Hi everyone, welcome back! The Vytal Festival continues as it's now Team JNPR's turn to take the stage and show what they're capable of. As well as a pair of goofballs later on. Expect some things to play out somewhat differently in this chapter. So, with that being said, let's get started.
Root for the Underdogs
Jaune took a deep breath as he stood alongside his team and observed his opponents of Team BRNZ just as the countdown to the start of his match had begun.
"Three… Two… One…" Port counted down.
"Let's see what these guys can do." Jaune told his teammates. "Get a feel for their weapons and how they fight."
"BEGIN!"
Team JNPR charged forward, however, Jaune noticed that the only girl on the enemy's team, May Zedong, had ran back into the forested side of the arena, while Brawnz Ni, Roy Stallion, and Nolan Porfirio, had charged directly at them.
"Pyrrha, Nora, spread out!" Jaune ordered. "Ren, with me! Sickle and Shield!"
His teammates did as they were told as Pyrrha and Nora went off in separate directions, engaging Brawnz and Roy respectively while Nolan went for Jaune and Ren who stood by together just as May had hopped into the trees and loaded her rifle.
Pyrrha had brought up Akouo to block the knee strike from Brawnz before he went on the offensive with his clawed knuckles, which Pyrrha blocked with Milo in its sword-form. They locked weapons as Pyrrha gauged her opponent. Aside from his weapon, Brawnz had little-to-no metal on him, which means she couldn't rely on her Polarity too much here, not that she ever did as she was more than capable of fighting in close-quarters.
"You're strong." Brawnz observed. "Probably the strongest of your team. Let's see how strong." He quickly threw out multiple punches with his clawed knuckles, which Pyrrha blocked and parried with Milo and Akouo before trying to slice her sword at his legs, prompting him to jump, but this left him open for Pyrrha to strike Akouo into his gut while in mid-air and send him rolling to the ground, though he quickly recovered.
"There's more to a fight than just strength alone." Pyrrha told him before re-engaging him in combat.
Nora meanwhile swung Magnhild in its hammer formation at Roy, who quickly ducked and swerved around all her strikes, leaping back to throw the buzz saws from his gauntlets at her, but Nora actually rushed forward, ducking her body and holding her hammer above her back as she spun it around quickly like a top to bat away the incoming buzz saws and close the distance as she leapt into the air to bring her hammer down, but Roy moved out of the way to avoid the smash just as his buzz saws returned to him.
"Nice one, Nora!" Amy cheered for her friend.
"Isn't that one of your moves?" Blake asked.
"And a bit of mine, too." Ruby said.
"She kinda took inspiration from both of us on how we handle our weapons." Amy explained. "When it comes to fighting, Nora's actually pretty smart."
Nora charged again at Roy, but when he tried to throw a punch with his right fist, his buzzsaw weapon spinning again, Nora had tried to block it with the mallet of Magnhild, or so it seemed. Because as Roy's punch was about to connect, the jaws of the beartrap extension to her weapon extended somewhat and bit down to catch Roy's hand. This caused him grunt before he realized that he was trapped and unable to wrench himself free.
"Beartrap, baby!" Nora grinned like a madman before hauling Magnhild, and by extension Roy, over her head and smashing him into the ground before spinning her weapon and captured opponent around and pressed a button to open the beartrap extension and send Roy crashing into the trees on the forested side of the arena.
Weiss blinked in surprise. "Huh. I suppose a beartrap can be useful in a fight."
"Probably when it's in the hands of someone as crazy as Nora." Tails said in complementary fashion.
"And that's the good kind of crazy." Sonic smirked.
Meanwhile, Jaune used his shield to block Nolan's Cattle Prod, before ducking as Ren rolled himself over Jaune's back to deliver a double kick into Nolan, though he quickly recovered and thrusted his Prod into Ren's stomach, sending an electric current into him. Though it didn't last long as Jaune used the Crocea Mors sword to slice down and bat the Prod away before bringing up his shield to block Nolan's retaliatory kick, to which Jaune responded by pushing his shield forward to push Nolan back, who was forced to run and find cover as Ren had shot at him with StormFlower's gun-attachment in one hand and using his other to hold his stomach area.
"Ren, you good?" Jaune asked.
"I'm fine." He assured. "But his prod is electric."
Before Jaune could respond to that, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he was shot by an unseen foe. Ren was likewise shot in the same chest area where the Nolan had struck him with his Prod.
This was courtesy of May, who kept herself hidden in the trees within forested area, using her sniper rifle to then shoot at Nora and Pyrrha. Though Nora was shot in the leg, she briefly fell to one knee but was quick to get back up, while Pyrrha had quickly brought up her shield for cover. She then glanced past her shield to the trees to see a brief shine of metal in the leaves before using Akouo to block the next shot.
"We have a sniper!" She called to her teammates.
Jaune realized they were too exposed in the middle and had to find some cover soon. "Get to the rocks!" He told his team as he helped Ren back up and used his shield to provide cover as they went over to the mountainous side of the arena with Pyrrha and Nora quickly joining them as they regrouped and hid behind the rocks.
Shadow and Omega, both remaining on their perched spot near one of the commentator's boxes, observed the match. Shadow saw what the idea was from the beginning, trying to get a handle on how the enemy fights at the start, and despite Team JNPR being forced to fall back, this still allowed them to get a sense of how the enemy operates.
