//------------------------------// // C6 - The Tournament, and What Happened After // Story: Rainbow Dash meets Ruby Rose // by Maxes Altho //------------------------------// The streets are empty. No businesses open, no people roaming the city. If it wasn’t for how clean everything is, one might mistake it for a ghost city. However, if one were to look up, to the plateau overlooking the city, a grand citadel sits. If the wind is blowing right, and you stay very still, you might hear a sound like distant thunder, though the sky is perfectly clear. As you approach the plateau, you might see several ships ferrying people to and from the plateau. As you board the thunder rises in volume. When you arrive at the citadel, you are directed by armed guards in suits of robotic armor to an enormous building, the roar growing with every step. Upon entering, the roar reaches its crescendo. The building is set up like a sports stadium; row upon row of stands, filling fast, surround a large field. In fact, calling it a sports stadium is closer to the truth than you might believe. Welcome to the Tournament of the Kingdoms. Here, Teams from all four Academies from all four Kingdoms of Remnant, Vale, Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral gather to test their strength against each other. They do it to reinforce the bonds of the Kingdoms, and keep the peace between them. I’m not the center of attention here, and loving every minute of it. Me, Twi, AJ, and Fluttershy are seated in the front row, where we can see every bucking second of the action. We cheer on every match, but double our efforts whenever RWBY, JNPR, or another team from Vale takes the field. Epic Awesomeness. That is the only words I can use to describe the Tournament. Let’s see, there are four brackets, which house the different years of students. That way, a first-year team doesn’t go up against a fourth-year, and be slaughtered. It is official dueling rules, no maiming, no dismemberment, no permanent disfiguration, concussive/nonlethal rounds only. Single elimination. One week of pure, unadulterated awesome. ---------- “Oh my Goddesses, did you see that last guy’s moves?” I’m leaning back in my seat, basking in the afterglow of the spectator adrenaline rush. “He moved so fast! And his weapon! I didn’t ever think I’d see a guy turn a nail gun into such a beast!” Surprisingly Fluttershy chimes in. “I know! Such power… I’d like to face him, see how I would compare, that is, if he doesn’t mind.” Twilight and Applejack share a semi-worried look between them. “I’m thinkin’ we’ve been here a tad too long, Twi.” “Me too, AJ. But, I’m having no luck with the Relay. There’s been times when I think we’re getting close but then it just goes away.” It’s the last day of the Tournament. Eight teams remain; no wonder there, RWBY still stands. JNPR got knocked out on Day Three. Jaune slipped up bad, Ren ran out of steam, and Pyrrha and Nora couldn’t make up the difference against the team from Mistral. RWBY had a few troubles too; a team from Vacuo almost got the better of them, and Team CRDL (Cardinal, all the members are named like birds, go figure) from Beacon went after our friends with a vengeance. If it wasn’t for Yang and her Rage, they might have bested them. “So, who’re Ruby and Team up against?” Twilight frowns in concentration. “A team from Atlas. Supposedly, their Headmaster, Ironwood, hand-picked this team when they came to his school. He favors prowess and cunning above all else; obviously, that will translate into this team.” Whatever else she says is cut off as the announcer steps up to his podium. “Welcome one and all, to the final day of the Tournament of the Kingdoms! Are you all ready to see some action?” The crowd roars. This’ll be a fight for the century! ---------- “Yang slides up to the punch, but her opponent blocks! He readies his weapon, and…Oh! Blindsided by Ruby! Full-impact round in the chest! He’s down, folks! KO! Team RWBY has won!” The crowd erupts, us cheering twice as hard. Twi wasn’t kidding. Right out of the gates, they had RWBY on the ropes. It wasn’t until Yang got in a position to handle two at once that Ruby and Weiss were able to take one down. Blake went down, but Yang made up for it by punching out one of her opponents. Then Weiss hit the dirt. Ruby was able to hold one off, while Yang fought the other guy into submission, then went to support Ruby. It’s