Professor Bloodstone stood in the middle of the Arena, and the Students sat in the bleachers looking down at him.
“Today, you will be fighting your classmates. I will decide who will be fighting who with the randomizer,” Professor Bloodstone announced to the class. “Now, for the first match.” He activated the randomizer.
The faces of the students scrolled across the randomizer screen at high speed, becoming a blur as the randomizer rolled to decide who will fight first.
“Who do you think it’s going to be?” Ruby asked in anticipation.
“Don’t know, but we’ll find out soon,” Eclipse said with just as much eagerness in his voice.
Everyone looked at the screen to see whose name and face would appear first. The randomizer slowed down and stopped on the first students chosen to fight. Nora Valkyrie and Cardin Winchester were chosen to fight first.
“Nora Valkyrie and Cardin Winchester will enter the arena!” Professor Bloodstone called for them.
Nora stood up from her seat with her hyperactive smile. “Good luck Nora,” Ren said.
“Aww, thanks Ren, but we both know I don’t need it,” Nora said with a devilish grin.
“True but still good luck,” Ren replied as Nora skipped down the stairs towards the arena.
Nora and Cardin entered the arena. “Alright, listen up!” Torch barked loudly to all the students. “This is a tournament fight, and to win you must bring your opponent's Aura to red, or you push them out of the Arena,” he explained to Nora and Cardin. He turned and stepped out of the Arena. “NOW BEGIN!”
Upon Professor Bloodstone’s command, Cardin rushed at Nora as he swung his mace like a mindless brute. Nora dodged the first couple of swings before Cardin raised his weapon above his head, and he swung his mace down with all of his might. Nora leapt out of the way of Cardin’s mace, and he missed her, striking the ground hard. Nora then pointed her grenade launcher at Cardin’s chest and shot him at point-blank range. The explosion sent Cardin flying across the arena, leaving his weapon on the ground.
“AHHHH!” Cardin screamed as he hit the ground, but before he could get up, Nora jumped into the air with her hammer, and slammed it down in Cardin’s crouch, crushing his manhood.
All the boys held their hands over their family jewels, wincing at Cardin’s pain. Nora pulled back her hammer and grimaced as she realized that she just destroyed Cardin’s manhood. “Oops, I missed,” She said, lifting her hammer over her shoulder.
“Wait, she missed?! Where was she aiming?!” Eclipse shouted in disbelief.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know,” Onyx said, looking away from the Arena with a deep frown.
“Why would she do that?” Jaune asked in a pained and high-pitched voice.
“She might have been aiming higher,” Ren replied, not phased at all by Cardin’s pain.
“Still, I can’t help but feel sorry for Cardin,” Pyrrha said as she looked at Cardin’s Aura meter that had shot down from green to red.
“Alright, the winner is Nora Valkyrie!” Professor Bloodstone announced as Nurse Redheart and Dr Fauna carried Cardin on a stretcher to the medical ward. “Miss Valkyrie, I would suggest you look before you leap,” He told Nora sternly.
Nora returned to her team, and from that moment on, she had become the fear of all the male students.
“Thank the gods I was born a woman,” Yang said as she watched Cardin getting carried away.
“Same here,” Ember agreed with his pained grimace.
“Alright, moving on!” Professor Bloodstone shouted once more and restarted the randomizer but without Cardin’s and Nora’s names.
Nora sat back down next to Ren. “Well, that was an interesting way to win Nora,” Ren said nonchalantly.
“To be honest, I was aiming for his chest,” Nora said casually.
As the randomizer continued to choose the next 2 students, Glynda Goodwitch entered the room and stood next to Professor Bloodstone.
“Glynda, are you here to watch your students?” Professor Bloodstone asked her.
“Yes, in a sense, I’m here to observe Mr Shinra’s capabilities with his semblance,” Glynda replied. “Also, what happened to Mr Winchester?” She asked.
“A slight accident with Ms Valkyrie,” Professor Bloodstone replied, sugarcoating what happened a little bit.
The randomizer chose the next 2 students to fight each other. Ember Bloodstone and Emerald Sustrai.
“Your daughter is fighting next,” Glynda said, looking with interest at the results.
“Hmm, good, I’m looking forward to seeing how her training has paid off,” Professor Bloodstone said with a smirk, fully expecting high results from his daughter.
Ember stood up from her seat. “Good luck Ember,” Yang said, giving her partner a thumbs up.
“Make us proud,” Lyra said with a cheery grin.
“Thanks, girls, I’ll do my best,” Ember said, trying hard to not show how nervous she was. She was not looking forward to fighting in front of her father.
“You’ll do fine, Ember,” Octavia said to the Dragon girl with an encouraging smile.
Ember smiled, “Thanks.” She walked down to the Arena to face Emerald.
Emerald stood up from her seat. “Good Luck, Emerald,” Applejack said with a smile.
“Bring the beat, Emerald!” Vinyl said, taking off her headphones as she gave her teammate a thumbs up.
“Thanks, girls,” Emerald smiled at her teammates.
“Don’t lose,” Weiss told her firmly.
“I won’t,” Emerald replied with a determined nod. She walked towards the Arena to meet Ember.
Applejack looked over at Weiss with a raised eyebrow. “So what was that about?” she asked.
“I’m a Schnee, my pride is on the line with this team,” Weiss replied, pointing her nose up in the air.
“Talk about high standards,” Vinyl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses.
Ember and Emerald now stood facing each other inside the Arena.
“Alright! Get ready!” Professor Bloodstone instructed the girls. Emerald pulled out her revolvers and twirled them in her hands. Ember loaded a drum magazine into her Tommy gun. “Ready?”
“Ready!” Emerald said, pulling back the hammers of her revolvers.
“Ready!” Ember said, pulling back the cocking knob of her Tommy gun.
“BEGIN!” Professor Bloodstone bellowed.
Ember started strong by opening fire with her gun at Emerald, unleashing a full magazine at the green-haired girl. Emerald ran to avoid the shower of bullets that Ember was throwing at her.
