Maybe it's red like roses
Maybe it's the pool of blood
The innocents will lay in
When in the end you've failed to save them

Their dying eyes
Are wide and white like snow
And now they know
The cost of trusting you's obliteration

The mirrors will shatter
Crushed by the weight of the world
The pillars collapse in shame

There'll be no rest
There'll be no love
There'll be no hero in the end
Who will rise above

And when it ends
The good will crawl
The shining light will sink in darkness
Victory for hate incarnate
Misery and pain for all
When it falls

《☆☆☆》

"SPEAK NOW", the wind had told her but the pinkette found herself unable to speak. She understood her task fairly well, it was just difficult for her to unlock her true potential. Aracel needed to fill her role as the next hero of legend but the task at hand wasn't as simple as it was made seem. Neither was it easy to accept a destiny thrusted upon her at a young age. Aracel never wanted to be a hero. Never did she envision fighting monsters and saving the day, but the choice not once was ever offered. All she was given was a sword that is said to be the blade of evil's bane and the sword that seals the darkness. Though as the years passed, the pinkette was more inclined to just accept things as they were.

"How did your training go in the Spring of Courage?" Ozpin asks

"Not very well, I haven't been able to unlock the power." Aracel says, refusing to look Ozpin directly in the eyes.

"Aracel-"

"It's so shameful-"

"Aracel, look at me."

She sighed and slowly looked up, making direct eye contact with Ozpin. Surprisingly though, he wasn't disappointed as she thought he would be. Instead, Ozpin was sympathetic and understanding as he knew very well how it was to live with the spirit of the hero within.

"Keep trying. This isn't about how long it takes for you to unlock your power, it's only a matter of actually unlocking that power." Ozpin says

"But-"

"I recommend using the Master Sword more often in combat."

"I understand."

Aracel's left hand begins to twitch at thought of using the sword in battle. She places her hands behind her, using her right hand to grip the other and stop it from shaking.

"Good, I look forward to seeing your battle."

A stadium of epic proportions is seen high up in the sky. Crowds are cheering in the stands, visitors from all over the world. In the middle of the battlefield, two teams stand awaiting the selection of the fields. Aracel's teammates looked at her oddly, as she wasn't dressed in her usual black leather outfit. Long pink hair reached down to her lower legs. Giving her an overall elegant and regal appearance. Her outfit consisted of a layered, white dress, along with numerous gold accessories in the form of a necklace, laurel crown, fibula, arm bands, arm brace, armored sleeve, and ornaments secured by belts, with white silk gloves as the finishing touch. Meanwhile, the rules of the tournament were being recited by Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port.

"What's with the dress?" Klaus asks

"It's my Vytal Festival dress. I designed it just for the occasion and also because Regina didn't think my other outfit was appropriate enough to be broadcast on national television." Aracel explains, speaking with a bit of sarcasm.

"How so?" Layla asks

"She said I looked like a dominatrix." Aracel says

"Aracel, your mother isn't here she can't control what you wear." Lilly says

"Wrong! Regina is literally sitting front row."

Lilly, Layla, and Klaus turn around to look at Regina. Said mother, sits in the front row the next two rows behind her forcibly empty as she didn't want anyone near her. The area is guarded by two guards, one of those being Jordan Aran, she catches their gaze and waves enthusiastically before going back to a serious composure. Regina catches their stares and the team immediately turn back around, finding the green haired woman intimidating.

"Wow... how subtle." Aracel rolls her eyes

Across from them, team SLVR of Atlas academy stood proud to represent the Atlas. Aracel dreaded having to face off against them especially considering that the leader of team SLVR was none other than Silas Mikaelson, her twin brother. The other members were Aracel's step sister Lana Mikaelson, Vega Seraphina Phoenix, and Ryder Vorontsova. Silas made eye contact with his twin sister and smirked, he absolutely loved to rub it in her face that he was a team leader and she was not. Aracel crossed her arms and looked off to the side, though this didn't go unnoticed by her team. However, before they could say anything, Port began to speak.

"Team SLVR of Atlas versus team LLAK of Beacon!"

The biome roulette begins around them, both teams drawing out their weapons. The first biome behind team SLVR is selected, stopping on the symbol for waves. The ocean biome comes up and Aracel visibly pales at the sight of the water.

"Aracel, are you-"

Lilly's voice is drowned out by the confused and amused murmurs of the crowd as the second biome is revealed. Aracel searches the crowd to distract herself from the water, she then stops when she notices that a blue eyed blonde in a pink combat dress is staring intently at her. She gives Aracel a small smile, a feeling of familiarity falling upon them both. Aracel takes a few steps forward, distracted by her, but stops when the biome behind her and her team changes. Aracel looks at the symbol only to see a dark cloud depicted. The field behind them is only more strange as it is completely covered in dark clouds.

"I don't recognize this biome." Lilly says

"I wonder what it's like on the inside..." Layla mutters

"I'll take my chances rather than dealing with the water." Aracel says

As the match begins Aracel, Layla, and Klaus run off into the dark field leaving Lilly behind. Holographic tiles made by Lana are used to slide Vega towards Lilly. The dark skinned girl throws punches at Lilly who is forced to swiftly dodge them as she's left alone. An electric shock is fired at Vega, giving Layla a chance to drag Lilly into the dark biome. Inside, Lilly can barely see its as if she was walking through pure smoke. Her other teammates on the other hand could see as clear as day.