'You know what they can do. How will you respond?' The Ultimate Lifeform thought as he kept his eyes focused on the match.
Jaune glanced past the rocks to see that while the sniper remained hidden, Roy, Brawnz, and Nolan had regrouped and were ready to press on the attack, but Jaune already had a counter in mind.
"Pyrrha, you keep moving and try to distract the sniper! Act as a decoy!" Jaune began. "Ren, you sneak through the trees and try to find them and take them down! Nora, you're with me! We keep moving and keep the others focused on us!"
"Aye, aye, captain!" Nora saluted before she stepped up onto a rock to get the attention of the opposing team. "Hey! Over here!" She converted Magnhild into its grenade launcher mode and fired toward Team BRNZ. Though they dodged and moved in different directions to avoid the resulting explosion, Nora was forced to take cover to avoid another sniper shot from May as she remained hidden in the threes.
However, a tree branch near her spot was shot off by a returning shot. Glancing through the leaves, May saw that Pyrrha had Milo converted into its rifle mode as she fired in the general direction that May was at. As she fired, Pyrrha glanced towards her side toward Ren as he was behind a boulder for cover. They exchanged nods as Pyrrha kept up with suppressive fire while Ren quickly dashed around the side to make his way towards the forested half of the arena.
Meanwhile, the rest of Team BRNZ had recovered as they moved in to try and go on the attack as Jaune and Nora both ran together along the side of the mountain. However, the pair found themselves surrounded by all three of their enemies as the two came back-to-back. Jaune saw how he was now facing Nolan with his cattle Prod and got an idea.
"Nora, the guy in front of me has an electric weapon. Switch it up." He whispered to her.
"You got it." Nora agreed as they quickly spun around to engage their respective opponents. Jaune saw that he was now up against Roy and Brawnz and had no choice but to stay on defense while Nora dealt with their other opponent, using his shield to block the saws and claws of Roy and Brawnz respectively.
Nora raised her hammer and looked ready to smash it into Nolan, who responded by lunging his Cattle Prod into Nora's stomach area, sending an electric pulse through her. However, much to Nolan's surprise, Nora wasn't in any pain at all. In fact, her grin only grew.
"Thanks for the pick-me-up!" She smirked almost evilly, the electricity channeling all throughout her body as her Semblance allowed her to absorb it and increase her physical strength. She brought her hammer back and smashed it into Nolan's side with all her enhanced physical strength, smashing him and sending him flying out toward the side where he skidded across the ground before falling out of the arena entirely.
"And Nolan Porfirio is out!" Port commentated.
"Talk about a shocking turn of events! Literally!" Oobleck added.
With her opponent eliminated, Nora had Magnhild converted into its grenade launcher form and aimed it towards Jaune as he struggled against the combined efforts of Brawnz and Roy. "Jaune, move!" She warned, prompting Jaune to dash towards the side of the mountain and bring his shield up as Nora fired at the feet of her two opponents to blast them away.
That's when Jaune heard the sound of thunder and looked directly upwards to see an artificial storm forming at the top of the small mountain.
"Nora, do you think you can handle twice in a row?" Jaune asked as he pointed his sword toward the storm.
"You even need to ask?" She grinned.
"Then get to the mountain!" He told her, prompting her to make the climb as Jaune ran to join Pyrrha, who kept up the suppressive fire with her rifle to keep May distracted. He went to her back as he saw that Brawnz and Roy were already recovering.
"Time for Arkos." Jaune told his partner. "I'll keep these guys off your back, you keep the snipper distracted until Ren finds them."
"Understood." Pyrrha acknowledged as she smiled to him and he smiled back just before she resumed fire and Jaune held his sword and shield steady as Brawnz and Roy charged toward them.
"Go Jaune and Pyrrha! Take em down!" Ruby cheered for them both.
"It really looks like Jaune's improved." Tails smiled.
"Yeah, but he's still got nothing on Pyrrha." Yang said.
"Maybe he doesn't have to be." Rouge said, getting Yang's attention. "The leader doesn't always have to be the strongest. Jaune's not the best fighter, but he's smarter than most people think."
"A tactician." Knuckles commented. "And he's capable of adapting too. Not bad."
May had hopped onto another tree branch as she looked through the scope of her rifle. Though she saw that Pyrrha still had her own rifle out and appeared to be looking for her, she also saw her remaining two teammates joining the fray as Jaune tried to keep them back. But from the way he was struggling, Jaune would be overwhelmed soon, and that would cause his partner to try and help him, leaving them both open for her to shoot them. She just had to wait a few seconds before she could go on the offense again.
However, she was suddenly struck from behind, causing her to fall out of the tree where she looked upwards in surprise to see Ren, who had just delivered a double-kick and was now falling after her. She landed hard on the ground but rolled out of the way to avoid his stomp. With her enemy about to rush her, May tried to swing her axe-blade, that was attached to the barrel of her rifle at Ren, only for him to block it with the right StormFlower sickle, and he quickly swiped her legs to trip her up. He quickly fell back on his hands and delivered a double kick, a technique he learned from Rouge, just before she hit the ground and was able to deliver enough force to send May just rolling off the edge of the arena and eliminating her.