Ember quickly grabbed another drum magazine for her machine gun. Emerald extended the sickles of her left revolver and threw them hard at her opponent. She slapped away the drum magazine Ember had grabbed. Ember grabbed the chain and used her Semblance, turning it into an iron ball, and stopping Emerald from pulling the chain back.
“Can’t pull the chain back now!” Ember said with a grin. She grabbed another drum and reloaded her gun.
Emerald dropped her left revolver and ran towards Ember, shooting her other gun. Ember opened her wings and flew up from the ground before she turned in the air and pointed her gun down and shot at Emerald.
Emerald continued to run through the rain of bullets, but she didn’t seem to be affected by Ember’s attack. “OK, time for the up close and personal approach,” Ember said, transforming her weapon into its battle axe mode, and dropping down to strike Emerald down. Her blade met Emerald’s crown, and the axe blade went straight through Emerald’s body, with the blade cracking the ground between Emerald’s feet.
Everyone gasped at seeing Ember cut Emerald in two. But after a moment, Emerald’s body completely disappeared. “I knew there was something fishy going on here!” Ember exclaimed, aiming her gun all around the Arena, keeping a sharp eye out for Emerald.
“What’s going on?” Asked Ruby.
“It’s Emerald’s semblance,” Onyx answered, and the other three members of Team Rose looked at him. “She can cause Hallucinations, right now we can’t see or hear her, and that’s how she wants it for now,” He explained.
Yang looked back at the Arena, watching as Ember tried to find Emerald. “Where is she?” She asked.
“Emerald is circling the Arena,” Octavia answered.
“You can see Emerald?” Asked Lyra.
“Yes, I can see her thanks to my semblance,” Octavia replied as she used her Semblance to keep track of Emerald’s movements.
Ember continued to look in all directions for Emerald. “Where are you hiding?” She said under her breath, thinking hard to find a way to find Emerald.
“Over here!” Ember fired in the direction where the voice came from. “You’ll have to do better than that!” Emerald shouted mockingly.
“Yeah, just keep hiding! Sooner or later I’ll find you!” Ember shouted back warningly.
By now, Emerald’s head began to hurt from overusing her Semblance. “I need to end this quickly.” she thought, before she extended the sickle of her right revolver, and spun in a circle. She threw the sickle towards Ember, and struck home, hitting her in the back.
“AHHHH!” Ember yelled in pain, before turning and shooting in the direction where the attack came from. Emerald quickly moved to another area of the Arena. “Come out and face me you coward!” Ember yelled in frustration before Emerald shot at Ember from behind again. “AGAIN!?” Ember yelled in anger, losing her cool, and she once again unloaded a full magazine in a widspread. But Emerald was still hidden. “STOP HIDING EMERALD!” Ember yelled as she slowly reached for another drum magazine, but then realised that she’d just used up her last one. She then remembered the magazine that Emerald had knocked out of her hand before.
“She’s out of bullets,” Emerald realised as she quietly removed the spent bullet, and replaced it with a fresh one. “And I still have plenty to spare.” She pulled back the hammer and aimed her gun at Ember.
Ember looked around frantically for the magazine she’d lost before. “Come on! Where did it go?!” She then saw her missing magazine laying on the ground. “There you are!” She dashed towards it.
Emerald saw what Ember was running towards, the magazine she’d knocked out of her opponent's hand. She shot at Ember, trying to stop her. Ember did a dash roll and grabbed the magazine, and then used her Semblance to transform the magazine into a flash Grenade. She then threw the newly formed flash Grenade into the air.
“What is she doing…” Emerald began to say before the flash Grenade exploded into a huge blinding flash. The flash blinded everyone who didn't cover their eyes in time. Emerald was also blinded by Ember’s flash Grenade. “AHHHHH! MY EYES!” She screamed from the pain, breaking her concentration, and the Illusion was also broken.
Ember could finally see Emerald again. “FIND YOU!” she yelled in triumph, opening her wings, and flew towards Emerald at full speed.
Emerald literally couldn’t see Ember coming. “I can’t see,” She said, rubbing her eyes frantically before Ember tackled her to the ground. Ember then grabbed Emerald and threw her out of the Arena.
“RING OUT!” Professor Bloodstone announced after Emerald landed outside of the Arena. “The winner is Ember Bloodstone!” He called, declaring his daughter the winner.
“Whoo hoo! She did it!” Yang cheered for her partner’s victory.
“A little unorthodox, but still a victory nonetheless,” Octavia agreed.
“I’m happy Ember won and all, but is Emerald going to be OK?” Lyra asked as she looked down at Emerald with concern. She was having trouble standing back on her feet.
Down in the Arena, Ember approached Emerald. “Are you OK?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just having trouble seeing,” Emerald replied as she struggled to stand up.
“Here let me help,” Ember said, offering Emerald her hand.
Emerald accepted Ember’s offer and took her hand, and Ember helped Emerald return to her teammates.
Vinyl and Applejack walked up and took Emerald from Ember. “Are you OK, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked with worry.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Emerald replied, slowly regaining her eyesight.
Weiss didn’t look at Emerald until Vinyl poked her arm. “Say something to her,” she hissed in Weiss’ ear.
“You could have done better in the Arena,” Weiss said to Emerald flatly.
“What!?” Applejack shouted in annoyance.
“Oh come on!” Vinyl also shouted in frustration.
“No, she’s right, I should have seen it coming once she threw that magazine,” Emerald said in shame, placing her head in her hands.
“It’s OK, Sugarcube, you did the best you could,” Applejack said to Emerald reassuringly, patting her on the back.
“Yeah, it was your first time-fighting Ember, it could have happened to anyone,” Vinyl said to Emerald.
“Alright, moving on, if anyone is blind from Ember’s flash, show your hands,” Professor Bloodstone told the students. Several students raised their hands. “Alright, team leaders, send the names of your blinded teammates to my scroll, and I will remove their names from the Randomizer,” he then instructed the team leaders.