"Guys we have to go back out there." Lilly says

"We have the advantage here, we can see in this smoke and they can't." Klaus says

"Not everyone can see." Lilly says, referring to herself.

"I've got this, but I'm going to need one of you to cover me." Aracel says

"I'll do it!" Lilly offers, still trying to get in Aracel's good graces.

Team SLVR enter the fray, illuminated by an electric orb made by Lana. The fight now can officially begin with both teams now gaining visibility. Silas goes after Aracel, Lana after Layla, Vega after Lilly, and Ryder after Klaus. Aracel runs from her brother to try to clear the thick black clouds, but it's no avail as Silas prepares to attack Aracel from behind. Aracel intercepts, raising her shield to block his blow. The pinkette pushes back and Lilly fires an arrow at Silas' feet keeping him in place with ice. Vega lands a punch on Lilly's right cheek, knocking her down. Aracel runs to Layla and she throws her up, giving the pinkette the boost that she needed. Lilly looks up and comes face to face with piercing turquoise colored eyes. From above, using the Master Sword, Aracel creates a large light orb over her head then throws it towards the ground. The battlefield clears, as Aracel falls back down. Lilly runs and catches her partner in a princess style, with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. Aracel's eyes flutter open and takes the scene around her. She looks up and sees that Lilly is mesmerized at something in front of her, the same went for the rest of the two teams and the crowd.

The fight ceased and Aracel took in the biome around them. She hopped out of Lilly's arms and saw the ruins around them that looked like no other. Dark squared and rectangular particles littered the air. Aracel raised one hand and the particles swirled around her fingers, a strange sense of familiarity befalling her. With a new sense of determination, Aracel begins to clash with Silas through various sword slashes. The fight resumes soon after Vega sets a flame to the ice that covered Silas' feet. With regained mobility, Silas charges forward with a blind rage. Though none of his attacks land as Aracel gracefully dodges them through the art of dance. Dark particles begin swirling around her, as she pirouette's into a series of sword slashes.

With Lilly and Vega, Lilly dodges the brawler's fiery fists with several backflips. The blonde is left cornered by Vega, the black haired girl smirks at Lilly. Her right hand becomes engulfed in flames, as she prepares to attack. Lilly ducks and Vega punches the large stony rock that was behind Lilly. She kicks her and Vega hits her head, breaking the piece of stone. Satisfied with her getting back at Vega from the punch earlier, Lilly turns to see how the others were doing.

Lana calls several orbs made of lightning to rain down on Layla, the tigress simply zooms past them all using her semblance. The younger Mikaelson growls, growing frustrated with Layla. A flurry of attacks are thrown Layla's way, that are each dodged leaving a trail of sparks behind her as she does so. Layla stops and yawns, angering the blue haired girl even more. Lana summons a holographic cube, hops on top of it and rolls forward attempting to stomp on Layla. However, the tigress is quick to dodge all her attempts until Ryder presses his palm on the ground creating a thin coat of ice causing Layla to slip. She growls in anger and grabs Bellona and switches the revolver into it's plasma whip mode. The electrical whip wraps around Ryder's ankle and pulls him down to the ground leaving him as the perfect prey for Klaus who instantly pounces. Layla's victory is short lived as she's crushed by the cube and Lana jumps on the hollogram releasing a circular pulse of electricity from it before hopping off. With the extra charge of the opposing attack, Layla gets back up on her feet and delivers an electric shock to the younger Mikaelson.

Klaus oddly enough, thrives in the strange battlefield. Ryder slashes at Klaus with his sword, only for the blade to be caught in the wolf's canines. Ryder's eyes widen, he tries to pull back his weapon with no avail. Deciding to be benevolent, Klaus swings him around and throws him off into a great distance attacking the brunet and giving him back his weapon. Klaus howls, taunting Ryder all while proving his superiority. From the crowd, Yang chuckles to herself and softly shakes her head from side to side, as she gazes lovingly at her boyfriend. Angered by Klaus' taunt Vega goes to punch the hybrid only to be met by the air as Klaus had shifted into his bat form. Lilly steps in to defend her teammate, bringing her sword down on Vega who intercepts by lifting up her left gauntlet to meet Apollo halfway.

Klaus falls to the ground, back in his human form, causing all fighting to cease once more. Lilly, Layla, team SLVR, and RWBY stare with concerned looks. Yang is absolutely distraught, she abruptly stands to get a better look. Lilly rushes to his side to examine her team member. Klaus gives off a shallow breath, as if he's trying to hold back. Aracel senses the change and the grip on her sword becomes tighter, her knuckles slightly turning white. The pinkette looks at Layla and locks eyes with her, the two silently communicating with each other. Layla rushes at Lilly's side and pulls her aside much to her leader's protests. Dark black clouds begin to surround him, obstructing everyone's view of him. Everyone watches in bewilderment, as a the clouds fade away and a gigantic wolf is left behind. Regina stands in amazement at the display of power from her daughter's teammate. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake gape at Yang who is just as surprised as they are.

