Percy stepped onto the arena, to the view of thousands on them, and millions more watching from around the world. He sent a nod to Yang, and she retorted with a salacious wink, blowing him a kiss.
He rolled his eyes at the ever so flirtatious blonde, positioning himself so that he was next to Pyrrha and Mercury.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Port bellowed into his microphone, "The moment you've all been waiting for, the singles round!"
"Ah yes!" Oobleck chimed in, "There will be three days of one on one matches, with eight contestants total that will slowly be eliminated. Instead of a bracket system, each round will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place, allowing the contestants no time to plan or devise a strategy for their opponent."
"Much like any good old hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Port rejoiced into the microphone, even if that didn't make any sense.
"Ah, yes, yes. Now let's who our first match will be!" Oobleck exclaimed, as the randomizers began rolling.
"Yang Xiao Long of Beacon versus Mercury Black of Haven! Will all other combatants please leave the stage!"
Percy shot Yang a reminding look, and she rolled her eyes as if to say, I got it!
He could only hope Emerald's hallucinations weren't too overwhelming.
-----
Yang ducked under a roundhouse kick, retaliating with a sweeping kick of her own. Mercury jumped, bringing his heel down onto Yang. The blonde rolled away to put distance between them. Ember Celica shot fire dust with shot after shot raining down on him, but Mercury moved from side to side, using his boots to propel away from her shots.
She narrowly dodged a kick, but Mercury adjusted, and the boot slammed into her side with devastating force. She rolled with the kick, keeping her momentum, but when she came back up, Mercury was already firing his blasts into the air.
Oh no you don't, she thought. She'd seen the devastation they could bring. Not giving him any more time, she boosted forwards with Ember Celica, launching a tirade of punches at him.
Mercury was able to avoid more than a few of them, blocking with his forearms, and Yang tried to fire Ember Celica at him, but he ducked, kicking upwards. Yang was sent in the air, and Mercury slammed his boot into her stomach.
She slid back, but he kept on the offensive, and Yang had to keep ducking. Somehow, her punches wouldn't land, as he used his knees and his hands to deflect them. He ducked another punch, delivering an uppercut to her, and another jab. Yang tanked it all, delivering a haymaker that just barely missed as he back handspringed away. She fired Ember Celica at him but he ensured she didn't land a hit, using his boots to propel air blasts so that he zig zagged from side to side. He launched at her in a tirade of different kicks, adjusting every time she moved away. She blocked a kick to her side with her forearm, and deflected another punch, but it ended up just being a distraction as a boot slammed into her stomach.
She grunted in pain, sliding backwards and managing to keep her balance, but the bastard used more time to fire even more blasts into the air. She pushed on the aggressive, thinking she'd have a free hit.
Mercury ducked at the last second, grabbing her hair as a handhold and raining punches and kicks onto Yang. The pain felt far away, though. At the moment, she could only think of one thing.
That fucking bastard touched my hair!!!
Yang's eyes turned red when said bastard had the ingenious idea of twirling the lock of blonde hair in front of her eyes. Before she could move, however, Mercury kicked her upwards into the air. He jumped into the air and twirled to gain momentum, and it was all Yang could do to block as he pummeled her into the ground with a kick. Blasts rained down on her like hellfire; explosions were all she could hear with her ears.
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.
"Greetings, Percy! I am looking forward to our fight!" Penny smiled widely.
Percy nodded in agreement. Since her display at the docks, Percy hadn't had a chance to watch her fights, not with everything that had been going on. If that had been anything to go by, Percy was in for an interesting fight.
"Three, two, one..."
"Begin!"
Penny began controlling her floating array of swords twirling them in a rapid fashion. Percy deflected and parried, but he was forced back by the sheer number of swords.
"My word, what a tremendous display by Miss Polendina!" Port exclaimed into his microphone.
