Tannum "Cooper" Oakwood
-----
For some reason, a chunk of the fairgrounds were under construction this morning.
Strange.
Did a tornado run by here last night?
"Salutations, Cooper, my friend." A hand ran along the length of his tail. "What a wonderful morning it is today!"
Cooper yelped and protected his trusty tail.
Penny giggled and saluted, all the while donning an enormous sun hat.
"Come on, Penny." He facepalmed. "We've talked about this."
"Sorry." She clasped her hands together and ogled his tail. "It's just so pretty."
"Yes, yes, I know. I make it so every night like a pro." He stuck a finger in her face. "Remember what I said some time ago?"
She frowned and kicked the grass. "Because it feels weird and makes you want to go tally-ho?"
"Will you look at that?" He patted her hat. "Bravo."
"I didn't mean to sneak up on you." She lifted him in a lung crushing hug. "I wanted it to be a surprise!"
The air in him geysered out, and his ribs called for mercy. "Penny. . . put me down."
"Oh, right." She dropped him and poked his side. "I forgot that meat people like you can feel pain and need to breathe all the time."
"Don't worry about it." Cooper rubbed away the aches. "What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you weren't allowed to roam about alone."
"I snuck away again." Penny giggled and put a finger to her lips. "Don't tell."
"Oh, you already know it." He eyed the sun hat. "So, what's with that thing?"
"Right, about this. I may have a slight problem." Penny checked if the coast was clear and revealed a metal disc stuck to her head. "Could you get it off, please?"
As much as he wanted to roll and laugh his heart out, Cooper held it in and plucked off the magnet, flicking it somewhere where it couldn't bite her.
"Thank you." She tossed the hat and wiped the spot where the magnet used to be. "Boy does it feel good to finally have that gone. I can process things much better now."
In a nearby stall, some people tried popping a wall of balloons.
"What's that?" Penny dragged him over. "It looks fun."
They stood behind the current player who lobbed darts and missed every shot, and as fun as it was watching their struggle, Cooper's turn was next.
The operator slapped on a cheeky grin and showed off a dart. "Two lien for one dart. You can only hold a maximum of ten darts. Top prize goes to whoever can pop ten balloons without missing."
Cooper smirked and flashed his wallet. "Ten it is then."
Once he got his hands on a dart, Cooper couldn't help but groan. The darts were unbalanced. Clearly this game was rigged for those who didn't know better. To him, though, a slight adjustment in his aim was more than enough to do the trick.
"Cooper." Penny examined the balloons. "Do you really think you can win?"
"You know, a wonderful person once told me to 'have a little faith.' " Cooper twirled a dart between his fingers. "Besides, I like my odds."
Ten balloons later, Cooper brandished a giant stuffed penguin while the operator was about ready to burst into tears.
"By the way," Cooper leaned over the counter and whispered loud enough for the operator to hear, "I suggest you get some better darts. I mean, there are a lot of Atlesian soldiers patrolling today. Be a shame if one of them visited your stall, wouldn't it?"
The operator paled and thanked him profusely.
Handing over the penguin, Penny sparkled and gobbled it up in her arms.
"No need for thanks, darling." Cooper gave a wink. "Just think of me whenever you play with your new friend."
Her face twitched. "Why are you giving this to me? You won. This belongs to you."
"Keep it." He pinched the penguin's flippers and rubbed them against her face. "Remember, Penny: even when it doesn't seem like it, sometimes a little kindness can make a big difference in the world."
"I've never met a thief who gives away their things before." She hugged the penguin tighter. "You're really strange, Cooper. But that's what I like about you the most."
"That's a former thief to you," Cooper said and tried to not let her words embarrass him too much.
A stroke of unrestrained glee raised her cheeks.
"Say, I've been thinking." Penny held his hand. "What if I stayed here?"
Something in his chest did a flip. "What?"
"I want to move to Beacon. That way I can be with you and Ruby, and whoever else wants to be my friend."
As much as he wanted to celebrate, Cooper suppressed his emotions and choked on a bitter pill of reality.
"Penny," he said, "I don't think the General will allow that."
"I know." She squeezed the poor penguin to death. "I'll think of something, though. You'll help me, right?"
Cooper couldn't find it in him to refuse, especially with how brightly her hopes were shining right now.
Either way, in whatever way possible, he'll be there for her when she needs it.
"Aye," he tipped his cap, "you can count on me."
Penny jumped to her tippy toes. "Sensational!"
"Penny, there you are!"
Up ahead, a gal with a blue beret briskly strolled over, shaking her head and tapping her watch as if they've done something naughty.