"And May is out, courtesy of a swift attack from our ever-stealthy Ren!" Oobleck commentated.
"Fast and quiet. I doubt even a Grimm could ever see him coming." Port added.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called to her partner and leader, who was using his shield to keep up the defense against Brawnz and Roy's offensive power. Upon hearing his name being called, Jaune ducked as Pyrrha threw Akouo out like a Frisbee to strike Brawnz in the face while Jaune went on the offensive against Roy, using his shield to block the quick buzz-saw strikes before slicing at him with Crocea Mors to stagger him, which Pyrrha followed through as she rushed to Jaune's side to use her Polarity to pull back her shield, striking Roy in the side and into a mighty swing from Jaune's sword, knocking him to the ground next to his team leader.
The blonde then looked upwards to see that Nora had climbed to the top of the mountain. "Nora, it's up to you! Bring the hammer down!"
She raised her hammer straight to the artificial storm cloud as a bolt of lightning struck down, hitting Magnhild first and then going directly into Nora's body as the electricity caused her strength to increase once more, only it was far greater than when Nolan struck her with his Cattle Prod. Her eyes lit up with lightning as she eyed her downed opponents.
"You want me to put the hammer down?! Alright, it's coming down!" She gave a might yell as she leapt from the top of the mountain with her enhanced strength, raised her hammer and fell directly toward the downed Roy and Brawnz just as Jaune and Pyrrha ran to avoid getting caught up in it at all.
"Aw crap…" Brawnz muttered as Nora brought her mighty hammer down with all the strength she had.
*BOOM!*
A mighty electrical explosion erupted at the very center of the arena as Brawnz and Roy were both sent flying up and crashing down outside of the ring as a crater had formed in the center of the arena where Nora had struck.
"Brawnz and Roy are eliminated by ring out and Aura level!" Port declared. "Team JNPR is victorious!"
"Ah yeah!" Nora raised her fist in victory as her teammates all gathered around. She pulled in Ren, Pyrrha, and even Jaune in a group hug. "We won, baby!"
"Yeah… we actually won…" Jaune said in a tone of surprise and disbelief, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself. It felt only yesterday that he had cheated his way into Beacon and was practically dead last in terms of combat prowess, and occasionally grades, compared to his teammates and peers. But now, he had actually led his team to victory in the first round of the Vytal Festival tournament! It was unbelievable!
"We all did very well, you especially Jaune." Pyrrha encouraged.
"Good work, team leader." Ren nodded with a smile of his own. This only caused Jaune's smile to rise as he felt his confidence grow.
"Yay! They did it!" Ruby cheered as the rest of Team RWBY and Team Sonic, as well as Rouge, all clapped for their victory.
"Jaune has improved… both as a fighter and a leader." Weiss commented before she smiled. "I'm impressed."
"Nora really brough it down on them on the end, huh?" Sonic grinned.
"I taught her that." Amy smiled. "Go Hammer Harpies."
While Yang was glad at how her friends won, she couldn't help but be concerned when it came to Nora nad her Semblance, especially when it seems like she has to tank an electrical attack to gain a boost in strength. It wasn't all that different from her own power.
"Hey Knuckles… you think Nora might have the same kind of problem, I do?" Yang asked the red Echidna. "Not that I'm trying to talk down on her anything it's just…"
"Your powers are alike." Knuckles replied. "Yeah, I actually noticed that. I talked about it with Nora one time, and a bit with Tails since he knows more about electricity than I do."
"Your Semblances are similar in that they can both absorb energy, but that's also where it's different." Tails explained for the blonde Huntress. "Yang, you absorb kinetic energy which is not the same as electrical energy. And you both can get damaged from taking in too much, but when you absorb that damage, the kinetic energy turns back into potential when it's inside you until you let all out, and it turns back to kinetic. Active electricity doesn't work the same way. It's not like you turn Nora on and off like a light switch because she's organic, not a machine. She kinda has to let it all out at once, unlike you who can apparently store it or use portions of it."
"Oh… Okay, I guess that makes sense." Yang seemed to understand. Though this only made her more concerned for Nora because if she's not careful, she might end up hurting or damaging herself. And the last thing she wanted was to see a friend get hurt.
"Don't worry, Nora has a good handle on her Semblance." Knuckles assured, easily reading Yang's concerned expression. "Like I said, Tails and I talked it over with her and she knows how to use it, but she is open to learning new things if she has to."
"Okay. That's a relief." Yang breathed.
However, while Knuckles was glad that he was able to dissuade Yang's concerns, he himself couldn't help but think more on Yang herself. It was true that she was more open to learning new things with a sense of humility, there was still something of a stubborn streak in her. And while he didn't really say this to her, or anyone else for that matter, that stubborn streak of hers that he had to work with this past week while training her felt very similar to what he got from that masked woman he fought alongside with against Merlot's mutants. Something about that person reminded him of Yang and he wasn't sure how to think about it quite yet. But he'll talk about it with the others later. Their first priority was finding the spies that had infiltrated Beacon, and stopping Eggman; their second priority was finding out what it was that Ozpin was hiding from them. Everything else can wait.
