3rd Person POV
Amity Arena
"And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for..." Port announced over the loudspeakers, his booming voice echoing across the stadium. "The one-on-one finals!"
The crowd burst into cheers, the sound almost deafening. In the arena below, Sincline stood in a line along with nine other students. Yang, Sun, Mercury, and Penny stood to his left while Pyrrha and four other students stood to his right. Glancing at Pyrrha, Sincline smiled, and she returned the gesture.
"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" Port asked.
"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter," Oobleck answered. "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place."
"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare," Port agreed.
"Ah, yes, yes. Now, let's see who our first match will be," Oobleck declared, and the screens surrounding the top of the arena started scrolling. Eventually, the screens settled, the rotations halting. On the left of each screen was a picture of Sincline, and on the right was an image of a young woman with long, light blue hair and sharp blue eyes.
"And it seems our first fight will be... Sincline Yamato of Beacon vs Esdeath of Atlas," Port announced, his voice barely heard over the cheers of Beacon and Atlesian students alike.
"You can do it, Sincline!" Ruby cheered from the stands. Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora, and Ren also cheered while Accalia barked happily. It had taken a while, but thanks to Accalia's constant appearance in public, many had become used to her presence.
"Would all other combatants please leave the stage," Port called.
Nodding at Sincline, Pyrrha walked off. Yang and Mercury followed her lead and joined the others in the stands while the rest of the combatants walked off to join their respective teammates.
Dipping his head, Sincline turned and walked to the center of the arena as Esdeath did the same, her high-heeled boots clicking against the arena floor. She wore a general's apparel with long sleeves with buttons on the upper arms and a blue scarf on her neck.
"So, you are the one called Sincline," Esdeath stated, stopping twenty feet away from Sincline as the mech-turned-human did the same, a hard silence falling upon the arena as the two faced off.
"And you must be Esdeath," Sincline replied, dipping his head respectfully as Esdeath did the same. "Third year?" She's not going to be an easy fight, he thought. The way she's walking... she's experienced. Not to mention she's in the finals, which already means she's beaten as many opponents as I have.
"Fourth. You?"
"First."
Esdeath raised an eyebrow. "You've come far. But sadly, your reign of victory ends here." He's no stranger to combat, she thought, examining his stance. A master swordsman from the looks of him and what I've heard. Still, a semblance that allows him to teleport and increase his Aura to the point where the board registers it as infinite...
"I could say the same," Sincline replied, his stance never changing as he gauged his opponent. She's a swordswoman. Almost identical stance to what I have. I'll have to be careful. "Why don't we spare the dramatics and let our skills speak for us?" he proposed, forming his armor in a flash of purple light.
Esdeath smirked and drew her weapon, a long rapier, and raised it high. An ominous ring echoed across the arena, and the crowd fell silent. "I would not have it any other way."
Nodding, Sincline reached down. Grabbing the hilts on his legs, he pulled, drawing his scimitars, Ion blades gleaming.
"Three... two... one... fight!"
Sincline's back thrusters ignited, and he burst forward in a blur of speed, a shockwave tearing through the air where he had been. At the same time, Esdeath bent her knees and kicked off, the arena floor shattering beneath her feet. A flash of steel and energy, and their blades met, releasing a massive shockwave of force as their weapons clashed.
Laughing, Esdeath drew back a hand, and fragments of ice materialized in her palm, forming a dagger and catching Sincline by surprise as it shattered against his forearm, dropping his Aura to 99. She quickly formed a second and whipped it at Sincline's neck, and he deflected the strike with a scimitar. He pushed her back, his second blade blurring toward her shoulder, and she caught the attack on the hilt of her rapier.
Esdeath smirked, but before she could attack, Sincline spun, and his tail cracked across her jaw, throwing her back and dropping her Aura to 95. "Impressive," Esdeath commented, flipping to her feet. And this is why Faunus or anyone bearing similar traits shouldn't be underestimated, she thought. She spread her arms, and dozens of javelin-like crystals materialized around her.
