A/N: A surprise second chapter for the day to celebrate breaking below the 1000 mark in the power rankings! You guys are incredible, and I can't express just how much this means to me. Thank you all!
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Waking up the next morning, Topaz smiles when he sees Ariel sleeping comfortably next to him. He holds in a chuckle seeing her drooling slightly. Gently making his way out of bed as to not disturb Ariel, he smiles at seeing he didn't disturb her. Topaz does his daily morning routine getting back to the room in time to see an overly cheerful Yang toss Nova out the window. Topaz makes his way over to the window to see Nova hanging from Blake's Gambol Shroud.
Nova: "HELP ME! Dear Ohm somebody help me!"
Yang: "Hey, at least I had Blake catch you. I almost didn't ask for her help after hearing that you used a pun. That's my specialty."
Nova: "I'm sorry, I swear I won't do it again. Please get me down."
Topaz: "I don't know Nova, I don't think you've learned your lesson quite yet."
Nova: "No please. I swear, I've learned my lesson."
Scarlett: *sigh* "Yang or Blake, would you mind getting my idiot boyfriend back in here?"
Yang: "Sure thing Scarlett."
Topaz laughs as he watches Yang ever so gently drag Nova back into the room.
Nova: "Five times! You hit me into the wall five times Yang!"
Yang: "And? I was being gentle about it. There were at least fifteen opportunities for me to have hit you, y'know?"
Nova: "Why are you so mean to me?"
Scarlett: "It's because you're such a lovable idiot Nova. We can't help but pick on you."
Yang: "True that."
After all the jokes were thrown out and everyone went and had their breakfast, Topaz and his team made their way back to Amity Arena for the final day of the tournament.
Ariel: "Hey Topaz."
Topaz: "What's up Ariel?"
Ariel: "Tomorrow is your birthday, right?"
Topaz: "I think so. Why?"
Ariel: "How about tomorrow we go to Patch and pick up Neo and then spend the day out with everyone?"
Topaz: "That sounds like a great time."
Ariel: "Great!"
Stepping into Amity Arena, Topaz is directed to where all of the single fighters are supposed to wait until their turn is called. Topaz sees Pyrra and Yang chatting so he makes his way over to them. Along the way he notices the girl Ruby called Penny. Topaz is thrown off by her scent though, it's almost like she is a machine. Topaz can sense her aura, but he can't hear a heartbeat or smell anything off of her aside from metal and oil.
Topaz: "Hey Yang, Pyrra."
Yang: "How's it yanging Topaz?"
Pyrra: "Not surprising to see you get chosen for the singles spot Topaz."
Topaz: "Hey Pyrra, strange question for you."
Pyrra: "What is it Topaz?"
Topaz: "Your semblance is polarity right, and it allows you to pull and push metal objects, correct?"
Pyrra: "Yes, why?"
Topaz: "That girl over there with the bright orange hair has an almost mechanical scent to her. Would you mind testing your semblance on her momentarily. Nothing major, but like sense if she is indeed mechanical."
Pyrra: "Um, I guess I can try."
Pyrra closes her eyes and slightly raises her right hand. After a moment she opens her eyes and looks surprised.
Pyrra: "Topaz, you were right. She's metal."
Topaz: "Why would Atlas send her?"
Pyrra: "I'm not sure."
Topaz: "My gut is telling me something strange is going on. Be careful if you get placed against her."
Pyrra: "I will. Don't worry."
After waiting until everyone arrived, Topaz could hear Professors Port and Ooblek begin their announcing for the day.
Port: "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the final day of this tournament. Today we will be seeing the singles section. A simple one on one match of candidates chosen by their teams to represent not only themselves, but their academies as well. The combatants shall be chosen via a lottery system, so no match should be predicted, as it is all randomly selected."
Ooblek: "Right you are. I look forward to see what the students are capable of."
Port: "Alright, let's get this started. For our first match we have Penny Polendina of Atlas facing off against Pyrra Nikos of Beacon."
Topaz watches as Penny and Pyrra make their way into the arena. Topaz's face was grim as his fear was becoming a reality. Topaz sends a quick prayer to the brothers in hope of nothing going wrong with Pyrra's fight. Topaz then makes his way to a seat close to the arena to observe the fight. On Port's signal, the fight is started. Pyrra makes a quick dash towards Penny, short spear and shield in hand. Penny releases a large number of swords from her back and they begin spinning around behind her. Penny and Pyrra clash and after a moment, the two separate. Topaz notices Pyrra's eyes become slightly unfocused and looks towards where he last saw Emerald. Seeing her staring at Pyrra with a look of concentration on her face he knew something was going on. He stood up and passed by Emerald, 'accidentally' bumping into her disturbing her focus.
Topaz: "I am so sorry Emerald. I was so focused on the fight I forgot to pay attention to where I was walking. I apologize for bumping into you."
Emerald: "Oh don't worry about it, the fight is really good."
Port: "There you have it folks! Pyrra Nikos is the winner of our first fight."
Topaz and Emerald both turn to see Pyrra helping Penny to her feet both smiling. Topaz turns and walks back into the arena to wait for Pyrra with a smug grin on his face. Turning to look at Emerald, he begins to speak to her once more.
Topaz: "Oh and Emerald, I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to manipulate matches like that. See ya."
Emerald: "W-What are you t-talking about?"
Topaz: "Nothing at all, or at least you understand what I said. Have a good one."
Topaz walked away chuckling at seeing the look of surprise and minor fear cross Emerald's face. Seeing Pyrra walking in from the interior of the arena he makes his way over and congratulates her.
Topaz: "Good fight Pyrra."
Pyrra: "Thank you Topaz."
Topaz: "What happened during that fight Pyrra? I saw you beginning to lose focus in the middle of the fight."
Pyrra: "I, I don't know to be perfectly honest. One moment I was facing an uncountable number of swords and was prepared to use my semblance to its fullest, then the next moment it went back to the manageable number. It was at that point I was able to get Penny's aura into the red and end the fight."
Topaz: "Ok, so Emerald's semblance really is illusion based then."
Pyrra: "What do you mean?"
Topaz: "When I saw you losing focus, I also saw Emerald focusing on you. I made my way over to her and bumped into her to break her concentration, shortly after the fight ended."
Pyrra: "Then I guess I owe you one."
Topaz: "You don't owe me anything Pyrra. Had she not interfered to begin with it would have been your fight all the way."
Pyrra: "Thank you Topaz."
Topaz: "Don't worry about it."
Topaz sees that he will be fighting next so he begins walking into the arena. His opponent was none other than Mercury, which all but told Topaz that someone was rigging the matches. Making his way into the arena, Topaz takes in the large crowd and sees his team and friends cheering him on. He makes eye contact with Ariel and gives her smile and wink. In front of him stands Mercury, who looks at Topaz with a cocky glint in his eye.
Mercury: "So you're the one causing so much trouble. Should've known you were an animal."
Topaz: "How's that semblance of yours? Oh wait, my bad."
Mercury: "You little bastard, you're dead!"
Topaz: "Bring it on."
Port: "Ladies and Gentlemen, for our next fight, we have Mercury Black of Haven facing off against Topaz of Beacon."
Topaz stretches his shoulders and prepares himself for a tough fight. Taking a deep breath, he calmly looks towards Mercury. Smiling when he sees the fury in Mercury's eyes, Topaz gives him a wink to piss him off and wishes him luck.
Port: "The match will begin in 3... 2... 1... BEGIN!"