"Satisfactory." Omega commented regarding Team JNPR's victory. "Most satisfactory. Nora and Pyrrha have the most destructive capabilities and possess proper handling of such. Ren's stealth skills are optimal. Jaune's leadership qualities allow how to best apply them. They will be most useful in the upcoming battle against Eggman's forces, particularly Pyrrha's Polarity." However, the former Badnik had noticed that Shadow as no longer present in their secluded spot. But Omega had a good idea of where he might be.
The Crow Bar, a small tavern near the docks off the coast of Vale. Currently, there was only one customer.
It was a tall, lengthy, middle-aged man with pale white skin and faded red eyes. He had black spikey hair with the edges looking something akin to bird feathers and a slight stubble along his jawline. His current attire consisted of a short, red, tattered cloak with a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes. He also had a ring on his right index finger and two other rings on his right ring finger, and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant.
The man a near-empty shot glass in his hand as he glanced at the TV to see the end result of Team JNPR's victory over Team BRNZ.
"Huh, those kids weren't half bad." The bar tender commented with a smile as he cleaned one glass.
His customer however did not feel the same way. Honestly, he felt those kids had a lot of work to improve on. Though that redhaired girl was clearly the most skilled of them, and while he could complement the boy in green's stealth skills, he seemed to rely too much on them. The girl with the hammer was too wild and even reckless. And that blonde boy who was apparently the leader… his skills really needed some work. Truth was, he had hoped he would make it into Vale in time so he could see his nieces and their team at their match, but he was unable to as they were apparently the first match of the day and by the time he found a working TV, their match had long-since ended, much to his dismay.
"Alright, let's celebrate tonight!" Nora said enthusiastically as Team JNPR had exited the arena and were walking down a tunnel that would lead them to the seats where their friends were at.
"Let's hold off on that till after the tournament ends. We still have a long way to go." Ren reigned his childhood friend in.
"Awe, Ren you're such a party pooper." Nora commented. "We won without even having to use our Team Blast! That puts us one over on Team RWBY!"
"I think our next step should deciding who advances to the doubles round." Pyrrha suggested.
"I think I already know who to pick." Jaune spoke. "Pyrrha, Nora, how'd you guys like to go?"
However, before anyone could respond to that, their attention was drawn by the sight of Shadow leaning against the wall as he gazed in their direction.
"Shadow…" Pyrrha did not expect to see him, nor did the rest of her team. "Is something the matter?"
"We may have information regarding the infiltrators." The Black Hedgehog revealed, much to the students' surprise. "Once these matches end, meet all of us in the dorm room where Sonic and his friends are staying. We'll discuss it tonight."
"O-okay. We'll be there." Jaune nodded in understanding as the team went on, passing the Ultimate Lifeform. A part of Jaune wanted to ask Shadow if he saw their match, and if he did, what did he think of it? But he held himself back. He was probably only watching the matches to try and identify the spies, and he probably wouldn't give any kind of encouragement the same way Ruby's or Sonic's teams would. Probably point out more flaws that they needed to work and improve on.
"You seem to have found a dynamic that best suits your team." They all heard the Ultimate Lifeform speak as they turned, Jaune looking especially surprised, to see the black Hedgehog with his eyes closed as he addressed them. "As well as a leadership style that suits you, one that relies on tactics as opposed to trying to be the strongest." He opened his eyes as he gazed at Jaune specifically. "You have a good foundation. Now build on it." With that, he teleported away.
Most of Team JNPR blinked in surprise.
"Did… did he just give us a complement?" Nora asked, not over her surprise at all. "Like an actual complement?"
"I believe he did." Ren spoke in an agreeing tone of surprise. "Though he phrased it more like an observation… it was still a complement."
Pyrrha then slightly nudged Jaune by the arm to get his attention as she just gave him a simple smile, silently telling him that she agreed with everything Shadow had told them. This caused Jaune to smile back. Shadow told them that they had a good foundation as a team, and he had one as a leader. If Shadow of all people thinks Jaune has the potential to be a good leader… then maybe he really could be a great Huntsman after all.
"Let's keep getting stronger, guys." Jaune told his team. "All of us." He offered them his fist for a group-fist-bump. Something they all smiled at and returned as the four brought their fists together.
"Ah well, Vacuo fans are sure to be hurting after that one." Oobleck commentated. "But this next match will have them on the edge of their seats!"
"Team NDGO of Shade is certainly a crowd favorite, but these lovely ladies are going up against some of the toughest, testosterone-fueled teammates we've seen so far." Port said. "I'm, of course, talking about… Team SSSN!"
At the mention of them, multiple girls began to scream for most of Team SSSN as the teamed stepped onto the stage, waving to many people in the audience. Several girls held up signs of Neptune and Sage's faces with hearts around them, with even one of a heart around Sun's abs, there were also some guys cheering for Scarlet with one guy even holding up a sign with hearts around his face as well.
"Sun Wukong and his team are certainly a force to be reckoned with." Port continued. "And although he'll be representing the Mistral academy of Haven, I'm sure his friends and family back in Vacuo will be cheering him along."
"Good luck, Neptune!" Weiss cheered for him as she and the rest of her team, as well as Sonic's group, and even Team CFVY, who happened to sit close by, paid attention to the upcoming match.