“Is everyone alright?” Ruby asked her teammates.
“I’m fine,” Eclipse said.
“Same here,” Sunset stated.
“I’m still good to fight,” Onyx said.
“Well, it looks like we’re still fighting,” Ruby said, as they waited for the next students to get called.
Yang looked across at her teammates. “Are you girls okay to fight?” She asked.
“I’m good,” Lyra said.
“I’m afraid I must sit this one out,” Octavia said, rubbing her eyes.
Ember saw this as she walked back to her teammates. “Octavia, did I blind you?” She asked in concern.
“Yes, a little, I didn’t cover my eyes in time,” Octavia said as she kept rubbing her eyes.
“Oh gods, I’m so sorry,” Ember said as she sat next to Octavia.
“It’s fine, my eyesight will return,” Octavia said reassuringly.
“Well in that case I’ll let Professor Bloodstone know about Octavia,” Yang said, sending a notification to Professor Bloodstone.
After a few moments, Professor Bloodstone received all the names of students who will not be fighting. “Alright, now I’ve got the list of names, we can continue,” he said as he restarted the randomizer.
Everyone waited in anticipation for the next chosen students. Glynda watched the screen closely, waiting to see if Onyx’s name would appear.
“Who do you think is going next?” Ruby asked.
“I hope it’s one of us,” Eclipse said eagerly, itching for a fight.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Sunset said.
The Randomizer stopped, and the next students to fight were Jaune Arc and Onyx Shinra.
“Alright, it’s Onyx’s turn!” Ruby said excitedly with a big smile.
“And he’s going up against Jaune from team Juniper,” Eclipse added.
Onyx rose from his seat. “Wish me luck guys,” he said to his teammates.
“You’ve got this Onyx!” Ruby said with her cute smile.
“You’ve got this Onyx!” Eclipse said with a smile and a fist pump.
“Put on a good show, Onyx,” Sunset said with a smirk.
Onyx smiled. “See you guys soon,” He said as he headed towards the Arena.
Jaune looked nervously at the screen with his and Onyx’s names on it and shivered as he knew wasn’t ready for this.
“Looks like it's your turn, Jaune,” Nora said with a wide grin.
Jaune was frozen in his seat, and Pyrrha noticed the scared look on his face. She placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. “Are you OK Jaune?” She asked kindly.
Jaune jumped and looked at Pyrrha in alarm. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine, I was a little surprised my name came up,” Jaune answered quickly before he got up from his seat and walked towards the Arena.
“Good luck Jaune,” Nora said.
“Fight well,” Ren added.
“Remember to use your shield,” Pyrrha advised Jaune as he passed.
June turned to his partner. “Thanks, Pyrrha,” He smiled and walked to the Arena to meet Onyx.
Jaune and Onyx now stood inside the Arena facing each other. Jaune had his sword and shield ready, and Onyx had his Echo in its gun mode. He had also rotated the right cuff to the Wind Dust chamber.
Professor Bloodstone was standing next to Glynda, as he looked at his scroll, reading the information on Onyx and Jaune. “Hmm, you might find this interesting,” He said, showing his scroll to Glynda. “That Arc boy was trained by Obsidian.”
“Yes, I did see that on his form, but I have my doubts,” Glynda declared, watching closely and suspiciously at the two male students standing in the Arena.
“Alright, are you boys ready?” Professor Bloodstone said Jaune and Onyx.
Onyx released the safety of his Echo. “Ready!” He announced.
Jaune was silent, panicking as he hadn’t fought against anyone before, and here he is about to fight Onyx. He remembered Onyx’s blade beam that he threw at the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest.
“Mr Arc! Are you ready?!” Professor Bloodstone shouted, wanting to continue the combat session.
“Umm, yeah, I’m ready sir!” Jaune replied, raising his shield to protect himself from Onyx’s first attack.
“BEGIN!” Professor Bloodstone yelled to begin their fight.
Onyx infused the barrel of his gun with the Wind Dust, pointed the gun at Jaune and shot the Wind Bullet at him. The infused Bullet flew through the air at breakneck speed. Jaune blocked the Bullet with his shield, but when the bullet made contact with Jaune’s shield, he was sent flying out of the Arena.
Everyone was stunned into total silence after seeing the shortest battle they had ever seen.
“What just happened?” Sunset asked in a flat tone, staring wide-eyed down at the Arena.
“I’ve got no idea,” Ruby said with a confused tone, her eyes just as wide.
“Onyx didn't even move, he just took one shot and it was all over!” Eclipse said in disbelief, before looking down sorrowfully at Jaune who was laying on the ground, flat on his back by the side of the Arena.
The remaining members of Team Juniper were staring down at where their leader lay in shock.
“WHAT WAS THAT!?” Nora yelled in disbelief.
“I hope Jaune’s OK,” Ren said in concern.
Pyrrha was silent seeing Jaune on the ground, knowing she could have easily blocked that shot.
“Are you alright Pyrrha?” Ren asked.
“Hmm?” Pyrrha said as she was brought out of her thoughts and looked up at Ren. “Oh yes, I’m fine,” She answered, not quite sounding convincing.
“Of course, she’s not alright! Her partner was taken down too easily!” Nora said in a high-pitched tone.
“I know this isn’t the outcome we were hoping for, but yelling isn’t going to help right now,” Ren said calmly to his partner.
As Ren and Nora continued to talk, Yang and her teammates just stared down at Juane with mixed reactions.
“Wow, what a wimp,” Ember said with a deep and unimpressed frown as she looked down at the defeated boy.
“What happened? I'm still having trouble seeing,” Octavia said, squinting her eyes.
“Oh.” Ember moved closer to Octavia. “OK, what happened was that Onyx took one shot at Jaune, and when the Bullet hit his shield, Jaune was sent flying out of the Arena just like that,” she explained.
“Hmm,” Octavia said thoughtfully. “Is Onyx really that strong?” She asked.
