Hi everyone, welcome back!
We're finally here at the start of Volume 3 for my story and I am super eager to get this arc going, I've got some very special plans for this! We've had so much build up these past few arcs and it's all gonna pay off here as this is where we see things starting to diverge from the canon, we'll even see some of that with this very chapter!
You can also expect this arc to be longer than the previous ones.
Now before we begin, I have a few things I need to say. First off, I will be taking the following week off from writing. I'm running a marathon in Detroit (26.2 miles) and will be unable to write after that. But the week after, I will resume my writing schedule.
And that brings me to my second announcement. While I will continue to write all my stories, I have decided that after each update for "A Red Rose in the Blue Wind" I will be taking a week off from writing. This is to avoid getting possible burnout, as well as a way for me to step away from my stories and work on socializing with other people. Don't worry, I'm not feeling any burnout at all, I love all my stories and I have every intention of continuing my writing, but this past couple of years, I've been pretty much a shut-in, rarely leaving my house other than for work and some family gatherings. I need to start getting out and talking with people outside. So, again, after each update for this story, it will be followed by a single week off from writing before I start again with my next story and cycle though them all back to RRBW and my week off.
Thank you for understanding.
Now, with all that being said, let the chapter begin!
The Vytal Festival
Ruby honestly found it really hard to believe. This was a moment she had only dreamed about, and while it was something she really wanted to do, she didn't expect it to happen so soon. Maybe in their third year at Beacon, but not in her first. And yet, here she was. She along with the rest of Team RWBY as well as Team JNPR next to them were just two of the thirty-two teams of Huntsmen students from all four academies had all gathered together in the middle of Amity Arena where the audience of observing students and civilians all cheered the moment the teams had all stepped out. The only individuals that didn't appear to be cheering were the many AK-200 robots that were guarding the entrances and exits.
"Wow, talk about quite the reception." Sonic commented as he, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were currently sitting at the special seats closer to the arena, those revered for the participating teams and various teachers and other guests, including Glynda, Ironwood, and even Pietro, all of whom sat some distance away from Sonic.
"Well given what Ruby and the others told us about this tournament, it's basically their version of the Olympics, so of course it's popular." Amy said.
"And I'm also pretty sure it's because everyone is on a giant floating arena." Sonic pointed out. It was true, Amity Arena was a special kind of colosseum, in the fact that it was hovering high in the sky above the Beacon campus, with a series of shuttles ferrying all the guests and participants to and from the arena.
"Have I said before how cool that all really is?" Tails said in a giddy tone as he looked over the data on Amity Arena for the umpteenth time on his Miles Electric tablet.
"Yeah, about twenty times already." Sonic joked.
"Still, how does an arena this big just float?" Knuckles asked. "It's way bigger than those Extreme Gears we used to ride on."
"That's actually pretty easy to explain." Tails began. "Pietro told me everything in detail. While Gravity Dust is obviously one method, other forms of Dust are used in conjunction with all its neighboring systems. When you consider all the implications of…
"Stop!" Knuckles quickly exclaimed, not understanding a single word. "I get it, okay?! It's Dust! Dust makes it float! And that's good enough for me!" This resulted in Sonic and Amy both laughing with a sense of déjà vu before Knuckles spoke again. "But seriously, this floating arena is a pretty obvious target for Eggman. I get that Ironwood has his army outside pretty much controlling the Beacon campus, but…"
"Eggman would still target it." Sonic seemed in agreement. "Which is why we're here. If Eggman's forces show up, we'll step in."
"And while we're keeping an eye out for any outside threats, Shadow and his team are keeping their eyes peeled for the internal threats, such as those spies, we've been worried about." Amy added.
It was true. Standing at the top of one of the commentator boxes well above the central arena was Team Dark. As Rouge and Omega looked over the list of registered teams participating in the tournament, Shadow kept his eye on all the students down below. Even from such a high position, Shadow could make out both Teams RWBY and JNPR and even identify a few other students from Beacon, such as that annoying monkey Faunus, Sun and his team, and even that weakling Cardin and his group, there were many students that he didn't recognize, all likely from the other academies. He had a strong suspicion that the spy he and Omega encountered at the CCT during the dance was likely hiding among the other contestants. Once the battles start, he and his team would be recording each fight to then go over them and see if they can use that to identify the intruders.
It would seem that he was also right on the money. Because Cinder and her group, consisting of Emerald, Mercury, and the disguised Neopolitan, were near the center of the participating teams. They were currently keeping a reasonable distance from Teams RWBY and JNPR but were still close to keep an eye on them. Cinder glanced in one direction to see Sonic and his group watching, and while they couldn't see them, Cinder narrowed her eyes at the blue Hedgehog.
'Smile while you can, rodent. By the time this festival is over, I'll make sure you never smile again.' She thought darkly.
A podium had been stationed just outside the arena, where Professor Ozpin stepped up to a microphone and spoke into it.
"Good morning." The Headmaster of Beacon began, prompting all cheers in the arena to die down as everyone watching, both in person and among the many televisions across all of Remnant, gave him their undivided attention. "It is a pleasure to be here and to see so many young warriors in training ready to participate. Though we all hail from different Kingdoms, we all stand here together in a symbol of unity, quite literally. For Amity Arena is the culmination of all four Kingdoms' cooperation, one constructed after the end of a conflict that would have torn our world apart. For many years, we have lived together in peace and harmony, but it is our duty to maintain this peace through cooperation with one another."
Shadow gave a slight scoff form his current position. Despite Ozpin's speech, words can only do so much. It was likely that this tournament really acted as a political pressure valve to end tensions before they even began. A good idea on paper, but not a flawless one. And while Shadow didn't have any problems with the tournament's purpose, it was Ozpin's speech that he had issues with. There was something going on, a possible conflict behind the scenes that he was purposely hiding from the world. Something else that Shadow had looked to expose.
"And while there can only be one winner in the end, we all stand together. Even in the face of adversity, we must keep moving forward." Ozpin's speech went on as an Atlas soldier aboard Ironwood's flagship watched the tournament from his personal scroll as he sat at a chair in the brig of the vessel, right before he heard some banging on one of the doors.
"Let me out!" A familiar voice spoke up. The guard sighed as he stood up from his chair and walked towards a specific cell. "I demand that you release me!" He opened a small slide in the door to see that it appeared to be General Ironwood inside the cell. "Don't you know who I am?! I am your superior, General Ironwood!"
"Oh, General sir…" The soldier began in a seemingly sincere tone. "Shut up!" He exclaimed. Right when he was about to close the slide, a new voice spoke up from within the cell.
"Why are you doing this?" Opening the slide up again, the guard looked inside to see that it now appeared to be a teary-eyed and frightened Ruby Rose inside. "What did I do? Please let me go! I want my mommy!"
The guard pulled out his electric baton and activated it. "Keep it up, freak! You want a taste of this?"
Wiping away the fake tears, the imposter Ruby smirked evilly at the guard while still speaking in her voice. "When I get out of here… I'm going to kill you myself."
"Heh, yeah right." The guard closed the slide. Mimic shifted back into his normal form as he sat in his cell, still maintaining his smirk. It was a good pastime to try and mess with the guards, he even did the same trick when Ironwood tried interrogating him just after his capture, and he almost got him to completely lose his composure with all his tricks, including shifting between Eggman, Ozpin, and Ironwood himself.
"That's a neat trick you got." Torchwick spoke up from the cell next to him. "But I know someone who can do it better."
"That little ice cream haired, girl?" Mimic replied. "Heh, she's decent, I guess."
"Then why is she out there and you in here?" Torchwick questioned.
"This is actually the safest spot to be." Mimic leaned back as he put his hands at the back of his head. "Just a few more days… and that's when the real fun starts."
"…And now, it is my pleasure to announce the start of the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament." Ozpin's speech came to an end, resulting in cheers from the audience and many participating students. "With that, I will leave the rest to the commentators." He walked off the pedestal and went to join his fellow teachers.
"Ho-ho! A lovely speech from the illustrious Professor Ozpin. Wouldn't you agree, Professor Oobleck?" Professor Port asked as he and Oobleck were apparently the commentors for this tournament, sitting in the announcer's box with a holo-screen right behind them that showed an emblem for the Vytal Festival, which was a combination of all four Kingdom symbols.