"Umm... Yang..." Ruby starts

"Did you know Klaus could do that?!" Weiss shrieks

"I think we're all just as surprised." Blake mutters

Yang regains her composure and smirks. "I think that settles it, I have the best boyfriend in the world." Yang brags

Back in the fight, relentless Ryder slashes at Klaus' legs, but is unable to find any weak point. The rest of his team join in attacking the ginormous wolf. Klaus picks up the girls from their clothing and throws them on top of him. Aracel takes the reigns by grabbing two tufts of fur, knowing she had to take a risk she tells Klaus a command. Knowing what to do, the hybrid makes way towards the other biome. Lilly and Layla stand firing arrows and bursts of energy at the opposing team, respectively only for Ryder to create an ice shield. Accelerated by Lana's holographic tiles, team SLVR follow behind them not knowing that they were going to be falling into a trap. With some of the dark particles still swirling around her, Aracel raises the Master Sword skyward to create a canon. Both teams meet in the ocean biome, as the girls fire an attack into the canon. Lilly uses her semblance to form an orb of sunlight, Layla fires with large bursts of electricity, and Aracel shoots a beam of light with the Master Sword. Three shots are fired from the canon and one directly from Klaus' mouth. The attacks make direct contact, sending the team flying into their elimination. Water is shot up from their synchronized attack, leaving the members of team LLAK wet. Aracel huffs in annoyance, even though she realized that it was a necessary sacrifice.

The buzzer sounds and team LLAK takes a moment to cheer. The effect on Klaus fades away and he suddenly morphs back into his regular form. Klaus turns into a bat and flies down, then transforms back just in time to catch both Lilly and Aracel. Besides them, Layla lands directly on her feet, unfazed by the whole ordeal.

"And that's the match! Team LLAK is victorious!" Port announces

"What was that?" Lilly asks, after Klaus puts her and Aracel down.

"I'm not sure." Klaus lies

Aracel, knowing full well when people lied because she did it all the time, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. But she didn't question it, instead she searched the crowd for the mysterious woman she saw earlier only to see no sight of her. In the crowd, two wolf faunus watch on intently. The two toned haired woman, and the angrier of the two, scoffs bitterly before walking away with her associate.

After team LLAK's successful battle, team RWBY fought against team ABRN. The girls claimed victory with Yang knocking out the entire team with one brutal punch accelerated by Weiss' ice slide and Blake's throw. Lilly, Layla, and Klaus stayed behind to support the girls, while Aracel went off to do her own thing. Though they agreed to meet in the fairgrounds soon after, Aracel reluctantly agreed as Ozpin was practically forcing her to spend time with her team. The team stand in the middle of the fairgrounds, myriad of tents and small shops wreathed in colorful flags in a large forest clearing as people mill about to experience it all.

"Is anyone else starving?" Klaus asks, hunched over.

"I have worked up a big appetite." Layla says

"Let's find somewhere to meet, Aracel can meet us there." Lilly suggests

Klaus and Layla nod and they begin to walk off to search for a place to go eat at.

"Hey! Might be hard to eat without this." Emerald calls out, holding a wallet with lien.

Lilly opens her satchel and frantically rummages through it's contents. "No, no, no, no!"

Emerald laughs. "Good to see you, Lilly."

Lilly takes the wallet back from her "friend" and puts it away securely in her satchel. "Oh! Thanks, Emerald! Guess it must have fallen out somehow." Lilly says

"What's up, Em?" Layla asks

"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight! You guys were awesome!" Emerald turns to Klaus. "And you! That was some sick transformation!" She says

Klaus chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "It was nothing really..." He mumbles

"I heard your team progressed to the next round too." Layla says

"How'd they do in the fight?" Lilly asks

Emerald nods. "Really well."

"That's great. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together?" Lilly offers

"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of..." Emerald looks back at Mercury as he sniffs the inside of a boot, looking perplexed after he does so. "...introverted. Really socially awkward." She says

Layla looks behind Emerald to see Sheik and Aracel approaching them. Now that their fight had been over with, Aracel was now dressed in her usual outfit that she wore outside of combat. Aracel wore a black long sleeved shirt while still keeping the same leather trousers and her witch brim hat. However, when he she wasn't fighting Aracel was able to accessorize. She had two gold necklaces, a long necklace with a moon and a shorter necklace with an odd blue stone. The usual quiet ninja cracks up jokes with Aracel and the pinkette laughs as if she were conversing with an old friend. Though in reality it seemed more like they were flirting which was unfortunate since Emerald and Sheik were in a relationship. Lilly catches sight of this too and shakes her head. Emerald turns back and frowns at their display, just as Sheik and Aracel catch up to them. Emerald faces away from them and smiles at team LLAK, determined to keep her cover from being exposed.

"Looks like Sheik and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?"

"As the leader, I decided on Klaus and Layla." Lilly smiles

Layla smirks. "Yeah, we're going to kick ass!"

Emerald laughs. "Well, if Sheik, Mercury, and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Klaus says

"Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights." Emerald says

"Wait! Sheik, can we talk?" Lilly asks

Sheik shares a look with Emerald, the two confused as to what Lilly would want to talk to him about. Still, Sheik nods and the two walk a few feet away.

"So... about Emerald."

"You want to talk about Emerald?" Sheik asks

"Yes! Why did you fall in love with Emerald?" Lilly asks

"Why do you ask?"

