Never Change

Chapter 20

It hurt like hellfire, but Yang wasn't gonna let that stop her from eeking out a win. She could already feel the energy humming beneath her skin. Yang slammed her fists together, blonde hair ablaze and eyes red.

"Oh! It seems like Yang's angry! And you wouldn't like her when she's... upset."

She pushed forward with Ember Celica, and brawled. None of his kicks or punches landed, and each was punished. A miss roundhouse kick was brutally penalized by an uppercut to the chest, and a feint led him to block, but Yang punished him with a headbutt, then a boot to the chest, followed by a haymaker. Mercury stumbled back, but Yang wasn't done just yet. The blonde pushed, slamming her fists as hard as she could into flesh and bone, and with a final blow, Mercury's aura dissolved in a brilliant crackling of gray.

Yang let herself breathe for a moment, before raising a fist in victory. Now came the hard part, she reminded herself. If she could just walk off immediately, it would've been a lot better.

"Good game!" she chirped.

"Good fight, blonde bimbo. Y'know, with tits like those, you should really consider the streets."

Yang almost attacked him in anger, but she managed to stomp it down, acting like it wasn't there. It wasn't easy, not at all, especially with those comments, but knowing Emerald was responsible for it all made it slightly better. Instead, she held her hand out for a handshake, knowing Mercury had been relatively close to her from before. If he didn't take the handshake, well, he'd look like an ass, and a sore loser.

Fortunately, he took the handshake, and not a second later, the hallucination around her dissolved. She could hear the roar of the crowd again and the booming of the announcers, and she secretly reveled in the hint of shock that Mercury's gray eyes seemed to contain.

Scanning over the crowd, she could see her team cheering, many of them showing palpable relief at seeing how nothing happened. She grinned, throwing them a thumbs up, before sauntering off the stage with all the confidence in the world.

"You did it!" Percy grinned at her in the locker room, the two of them embracing.

"Yang Xiao-Long doesn't fail," she smirked, "And I will win the Tournament."

"If you wanna win, you gotta go through me," Percy gave his signature troublemaker smile.

"Oh, poor me, I don't know how I'll manage," Yang returned the favor with a salacious wink.

"I'm sure you don't. Not many can handle this hot stuff anyway," he smirked jokingly, putting a finger on his ass.

"I can, of course," Yang sauntered by him, slapping him playfully on the ass. Unfortunately, she'd done it so many times that it didn't get a reaction out of him anymore, and he only quirked an eyebrow at her. Yang pouted in mock sadness.

"The randomizers are in. The next match will be: Perseus Jackson of Beacon versus Penny Polendina of Atlas!

"Good luck!" she waved to him, as he winked and moved onto the stage. She could only hope nothing bad happened.

-----

Percy moved on to the stage to the roaring approval of the fans, giving them a wave. Being a huntsman, and in particular, the "hero" of Vale, he found out, wasn't just about combat prowess. It was also about winning while looking good and raising morale. Morale was one of the most important things that huntsmen focused on; brave huntsmen fighting off the Grimm raised morale easily, but a demeaning speech could just as easily lower it. Higher morale meant less Grimm, so being a huntsman and looking the part was integral.