Fate's Wild Card Ch.30 (Released) (Patreon)

Pryce thinks about it for a moment, his ears twitching as he weighs the options.

He doesn't particularly want to go on an excursion through a forest dealing with Grimm and other boring things when he could be fighting other students instead, could learn more and adapt like he always does. That means team fights would give him more experience that he needs and to keep testing what he learned on the streets, not just mindless monsters driven by instinct.

Plus, it stands by his partner's decision, which nets him positive points with her.

Besides, they have Pyrrha who will sweep the competition without breaking a sweat. Might as well take a seat and enjoy the show.

"Teamfight," Pryce announces, crossing his arms. "I want more experience fighting people without hurting myself."

It’s a good thing that aura heals you fast because he cracked his hand with that punch.

Weiss sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Of course. Well, at least you have a reasonable justification instead of just being contrarian for the sake of it."

Well, she is right about that last part.

Ruby nods enthusiastically, already bouncing on her heels with renewed energy. "Okay guys, then it's a tie so let's decide this by luck! Super official team leader coin flip time!" She extends her hand with the coin balanced on her thumb, her silver eyes sparkling with excitement. "Ready? Here we go! This is so exciting! It's like—like fate is deciding our destiny!"

And then she throws it high into the air.

Everyone watches the coin flip end over end, catching the light from the arena's ceiling as it spins in a perfect arc. Ruby stretches out her hand beneath it, tracking its descent with laser focus, and the coin lands with a soft clink on her palm.

"Tails!" Ruby shouts, pumping her fist in the air. "So Team RWPN will be doing teamfights! This is gonna be awesome! Come on guys, let's make a plan! We need strategies and formations and—oh! Maybe we can combine my speed with Weiss's semblance and create this super cool attack where I dash through her glyphs and—and Pyrrha can use her polarity thing to control the battlefield while Pryce does that amazing dash attack we just saw and—"

She's already walking away toward the exit, gesturing wildly as she talks, clearly lost in her own world of tactical possibilities.

Pyrrha clears her throat loudly to get Ruby's attention, a small amused smile on her face. "Ruby?"

Ruby stops mid-stride and turns around, still practically vibrating with excitement. "Yeah? Oh! Did I forget something?"

"Don't you think this would be the better place?" Pyrrha gestures around the empty training arena with a sweep of her arm. "We are in the arena after all. It would be far more efficient to strategize here where we can actually show and practice our formations."

Ruby stares for a moment, her mouth forming a small 'o' of realization before she gasps. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Silly me! I was about to drag everyone all the way back to the dorm when we have the perfect spot right here!" She laughs at herself, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Okay team, let's go! I mean—let's stay! And plan! Right here! Ugh, I'm such a dolt sometimes."

She rushes back to the group with characteristic enthusiasm.

Weiss mutters something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like "Finally, some common sense prevails," while adjusting her ponytail with an exasperated but fond expression.

Pryce exchanges a glance with Pyrrha, who just smiles warmly and shakes her head fondly at their team leader's antics.

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-Blake Belladonna-

Blake sat in the stands, arms crossed as she watched the arena below where teams clashed. Her own team had opted for the retrieval mission instead—a decision she'd supported at the time, though now she was beginning to regret missing out on this particular spectacle.

"WOOOOOOOOOO! GO RENNY!" Nora cheered on. She practically launched herself over the railing, her entire body showing off a lot of energy. "SHOW THEM WHY YOU'RE THE BEST! USE THE FLIPPY SPINNY MOVE!"

Blake winced, her sensitive ears flattening slightly beneath her bow. "Does she have a volume setting below 'deafening'?" she muttered to herself.

Nora's friend—Lie Ren, if she remembered correctly—was currently in the arena as his team engaged Team RWPN in what was shaping up to be matched in strength. Nora had practically dragged Jeanne to the stands, her excitement reaching critical mass the moment she'd seen Ren's name on the brackets.

Blake wouldn't have minded watching under normal circumstances. Observing different fighting styles was valuable, after all. The problem was that Ren's team was fighting against Team RWPN—Pryce's team.

Well, technically Ruby's team since she was the leader, but that distinction felt meaningless when the rabbit Faunus was down there, weapon drawn, looking far too competent for Blake's comfort.

That single fact made her squirm in her seat, fidgeting in a way that was completely unlike her usual composed demeanor. It wasn't Pryce himself that concerned her—well, not entirely—but rather his girlfriend. That pint-sized bitch with the shapeshifting semblance and a personality that belonged to her fantasy novels.