“Either Onyx is that strong or Juane is just that weak,” Lyra said doubtfully as she watched Jaune get up off the ground.
“So what’s going to happen now?” Yang asked. “Professor Bloodstone and Professor Goodwitch are just standing there talking to each other.”
Ember and Lyra looked down at Professor Bloodstone and Professor Goodwitch.
“You're right, why hasn’t Professor Bloodstone announced Onyx as the winner yet?” Lyra asked in confusion.
“I think they’re trying to decide what to do next,” Ember said, watching the two talking Professors closely.
“I can see where you get your doubts from,” Professor Bloodstone said to Glynda as he looked at his scroll.
“So what are you going to do?” Glynda asked.
“I’ll set Onyx with another opponent, and I’ll contact Obsidian,” Professor Bloodstone replied.
“Are you brave enough to call her?” Glynda asked with a raised eyebrow.
“God’s know, I’ll have to be,” Professor Bloodstone said darkly.
June limped back towards the centre of the Arena where Onyx was waiting for Professor Bloodstone to make an announcement.
“Are you alright,Jane?” Onyx asked in worry.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Jane replied with a slight groan as he stood next to Onyx.
Professor Bloodstone then looked up from his scroll at Onyx and Juane. “Alright, Shinra, stay in the Arena, and Arc return to your teammates,” He told the two students.
“Yes Professor Bloodstone,” Jaune said as he limped back to his team.
“Understood Professor,” Onyx said, waiting for his next opponent.
Professor Bloodstone restarted the randomizer to select another opponent for Onyx to fight.
“So Onyx is going to fight again?” Ruby asked in confusion.
“It looks like it,” Eclipse said with a slight frown.
“Hmm?” Sunset said in deep thought as she stared at Jaune as he limped back to his seat. “I don’t get it. That Jaune guy, why did Professor Salem make him a team leader if he’s that weak?” she asked in confusion.
“Who cares? It’s not our problem,” Eclipse said with a shrug.
Jaune returned to his team, where Nora looked at him with great disappointment, and Ren just looked at him with confusion.
“Uhh, hey guys,” Jaune said awkwardly with a little smile and wave.
“What happened out there!?” Nora demanded as she stood up abruptly from her seat.
“You didn’t do so well out there, Jaune,” Ren stated simply as he gave his leader a neutral look.
“Yeah sorry I had some… tummy pains so I was off my game,” Jaune lied with a placating smile.
“Oh, that sounds reasonable,” Ren said, falling for Jaune’s lie.
“Huh, well I suppose I can let you off the hook this time,” Nora said, also accepting Juane’s lie.
Jaune sighed in relief and sat down next to Pyrrha. “Are you okay Pyrrha?” Jaune asked, seeing the hard look on her face.
“Yes I’m fine,” Pyrrha replied stiffly. She didn’t fully believe Jaune’s lie, and she had not much to say to him for the moment.
The randomizer continued to scroll through names and faces to choose Onyx’s next opponent.
“Who do you think it’s going to be?” Emerald asked as she watched the screen.
“Don’t know, but I’m hoping it’s me,” Vinyl said eagerly, stretching her arms above her head.
The randomizer stopped, and Onyx’s next opponent was selected, it was Weiss Schnee.
“Well, ain’t that a surprise,” Applejack said upon seeing her leader being chosen.
Weiss stood up confidently from her seat. “Watch and learn, girls. I’ll show you how to win,” She said loftily and walked down the stairway.
Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Emerald rolled her eyes.
“Alright show us how it’s done,” Vinyl called after Weiss in a chipper voice. She then looked at Applejack and Emerald with a deadpan look. “She's going to get her ass kicked isn't she?” She said flatly.
“Ee’yep,” Applejack said in a just as deadpan tone.
“Oh, I want to see that,” Emerald said with a small smirk as she watched Weiss enter the Arena. “It’ll be fun to see our great leader taken down a peg.”
“Onyx is going to fight his cousin?” Ruby said in surprise.
“Wait, Onyx and Weiss are cousins?” Sunset asked in even more surprise.
“Yeah, didn’t you know?” Ruby asked the fox girl.
“What, how would I possibly know that?” Sunset asked back with an annoyed frown.
“Fair point,” Ruby whimpered.
“Oh man, it’s well known that the Shinra’s and the Schnee’s have always been at each other’s throats,” Eclipse stated. “But how will this fight roll out?”
“KICK HER BUTT ONYX!” Ruby called her partner. Onyx looked back and gave Ruby a thumbs up.
Sunset got out her Scroll. “Alright, if Onyx wins, I want to document this,” She said with an eager grin.
Onyx observed Weiss with narrowed eyes as she entered the Arena. Weiss also stared back at Onyx as she stepped towards the lit-up arena.
“Both Mr Shinra and Ms Schnee are Glyph users. This is a perfect way to see how much additional training Mr Shinra will need,” Glynda thought to herself.
“Alright, Schnee and Shinra get ready!” Professor Bloodstone told Onyx and Weiss.
Weiss drew her Myrtenaster and pointed it at Onyx, and Onyx pulled out Echo’s Shadow, transformed it into its long Falx mode, and he held it at his side with the blade reaching outback.
“Ready?” Professor Bloodstone asked.
“Ready!” Weiss announced.
“Ready!” Onyx called.
“BEGIN!” Professor Bloodstone bellowed for the fight to start.
Onyx started the battle with an Electro BladeBeam, the lightning Beam flew towards Weiss who blocked the incoming attack with a Glyph.
Weiss returned Onyx’s attack by throwing light blue orbs at him, and Onyx ran from the incoming orbs but the orb sought him out.
“Seekers, huh?” Onyx used a white Glyph to block the seeking orbs.
Weiss thrusts herself towards Onyx with her Rapier leading her attack. Onyx saw Weiss coming, and he quickly raised his left foot and slammed down it on Weiss’s Rapier, leading her sword into the floor. Onyx raised his sword to strike Weiss, but she quickly used her Ice Dust to Imprison Onyx’s feet to the ground. Weiss then pulled her sword back to free it from the Ice.