"Because Emerald is a great girl and quite frankly, she doesn't deserve to have a boyfriend flirting with other girls. Aracel is in a relationship with Neptune by the way. But back to Emerald, I happen to know she really loves you. I just wanted to let you know that so that you don't take her for granted and lose her." Lilly says

"I wasn't flirting with Aracel, she just feels like an old friend... And believe me, I know what's in front of me. I'm not letting Emerald go. Now, is that all? Because we're kind of missing the matches." Sheik says

Lilly nods and the two walk back to the group. Emerald waves goodbye and walks away hand in hand with Sheik. Mercury follows after them. Satisfied with her work, Lilly begins to lead the way. Team LLAK finds themselves at one of the unassuming huts set up in the fairgrounds stringed with paper lanterns with a sign overhead saying A Simple Wok, Team RWBY already sit at the stools outside, with bowls of food in front of them. Weiss' card is flung back at her as it has been declined.

"What?! How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!" Weiss mumbles

Blake looks around panicked, she attempts to slowly slide her bowl closer to herself before the Shopkeep disappears with her food, causing the poor girl to slump over in defeat.

"No!"

Team LLAK take a seat on one of the other sides. A stack of waffles with two cans of whipped cream are slid Aracel's way. She smiles as she receives two cans of whipped cream, she'd use one for her waffles and the other strictly for eating. Layla is slid a bowl filled with fish, she clutches the bowl close to her and Blake looks at her with envy. Lilly receives a bowl of buttered noodles, her favorite food. She smiles at the Shopkeep and politely thanks him. Klaus looks at him and nods, the two gaining an understanding with each other. Klaus is slid a bowl filled with steaks. Aracel offers her own card and even pays for team RWBY's food. Unlike Weiss' card, Aracel's card is accepted and she turns to smirk at the heiress one upping her yet again.

"That's what happens when you don't live off Daddy's money." Aracel says

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asks, standing beside his team.

Aracel gives the Shopkeep her card again and pays for team JNPR's bowls of noddles.

"This is why I like having you around. You're like having a sugar daddy except I don't have to do anything for you to get nice things." Layla says

"Oh my gosh, did you just call me daddy?" Aracel softly chuckles, as Layla winks at her.

Later on, the bowls are empty, and each student is either content with their meal or holding their stomachs sickly.

"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asks Pyrrha

"Of course! It will give us energy!" Pyrrha says, as Shopkeep quickly gathers the bowls and vanishes.

Nora simply gives a hearty belch.

"If I barf, I'm blaming you." Jaune mutters, sickly.

"Aim at the enemy!" Nora grins evilly.

"Nora, that's disgusting. But if you feel the urge..." Ren says

"Got it." Jaune gives a weak thumbs-up.

Pyrrha stands up from her stool. "Well, we should be off. Thank you for buying us our meals, Aracel." Pyrrha smiles kindly

"Whatever, Wonder Woman. Just go kick ass." Aracel says

"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asks

Nora gestures at each of her teammates. "Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!"

"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asks Jaune

"She's not wrong." He mumbles

"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding." Nora begins talking quickly, the color slowly draining away as she gets more worried. "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!" Her mad laughter turns into sobs as she slams her head on the counter.

"So, yeah, we're feeling pretty good." Ren says, unperturbed.

"Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well, ...murderers." Pyrrha says

"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!" Port speaks over the intercom system.

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck adds over Port's announcement

"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha says

As team JNPR as they walk away, Nora still looks depressed and Jaune queasy. While both of other teams spew words of encouragement, Aracel makes her escape to go train.

Team LLAK and RWBY enter the Coliseum through one of its tunnels and head to their seats as Emerald and Mercury walk behind them to do the same. Down in the field below, the scorched ground and cold plains are no more, and only a layer of white mechanics is left, with a central stage on which the two teams gather.

"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury says, with a mouthful of popcorn.

"Tch. As if we didn't already know." Emerald smirks

Cinder walks up behind them, showing off her new outfit of jeans, an orange jacket, and sarashi bandages over her chest as she takes an unpopped kernel from Mercury's bucket.

"Oh, come now. Even if you know how the story ends, that doesn't make it any less fun to watch."

Her eyes glow with her fingertips and the kernel finally pops, which she enjoys while sitting down as Mercury and Emerald share a devious smirk.

"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!"

As each team readies their poses, a circle of holographic roulettes start spinning through various symbols and colors before finally landing on a green pine tree and gray thunderstruck mountain. With these random selections, half of the field opens to reveal a tree-filled forest, while the other raises a small rocky outcropping to fill in the circle. Jaune narrows his eyes in concentration; Ruby "who-hoo"s loudly from her seat.

"Three, two, one, begin!"

As the match starts, each team leaps forward at the other, ready to begin fighting.

Team JNPR ready themselves against their opponents in the Amity Colosseum, the mountains to their back and forest on the other side. A large holographic screen counts down with Port over the crowd's cheering.

"3... 2... 1..."

Jaune raises his sword. "Come on guys!

"BEGIN!"

All four members of JNPR charge forward, but only three fighters from BRNZ do the same; the beanie-wearing May Zedong turns around and heads into the trees, cocking her weapon. In the center of the field, leader Brawnz Ni delivers a knee kick to Pyrrha's shield that sends her skidding back, right before she blocks the claws on his fists with her xiphos. She jerks her sword away and makes him leap back, just as the sniper jumps up into the branches of the forest with the bladed butt of her sniper rifle. Ren readies Storm Flower to attack Nolan Porfirio, who almost gets blindsided by Nora's swing with Magnhild before he ducks under the attack and attempts to hit her with his cattle prod. The sniper girl finally takes aim from her spot and manages to fire off two rounds near Ren, destroying the rocks behind him. Jaune manages to block the buzzsaw gloves of Roy Stallion with his own shield before he notices the bullets flying and sees the glint of the gun in the leaves.

