You may be wondering why I changed the title. Well, because Never Miss a Beat doesn't seem like the appropriate title for this, considering what most of this chapter is. Hopefully you enjoy this, because I had a LOT of fun with it!
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Later on in day, Team SHDW and Team JNPR went to the stadium to see Team RWBY's next match. The opposition was... not what they expected.
"Hey!" one of them, Flynt Coal, called out, "You're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."
Weiss bowed her head, smiling at the recognition, "I am."
"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?" Flynt asked
Weiss shrugged humbly, "I do my best."
"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own," then Flynt's smile turns into a scowl, his tone turning hostile, "Till your father's company ran him out of business."
"Oh," Weiss replied, looking ashamed, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Flynt looked away sarcastically, "Sure you are."
"Hey!" Yang exclaimed, "Why don't you-"
"Hey! Why don't you?" the other opponent, Neon Katt, imitated, "That's what you sound like!"
Yang didn't know how to react, "Uh..."
"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?"
Skyler paled, "Oh no, she's talking about the hair..."
"This is just my normal hair," Yang answered.
"Ooh, really?" Neon said.
Yang was getting annoyed now, "Yeah! Is that a prob-"
"You should try rollerblading sometime!" Neon continued, cutting Yang off yet again, "It's super fun! It'd probably take you a while, though, since you're so... you know, top-heavy."
Yang looked down at herself, "Excuse me?!"
"Oh, here we go..." Ruby sighed.
And Neon kept going, "Do you have a boyfriend? If so, I bet those implants are the reason why."
Now Yang was heated, "EXCUSE ME?!?!"
Skyler's jaw dropped at that comment, "...Please kill her Yang."
The randomization process began and Yang turned to look at Skyler. To her relief, Skyler was glaring murderously at Neon.
He looked back at Yang and mouthed, "Please kill her."
"With pleasure," Yang mouthed back as the terrain rose.
I won't say the fight went well, but good enough. The fight was a strange mixture of explosions, rainbows, taunting, roller skating, cloning, and jazz music. Eventually, Flynt was about ready to attack Yang by surprise, but Weiss managed to push him down into a geyser, sacrificing herself to take him out. It didn't knock Flynt out, but it did get him on the borderline between orange and red.
It was just enough for Yang to finish him off in one blow. Then she focused her attention to Neon, who was struggling to skate through the geyser fields.
"Never miss a beat! Never miss a beat! Never miss a..." At that moment, her front wheels caught on a crack in the ground, making her lose her balance, and causing her to shed a few quick tears, "...beat?"
She tumbled down the rocky terrain before being shot up by a geyser. Yang grinned as she fired a blast from her gauntlets, scoring a direct hit, and knocking Neon out of the match.
After making sure Weiss was okay, Skyler and Dante began preparing. They were next.
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Skyler and Dante didn't know what to expect when they heard they were fighting another team from Atlas. But they certainly didn't expect this.
"This matchup includes..." Port announced, "Skyler Yin and Dante Williams of Team SHDW from Beacon!"
"And the opposition is..." Oobleck continued, "Elizabeth Malacraft and Edward of Team EBNE (Ebony) from Atlas!"
Skyler and Dante then saw their opponents. Elizabeth was short, probably Ruby's height, with vibrant green hair and aqua colored eyes, her clothes the same color scheme with some white thrown in. Her weapons were tonfa blades with a gun barrel at the end. In some ways, her appearance and demeanor kinda reminded them of Ruby. And to top it off, she was a Fox Faunus.
Then there was Edward. He was HUGE. As in, maybe bigger than Yatsuhashi huge! He had pale blonde hair and blue eyes, and had a blank expression on his face, like deadpan was his default expression. He wore armor kinda like Jaune's, except it had more covering and it was a grey/ebony color. If that wasn't enough, he had a huge shield on his back and a mace in his hand, both weapons with the same color pattern as his armor.
Skyler began to think. He knew not to underestimate Elizabeth. She may be small, but who knew what she was capable of. And definitely don't underestimate Edward, for obvious reasons.
Up in the stands, Weiss blinked at the Team EBNE members. They seemed... familiar, somehow. She just couldn't place it.
"No offense dude," Skyler whispered to Dante, "Probably should've chosen Hazel or Walker for this."
"Why?" Dante asked.
"Because I feel like the only way we're going to win is by ring-out. Hazel and Walker have the best weapons for that."
"Oh... yeah, I can totally see that. You have a point. No offense taken."
"Hello!" they heard Elizabeth say to them, somewhat shyly, "Let's have a good fight, okay?"
