn't need Aura to heal and can use it to its offensive potential!?"
(AN5)
Blake and Weiss watched intently as their teammates and partners fought Sillest and Reed in 1v1 battles. However, it was noticeable that Yang and Ruby were having a significantly harder time, even with their training with Raven under their belt. Weiss didn't understand it and pulled up the Teams Page on her Scroll and quickly found Team SPRE's page. As she read through it, she paled as she looked at Blake, who felt nervous at Weiss's expression.
"What is it?" asked Blake!
"Team SPRE is the Anti-RWBY," replied Weiss, her face almost resembling her namesake.
(AN6)
"Wait, what? How does that work?" asked Blake.
"Oh, Team SPRE," said Sun, who joined them, "I recognize them. Yeah, Reed is super smart. He can analyze a person's battle tactics and have perfect counters among his team. Silleste is one of THE best Physical Fighters from Shade Academy. She won the all Vacuo brawl three times in a row. She's even beaten master fighters and previous champions when was 15."
"Sun, not helping!" complained Blake.
"It'll be fine, Blake," said Sun, "Have faith in Yang. She took a beating from Roman's Mech without an Aura Break. Silleste's never managed anything close to that."
Blake did feel a bit relieved at that. Given how Raven and Qrow learned how to counter other Huntsmen from their time at Beacon, she wouldn't put it past either of them to push Yang to the point she'd be able to handle equally skilled fighters. That plus her father, Taiyang, is a skilled brawler himself, meaning Yang's not out of her league.
"Yang may be one thing," sighed Weiss, her color returning, "But what about Ruby? Reed's countering her speed and Sniping abilities and keeping her on the defensive close up."
"She needs to catch him off guard, but I don't know how she can," guessed Sun.
Usually, Yang was happy to be fighting an equal. But in this scenario, she wasn't able to go help Ruby while she kept her full attention on Silleste. If not for her deep reserves of Aura, she'd be nearly disqualified due to Aura depletion. As it was, she was only breaking even, utilizing her speed training to avoid the most deadly blows. Yang had to think fast, Ruby wasn't getting anywhere and she works better against groups rather than 1v1. So she would need to help her. Checking her ammo, she had one shot left in one of her gauntlets. She usually keeps them more even, but because of the erratic nature of the battle caused her to miscount. She wouldn't get a chance to reload without taking a big hit, but she did have another idea. Yang went for a trip to gain a few extra feet as Silleste jumped back. Using that moment, she turned and aimed her gauntlet at Reed and fired a shot before receiving a double slash from Silleste, knocking her through several rock piles that added up from the beating the mountain section was taking during the fight. Yang smiled smugly at Silleste before losing consciousness.
Silleste took one look at Yang's smug smile before realizing what she just did.
Back with Ruby...
Ruby kept Reed's attention so completely, so assured of SPRE's 1v1 capabilities, that he didn't even hear the shot blast in front of him, blinding him. Ruby knew what happened; Yang sacrificed herself to give Ruby some breathing room, which she used super effectively. Blurring into a run, she picked up sand and trapped Reed in a Sand Tornado before she unleashed her Scythe and using the blunt side, knocked Reed up like a pinball before sending him flying out of the arena. Ruby then sped over to where Yang was, stopping feet from Silleste as she brought her scythe around, meeting Silleste's blades head-on.
"You hurt my sister," said Ruby, giving a blank stare at Silleste, "Prepare to die."
Silleste barely processed those words before Ruby twisted around and promptly lifted up Silleste using Crescent Rose before YEETING her out of the arena and into the energy wall. Winner: Team RWBY
"And with a 'vaulting' success, Team RWBY wins!" announced Doctor Oobleck, much to the groaning chagrin of Professor Port.
Ruby let out the breath she had been holding since realizing what Yang did to help her. Running over to her without using her semblance, she noticed Yang just laying out, despite still being inside the ring.
"Hey Rubes," said Yang, smiling yet tired, "That was tough, wasn't it?"