With a shout, she thrust her hands forward, and the icy blades followed the motion, streaking toward Sincline.
In response, Sincline warped away, dodging the attack as the javelins sheared through the air where he had been. Warping behind her mid-flip, Sincline spun, and his Ion blade slashed across Esdeath's back, deflecting off an ice sword she had summoned. She's got good reaction speed, he thought. A lot better than everyone else in the tournament. She's no pushover.
Smirking, Esdeath spun, her frozen weapon hissing toward his ribs, and Sincline shot up, dodging the attack. "Now I see where you get your reputation," Esdeath commented, her ice sword dissolving as she turned to face him. "Very good."
"You're not half-bad yourself," Sincline replied, hovering in the air. Spreading his swords, he shot down, and Esdeath raised her rapier. They clashed, sparks flying as their weapons connected. Yanking one of his swords back, Sincline slashed at her side, and Esdeath blocked. Blocking a return blow to his waist, he kicked her in the side, sending her flying backward.
Rolling to her feet, Esdeath barely managed to get her sword up just in time to deflect a swing at her shoulder. Summoning a javelin and forcing Sincline back, Esdeath placed her hand on the ground, and a spire of ice erupted from the floor, catching Sincline off guard and clipping him in the side, dropping his Aura to 95.
"Ah, it seems Miss Esdeath is finally wielding her semblance," Port commented.
"Yes, Port, and it is quite the powerful semblance," Oobleck agreed. "Demon's Extract allows Esdeath to manipulate ice to staggering degrees, allowing her to create it from nothing as well."
Dodging another attack as he shot upward, Sincline spun, avoiding multiple ice spires as Esdeath launched more at him. Dashing up one of the pillars, Esdeath jumped and spun, her blade slamming against Sincline's in a shower of sparks.
He dodged a javelin, deflected two more, and dove, splitting through the middle of a jagged ice spire, much to Esdeath's surprise. Taking advantage, Sincline attacked, transforming into a whirlwind of blades as he clashed with his blue-haired opponent.
Dodging a swing at her hip, Esdeath raised her rapier, barely deflecting a swipe at her head. Sincline spun, tail whipping out, and she raised her rapier, catching the strike on the guard. "I'm quite impressed," she commented, falling back and flipping to her feet with a handspring. "You've more skill to you than I thought. You're a fitting opponent."
"Kick her butt, Sincline!" Ruby shouted, and he shot forward, scimitars flashing. Evidently, he was happy to oblige.
Raising her rapier, Esdeath barely caught a blow to her shoulder. She forced Sincline's blade off to the side and issued a counterstrike at his chest, but he blocked with one scimitar and lashed out with his foot, kicking her in the side and sending her skidding backward, her Aura dropping to 90. He's already forced me to use one of my moves... very well.
"Grau Horn!" Slamming her hand on the cold arena floor, Esdeath launched a massive spire of jagged ice at Sincline... and he warped away, dodging the attack.
As one, the Beacon students leaned forward, and Ruby grinned. Esdeath's in for it now, she thought, her eyes shining eagerly as she watched the battle below.
"This. Is. Gonna. Be. Epic," Mercury proclaimed.
Yang nodded in agreement. "Definitely." Her eyes narrowed. "By the way, where were you all week?" she asked suspiciously.
Mercury shrugged, glancing at her before turning his attention back to the fight. "Just had to take care of something," he replied cryptically.
Yang wanted to press the matter but decided to later. Still curious, she turned back to the fight as Esdeath looked around, her gaze weary. Hearing a strange warping sound, she spun, and Sincline's fist slammed into her chest, sending her flying backward, her Aura dropping to 80.
Just one blow? she thought in surprise, trying to get air back in her lungs as her eyes narrowed. Let's see how he handles this. She placed her hand on the ground, and ice spires erupted all around the arena, each one streaking toward Sincline from all directions... only for Sincline to warp away once more, dodging the attack.