Weiss was about to thrust her sword, but Onyx quickly transformed his Echo back into Gun mode and shot at Weiss making her retreat from him. Onyx rotated the cuff of his glove to the fire chamber, and with a fired bullet, he shot the ground and melted the ice to free himself.
Weiss used a time acceleration Glyph to increase her speed. With her now enhanced speed, she charged towards Onyx, and he shot his gun at Weiss who zig-zagged to dodge every shot. Onyx emptied his magazine, as Weiss got close enough to slash at Onyx’s side.
Onyx, in a split second, created a Black Glyph to shoot himself into the air above Weiss and evade her. He then quickly changed the magazine of his gun and shot down toward Weiss.
Using her enhanced speed, Weiss moved away from Onyx, and once she was far enough away, Weiss threw her light orbs at Onyx, who countered with another Glyph to block the Orbs.
Once Onyx landed on the floor he transformed Echo into sword mode and used a time acceleration Glyph. When Weiss saw this, she was both shocked and annoyed at seeing Onyx using a technique that took her years to master.
Weiss lunged towards Onyx to stop him from finishing the Glyph, but she was too late. Onyx finished just in time, and he swung his sword at Weiss who moved out of the way at the last second. Onyx’s sword only caught Weiss's dress with the tip.
Weiss noticed the cut on her dress and scowled in frustration. Onyx, however, didn’t give her a second to recover, and with his enhanced speed, he chased after his opponent.
Weiss, with the last of her speed, turned and engaged Onyx in close combat, and as they fought, the other members of Team Rose watched in excitement and awe as the two combatants clashed swords.
“Wow, look at Onyx go!” Ruby said with a radiant smile as stars danced in her eyes.
“Yeah he’s got some real talent,” Eclipse said excitedly.
“Yeah, it’s a good fight and all but I’m having trouble recording it,” Sunset grumbled, trying hard to document the fast-paced fight.
Team Wave was watching their leader closer as she fought her cousin in the Arena.
“Wow, Weiss is holding her own out there,” Applejack said in disbelief.
“Yeah, I’d thought Weiss would have been defeated by now,” Vinyl said with a raised eyebrow. “Do you think she may win?” She asked
“Don't know, what do you think, Emerald?” Applejack asked the green-haired girl.
Emerald didn’t answer, she just stared wide-eyed at Onyx as he fought Weiss.
“Hey, Emerald, are you still with us?” Vinyl asked as she poked Emerald’s arm.
“Hmm?” Emerald said as she snapped out of her train of thought. “Sorry, did you ask me something?” She asked her teammates.
“We asked you if you think Weiss would win against Onyx?” Applejack told her.
“Oh, right, I don’t know, it looks like a pretty even match for the moment,” Emerald said as she continued to watch Onyx’s fight with Weiss. “He’s changed a lot since the last time I saw him,” She thought to herself.
Onyx and Weiss entered a lock against each other before they pulled their blades against each other, and then the two of them pushed away, giving themselves some distance.
Onyx used his Aura metre on his arm to check his Aura level. “I’m in the Yellow, I need to end this soon,” He thought to himself.
Weiss glared at Onyx as she saw him checking his Aura level. “He’s good, and that annoys me,” she thought, taking another stance and holding her sword in her right hand. “I’ll end this with one decisive blow!” she thought with razor-like focus, preparing to end the duel.
Onyx saw Weiss taking a different stance than before. “Bring it!” He challenged, pulling his sword back, ready to end this fight as well.
Weiss selected the White chamber with her Revolver, and Onyx, with both of his Cuffs, selected the Black Chambers.
Weiss and Onyx then charged towards each other at full force. Onyx pulled the trigger of his sword to give more power to the swing. The tip of Weiss’s Myrtenaster clashed with Onyx’s Echo’s Shadow. From the power of the Dust and force of the blow, both swords strained under immense pressure, before beginning to crack, and finally shattering into pieces. After their blades were destroyed, Onyx and Weiss both created Glyphs to resume their fight. However, Onyx’s Glyph was fading, he had reached his limit, but Weiss was ready to take one last shot at him.
“Enough! The two of you have reached the Red Level!” Professor Bloodstone shouted to the combatants. Onyx and Weiss looked up at the screen and saw both of their Auras were in the red. “This match is a Draw!” he announced to the class. Onyx and Weiss backed away from each other, and retrieved their broken swords.“Alright, good match, I don’t see anything that needs improving for the time being,” Professor Bloodstone told them. “Now, return to your teammates.”
Onyx and Weiss simply stared at each for a moment, then left the Arena and returned to their teams.
When Weiss returned to her team she sat down next to Applejack.
“Wow, that was some fancy fighting there Weiss,” Applejack said, complementing her partner.
“Humph,” Weiss replied huffily with her nose pointing upward, maintaining her usual attitude.
“Wow, would you look at that, still acting like a brat,” Applejack mumbled to herself with a frown.
“Don’t take it personally, Applejack, Weiss is a little annoyed because she couldn’t defeat Onyx,” Vinyl said with a cheeky grin.
“Humph,” Weiss said again, but what Vinyl said was only half true. She was indeed annoyed because she couldn’t defeat Onyx, but more than that, she was annoyed at how much control he had shown to have over his Glyphs. Weiss had spent years being trained rigorously and meticulously by her older sister, Winter, to perfect her own Glyphs, and for Onyx to be on par with her, and without the same said training, was an insult, not just to her, but to her family legacy. “Onyx Shinra, a complete novice, and Weiss Schnee trained by Winter Schnee, a full-fledged professional, and somehow, we are on the same level as each other?! Unacceptable!” She thought with frustration and anger, gritting her teeth and biting her lip so hard, she could taste blood. “My Father will never let me hear the end of this!”
Meanwhile, Onyx had returned to his teammates.