"R-R-Retreat!" Jaune stumbles over his order.

Ren glances back at his leader as a shot hits the ground by his feet. He and Nora start running back into the mountains as Jaune and Pyrrha cover their escape by blocking the bullets with their shields. The four leap over a rocky outcropping for cover.

"What do we do?" Pyrrha asks, as projectiles keep coming overhead.

Jaune looks over the edge to see the melee fighters closing in. "Spread out! Try to keep moving! "

His team follows this just as Brawnz lands a punch on Jaune's shield. May gets even higher in the tree and smiles from behind her scope as she looks at the fight below. Brawnz and Pyrrha continue to duke it out while Nolan slowly advances on Ren when he slides into his path. The prod-wielding warrior looks back at the trees and nods to his hidden ally, who shoots at Ren's feet again and makes him jump around trying to dodge them. Just as he lands, Nolan hits him upside the head with his weapon and is able to miss the retaliatory kick with another blow to the knee and a final hit to the chest using the business end of his prod. Electricity shoots through Ren's body before he collapses to the ground beside his childhood friend.

"Ren!" Nora calls out

Scowling, Nora takes a swing at Nolan, who promptly dodges it and again unleashes his weapon's power into her corset, though this causes a quite different reaction from the grinning redhead.

"Oh-ho! Looks like one of my favorite students, Nora Valkyrie, is charging up to use her semblance!" Port says

Nolan looks up at the screen with a panicked look. "What?"

"Yes, Ms. Valkyrie's semblance lets her produce, as well as channel, electrical energy straight to her muscles! This allows her to jump explosively into the air, wield her mighty hammer, or in this case, absorb Nolan's attacks and send the young man flying!"

"What?!" Nolan turns back to his opponent.

Nolan finally takes his cattle prod away, but the damage is done: Nora flexes her arms as pink lightning is seen coursing through her body. Nolan attempts to lift his hands up in surrender, but thunder starts sparking from Nora's aura as she rushes at him. There's a split second where Nolan's horrified face and Nora's victorious smile are seen close up on the sides of the screens before the hammer hits head on and Nolan bounces back across the field, crashing through a rock and staying there when he's stopped moving. Jaune looks back at the mountaintop on his team's side as a dark storm cloud appears over it, crackling with lightning. He looks over at his energized teammate.

"Nora! Get to the mountain!" Jaune exclaims

Nora salutes. "You got it!"

She sprints off to start her climb.

"Ren! Try and distract the sniper!" Jaune orders

Another shot nearly misses Ren's head. "Sure... Why not." He sarcastically replies

The remaining three members of JNPR run forward as Nora hops up and rapidly ascends the mountain. Roy throws the saws from his gloves into Jaune's shield, which still manages to bend the metal and slam the leader's own defense in his face before the weapons return back to their master. Pyrrha gets up close to him, and he delivers a series of spinning swings with his arms into Akoúo̱ as Jaune shakes off his disorientation and charges into battle yet again.

"Yeah! Go get 'em, Jaune!" Lilly cheers

"Well, he's certainly improved." Weiss comments

"Yeah, but he ain't got nothing on Pyrrha." Layla smirks

Back in the fight, Layla's statement is proven true with Pyrrha taking on both Brawnz and Roy, delivering a kick to one as she deftly dodges and blocks the discs of the other, throwing her javelin to distract the latter while she somersaults back to use both feet in landing a blow on Brawnz. May attempts to shoot Ren while he dashes his way toward her position, leaping out of the way of her shots, the flying saws, and even sliding under Pyrrha before he runs at Nolan, weapons blasting until he's close enough to start swinging his blades away. He ducks and deflects each of the cattle prod's attempted hits until he manages to hold it in the pistol's blades and double kicks his opponent, giving him the opportunity to catch Nolan's weapon in his own as the prod is forced behind Nolan's head and leaves him trapped. Ren hides behind the teammate of the sniper, who stops aiming at him and lifts her barrel up to another target.

"Nora!" Ren calls out

Jaune catches Brawnz's claws with his blade while Nora lifts herself higher and higher to the top.

"Pyrrha! Up!"

His partner rushes towards him, dodge rolling to avoid a launched saw until she bounds over Brawnz and lands on Jaune's shield. He manages to throw her into the air with her own shield raised to block the kill shot aimed at Nora. This gives the redhead just enough time reach the peak, and she lifts her hammer up as a bolt of lightning hits the weapon directly. She changes it back into grenade launching form and pops the front off to reveal six explosives that shoot out over the field in a heart-shaped formation onto the sniper. The poor girl barely has time to gawk before she leaps over to a nearby tree just as the one she was in goes up in pink flames, leaving only a giant scorch mark billowing smoke to block out the coughing sniper's view. She jumps down from the branches just as her three teammates look up and behind them at Nora coming down on them like a meteor, slamming her hammer into the ground and sending the enemies back at the feet of their disoriented teammate.

"This is it, guys! Let's finish 'em with team attacks!" Jaune raises his sword as he calls out. "Ren! Nora! Flower Power!"

"Wait, what?" Nora asks

Jaune lowers his blade as he looks back at his befuddled team. "F-Flower Power.

His lost friends shrug.