His Aura's gone back up, Esdeath thought, sparing a glance at the Aura board, where Sincline's meter had shot up to the infinity symbol. An infinite amount of Aura... this was a losing battle from the start. Nevertheless, she would give him a fight to remember.
She spun, rapier raised, expecting Sincline to attack from behind, like most teleporters... but it didn't happen like that. To her surprise, he attacked from her left, his foot slamming into her ribs and sending her crashing to the ground, her Aura dropping further to 70. Rolling to her feet as Sincline shot after her, Esdeath raised her rapier, deflecting a powerful strike to her side. Instead of warping as she expected, Sincline shot sideways, dodging a counterstrike, as he spun to her side, his blade flashing.
Esdeath jumped back, raising a hand and summoning a wall of ice, but Sincline's scimitar slashed through it with ease, causing it to explode milliseconds after. Landing on the ground, she kicked off and swung at Sincline's torso.
He shot up, dodging the attack, and she placed her hand on the ground. The arena rumbled, and multiple spires of jagged ice streaked into the air toward Sincline. Summoning an Ion blast, a sphere of energy forming above his palm, he let it fly, launching a beam of energy that blew the spires to pieces... only for the shattered fragments to reform into hundreds of spears.
Let's see if you can dodge this. "Weiss Schnabel!" Esdeath shouted, and the spears answered her call, bolting toward Sincline like bullets from all directions.
Caught by surprise, Sincline could only shield himself as the icy spears shattered against his Aura, dropping it to 90. Her control over her semblance... it's incredible! he marveled. Were he not wearing his armor, he would have been grinning as he felt the familiar rush of battle flow through his veins.
Summoning a spire below her and propelling herself up to the same level as Sincline, Esdeath pushed off, her rapier blurring toward the mech-turned-human as he shot forward to meet her. A shower of sparks, and their blades clashed, a shockwave tearing through the sky. Esdeath flipped backward, landing on the remains of one of her ice spires. Placing a hand on it, she sent a spire blurring toward Sincline, only for him to flip around her attack, dodging it.
Darting forward, Sincline warped past Esdeath's swing and above her. He raised his hands, energy gathering around his fists. He brought them down, and a loud crack filled the air as Esdeath slammed into the ground, her Aura dropping to 55.
Weiss's jaw dropped.
"What is it?" Blake asked, seeing the stunned expression on the Heiress's face.
"Esdeath is Atlas's top student," Weiss explained, eyes on the fight. "And not just in grades. She's never been beaten in combat before." Although, I shouldn't be surprised, she thought, recalling her 'own' fight against Sincline during the Nightmare.
"Well, there is a first time for everything," Pyrrha commented as Sincline flew down, landing opposite Esdeath as she staggered to her feet, chuckling.
"How about that?" she laughed. "Now it's getting fun. I can't remember the last time a fight gave me such a rush." She smirked, and her eyes flashed. "It'll be even better when I beat you!"
"Bring it on!" Sincline shot back.
Grinning, Esdeath crouched... and shot forward, the floor shattering beneath her heels as her blade flashed toward Sincline's neck. He bent backward, dodging the strike before bursting to the side, dodging an ice spire.
As Esdeath readied for another swing, he spun, his tail whipping into her side and throwing her to the ground, dropping her Aura further to 50. Rolling to her feet, Esdeath charged, her rapier blurring toward his collarbone, and Sincline deflected her attack... but she was unfazed. "Hya!" She twisted, and her foot rammed into Sincline's torso, the blow throwing him back and dropping his Aura back down to 97. Following the attack, she kicked out, and a wall of serrated ice followed the motion, racing toward Sincline.
Sincline burst into the sky, dodging the attack, and Esdeath jumped to meet him. She flicked her wrist, launching a massive ice spire toward Sincline from the side. He spun, splitting the icy spire in half with one blade while unleashing an Ion blast with his other hand, sending her flying to the ground, her Aura dropping to 45.