"Doctor." Oobleck corrected. "And I am honored to be here to see what these young students have to offer. Here are the rules, the tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds." Holo-screens appeared next to both professors to illustrate the rules. "Teams, doubles, and singles." He held up four fingers, two, and one for emphasis. "Age and schoolyear are irrelevant. In this tournament, the only attribute being tested… is skill."
"Correct." Now it was Port's turn to speak. "The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round, followed by the members of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!"
"And now for the rules of the battles themselves." Oobleck continued. "Teams and individual members will fight one another in the central arena as the environment changes from battle-to-battle. The arena will be divided in half for different environments and each environment will be chosen at random. They will range from lush jungles to scorching deserts to frigid wastelands and so-on."
"If a participant is knocked out of the arena, or their Aura drops below ten percent, they will be considered eliminated from the match." Port went on. "Last team standing, wins. With that said, let the first match begin!"
"All the participating teams will be chosen at random regarding who and when they fight, so let us see who will be fighting in the first round!" Oobleck announced.
A series of large holo-screens appeared in the arena for the participants and audience to see, while those watching at home saw them on their own screens, as two lottery slots appeared spinning downward with a 'VS.' emblem in-between. Everyone watched with eagerness or nervousness as the slots came to a stop, showing two team names. 'RWBY' and 'ABRN'.
"Our first match is… Team RWBY of Beacon versus Team ABRN of Haven!" Port announced.
"We're first?!" Ruby exclaimed in a mixture of shock and excitement.
"That's a surprise." Blake commented with widened eyes.
"Huh, luck of the draw." Yang grinned.
"Good luck or bad luck?" Blake asked.
"There's no such thing as luck." Weiss shook her head. "We were chosen at random. So let us do our best."
"Yeah, let's do it!" Ruby said with a toothy smile as she pumped her fist.
"Now, will all the other teams please leave the arena and take their seats?" Oobleck requested. "It's time for this tournament to get underway!"
"Alright, Team RWBY's first!" Cubot cheered as he and Orbot saw broadcast from the central screen of the bridge of the ship that currently Eggman operated, the mad doctor himself sitting in a chair as he watched the preparations unfold. "Who do you think's gonna win this one, boss?"
"Without a doubt, it's gonna be Sonic's little protégées." Eggman replied.
"Are you actually rooting for them, boss?" Orbot asked in surprise.
"Hardly, just stating a fact." Eggman responded. "Those kids follow Sonic and his pals like lovesick puppies, so they've obviously picked up a few of their tricks."
"But does it matter if they win? I mean, Cinder's plan…" Orbot began.
"I wouldn't put too much faith in that pompous brat." Eggman waved off. "She underestimated that Hedgehog and I don't trust her not to do it again. Cubot, tell Adam to have his forces ready to move in just in case. Whether or not Cinder fails, Beacon will be in ruins."
"You got it, boss." Cubot saluted. "Should I get you some popcorn too?"
"Sure, why not? And be sure to add lots of butter." Eggman shrugged as he continued to watch the match that would begin at any moment.
All the participating teams had cleared out from the arena, leaving Team RWBY to face off against their opponents, Team ABRN, which consisted of four students around their age.
Their leader, Arslan Altan, was a dark-skinned young woman with platinum-blonde hair and olive-green eyes, she wore a yellow robe with only one sleeve on her right arm with black pants, a red sash, and bandages around both her wrists and her left arm. Bolin Hori was a lightly tan skinned young man with amber eyes and black hair; he wore a yellow sash over his shoulder and around his waist, with a dark blue vest, gray pants, and black boots. Reese Chloris was a girl with neon green hair swept to her right with teal eyes and two black facial markings on her cheek; she wore a dark purple hoodie over a mauve sweater, black shorts and shoes, along with elbow and shoulder pads on her arms and legs. Nadir Shiko was a dark-skinned young man with pink hair tied back in a short ponytail with a black undercut and blue eyes, he wore a cream-colored short-sleeved jacket over a black long-sleeved shirt with cream fingerless gloves, black pants, and cream-colored shoes.
"Hey, here's hoping for a good fight." Ruby stepped forward and offered the other team her hand to shake in good sportsmanship.
"Aren't you a little young to be here? The pony-rides are over there, kid." Arslan pointed towards the exit.
"Uh… I…" Ruby stuttered for a moment, while her teammates glared, with Yang especially ready to step in, that is until Arslan chuckled a bit.
"Ah, I'm just messing with ya. You too." She offered Ruby her hand, to which Ruby smiled and accepted with a shake, easing the tensions.
At the same time, Team JNPR found their way over towards Team Sonic and sat down beside them. "Team RWBY is in the first round, huh? Well, this should be good." Jaune said.
"Hey, let's all bet on RWBY!" Nora proclaimed. "They're the first-year underdogs so everyone else is gonna be betting on ABRN. But since we've been training with RWBY, we know they're way stronger! So, when they win, everyone else will lose their money while we get rich!"
"Nora, there's no betting in this tournament." Ren pointed out. "And even if there was, I doubt participating teams would be allowed to do so."
"Party pooper." The pink-clad girl sulked in her chair with a pouty expression.
"It's alright Nora." Amy assured as she patted the girl's shoulder. "I'd still bet on them, and on you when you guys are up."
"Can you put some actual money on it?" Nora asked rhetorically.
"Still though, even with their training, we have no idea what this team can do." Knuckles commented.
"True, but they do have the experience." Pyrrha added. "So let us give them our support."
"Hey uh, are you sure it's a good idea for us to be even in this tournament?" Jaune asked, more-so to Sonic and Tails. "I mean, there's still a spy here working for Eggman. What if they see what we can do? Won't it be bad to show them our moves?"
"Don't worry about the spy, we got it handled." Sonic assured.
"Yeah, I uploaded my Anti-Virus program last night." Tails revealed.
Flashback – the previous night
Sonic, Tails, and Shadow had gathered at Ozpin's office where the headmaster of Beacon and general Ironwood were waiting.
"It's all set." The young Fox said as he showed the two his Miles Electric where the screen showed the program, which took the form of a symbol of a spinning yellow ball with two fox tails at the end.
"And how would this program of yours work?" Ozpin asked.
"Well, to put simply, it'll scan the entire CCT network for any foreign programing." Tails explained. "Thanks to some intel and data provided by Professor Polendina, I was able to get an idea for how the CCT data works, this let me create this program which will be able to tell the data apart from any form of malware that shouldn't be there. Once it's located, it'll isolate the virus and alert me, and I can use that to either delete or even reprogram it so that we can back trace it to its source, locating the spy and possibly Eggman."
"See, didn't I tell you this kid was wicked smart?" Sonic smiled as he ruffled his best friend's hair. As he did, Shadow had a serious look on his face. While this program would indeed locate any potential virus as Tails said, it also had another purpose, to copy the blueprints of the entire Beacon campus and send it right to his own personal scroll. Eggman was targeting this school for a reason, and they needed to know what it was. But given how Ozpin was reluctant to tell them, this deception was necessary.
"I'm truly impressed. Well done, Tails. Thank you." Ozpin smiled and nodded.
"Assuming there is a virus, how long would it take for your program to find it?" Ironwood questioned.
"There is quite a bit to consider, but I'd say a few days at the most." Tails answered.
"A few days?!" Ironwood exclaimed. "At any point Eggman can attack, and you expect us to wait a 'few days' for you to come with a counterattack while the rest of us just sit on our hands!?"
"This is the best I can do!" Tails argued. "The CCT network is huge, and there's also to consider what the purpose of the virus is and just how much of the network it infected! If it's infected a large chunk of it, the anti-virus has to completely surround it and pick it apart, all without doing damage to your network!"
"You would be wise to listen to someone who is an expert regarding this particular field." Shadow told the general in a warning tone. "Or would you rather just shut down the entire network and cut off all communications between the kingdoms?"
Ironwood did not like the tone he was being addressed in, but right before he stepped up to confront the black Hedgehog, the blue one quickly came in-between them.
"Okay, let's take it easy!" Sonic stated even as Ozpin stood up from his desk. "Look, Tails knows what he's doing. If this is the best he can do, not only do I believe him, I believe it's gonna work. He's never let us down before." He said giving an encouraging smile to Tails, who nodded back in thanks. "And if Eggman does show up, that's why we're here. We fought Eggman over a hundred times before, we can do it again."
