In RWBY's Shadow

Round One

Lilly spared a quick smile over her shoulder as the door opened. Quietly, all three of her teammates entered. RWBY would have their own room in another section of the structure, letting them prepare without the other team nearby. Shortly after the current match ended, both teams would need to report to the large elevators that led to the staging tunnels. Then, they'd begin the agonizing march to the center platform as thousands watched from all around, not to mention the countless viewers glued to screens all across Remnant. They'd need to put on a confident face for the audience, even if the thought of so many eyes watching them terrified Lilly.

Already, she could feel the oppressive weight of the looming battle bearing down on her. Try as she might, the idea of facing RWBY shook her, especially with how near the moment was. Looking around the room, she could see the signs in her team as well. Honey quietly coiled and uncoiled Singing Scourge, occasionally stopping to rearrange the spare dust vials on her belt. She probably wouldn't need them, but better safe than sorry. Smit, having no equipment to fiddle with, seemed to be quietly talking to himself as he leaned against the wall. The little pieces she caught indicated he was rehearsing battle plans. Randi sat stoically on a bench, carefully polishing her helmet, but her eyes had a distant look to them.

Looks like I'm not the only one worried. They'd done everything they could to prepare for this moment, but no amount of preparation could fully prevent doubt from creeping in. None of them had ever done anything like this before. Every moment – every mistake – would be captured on video and broadcast to all of Remnant. The weight of such attention was enough to crush a person.

As team leader, Lilly knew it was her job to rally her team. A confident leader could inspire those around them to go beyond their limits and attain greatness. Problem was, she wasn't feeling all that confident herself. Even so, I need to be strong. They need me to be strong. With a deep breath, she stowed her weapons against her back and stepped to the middle of the room, summoning the attention of her team as she did.

"Well guys, this is it." Lilly didn't know exactly what to say, so she figured stating the obvious would buy her some time to figure out the rest. "We've worked tirelessly to get here. No matter what happens out there, no one can deny what we've accomplished together." Honey managed an encouraging smile, but Lilly didn't plan to leave it there. "But I for one am tired of always being the other team.

"Every step of the way, Team Ruby has tried to outdo us." Lilly turned to Smit. "Smit gets into Alsius for saving his father. Ruby gets into Beacon two years early for fighting Torchwick. We get a special mission from Ozpin himself. Ruby gets special permission to go on an upper-year mission. We manage to take down a White Fang base in Vale, and what do they do? They somehow uncover a major White Fang operation in Mountain Glenn."

Really, if not for RWBY, their faces would probably be all over the news for their exploits. Lilly wasn't so petty as to be upset that RWBY was accomplishing so much, but always playing second fiddle had grated on her nerves for far too long.

"They always manage to steal the spotlight in the end," Lilly continued, voice rising as months of pent-up frustration were finally unleashed. "We all fought at the docks, but listening to the media, you'd think Team Ruby did all the work! You two," Lilly looked toward her partner and Randi, "helped them take down a freakin' Paladin, but all anyone talks about is how Ruby busted a White Fang rally. They even seem to get special treatment from the faculty. Ruby left a crater in the courtyard on day one! Then, she and Weiss burn down half the forest." Okay, maybe it was less than ten percent, but so what? Still a forest fire! "They even started a food fight that nearly destroyed the entire cafeteria! And what kind of punishment do they get? Nothing!"

Sure, Miss Goodwitch had used her Semblance to tidy things up afterwards, but stacking pieces of a ruined pillar didn't exactly fix it. The school had to replace several tables, along with all the vending machines. Add in the cost of cleaning, structural damages, and a colossal waste of food, and Beacon had likely shelled out a small fortune that day. At the very least, RWBY and JNPR should've been made to clean or something, given they were the ones most responsible for the damage.