Landing on her feet, Esdeath spun and swung her blade up, unleashing an arc of solid ice that followed the motion, a second arc soon following.
Eyes narrowing, Sincline let his instincts take over, and he brought his left scimitar down, splitting the first arc in half before twisting to the side, his right scimitar carving through the second. As the ice shattered, Esdeath shot forward, delivering a brutal kick to his chest, but he caught the attack on the flat of a sword. Landing on the ground, the thrusters on his feet flared, and he shot forward, his blade flashing as Esdeath summoned an ice shield. Just before impact, he warped behind her and kicked her between the shoulder blades, launching an Ion blast in the process that sent her crashing through her own ice shield, her Aura dropping to 30.
"This is the first time I've ever been forced on the defensive like this," Esdeath commented, pushing herself to her feet as she turned to face him, a hint of grudging respect in her gaze. No matter what I try, he resets his Aura before I can do significant damage... it looks like I'll have to use THAT after all. "What do you say we end this? Here and now?"
Sincline nodded. "You read my mind." I can't mess around anymore. If I didn't have my warping ability... my Aura would probably be in the red by now.
Smirking, Esdeath raised her blade and assumed a fighting stance. "Prepare to face the full might of my power," she proclaimed and leveled her blade at Sincline's chest. "Come."
"With pleasure." Sincline crossed his blades over his chest. His thrusters ignited, and he shot forward. Curving over an ice spire, he brought his blade down, and Esdeath blocked. Instead of warping like she expected, Sincline dropped and spun, his tail slamming into her legs and tripping her. Before she could regain her footing, Sincline warped beneath her and delivered a sharp uppercut to her jaw, throwing her into the sky.
He's gotten serious... finally! Esdeath thought excitedly. Raising her hand, she snapped her fingers, the sound echoing across the arena as a massive boulder of ice the size of Beacon Tower materialized behind her. "Hagel Sprung!" she shouted and thrust her hand out, the icy chunk following the motion as it fell toward Sincline like an asteroid.
The size of that attack is insane! Sincline thought. Quickly gauging the size of the icy meteor, he sheathed his scimitars and burst toward it.
"Is he planning to ram that thing?!" Nora shouted excitedly, earning a wince from Ren as he rubbed his ear.
"It would appear so," Ren replied, his mind still trying to grasp the scope of Esdeath's attack.
I can't hold back with this, Sincline thought, drawing back his fist as he shot toward the oncoming 'asteroid' like a bolt of lightning. Clenching his fist, talons grating against each other in a shower of sparks, he disabled all limiters he had put on himself... and rammed his fist into the icy meteor with everything he had.
A sharp crack echoed through the arena, and, to everyone's shock, the asteroid-sized chunk of ice exploded, fragments flying everywhere as the surface where Sincline's strike had connected imploded on itself.
He... he shattered it with one hit... Yang's jaw dropped, and she looked down at her own fists. She gritted her teeth, cursing Sincline under her breath for resetting the bar for the most epic punch she had ever seen/done.
"Impressive," Esdeath mused. His power... is it truly of this world? she wondered... and that's when the air beside her flickered. Her eyes widened, and she spun, summoning a shield of ice and quickly reinforcing it with everything she had. A sharp crack, and one of Sincline's scimitars rang against it, cutting halfway through before stopping. Undeterred, Sincline spun, yanking his blade free as his foot crashed through Esdeath's weakened shield and slammed into her ribs, dropping her Aura to 25. Warping above her, his blade flashed, striking the hilt of her weapon, and her rapier flew to the ground below.
Don't let up, Sincline thought. Not like Lotor. That had been one of the reasons Voltron had won. Had Lotor kept going, Voltron would have never had time to launch any counter attacks. Although, in retrospect, Sincline was quite happy with the way things had turned out. Vanishing in a blur of speed, Sincline streaked after Esdeath. He deflected an ice sword, forced Esdeath's next attack to the side, and lashed out, both scimitars slashing across her chest and dropping her Aura to 15, the sharp blows knocking the wind out of her.
