(A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while as an 'I'm sorry' gift here's an extra long chapter)
Ruby:
Up, down, right, left. That was the patter in which Cardin swung his maze. I dodged every time. Down, up, left, right. Every time I dodged, he swung again. 'Stupid'. I thought to myself 'Always the same pattern with no tricks, he uses only pure force and counts on strength to defeat the enemy, how did this bloke even get into this school?'.
I resisted the urge to laugh as his two teammates came charging in from behind. They all looked angry and I don't blame them, I've been dodging their attacks and smacking them for fun with the backside of Cresent Rose, all with a smirk on my face. I sighed internally as I activated my semblance, using it to escape in a flurry of rose petals causing Cardin to hit his teammates across the face with his maze instead of me. I looked at my team from the corner of my eye and saw that they were all enjoying the show. Then I directed my vision to where Oscar was sitting just as he mouthed 'Stop playing with your food'.
My smirk grew wider 'Oh well if the audience insists' I thought to myself.
(A/N: Okay if anyone is wondering why these two are so cocky in this world, I mean c'mon they grew up with Emerald, Mercury, Nora and Neo)
As soon as my feet touched the ground two of Cardin's teammates came barreling towards me yet again. I parried and swung my scythe keeping them at bay. After I had kicked those two to the side, Cardin swung his maze which I parried with Cresent Rose. He jumped back for some distance and I took the opportunity to shoot at him, he swatted the bullets aside with his maze and charged at me once again. His teammates attacked at the same time from all directions 'Sloppy' I thought.
'They haven't exchanged a word since this started and they're all attacking on their own, not as a team' I took care of the remaining guys and then it was just Cardin and me. He grabbed his maze with both hands and bent his knees as he ran towards me 'He's gonna make a jump' I could tell by his body movements, so as swiftly as possible, I retracted Cresent Rose and got into a fighting stance. Cardin smirked as he ran towards me, probably thinking that I was going to give up. 'Poor bloke, I almost feel bad for him.....almost'.
When he was within reach, he jumped just as expected holding his maze high in the air surely ready to smash my head in, that was his mistake, he's leaving his body vulnerable. Before he even got the chance to react I activated my semblance once again and propelled myself up, kneeing him in the jaw and then twisting myself in mid-air to kick him across the face thus nearly knocking him out. He groaned and rolled to the side. When none of the four guys got up the lights were turned on and Professor Goodwitch spoke.
"And that's the match." Cardin groaned again and sat up "Ugh, lucky shot-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as he fell right back down. Ms. Goodwitch looked around at my work "Well done Ms. Rose, you should have no trouble qualifying for the tournament" she said. "Thank you, Professor," I said.
"Alright, I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match" she looked around the classroom while I went to take my seat next to Emerald. I pretended to be exhausted and jokingly collapsed on her shoulder, she chuckled and ruffled my hair.
"Any volunteers?" asked Professor Goodwitch. She looked around, there was silence until- "I'll do it." I looked to my right and saw Mercury raising his hand. "Mercury, is it?" asked Ms. Goodwitch "Very well then, let's find you an opponent" just as she was about to look in her scroll Mercury cut her off "Actually, I want to fight...him" we all turned to look at who he was pointing at and yet again I had to resist the urge to laugh.
***
Oscar:
Mercury and I slowly walked around the arena eyeing each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. On the outside we looked like we were ready to murder each other, which kept everyone on the edge of their seats but in reality I was trying real hard not to burst out laughing. I knew exactly why Mercury had chosen me to be his opponent, he wanted to out-show Ruby and her little fight with team CRDL. Mercury and I knew each other's moves, we have been training together for a little over ten years, we know how to parry, dodge, and avoid each other's attacks. We knew how to make this interesting.
My train of thought was interrupted by Mercury's boot sailing down towards me, I quickly dodged and rolled out of the way. We parried and dodged each other's kicks, punches and blows with such speed and accuracy that if someone hadn't known this was a random sparring match for class, they'd think we'd rehearsed it.
After a few minutes or so I decided to take this to the next level and brought out my cane. Mercury grinned and loaded his boots. He jumped and tried to roundhouse kick me but I blocked his leg with my Cane. The second he regained his footing he did a flip on the spot and started shooting at me but every shot was met with a strike of my Cane. We continued to spar hand to hand with the occasional bullet or a swat from my cane until I saw an opening. I had just tried to land a hit on Mercury's legs trying to get him to lose his balance but he managed to dodge and knowing he didn't have the time to back up and attack me with his stronghold (His legs), he put his right foot forward and went in to punch me.
'Remember what you practiced with Neo' believe it or not Neo is my favorite person to spar with (after Ruby of course). Why? Well we both used the same technique "Kuzushi" the art of using your opponent own force against them to throw them off balance. So once Mercury's punch came close enough I swiftly put away my cane and grabbed his fist with my hands twisting it and moving to the side, that way instead of me, Mercury's target was now the floor and since I'd used his own momentum against him, he was unable to stop thus facepalming onto the floor and me taking the opportunity to pin him down.
The lights went on and Professor Goodwitch ended the match.