Team SSSN then faced their quartet of opponents known as Team NDGO. This team was consisted entirely out of women. Their leader was Nebula Violet, a tan-skinned young woman with olive green eyes and indigo-colored hair, with a light purple jacket, a grey armored shirt and dark grey pants and boots. Dew Gayl was a woman with fair skin, dirty blonde hair and violet-colored eyes, she wore a sleeveless green dress with tan colored boots. Gwen Darcy was a lightly tan skinned woman with black hair and brown eyes, and she wore a dark purple and black dress with dark leggings and white heeled shoes. Octavia Ember had tan skin with brick red hair and olive green eyes, she wore a teal blue jacket with a brown skirt and navy blue boots.
"Ladies." Neptune greeted coolly with a smile.
Weiss fumed as she saw that. "Amy, may I borrow your hammer?"
"Why?" Amy asked.
"Because of NDGO doesn't beat him into the ground, I will!" The heiress exclaimed in comic anger fashion.
"Sure, when you put it like that." Amy agreed as she already had the Piko-Piko out. "In fact, we both can teach him a lesson."
"Oh, that'll be a pleasure." Weiss smirked evilly alongside the pink Hedgehog, causing Sonic to wince slightly.
'Neptune buddy, you'd better think about throwing the match.' The blue Hedgehog thought sympathetically, knowing full well that hell hath no fury like an angry girl, especially if she had a giant hammer.
"Alright girls, try to remember… hands, above the waist." Neptune said to Team NDGO in a flirtatious manner with a wink, much to their irritation.
"Ignore him." Sun said to the opposing team apologetically. "For he's… yeah, he's dumb."
Just like all the previous matches, holo-screens on half of the arena dialed up like a lottery before showing a symbol of a deserted area with a bright sun as the half of the arena behind Team NDGO changed into an environment akin to a desert with sand and dunes, and even an artificial sun, prompting many spectators to put on sunglasses.
"Alright, homefield advantage." Nebula commented with a smile.
"Don't get too cocky. That's my turf too!" Sun pointed out challengingly.
"I hope I don't get sand in my shoes." Scarlet said.
"Be cool, man." Neptune whispered to his red-haired teammate as the holo-screens behind team SSSN to show the symbol of an ocean with a palm tree, showing the environment that was about to be raised.
"Hey, the ocean." Gwen said, much to Neptune's concern.
"Huh?" The blue-haired young man turned around to see that side of the arena change into something akin to a beach with a ruined pirate ship and of course, water that covered most of the arena. The minute Neptune saw the water, his pupils shrunk as he became stiff as a statue.
"What's up with him?" Rouge questioned.
"Oh no…" Coco put her hand to her face.
"What?" Tails asked.
"Sun told us that Neptune's… afraid of the water." Velvet revealed.
Sonic winced. "Yesh, I feel your pain buddy." As he looked to Neptune's stiff form with Sun poking him in the side to try and shake him out of it.
That caught Ruby's attention. "Wait… Sonic… you're afraid of the water?"
"Not afraid per-say… I just can't swim." Sonic admitted with reluctance as all of Team RWBY looked toward him in surprise.
"You don't know how to swim?!" Weiss questioned.
"He doesn't know how to swim?!" Blake looked towards Knuckles who gave a slight sigh in confirmation.
"It's true." Knuckles said.
"Yep." Amy sighed.
"Uh-huh." Rouge nodded.
"It's kinda the reason he has a plane. To avoid going in the water." Tails added.
"If it's a lake, a river, or a pond, I'm fine." Sonic quickly said. "It's the ocean that I've got real trouble with."
"Well, can't you just run on the water?" Yang asked. "I mean, if you can break the sound barrier…"
"You ever tried running on the ocean, Yang?" Sonic responded back. "It's like running when there's an earthquake happening the whole time you're running! Waves coming up and down, trying to constantly adjust my pace, and I can't slowdown in the slightest or I fall in! It's a lot harder than you think!"
"To be fair, the ocean isn't stable enough for Sonic to maintain a proper speed." Tails added. "And if a storm were to hit… So, yeah… unless Sonic has some kind of hover shoes to wear…"
"Kinda like what Shadow has?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah." Tails confirmed. "Unless Sonic has something like that, running on the ocean is not a good idea."
"Three…. Two… One… begin!" Oobleck announced, signaling the start of the match.
Before anyone could even move however, Neptune dashed like a madman from his team, past NDGO and into the deserted area, and onto a spot that was on top of a dune, much to everyone's surprise and his own team's annoyance.
"Neptune! What are you doing?!" Sage called out to him.
"Oh, you know! Just uh… gaining a higher ground!" Neptune called back.
"On the enemy's side?!" Sun exclaimed.
"They would never expect it!" Neptune replied, wanting any excuse to be as far away from water as possible.
"He's not wrong." Dew commented.
"Then let's knock him off his high horse and get his guys on our side." Nebula said. "Octavia."
"I'm on it." Octavia took out her weapon, a long dagger, which she swung to send a wave of fire at the dune that Neptune was on top of, causing it to collapse as Neptune fell into a divot right as Team NDGO ran toward the desert, prompting the rest of Team SSSN to follow them. The second they reached the sand, Nebula fired a volley of arrows from her crossbow, which forced most of Team SSSN to separate as NDGO went on the attack.
