Team SRDS (Stardust)

Chapter 5: SRDS-1

Later the same day,
Beacon Academy Amphitheatre, 14:15:03

"Hello, students! Thank you for your attention," said Professor Oobleck, his words echoing through Beacon's amphitheatre as if fired from a machine gun. "I know many of you are surprised by my presence in your combat class, but I have been appointed the announcer of the battles in light of the upcoming Vytal Festival. Many of you have indicated you will be taking part, and hence, we will be following similar rules and conditions for the matches that will occur henceforth, beginning with Team SRDS against Team CRDL. The minimum amount of Aura a combatant may have at any time during a fight is 15%, below which they will lose the fight. One may also win the fight by forcing their opponent out of bounds. Keep in mind that any attacks after a fight has been declared over will result in strict action. Having said that, I wish all the combatants good luck. And remember your training."

Sigbjorn put on his armour, looked at the door and refocused himself. He knew he had to forget about the incident in the cafeteria but just couldn't take his mind off things. Team RWBY had offered his team a hand of friendship. He wondered how they might change him. His team hadn't had a permanent base of operations in a long time... no, this wasn't a base. It was a school. A place of learning.

He wondered if the results of this place's education would be better than the last's.

Oobleck's voice brought him back, informing him of the name of the student he would be fighting. "The student that our newcomer Sigbjorn Phoenix will be fighting today is none other than Cardin Winchester!"

Sigbjorn smiled and put on his helmet.

He was going to enjoy this.

The doors opened and he stepped out, looking up at the crowd. Eventually, he noticed Weiss scowling at Cardin at the opposite end of the arena.

"What's up?" Jaune Arc asked a distressed Ruby. It had become usual for JNPR and RWBY to sit together at the dining lounge and sparring arena.

"Nothing, just Cardin picking on Faunus again," she sighed.

"Oh," Jaune said with distasteful inflexion. He knew from experience how that felt. "That jerk won't learn, will he?"

After Jaune had saved him in the Forest of Forever Fall, Cardin became more aggressive. Instead of taking that as a way of making peace by showing strength, Cardin had interpreted it as a mockery which pronounced that even the "measly, weak Jaune" was better than he. A declaration of war.

"Is that Sigbjorn?" Nora Valkyrie gestured to the boy in the black hood who had just stepped out into the arena.

"Yep, and we're his teammates, looking for a place to sit!" Ross said from behind them with a smile.

"The rest of these arena seats are taken up, mind if we sit here?" Steele asked. "Besides, it'd be better if we had access to these stairs."

"Of course," said a red-haired girl, standing up to greet them. She extended her hand, "Pyrrha Nikos of Team JNPR. A pleasure to meet you."

"As in the Pyrrha Nikos?" Steele asked, surprised. "Winner of the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row?"

"Oh my Oum, you're on Pumpkin Pete's cereal boxes!" Ross gasped in awe.

"Both of you shut up, you're making her uncomfortable," Diamond said in a low voice. He turned to Pyrrha, "Uh, the pleasure is ours!"

The three teams exchanged introductions, learned from Pyrrha how horrible the aforementioned cereal was for your health and settled in their seats. Sigbjorn paid close attention to the battlefield. A desert biome, or maybe a valley. A specially designed stadium. No doubt to serve as practice for the upcoming Vytal Festival, as Oobleck said.