Percy rolled away from them, analyzing her style. She was vulnerable to closer range, since had to control the array of swords, and there was undoubtedly some type of lag, even if it was a hundredth of a millisecond, or a thousandth of a millisecond. Percy had also seen that monstrous energy beam she had... if he had to shield against it, his aura might as well be zero already. He had to get in close.
She began backing up to create space, but Percy wouldn't let her. He pursued, Riptide flicking out as Convergence manifested in his left hand as blades from her weapon flew overhead, and he parried the others that were sent at him. He rolled, jumping and avoiding the deadly blades as he finally reached Penny.
Riptide snaked around her last defense of blades, chipping her aura away as Convergence fended them off, and Penny couldn't defend against the onslaught of attacks.
Percy's senses tingled, and he ducked at the last moment, allowing her spinning array of blades to pass overhead and avoiding any damage taken.
Penny backed up, and she displayed her blades facing towards him. Suddenly, they multiplied, metal clanging as growing and growing in number, until a sheer mountain of blades stood behind her, angling towards Percy. It looked like thousands upon thousands of blades that were about to be sent at him.
Percy didn't react, however. He knew logically that Penny, even if she was a sentient android, wasn't able to conjure metal weapons out of thin air. It was Emerald's hallucination semblance; there was no doubt about it. It didn't make it any easier, however. He could see it was there, and he could hear the sounds of blades swinging in the air. He managed to show no reaction, though. Convergence dissolved in his hand, and Percy prepared for the barrage of strikes that were about to happen.
Penny sent the blades flying at him, but Percy slammed Riptide into the ground, erecting a ward barrier that surrounded him on all sides. The blades ricocheted off the blade and Penny summoned them back to herself, concentrating a beam. The beam ripped into the force field, trying desperately to get through. He could feel the heat of the beam, and decided it was no hallucination, and so he furiously poured aura into the field, trying to keep it at bay. Percy let the field dissipate and rolled away, but a blade simply appeared out of thin air, and knocked him in the chest. More blades surrounded him, all appearing out of thin air, and Percy escaped the circle by the skin of his teeth, relying on his demigod reflexes to do the job for him.
He launched himself with a boosting ward towards Penny, desperately hoping it wasn't a hallucination. Thankfully, his senses didn't fail him, and Riptide was intercepted by an array of swords. Convergence formed in his left hand, but he dissolved it just as more of Penny's swords were about to intercept him, and he reformed Convergence inside Penny's guard, managing to skewer her.
It wasn't free, however, as the array of swords blasted lasers at him, landing more than a few hits before Percy could disengage Riptide and begin deflecting the beams.
Unfortunately, doing such a thing allowed her to get away, and Penny began firing green energy beams at him with each sword she had. He could tank it with a ward shield, but Percy decided to flip away rather than waste aura, putting on a display of acrobatics to avoid the beams.
The crowd oohed and aahed at the display of flexibility, as Percy deflected the beams with Riptide.
"What an electrifying performance by the hero of Vale!" Port exclaimed, visibly excited.
Percy sketched an expel ward, sending it at Penny even as she concentrated her beams into one, massive energy beam. It was as bright as the sun, and Percy was sure it was the product of a hallucination; his very retinas felt like they were getting blinded, and he had to close his eyes. He put as much energy into it as possible, and the ward slammed into the beam with force. The ground shook, and the result was a cloud of smoke and explosions. Percy coughed slightly, but then burst forward, tuning his ears for where she was. Her array of swords sliced through the smoke, and Percy pushed off the ground, Riptide leading the way.
It was blocked, but Convergence had a longer reach, and managed to gain a hit. Percy ducked under another swing, and swept her off her feet before slamming a boot into her face. She didn't look like she even felt the pain, as she just popped back on her feet.
Percy knew he had to finish it, as the smoke from the explosion was fading, and this was as good an opportunity as any to hide his fighting style.
