Chapter 17: Game, Set, Match

"So on a scale of one to ten…" Qrow grumbled with his head on the table. "I'd say we're pretty much screwed."

"Well, thath athitude ifn't gonna win uth the hundred thouthand Lien eifher," Tai responded, his mouth filled with noodles and chicken.

Team STRQ had set up their temporary base of operations at one of the many food stands in Atlas' main square. The place had been decorated from top to bottom for the Vytal Festival, and the smells of all the different foreign dishes was positively mesmerizing. Unfortunately, they didn't have the time to enjoy it.

Trying to keep her composure, Summer concentrated on finishing her rice balls. Don't panic. They can't be that bad, they're only one year older than…In her mind, she relived Latte and his team utterly massacring the Brotherhood cultists at the nightclub. Ugh…

Raven, meanwhile, had already finished her soup. She was flipping through something on her Scroll with an intense look in her eyes.

"So," Tai gulped down the last of his meal. "What exactly are we up against, guys? You seem to know more about them than I do."

"Each member of Team LIME already has a history of competitive battle," Raven explained, putting her Scroll away. "Overall, I'd say they're Atlas' best team. They're well-renowned for their perfect teamwork, and their weapons are made from state-of-the-art Atlesian materials, so in terms of pure power we're completely outmatched."

Qrow sighed. "Figures. Basically, we're doomed, aren't we?"

"Mmm, not necessarily. No matter the power of their equipment, they themselves are just people. If we can predict their strategies and attacks, we'll seize victory. With some luck, of course."

"How comforting." Qrow grumbled. "So that Latte guy has that double-barreled shotgun that's also a flamethrower, and the blue-haired chick's got that huge-ass gauntlet shooting blasts of breezing energy. I'm guessing those two are the ones we'll have to look out for."

"Huh?" Tai frowned. "How do you know what their weapons look like?"

Summer laughed nervously. "Er…let's just say we've met them before."

"It's true that Latte and Isa are the powerhouses of the team," Raven admitted. "Latte Adel's Pyroburst Cannon. Shoots bursts of napalm with impressive range from the bottom barrel, and explosive projectiles from the top barrel. Extremely destructive and surprisingly mobile. Isa Teal's Arctic Arm. Multifunctional gauntlet serving as durable shield, massive ice blade, and freeze-ray cannon. Both weapons I rate an A+."

"Fantastic," Qrow mumbled.

"Buuuut…to compensate, their other two members are total wimps, right?" Tai suggested.

Raven shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Marguerite Scarlet is their sniper, and she's supposed to be quite the shot. Her rifle fires heavy electric tranquilizers, and can be retracted into an electric baton to contend with opponents who get too close. While she's not at combat-oriented as the others, she will not be a pushover." She frowned, scratching her chin. "The fourth member is a bit more complicated."

"Esther, right?" Summer asked. "Come to think of it, I don't think she had a weapon on her when we met. I think she's supposed to be the team healer, though."

"Correct. Healing injuries and rejuvenation make up her Semblance." Raven nodded. "She actually has no weapon. She instead utilizes strange, virtually unknown techniques…from the Forsaken."

"The Forsaken…" Summer murmured. In Geography class, they'd learned about the lands that lay outside the Kingdoms of Remnant. Almost nothing was known about what was out there, as aircrafts and ships that went that far almost never came back. The few who'd ever returned had described the things they'd seen as "incomprehensible" and "unbelievable horror": large spans of wasteland, monsters hundreds of times larger and more vicious than Grimm…

"They have someone from the Foresaken?" Tai asked in surprise.

"Civilizations do exist there," Raven reminded him. "The techniques people learn there to survive in the harsh environment…they are less like Dust or Semblance and more like what we call "magic." Even I don't know the full extent of their abilities…from what I do, though, this Esther girl is very proficient in them."

"…In other words, she's as deadly as the rest of them," Summer sighed. "Though the important thing is that she's their healer, so we should target her first, right?"

Raven nodded. "Precisely. That should be where our strategy begins. Now-"

"Hey, you guys!" The team meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Team HTHR. "Getting ready for your big match?" Regal grinned at them.

"More like prepping ourselves for inevitable doom," Qrow replied. "As least you guys got to kick ass today."

"Oh come now! It wasn't that impressive!" Heather laughed, rubbing her shoulder. "Really, I think you would all have done just as well."

Torrence downed a mouthful of popcorn. "To be fair though, if you can beat Latte's team, you've practically won the whole tournament."