"That's your team attack name." Jaune mumbles

"Since when?" Ren asks

"Guys, we've been over this!" He gestures at his teammates, not noticing the other team getting up, ready to fight again. "Flower Power is Ren and Nora! Ren brings a flower, Nora brings the power!"

"How do I bring a flower?" Ren asks, rubbing the back of his head with one of his guns.

"No, silly, not a flower! Flour, like in baking!" Nora says

"Why would I bring that?" Ren asks

"I- Uh- No, it's your symbol!" Jaune tries to clarify.

"So, what are we?" Pyrrha asks

"Pyrrha!" Jaune scolds

"Sorry! I just want to make sure it's clearly defined." Pyrrha sheepishly speaks

"Pyrrha, you and I are Arkos. It's that thing when we take our shields? Remember?" Jaune asks, while team BRNZ look on more confused than their opponents.

"'Arkos'?" Pyrrha questions

"Yeah! It's our names put together!" Jaune says

"Right, no, I get it..." Pyrrha mutters

"What, do you not like it?" Jaune asks

"No, no! It's... good?"

"Mmm, I sense hesitation." Nora says

"Hey!" Brawnz finally calls them out.

Team JNPR looks back with a collective "Huh?"

"What do you think you're doing!?" He asks

"Trying to have a team meeting, thank you very little!" Jaune speaks the extremely obvious.

"Yeah! Team ears only!" Nora points to her ear.

"WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!" Brawnz yells

"AND WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! WHAT DON'T YOU GET ABOUT THAT!?" Jaune screams even louder.

"Um, Jaune?"

Jaune huffs, annoyed. "Yes, Pyrrha?"

"I think that he means that we're all in the middle of a fight." Pyrrha says

The sound of the crowds around them come back in full volume as Jaune remembers the real situation.

"Ugh..." Jaune brings his sword up to his forehead in exasperation. "Nora, just... hit them with the hammer." He sighs.

"Got it." She smirks

"Wait, what?!" Brawnz asks

Before anyone can react, Nora jumps over in front of Team BRNZ, then brings her hammer around to collide with all four screaming fighters as they soar straight into the forcefield surrounding the arena's rim, sliding down to the ground with arms and legs in bent positions they really shouldn't be.

"And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout, literally! ...Can someone go make sure they're okay?" Port asks

At the appropriately named Crow Bar, a black haired figure in a tattered red cloak is sitting at the counter with a collection of empty glasses to his side. He takes a swig from another drink as he looks up at the screen above, displaying an image of the victors with the caption "Team JNPR Defeats Team BRNZ!"

The Bartender wipes the surface of a glass in his hands. "Huh, those kids weren't half bad!"

The stranger merely lets out a "Meh" as he raises the beverage back to his lips.

"Wait! You broke up with Neptune?! After all Ruby and I's hard work of setting you two up together? It doesn't make sense." Lilly says, walking besides her team.

Team LLAK walked side by side, entering the stadium to see team SSSN compete next in the tournament.

"I don't see what the big deal is, I just wasn't feeling it anymore. At least, I let him down easy." Aracel says

"Did he cry?" Layla asks, eagerly.

"He cried, in a cool way."

"How does one cry in a cool way?" Klaus asks

"That's besides the point!" Lilly exclaims. "Are you sure that you don't want me to set you up with anyone else? I didn't want to say anything before to be courteous, but there's this guy in our sparring class that used to eye you all the time who is definitely interested in you. Only you've stopped showing up to class for whatever reason-"

"Mikaelson!"

Aracel turns around, recognizing the voice of a certain monkey faunus instantly. Sun and Neptune walk up to the rest of team LLAK to greet their friends. Before anyone can say anything, Neptune is the first to speak.

"I did, but before you say anything I did it smoothly because I'm cool like that." Neptune says

Aracel face palms. "I dumped you and we agreed to tell your friends that it was mutual."

"I don't have time for this!"

Sun grabs Aracel by the wrist and drags her away despite her several protests.

"We need to talk." Sun says

Aracel pulls her arm out of his grip. "You get five minutes." She seethes, which was the exact time before Sun's match began.

"You need to talk to Blake. I don't know what happened between the two of you and it's none of my business, but you can't just go avoiding her like you are without at least telling her what she did wrong." Sun says

"How do you know she's in the wrong?" Aracel asks

"Because she keeps beating herself up for it! And while we're at it, why do you hate me?!" Sun exclaims

Aracel frowns, beginning to feel guilty. "She did nothing wrong."

"Then why are you avoiding her?" Sun asks

"Ugh! Because I told her that I loved her at the dance! Also I don't hate you! I was just jealous that Blake liked you. I thought that if I just distanced myself that I would be making things easier and less weird for her. Not everyone likes it when their friend has a gay crush on them." Aracel explains

Sun's brows rise up at the all too personal revelation.

"I’m bisexual. So what? It’s called LGBTQ for a reason. There’s a B in there and it doesn’t mean badass. Okay, it does, but it also means bi." Aracel says

"You're gay?! I thought you hated me because you thought I was going to hurt Blake." Sun whisper shouts

Aracel throws her head back and groans. "Ugh! Okay! I did think about that possibility, but even I knew that you weren't stupid enough to do that. Regardless, I tried to keep my distance for Blake's sake not because I actually wanted to. Honestly, I don't care that she rejected me, I just want to be in her life even if she sees me as just a friend."

"Then go talk to her! She's been miserable without having her best friend around her." Sun says

Aracel nods. "I suppose so..."