"Not even Auntie Raven's training managed to keep us ahead of the game this time," said Ruby, smiled Ruby back as she reached her hand down to help Yang up.
"Remind me to get a rematch with Silleste," chuckled Yang as she leaned on her sister as they left the chamber, "She was the greatest workout I got since Signal."
"Sure thing, sis," said Ruby, "Now get some rest. We've gotta another team to watch."
(AN7)
Weiss and Blake entered the infirmary to see Ruby and Yang being looked at by a specialist, who happened to be a friend of a Reaper of Grimm from Vacuo. He made sure to take on other Reapers of Grimm due to their 'unique' vitals.
"Looks like you'll be set after a good night's rest. Make sure to stretch out those sore areas," informed the Medic, "Even you, Ruby. Don't need Balco on my ass again about his co-workers."
"Thanks Abalas," replied Ruby as she and Yang each shook his hand before noticing their teammates, "Hey Weiss, Blake. Some battle, eh? Let's get back to our seats. It's CFVY vs SSSN for the final matchup."
Weiss and Blake shared a look and rolled their eyes. The Sisters were weird, but they were relatively okay, so they'll wait until they were back in their rooms for more pressing details.
(AN8)
Sun and Neptune stood across from Coco and Velvet as the field turned into a ruined city, a forest area, an ice area and a magma area. Neptune took a look at their surrounds before shaking his head and sighing.
"You two realize how one-sided this is, right?" asked Neptune.
"Oh?" quipped Coco with a smirk, causing Velvet to snicker a bit, "How so?"
"Three Agile Fighters and one above averaged trained student. Pretty sure I can't keep up with either of you, and that tote bag is an OHKO waiting to happen," explained Neptune, something they all didn't disagree with, "Plus, the most flashy we'll get in this fight is Velvet and Sun, and that's because you wouldn't have to actively move as much to counter Sun's style. We saw what you did to those Grimm at the Breach."
"To be fair, we should give the fans a show, right?" proposed Sun.
"Oh... can we, Coco?" asked Velvet, a winning smile on her face as the bell rung to begin the fight.
"No weapons, other than that... have fun, Velvet," shrugged Coco.
Velvet and Sun instantly jumped away from their teammates to show off their acrobatics while Coco and Neptune stayed put.
"Agree to no weapons will at least make it more balanced Neptune?" asked Coco grabbing her purse-minigun by the handle.
"Sure. It's not like my semblance would help much anyways," shrugged Neptune as they both set their weapons aside, something the crowd noticed.
"It would appear that both teams have agreed to forgo their weapons in this bout and rely on pure skill," commented Doctor Oobleck.
"Indeed, though I'm not sure how much the crowd will appreciate such a decision," added Professor Port.
"Not sure to respect or degrade that decision," said Weiss, seeing all four of them explicitly not using their weapons.
"To be fair, Sun and Neptune are a bit outclassed and they know it," said Ruby.
"And being good sports, Coco and Velvet would likely agree to a compromise to put on a better show for the crowd," added Yang.
"They better not overdo it," said Blake with a hint of concern, following Sun and Velvet's fight as they moved around the ruined cityscape.
"Give the Monkey boy a little credit, Blake," jibbed Weiss, showing a small smirk to remove the sting of the 'insult', "He grew up in Vacuo. He knows how to control himself."
(AN9)
The fight didn't last but about ten minutes, but given the circumstances and mutual friends, both teams did show off before finally Sun and Neptune both declared forfeit as their Aura got close to Red, while Coco and Velvet were still Yellow and above half. Winner: Team CFVY.
After gathering Coco and Neptune's weapons, the four fo them walked off to mixed applause from the crowd. The biggest cheers were from Teams RWBY and the remaining members of Team CFVY and SSSN. The finals were coming up soon, and Ruby and Velvet were looking forward to the finals, and everyone that remained.
