King: Hello, hello!
Knox: So, why this one?
King: Good question. So, as fans of Bleach should know by now, Bleach is coming back in animated form to cover the final arc from the manga. And I'm looking forward to seeing what the animators do with it. So, I decided to use one of the Stern Ritter for inspiration. And while many of them could've been fun, I decided to pick the Visionary.
Knox: Because of the power of imagination?
King: Pretty much. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy as always.
Inspiration: Bleach's Gremmy Thoumeaux (RWBY)
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King snapped his fingers and set the next world to play. "How about something simple. No magic or crazy mind shenanigans. Just a nice little story about a Vytal match."
The sound of the audience's roar of excitement filled the scene before the actual picture came into view. The picture in question showed Ruby and Weiss using a combo fire attack to knock Cardin and Sky into the air. After that, Yang jumped into the scene and grabbed Sky out of his namesake, using him like a club to slam both boys toward the ground.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Yang was swinging her fists, getting more and more pumped with each swing.
"An excellent show of Teamwork!" Port's voice rang out over the arena.
"Agreed." Port nodded. "It shows how well Team RWBY have grown as a team."
Said team got a little embarrassed by the praise, but ultimately felt pretty accomplished given they'd practiced that exact technique.
Cardin kicked his partner off him as Port called them both out. Team CRDL had been defeated and Team RWBY moved to the next round. Cardin grumbled, "Damn it…"
In the background, Ruby was celebrating with her team, being far more energetic and animated than her team, "We did it! We're moving to the next round!"
Weiss walked over, having defeated Russel, who tried to use sneak attack tactics. "You make it sound like we had challenging opponents."
Cardin scoffed, annoyed she just put it that way. In front of them no less.
"That was pretty low." Blake had to concede that. Cardin and his goons were pricks, but that was bad sportsmanship on Weiss's part. Blake didn't care personally, but it didn't fit Weiss if she was on this big stage. The Weiss when they first met, maybe, but not one in the moment.
As Team RWBY left the stage, Port called from the booth again. "And at last, we reach the final match of the first round!" He took a moment to let the cheers die down before speaking again. "If you've been paying attention, you can already tell what teams remain. So let's get this started! No need to wait any longer!"
The stage opened to reveal two open elevator chutes.
"The first team, representing Atlas Academy. Team CRSP (Crisp)!"
The first of the platforms rose to reveal the Atlassian team. It included Penny and three others for the battle. The leader was Ciel Soliel, dressed in a simplified Atlas uniform with her blue beret. The other two were Lola Reinard and Simon Touma. Lola was dressed in a full Atlas uniform, similar to that of the military dress. Simon was pretty much the opposite; having only his pants and a pair of boots, chest bare, and with a pair of fingerless gloves.
Ruby leaned closer to Penny, "Is that your team? Like, in our world?"
"Yes it is." Penny didn't pause for a moment, "Admittedly, it was put together to keep up appearances while I test my abilities against the competition."
Simon hopped from foot to foot as he grinned, "That last fight got me pumped up! Bring on the competition!"
Ciel shook her head, "Focus Simon. And remember why we're here."
Simon sighed and shook his head, still hopping in anticipation, "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya."
"And for their opponents! Representing Vacuo's Shade Academy. Team ORNJ (Orange)!"
Coco had to take a pause, "Wait, wasn't that…?"
The other platform reached the top, revealing an odd team lineup. The first was the team leader, Otto Whitehall. He was dressed in a white trench coat with a matching hat and pants. This was all paired with a splash of purple in his shirt, barely visible behind his coat, and a short scarf. At his side was a pair of short swords with Dust gems as their pommels.
The second was a woman with a pale combat dress, dark leggings, and yellow scarf. This was Team ORNJ's grenade specialist, Roan Amaril. She had a tube-like weapon on her back with a pouch at the base of her back, likely holding ammunition.