Gwen spun around like a ballet to throw a series of knives from her armored skirt at Sun, who took out his own weapon, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, to bat away the knives as pole-vaulted at her, but she limboed under the flying kick, and as he landed Gwen threw out more knives as Sun used his weapon to bat them away again.
Meanwhile, Scarlet used his sword to engage in a sword fight against Nebula, whose own crossbow had converted in a sword. Sage also found himself stuck in-between Octavia and Dew as the latter rushed him with her staff, which he used his enormous sword, Pilgrim to block, but this allowed Octavia to slide on the sand, likely via her Semblance, to close in and slice at him, knocking him down briefly before he swung Pilgrim at the one who attacked him, but Octavia continued to slide and avoid the strikes as she repeatedly sliced at him with her dagger.
Neptune tried to pull himself up from the divot he was stuck in and converted his weapon, Tri-Hard, into its rifle mode to try and shoot at Octavia as she and Dew kept Sage stuck in his current predicament, but from his spot, his aim was partially obscured from the surrounding dunes. Octavia saw a shine of metal out of the corner of her eye as she continued to slide around Sage, and turned towards Dew, nodding to her who nodded in return. She purposely slowed down and made it look like Neptune had an easy target with her back turned, prompting him to shoot.
Only for Octavia to speed out of the way at the last second, sliding along the sand via her Semblance, and causing Neptune's shot to hit Sage instead, bringing him down to his knees.
"Oh… crap…!" Neptune winced.
With the opposing team's strongest member down, Dew took the chance to finish him off as she pointed her trident at him and spun it around to activate the Wind Dust that was stored in it and create a large cyclone where Sage was standing, pulling him up into the air before he was sent flying and screaming out of the arena, crashing to the ground and eliminating him from the match.
"And NDGO gains the advantage!" Oobleck commentated as Team CVFY continued to watch with concern and disappointment, especially from Coco who placed her fingers on her forehead.
Sun gave a groan of annoyance as he turned to his redhaired teammate. "Scarlet, you help Neptune. I'll keep them busy."
"Okay." Scarlet nodded before running off just as Sun spotted a dune that would be sufficient for what he needed to do. He dove into the sand and placed himself in a spot that concealed himself before activating his Semblance. Four glowing transparent clones of Sun made out of yellow energy appeared and leapt over the dune to engage against Team NDGO.
Nebula fired her crossbow just as Gwen through her throwing knives, but the clones all split off into groups of two and slammed into the two girls to knock them down before moving onto the other two. Dew tried to spin another cyclone with her spear, but the two clones that she faced were too quick and nimble for her as they dodged the cyclones that were about to form, where one slid on its back and struck her in the chest with a double kick just as another grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her over into another dune.
Octavia used her Semblance to slide across the sand with her Semblance as the other two clones ran in pursuit of her. She swung her dagger to send a wave of fire in their direction, but they were quick to dodge. However, Octavia soon found her way barred by the remaining two clones as the ran directly into her, both pulling back their fists for a double punch to send her into the other two clones from behind, both of whom delivered a double kick to knock her to the ground. While she was down, all four clones leapt into the air, raised their fists up high, and slammed them down into Octavia for a mighty smash that all but depleted her Aura and knocked her out of the tournament.
"We're down to three-on-three!" Port announced.
Meanwhile, Scarlet had grabbed Neptune, who was waist-deep in quicksand by his arm with both of his hands and used all his strength to try and pull him out. "Come on… come on…!" Scarlet groaned.
"I'm almost out!" Neptune said as he tried to grab onto the sand with his free hand and dig himself in to almost completely pull himself out.
However, this did not go unnoticed by Dew, who had pulled herself out of the sand. Seeing a chance to take down two enemies at once, she aimed her spear and created yet another cyclone before sending it toward Scarlet and Neptune, pulling them both in.
Sun heard his teammates crying out and was forced to move and halt the use of his Semblance, causing his clones to vanish, as he climbed out of the dune and ran as quickly as he could to try and catch them. Just as Dew dissipated her tornado in an attempt to send Scarlet and Neptune both flying, Sun had caught up and leapt as high as he could to grab Neptune as Scarlet activated his own Semblance and glided towards the pirate ship on the oceanic side of the arena with Nebula and Gwen pursuing after him while Sun and Neptune landed in the middle of the arena. And the second they landed, Neptune dashed back toward the deserted half of the arena, much to Sun's annoyance. But he didn't have time to complain as Dew had already leapt in his direction and raised her staff to try and bring it down on him, but he rolled out of the way to avoid the impact.
Scarlet was able to land on the ship's yardarm, almost losing his balance though he was able to properly stabilize himself. However, his opponents had caught up to him as Nebula shot her crossbow at the ship's mast before leaping up to it and used her own arrow as a stepping point to jump up and reach the yardarm to face Scarlet again, her crossbow converting into its sword-mode.
"Rematch." She told him with a grin. Scarlet responded with a grin of his own as he drew his sword, Darling and engaged in a duel with his opponent. They clashed metal as Scarlet parried her swipes and slices before she slammed the handle of her weapon into his face to stagger him, but he retaliated with a kick to her face, knocking her toward the mast, but she caught it and spun around to the yardarm on the other side with Scarlet jumping after her to swipe his sword down at her, which she just parried before bringing her sword down on him, with Scarlet blocking with Darling. Though she tried to press against him, Scarlet took advantage of their position by kicking her at her feet, causing her to lose her balance before he finished off by knocking his handle into her to knock her off the yardarm entirely.