It seemed like Ironwood wanted to argue further, but the headmaster of Beacon was quick to nip the tension in the bud as he spoke up. "James, this is the best we can manage. There is literally nothing left for us to do other than to prepare. Have your army on standby if in the event we are attacked, and leave the cyberwarfare to someone who seems to have the experience, unless you have someone in that field who can provide aid."
That did seem to reach Ironwood a bit, he glanced towards Tails one more time. "You said Professor Polendina helped you in creating that program?"
"He did." Tails confirmed.
"I trust him. And if this is really all we can do… then fine. Just don't disappoint me." The Atlesian general said with reluctant acceptance.
"Same to you." Shadow responded as he, Sonic, and Tails all left the office.
End Flashback.
"Yesh, who knew Ironwood could be such an asshole?" Nora commented.
"He's concerned for the wellbeing of pretty much everyone here, and we all know how dangerous Eggman is." Ren said.
"There's nothing else we can do about it now though." Knuckles put in. "Just hope for the best and be prepared for a fight."
"But right now, let's just kick back, relax, and enjoy the show." Sonic smiled as he and the rest of his team, as well as Team JNPR set their sights to the field where the battle between RWBY and ABRN would soon begin.
Multiple holo-screens appeared all around the arena, flashing symbols like a lottery for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Half of the screens showed a symbol of icicles pointing downward, while the other half was that of a volcano. The floor on the right side of the arena, just behind Team RWBY, opened up as a field of ice appeared, lining with multiple enormous spikes of ice, almost like the floor of an ice cave; while the other side behind Team ABRN opened up to reveal a fiery volcanic landscape.
Sonic gave a whistle. "Man, that is cool. Pun entirely intended."
"Don't you mean hot? Pun also intended." Nora joked.
Both opposing teams narrowed their eyes at one another as they drew their respective weapons, ready to throw down at a moment's notice.
"Three… two… one… BEGIN!" Port declared.
"Weiss, ice-spike! Break them up!" Ruby ordered.
Following her leader's instructions, Weiss thrusted Myrtenaster into the ground to send a cluster of ice-spikes Team ABRN's way, forcing them to separate.
"Long ranged attacks, let's see what they can do!" Ruby told her whole team as she configured Crescent Rose into its rifle mode and fired, along with Blake using Gambol Shroud's gun mode, and Yang punched to fire multiple shotgun bursts from Ember Celica in the direction of the moving enemy, while Weiss swung her sword to send waves of fire, ice, and even lightning in the same direction. This seemed like a good method to see what the opposing team could do, finding out what sort of weapons or Semblances they possessed as they tried to defend themselves.
Reese was able to evade fire easily as she brought out a pair of dual pistols and combined them into a hoverboard, which she used to ride and evade most of the shots with ease while the rest of her teammates were forced back into the tundra half of the arena, taking cover behind the large blocks of ice.
'Huh, trying to see what we can do. Not bad, kid.' Arslan thought before coming up with a counter. She took a quick glance at Yang and realized something about her from both her fighting style and her weapons before calling out to her teammates.
"Separate them all from the blonde! I'll take care of her! Reese, you go for the leader!"
Nadir loaded a round of Fire Dust into his weapon, which seemed to be an assault rifle equipped with a bladed bayonet and returned fire, aiming at the spot in-between Yang and the rest of her teammates, creating a wall of fire that forced Yang some distance away from the rest of her friends.
Reese used that to quickly ride her hoverboard and gun straight for Ruby, who just noticed her opponent incoming and used her Semblance to speed herself away, toward the mid-way part of the arena in-between the volcanic environment and the tundra. Before either Blake or Weiss could try and regroup, Nadir fired once again with his gun as the rest of Team ABRN moved in, forcing Weiss to shield them with a wall of ice.
However, Bolin had leapt over the wall of ice, and drew his own bo-staff and attempted to bring it down on Blake, though she left a Shadow Clone to take the hit as she flipped backwards, prompting Bolin to give chase just as Weiss' ice-wall was broken down by another explosion with Nadir rushing through it, his gun converting into a sword which he lunged at Weiss, forcing her to defend herself with her own sword.
Yang had found herself backed onto the volcanic part of the arena and noticed how her friends were separated from one another, but before she could do anything, Arslan had appeared to kick her in the side and push her back.
"You're not a long-distanced fighter, are you?" Arslan questioned rhetorically. "Your specialty is hand-to-hand. Well, so is mine." She smirked as she took a combat stance reminiscent of a master martial artist. "Let's see how good you are."
"Okay, bring it." Yang accepted the challenge as she threw her fist forward, with Arslan doing the same. When their fists collided, it created a brief shockwave that created a small eruption from the ground they were on.
Ruby used her Semblance to try and gain some distance from Reese who was speeding after her on her hoverboard and went to a large ice spike, using Petal Burst to get to the top before firing Crescent Rose in its rifle mode at Reese, but she jumped backwards while kicking off her hoverboard to break it off into its dual rifles again, which she fired at Ruby at the top. Ruby, of course, sped away and tried to come at Reese at the side, drawing Crescent Rose's scythe mode to slash at her, but Reese brought her rifles back together to remake her hoverboard, acting as a shield to block Ruby's scythe-strike before kicking at the base of the board to create a propulsion like force at point-blank to knock Ruby back. Reese then rushed Ruby as she broke her board apart again into a pair of pistols with blades at the tips, which she slashed relentlessly on Ruby, forcing her on the defensive.
Blake, meanwhile, was locked in a clash of blades as she used Gambol Shroud's sword-mode, as well as its cleaver sheath to block and parry the spinning slashes from Bolin's staff, which had curved blades on each end. Both moved with equal speed and agility that seemed roughly evenly match for the most part. Bolin tried to slash at Blake, but she used a Shadow Clone to take the hit while she leapt back, that same Shadow Clone infused with a round of Fire Dust to blast Bolin away on contact. While he was down, Blake rushed him, using this opportunity to go on the offense.
Weiss jumped backwards as she lunged Myrtenaster forward, creating a Glyph in front of her that she infused with Fire Dust to blast an inferno at Nadir, which he dove to the side to avoid, all while firing his gun at Weiss, who tanked a few hits, causing her Aura to drop slightly before she plunged her sword into the ground to create a large pedestal of ice to perch herself up into the air, giving her a vantage point to erect a few small Glyphs around her to send a hail of ice-spikes at him, forcing Nadir to run and avoid them.
"Wow, these guys are pretty good." Jaune commented. "They're actually giving Team RWBY a run for their money."
"According to this, Team ABRN are second years at Haven." Pyrrha said as she looked at her scroll which had basic info on each of the participating teams. "They have the experience."
"And this fight shows it." Knuckles said in agreement. "They separated their enemy for one-on-one battles, using their own skill set to match that of Ruby and the others. Not bad."
"It seems like their pretty even for the most part though. This could go on a while." Ren observed.
"I don't know… Yang, looks like she's in trouble." Amy said with caution as they saw Yang engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand match against Arslan.
The blonde threw out a punch, which Arslan parried with a chop of her arm before delivering an upward spinning kick to her head and a palm strike to push her back. Yang stood up once more and quickly rushed Arslan with some rapid punches, scoring one solid hit in the stomach and tried to follow with a punch to the face, but Arslan limboed underneath the strike and landed on her hands to spin her legs away to break off Yang's punches and then pulled back both of her feet to slam them into Yang's face, sending her up and to the ground.
With a growl, Yang pulled herself up once again as she tried to rush Arslan a third time, throwing her fist upward, but not only did Arslan duck underneath it, but she even threw out a white rope that was tired around a dagger she had just pulled out. And while Yang pulled her face back to avoid the dagger's slash, she looked in shock to see the right arm she had used to punch was suddenly tied in Arslan's rope.
"Gotcha." Arslan grinned as she pulled in Yang for a punch to the jaw, which Yang tried to retaliate with a punch from her free hand, but Arslan pulled up on her rope, pulling up on Yang's other arm, forcing her to miss the shot from Ember Celica and smash her hands together, which Arslan took advantage of by quickly binding Yang's arms together and threw a kick to her face, one so powerful that it knocked Yang close to the edge of the arena.