"It is the same team!" Coco shouted suddenly. "The one with that angry version of Arc with the hound tattoo!"
"Oh yeah!" Velvet had a similar eureka moment. "Do you think this was a match before that?"
Nora huffed, annoyed. She was supposed to be the explosion girl in Jaune's life.
The third was Nathalie Sanoeur. She was dressed in a dark blue suit jacket that extended down over the back of her legs with a peacock feather design from the base of her back. Beneath this was a professional attire with a blouse and suit pants with a pair of flats. Her weapon seemed to be a feather fan, a small Dust gem used as the pin to hold the sections together. Her hair was held together well, slicked down to the side in a short cut as the dark color faded into a lighter red. She drew her fan and started to use it to cool herself off in the arena.
Then finally, there was the Jaune Arc, the final member of the team. Unlike the version they remembered, this Jaune was dressed in a white military trench coat that reached down to his knees with a high collar covering his neck. A hood was attached and rested over his head. His pants were a matching white and his shoes were a clean white as well. Everything was just bright and white.
"Well at least it's not the same version." Coco still felt the sympathy pains for her alternate self and how that Arc was more monster than man.
Knox raised an eyebrow, his thoughts ringing over to King, I thought this was supposed to be a simple one.
King, for his part, seemed just as confused, It was. Let's just hope it's only a look alike.
"And for our field!" The arena around the center opened before rising to reveal a mountain, ruins, forest area, and stone quarry. "Now… BEGIN!"
Simon instantly rushed toward the enemy team, getting intercepted by Otto. They both leaned before slamming their fists together. After a moment, Simon ducked down and swung his body around to get a high kick into Otto's chin. Lola pushed around and met with Roan's slug grenade to her face. Ciel and Nathalie seemed to glare each other down before Nathalie smirked and swung her fan forward, creating two feathers that flew the nearby ruins' stones. After a moment, golems made from stone rose up from the ruins and moved to attack Ciel. The leader of CRSP looked at her watch, the golems seeming to slow to a crawl. She walked forward and slapped a nearby Simon, causing a slow motion fall to the side before returning to normal speed.
Penny perked up, "Oh! I see. So that is Friend Ciel's Semblance."
Harriet raised an eyebrow, "Looks like temporary speed enhancement."
Clover chuckled, "She might be faster than you."
"Oh please." Harriet huffed, "No one's faster than me."
Penny smiled and prepared to charge at Jaune, only for Simon to be thrown at her by one of Roan's explosions. The robotic student hopped around with her Floating Array behind her, moving to attack positions. But then Nathalie's golems charged her instead, causing her to focus on them instead. She was able to outrun them pretty easily, seeing as they weren't exactly sophisticated. However, as she tried to counter attack, she found they did have an advantage. Their bodies were hardened stone, so Floating Array's attacks scraped off the body rather than dealing significant damage.
Penny glanced over the field. Simon was fighting off Otto, who had drawn his swords. While Simon didn't use weapons, his aura was very dense and could tank attacks very well. Off to the side, Ciel was supporting Lola against Roan, who was being supported by Nathalie. Penny took a glance toward Jaune, who hadn't even moved. I don't know what he's up to, but those golems could be a problem if Opponent Nathalie can create more soon. Best deal with her sooner rather than later.
Port nodded, "A good strategy, but Mr. Arc's lack of movement is concerning."
Penny vaulted over one of the golems and swung two of her blades forward toward Nathalie. Nathalie blocked one of the blades with her fan while sidestepping the other. This gave Ciel a moment to use her Semblance to charge in and grabbed Nathalie's wrist and used her military training to pull her opponent's weight to the side and pinning her onto the ground on her side. Roan spun back long enough for Lola to charge over with a knuckle-duster mounted taser. The resulting shock knocked Roan away and caused her to roll to escape a follow up attack.