Edward just nodded in agreement. Skyler and Dante looked at each other before nodding to their opponents.
"Right!" Skyler grinned, getting his gun out, "Let's have some fun!"
"3, 2, 1, begin!!" Oobleck announced.
Edward hefted his shield and charged at the two. He was surprisingly fast for someone his size, catching both Skyler and Dante off guard. The shield hit them like a freight train, sending them flying. They got up moments later, reeling from the pain.
"Okay..." Dante groaned, "I expected a powerhouse... not a speedy powerhouse!"
"Geez, he got us good," Skyler said, wiping some dirt off his face, "But we'll think of something."
"Like what?!" Dante asked before the two noticed Edward charging again.
They jumped to each side, narrowly dodging the hulk of a man. Dante looked at Skyler, continuing the conversation.
"Look at our Aura level man!" Dante pointed to the Jumbotron, "How are we supposed to survive against that?!"
Skyler glanced up and gulped. Their Aura was still green, but was border-lining on orange. After one hit! Dante had a point. Another hit and both of them were done for. Skyler began to form a plan.
"Okay," Skyler said as Edward prepared another charge, "Part One of my plan has been thought up. Go after the girl and try to beat her. I got big guy. We might have a better chance if we split up."
"Your funeral!" Dante replied, immediately running for Elizabeth.
Edward took notice and growled in Dante's direction, but Skyler caught his attention, "Hey big guy!! Your fight's with me!!"
Though reluctantly, Edward focused on Skyler and began to use his shield to try and bash him. Skyler activated his sword and pulled the trigger once they collided, hoping that the resulting explosion could at least hold this guy off.
Unfortunately, things did not go like that. Out of the smoke the explosion caused, Skyler saw a mace just as it smashed into his gut, sending him into the mountainside. Skyler fell off the wall and onto his knees.
"Ow..." Skyler muttered in pain as he checked the screen again, seeing it was halfway through the orange, "Oh, that's unfortunate..."
(A/N: Basically, Edward seems to be the RWBY equivalent of a silent Broly. Except not nearly as rage-y... yet.)
Back with Dante, he seemed to be faring well with Elizabeth so far. Her tonfa blades were a bit tricky to deal with, but close-range combat was Dante's bread and butter. He was quick to adapt, able to counter her attacks well enough. Elizabeth seemed to be losing ground, like she wasn't all that experienced with this. Dante found that peculiar. If she wasn't that experienced with this, why was she chosen by her team to be in the doubles round?
Suddenly, the girl managed to push Dante away and run into the wooded area. Dante ran after her, but lost her the moment they entered the forest. Dante combined his axes so that they formed his crossbow. He clutched his weapon, getting ready for a sneak attack.
Suddenly, a round of bullets hit the ground at his feet, causing him to jump back in fright. He fired in the general direction he heard the gunfire, hoping to draw the sneaky girl out. But he didn't see anything.
"I don't really like fighting," he heard her shy voice call out, "But in this kind of situation, I don't really have a choice."
Another round of bullets came his way, but he was prepared. He jumped to the side and fired, but once again, he saw nothing. Dante then knew he was going to have to use his Semblance. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them again, his brown eyes slightly glowing. He then scanned the area.
His Semblance pretty much worked like a sniper scope for his eyes. He could zoom in far distances or even detect weak points on an opponent's body. It was perfect for sniping from long distances and taking down opponents by precisely hitting said weak points.
His eyes landed on nearby tree, where he spotted the tiniest tip of Elizabeth's shoe. He grinned and aimed. He fired, hitting the side of the tree, earning him a surprised 'Eep!'. He saw her dart across the tree line, so he aimed again. She was quick, dodging a few shots, but her luck eventually ran out and she was shot off a branch. She hit the ground and took off running back into the open, Dante close behind.
Skyler was not doing well. He was huffing and puffing, barely able to dodge Edward's attacks. He didn't want to keep moving, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Skyler knew that one more hit from this guy would be the end of him. Then both he and Edward were distracted by the sound of the knock out buzzer. Skyler looked over and saw Dante still standing, lowering his gun, with Elizabeth's tired body laying close by.
"Nice!" Yang fist pumped, "Dante got her!"
But the white haired man sitting next to her smiled despite himself, "Big mistake."
Skyler sighed with relief, thankful that they at least took out one of them. But that relief went away instantly when he looked at Edward. The big guy's face seethed with rage, losing all interest in Skyler as he looked at Dante. And at a speed unimaginable, Edward charged right at Dante.
Skyler barely had time to cry out a warning. Dante turned just in time to see Edward grab his face. Edward kept running, lowering Dante to ground level, grinding him against the arena floor, before throwing him into a tree. Dante fell to the ground, completely out of Aura.
