Cards of Remnant

Chapter 23: Exams - The Cat in the Cradle

"Huh," Ruby muttered, her silver gaze glancing all around the barren duel arena. "You know, after Jaune and Nora's duels, I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to have a duel in an arena without a giant crowd."

"Poor giant crowd," Sun sarcastically mused beside her, the monkey faunus being the only person outside of Team RWBY and JNPR to know of Blake's true identity and therefore be allowed to watch her promotion duel. "Apparently there's a huge underground betting scene going on for all of Team CFVY's matches. The bookies are pissed that no one's allowed to see Yatsuhashi's duel."

"Betting, you say?" Yang mischievously smirked. "How much do they need to know about the duel to make a call? And how much lien would they be willing to fork over to find out?"

Sun pointed to Weiss. "Five percent of her monthly allowance."

Weiss snorted, oblivious to Yang and Nora suddenly salivating at the thought of the small fortune. "Please, that's hardly a commission worth the work."

"Yeah, plus they'd need the stats on Blake's deck for it. Giving odds and all," Sun sighed. "So that's a nonstarter."

Yang groaned. "Yup. We can't give everyone any hints that she's the Odd-Eyed Bandit."

"Goodbye, sweet money!" Nora wailed, crying into Ren's chest as her partner gently petted her hair.

Weiss rolled her eyes and narrowed her gaze at the waiting duelist below, a hulking Mistralian boy with short-cropped black hair and a lot of armor under his properly done-up Obelisk Blue jacket. "So, while I can't argue his skill, why do you think the headmaster chose him to be Blake's proctor?"

Ruby turned to Pyrrha. "He's from some famous Mistral dojo, right? Did you ever duel him in a tournament?"

The Invincible Girl shook her head. "I never dueled him. His family eschewed tournaments for being 'soft'. Though, I did meet him a few times. He didn't seem like a bad guy. Though his family, unfortunately, lived up to their reputations. The Superheavy Samurai archetype began its life as a Machine-type offshoot of the Warrior-Type Six Samurai archetype, with much of the same sentiments of 'tradition' backing it."

Ruby shrugged. "So he's a Weiss. No reason to hold his family against him."

Weiss glared at her partner. "I appreciate the sentiment, but please do not phrase it like that in the future."

Yang wrapped a sisterly arm around the Schnee heiress' shoulders. "Don't worry, Ice Queen. No other Weiss is ever gonna out-Weiss you."

Weiss' eyebrow twitched up into her forehead. "Blake better win this quickly. I don't know how long I can last being the only sensible member of this team."

As if on cue, Blake marched out of the locker room, her black bow and golden Ra Yellow jacket billowing behind her. The hidden cat faunus stepped onto the raised dais of the duel arena, the stadium's hardlight dust emitters flaring to life and sealing her in with Yatsuhashi.

From outside the barrier, the referee. Professor Goodwitch, raised her scroll. "Ms. Belladonna, I trust you are using your true deck for this examination?"

Blake scowled, expanding Gambol Shroud into its ready form. "You've gone to all the trouble to get me to do it."

Professor Goodwitch nodded and turned to Yatsuhashi. "Mr. Daichi, you are aware of your duty in this test?"