“You did great, Onyx!” Ruby cheered with a huge grin.
“Gotta say, I’m impressed. You gave that little Princess a run for her money,” Sunset said with a smirk as she saved the video of the fight.
“Thanks, guys. I only wish I could have won the fight,” Onyx said humbly, rubbing the back of his hand.
“Yeah, you did OK, but to be honest, I would have won at the start of the fight,” Eclipse said with a smirk and a cocky tone.
“Yeah, I bet you could have, pal,” Onyx said with a chuckle as he sat down next to Ruby.
Professor Bloodstone looked across at Professor Goodwitch.
“Well Glynda, did you learn everything you wanted?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m quite satisfied with the results,” Glynda replied as looked at the data on her scroll.
“Alright, time for the next students to fight!” Professor Bloodstone called out as he activated the randomizer once more.
“Who do you think’s fighting next?” Sunset wondered.
“We’ll soon find out,” Eclipse said, leaning forward in his seat with anticipation.
Everyone watched the screen, waiting to see whose names will appear next. After a few moments, the next two fighters were selected, Pyrrha Nikos and Eclipse Khan.
Everyone began to whisper to one another after seeing the result.
Blake's eyes widened in shock when she saw Eclipse’s name appear.
“Hey, you know that guy, right Blake?” Lemon Zest asked.
“Yes, I and Eclipse know each other,” Blake replied with a slightly tense tone.
“Hey, Twilight, what are the odds for Eclipse winning?” Indigo asked the techno girl.
“The odds are against him, but I can’t give an actual answer. Mostly because I don’t have a lot of information on Eclipse Khan,” Twilight replied.
Blake couldn’t help herself but be worried for Eclipse’s sake. “Be careful, Eclipse. There’s a reason she was placed on Adam’s top 10 kill list,” She thought to herself with a deep concern for her surrogate sibling.
“Time to put your money where your mouth is, Eclipse,” Onyx said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
“Yep, here I go, wish me luck guys,” Eclipse said with a confident smile as he stood up from his seat.
“Good luck, Eclipse!” Ruby said with excitement.
“Fight well,” Sunset said to her partner.
“I will,” Eclipse said back to his partner with a smile. As he walked to the Arena, he remembered the first time he heard Pyrrha’s name from Adam.
“Pyrrha Nikos? Who’s she?” Eclipse asked Adam who was looking at a list of names.
“She’s this rich Mistralian girl, and she’s known as the Invincible Girl. She likes to fight in Arenas where she’s able to control it for her to win. Last year, a Lynx Faunus called Jasmine fought against Pyrrha Nikos, and lost against her, along with losing the use of her right hand. Last I’ve heard, she’s now working for the Mines of the SDC,” Adam explained. “Eclipse, if a day comes that you ever meet Pyrrha Nikos, you are to kill her without Mercy. Enough of our brothers and sisters have suffered because of her.”
Eclipse continued to walk towards the Arena after remembering his past. “Pyrrha Nikos, are you as bad as AdamClams?” he thought to himself with concern and confusion as he walked towards the Arena.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha stood up from her seat. “Wish me luck,” She said to her teammates.
“Good luck, Pyrrha,” Ren said with a smile.
“Show them the meaning of girl power!” Nora shouted with her usual hyperactive voice.
“I will Nora,” Pyrrha said to Nora with a smile. She looked at Jaune who was looking at his feet. “Are you OK Jaune?”
Jaune looked up at Pyrrha and could see the concern for him in her eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m fine Pyrrha,” He replied quickly. “Good luck fighting Eclipse.”
Pyrrha smiled, “Thank you, Jaune,” She said as she turned and walked towards the Arena with a skip in her step.
Pyrrha and Eclipse met each other within the Arena. Pyrrha equipped herself with Miló and Akoúo̱ and took a battle stance. Eclipse equipped himself with Forgiveness and Redemption in their closed scissors form.
“Ready?” Professor Bloodstone asked.
“Ready!” Pyrrha replied.
“Ready!” Eclipse announced.
“Alright! BEGIN!” Professor Bloodstone shouted.
Pyrrha immediately took her defensive stance, with her shield covering most of her torso, her left leg forward, her right leg back for stability, and her spear pulled back, ready to counterstrike if necessary. She narrowed her eyes as she eyed up Eclipse in anticipation of his first attack. Upon doing this, Eclipse readied his scissors blades by opening them, as he also eyed up Pyrrha for any sudden moves. Both combatants stood stock still, staring each other down, and mentally darring the other to make the first move.
Back with Team Rose, they all stared at the unusual behaviour of their teammate.
“Uh, what’s Eclipse doing?” Ruby asked in confusion. “Why’s he just standing there?”
“Simple,” Sunset said with a knowing look. “He’s waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” Ruby asked.
“The same thing Phyrra’s waiting for,” Onyx chimed in, and Ruby looked over at him. “To see which of them will make the first move.”
“Well I hope one of them makes the first move soon or this will be a boring fight,” Ruby said with a huff.
“Well that’s just the thing, Ruby,” Onyx went on. “Pyrrha is like water, she doesn’t act, she reacts to whatever her opponent throws at her. And I don’t know much about Eclipse’s fighting style because of my limited knowledge.”
“Well, has anyone seen Eclypse fight before,” Ruby asked.
“I have,” replied Sunset. “Eclipse is more of the trickster type in terms of fighting style. He likes to play with his opponents. Back in the Emerald Forest, he did the same thing with 2 Ursas, toying with them, trying to make them guess his next move.”
“So, how do you think this fight will go?” Ruby asked. Sunset and Onyx didn’t answer, they merely shrugged.
Back in the Arena, Pyrrha and Eclipse kept staring each other down, with Pyrrha waiting for the first strike, and Eclipse searching hard for any sign of weakness in her defence that he could exploit.