"Good luck, Summer," Harriet smiled. "Thanks," Summer sighed. "I just really don't want to be humiliated in the first round…especially as the leader of my team."

"Well if you're the leader that just means you can bring everyone together, right?" Harriet encouraged her. "The headmaster chose you for a reason. I know you can do it!"

Summer smiled. Harriet's words made her feel a bit better. "Thanks. I'll try my best."

Professor Pegasus' voice rang out from the speakers. Would Teams STRQ and LIME please REPORT TO THE COLISEUM IMMEDIATELY, YOUR MATCH BEGINS SOON! THANK YOU!"

"My ears hurt…" Harriet complained.

"Well, looks like it's do or die, comrades!" Tai leapt out of his seat, grinning. "Let's give 'em a show!"

"Ladies and gentlemen…" On the big screen, Professor Terrion made an exaggerated gesture with his hands. "Welcome back to The Vytal Festival Tournament, and boy do we have a match for you!"

Heart pounding, Summer stepped out of the waiting room and walked onto the centre ring. Her teammates followed after her, each looking as anxious and tense as she was. Even Tai had a serious look on his face, his fists clenched in anticipation. Holding her head high, Summer took a deep breath. This is your moment, Summer Rose! Show them just how much you've improved! She flashed a confident smile at Latte, who was standing on the other side of the arena with his teammates.

"Team LIME of Atlas is certainly a crowd-favourite, and as their professor, I can confidently say that that reputation is well-earned!" Terrion boomed. "They won't go down easily to anyone!"

The audience erupted into cheers for the umpteenth time. The screens showed spectators from various sides of the stadium. There were veritable legions of fanboys holding up posters of Isa, Esther and Marguerite. Latte also had quite the following among the female crowd.

"Yes, but Team STRQ of Beacon is turning about to be QUITE the ensemble darkhorse!" Professor Pegasus hollered. "Despite being first-years, we've had A SHOCKING NUMBER OF PEOPLE BETTING ON THEIR ODDS! This looks like it'll be INTEEEEEENNNNNNNSE!"

More cheers. On the screen, Summer saw a bunch of eleven-year old girls screaming "Tai-Yang! Tai-Yang!" The scene then switched to a couple of young women who were cosplaying as Raven, right down to her red katana. Standing next to them were a squad of teenage boys passionately professing their love for her.

"Hey, looks like we're pretty popular ourselves!" Tai grinned, flexing his impressive biceps at what he hoped were his admirers. Raven, not one to pass up such an advantage, Raven, smiling, flipped her long black hair and gave a seductive wink to the audience. The cheering grew even louder.

"W-wow…" Summer laughed. "These people sure are dedicated, huh? I mean, most of them don't even know Tai and Raven…" A thought occurred to her, and she frowned. She turned to Qrow. "Wait, why isn't anyone cheering for us?"

"You're really asking that question?" Qrow grumbled.

"Well, regardless of reputation, skill will determine who emerges triumphant!" Professor Terrion's voice hushed the audience. "Now, without further ado, let the randomization begin!"

A hologram began to scroll through the various biomes available for the tournament. Eventually it settled on Forest and Tron.

A loud rumbling sound was heard as the stadium's landscape was altered. On Team STRQ's side, a large, lush rainforest appeared. On Team LIME's side was a bizarre mess of random, levitating blue platforms.

"THREE….TWO…ONE…" Pegasus yelled. "And…START!"

"Go time, team!" Latte yelled, readying his Pyroburst Cannon and firing off several incendiary rounds. Team STRQ immediately scattered to avoid them.

"Isa! Hoist me up!" Marguerite yelled, holding out her gun in front of her. Nodding, Isa swung her enormous gauntlet, impacting the rifle and launching the redhead into the skies. "Wooohoooo!" she cheered, landing neatly onto the highest platform of the Tron biome, and promptly took aim with her sniper rifle.

"Let's begin this." Isa fired a massive beam of ice from her gauntlet, freezing the ground where it made contact. Tai and Qrow ran out, panicking, trying to avoid both the beam and the sniper fire.

We're disorganized! Summer thought. I need to come up with a plan…

"Qrow! Can you get up to Marguerite's position?" she yelled.

"Huh? Oh right! On it!" Using his Semblance, Qrow transformed into a bird and flew towards where the redheaded sniper was perched. He flew around in erratic circles, distracting her from his teammates.

Nice. That's a start. "Tai, Raven!" she called to her other teammates. "Focus on taking out Esther!" Nodding, they charged towards Latte and Isa, who were guarding their healer with their heavy weaponry.