"Yang!" Ruby looked more than a little worried in that her sister seemed close to elimination. She was about to speed off and help her, only for Reese to appear in front of her, riding her hoverboard and block her path before throwing a punch to keep Ruby from escaping. Weiss and Blake were similarly stuck in stalemates and unable to help with Nadir blasting away Weiss' icy pedestal to knock her down and Blake still locking her blades with those of Bolin.
Teams Sonic and JNPR looked with concern at Yang's situation, Knuckles looking especially serious. But unbeknownst to them, a certain black bird with red eyes, one that was perched on a railing near one of the entrance tunnels, was also watching the fight.
As Yang pushed herself back up, she felt her anger rise as her eyes turned red once again. But as it did, she also remembered this kind of feeling before…
Flashback – Four Days Prior
Yang was knocked down rather hard to the ground, having been on the receiving end of Knuckles' punch.
"Well, looks like I win again." The red Echidna said. During the week before the start of the Vytal Festival, Teams RWBY and JNPR both agreed for some joint training exercises alongside Teams Sonic and Dark. Though Yang, being one who arguably needed the most help, had to spend most of her training with Knuckles in order to best improve her fighting style. But with these past two days, it's been a difficult process for her.
"Damn it!" Yang cursed as she punched the ground in frustration. "Why can't I get better?!"
"Don't beat yourself up too much." Knuckles told her. "You've been fighting like this all your life, so of course it's going to be hard to break out of it."
As they continued, neither of them noticed the very same black bird with red eyes watching over them from within a nearby tree, close to keep an eye over what's been happening, but keeping herself out of sight to avoid being seen.
Yang pushed herself up, only to sit cross legged as she still looked rather angry with herself. "If I could just trade away this stupid Semblance for something like Ruby's, it probably would be easier."
"Does it really bother you that much? To admit you might have made a mistake?" Knuckles asked with concern before sighing. He knew this was going to be a difficult process in helping Yang, her temper and stubbornness definitely made his work more cut out for him, but he was ready to take this challenge as he knew that stubbornness all too well. "Look, Yang. You have an impressive ability. You can take the damage your enemy throws at you and use it to your advantage."
"But I thought that was the point of this training, to get me to stop using my crappy Semblance." Yang said.
"I never said your Semblance was bad, just that you need to find a way to use it differently." He reminded. "For example, whenever you're in a fight, you always try to use that gathered energy for an explosive finisher, right? Well, what happens if you don't end up using it?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Yang, whenever you're in a fight, you're going to take damage, it's unavoidable." Knuckles explained. "Even someone as fast as Sonic can't avoid that. But you have the ability to absorb that damage and make yourself stronger. What if though, you're able to beat your opponent without using all that gathered energy? You win the fight, but all that energy you have is still stored inside. Does it all fade away with time, or will it stay in there until it's used even days later?"
The blonde seemed to understand what Knuckles was saying, and yet, it caused her to look in surprise as she honestly never thought about that. She'd always used all that energy in the fight she was in. She never even considered the idea of storing it afterwards, or what would happen if she didn't use it, whether it would fade away or not.
"And, does it all have to be used at once?" Knuckles went on. "Maybe you can somehow break it in half or use only portions of it." He saw the look of confusion on her face and tried to find a way to explain it in a way she could understand. "Think like how you drive your motorcycle. Do you use up all that fuel at once? Do you go at high speeds the entire time you're driving?"
"No, of course not." Yang replied.
"So when do you have to slow down?" Knuckles asked.
"Well… I gotta slow down when I turn." She answered.
"Why?" He asked again.
"Because if I keep going fast when I'm turning, I'll lose control. I'll crash and burn." Yang replied.
"Exactly." Knuckles said, causing Yang's eyes to widen. "Let's try thinking of your Semblance like that. All that gathered energy you get? Think of it like fuel in your tank. Don't use all your fuel at once, use only what you need for one ride, that way you have some in reserve for next time. And if it's true that your leftover energy can be stored in reserve even after the fight, not only will your Aura recover and you already have a source of power to call on and use, you may even have the means to develop your own internal reservoir of energy that you can steadily build up with each fight, so you won't have to let yourself take damage with each fight to fuel up."
Yang's eyes slowly widened as she let all that sink in. In that one moment, they had found at two different ways her Semblance can be used. The first is to use it only in portions and not all at once. The second was to store up any remaining energy and build up an internal reservoir to use without letting her Aura take damage.
"And does it all have to be used when attacking?" It seemed like Knuckles wasn't done yet. "Can't you use it for defense?"
"Defense?" Yang questioned.
"Your body gets stronger when you use up all that gathered energy to fight back, right?" Knuckles recalled. "How about instead of going on the offense, you use that energy to ground yourself. Make yourself into a rock and create a wall to make it hard for your opponent to break through. This way, not only do you defend yourself, but you may even absorb the damage from that same attack and still add more fuel to yourself. Maybe it might even strengthen your Aura?"
Three. That was now three ways she could use her Semblance differently. Yang had always been fine with how she used her Semblance in the past that she never even considered using it differently. But after a recent humbling during their battles against Merlot's mutants and Mimic, as well as some teachings from Knuckles… she never even realized just how much potential she really had.
"Listen to me Yang, I understand how you feel." Knuckles said.
"Do you?" She asked in a tone that seemed to mix skepticism and curiosity.
"Yes." He continued as he walked over to her and squatted to be on equal level with her. "You already know I spent my whole life on Angel Island. I lived alone on a floating island, cut off from the rest of the world, not knowing anything or anyone else. That's probably how Eggman was able to trick me so easily when we first met. But after meeting Sonic and Tails, I slowly came to realize that I could not stay on that island forever. I had to go out and see the rest of the world. I had to step outside my comfort zone, learn and experience new things, and believe me, it wasn't easy. I made more than my fair share of mistakes, I screwed up more than once, I got knocked down, I failed, and that's all going to happen to you even if you do manage to use your power differently. You're still going to mess up. You're going to fail. But you know what? That's alright. It's alright if you fail, just as long as you're willing to learn from that failure. If you do, you'll get stronger than you were yesterday. You'll get stronger here…" He pointed to her arm, representing her physical strength. "...here." He pointed to her head, illustrating her mental strength. "…And here." He pointed to her heart. "But you gotta take that extra step and be willing to learn."
The red Echidna smiled as he put a hand on the blonde's shoulders, looking into her eyes as he could see them wavering. "Just do your best. Keep an open mind."
End Flashback
Taking a moment to calm and focus herself, Yang stood up straight, even with her back towards the edge of the arena and her opponent directly in front of her. Ordinarily, she'd let her anger give her some adrenaline and try to rush her enemy with all that gathered energy she had stored up from this fight.
But not this time.
Clenching her fists, Yang tried to focus on her power as she remembered what she learned from Knuckles. 'Do my best and keep an open mind, huh? Oh, I can do that! Channel your power, but not all of it! Let's use about half of it, I'll work the math out later.'
She dug deep and activated about half the power she had stored up, which caused her hair to glow slightly. But unlike before where her hair would be set ablaze, this time it only glowed with some faint embers at the tips, not as strong as before, something that Knuckles noticed.
Arslan had a feeling that her opponent was about to pull something and made her move to try and rush the blonde to knock her out before she could attack.
'Ground yourself! Be a rock! A wall!' Yang crossed her arms like an X just as Arslan leapt forward to deliver a flying kick, her strongest attack yet. Her strike landed with explosive results, a shockwave blowing behind Yang…
Only for the blonde Huntress-in-training to not even budge an inch, much to the shock of Arslan, even Ruby from a distance looked in surprise, as did many in Team JNPR from the stands… while Knuckles merely smiled.
Yang opened her arms slightly to grin at the still-shocked Arslan. "Gotcha." She quickly swerved under and around, directly behind Arslan and pulled back her fist, still using half of her stored energy, and struck her in the back with enough force to send Arslan flying and crashing to the ground outside of the arena.
"Oh! That's a ring out for team leader, Arslan!" Port commentated.
"Talk about turning the tables." Oobleck added.