Riptide burst forth in a flurry of celestial bronze, and Convergence followed its brother eagerly. He had no regard for defense, allowing his aura to tank everything, even if it was painful. Convergence and Anaklusmos pushed, snaking around Penny's defenses and ripping away chunks of her aura. He received slashes on his torso for his pure offensive strategy, but he bore the pain not caring. Riptide came down on her left shoulder with the force of a truck, and Convergence slashed into her side, hacking away her aura. He chose to duck under the next slash of swords, and he skewered her with Riptide, forcing her away from him. He ended it with an upward slash, and there was a satisfying sound of her green aura dissolving.
The smoke faded away as Percy let Convergence dissolve, and the result of the match was revealed to the crowd. They roared in approval, the stadium booming with their cheers and shouts of jubilation, as Percy allowed himself to bask in it. He raised Riptide in victory, the golden blade shining in the light, eliciting another massive roar of approval that shook the very ground of the stadium itself.
"Perseus Jackson has come out as the victor yet again!" Oobleck exclaimed.
"It was an honor to fight you, Percy, I'll be looking forward to our next match," Penny bowed, and Percy did his best to emulate it.
"Likewise."
Percy hid the transformation of Riptide, flicking it and making it appear to the crowd as if it had vanished into thin air. He got another round of oohs and aahs despite him already having shown the trick twice before, making him smile in amusement.
Penny smiled at him, her swords generating a blinding beam of green energy, preparing to fire. It was surreal how real it felt.
Percy kept his smile, though, turning away from it, even as he heard the beam go off. He forced himself to be nonchalant, even as he heard Penny say that he'd betrayed her, and that he wasn't her friend anymore. After a few more seconds of her voice surrounding him on all sides, it faded away, and he heard the roar of the crowd once more.
Until it all went wrong.
An explosion shook the colosseum, and he stumbled, not having expected it. And then there was another, and another. Thick plumes of dark smoke came from the backs of several stands. It took a second or two for everyone to realize what had just happened, and the screams began a second later.
"People of Vale."
A menacing voice boomed throughout the stadium, rocking the foundations of the colosseum. A black queen piece was casted against a red background, flickering on all the large screens, drawing everyone's attention.
"We were peaceful once. Peaceful protests, agreed words, talks about relations... yet none of it mattered when we obtained no progress..."
"We realized that talking would never get us anywhere and so we, as the White Fang, began to resort to violence."
"A necessary evil, but... we were being treated as equals. Not out of genuine respect... but out of fear. It didn't matter though, when the result was the same. Yet relations have once again stagnated."
"For too long, mankind has treated us faunus like animals, spat upon like trash simply because of our species. To the people of Vale... I do regret saying this... but you will die; a necessary evil. To the faunus of Vale... I assure you... your sacrifice will not be in vain."
Another explosion went off this time in the middle of one of the stands itself. A hundred or more people died instantly, with dozens more injured by the shrapnel.
Terror reigned. Screams of panic, fear, and pain ensued, as people scrambled for the exits, tripping over each other in the process. The black queen piece on the screen faded away, replaced by an ominous, red screen.
Percy's hands clenched into fists, his heart pounding away in his chest.
"Warning: Incoming Grimm attack. Threat Level: 9. Please be advised, please seek shelter in a calm and orderly fashion."
AN: Okay, Emerald's hallucinations might have been a little weak in that it didn't do much damage, but remember they were ready for her hallucinations.
Volume 3 Emerald isn't used to holding hallucinations for long periods of time yet; if you recall, in Yang vs Mercury, she only makes it seem as if Mercury is attacking Yang, and that's only around a second of holding the hallucinations, while in Pyrrha vs Penny, she only multiplied the blades until Pyrrha used her polarity, also only a couple seconds.
It makes sense that she would try to hold it for longer here and try it several times on Percy because they aren't working on her targets, and she has some kind of obsession with Cinder.
Discord links
FFN (remove spaces): discord . gg / M4yMguEz2J
Wattpad: discord.gg/M4yMguEz2J
How'd you like this chapter? Review, comment, favorite, follow, vote, but only if you enjoyed! It helps motivate me to write more.
'til next time!
Next Chapter: September 9th (1 week)
-thann3