absolutely fair to gang up, but you have to do it carefully, or you risk hurting your fellow teammate. Wow. I’m almost unconscious from the sheer awesome, and that was only the first match of four for the day! You know, them being first-years, they got the first match, then the seconds, thirds, and finishing up the tournament with the epic battle of the fourth-years. There was one more day dedicated to the awards ceremony. Not only were there awards for the four teams on top, there’s also awards for stuff like ‘Most Decisive Victory’, ‘Most Improved from Years Previous’ (for second- through fourth- years only), and a whole bunch of others. All that was left to do was wait. ---------- The awards ceremony is just as grand as the competition itself. Entertainment, speeches from the four Headmasters, and the presenting of awards. However, there is one part in particular I’m waiting for. A certain final showing of arms. As the last of the awards are handed out, the announcer steps up to the podium one last time. “Now that the awards are out of the way, are there any out there who thinks they can take on the champions of this year’s Tournament? This isn’t for the glory, but the prestige and skill.” I look at the others, and nod. We had discussed this the previous night with Goodwitch, and she assured us it is legal. We stand. “We, Team Harmony of Beacon, hereby challenge Team RWBY to a show of skill on the battlefield.” The whole crowd gasps. Even Ruby looks shocked, but that quickly gives way to a look of grim determination. She steps up before the rest can recover. “We accept.” ---------- Five minutes later, the field is cleared. Only eight stand: us and Team RWBY, weapons at the ready. We’re loaded down with various nonlethal rounds, from the basic concussive to stranger stuff like sludge rockets for Fluttershy. I glance at my team. “Remember girls, the deal is to knock out or render unconscious. No actually hurting them, Fluttershy.” She hefts her morning star, the spikes reduced to half-inch high nubs. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. I know the rules.” The announcer speaks. “Team RWBY, are you ready?” A shout answers him. He nods. “Team Harmony, are you ready?” We respond with our own roar. “BEGIN!” In an instant, I’m flying up and unloading specialty flashbang rounds at RWBY. Like the name suggests, they go flash, then bang, disorienting your opponents. Fluttershy’s darted back, almost to the wall, and is firing anything and everything at them. Yang becomes preoccupied with shooting down her shots. Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss try to get the upper hand on Twi and AJ, but they are holding them back, barely. Then, I hear a shot, and suddenly, Ruby is flying at me, cape streaming in the wind. I block Crescent Rose with my arm guards, and drop like a rock to the ground. I hear another shot, and I glance up. Ruby has used Crescent Rose as a platform, and used her gun to give her more speed. She collides with me, dragging us both down to the ground at a fairly unsafe speed. In an instant, a slab of earth worms its way between us, and forces Ruby off of me. Thank you, Twi. I use it as a launching pad, and redirect my attention at Blake. Twi starts forming the stone into walls she launches at a still-airborne Ruby, thankful I took a bit of pressure off her. As I bring Rainboom down on Blake, I spare a glance at the others. AJ is dueling Yang, but losing ground. The heavy axe can’t keep up with her lightning-fast punches. Fluttershy is trying to assist, but is held back by a line of Weiss’ glyphs. Every time she tries to move through them, they bounce her back like a rubber ball. Weiss is charging some kind of glyph. I can’t let her finish. I slam down on Blake, and she dissipates. Crap, a Shadow! I have just enough time to go guns and fire a spray at Weiss, breaking her concentration, before something slams into my back, forcing me to the ground. I turn the blow into a somersault, and come up facing Yang. Her eyes are red, and she has that smirk on her face. I charge. We trade blows, her trying to land a hit, me blocking with my braces and firing at her point-blank when I get a chance. This goes on for about ten seconds when I sense something behind me. I block, spin, and give Blake a face full of sludge-shot. From somewhere, Twi hardens the sludge. Then, still fighting off Yang, I jump, and kick the sludge