Omake/Cut off from the last chapter:
Jae and Pyrrha snuck in to their dorms after spending a little longer then they anticipated in their "Celebrations" and whispered their good nights as Jae went to take a shower. There was a clearing of the throat as Pyrrha saw Nora flick the light on.
"And what time do you call this, young lady?" Nora said with the joking version of Weiss's strict stare; "Ren and I were worried sick!"
"I'm sorry, myself and Jae just had…We had a wonderful time today, we only stayed out for a little longer in any case."
"Jae said you'd be back by dinner, that was four hours ago…" Nora pointed out but then smirked widely; "Then again, I can imagine the real reason why~" She added with a growing smirk that bordered on the smugness peak.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about." Pyrrha said with an unconvincing look on her already blushing face. Ordinarily most people would have left it at that but since Nora was Nora; She was curious about both the date and what the two had been up to, there was no way that someone that beet red would have settled for a night stargazing.
"I know you're lying, Pyrrha Nikos~ You always flare your nostrils when you lie." Nora pointed out as she noticed that little tic when she first asked Pyrrha if she had a crush on their leader. "Come on, it's just us two here….So…Was it good?"
Pyrrha knew that Nora had her pegged and lying about it would make the teasing worse; But it was the fact that to her, the whole thing was like a dream: Jae leaning her back onto the blanket as the two got naked and the sight of what he had "In Store" for her left Pyrrha giggling like crazy and had the grin to match.
Nora chuckled, this sight was all she needed to get the idea; "I think I'll take that as a "Hell Yeah~" She teased but then got concerned as Pyrrha started wobbling at the knees and staggered, nearly falling on her face if her teammate wasn't there to catch her.
"He….May be a Demon….But holy shit….That man is blessed~" Pyrrha remarked woozily as Nora guided her onto her bed as Nora could better see the line of hickeys along her neck.
"Wow, if he could make Pyrrha swear and turn her into a pile of goofy jelly…I think I might want some of that~"
End Omake
———————————————————————
The Vytal Tournament had finally gone underway after a few words from Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood assuring good safety and friendships renewed as they rounded off the first match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN.
Jae and the others cheered on as Yang fought evenly with Arslan, Ruby and Weiss teamed up to take on the long shotters and Blake took Reese Chloris down with nothing more than her Semblance; "GO GET 'EM!" Jae yelled out as he got worked up for them and got louder when they scored their win.
While the faculty set up for the next match, everyone was dismissed to the fairgrounds for souvenirs and food; Though mostly for the latter as Blake's stomach rumbled after their lengthy battle.
"Heh, sounds like you guys could use something to eat as well." Jae teased as he and the rest of the group joined them; "Nora's been bugging us non stop to get food."
"Hey! It's not my fault that I need to power this beast Machine that is my body~" Nora retorted and flexed which earned a soft laugh from Pyrrha. "Well, Jae secretly wanted to praise you guys up close for your kickassery and looking good doing it~" She added quickly to drop Jae in it.
Jae growled in embarrassment; "Nora, shut up…." He whispered through grit teeth but despite that, she wasn't wrong. "Still, she is right; You guys were awesome out there…Those missions that we've been on really got you beefed up." He said and smiled though the pinkness from his embarrassment still lingered a little.
Ruby blushed and babbled in her embarrassment like she did with Emerald while Weiss and Blake took on their usual cool attitudes though being praised by Jae did bring some colour to their cheeks with Weiss being moreso.
"Well, hopefully you guys can pick up where we left off…We're gonna kick butts in the next round and I wanna at least see one of you guys in the Finals." Yang brought up the confidence as she winked at Jae in both jest and flirtation since they had gotten on better terms after the slight fumble with their proposition with Pyrrha.
"Well, why don't I treat you guys? We need lunch and you guys earned it." Jae offered as he grabbed a seat at the noodle stand. "Plus it kinda looked like you needed some help." He added as he did see the unfortunate incident of Weiss's card getting declined.
"I still don't understand, I didn't spend all that much and my allowance should've been more than sufficient." Weiss complained as the Shopkeeper worked his best pace to get them their food back and dished up some specialty dishes for Team JNPR.
Jae ordered what looked like an assorted Meat bowl that amped up the spice and a side of dumplings to go with it.
Ren ended up getting an almost identical dish to Jae's but with fish instead and some steamed veggies alongside it.
Pyrrha's looked to be the most balanced out of the four with a little of everything but it had her hometown's specialty of Argus Fruit Gelato.
Nora ended up getting a Jumbo Bowl that had 3 of everything on it; Ranging from the tea strained eggs to fish and even a whopping Mistralian Lobster Tail thrown in.