"Hey, Esther," Latte grinned. "Show them what you're made of."

"Okay!" Esther nodded, closed her eyes and began to chant. The rumbling of thunder came from overhead. "Huh?" Summer looked up to see a pitch-black thundercloud had appeared out of nowhere.

"Look out!" Raven yelled. Tai and Summer quickly rolled out of the way as cobalt rays of lightning rained down from the clouds.

"What the heck is this?" Tai yelled.

"Oh-ho, that's impressive!" Terrion and Pegasus were commentating on the battle. "Ms. Prezo has used her signature Forsaken Artes-an enchantment that manipulates the weather itself!"

Now that's just not fair. Gritting her teeth, Summer tried to think of a plan to get over the barricade. Over in the Tron biome, Qrow had transformed back and was engaging Marguerite in combat. The sniper was darting from platform to platform, avoiding her opponent's heavy attacks.

We need to distract Latte and Isa, she decided. "Tai! Raven! Hold the two of them in place! Got all-out!" she called to them. Her teammates nodded, and continued their assault on Team LIME's heavy hitters. Raven fired dark-red Dust beams at Latte and Isa while darting around, searching for an opening to run past them, while Tai blocked and deflected their projectiles with his bare hands.

Now! In the moment that Latte and Isa were preoccupied, Summer charged at full speed at Esther, grunting as she shoved the small mage several feet onto a Tron platform. Retrieving an Earth-Dust arrow from her quiver, she managed to get several strikes on Esther before she recovered.

"Nngh…" Esther leapt up and jumped back onto a higher platform, and summoned several lightning bolts, which Summer quickly dodged. She loaded an explosive arrow into her bow and fired it.

Esther swung her hand, and a gust of wind swept the arrow off direction, sending it straight to the top of the biome.

"Qrow! Look out!" Summer yelled. Her partner was too far away to hear her. The explosion from the arrow blasted him with a yelp into the sky. Grinning, Marguerite leapt up and shot him in the chest at point-blank range. The impact launched him straight towards the ground.

"Hm?" Isa looked up, seeing the human cannonball flying towards her. "Hrahhh!' With a swing of her massive gauntlet blade, she struck Qrow directly and sent him flying, screaming, "ARRRRGHHHHHH!" right out of the ring.

Buzzzz! The buzzer rang, signifying that he had been eliminated. "Ohhh, and so Team LIME takes the lead!" Terrion whooped. "What a painful way to go for Mr. Branwen!"

"S-sorry!" Summer stammered. He'll never let me hear the end of that…

"No time for apologies!" Raven landed beside her and blasted Esther back with a shot of Dust energy. "Strike her down-I'll distract the sniper!" With a swing of her katana, she created a portal and stepped in.

Summer, gripping her arrow, tried to hit Esther again, but the mage launched her back with a gust of wind. "Ughh!" she landed painfully next to Tai.

"Hey, Summer," he panted. "This, uh, isn't going that well. Any ideas?"

"Ummm…." She looked behind her, seeing the Forest biome. "Into the trees!" The two of them ran as fast as they could.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that!" Latte cheered, revving up his weapon, shooting out an enormous stream of napalm. The flames had enormous range, reaching all the way to the other end of the stadium. Within seconds, the entire forest was on fire.

"Okay, never mind!" Summer yelped. "Not the trees!"

More bullets from Latte's gun. Tai and Summer, abandoning all planning, simply fled for their lives. Grinning, Latte chased after them, still firing off rounds effortlessly. With a heavy impact from the butt of his gun, Summer was knocked away from Tai. "Summer!" he yelled, trying to run back to help her.

"I don't think so." Isa readied her gauntlet, and fired an enormous ice ray at the floor between Summer and Tai, erecting a fifty-foot ice wall separating the two. "Damn it!" Tai swore, before being forced to defend himself against Isa's attacks. "Sorry, Summer, you're on your own!"

And so, Summer was left to fight one-on-two, all while being surrounded by an enormous fire. Not the best situation. Well, at least Latte and Esther are trapped, too, and the fire will melt the ice, ri-

Suddenly, a massive torrent of water crashed onto her head. "What?" Summer looked up at the rainclouds floating above her. The fire had been put out, enveloping the entire forest in fog. Before she could react, one of Esther's lightning bolts came down upon her. Being soaked in rain, the electrical shock was excruciatingly painful, like the sting of a thousand knives. "Gah!" Summer collapsed to her knees. Her Aura was getting dangerously low. "Nice job, Esther!" Latte congratulated his teammate.