Yang felt her fists for a moment. 'I still got more than half of my energy stored up. The energy from that kick was still absorbed, and I think my Aura got stronger when I dug myself in back there.' She smirked. 'Looks like the knucklehead was onto something.'
Ruby was beyond happy to see that her sister had won in the end, but she also quickly noticed how her own opponent Reese was distracted, still in surprise, by this turnaround and was quick to take advantage of it as she used her speed to close the distance and slash at her with Crescent Rose, spinning her scythe around while slashing relentlessly, keeping Reese on the defensive as she quickly brought her board up to shield herself.
"Everyone! Get them in the middle!" Ruby called out to her teammates.
Deciding to trust her judgement, Blake and Weiss both went on the attack with their respective opponents as Blake dashed past Bolin, leaving a Shadow-Clone in front of him, one lined with Fire Dust that exploded, knocking him toward Blake, who followed through with a kick strong enough to knock him closer towards the middle of the arena.
Weiss, meanwhile, had thrusted her sword into the ground to raise another ice-shield to protect herself. Nadir smirked, thinking Weiss was stuck on defense and desperately using the same shield again, but that was all part of the deception as a black Glyph, one infused with Gravity Dust, appeared directly under him, propelling him up into the air just as Weiss had come around and pointed Myrtenaster to create a Glyph in the air where Nadir was, one charged up with Wind Dust to create a propelling wind force to blow Nadir in the same direction that Bolin was in, causing the two to crash into one another.
Ruby continued to relentlessly slash at Reese, who was stuck using her hoverboard as a shield and unable to counter due to Ruby's superior speed. But when she did try to go on the attack, breaking her hoverboard apart into its individual pistols to slice at her, Ruby had already speed past and appeared behind her and swung Crescent Rose, catching her within the curved blade of her scythe. Using her own speed, as well as an extra boost from rifle shots from her beloved weapon, Ruby spun around to create something akin to a tornado, with Reese hanging off the end before Ruby stopped to throw her enemy directly into Bolin and Nadir, all three slumped together in the middle of the arena, their auras dropping, but not enough to disqualify them yet.
"Circle around them!" Ruby order as she, Weiss, Yang, and Blake appeared all around the recovering enemy trio. "Let's finish them off with RWBY Dash!"
"Seriously?!" Weiss questioned. "You only came up with the idea yesterday, and we didn't even get a chance to practice it, yet!"
"If it'll take em out in one shot, I say we go for it!" Yang was onboard with her sister's plan.
"We'll consider this an 'on the field test'." Blake added.
Weiss wanted to protest, but given how quickly their enemy was recovering, this did seem like the best way to end their battle. While she also had a hand in planning their Team Blast, it could go wrong if they didn't get the timing right. But she's since learned that making snap decisions on the field could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Here's hoping it leads to a victory.
The Schnee heiress spread her arms out to create a ring of Glyphs on the floor, surrounding Reese, Nadir, and Bolin on all sides. Ruby was the first to move in, stepping onto a Glyph and allowing herself to be propelled at the trio, slicing them with Crescent Rose as she appeared on the other side of the Glyph-ring. Weiss moved in next, stepping onto a Glyph and shooting herself across the ground as she sliced Myrtenaster. Blake followed their lead, stepping onto a Glyph sliding herself forward at super speed, and slicing Gambol Shroud. Yang was next as she too stepped onto a Glyph to dash forward and pound at the enemy, striking Bolin in the jaw, but unlike before, she didn't use any of her gathered energy, keeping all she had stored up. They repeated the process and increased their speeds, with Ruby and Blake even using their respective Semblances for additional speed, as they all went one-at-a-time to speed, slash, and strike them, creating blurs of red, white, black, and yellow at the very middle, leaving the remainder of Team ABRN unable to defend themselves before all four members of Team RWBY came in all at once for a joint strike from all sides, creating an explosive, multi-color flash as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang slid outside the vanishing Glyph ring, with Reese, Bolin, and Nadir flying up and landing down hard on the ground in a pile.
The buzzer sounded as a holo-screen high above the arena showed how most of Team ABRN's Auras had dropped below ten percent.
"And that's the match!" Oobleck announced. "Bolin Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko are eliminated by Aura level while their leader Arslan Altan is knocked out by ring out!"
"Team RWBY is victorious!" Port declared.
"W-we did it…?" Weiss looked unsure and surprised, looking towards Ruby, who looked around in just as much surprise at her partner.
Did they just win their first round in the Vytal Festival tournament? All of Team RWBY looked around at the cheering and clapping audience before directing their attention towards their closest friends. Jaune, Amy, Tails, and Nora all stood up cheered loudly, Ren and Pyrrha both smiled and clapped as well. Yang saw Knuckles was also clapping as he gave her a nod of approval, causing her to smile.
Ruby, of course, caught a look at Sonic, who just gave her a thumbs up with his signature smile. That was all the confirmation she needed.
"WE DID IT!" Ruby jumped as high as she could and cheered as loudly as she could, before landing back down and pulling all her teammates into a group hug.
"Huh, not bad for their first round." Rouge complemented as she and Team Dark had remained at their position.
"Their training has allowed their team dynamic and physical techniques to improve. Most satisfactory." Omega added.
Shadow said nothing as he gave a single nod, silently acknowledging their victory and overall progress.
Even that same black bird with red eyes, the one that was really the mysterious woman who had been watching them all this previous week, seemed to approve of their victory.
"Alright! Go Team RWBY! WHOO!" Cubot cheered.
"You do realize they're the enemy, right Cubot?" Orbot reminded.
"Yeah, but that was still cool!" Cubot added.
Eggman watched on the screen Team RWBY celebrate as they exited the arena with an amused expression. 'A Team Blast, hmm? Sonic's really rubbing off on them. This tournament might actually be interesting.'
Sometime later, after taking the shuttle from the arena to the fairgrounds around Beacon campus, Team RWBY had met up with Team Sonic, along with Rouge. The fairgrounds seemed incredibly busy with not only the countless students eating from the many food stalls, but even Atlas soldiers and AK-200s patrolling the grounds.
"Hey, great job back there." Sonic said, referring to the team's victory.
"Seriously, that was awesome!" Amy praised.
"Well of course. Did you expect anything less?" Weiss said in prideful tone.
"Nice to know the victory hasn't gone to your head, princess." Rouge teased, earning a glare from the Schnee heiress. Yang looked towards Knuckles, who simply nodded toward her, which was enough for her to smile back.
"So why don't we all eat and celebrate? I'd say you earned it." Tails offered.
"Oh yes! Because I'm starving!" Ruby proclaimed.
"I've worked up something of an appetite myself." Blake said, right before her own stomach growled, rather loudly, much to her embarrassment as she blushed while everyone else looked towards her in either surprised or amused expressions.
"Well, I happened to scout the fairgrounds this morning just before the festival started, and I think I found the perfect place for us to chow down." Sonic revealed with a smile. "Jaune and the other should meet up with us there. Come on."
As the blue Hedgehog led the group away, Weiss heard her scroll's ringtone and took out to look at the caller ID. But once she saw the word 'father' on it, she scowled before declining the call.
"Something wrong?" Amy asked, having noticed the scowl on Weiss' face, which she was quick to try and wipe away.
"N-nothing. Just a wrong number." She replied as she tried to catch up with everyone. But Amy could tell that something was bothering Weiss, though she chose not to press on it.
"Hey, are Shadow and Omega going to join us?" Ruby asked Rouge.
"You do know Omega's a robot and can't eat, right?" The white Bat reminded in a teasing manner.
"Right… sorry." Ruby winced.
"Ah, I'm just teasing ya." She waved off assuredly. "He and Shadow got their own thing going on right now."
As it turns out, Shadow and Omega hadn't left Amity Arena as they remained in their secluded spot just above the commentator's box and away from any prying eyes. Shadow looked down to observe the ongoing fight between a group of Atlas students, one so-called student happened to be Penny, battling a team from Shade and appeared to be on the winning end. That Penny android was certainly strong, up to the point why Shadow had to wonder how nobody suspected she wasn't human given her own capabilities. Though he just assumed that it was thanks to special tools from Atlas, the most advanced Kingdom on Remnant, and likely her Semblance. That seemed like a reasonable excuse.
"Shadow." Omega got his attention. "I have gone through the recordings of many of the previous fights and I believe I have potentially located the infiltrators."