Team RWBY were stunned to say the least that Nora could chow down on what they referred to as "The Stomach Stretcher" however Pyrrha and the others weren't as surprised since they had bore witness to this more times than they could count. "I know you guys were hungry but are you really sure that you could eat THAT much before a fight?" Blake asked curiously as they peered into the empty bowls and the looks of satisfaction on both Nora and Jae's faces.
"Of course, with a match like your's to watch; it'll give us the energy if the team that we're up against is equally as intensive." Pyrrha reassured them as Jae paid for their food. "Although, it may be risky with the amount these two ate…" Ren grimaced at the thought since Team JNPR's two big eaters weren't exactly that forward thinking when it came to their stomachs.
"Well, if it happens it happens…" Jae shrugged as he pocketed his wallet, though covered his mouth when a Vacuan Beef flavoured burp slipped out and apologised.
"Hey, if it does then we aim it at the enemy! They'd never expect that!" Nora grinned manically as she stretched herself out and marvelled at her "Creative" idea.
"Well, I suppose if you feel the urge then I can't really blame you for it." Ren sighed before patting their backs; "So who have you picked for your next match?"
"As Team Leader, I suggested about putting to a vote and we agreed on Weiss and Blake to go through." Ruby mentioned as she decided to come clean rather than having Weiss put her out like she did with Emerald earlier.
"Will Team JNPR please make their way to the Tournament grounds immediately as their match is about to start!" Oobleck called out in his typical antsy tone as it was nearly time for the people to go back in for the next match.
"Well, good luck you guys and hopefully we'll see you in the next rounds!" Ruby called out though was surprised when WBY made their way over to Jae and pulled him to the side as she raised an eyebrow; "Whu?"
Weiss was the first to pluck up the nerve; "Y-You'll do great!" She said with a faint amount of nerves and a blush in her cheeks as she leaned up on tip toes to kiss his cheek.
Blake smirked; "You'll be great out there, you'll have those guys to back you up." She mentioned and then leaned up to kiss his other cheek; "And us to cheer you on~"
Yang leaned in to his ear; "Go wreck their stuff, Jae~" She encouraged him and then kissed his lips softly while slipping him a little tongue for further motivation; "Get all the way to the finals and I'll have more than that to give you~" She whispered to him before letting him catch up with the others, though she was greeted by Ruby's confused look, Weiss's indignant frown and Blake's amused smirk. "What? I can't help it if he's right there." She then gestured her hands to him as he left; "Just…Just look at him!"
"So…You guys are a lot closer to Jae since I left, huh?" Ruby asked with a confused look, she had noticed that the other three were acting weird when her dad dropped her back at Beacon but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous that they got that close with him.
"It's uh…It's a lot to explain." Yang mentioned honestly; "I can fill you in later but don't worry…We worked it out so there's no hard feelings between us with what happened."
Meanwhile in the crowds as everyone filled in, a certain blonde in a black hoody had seen the three with Jae and couldn't help but feel jealous; "Are you kidding me?! I get laughed at back at Training…But this guy somehow lands on a team with a cute girl, Pyrrha freaking Nikos and he's fawned over by an all girl team! If he's the one I'm looking for…He's probably used some weird Demon magic to trap them to his will, once I kill it then I can break the spell on them, who knows…They might even like me better instead!" The Blonde thought to himself as he filed in with the crowd and went to sit in the stands.
——Down on the Arena——
"I know it's hard for us to top that last match but hopefully this one should get you on the edge of your seats! Because now we have Team JNPR from Beacon and Team BRNZ from Shade…." Port introduced them as the two Teams stood on either side of the arena while the roulette wheel started spinning to choose their surroundings, before eventually landing on a Forest on one side and a mountain range on the other.
"3! 2! 1! BEGIN!" Port commenced the match as Brawnz, Roy and Nolan began rushing the four, May used her weapon to gain a vantage point in the trees and aimed her Sniper Rifle to start shooting at them.
"DUCK AND COVER!" Jae yelled when he saw the glint of the scope through the trees and out of instinct when he raised his arm up to block his face, he summoned up his latest weapon set; a large round shield that blocked everything from his head down to his waist. It had a black outer ring that lined the edge of it but white everywhere else; there were red veins that bent and shaped an emblem of a charging Boarbatusk in the centre of the shield that deflected each of May's bullets with a harmless sound.