“The Invincible Girl isn’t going to do anything until I make the first move, is she?” Eclipse thought to himself. “And I can’t win if I don’t attack her.” With that thought, he separated his scissors into 2 separate blades, grasping 1 blade in his right hand, while putting his left forearm through the handle of the other. He then held up his arm as he began to spin the blade around it. Once the blade was spinning fast enough, he swung his arm to send the blade flying toward his opponent, only for the manoeuvre to go wrong, sending it flying up into the air instead.
Throughout the Arena, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the flying scissor blade, including Pyrrha’s. Seeing her fall for his reuse, Eclipse smiled, and flung his second blade at her, aiming for her lower left leg.
Pyrrha, catching sight of the incoming blade from the corner of her eye, quickly lowered her shield in front of her legs to deflect it. The blade bounced off the shield harmlessly, and then she looked back up at the first blade, only to gasp as she saw it coming right at her. She reacted fast, and intercepted the blade with her spear just in time, sending it flying away from her. She looked over at Eclipse, seeing that despite his sudden setback from her fending off his attacks, he didn’t seem concerned. He was smiling with confidence like everything was going just as he had planned.
“He used a fakeout,” she thought to herself.
Eclipse used his Kinesis to retrieve both of his scissor blades. “I should have known she would have countered my attack.” Eclipse caught his blades and held them backwards. “OK, let’s try being aggressive.” Now that he’d tested the waters, Eclipse then readied himself to rush at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha straightened her stance, ready for whatever Eclipse had planned next. “You won’t catch me off guard a second time,” She thought with determination.
Eclipse then ran towards Pyrrha. “Here I come, Ready or not!” He shouted warningly. As he got closer, he jumped up into the air and thrust his legs forward in a drokick, only for his feet to slam hard into Pyrrha’s shield as she raised it to defend herself. With a twist of her upper body, Pyrrha pushed him off, sending him up in the air, and with her spear, she thrust it at Eclipse, who twisted his body, and with his right blade, he slapped Pyrrha’s spear out of her hands, sending it clattering to the ground.
Eclipse then used his kinesis to make some distance between himself and Pyrrha.
Now that the attack had been deflected, Phrryra took her chance, transforming her weapon into sword mode, and ran towards Eclipse. As she got closer, she raised her sword, and once she was in striking distance, she swung her sword hard at him.
Eclipse, however, quickly did a backflip to evade Pyrrha’s attack. While Eclipse was in midair, Pyrrha threw her Shield, hitting him in the stomach, and scoring the hit for Pyrrha.
Professor Bloodstone watched with disappointment as he watched Eclipse’s Aura drop on his Scroll. “Well, this is getting rather boring,” he said with a huff.
“You know the students are not here for your entertainment,” Glynda said in disapproval. “They are here to hone their skills as future Huntsman and Huntress’.”
“I know, Glynda,” Professor Bloodstone said placatingly. “But the old veteran in me has standards when observing combat, and right now, these two youngsters aren’t even close to meeting those standards.”
Eclipse got back to his feet, and Pyrrha stood firm.
“Okay, let’s try this,” Eclipse said to himself, flipping a switch on his right scissor to activate the SMG.
“What is he plan-”
Eclipse opened fire with his SMG at Pyrrha, who defended herself with her shield. The bullets kept bouncing off of Pyrrha’s bronze shield until Eclipse had emptied the whole magazine.
“He just ran out! Now’s my…” Pyrrha thought before she noticed that Eclipse was only holding one Scissor. “Where’s his second Scissor?” Using her Semblance, Pyrrha could feel the second Scissor coming towards her from behind. She quickly turned to defend herself from Eclipse’s Scissors with her Shield. She then felt Eclipse’s Scissors once more. “Again?” She countered with her sword and saw the Scissor without Eclipse pushing against her sword. “What the…”
Eclipse then ran towards Pyrrha, and once he got close enough, he slid along the ground to kick Pyrrha down to the ground.
Pyrrha used her Semblance to repel both the Scissor blades and leapt forward to evade Eclipse’s kick.
The second Pyrrha touched the floor, she turned to strike Eclipse while he was vulnerable.
Eclipse rolled away from Pyrrha and jumped back to his feet. He then used his Kinesis to retrieve his Scissors and, still using Kinesis, he also reloaded his SMG.
“I have three Magazines left on my belt,” Eclipse thought to himself. “Let’s make them count!”
Pyrrha threw her Shield at Eclipse, who dodged it by jumping to his left. Pyrrha then transformed her weapon into rifle mode and shot at Eclipse.
“Whoa!” Eclipse used his Kinesis to avoid Pyrrha’s gunshots before he threw his both os Scissors blades at Pyrrha.
“This again?” Pyrrha transformed her Rifle back into spear mode as she used her Polarity to retrieve her Shield.
“Showtime!” Eclipse thought as both of his Scissor blades flew at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha used her spear to block the two blades, but then, from out of nowhere, Eclipse appeared in front of Pyrrha and punched her in her stomach, forcing her to take a few steps back.
“Oh, wow, that hurt,” She said with a groan as she rubbed her stomach.
Professor Bloodstone kept his eyes on his Scroll, watching Pyrrha’s Aura go down. “Hmm, looks like this little Tiger has some talent after all,” He said with an intrigued grin.
“Indeed, but it’s unconventional in my opinion,” Glynda said, pushing up her glasses.
“And Eclipse Score’s a hit!” Ruby called out excitedly from the turnaround in the fight.
“Huh, looks like the Invincible Girl isn’t so Invincible after all,” Sunset said with an impressed smile.
“Looks like Eclipse might give Pyrrha a run for her money,” Onyx said as he closely watched the two fighters.
Jaune looked down at Pyrrha with worry in his eyes. “Pyrrha,” he said with a concerned tone.
“Don’t worry, Jaune,” Nora said, placing a comforting hand on her leader’s shoulder. “She’ll bounce back,” She said with a big hopeful smile. “Right, Ren?”
“Pyrrha does have combat experience,” Ren replied.
“See, and even Ren knows she’ll win,” Nora said, not completely hearing Ren’s answer.