"Show me." Shadow said immediately.
A small camera appeared just under Omega's optics which lit up to show a holographic recording of two student teams battling each other, though it would better to describe it as a one-sided slaughter where one team completely dominated the other, up to the point it seemed like the winning team didn't even use their Semblances.
"The team in question is identified as CEMM, they are reportedly third years from Haven Academy." Omega began. "However, their leader, known as Cinder Autumn, matches the physicality of the intruder we encountered in the CCT alongside Metal Sonic." For emphasis, the footage paused as Omega zoomed in on the woman in question, who was in a kicking stance as she knocked down one of her opponents.
Shadow got a good look at her. Her physical body, such as her height, hair color, and body shape, seemed very similar to the masked assailant from the tower. Though no Semblance appeared to be used in the fight, likely a method to maintain her cover, it was the eyes that really sold it out. Those amber colored eyes were the same underneath that domino mask from that night.
"It's her." The Ultimate Lifeform deduced.
"In addition, another member of this group, under the name of Mary Poppins…" Omega noticed a skeptical look on Shadow's face at the mention of that name but went on regardless. "…Appears to be surrounded by a visual anomaly."
"How so?" Shadow asked.
Omega's camera shifted the pause footage to the image of the one identified as Mary Poppins, standing over a soon-to-be defeated foe and began to explain.
"There is a visual distortion surrounding the female. Those who see within the visual spectrum see only what is directly in front of them. But if one looks beyond that, you will see past the distortion. Switching to ultraviolet." The light on Omega's camera turned a brief violet which showed an aura surrounding 'Mary Poppins' which began to clear away to reveal a certain young woman with pink and brown hair, her left eye being brown and her right eye being pink.
"That was the same woman with Torchwick in the industrial district." Shadow remembered.
"The very one that Rouge encountered on the train in Mountain Glenn." Omega confirmed. "According to her, this female possessed a Semblance that could create visual illusions, though Rouge was able overcome it due to her advanced hearing."
"And if her Semblance creates visual illusions, it would be easy for her to infiltrate the academy." Shadow realized. "That identifies two potential spies, but what about the rest of their team?"
Omega's camera brought up the paused images of the remaining two. "They are identified as Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. No Semblances appeared to be used in this battle, and the information on them is limited."
"They could either be spies as well, or ordinary students who are unaware of the true nature of their teammates, making them potential hostages." Shadow said. "We need more information before we can move in, but we'll keep an eye on them."
"Should we inform our discovery to Sonic and the others? And what of Teams RWBY and JNPR?" Omega asked as his camera hid away.
"We'll talk to them all tonight when these day's matches end." Shadow answered. "But for now, we keep this to ourselves. If Ozpin finds out about this, Ironwood will only make the situation worse with his hard-handed approach, and Ozpin would do what he could to keep us away from the situation and learning his true intentions."
"Acknowledged and agreed." Omega nodded.
"Finally… after so long… we have found it…" Sonic began dramatically as he had led his friends towards a certain food stand. "Chilidogs!" At his proclaim, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge, all looked more amused than anything else, while Ruby seemed pretty excited for it.
"Yay! Chilidogs!" The young silver-eyed girl cheered. "I never tried one before… but I bet it's good!"
"Then prepare to have your tastebuds blown away!" Sonic grinned.
"You're really that excited for a greasy sausage in a bun?" Weiss questioned.
"Ugh, don't say it like that!" Sonic cringed.
"Eh, she's probably more used to a rare steak or any other fancy dish she got in her mansion." Yang jabbed.
"That and she probably doesn't want to get anything on her pretty white clothes." Rouge also jabbed.
"Don't worry, they come with napkins." Sonic said.
"Come on Weiss, let's give it a try." Ruby urged. "You know the old saying 'don't knock it till you try it'."
"It wouldn't hurt to try something new." Blake added.
"But if you don't want to…" Tails began.
"Alright, alright, I'll give it a try!" Weiss relented as they all sat down at the stand with Team Sonic, including Rouge, at the front, and Team RWBY on the right side of the stand. "How many calories do you think is in this?"
"You'll work it off." Amy said as the one who ran the stand, who also happened to be the owner of the local Dust shop in downtown Vale, came up to take their orders.
"I'll take three chilidogs." Sonic said.
"Oh! I'll take three, too!" Ruby raised her hand.
"Just two for me." Knuckles said.
"I'll have one, please." Tails requested.
"Give me two." Yang ordered.
"Just one will be fine with me." Amy requested.
"Same for me." Rouge said.
"I'll have just one, with extra napkins, and preferably with a fork and knife." Weiss requested.
"Do you have any fish sausages?" Blake asked, to which the vendor nodded in confirmation. "I'll take two."
The vendor quickly ran to the back of the stand and in less than a second brought out all nine plates of all the chilidog orders and gave them to the recipients, with Blake looking especially excited at the fish sausages in her bun with the juicy chili on top, with stars in her eyes and drool coming down her mouth.
"So, how are you paying for all of this?" Weiss asked Sonic.
"Who said I'm paying?" He replied, causing her to look in surprise.
"What?!"
"Hey, I don't have any Remnant-money. I've been doing all this hero stuff for free since I got here." Sonic said.
"Don't worry Blue, Weiss has got it covered." Rouge held none other than Weiss' own personal credit card before skillfully flicking it to the vendor, who caught it just as easy, much to Weiss' further shock.
"H-how… you…?!" She felt along her person wondering just how Rouge was able to steal that without her noticing, a sight that caused Ruby to giggle. "W-Why do you steal from me?!"
"Because you have fine taste, and I always get a nice reaction." Rouge smirked.
As Weiss fumed, Yang kept her chuckles at bay while everyone else looked in either amusement or annoyance.
"Just breathe and ignore her, Weiss." Knuckles advised. "The more you react, the more she'll do it." He eyed her while Rouge just kept her smirk in his direction, only to look in genuine surprise as the credit card was tossed back, embedding itself into the stand.
"Ahem." The vendor got their attention as he pointed to the register where the screen said 'DECLINED' with Xs on the sides.
"What? How can my card be declined?! Unless…" Weiss looked towards Rouge accusatorily.
"Hey, I only swiped it two minutes ago. I didn't buy anything else with it." She raised her hands defensively. "Though, if you get a new one, let me know. Could buy a nice dress with your fortune now that I think about it."
As she talked, Blake tried to bring her plate of chili-fish-sausages closer towards her with an innocent and eager smile, only for the vendor to swipe it away, much to her horror. "No…" She muttered as she fell dramatically.
Sonic appeared to go through a similar phase as the vendor took away his plate of chilidogs. "So close… yet so far away…" He reached out dramatically.
"Maybe I can help?" They all turned to the side to see Pyrrha walking up with her own personal credit card, along with the rest of Team JNPR right behind her.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby cheered.
"Awe thanks, but you don't have to." Tails smiled.
"Yes she could!" Sonic and Blake both said at the same time.
"Well, who am I to deny friends in need, especially when some of them have earned it after that battle?" Pyrrha said.
"Mind if we join you?" Jaune requested. "We were supposed to meet up here."
"By all means. Let's feast together." Amy smiled as Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha all sat down at the free side of the stand with Pyrrha handing the vendor her credit card. Sonic and Blake's dishes were returned, much to their delight while chilidogs were delivered to the new arrivals. Jaune and Pyrrha each had two, with the latter also eating it with a fork and knife, while Nora had three and Ren just had one.
As they feasted, Ruby made a satisfied moan in her mouth as she chewed and swallowed. "Oh my gods… this is so good!"
"Toldya." Sonic smirked as he sniffed the one in his hand before giving an over-the-top sigh of satisfaction. "Oh, how I've missed you." He bit down into it and savored all the flavors, Blake doing the same with her fish sausages.
Weiss, after putting a couple napkins in her collar, had used her fork and knife to cut off a piece of her chilidog and looked at the greasy food with skepticism before taking a bite. The minute it touched her tongue, her eyes widened as she tasted so many different flavors all at once. It was like fireworks had gone off in her tastebuds. A smile soon formed on her face as she cut up another piece and devoured it, making happy moans as she tasted the delicious meal in her mouth.
