A teenage boy, looking to be much older, has his weapon, a mace, perched on his shoulder while Jaune stands opposite him, leaning down on his sword as if he is exhausted, in the spotlight shining on the auditorium stage.
He looks at the bigger boy, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness, and Jaune gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at him, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as the boy's weapon sends Jaune's shield - and himself - flying back. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack, but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, the boy forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose!" the boy hissed at Jaune, stressing the last part.
"Over my dead-" Jaune began, only for him to be kneed in the gut.
He falls down, clutching his stomach in pain, dropping his sword in the process. The boy raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune just when the buzzer rings, the lights come back on, and a familiar voice causes him to stop.
"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda Goodwitch orders.
Cardin, the boy, relents and walks off the stage while she walked onto it, tapping away at her tablet. Behind her, there was a larger screen that showed a portrait picture of the two opponents, with a bar next to them. The one beside Jaune's had dropped into the red.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match," she explained.
Sitting up above the stage, Pyrrha looks sad at Jaune while he lay on the floor in defeat. Glynda looks at him before she pulls out a smaller tablet and looks at it.
"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?" she says to Jaune.
"*Pfft* Speak for yourself..." Cardin murmured quietly.
Glynda turns to face the seating above her, where the students were seated and were watching the fight. Team RWBY was also there with Team JNPR. Yang had punched the air in anticipation, Weiss had shook her fists with a smile on her face and Ruby was shaking her entire body all over with enthusiastic energy, squealing softly as she did so. Also among those seated were the members of Task Force 101.
"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" Glynda announced to the students, who were excited for the upcoming festival.
"Huh, the Vytal Festival..." Dagger said thoughtfully.
"What's that, sir?" asked Rook.
"I dunno, but it must be pretty important if you are going to represent your country in it," Dagger replied.
"Something more of an Olympics game, I presume?" Eagle inquired.
"Maybe. Might be similer," Tank said.
"Tank, I don't think there's an Olympic sport where you fight each other to the death with weapons," Volt said, leaning back.
"Even so, that sounds something cool like back in the Roman ages, you know, those gladiator fights?" Stryker said. "I mean, you know what it was like, right Dagger?"
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Operation Remnant
FanfictionEight ex-military mercenaries, hand-picked by High Command, formed a task force that was bent solely on combating the growing threat of the Cybernetic Mercenaries, a mercenary army whose motives are to rule over everyone with an iron fist. This is o...