The others barely had time to question it but followed his order and retreated while Jae and Pyrrha both held up their respective shields; "Okay…Found our defense….Good to know…." Jae said to himself but felt a weight in his left hand as there was a falx in his his hand; it was a pure white curved blade with black leather wrappings around the hilt and it almost looked like a carved tusk from a boar. "And Offence too? Even better!"
"Jae, what can we do from here?" Pyrrha asked as they hide behind the cover of an overturned rock; peeking out to see that while May peppered sniper shots to keep them pinned down, Brawnz had his claws at the ready and Roy had his saws ready to throw.
"Spread out, try to keep them guessing." Jae suggested when he heard a rumble of thunder at the top of the mountain and had a better idea; "Nora! Get to the top of that mountain and be ready for a supercharge!" He ordered Nora first who saluted and started her climb up. "Ren, you're the fastest out of us…See if you can distract the sniper while taking pot shots."
Ren felt reassured as he was made into the decoy; "Sure…Why not?" He remarked sarcastically but he knew that Jae wouldn't come up with a plan that didn't get results.
"And us?" Pyrrha asked as she aimed her rifle into the two rushing for them. "We both have shields so we can keep the defensive up and stop the better part of damage."
Jae nodded; "My sword and your spear? We can keep them on the back foot while Nora deals the heavy damage!" He rounded off as he vaulted over with his sword at the ready to take on the pair and Pyrrha followed close behind.
"GO GET 'EM JAE!" Ruby yelled out from the crowd as she got hyped with being able to see a new weapon on show though it sounded like the crowd was equally invested as they were fascinated.
"Well well, it looks like our fearless young leader Jae Cielo earned a new facet in his Semblance!" Port explained as he turned to Oobleck to give them the abridged version; detailing how Jae can take a Grimm that he has fought and turn them into weapons to use on hand.
Pyrrha and Jae both moved seamlessly between each other as they blocked incoming attacks and countered with spear and curved sword in hand, their combinations would slowly push back Roy and Brawnz though it slowed when Ren yelled out Nora's name as May took her aim at the young Valkyrie.
"Pyrrha, Up you go!" Jae yelled as he rolled backwards and positioned his shield upwards. With her leap onto him, he made an almighty heave upwards and pushed Pyrrha into the air with her shield facing outward to block the incoming sniper fire.
Nora meanwhile was aiming a thunderbolt enhanced barrage of Heart Grenades to knock May out of her perch and to the ground to join the others; "Jae, Lined 'em up for ya! Big Finish!" She yelled for Jae and jumped down to join them as the three rushed them.
Ren sidestepped under Roy's swings and kicked him quickly while Pyrrha joined him on the other side to shield bash Nolan into the middle, Nora then got them group slammed together with Brawnz in the front and May behind them.
Jae smirked as he then shoved the sword into the side of the shield with a metallic CLANK! and unfurled itself to dangle on a thick cable before starting to bob up and down like a….
"A Yo-Yo?" Weiss asked out loud as she saw Jae's hand flicking the handle up and down to keep it moving.
"You serious?" Yang asked as she felt a grin spread across her face as she knew whatever Jae had in store was bound to be good.
"Game's over guys, better luck next time!" Jae called out as he threw his arm back and thrust it forward to launch the spinning disc at the team. Revving up all the force he could muster and keeping the focus on using this weapon competitively kept it as the equivalent of a giant yo-yo with none of the risk of serious injury.
The crowd went wild as they saw Jae spin his weapon; Shooting the yo-yo faster than a cannonball and knocked them with the sound of bowling pins into a collective Ring Out followed by the horn to signal the end.
"Oh, It looks like Team JNPR wins by an utter knockout…literally…Seriously, go check that they're okay…." Port announced as Team JNPR left the stage to the sounds of applause and the cheering of their names.
"A-And on that note, we have concluded our first batch of rounds! Please leave calmly and we will be back tomorrow for the Doubles Rounds!" Oobleck dismissed everyone as Atlas ships flew overhead for a landing outside of Beacon.
——Meanwhile, At the Crow Bar——
"WOO! I told you that mad lil bastard was gonna clinch it!" Nico roared out a cheer as she tossed her drink back; "See? Didn't I tell ya that this was better than watching from that dingy tv back home?" The Demon Tech wiz nudged at Trish as she ordered another drink.
"Well, I'd have hoped we would've gotten seats but this year's batch of contestants were real full up…Not to mention that we'd have to keep an eye on Lady so she doesn't slug someone for staring at her ass too long." Trish lamented as she glanced to Lady who was currently warning another would-be attempt at her away.
The Barkeep whistled; "Now THAT was a real show for sure….You said you trained those kids?" He asked Trish and Nico curiously. "Because I think you guys picked winners there."