"That's my teammate; she's supposed to be watching me." Penny walked off and waved goodbye. "Better get going. Thanks again for the penguin!"
Hardly a minute later, the intercoms activated and Professor Port's voice boomed through the fairgrounds, announcing the start of the next match.
Cooper grinned and hurried to the air docks.
There's no way he would miss this.
-----
Roderick Hill
-----
Roderick went into meltdown mode.
Unlike the team rounds, the matches for the doubles rounds were completely randomized. That meant no one knew who'd be facing who until moments leading up to the actual match, and that unknown factor weighed more than the entire Colosseum dropping on his back.
In front of him, Yang met his gaze, and after finishing off Ruby with a killer combo in their video game, she popped up in front of him.
"Hey, Roddy." She offered him a scroll. "Wanna play?"
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about the tournament?" He pointed at the floating structure outside the window. "You could be up next."
Yang blew her lips while Ruby sobbed into the carpet over something about cheating.
"Don't worry about it." Yang joined him on Blake's bed and forced the scroll into his hands. "I'll even go easy on you if you like."
Roderick tried to figure out the controls. "If you say so. . ."
"And you better not cheat either." She directed a finger dagger at him. "Uncle Qrow gave me enough of that yesterday."
Surprise pinched him. "Qrow's here?"
"Oh, yeah!" Ruby bounced like the happiest kid on Remnant. "Forgot to tell you that he dropped by and got into a big fight with Weiss' sister in the courtyard. It was so cool! Weiss says it was a draw, but Uncle Qrow totally won in case you were wondering."
How drunk did Qrow have to be to pick a fight on campus with Weiss' sister of all people?
"So, Rod," Ruby's excitement drooled off her lip, "got any idea of who's fighting next?"
"No clue." Roderick shrugged and searched for the coolest looking character. "But if it's me and Stiofan, then I'm sure we got it handled."
Yang snorted. "That's probably what Coco and Yatsuhashi said before they fought Mercury and Emerald—well, if you could even call that a fight."
More doubt stacked on Roderick.
Not only did Coco and Yatsuhashi lose, they were pummeled without mercy, and poor Velvet couldn't stop crying after seeing her friends get humiliated like that.
An alert beeped from Roderick's scroll, and his heart dropped.
Team RTLS, please make your way to the Amity Colosseum.
"Will you look at that?" Ruby peeked at his scroll. "Talk about good timing."
Roderick got up. "Sorry, Yang. Got to go—"
Yang snatched his wrist.
"What're you doing?"
"Nothing much."
"Yang," he tugged his arm, "let go."
"I will," she wiggled her eyebrows, "but let's make a bet first."
Roderick passed it off as a joke, but the following silence and her blank expression told him she was far from joking.
A wicked crack stretched across Yang's face. "We'll play best out of five. Loser has to do whatever the winner wants for a day. No. Matter. What."
Danger yelled at him to go.
"Yeah, not happening." He went for the door. "I got a match to get ready for, so wish me luck."
"Figures." Yang exhaled disappointment. "Good thing I prepared for it."
Roderick froze mid-step. "What?"
"Ruby, now!"
A flash of red slammed the door shut, and Ruby stood there, guarding the exit teary eyed.
"Sorry, Rod." She sniffled. "Yang offered me the same deal."
His chest panged. "Oh, no. . ."
"Oh, yes. . ." Yang clamped his shoulder, and his spine shivered. "It's do or die, Roddy. If you wanna get to the Colosseum in time, I suggest you take my bet. . . or else."
"You can't keep me here, Yang." He tried to find a way to escape. "I'll get out."
"I doubt it." She leaned close enough for her breath to scorch his ear. "You can't outrun Ruby, you can't beat me unarmed, and if you jump out the window, you'll be a little short on Aura for your match."
The entire world collapsed on him in that instant.
Yang smirked. "I win, Roddy."
After losing three games straight and the bet, Roderick bolted out the dormitory, cursing Yang the whole way to the first airbus he saw leaving for the Colosseum.
It didn't help that he nearly bulldozed a girl on the way there.
Roderick fell into the closest seat and checked the time on his scroll.
"Is this seat taken?"
Next to him, the girl he almost crashed into stood there, curiosity twinkling in her blue eyes.
She had a light tan, long orange hair braided on one side, a leather trench coat that completely covered her up, and judging by the maturity of her face, she must've been older than him by a few years.
Wait a second. Have they met before? She seemed familiar.
"No," Roderick said and scooted more to the side. "You can sit here."