"Okay, We can see that Mr. Black's Aura has been depleted, now on a regular tournament style fight the Judge is allowed to call the match-"
'RIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGG'
Ms. Goodwitch sighed "Well, that's the bell, class dismissed"
***
After the sparring match we went straight towards lunch while I told Mercury how I got him. Once I was done explaining the Kuzushi technique he snorted "Nerd." I didn't have time to retaliate since we were interrupted by a very loud Nora. (a.k.a a normal Nora)
"Hey guys! You two don't mind if me and Neo steal Ruby and Em this afternoon?" I raised an eyebrow. 'This afternoon?' I tried to search my brain for anything I might've forgotten but nothing came to mind. Nora seemed more excited than normal, what was so special about this afternoon?
"Why do you need us?" Asked Ruby. Nora grinned in a way that made me fear for the two girls. She pretended to look innocent "Oh well, I need a favor" she said.
"No we're not going to help you hide a body" said Emerald. "What, No! Ugh-I need you two to try on some dresses with me at the mall, I didn't kill anyone, why is murder always your first thought anyway". There was silence. Finally Ruby spoke up "You want us to.....what?"
"To Go and try on some cute dresses at the mall with me and Neo" clarified Nora. More silence.
Emerald deadpanned "I'd rather have the Corpse."
Nora whined "Aw C'mon you guys! The dance is tomorrow, and you still don't have anything to wear" I mentally facepalmed 'The dance! That's what I forgot!'. "But Nora, I do have something to wear" Protested Ruby.
"Ruby for the last time, you can't wear your combat gear to the dance, you're wearing a dress!" Exclaimed Nora. 'And no bringing Cresent Rose with you' signed Neo. After a lot of whining and complaining and persuading, Ruby and Emerald finally agreed to go to the mall for a maximum of 4 hours.
***
It was 5:00 PM the next day when I made MPC history by being the first human being to ever go to Mercury Black willingly for help.
"Merc, you have to help me." I said, not even bothering to hide the desperation in my voice. Mercury turned away from the mirror with his suit already on. Why did we have our suits on even though the dance started at 7:30 and it was 5:00? Well because we were planning on playing with our scrolls and didn't want to loose track of time so we came up with the brilliant idea of getting ready before playing.
Mercury scanned me up and down and Laughed like a maniac when he saw my neck. I admit it was a mess, but he didn't really have to mock me like that. Once he had controlled his Laughter he asked "What is that?". I sighed and looked at the mirror finally having a full view of my failed attempt of Tying a Tie. I had to admit, it looked like someone tried to strangle it with itself.
"Ugh, I can't tie a tie Merc. We grew up in a small village in an orphanage, I've never worn a suit in my life." Mercury laughed again "Well, you should have done what I did and just get yourself a clip-on bow tie" he said while tapping his bow tie with his fingers.
He was right, but I wasn't about to tell him that. After a few minutes of wrestling with the mess I had around my neck (and almost strangling myself twice during the process) I sighed in defeat and plopped face first into my bed. I silently mopped until there was a knock on the door and Ruby came in the room. She saw me angrily pouting at nothing on the bed, then she averted her vision to the green birds nest around my neck and laughed.
"Can't Tie your tie?" I sighed and buried my face in my pillow, which probably answered her question. She laughed and sat down at the foot of my bed.
"Yeah, Ren sent me. He said he knew you two didn't know how to tie a tie and asked me to come and help you two out, but I see Mercury has figured it out" Merc pretended to brush back his hair and put on a smirk that he only used for his Cardin impressions "Ah yes Ms. Rose, you see tying a tie is but a simple task any man should-"
"-It's a clip on, isn't it?" Asked Ruby. Mercury dropped the act and nodded "Yeah it's a clip on" he admitted. Ruby turned to look at me "And I guess that idea didn't occur to you?" She asked sarcastically while slightly tugging at the strangled green tie I murdered.
I murmured some incoherent words and sat cross-crossed in front of her. "Here, let me help" before I knew it Ruby had untangled the mess I'd made and started tying it properly for me. Not going to lie, I stared at her the entire time without shame. At one point I caught Mercury's gaze from the corner of my eye as he pretended to throw up and clearly mouthed 'Lovesick Puppy'
'Shut up' I mouthed back. He rolled his eyes at me and being the mature brother that I am I stuck my tongue out at him. As I looked back at Ruby and saw how cute she looked while trying to unravel my mess it made me grateful for my lack of experience with formal attire plus the thirty minutes I spent in the bathroom struggling suddenly became worth it.
***
"Where are they?!" Asked Mercury for the fifth time. "I'm sure they'll be here shortly" assured Ren. I checked my watch again. 7:50, we were supposed to meet 20 minutes ago. We waited for about another 5 minutes until we heard someone shout.
"Hey dorks!" 'and that would be Emerald' I turned around and let me tell you I was not ready for what I saw. Emerald came skipping down the stairs in her high heels with her mint dress on like if it were as easy or as safe as walking. Next to her was Ruby struggling on her high heels, nearly falling every three steps, and Woah. 'I'm one lucky bastard' I thought.
(A/N: okay! That was it sorry for not updating so much Quarantine is really making me really lazy but the next chapter will be the dance and comment if you want me to do a short P.O.V of The boys describing the girls [Like the lovestruck fools they are] anyways in other news I think you all will be very happy to hear that the writter of the fanfiction I was looking for gave me permission to use team CHVE for the Vytal festival, team ROME vs CHVE here we go!)