An Anon's Journey: Remnant Act 1

V2E10: Down, Down, Down...

Long-ish chapter (7.1k words)

The loud clinking noise of weapons being dropped shook Hope out of his thought. He shrugged as he saw Pyrrha beat yet another overconfident idiot, adding to her near-perfect win-tie record. He still isn't sure who's the mad bastard who managed to tie with her but at the current, his mind has little care for it. He tuned out Glynda's congratulations for another "hard" fought victory on Pyrrha's part, using her semblance to drag away the unconscious competitor in the meanwhile. He leaned back in his seat, his dour mood finally marking itself on his face. Glynda gave him a quick glance as he sighed.

"Mister Hope, could it be that you find my class to be a waste of time?" She questioned scoldingly.

Anon blinked slowly.

"Honestly? I don't feel too well." He hung his head tiredly. "Is it fine if can retire for the rest of the class?"

Glynda gave Anon a concerned look before checking the time.

"Well... Since there's time for only one last match, I presumed that you could."

Anon nodded sluggishly.

"Thank you." He softly nodded thankfully before getting up.

Glynda returned to the lesson at hand, asking if anyone else wanted to get flattened by the prodigious gladiatrix. Well, not in those words, but it was implied.

"I'll do it!" Hope heard Mercury shout with confidence.

"Mercury Black from Haven, was it?" Glynda gave a short glance to Anon then back to Mercury, this time eyeing him with suspicion. "Are you certain that you wish to fight miss Nikos?"

He smirked cockily as he rose to his metallic feet.

"Oh, do I."

Glynda asked Pyrrha with a look if she wanted to continue, earning a nod in response.

"Very well." Glynda accepted. "Combatants, make your way to the arena."

Anon reminded himself to text Pyrrha about Mercury's disability. For fairness' sake, of course.

Me: 'Just FYI, Mercury has prosthetic legs. So if you notice that his strike are particularly heavy, that's why.'

MapleLeaf: 'I see.'

Me: 'Also, don't use your semblance. He asked to fight you specifically for that.'

MapleLeaf: 'Why would he?'

Me: 'His team, CMEN, are competitors from Haven. They want to find anything and everything about you to rub your face in the dirt during the tournament.'

MapleLeaf: 'Understood, I'll watch out for them. Thanks for the tip, Hope.'

Me: 'NP'

As he left the fight pit, RWBY looked to their morose friend, noticing his sour mood.

"Did something happen?" Ruby wondered with worry.

"He has been looking down since..." Weiss paused to think. "About the day after the investigation."

Yang shrugged.

"Who knows," She nudged Blake in the sides playfully. "Maybe he got turned down when he asked out someone for the dance."

Blake glared at her blonde partner.

"I somehow doubt that." She closed one eye, looking irritated. "Although I do have my suspicions."

Yang smirked teasingly.

"You think it had something to do with Velvet again, aren't you? Especially seeing as he saw them off on their mission."