Nathalie growled as she used another feather. The two golems by Penny disappeared before the ground under her rose up to form a large boar made of stone. The boar charged toward Simon, who grinned like a madman before grabbing the boar by its tusks. He used his Semblance, Strength Boost, to lift the boar's face upward and off its front legs. Nathalie snapped her fingers and the boar disappeared, allowing her to drop down inside Simon's guard. She swung her fan like a blade against Simon's chest, dealing a little damage to the Atlas man. Unfortunately, this also allowed him to grab onto her with both arms and squeezing her own aura out of her.
"That's got to hurt." Sun remarked.
"It does." Jaune deadpanned with Ren nodding in understanding. Nora's hugs were a powerful thing that, if not for aura, could risk breaking a bone.
Nora, completely aware of what they meant, gave a bit of a nervous chuckle.
Otto jumped in behind Simon and slammed the pommels of his swords to either side of the Atlassian's head, forcing him to drop Nathalie. Roan used this moment to fire a slug round into Simon's gut and knocking him off balance and into Otto's waiting arms, before using Simon's own strategy against him. Unfortunately, Simon was a broader man, so this proved difficult.
Effective or not, Penny swung back around and grabbed Otto, pulling him off her teammate, and threw him away toward the mountain section. Nathalie ran off after him as Roan covered the retreat with a smoke grenade.
"Should I think about getting smoke grenades?" Nora asked.
Jaune tapped his chair in thought. "It could be helpful, but maybe not for your weapon. Something on the side, like an extra."
"Makes sense." Ren gave a single nod.
Simon grinned and started to run after them, only to get caught by Ciel. The team lead walked to the front of the squad. She pulled up a service revolver, shooting something on a rock and causing a small explosion. "They have trap capabilities. We need to proceed with caution." As she reloaded her lost bullet, she jolted up and jumped away as a screaming Otto with twin swords drawn back for a downward stab. Lola whirled around and knocked the blades away and into one another as she swung her taser-knuckle into his side. This left an opening for Simon to jump into his opponent and wrap his arms around Otto's chest before swinging him into the ground as he fell. But Otto was smirking. This confused Simon before a stone fist slammed into his fist and off Team ORNJ's leader. One of Nathalie's golems had appeared in the shape of a humanoid soldier, slightly smaller than the average man. Otto used this to jump back as a second golem created an opening. Unfortunately, Penny was ready and tackled him down before jumping off and slamming her blades into him.
From the stands, Port called out, "Simon Whitehall is out by aura count!"
Yang folded her arms over his chest with an appreciative smirk, "Brutal. But effective."
Penny's head tilted slightly, "But what of the others? Jaune Arc, has seemingly not moved."
Nathalie broke the treeline atop a giant boar golem, charging after Ciel who dodged using her time manipulating Semblance. Lola used this opportunity to hop onto the side of the boar and try to shock it with her taser. It was made of rock, so it didn't really do anything.
"Yeah, I don't know what she was expecting." Harriet just shook her head at the action of the Atlassian student. Presumably an elite student given she's part of Penny's team / security detail.
Nathalie noticed this and kicked downward to knock the intruding presence off her golem. This proved to be Nathalie's mistake as this allowed Lola to reach up and shock the girl off the golem, which ran headlong into a stone pillar. As the golem's creator hit the ground, she found the bottom side of Ciel's boot on her nose and knocked her out of the competition.
"That just leaves Roan and Arc." Coco tapped her heel on the ground, a flashback of 'the Hound of Uldan' playing out in her mind.
Nearby, Roan hid behind a tree, cursing to herself. The plan was to have Nathalie use her golems to buy Roan enough time to set up a trap field, but these Atlassians are too good. Too coordinated. The only way to win this now was through Jaune. Roan wasn't sure it was a good idea, but it was the only one she had now. She loaded in a charge and pointed up toward the sky before pulling the trigger. A large flare flew into the air and burst like a firework. This, of course, got everyone's attention. Penny tracked the flare back quickly and ran forward to try to deal with the enemy before something else could happen. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling as soon as that flare went up.