"Cool." She slipped in and turned to him fully. "So, what's the rush? That was a close call back there."
"Sorry." He wiped his face. "Just nervous is all."
"Wait a minute." Her eyes narrowed and widened. "Are you up next?"
Guess there was no point in hiding it now.
He nodded.
"As much as I wanna say good luck," she sucked in her lips to hold a laugh, "I doubt it'll be of any help."
Ouch. Did he really not look that big of a deal?
"How so?" Roderick said.
"Just a hunch." She leaned back, arms crossed behind her head. "Although, if you run into Team BLLT (bullet), you're done for."
"Team BLLT?" He furrowed his brow. "I think I heard that name before."
"Of course you did." She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Don't you know? They won the last Vytal Festival Tournament."
Roderick's brain stopped, and every pore on his body began to sweat. "You mean that—"
"Yeah." She brandished a fist and flicked up a finger. "They're the champs."
"Aw, man."
"Try not to think too hard about it." She clapped his arm. "As long as you try your best, I bet you can handle whatever they throw at you."
Roderick grimaced.
When the airbus landed, he thanked her for the info, rushed into the Colosseum locker room, and buckled on his gear while sprinting to his designated arena tunnel, finding Stiofan already there waiting for him.
"You certainly took your time, partner." Stiofan gave a questioning look. "For a moment, I believed I'd be competing solo today. Gratitude for proving me wrong."
He flushed. "Sorry."
The glass wall opened, raising the volume on the other side to full blast.
"Introducing first, Roderick Hill and Stiofan Ua Binn of Team RTLS from Beacon!" Port said.
Roderick exhaled and tapped his partner. "Game time, man."
They stepped out into the bright lights, strolling to the central platform while waving to the fans.
"And their opponents, Rebecca Blayze and Lewis Zephyr of Team BLLT from Haven!"
Thunderous cheers rattled the Colosseum.
Roderick wanted to take his stupid luck and hurl it out of the Colosseum.
"I heard that these guys won the last Vytal Festival Tournament," Roderick said as loud as he could. "I didn't think they were this popular."
"Vytal Festival Tournament victors are considered to be world renowned stars," Stiofan also said as loud as he could. "And from what I know, Team BLLT is loved for their unorthodox tactics and charisma—their leader especially!"
Roderick checked the photographs of their opponents on the monitors, specifically the woman with the bright orange hair.
Huh? Isn't that. . .
When the glass wall sealing the other tunnel didn't so much as budge, the unrestrained excitement shifted to utter confusion until it was smothered into a dead silence.
"Uh," Port said, "it appears we're experiencing some technical difficulties."
"Can someone go check if Team BLLT is there," Oobleck said. "I hope nothing is—wait. Do you hear that?"
A distant buzz like a flying insect echoed in the Colosseum, causing a small murmur to rise in the stands.
The buzz slowly grew louder and louder, and before he knew it, it screamed with the fury of a high speed engine. Lights flashed in the tunnel behind the glass wall, and an ATV smashed right through it.
Roderick's jaw hit the floor.
The ATV sailed into the arena before sticking the landing and skidding to a stop on the other side of the platform.
Energy zapped the Colosseum back to life.
"Woo-hoo!" The orange haired driver hopped off the ATV to pose and pander to the crowd. "Now that's what I call an entrance!"
"You?" Realization uppercutted Roderick. "You're a member of Team BLLT?"
"Sorry," her smile spanned ear to ear, "but I had a riot messing with you."
She threw her trench coat to reveal matching black leggings, knee and elbow pads, gloves, and a sleeveless shirt with flame designs and the word SPITFIRE stretched across her chest.
"Allow me to introduce myself." She jerked a thumb at herself. "I'm the leader of Team BLLT, Rebecca Blayze."
To say this was a sucker punch to the gut for not figuring it out early was an understatement.
Her teammate with the katana, buzzcut, leather jacket, and shades got off the ATV.
"Rebecca," he stood by her side, "quit messing with our opponents. We came to fight, not talk."
The frenzied crowd chanted her name.
Roderick shared a worried look with Stiofan.
That wasn't good.
Not only did Rebecca instantly sweep the audience in her favour just by showing up, she also basically turned the world against them at the drop of a hat.
Several holographic reels appeared in the eight quadrants surrounding them, and they spun to a stop on four different symbols.
Anti-Gravity, tundra, minefield, and urban.
The leader of Team BLLT dramatically pointed a finger gun at Roderick.
"The match will begin," Oobleck said, "in three. . . two—"
"One." Rebecca snapped her arm back. "Bang!"