"So, how's that?" Sonic asked in a teasing manner.
Weiss swallowed and gave a sigh to try and speak professionally. "I'll admit… it's not bad."
"Looks like you hooked another one." Amy teased Sonic, who only shrugged.
Tails chuckled but he noticed Jaune was trying to wipe off a good portion of his chili from his hot dogs. "Something wrong Jaune? You don't like it?"
"No, it's fine. I… just can't eat too much chili." Jaune confessed embarrassingly. "It makes me gassy."
"Oh! Does anybody have a lighter on them?!" Nora asked excitedly.
"Why?" Knuckles asked.
"So, if Jaune farts during our match, we can light it on fire and make him into a flamethrower!" Nora declared.
"Nora, we're trying to eat here." Ren chastised.
"Come on, that's only in cartoons. It's not a real thing." Yang brushed off.
"Actually, it is." Tails pointed out.
"Wait, seriously?" Yang looked in genuine surprise.
"Yeah. Even odorless flatulence can contain traces of methane, along with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, all of which are flammable…" Tails explained.
"Tails! Please!" Weiss exclaimed. "As Ren said, we are trying to eat!"
"…But it's unsafe so I would not recommend it." Tails said to Nora and Jaune.
"Aw man." Nora sulked while Jaune looked relieved.
Pyrrha decided to change the subject as she spoke next. "So, who among you is advancing to the doubles round?"
"Oh Weiss, definitely." Ruby answered. "She's without a doubt, the most skilled on our team."
"Thank you, Ruby." Weiss smiled smugly with confidence.
"Except when it comes to the subtle stuff." Rouge said as she revealed she had Myrtenaster in her hand, much to Weiss' shock and anger two seconds later before Rouge tossed it back.
"We'll also need our strongest gal out there." Ruby said with a grin. "What do you think, Yang? You up for doing it?"
A part of her wanted to say 'yes' without hesitation. But thinking back on everything and how she's been training to try and break out of her old habits… and how hard it's been…. Maybe she wouldn't be the best choice.
"If it's alright with you Ruby… I think you're going to want to somebody else."
That took not only Ruby, but also Weiss, Blake, and most of Team JNPR by surprise, even Sonic, Tails, and Amy didn't expect to hear that. Rouge only raised a curious eyebrow while Knuckles just had a serious look on his face.
"Yang…?" Ruby honestly had no idea what to say to that.
"Sure, I'm probably the strongest… but I'm not the best." Yang tried to explain it as best as she could. "You all know that I need to do better. What I've done for years… it's not enough. I've built everything up on a pretty crappy foundation so… I think I need to start over. Work on everything from the ground-up. So, I don't think I'm the best choice for the doubles round."
"But Yang… you're the best short-ranged fighter on our team." Blake told her partner. "And you did eliminate one of our opponents on your own that last round."
"Honestly, I just got lucky." Yang replied. "The edge of the ring was right behind me, and I only just did what I thought Knuckles would do. If anything had gone wrong, I would have been knocked out." She looked towards Knuckles specifically. "I've only just figured out what direction I need to go in, so I don't think I'm ready."
While Knuckles was glad to see that Yang was not only acknowledging her flaws, but even showing a case of personal humility, the unspoken and arguably most important lesson of any warrior, it also felt like she was being hard on herself. No doubt her encounter with Mimic still had an impact on her.
"Give yourself some credit though. You're keeping an open mind and you're learning something new." The red Echidna told her. "Speaking of, how is all that left over energy?"
"It's still there." Yang confirmed. "Nothing's faded, yet. But it's only been a few hours. Let's wait a day or two before we start looking into that idea of building a reservoir."
"And you're sure this is what you want?" Knuckles asked.
"Yes. I've put a lot thought into this." The blonde answered with a nod, to which Knuckles responded with a smile and a nod of acceptance.
"Alright… if you say so, Yang." Though still surprised, Ruby accepted her sister's decision before looking toward her other teammate. "What about you, Blake? You wanna go to the doubles round?"
"Well… I wouldn't mind it, but I think you'd be a better fit, Ruby." She said, much to Ruby's further surprise.
"Me?!"
"You and Weiss are partners, you have better functionality as a duo and can work best as a team. I think that'll be important in winning." Blake said.
"Well… yeah but…" Ruby didn't seem quite sure. Her in the doubles round? What Blake said did make sense. She and Wiess were partners and they made a good team together.
"Why are you being so hesitant?" Weiss questioned. "Like Blake said, we're partners. You know how good a team we are, Ruby. And you're the leader, it's your choice."
"I know, but I don't want to do anything you don't want too." Ruby said somewhat meekly.
"When did I say I didn't want to work with you?" Weiss questioned. "Honestly, I'd like the idea of the two of us advancing together." That caused Ruby to look in further surprise. "But, if you don't want to do it, just say so. Just as you won't have us do what we don't want to do, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."
Did Weiss honestly say that she wanted to work with Ruby in the doubles round? While there's never been a doubt in Ruby's mind that she considered Weiss a friend and a partner, it still felt somewhat surreal to hear Weiss reciprocate that, and yet it also made her feel pretty happy. But she still felt somewhat unsure and found herself looking towards Sonic as he appeared to be finishing up his chilidogs when he caught her gaze.
"Hey, don't look at me. Your team, your call." Sonic shrugged as he finished the last of his chilidogs. "But if you want this humble Hedgehog's honest opinion, I'd say you two are the best duo on your team. You already kick major butt, and if you put some effort behind it…" He licked his fingers before finishing. "…I'd say you'd be unstoppable."
Ruby and even Weiss were stunned to hear that. They both have gotten genuine complements and voices of encouragement from the Blue Blur before, this felt different. Did he truly feel they had the potential to be truly unstoppable? That sort of acknowledgment from someone they regard so highly honestly raised their spirits quite a bit, especially for Ruby as any last bit of inductiveness in her vanished.
"Yeah… let's do it! Let's be an unstoppable duo…!" Ruby declared with a smile as she offered Weiss her hand. "Partner."
Weiss smiled back as she clasped her hand with Ruby's. "With pleasure, partner."
As the conjoined group seemed to smile at this development, Pyrrha stood up from her seat, having finished her meal. "Well, we should be off."
"So, you guys think you're ready?" Amy asked.
"Absolutely!" Nora said enthusiastically. "We've been training practically non-stop all week! We got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench-press freaking Omega…"
"Don't let him hear you say that." Rouge teased.
"…And even Jaune's gotten better as a leader!" Nora continued.
"Thanks Nora." Jaune himself appreciated her complement.
"And I finally get a chance to test this bad boy out!" She brought out Magnhild to reveal there was now a beartrap-like attachment to the mallet, almost like the mallet was in-between a set of fanged teeth. She pulled a trigger which caused the teeth to extend before snapping together loudly.
"You actually installed a beartrap onto her weapon?" Weiss looked towards Tails in an absurd manner.
"She was very insistent on it." Tails said.
"Well, I think it looks awesome!" Ruby beamed. "And hey, didn't you say you were going to make your own weapon, Tails?"
"Yep, and it's all finished." The young Fox confirmed. "But Sonic wants to wait for a chance to show it off."
"We're not students and can't openly fight in the tournament like you guys can." The blue Hedgehog explained. "So, I'm gonna try and pitch the idea to Ozpin about a bit of an 'exhibition' later tonight when everyone goes home. Maybe us against a group of Ozpin's choosing, or my team against Team Dark, whichever. So, what do you say Rouge? How about a spar like old times?"
"How can I refuse?" Rouge grinned. "I'm sure Shadow would love to settle the score of course."
"Sonic vs. Shadow? Now that's something I want to see!" Yang grinned.
"You said 'like old times'." Blake pointed out. "Does that mean you all fought each other before?"
"Yep." Knuckles confirmed. "In fact, the first time Sonic and Shadow duked it out, they ended in a draw."
"It wasn't a draw!" Sonic replied. "The island we were on was gonna explode so we had to bail before we could finish."
"And all the times after that?" Knuckles asked in response with a raised eyebrow. Sonic raised his finger, looking ready to protest, but nothing came out of his mouth, and he was forced to concede. "Uh-huh, that's what I thought."
"Wait… so Sonic hasn't beaten Shadow in a fight?" Ruby looked in genuine surprise.