"Uh, duh. 'Cause now Jaune gets to kick butt!" Nora shouted, only to remember the recipient of the theoretical butt kicking was in the theater as well. "Uh… no offense."
Penny didn't seem to mind. "It is alright. We shall simply have to see how he can defeat an entire team by himself. Should he do so, it could prove to be valuable data."
"Always the bright side with her, huh?" Elm asked her team. Consensus seemed to side with her.
Off over the center of the area, Jaune was sitting with his legs crossed and a pair of headphones over his ears. The song playing was a light jazzy number with plenty of horn. As his head bounced to the music, he saw the flare raise up and burst in the air. He let out a sigh and shut his music off, standing up and stretching his back. "Guess I should get to work." He took his headphones off and tossed them behind him, the camera missing the impact but showing a glitter effect off the side they fell on.
Qrow took a sip from his flask before speaking, "That's probably important. Can't figure out how though."
The scene returned to show Roan as she leapt over a rock as blades from Floating Arrey slammed into the surface. Penny jumped over the rock as the blades wrenched themselves from the stone and floated back into place. Soon, the rest of Penny's team fell into place in a chase formation.
Simon grinned and glanced toward Lola, "How about a flight?"
Lola held out her hand toward Simon, who took her hand and started to spin in his movement. Lola was lifted up and into the spin before being flung forward with his fist back and ready for impact. She caught up to Roan mid-flight and sucker punched the fleeing huntress-in-training and knocked her to the ground.
Yang let out a gasp, "That looked so awesome!" She turned to her teammates, trying to figure out if she could ever be able to do something like that. Unfortunately, she was reminded that her teammates weren't the physical types. She'd have to be the thrower rather than the thrown.
Roan grumbled, knowing one small hit would be more than enough to beat her now. She closed her eyes, expecting Lola to follow up. The Atlassian reared back her fist to slam back down toward the prone fighter. Her fist impacted and created a small dust cloud to obscure the area.
"That seemed excessive." Weiss winced seeing the cloud.
Lola recoiled and the dust revealed no sign of Roan. "What? Where did she-?"
"Sorry about that." Eye all swung around to find Jaune standing in front of Roan as she was leaned back against a stone. "But I got the go ahead to get involved. So, I had to get involved." Jaune stood with his hands in his coat's pockets.
Simon ran up and readied his fists. "I was wondering when you'd get involved. I'm guessing you're some kind of secret weapon for the team, right?" He seemed to get more excited at the thought.
Jaune just shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's the word for it."
Simon heard all he needed and leapt to attack Jaune with a haymaker punch. Simon's grin turned to confused shock mid-air as Jaune suddenly had a firing squad's worth of guns at his back and pointed to his attacker. After a moment, they all opened fire and sent him flying back with a hail of bullets.
This scene caused Ruby to jump, "What was that?"
Ironwood tapped his chair in thought, "A firearm form of Floating Array? No, this feels different. Plus we don't know where they came from."
Simon swung himself off his back, ready for another run. But his face turned to shock again as a wave rose over him, molten and burning with the heated anger of the earth. Lava rose over his head and slammed down atop him like a torrent. The molten earth sunk away and disappeared, revealing a smoldering Simon face down on the ground. To the side, Jaune yawned and cracked his neck.
Everyone was silent for a while. As if to try to understand what they saw.
The Atlas team looked on, just as confused.
Jaune, meanwhile, rolled his shoulder. "So, who's next?" A grin formed across his face as he looked toward them. "I'm feeling creative."
Lola growled and pulled a device off her back. She plugged in her taser-knuckle and it began to shift into a hand cannon. She leveled it toward Jaune, only for him to barely move his chin upward and the floor underneath her erupted like a volcano. She was hardy enough to stay in the fight, but only so long as Jaune lowered his head again and a meteor slammed into her gut from nowhere above her. As she slammed back into the ground, Jaune was shown center camera with a smirk on his face.