"No more hostility between us?" Sun asks, holding his hand out towards the pinkette.

Aracel takes his hand and clasps it tightly. "No more hostility, Sparky."

"Also, I won't tell anyone about you know what... your secret is safe with me." Sun smiles

"Good because, you're actually the first person I've ever told that to out loud." Aracel admits

"Think you can get Neptune and I a short cut?" Sun asks

Aracel playfully rolls her eyes. "You're already asking me favors, Sparky?" She teases

"Hey! You owe me after all that hostility. I thought you actually hated me!"

Aracel and Sun share a laugh and walk back to the group. Neptune waves goodbye, to team LLAK who go find seats beside team RWBY. Aracel stays behind and summons the summoning gate. She opens a portal to the battlefield and drops off the boys besides the rest of their team. The pinkette dismisses the mystical weapon and goes to take a seat. Aracel walks past the saved seat besides Klaus and towards to where Yang was sitting.

"Mind if we switch, Goldie?" Aracel asks

Yang glances at Blake, a hopeful expression on her partner's face. The blonde nods and goes sit in between her boyfriend and her little sister. Aracel takes a seat in Yang's previous place and turns to face Blake. The cat faunus was already gazing at her, she smiles softly at the pinkette. Aracel smiles back at her and the two hug, in a long embrace. Lilly leans forward in her seat and smiles at the display. She knew she'd never have the same relationship that Blake had with Aracel, but she was at least glad that Aracel had someone like Blake in her life.

As Oobleck's voice began to sound around the stadium, Blake and Aracel talked to each other. Their voices only being heard by one another, as the cheers of the stadium blocked out anyone else from hearing.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shut you out like that. It wasn't fair to you, but I was doing what I thought would make you comfortable considering you know..." Aracel trails off

"I'll admit that it hurt, a lot, but I know that you were doing it only because you had my best interests at heart." Blake says. "I forgive you." She adds with a smile

Blake and Aracel hold hands, blocking out the rest of the stadium.

"But... let's promise each other that the next time, assuming there's a next time, that we'll talk things out from now on. Okay?"

"I promise." Aracel smiles

Blake smiles back at Aracel and the two girls direct their attention back to the action. Team SSSN walks into the center of the field, waving to the cheering crowds as they do so. Neptune continues to wave until he spots his four beautiful opponents, which causes him to develop a confident attitude as he addresses them.

"Ladies."

Aracel points into the arena. "Break his stupid face, NDGO!" She shouts

"I thought you said that you broke up with him." Layla says

Aracel shrugs. "Yeah, but we've been telling everyone that he broke up with me. It was for the best, nobody wants my leftovers."

"Alright, girls, try and remember: hands above the waist." Neptune gestures

Sun grasps Neptune's arm. "Ignore him, for he... Yeah, he's dumb."

Neptune simply gives a sparkling wink to the disgusted females as the holographic roulette shows up again, landing on a yellow image of sunny dunes and stone formations until the real thing emerges from below. A small circular light even appears overhead, causing most of the crowd to don sunglasses.

Nebula laughs. "Alright! Home field advantage!"

"Don't get too cocky! That's my turf, too!" Sun says

"I hope I don't get sand in my shoes." Scarlet mutters, looking down at his attire.

"Be cool, man." Neptune whispers

"Hey! The ocean!" Dew points out when the spinning images stop on a blue symbol of tidal waves.

"Huh?"

Neptune turns and sees the random pick for himself, eyes dilated at his goggles reflect the terrifying image, a slight whimper escaping him. Aracel slumps back in her seat and visibly pales up again.

"Uhh, what's wrong with Neptune?" Ruby asks

"Oh, no." Blake mumbles. "Neptune's ... afraid of the water." She says

"What gives! They're both afraid of the water, they're perfect for each other." Lilly says

"3, 2, 1, BEGIN!" Oobleck announces

As soon as the word is said, Neptune zooms through the enemy team and skids up the mountain behind them.

"Neptune, what are you doing?!" Sage calls out to his fleeing teammate.

"Uh, you know, just gaining the higher ground!" Neptune yells

"On the enemy's side?!" Sun asks, exasperated.

"They would never expect it!" Neptune says

Dew turns to her allies. "He's not wrong."

"Open fire!" Nebula calls out

Team NDGO goes forward into their turf as Team SSSN follows them, Sage with his sword raised and Scarlet having ditched his coat. He comes upon Octavia Ember emerging out from a nearby arch and tries to slice her with his cutlass. She ducks under the swing and continues sliding away, past the middle of Dew and Sage getting ready to rumble. Sage hefts his giant blade overhead, only to get knocked back by Dew's spear. He glances up in time to see the blonde wave her weapon over the sand to create three small twisters that kick up dust in Sage's face. He looks around as they surround him, but doesn't realize the danger until they coalesce into one big tornado that picks him up off the ground. With his weapon torn out of his grip and screaming in panic, he's totally helpless as the winds throw him and his blade out of the arena. Sage slams the ground with fists upon seeing his image now crossed out on the holographic board.

"And NDGO gains the advantage!" Oobleck says

Octavia slides in front of Sun and Scarlet, who ready themselves to fight her just as she spins her sword around, producing a wave of flame that kicks up dust in their faces. Sun manages to jump out of the cloud just in time to call for his replacement in fighting the redhead.