“I didn’t say Pyrrha would win,” Ren said with a frown, but Nora remained oblivious to her partner.
“COME ON, PYRRHA, WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT, KICK THIS GUY’S BUTT!!” The ginger-haired girl yelled enthusiastically as she jumped up from her seat excitedly, making several students turn and stare at her, and Ren covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.
Seeing Nora’s exuberant display of support for his partner, Jaune decided to get in on the act. He jumped up from his seat and also began to cheer. “Yeah, you can do it, Pyrrha, we believe in you!”
“I don’t know either of you,” Ren whispered under his breath from behind his hands.
Back inside the Arena, Pyrrha could hear her teammates cheering her on, and she smiled gratefully as she used her Polarity to retrieve her Shield.
“YOU CAN WIN THIS ECLIPSE!” Ruby’s voice called out from her seat.
Eclipse smiled as well, and he attached the two loops of his Scissors. He aimed, and threw his double blade at Pyrrha as he ran behind it.
Pyrrha then threw her Shield at Eclipse. Both Pyrrha’s Shield and Eclipse’s Double blade flew past each other.
Eclipse slid under the Shield, and Pyhrra somersaulted over the double blade. After she Sumasalted, Pyrrha quickly transformed her weapon into spear mode and threw it at Eclipse with full force.
Eclipse couldn’t avoid the incoming spear in time, and he used his Kinesis to bring back his Scissors. The scissors collided with Pyrrha’s spear before it could reach its target, knocking it off course just enough to miss Eclipse’s head by inches. He then came to a sudden, juddering halt, as the spear embedded itself in the floor, pinning him via his hood.
Seeing her chance, Pyrrha used her Polarity to once more retrieve her shield, and then dived down straight toward him.
Seeing how fast she was coming at him, and with being trapped, Eclipse quickly focused his Kinesis on Pyrrha herself to try and push her back.
Pyrrha could feel herself slowing down, so in a last effort, she threw her shield with all of her might.
Seeing the shield coming at him, Eclipse switched the focus of his Kinesis onto it instead of Pyrrha. However, this caused Pyrrha to fall at full speed again. As she reached her shield, she grabbed it out of the air, landed on top of Eclipse, and held the edge of it up against his throat. Seeing that he was well and truly pinned down, Eclipse knew there was no way out of this situation for him.
Professor Bloodstone could also see that this match had reached its conclusion. “That’s enough! The winner of this match is Pyhrra Nikos!” he announced.
Pyrrha got up off of Eclipse, removed her Shield from his neck, and her Spear from his hood. “Wow, that was a good match, Eclipse,” she said with a smile, offering her hand to help Eclipse up from the ground.
“Yeah it was,” Eclipse smiled back, taking Pyrrha’s hand.
Pyrrha helped Eclipse back on his feet, and the two of them looked at the board and saw their Aura levels. Eclipse’s Aura was in the Yellow. Pyrrha’s was still in the Green.
“I barely put a dent in your Aura,” Eclipse said as looked at the board in disappointment.
“Between you and me. You put a bigger dent in my Aura than most,” Pyrrha said with a smile and a conspiratorial wink.
“Really?” Eclipse asked, a little surprised by Pyrrha's statement.
“Really,” Pyrrha replied, leaving the Arena to rejoin her team.
Eclipse just stared after her moment, before he also left the Arena to rejoin his team.
As Eclipse returned to his teammates, he was met with cheers and applause.
“You were great out there, Eclipse!” Ruby said happily with a huge grin.
“You gave that Nikos girl a run for her money,” Sunset said in a complimenting tone as she gave a smirk.
“Yeah, you did good out there pal, but to be honest I would’ve been surprised if you actually defeated Pyrrha though,” Onyx said with a smark.
“Yeah, to be honest, I thought I could have defeated her in the fight,” Eclipse said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
“Alright, listen up, that's the last match for today! Everyone who fought today, take what you learned, and use the new experience wisely in the future,” Professor Bloodstone announced to the class. “But next time I expect more of your true Hunter’s spirit! Dismissed!” He finished, dismissing the class.
Everyone left the Arena, and made their way back to their Dorm Rooms.
On the way back to team Rose's room, Ruby remembered what Yang said to her about calling home. “Hey guys, I’ve got something I need to do. I’ll see you guys back in the room,” She said to her teammates.
“Okay Ruby,” Sunset said.
“Soon you later,” Eclipse said.
“Don’t be too long, Partner,” Onyx said with a smile. Then the three members of team Rose left Ruby to take care of her business.
Ruby went to find a secluded spot to make a private phone call home. Once she found the perfect area, she pulled out her Scoll and made the call.
Ruby waited for an answer, until the answering machine took the call.
“Hi Mom, hi Dad, it's me, Ruby. Still in Beacon thankfully, and guess what? I'm the leader of my own team called Rose. Yeah, I know, it's really on the nose. My Partner is a boy called Onyx Shinra, yes he’s that Shinra, and he has silver eyes too. We’re Silver eye buddies! Also, the other two members are two Faunus, a girl called Sunset Shimmer, and she’s a Fox Faunus. Me and her started pretty rough, but don’t worry, we’re OK now. The last member is a Tiger Faunus named Eclipse Khan. He's a cool guy, and I would really like to go on and tell you more about my team but I can only record so much on the machine. So I’ll try to call you at an earlier time, love you.” She hung up her Scroll and made her way back to team Rose's room.
After a little while of walking, Ruby returned to her Dorm Room. Before she could unlock the door, her Scroll vibrated. She pulled it out and saw she had just received a message. She opened it to read what it was.
The message read,
Hi Ruby, sorry I missed your call. I was busy taking care of something. I’m so proud you’re doing so well at Beacon. Let’s have a proper conversation soon. Hugs and kisses from me and Dad.
Love Mom.
Ruby smiled warmly before she sent a reply.
Love you too, goodnight Mom.
After she sent her message, Ruby entered her team’s room to rejoin her friends.
To Be Continued…