Scarlet looked down and saw that Sun was now caught in-between two opponents with Dew throwing tornados at him up front, and Gwen, who was near the ruined ship, throwing knives at him. Scarlet saw a chance to neutralize another opponent as he took out his pistol, Hook, and fired its grappling hook to ensnare Gwen's right ankle, pulling her up as Scarlet leapt down to the sand after sticking the end of the cord into the mast.
"Gotcha." Scarlet smirked as his opponent was now stuck, but this caused all her knives to fall out of her armored dress and straight towards Scarlet, much to his shock. He made himself as stiff as a statue, more-so because he was frozen with fear, as the knives fell past and around him, just barley grazing his body, much to his relief.
Sun found himself forced back onto a small island in the middle of the oceanic side of the arena as Dew appeared to have him cornered, though he noticed a palm tree next to him and grinned as he slammed his fist into it to knock a pair of coconuts down, which he caught before throwing them at Dew, who batted them away with her spear, and infusing Fire Dust into them to make them into flaming projectiles.
Though Sun just barley dodged them, this caused them to fly into Scarlet as one struck him in the face with explosive results and the other hit him where the sun doesn't shine. His pupils shrunk with his eyes twitching before falling over, his Aura below the threshold and eliminating him from the match.
"And Scarlet is out! Team NDGO has gained the advantage once again!" Oobleck commentated.
"Nuts…" Sun groaned.
Dew smirked in his direction as she spun her spear again, aiming at the water and creating a pair of water cyclones that she sent at Sun.
"Uh Neptune… could use some help buddy…?!" Sun called out as he leapt from small island to small island to avoid the water cyclones.
"Uh… you know… it might be better… if you came over here…!" Neptune called back, facing the empty desert and his back toward the ocean. "Yeah! I can guard this… sector! We're in lockdown mode!"
"What are you talking about!? There's nothing to lockdown!" Sun shouted just as Nebula had recovered and freed Gwen, shooting her crossbow at the cord that Scarlet had used to keep her suspended in the air.
"Lockdown! Right! Got it!" Neptune pretended that was the order he was given. Sun had noticed that his other two opponents were free and jumped away from that island and into the water to avoid Dew as she jumped towards him to try and slash him with her spear.
"I know you're afraid of water, but you gotta…!" Sun was interrupted as Dew tried to jump at him again, but she was shot mid-air by Neptune's Tri-hard in its rifle mode, knocking her into the water.
"There! I helped! Are you happy now?!" Neptune exclaimed angrily. "Also, I am not afraid of water! And I have no idea what you are talking about!"
Dew had recovered just as Nebula and Gwen regrouped with her, all there of them in the water as they drew their weapons and were more than ready to keep fighting.
"NEPTUNE!" Sun shouted at him, pointing at a very clear way they can win this match if he could just get over his fear for two seconds, something Neptune saw as well.
"Okay! Fine! Just get out of the water!" Neptune said as he jumped towards the shoreline with Sun doing the same to join him. Neptune converted Tri-hard into its guandao-mode, electricity surging at the blade. Neptune comically tip-toed to the water, much to Sun's annoyance, and looked away as he plunged his electric weapon into the water. Electricity surged throughout the entire area, which ended up electrocuting Nebula, Gwen, and Dew and taking their Aura levels down, knocking them unconscious and out of the match, eliminating NDGO.
"And with that, Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round!" Port announced as Neptune and Sun slammed their chests together in victory. "You know what I call that victory?"
"Shocking?" Oobleck replied in a joking sense, much like in Team JNPR's match.
"No. Well earned." Port said. "What you said is stupid."
Ozpin and Glynda both smiled as they saw the match come to an end on the screen in the former's office. "Leonardo must be quite proud of his students." The headmaster of Beacon said.
"Though that boy's aquaphobia is a grave issue that needs to be corrected." Glynda put in, referring to Neptune specifically.
"No argument there." Ozpin admitted.
"But many of our students have come a long way in such a short time, particularly Teams RWBY and JNPR." Glynda said.
"Indeed. It seems Sonic and his friends' mentorship of our students has helped them to grow, in more ways than one." Ozpin commented with a slight smile.
"Sir, I believe we need to let them in." Glynda told him, causing Ozpin's smile to fade. "I understand why you felt we couldn't do so before, but with the crisis we face and how much time we may have…"
"We need more information before we make a decision regarding that." The old man quickly said. "I received a message that Qrow has arrived in Vale and will be at the campus soon. Once we hear what he has to say, as well as his take on the situation, we will make a decision. Because it's not just Sonic and the others that may become involved in all of this, it is our students, and I'm not so certain that all of them are ready quite yet."
The elevator door had opened as Ironwood entered the chambers. "Ozpin, I just received word that Specialist Schnee and the Ace Ops will be arriving at Beacon soon." The general noticed the look on Ozpin's face. "I'm sorry if you feel disappointed, but with the threat that Eggman poses…"
"I do not disagree in your choice to bring in additional firepower, James." Ozpin told him. "We may indeed need it. Although, Qrow will be arriving soon as well, and given his opinion towards Atlas soldiers…"
"Even though he himself is a soldier?" Ironwood asked rhetorically.