covering Blake’s face. It shatters, and the force of my kick sends her against the far wall. I hear AJ shout, and a quick glance confirms. She got caught in the middle off one of Weiss’ glyph traps, and Weiss beat her into submission, the axe lying some distance away, edge-first in the dirt. I block the next hit, but come up blocking air. I see Yang a few yards away, trying to get to Twi, her hair smoldering, Twi forming earthen spears to fling at the approaching brawler. Weiss is after Flutters again, but her rockets are giving her a run for her money. So where’s— Pain explodes across my chest, and I fall to my back. One of my ribs must be cracked; I can barely breathe. I look, and Ruby is halfway across the field, barrel smoking. Suddenly, the entire back wall is covered in dust, and Ruby is on the other side of the field fighting Fluttershy. I hear the “Eep!” as she changes to the morning star, and takes all focus off of Weiss. She starts charging another glyph, and my only thought is, have to stop her. I aim at her sword, and suddenly, it is covered in sludge from tip to her hand. I smile, knowing I bought them a little time, and let the darkness take me. ---------- I come to still laying in the dirt. A hand is above me, and I take it. As I pull myself up, chest still in pain, I see none of my friends fared much better. Weiss’ hand is still stuck to her sword, Blake is stumbling a little, leaning on AJ for support, who’s looking much the same. Ruby has traces of earth from Twi’s magic all over her. Yang still looks the same as she always does, but I can see she doesn’t have the bounce in her step, and she’s breathing heavily. Twi… Twilight’s looking at the D-Relay with a mixture of surprise, shock, and realization. As she rushes over, I have to ask the question. “So, how did we do?” Ruby is beaming. “Amazing! You guys still lost, but it was close. After I hit you, and you took Weiss out by making her unable to wield, Fluttershy and Twilight put up a valiant effort, but nobody can stop the sisters!” And then she high-fives Yang. “Guys! Look at this!” Twilight’s finally close enough for us to hear. The D-Relay is going crazy. “What does tha’ mean, Sugarcube?” “This spot is the epicenter of a mass multi-dimensional anomaly!” I stare. “Huh?” Twilight groans. “This is exactly the spot we’ve been looking for! I can open a portal and get us home!” We all perk up at that. However, Ruby looks disappointed. “You’re finally going home? We won’t see you after this?” I embrace her. “I think so, Ruby. These past few weeks have been some of the most fun in my life! But, as soon as we get home, Twilight’s going to send a letter to Princess Celestia, and dismantle the D-Hopper.” I hear Twi start to protest. “No, Twi. We got lucky this time. You found a non-hostile world, and we still almost gave up the secret to finding Equis. We’re the protectors, Twilight. Sometimes, that means giving up what we want for the good of our world.” She’s not happy, but complies, then powers up the Relay. A shimmering portal appears in front of us. I vaguely notice the crowd is on its feet, watching in wonder. Fluttershy and AJ are the first through the portal, with Twilight not far behind. Before I can step through, however, Yang stops me. She pulls me into a bone-crushing hug, then lays something around my neck. I look, and it’s the award for winning the Tournament. “Yang, I-I can’t accept this.” “Sure you can. Just think of it as a reminder of all you did here.” I nod, and, tears streaming from my eyes, I step into the portal. Equestria, here we come. ---------- A light flickers on in a small room. Out of the shadows steps a figure. He is clean-shaven with a casual business suit on. He carries a folder, which he hands to the other figure in the room. “I take it you had a chance to look at our friend’s device?” “Yes, sir. However, we weren’t able to run many tests before the attack.” “This folder contains all we were able to get out of our friends before their escape, including a couple rough blueprints on the device. Do you think you could find a way to reverse-engineer it?” “It’ll take time, sir, but my boys are the best. We’ll have some projections for you by the end of the week.” “Good.” Oberon chuckles. “Rainbow Dash, you may have been able to best me, but mark my words, I am a man who always gets what he wants.” He turns and leaves the room. “And what I want… is Equestria.”