Nnghh…can't do anything about it…just run! Summer ran into the thickest part fog-enveloped forest. At least there, Latte and Esther couldn't get her.

It was only after she couldn't see anything that she realized, Wait, but I can't see them, either! She glanced around nervously. "Esther! Can you clear out the fog?" She could hear Latte's voice. "Umm…I don't know…these last few artes have really drained my Aura." Esther responded. "Ugh. Oh well." Latte sighed.

Summer looked up at the screen displaying the Aura meters of the participants. Qrow's portrait had been crossed out, signifying his elimination. Sure enough, Esther's Aura was close to dropping below the elimination mark. In fact, it was lower than hers-18 percent to Summer's 21 percent. Apparently, the downside of Forsaken Artes were that they were far more taxing on the user's body than Semblances. Well, that's convenient, Summer thought.

"Guess I don't have any other option," Latte continued. "Time to pop in the heat-seekers."

HUH?! Panic rushed through Summer's body. I thought that weapon was a SHOTGUN, not a ROCKET LAUNCHER!

The booming sounds of the weapon being fired rang out. Summer made out the sight of four missiles heading straight for her. No, no, NO! Running blindly through the forest, she somehow managed to avoid all of them as they exploded on impact with the trees.

"Right, she's this way!" Latte called out. In the distance, Summer heard him reload. Crouching down, she tried desperately to make out his location, or even his general direction. If I can just get one hit…

Summer pulled out a Fire arrow and loaded it onto her how. She pulled the bow back, and closed her eyes in concentration. She tried to cleanse her mind of everything except for the sounds of their footsteps. As if on instinct, she aimed her bow slightly to her left. Over there…? No, I need to be a bit more precise…

Bang! Bang! Latte fired his weapon. Summer opened her eyes. There! Adjusting her bow to match the direction of the sound, she fired her arrow. She immediately put her weapon away and ran, trying to outrun the missiles. Did I do it?

An explosion rang out, followed by the buzzer. Risking a quick glance upward, Summer saw that Esther's picture had been crossed out. Yes! I got her! Feeling a rush of confidence, Summer, still leading the missiles behind her, ran in Latte's direction.

"What the hell?" Latte yelled in confusion. "Where did that come fr-"

Her opponent was now in her sights. "HRAHHHHHH!" Summer yelled, leaping over Latte's head with all her strength. "Huh?" Latte's eyes widened as his own missiles flew right at his face. "Oh you've got to be-"

BOOOM! Despite shielding himself with his cannon, Latte still took the majority of the explosions' impact. Unfortunately, Summer did not manage to outrun the blast radius completely, and her Aura level crossed the elimination mark as she landed ungracefully. The buzzer rang out again.

"TWO ELIMINATIONS IN TEN SECONDS!" Professor Pegasus hollered. "WHAT A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY BY MISS ROSE! Team LIME may still be in the lead, but only TIME WILL TELL WHO COMES OUT ON TOP!" The audience cheered.

"Ughh…" On the floor, Summer picked herself up and made her way off the arena. She looked up at the screen and noted that Latte's Aura was below 25 percent. Nice. Even though she'd been eliminated, she felt satisfied. I did my part. Raven, Tai, you take care of the rest! Latte gave her a nod of approval and a smile as she passed by.

"Hey," Qrow grumbled once she joined him in the waiting area. "Not bad. Your aim's sure improved."

"Ahaha…sorry about that arrow," Summer laughed awkwardly.

Qrow sighed. "Nah. Was my fault, anyway. Now all we can do is hope that Blondie doesn't screw it up."

"Yeah…" Summer and Qrow watched the rest of the match on the screen.

Latte was trying to melt down the ice wall using his flamethrower. On the other side, Isa and Tai were still battling it out.

"Take this!" His tattoos glowing with Fire Dust energy, Tai thrust punch after punch, each being blocked by Isa's gauntlet. The weapon's surface was cold enough to freeze a normal person's skin, but the Dust energy protected Tai's hands enough for him to keep attacking. Determined to keep Isa on edge, he gritted his teeth and sped up the rate of his attacks. One, two, three, four, five, six…Each blow landed against the gauntlet with a loud thud, and after a while, even the famed "Glacier" was pushed back several feet.

"Hahh, ahh…" All tired out, Tai stopped to catch his breath.