"Not in the same sense as those with proper military training." Ozpin commented.
Ironwood sighed in understanding. "I can't speak on behalf of what Qrow's behavior will be like, or whether or not he'll be sober, but I'm sure Winter, Clover, and the others will be able to handle a few insults."
Back at the Crow Bar, the bartender gave an impressed whistle at seeing the results of Team SSSN's victory. "Now that was a match!"
His customer gave a shallow laugh. "That was a mess."
"Come on, man. You didn't like them? The Vale kids? Or any of the rounds before that? What fight are you here for?" The bartender questioned.
The man happened to notice a pair of Atlesian airships flying in from the coast behind him. One seemed like an advanced Manta, but he was more focused on the other one, which happened to be a Schnee Dust Company airship, with four long ribbons attached to each nacelle, and the man recognized it right away.
"That one." He gestured to the ship before drinking the last of his alcoholic beverage and standing up, though he briefly lost his balance with a slight laugh. "Happy Vytal Festival." He said before putting his glass down and paying the tab. He then walked out of the bar with an eager grin on his face.
The bartender put the glass he was cleaning down and reached to pick up the one his customer had been drinking, but accidentally knocked over the recently cleaned glass, causing it to shatter on the ground.
"Awe, gee darn it."
Ruby sighed in relief. "Awe, that was so close."
"You're kidding, right?" Coco questioned, much to Ruby's concern.
"What?"
"That fight was a mess!" Coco stated. "Mostly because Neptune apparently can't be within five feet of water or he'll stiffen up!"
"But…" Ruby tried to say something.
"No, she's right." Knuckles agreed. "He got himself stuck in quicksand, which caused him to misfire and hit his own teammate, leading to that guy getting knocked out of the match. They could have easily lost that whole fight."
"But it's not Neptune's fault that he's afraid of water." Ruby said.
"Maybe not, but when it interferes with your team and goal, then it becomes a serious problem." Weiss replied.
"For real, even I wasn't that bad with water." Even Sonic had to say. "Was I?" He looked towards Tails and Amy.
"No, you didn't go stiff when you were near water." Tails said.
"But put you on a boat in the middle of the ocean, and that's another story." Amy added.
"I'm not that bad anymore, though!" Sonic quickly said. But the mere mention of something like that brought back certain memories of No Place. An entire dimension that was pretty much all-water, not one of his favorite spots.
Yang gave a slight sigh. "Well, I at least hope that Sun and the others talk to Neptune about all that."
"I wouldn't quite count on it." Rouge commented as she pointed to Sun and Neptune, who were both still in the middle of dancing at their victory. Sun happened to notice Blake and pointed his fingers to her with a wink, which caused Blake to roll her eyes slightly. While she was happy that Sun and his team made it to the next round, he didn't seem to be taking it all that seriously, leaving her with mixed feelings.
"That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the colosseum in a clam and orderly fashion!" Oobleck told the spectators.
"Come on, let's get going." Sonic told everyone as Teams Sonic and RWBY, along with Rouge, stood up from their spots with Team CVFY and the other observing students and began to make their way toward the exit.
But as they did, a pair of airships happen to come into view, something that caused Weiss and Sonic to stop briefly, much to the concern of their friends with Ruby even bumping into Weiss as she was right behind her.
"W-what are you doing?" Ruby asked her partner.
"Sonic?" Tails addressed his best friend.
Weiss recognized the airship that belonged to her family's company, with this particular ship belonging to a specific member of her family that she regarded very highly.
"She's here." The young heiress said with an excited and emotional smile.
Sonic also happened recognized the other ship that was alongside it. The first Atlesian air ship he saw since he arrived on Remnant, belonging to a certain group of Huntsmen that he may not have left the best impression on.
"Oh boy." The blue Hedgehog winced.
Done.
So, this chapter turned out to be shorter than I expected, but I'm nonetheless proud of it. Team JNPR was able to score a solid victory over their opponents, and we even got to see some growth in its members with not only their teamwork (no more mess ups with the combos), and yes, you Nora heard right. Just like with Team RWBY, Team JNPR has their own Team Blast! As for what that attack is, you'll just have to wait and see. We also got to see much Jaune has grown as a leader, finding that his style in leadership is more of a tactical position as opposed to a frontline general, though that's not to say he won't be on the frontline with his teammates, he's just found a style that's best suit him and will continue to work and grow at it.
Then we had Team SSSN's fight. To be honest, I was considering having them lose that fight (something similar to the 'Fixing RWBY' series on YouTube by 'Celtic Phoenix', which is a pretty good series in of its own) because their victory in canon didn't feel really well-earned as Port put it. Neptune's phobia of water put his whole team at a severe disadvantage (something I wanted to put emphasis on, which is why I changed the environment up a bit to add in some quicksand), and Sun himself isn't exactly a responsible leader either, but more on that later.
With the singles matches of the Vytal Festival out of the way, we have a few reunions coming up as some familiar faces are about to arrive at Beacon; a group of specialized Huntsmen, an older sister and a soldier, and a drunken and cynical uncle. That is one chapter that I have been waiting to write since I first began this story and it's going to be quite epic.
Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!