He's not taking chances... in that case... I have no choice! "Everything in sight will be encased in ice," she murmured, placing the tips of her fingers together. A strange glow suffused her body, and a sphere of shimmering dark blue energy formed between her palms.
An attack? Sincline wondered, his eyes narrowing. Whatever it was, he couldn't let her release it. His thrusters flared, and he burst forward, streaking toward Esdeath like a bolt of lightning, scimitar extended... but it was too late.
"Mahapadma!" The sphere of glowing energy erupted, and everything around them froze, gaining a bluish tint.
What the—? Sincline felt his mind slow as his body froze. He was paralyzed, unable to move a single talon, and he felt a rising surge of panic creeping through his chest.
The lack of control. The pain. An eternity of Hell. The swirling storms of Quintessence... the insanity at the edges of his mind as time became nothing but an illusion.
"That ability puts such enormous strain on me; I'm not capable of using it as often as I'd like," Esdeath commented, her voice snapping Sincline out of his memories as she approached. "The first time I've ever had to use my Trump Card in public," she mused, examining the frozen form of Sincline. "You've done well... this has been so much fun."
She held out her hands, and spires of ice erupted around the stadium, all rocketing toward the immobilized Sincline.
I have to get out of here, Sincline thought, struggling wildly... but his body wouldn't respond. His vision glitched, and he heard the sound of 'blood' roaring in his ears, a sense of vertigo striking him like a sledgehammer.
"Someone! Please! Don't leave me!"
Sincline cried out... and his armor flickered, turning abyssal black as his shadow changed, two wings of 16 blades extending across the ground.
What the... his shadow changed? Esdeath wondered... and that's when Sincline raised his head, causing her to gape. He's... impossible! She had frozen time and space; how in Oum's name was he moving?!
His armor flickering back to normal, Sincline gritted his 'teeth' and, recalling his fight with Nightmare Weiss, marked the incoming targets as time seemed to slow even more—the spires of ice seeming to move at a snail's pace. Orbs of energy formed across his body, and he fired, jets of energy erupting in all directions and annihilating the spires.
A flash of light; time unfroze, and everything sped up, causing everyone's eyes to widen as Sincline's attack obliterated Esdeath's ice like it was nothing.
"Um... what just happened?" Yang wondered, staring at the sight of Sincline floating above the arena, broken fragments raining around him as his eyes glowed, flames leaking from the edges. That ice just... appeared?
"What did Esdeath do?" Pyrrha wondered. That ice... it wasn't there before... and Sincline's attack....
"Since when can Sincline do that?" Jaune wondered, causing Weiss to wince as she recalled her own encounter with that ability.
"Since now, apparently," Mercury commented. This guy just keeps getting cooler and cooler, he thought... and that's when he took note of the bloodlust radiating from Sincline's body. It was faint... but it was there. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered, his grey eyes narrowing.
Sincline's eyes flashed, flames of glowing energy radiating from the slits of his visor as his scimitars dissolved... and then he warped.
Taking a stance, Esdeath held out her hands, a Greatsword forming in one hand as a kite shield formed in her other... but it was useless.
A flash of light, and Sincline shot through an already closing rift, his foot ramming through Esdeath's shield and throwing her into the air.
Warping above her, Sincline brought both fists down into Esdeath's back with a sharp crack, a shockwave ripping across the stadium. Sincline vanished, disappearing as Esdeath dropped, and reappeared, catching Esdeath just before she could hit the ground, talons digging into her ribs. A quick blow to the jaw, and Sincline warped away once more, planting a kick into Esdeath's spine.
A rift tore through the air, and Sincline was there: a devastating punch to the solar plexus, a knee to the spine, an uppercut to the jaw, and finally ending with a devastating kick that sent Esdeath flying into the air.