As this happened, Ciel and Penny could only watch on in confused shock. Neither could make sense of what happened. If it was an illusion, that would explain it, but they could feel the heat from the lava, the meteor created a small crater beneath Lola, and those guns had actually done damage. Nothing here made sense.
Jaune turned to the two, making them perk up in fear. He chuckled as he readjusted himself. "How about you both give up now? No one would blame you for surrendering to the Visionary of Vacuo."
"Talk about self important." Tyrian snarked. "Does he believe himself some kind of god? Heretical!" Tyrian was about to jump up in anger, but was forced back down by the laws of the theater.
Salem shook her head. "Calm yourself Tyrian. No one can match my abilities anyway. There's no need to get worked up."
Tyiran was instantly better, shouting, "Of course my goddess!"
Yang chuckled and leaned toward Blake, whispering, "Whipped."
This actually got Blake to let out a silent laugh.
Ciel's eyes narrowed. She held up her gun toward Jaune, not really believing anything thus far. "I'm not certain how you did all that before, but I'll figure it out soon enough."
Jaune just sighed. "How sad. You simply have no imagination." Jaune finally took one of his hands out of his pocket. He held it out toward Ciel and flicked his hand forward, creating a bolt of lightning in the shape of a dragon charging toward the leader of team CRSP. Penny moved to intercept, using her blades to create an energy shield. But the dragon rose over her and slammed down onto Ciel without even touching Penny. Ciel was knocked down and away, her aura shattered. Penny turned in shock before remembering her opponent's strange ability and was instantly eyes on him again. She held her weapons ready for a counter.
"That's better. Don't lose sight of me now. Since you're the last one left, I'll tell you my ability's name." Jaune paused for dramatic effect. "I am the Visionary. It allows me to create whatever I can imagine. The only caveats being that I can't recreate living things and I can't make things that don't exist. Other than that, I can create whatever I want. They aren't permanent, but great for a battle."
"So that's why those attacks weren't fatal despite being so dangerous."
"Yep. As long as I don't imagine the lava being deadly, than it isn't."
Elm blinked hearing the explanation, "That sounds a bit more powerful than a Semblance."
"More like magic." Vine confirmed.
Penny swung her blades into a circle, snapping the sections around to form her beam cannon system. Energy began to pool at the center as she swung her hand back into a fist. Then, she punched the back of the beam to fire a round toward Jaune. Jaune raised his hand and a pillar of stone rose up to block it. He flicked his fingers outward and the pillar started to push forward through the beam like a shield. Penny used this to jump out of sight in the trees and tried to hide. She had to try to get a sneak attack on him at this point. But then, the light around her turned a tint of orange. She peaked out from the trees and her eyes were wide as dinner plates. Above her was a massive meteorite slowly pushing toward the ground. Jaune stood there, hands in his pockets with a smirk on his face as the meteor covered him from the camera as the massive rock hit the ground and leveled the entire field from impact and flame. The attack's aftermath fizzled out before it could hit the barrier field around the arena. No one was hurt by its mass, because that's just how he saw it. Yet there she was. Penny was on her knees, her face only able to show surprise and fear. Though she was physically fine, Jaune had made his power truly clear.
Salem looked on, taking some mental notes for the future.
Everyone else was just silent. How does one expect to answer from something so insane. It was as if looking upon a god and knowing he weakens himself for you to comprehend him. And idea that Neptune started to write down in a notebook.
Jaune walked up and looked down toward her, his smile faded away. "Say it."
Penny didn't even look up to him. All she could say was, "I surrender."
Jaune nodded as the match was called. He turned away and snapped his fingers, causing the screen to go dark.
King clapped his hands once, "Okay… Not as simple as I would have liked…" He sighed and shook his head.
"I mean," Ruby spoke up, "It was still kind of cool."