"DANTE!!!" Hazel cried out in terror at the brutal takedown.
Skyler's eyes went wide at that. Then his face drained of all color when Edward directed his attention to Skyler. His face was still rage-filled. Skyler gulped, but stood up.
"Well," Skyler sighed, "Didn't think I'd have to use this."
As Edward stalked towards him, taking his sweet time, Skyler opened up the bottom of his sword handle, emptying the Fire Dust crystal out of it. And out of his back pocket, he pulled out a yellow Dust crystal and inserted it in the handle. He closed the lid and got ready. What Skyler was doing had barely even been tested, but it was the only option he had left to take this giant down. He kinda needed risky ideas right now.
Edward, getting impatient with himself, hefted his mace and charged, ready to bash Skyler's head in. Edward swung and Skyler barely managed to duck underneath the ball and slip past the shield. And Skyler swung his sword, clanging against Edward's armor. Moment of truth. Skyler closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger.
There was a loud ZAP and bolts of electricity spewed everywhere. While only a few hit Skyler, causing a slight jolt, the rest hit Edward due to his large size. The bigger man stumbled back in pain and dropped his shield from the electric shock and Skyler saw his chance. His sword crackling with electricity, Skyler attacked.
With each swing brought the equivalent of a five taser shots. Though the armor did little to protect Edward from the electricity, Skyler didn't take any chances and mostly kept swinging at exposed areas. Edward's already thick skin did limit the sword's power, it couldn't completely to stop him from wincing at the pain the electricity that it brought, causing him to be unable to fight back. Little by little, Edward's Aura chipped away.
Finally, Skyler kicked Edward, knocking him away slightly. Skyler took a few steps back and switched his weapon back to gun form. He aimed it at Edward and pulled the trigger.
With the power equivalent to that of a lightning strike, Skyler's shot hit Edward dead on. The blast was so powerful, Skyler actually felt a lot more of the bolts than when he first activated it in sword form. When Skyler let go of the trigger, they were both gasping and taking deep breaths, electricity sparking everywhere on Edward. And finally, Edward collapsed to the ground, his Aura in the red. And the crowd went wild.
"Ladies and gentlemen!!" Port cried out, "I doubt I've ever seen a more intense tournament match in my life!!"
"On that, we can both agree!" Oobleck nodded, "Spectacular!! Team SHDW takes the victory by a bare margin!!"
Skyler dropped to his knees, slightly paralyzed thanks to his own lightning, also dropping his weapon. He took deep breaths before noticing his teammates running up. Walker ran up to him and helped Skyler into his feet.
"You okay man?" Walker asked.
"My right arm is numb..." Skyler muttered.
"Yeah, you're fine."
Hazel ran up to where Dante was and shook him, "Dante!! Are you okay?! Say something!!"
Dante just muttered something deliriously incoherent. Hazel sighed, thankful he was okay. Skyler smiled at them before noticing Edward and Elizabeth's teammates, and his eyes widened. It was Nathan and Brittany, the two people he and Dante bumped into just yesterday after Team JNPR's team match.
"Wait..." Skyler groaned, still tuckered out, "You guys?"
"Surprise!" Brittany said, getting Elizabeth to her feet.
"I'm actually impressed," Nathan stated, helping Edward up, "You two managed to take on and beat our usually invincible tag team."
"I see why..." Dante mumbled, still dazed, before turning to Elizabeth, "Your friend hits like a truck. Especially when he's angry. Sorry about that, by the way."
Edward turned and signed something to Elizabeth, who translated, "He said it's fine. He's pretty protective of me, considering I'm... well, you know..."
"A Faunus, yeah," Walker nodded.
"Just to make sure," Brittany glared, "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"Not at all," Hazel answered, "Some of our friends are Faunus."
"That's good to know," Nathan nodded, "Well, we have things to do, so we better be off."
"Bye!" Elizabeth smiled, "Even though we lost, it was pretty fun!"
Edward nodded, still deadpan.
"Later boys~!" Brittany waved flirtatiously as she left.
"Brittany..." Nathan warned.
"Got it! Geez!"
As they left, Skyler smiled a bit, "Maybe they aren't as jerkish as a I thought they were."
"Yeah," Dante agreed, "Brittany still makes me uncomfortable though."
"Oh, definitely."
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Man, that was awesome!! I actually feel really proud of myself with this one. Now all I can do is hope and pray that I got H20FLAME's characters right and didn't screw up by accident. 'Cause that would suck. Till next time guys!