Reappearing above Esdeath, her Aura barely above zero, Sincline raised both fists, and energy gathered around them. A flash of light, and the blow connected, the resulting shockwave ripping across the stadium as Esdeath plowed into the ground, her Aura shattering on impact.
"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port called as Sincline landed on his feet opposite Esdeath. Glancing around the arena, he raised his fist toward the sky, a scimitar forming in his hand, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
"You did it, Sincline!" Ruby cheered, her voice carrying over the crowd's.
"Sincline Yamato of Beacon wins!" Oobleck announced, and the Beacon students' cheers somehow increased further. Begrudgingly, Atlesian students cheered as well. Even though their best fighter had lost, they couldn't fault her.
Lowering his weapon, Sincline dispersed his armor and retrieved Esdeath's rapier. Walking toward her, he flipped it, caught it by the blade, and held it out to her hilt first. Esdeath looked up and, after a brief moment of hesitation, accepted her weapon. Sincline held out of his hand, and when Esdeath grabbed on, pulled her to her feet amidst the cheering of the crowd.
"I'll admit, it appears that I underestimated you," Esdeath admitted grudgingly. She had believed Sincline's abilities were similar to others she had seen... and she had been more than epically wrong.
"It was the tail, wasn't it?" Sincline asked, and Esdeath chuckled.
"Among other things," she replied. Does he even know what he did? she wondered. They shook hands. "I look forward to battling you in the future," she commented, an eager glint in her eyes.
"Same," Sincline replied. His HUD flared, and he sighed. "One second." He turned, bracing himself... and was promptly tackled by Ruby in a blur of rose petals.
"You did it, Sincline!" she cheered, pecking him happily on the cheek as Esdeath raised an eyebrow, fighting back a chuckle at the sight.
"This happens to you often, doesn't it?" the fourth-year Atlesian asked, watching them in amusement.
"Yeah," Sincline admitted and smiled. "But I can't say that's a bad thing," he added as an afterthought, wrapping an arm around Ruby's waist.
"Now, for the second round of fighters to be determined," Oobleck announced, and everyone watched as the screens scrolled, eventually setting on...
"Yang Xiao Long... and Mercury Black!" Port shouted.
As the students cheered, Cinder stood from her seat and walked out of the stadium, something that did not go unnoticed by Sincline, whose eyes narrowed. Where is she going? he wondered. A familiar signature appeared on his HUD, and his head whipped toward the top of the coliseum... but the dark shape perched there had already disappeared. It seemed like the Grimm from Mountain Glenn, but it was... different.
"Would the previous combatants please leave the stage," Port requested, his voice snapping Sincline out of his thoughts.
Sincline and Esdeath exchanged nods before exiting the arena, Ruby at Sincline's side. "Break a leg, sis!" Ruby called as Yang and Mercury passed them, the blond flashing them a grin.
"You did exceptionally well, Sincline," Pyrrha praised as he and Ruby joined the rest of the group in the stands, the young Huntsman taking a seat between the two.
"Agreed, Esdeath has quite the fearsome reputation," Weiss added. "As far as I know, she was undefeated in battle... well, until now that is," she added as an afterthought, earning a laugh from Nora.
Sincline shrugged. "I got lucky."
Blake snorted. "You're too modest for your own good, Sincline."
"Yeah, she didn't even land a hit on you," Nora agreed, then paused. "Well, she did land a few, but... well, it was epic either way!" she cheered, causing Ren to facepalm, shaking his head.
"Can we watch Yang's fight first, then talk about this?" Sincline requested, shifting uncomftorably. While Ruby was energetic, Nora... she was, well... yeah, she was just Nora. That was the best way to say it.
Smiling, Ruby shook her head and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting on his lap, watching excitedly as Yang and Mercury walked to opposite ends of the field. But as they did... trepidation crept down Sincline's spine. What in the...? Sincline shook his head... but he couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something was wrong. And if the last few months had told him anything... is that instincts on Remnant were always right.