(Chapter End)
Happy New Year! I totally forgot I started this chapter, but I'm back to continue things. If you've been keeping up with my other stories, Memories of a Best Friend is something I'm still strongly working on. But this story isn't done, nor is it on "official" hiatus. I'm lazy. I procrastinate. I forget. I'm not gonna lie or cover up these things. I'm just a fanfic writer with a full time job and not much else. I do have time to write, but I don't always take it. I do enjoy other things though. How else will I get new ideas to write MORE fanfiction with? LOLZ! ANYWAYS!
Author Notes...
AN1: This was a joke I couldn't avoid, because that's the point. It's a joke.
AN2: And to expand upon the last point, Qrow is indeed too old for Winter outside the fact that they are both adults. Winter is in her 20s while Qrow is at least 40+, meaning one generation apart. So, while I have nothing against this ship, I do feel like it's not as easily doable as some people may want.
AN3: Adding a bit of miscellaneous backstory here. Given the ages of RWBY's parents and Qrow, I could easily see Qrow taking a solo mission that conveniently took him to an area where the Peaceful White Fang were protesting their unfair treatment. And a Huntsman is a great deterrent against those wishing to do harm to others out of pettiness.
AN4: She is vulnerable to tripping at that speed. Plus, how often is Ruby fighting 1v1? Not very often does she?
AN5: In a reverse scenario, it's a Wolverine with extra intelligence vs a Hulk without the extra intelligence, but more worldly experience. Pretty neat comparison, huh?
AN6: For clarification, this version of Team Sapphire is my own creation. If there are others, I won't claim superiority. I created Team SPRE with the intention of having each member the antithesis of RWBY. Silleste is the Team Leader, and the opposite of Yang. I wanted to go with Yin, but never managed to make the Team name work. Reed's namesake comes from Mr. Fantastic so this Reed's Super Smart, which makes him the brains of Team SPRE. There's also their teammates... whose names escape me. One would negate the effect of Blake's clones, so while Blake still dodges, she doesn't leave a clone behind, so she's vulnerable to the hit anyways. The other would have an Elemental Immunity Semblance, allowing them to tank all the Element Dust usage by Weiss.
AN7: Yeah, this was a tough battle to work out. Given how I made SPRE, I needed to create a scenario where one sacrifice, by Yang rather than FOR Yang, would allow Team RWBY the victory. So Ruby's moving on to the 1v1 section. Please give suggestions for 1v1 for Ruby please!
AN8: Spur of the moment names. Balco is Cobalt and Abalas is Alabaster as in pure white. Balco is just another Reaper a Grimm and Abalas is his friend who went into medical school to help out other Reapers of Grimm to help keep the secret.
AN9: Weiss has come a long way since they first met, and she's now feeling comfortable poking fun at Blake and Sun's relationship.
Next Time: The Singles Round takes off and a clash of catharsis comes up.
Because Cinder can't rig the fights, true randomness still reins. The Finalist are Ruby, Velvet, Cardin (in this version of the story), Penny, Pyrrha, Mercury, and like two others I'm forgetting, since they don't really matter. In the show, you had Yang and Mercury to intentionally cast doubt onto Yang, while Penny vs Pyrrha was to set up the Grimm Invasion. Other than Velvet or Coco, there were three finalists who were never revealed. If they did in the books, then please let me know so I can do followup research.
As for matchups in this story: Velvet vs Cardin was already decided back at the end of Volume 1. I am debating about Penny vs Pyrrha, but as a semi-finals matchup. Then there's Mercury and Ruby. This version of Ruby wouldn't be bested by Mercury, especially if Ruby was taking things seriously. But I'm open to suggestions from here. Please review or PM me with ideas for the next chapter. The more ideas I get the less time it takes for me get back to this story.
Side note: Since Winter is being briefed and brought into Ozpin's group, even if it's a separate level, she's not exactly leaving Vale. But her scene with Weiss remains intact, since I skipped over it. Winter's time with Weiss is cut short since she still has duties to uphold, even if she's sticking around Vale. Hence the scene remaining unchanged.
Thanks for reading.
Until then...
Later,
RDF1