"Or the other way around." Amy confirmed. "Sonic and Shadow are practically dead-even with each other. So much so that whenever they spar, there's never a clear winner."
That left all of RWBY and JNPR in silent shock as they thought about that. They'd all seen both Sonic and Shadow exercise their power to wipe out whole hordes of Grimm and killer robots, so there was no doubt that they were both strong, but none of them had ever really considered the idea of which one was stronger. It left them both curious and anxious to see what would happen if the pair ever did clash with each other.
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately?" Professor Port's request over the intercom got all their attention.
"Yes, like they were scheduled to several. Minutes. Ago." Oobleck added for emphasis, causing everyone to lower their eyelids in annoyance.
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha said as they all stood up and proceeded to return to Amity Arena.
As they did however, they didn't seem to notice a few stands behind them, where Emerald had been hiding as she saw them all walk away.
"Keeping your distance, huh?" Mercury teased as he walked over to her. "You're being overly cautious."
"Don't push it, Mercury." She told him. "You've seen what those aliens can do. They're way stronger than the average Huntsman."
"But your Semblance can work on them, right?" He asked.
"Yeah. I tested it just now, mostly on the blue Hedgehog and that flying rat. They didn't even notice I was right behind them, even with those fancy ears of hers. I was practically invisible." Emerald confirmed, having used her Semblance to get in close and overhear their conversation.
"Then we should be fine. Don't get your pants in a bunch, Em." Mercury brushed off, earning a slight glare from her. "So, did you at least get what they want?"
"It's the brat and the heiress." Emerald reported.
"Alright, at least now we know who we're working with." Mercury said as they went their own way.
After returning to Amity Arena, Teams Sonic and RWBY, along with Rouge, had returned to the special seats reserved for competing teams and onlooking professors. But after making sure they were at a reasonable distance, Emerald and Mercury had found a pair of seats to sit in, right next to Cinder and Neopolitan, the later still in her 'Mary Poppins' disguise as they saw Team JNPR and their opponents step out into the arena.
"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury said as he sat next to Neo who was currently eating a bowl of popcorn.
Emerald scoffed. "As if we didn't already know." She said as their mute ally nodded in agreement.
"Oh, come now, even if you know how a story ends…" Cinder began as she reached into Neo's bowl, much to her irritation, and pulled out a colonel in-between her fingers. "That doesn't make it any less fun to watch." She superheated the colonel with her power, causing it to pop before she put in her mouth. "So, what more targets do we have?"
"The Schnee and the brat-leader are apparently advancing to the doubles." Mercury answered.
"Oh? Their strongest player isn't moving up? That seems rather foolish." Cinder commented.
"Apparently the bimbo thinks her old way of fighting is crappy and she wants to train with the aliens to get better." Emerald summed up. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"No, if anything this works better." Cinder smirked. "We all know how dirty the Schnee family is. If their little heiress moves up in the tournament, we'll use that to deal even more damage to her already irredeemable family name. Taurus would certainly love that."
"And if it's the half-pint?" Mercury asked.
That only caused Cinder's smirk to grow. "Well… just imagine how everyone in the world would feel if one of their most prestigious academies, run by the paragon of virtue that is Ozpin, has turned such a sweet little girl… into a cold-blooded murderer."
As she continued to scheme and plot, neither Cinder nor any of her cohorts seemed to notice that they were being watched. Still maintaining a relative distance, Shadow and Omega remained perched on one of the commentator boxes as they spotted the quartet. The Ultimate Lifeform narrowed his eyes at Cinder specifically, for she was not only the same assailant who infiltrated the CCT, but the very same person who murdered that young Faunus boy when he attempted to defect from the White Fang. The black Hedgehog was onto her, and he will be certain that she pays for her crimes.
In the arena, Team JNPR soon faced off against their opponents, Team BRNZ from Shade Academy.
The leader of BRNZ was Brawnz Ni, a young man with purple eyes and short black hair, he wore a sleeveless gray and purple top, black pants with bronze kneecaps, and was equipped with a pair of clawed gauntlets. Roy Stallion was a dark-skinned young man with green eyes and brown hair in dreadlocks at the back of his head; he wore a green sleeveless vest over a black shirt, white pants, and fingerless gloves that was connected to pair of gauntlets that had circular buzz saws on them. Nolan Porfirio was a teenage boy with messy dark red hair and pink eyes; he wore a deep sky blue sleeveless jacket over a black hoodie with a pair of pink sunglasses hanging from his collar, along with ripped burgundy jeans, he also appeared to be wielding a cattle prod as a weapon. And finally, May Zedong, the only girl on the team, who had light tan skin and dusky rose hair with gray-blue eyes; she wore a red and white hoodie with blue pants and a black beanie that covered her left eye, she also appeared to be wielding a sniper rifle.
"Team JNPR of Beacon vs. Team BRNZ of Shade!" Port announced. Just like with all the previous fights, holo-screens appeared on all sides of the arena as the environment lottery began once more. The spinning stopped as half of the screens showed a symbol of evergreen trees, while the other showed an emblem resembling a mountain with a thunderstorm above it.
The portion of the arena behind Team BRNZ opened up to reveal a forested area, while that behind Team JNPR had also opened up to reveal a large rocky landscape that one would find on a mountain top.
"Three… Two… One… BEGIN!"
Done.
As you can see, we're already starting to see changes in this story. First up, that one scene at the beginning of the canon episode where Ruby visits her mother's grave was omitted. In canon, she had returned home to Patch in-between Volumes 2 and 3, likely during a break between the end of the semester and the start of the Vytal Festival. But if you would recall, this time around, RWBY and JNPR decided to stay at Beacon during their break to train with Teams Sonic and Dark to get stronger and improve on their own personal weaknesses. So, Ruby didn't visit her mom's grave this time around. But don't worry, there will be a scene at the end of this arc where she does visit Summer's grave… and things will be quite different than they were in canon.
Team RWBY has also developed their own Team Blast: RWBY Dash! (Kinda inspired by the attack they used to defeat the Curious Cat in Volume 9). It's a bit of a work-in-progress right now, but not bad for a first attempt.
We also got to see Yang starting to improve and change her fighting style under Knuckles' tutelage. She's keeping an open mind know about fighting differently, already using her Semblance for not only defense, but even using bits and pieces of her power at a time and not all at once like before, she's even open to the idea of building up an internal reservoir of power with each fight. Not only that, but she's also showing signs of humility with a want to improve, even willing to start over from the ground up if she has to. And that leads to another major change from canon…
Instead of Yang and Weiss advancing to the doubles, it's Ruby and Weiss. There is a sense of logic to it, considering Yang's current disposition. Ruby and Weiss are partners in their team, and they have a good dynamic with each other, so much so that even Sonic thinks they could be unstoppable if they put in the effort. And when we get to the doubles round with those two, I've got special plans for them.
But, probably more importantly, Shadow and Omega have discovered Cinder as well as Neo! But they're not moving in quite yet. They need to know if Emerald and Mercury are either accomplices or hostages before they move in, and they're keeping this to themselves for the time being (though they do intend to tell their allies later on), without any potential interference from Ozpin or Ironwood.
Speaking of, Tails' anti-virus program has been uploaded into the CCT network, along with the secondary programing that Shadow requested. You'll see the results of that in later chapters. And yes, Tails has his own personal weapon now. As for what it is, you'll just have to wait and see. (Keeping you in suspense LOL)
Up next is JNPR's battle against BRNZ (and yes, Nora has a beartrap attached to her weapon LOL). That's going to be a very interesting chapter as Team RWBY is not the only team that's improved.
I'm really looking forward to this arc and I can't wait to show you all what I have in store! Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys. Wish me luck in the upcoming marathon.
Edit: Some people pointed out to me a small detail regarding Emerald's Semblance and her testing it out on Sonic and his friends, in that at this point in canon, her Semblance can only affect one or two people, a critical detail that I overlooked. But I fixed it so that in that one scene, she was mainly focusing on Sonic and Rouge, the former being the biggest threat and the later with her heightened hearing (as that's what got Neo when she fought Rouge in the train) and it seems to have worked on them. The others didn't notice because she's got experience in keeping herself unseen and unheard as a street thief. I hope that clears it up. Thank you.