"Impressive. You actually managed to make me move," said Isa approvingly. "But do you really think you can keep this up much longer?"

"Not sure I need to," Tai grinned through his exhaustion. "I think I've bought her enough time."

"What?" Isa looked taken aback.

The buzzer rang. Back in the Tron biome, Raven had dealt the final coup de grace to Marguerite. "And with that, the teams are on equal footing!" Professor Terrion announced.

"Tch-"Isa started, panicking.

"Too late." Raven stepped out from her portal and struck a direct hit on the blue-haired Huntress. Isa stumbled, her heavy gauntlet causing her to lose her balance. Before she could react, Tai finished her off with a powerful blow to the head.

At the same moment, a loud crash rang out as the ice wall collapsed. Latte pronounced his entrance with a barrage of rounds from his cannon. Caught off guard, Tai raised his hands to block the incoming projectiles, but his Aura was too low, and blasted straight out of the area, arms flailing.

"The match has now become a one-on-one duel between Ms Branwen and Mr. Adel!" yelled Professor Terrion. "This will be a close battle indeed!"

In the waiting room, Qrow gritted his teeth. "C'mon, Sis, you're not gonna lose here…" he muttered.

Determined to take advantage of Latte's lack of close combat prowess, Raven ran towards him, dodging all his projectiles. Closing the distance, she struck at his with her katana, but he parried them with the barrel of his cannon. The two of them continuously exchanged blows, gradually wearing each other down. After a few minutes, it looked like either of them would collapse at any moment.

Finally, it was a powerful stab from Raven's katana that ended the battle, sending Latte crumbling to his knees. "Ughh…we lost…?" he groaned.

The last buzzer sounded. "AND THAT'S THE MATCH!" Professor Pegasus screamed. "Victory goes to Team STRQ! What a MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OF SKILL FROM BOTH SIDES!"

The stadium erupted in cheers once more. Aside from several packets of fanboys, who were simply staring in shock that their beloved Team LIME had lost in the first round, every single person in the audience was cheering, "STRQ! STRQ!"

"Raven!" Her heart filled with pride and admiration, Summer ran over to her friend's side. "You really did it! You were amazing!" "Well played, Sis," Qrow grinned.

Raven shook her head, smiling. "No, it really was nothing. You dealt most of the damage to him. Had he had just a bit more Aura left when he fought one-on-one, I would have lost. If anyone deserves praise, it's you."

"Aww…don't be so humble…" Summer laughed awkwardly.

"Oh come on, no thanks for me?" Tai sighed, walking over to the rest of his team.

"Alright-thank you very much," Raven smiled, patting him on the back.

"Heh! I'll say!" Staggering back up, Latte flashed a weak thumbs-up at his opponents. "That was the best fight I've had in a long time! Never seen first-years kick ass quite like that!"

Qrow smirked. "That's just how we roll, pal."

"You didn't even do anything, Birdy," Tai snorted.

Marguerite, Isa and Esther joined them. "Now THAT was a battle!" the sniper grinned wildly. "I wouldn't mind grabbin' a few drinks with all of you later, if you're available!"

Qrow laughed. "Well, if you ins-"

"Still minors," Raven said sternly. "Ugh," her brother sighed, shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Hey, Summer." Latte was staring at her. "Hmmm?" she frowned. "What is it?"

"…" The Huntsman had a curious look on his face. "Nah. It's nothing." Latte smiled. "Just wanted to say, that was a pretty clean shot you pulled in the forest! You really do have a talent with that bow!"

Blushing from the praise, Summer stammered, "Ha, ha, thanks, but I'm still not that great…"

"With that, Team STRQ moves on the doubles round!" Amidst the ever-cheering crowd came Professor Terrion's announcement. "I'm sure we can all expect great things from them from here on out!"

As the crowd's cheering continued unabated, one spectator simply observed the grand scene, contemplating all that had just occurred. The cheers and congratulations uttered by the people sitting on either side meant nothing to them. They had taken note of single move the participants had made. Stored that precious knowledge away in their mind, for later use. After all, there was little in the world that couldn't be used, exploited, and taken advantage of.

The screen showed the two teams happily exchanging banter after their battle. The spectator made sure to memorize every detail of their smiling, upbeat faces. The spring in their step as they looked towards a bright, hopeful tomorrow.

That way, it would feel all the more wonderful once that hope was snatched away, and the crushing despair of reality sent them crashing back to earth. The spectator could hardly wait.

That was quite the spectacle, R smiled. But no matter.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the fight scene!