"That was a mess…." A slurred voice grumbled from the counter as a shaggy looking man reared his head up from his drink; "It looked more like a sideshow than a legit fight…"
"Hey now, you didn't like this match or the one with the other Beacon Kids?" The Bartender asked curiously; "I mean, those two teams looked pretty popular."
"Heck yeah they are!" Nico remarked with a grin; "So if you're not a fan then what fight ARE you here for?"
The rumbling sound of an airship overhead made the man snort in derision before gesturing his head outside. "That one out there….Here, Drinks on me…Happy VytaWhatever…" He got to his feet unsteadily as he threw some cards on the counter to pay for the three women's drinks and then staggered out the bar.
"What's that guy's problem?" Lady asked as she ordered up a drink and sat with Trish and Nico.
"Whoever he was, he got here before we did…Guy was trashed off his gourd." Trish mentioned as she tapped at the table with a finger but felt it squish as she had somehow managed to press her finger into a wad of gum someone left on the bar counter; "Okay, whoever did this deserves to get a sudden and debilitating cramp in their leg…" She growled.
Nico however grumbled as well as she cleaned off her glasses but there was the sound of a crack as a wrong move made one of the lenses break out of the frame. "Aw, what the heck?!"
Lady noticed the two and their sudden befouled circumstances along with the bartender's defeated "Aw, gee darnit" at dropping a glass on the floor. "Okay, someone's either invisible and messing with us or Nico broke a mirror on the way here." Lady thought to herself as she stared down at her glass; She had to admit, Jae had bumped up his skills after he scared them with the whole "Mountain" business and it was enough to put a satisfied smirk on her face as she lifted her drink to her mouth.
CRASH!
The stool that Lady had sat on had it's legs break out from under her and it had her collapsing to the floor with an unexpected flop; "Fucking why?!"
——Meanwhile at Beacon's Courtyard——
"More airships? I thought Ironwood brought all his stuff her before people noticed at the festival." Jae quizzed out loud as he had Pyrrha's arm interlocked with his as the four were walking back. With nothing else to do for the day; Their only course was to rest up at their dorms until the next morning.
"Maybe they're changing guard? Putting up new people to take over for one of the tired ones?" Pyrrha agreed as she walked; "So…You have a yo-yo weapon now?"
Nora grinned; "Yeah, what was all that?! You were all like "Whoosh!" and "Boing Boing!" with that thing all over the place!"
"Well…I think that was the one he gained from the Alpha Boarbatusk…Wasn't it?" Ren asked curiously as he looked to Jae for an answer.
"Mhm, it's a Yo-Yo Flail that I can separate into a sword and shield…Not sure if it can do anything else but who knows?" Jae detailed with what he knew but he was interrupted when he felt Weiss nudge behind him and push him forward rather briskly.
"Sorry, Pyrrha, just need to borrow him!" Weiss quickly apologised as she took Jae by the hand and looked at him as they walked; "Jae, I really need your help with something."
"A little heads up next time but sure, what's up Weiss?" Jae mentioned as he was a little thrown off by Weiss's sudden directness.
"Remember when you walked me back to the dorms and said that friends help each other out?" She asked as she began glancing around, her hand gently squeezing Jae's in tender affection.
"Well…We are a little more than that now so of course I remember, you feeling okay? You look a little anxious…Like when I saw you with Pyrrha." Jae asked as he noticed that Weiss was pink cheeked and she was walking towards one of the landing airships. Thankfully; Jae and Pyrrha had both spoken to Yang and Weiss about accepting the terms for a poly relationship which got them feeling more comfortable…At least after an hour or two to get used to the whole thing.
"I have been in contact with my sister back in Atlas and they've been assigned here for duty during the tournament." Weiss explained and then felt a small but nervous smile spread; "And during that time when we first kissed…I may have…accidentally told her about it so she said she wanted to meet you while she's here."
Jae felt his stomach turn to ice when he realised what this could entail; "You didn't tell her about…you know…" He asked her quietly since he wasn't sure whether this was going to be a nice visit or a harsh one.
"O-Oh no, of course not! But it would be best that we keep careful of what we say…Winter can be a little overprotective of me, sometimes." Weiss said and lightly pat his arm to reassure him.
"Well…I guess it was bound to happen eventually so I'll do my best to be as charming as I can be." Jae promised as he crossed his heart; "I'd rather not get turned into a glacier so quickly after becoming your boyfriend." he joked to Weiss who laughed a little but couldn't help but feel her own nerves turn up as she could see her older sister watching the pair approach.