"Neptune!" Sun calls out

Seeing his leader run from the duel, Neptune leaps down from his position and cocks his gun. Octavia attempts to use another fire attack to blind Neptune, but he simply puts on his goggles and fires a bolt as his opponent, who blocks it with her blade right before seeing Sun leap out of nowhere to deliver a neck snapping kick to her face. Now furious, Octavia brings her blade onto Sun's Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in its staff form as he spins it all around his body while hitting several parts of hers. He ends it with a jab that knocks Octavia on her back in the sand.

"Oh! And we're down to 3-on-3!" Port exclaims

Sun looks at Neptune fighting with Gwen Darcy as she circles him with her flying knives and Scarlet attempting to go weapon-to-weapon with Dew. She merely calls upon another sandy cyclone to lift Scarlet up, and he revolves around the spiral until it launches him over the shipwreck. It seems like he's about to be eliminated at well, but he extends his arms and manages to dive onto a part of the mast, almost losing his balance once the pole's under his feet. He eventually finds his balance right when Nebula closes in and launches an arrow with her crossbow at the mast, using it to jump right up to where Scarlet is. She folds up the sides of her weapon into a blade to cross swords with her opponent, the both of them ducking and missing or getting hit by the hilts until Nebula slams her metal over Scarlet's and forces him to lean back on the post. Luckily, he manages to get his sword back out from the trap and feign a swing at Nebula's feet before knocking into her with his elbow, causing the NDGO leader to fall into the sand below. From his position, Scarlet sees Gwen continue to throw her knives, and he smirks before whipping out his pistol and shooting the hilt guard as a grappling hook to get her by the ankle.

"Gotcha!" Scarlet says

He uses the cord to lift Gwen into the air while he slowly comes down to the ground, only to land directly beneath her as she attempts to protect her modesty while knives start raining down from her dress. Scarlet quickly adopts a pose that somehow allows him to miss every single blade that comes crashing down into the sand at his feet, which he gives a sigh of relief to. His luck doesn't hold when Dew leaps near Sun, causing the monkey Faunus to find his new improvised weapons in the form of two coconuts he knocks out the palm tree beside him, which he throws at his opponent only to get them knocked right back at him, now spontaneously catching fire as they travel. Sun narrowly misses them both, but Scarlet gets one straight to the face, and the other hits him in the crotch causing him to squeal in unimaginable pain while dropping his aura levels into elimination.

Sun sighs. "Nuts!"

He looks from Scarlet to Dew as she summons a few water blue tornadoes that he tries to dodge around.

"Uh, Neptune? Could use some help, buddy!" Sun exclaims

"Uh, you know, uh, it would probably be better if you came over here! Yeah, I can guard this... sector! We're in lockdown mode!" Neptune says, making excuses.

Sun looks around infuriated as Nebula manages to shoot the cord holding Gwen up.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing to lock down!"

"Lockdown! Right! You got it!" Neptune exclaims

Sun jumps out from Dew's attempt to pierce him with her spear as he calls out to Neptune.

"Dude, I know you're afraid of water, but you gotta-" He stops yelling when a blue shot knocks an attacking Dew out of midair and into the water.

"There! I helped! Are you happy now!?" Neptune pauses. "Also, I am not afraid of water, and I have no idea what you are talking about!"

Dew manages to get back up as Nebula and Gwen join their comrade, lifting their weapons and ready to fight once more.

"NEPTUNE!" Sun shouts

"Okay, fine! Just get out of the water!" Neptune says

Neptune jumps over to a spot near the coastal line next to Sun, and he unfolds his weapon into its trident form before tip-toeing forwards and, eyes closed, plunges the sparking prongs into the water. The energy surges through the deep until the remaining members of NDGO are electrocuted and kneel in the water, smoking and defeated with the sound of the buzzer. Sun and Neptune chest bump each other in celebration.

"And with that, Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round!" Port says, turning to Oobleck. "You know what I call that victory?" He asks

"Shocking?" Oobleck asks, making a pun.

"No, well earned. What you said is stupid." Port says

Oobleck turns away, frowning.

"Now that was a match!" The bartender whistles

"Heh, that was a mess!" He slurs

"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 man sees an aircraft with elegant ribbons flying from its wings behind him. "That one." He says

He finishes his drink as the world sways with the happily inebriated huntsman until he slams the glass down on the counter and tosses a few lien alongside it.

"Happy Vytal Festival!" He drunkenly slurs

The bartender watches as his sole patron staggers away and puts down the glass he just finished cleaning, only to knock it down and shatter it when he reaches for another one.

"Aw, gee darn it!" He frowns

Ruby leans back in her seat and sighs. "Aw, that was so close!"

"Too close." Klaus says

"Looks like the dorks made it to the next round!" Yang chuckles

Blake looks down in the arena where Sun and Neptune are dancing like fools before the fellow faunus gives her a special double-gun gesture with a wink, eliciting a blush and a small smile from his target.

"Emphasis on "dork"." She smiles

"That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the Coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" Oobleck yells, over the sound system.

"Come on, let's go congratulate them." Lilly says

The two teams get up from their seats and start to head out just as the same ribbon-adorned craft passes over the colosseum, causing Weiss to stop in her tracks and Ruby to bounce into her.

"Uh, what are you viewing?" Ruby asks

"She's here!" Weiss says, a strain in her voice as her face displays a mix of joy and anxiety.

《☆☆☆》