'How did that psycho even find me in Vale?!' Blake thought with mounting frustration, the humiliating memory of their encounter flooding back. She thought she could beat her, but that girl was way too skilled much to her shock and when she had her pinned she…

No. She wasn't thinking about that. Not now. 

Blake sighed heavily, slumping in her seat with uncharacteristic defeat. The worst part was that those two somehow knew about her White Fang connections—possibly more than that, given how thoroughly they'd cornered her. Information she absolutely could not let leak to anyone besides Ozpin without creating a cascade of catastrophic problems in her troubled life.

If she reported them to authorities, she'd have to explain how they'd discovered her secret, which would require admitting to some things, which would lead to questions about Ozpin's assignments, which would unravel everything….

No. Just... no.

So being occasionally toyed with by a sadistic shapeshifter? Acceptable. Barely. It was the price of keeping her past buried just a little longer. 

It wasn’t like she didn’t end up enjoying it….

"You seem out of it, partner."

Blake's ears perked up beneath her bow, the fabric shifting almost imperceptibly as she snapped her head around to see Yang looking at her with those curious lilac eyes.

Right. Yang had also wanted to watch the match.

"I just got lost in thought about a few things," Blake replied quickly; perhaps too quickly, forcing her expression into something resembling casual indifference.

Yang's grin widened knowingly, but she didn't push. Instead, she plopped down beside Blake with casual confidence. "Well, you should be watching this! Ruby's team versus that Ren guy's crew? This is good!"

"RENNY WILL WIN!" Nora gasped, spinning around as if she was personally offended. "He's gonna do the thing! You know, THE THING! With the flips and the stabbing and the—"

"Oh, yeah?!" Yang stood up abruptly, moving to position herself directly beside the ginger girl, their competitive energies colliding like opposing storm fronts. "Hate to break it to you, pancake queen, but Ruby's the best fighter! Your boy's going down!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!" Nora jabbed a finger at Yang's chest. "Ren is like... like a ninja! A super cool ninja who doesn't need flashy teammates because HE'S JUST THAT GOOD!"

"COME ON, RUBES!" Yang cupped her hands around her mouth, her voice easily matching Nora's volume. "SHOW THEM WHY YOU'RE THE LEADER! PETALS AND PAIN, BABY!"

Blake sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as the two girls escalated their enthusiastic rivalry with each exchange.

'Two explosive personalities colliding doesn't cancel the explosion,' she thought wearily. 'It only makes the explosion larger and somehow more annoying.'

"Blake!" Yang turned suddenly, throwing an arm around her shoulders with startling familiarity. "Back me up here! Tell pancake girl that Team RWPN's totally gonna sweep this!"

"I'd really rather not—"

"JEANNE!" Nora called out desperately to their team leader, who had been quietly observing. "Tell blonde and broody over here that Ren is OBVIOUSLY going to win!"

Jeanne looked between them with the patient expression of someone who'd learned that arguing with Nora was an exercise in futility. "They're both... very skilled?" 

"JEANNE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!" Nora wailed dramatically.

Blake extracted herself from Yang's enthusiastic embrace and settled deeper into her seat, determined to observe the match in peace. Still, as she watched the chaos unfold both in the arena and in the stands around her, she found herself harboring a secret hope.

It would be rather satisfying to see Pryce lose. Watching him get knocked around by Ren would be a small measure of karmic justice for having a girlfriend who enjoyed tormenting people.

And seeing that stuck-up Schnee heiress get taken down a peg or two? That would just be a delicious bonus.

Yeah, that would be nice indeed.

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-Pryce Locke-

Pryce thinks back at the choice and realizes the teamfights are harder than initially thought as he blocks twin sickles with his gunblade before pushing off the ninja guy—since that's what Nora is calling him from the stands—but the guy quickly resumes his assault while Pryce barely keeps up. 

And he was proud of his agility. What a joke.

His opponent moves way too fast, flowing from one strike to the next with barely any pause. Each swing of those twin blades comes from unexpected angles, forcing Pryce to stay constantly on the defensive. His ears twitch with each clash of metal, trying to predict the next attack by sound alone since his eyes are having difficulty tracking the green blades as they blur through the air.

While yes, Pyrrha is carrying the team, she's currently pinned down by two opponents—a towering guy with a massive war hammer and a lithe girl wielding dual short swords who keeps darting in and out of range. Even the Mistralian gladiatrix has her hands full dealing with coordinated attacks from multiple angles, though she keeps both opponents focused on her, her shield work impeccable as she redirects strike after strike. Although it doesn't look like she will lose or get tired, just in a bad position. 

Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss are dealing with a single opponent who is way more skilled than initially thought—some guy with a spear and shield combo who's holding off both of them through defensive technique and positioning. He's using the reach advantage of his spear to keep them at bay, never letting them flank him, and doesn't let them get away to help Pyrrha. Every time Ruby tries to use her semblance to blur past him, he predicts her trajectory and forces her back with quick jabs.

Pryce grits his teeth as the ninja guy—Ren, he remembers now—launches another flurry of strikes. The green blades blur together as they come at him from both sides simultaneously. He manages to parry the first, deflect the second, but the third clips his shoulder, tearing the belt a little.

Too close. Way too close.

He needs to create distance, needs to find an opening, needs to—

Then he gets a quick glance of an opportunity as he manages to land one powerful kick to Ren's midsection, his boot connecting solidly with what feels like surprisingly soft armor padding beneath the coat. The impact forces Ren to stagger back a few steps, breaking the relentless rhythm of attacks.

"WEISS, NOW!" Ruby's voice cuts through the chaos of battle

So it's time.

Weiss suddenly impales her weapon on the floor with a sharp crack, and white snowflake-shaped glyphs appear everywhere across the arena floor and floating in the air—dozens of them, creating an intricate three-dimensional network that seems to confuse the enemy team at first. They retreat, trying to be on guard.

And just like everyone practiced days ago, everyone moves into position.

Ruby is the first to capitalize as she shoots Crescent Rose into the ground, the heavy recoil from the high-caliber round propelling her high into the air. The scythe's weight shifts as she spins, using it as a counterbalance. Then she fires again mid-air, changing her trajectory, and lands on one of Weiss's glyphs. She bounces from one to another, each one propelling her faster and faster, firing Crescent Rose at precise intervals to add even more momentum. The combination of the glyphs' acceleration and her weapon's recoil turns her into basically a red and black blur without even needing to use her semblance. She slams into her opponent with the full force of her accumulated momentum, Crescent Rose's blade connecting with his aura powered shield and shattering it in a burst of light. The guy goes flying backward, crashing into the arena wall hard enough to leave a small crater.

Pyrrha follows by throwing her shield with perfect precision, and it ricochets between glyphs, the trajectory perfectly calculated. Each impact with a glyph adds more velocity until it's moving almost too fast to track, a disc of destruction carving through the air. It hits both of her opponents on the head in rapid succession with bone-rattling impacts before it goes back to her hand. They crumple to the ground simultaneously, their auras flickering dangerously as they struggle to stay conscious.

So Pryce notices one glyph positioned lower, just behind him and angled perfectly for what he needs. Perfect.

He leaps back with a backflip, his ears folding against his head from the rush of air, and lands perfectly on the new floating white surface. The glyph hums beneath his feet with barely contained energy, ready to launch him forward. He takes another leap, pushing off with all his strength, feeling the glyph propel him like a catapult, and just like he practiced with Pyrrha, pulls the trigger.

The burst of fire dust propels him forward even faster, the dual acceleration almost dizzying as he spins through the air. His vision blurs for a moment before he manages to focus, lining up his blade, and he sees Ren's eyes widen in surprise—actual surprise breaking through that calm exterior—as the fighter barely manages to get both weapons up in time to block.

The impact is tremendous. Pryce's blade crashes against Ren's crossed sickles with enough force to make sparks fly in a bright cascade, and he can see the strain in the other fighter's arms as the guard buckles under the combined momentum. Ren's feet slide backward across the arena floor, leaving small scrape marks in the polished surface and the sickles defense widens.

His guard is broken.

Pryce capitalizes on that opening immediately. He makes a gambit and lets loose of his blade; the weapon falling away, as he cocks a fist and punches squarely on Ren's chest. The impact lifts his opponent slightly off the ground, and Pryce feels something unexpectedly soft beneath the fabric of Ren's outfit—not the hard plating of armor like Cardin’s, but something else entirely. Ren's breath explodes out in a visible gasp. Then Pryce follows through, twisting his body to generate more power from his hips, and lands a second punch directly to Ren's face, his knuckles connecting with the jaw.

The second hit sends Ren rolling across the floor, weapons clattering away as the fighter's body tumbles end over end before finally coming to a stop several feet away, limbs splayed out awkwardly.

Just in time, Pryce's gunblade clatters on the floor and he quickly picks it up, the familiar weight reassuring in his hand.

Although he quirks a brow as the punch felt a little... off. The chest area had been softer than expected, with a different kind of give than hitting someone wearing padding or armor. Is Ren wearing some kind of specialized blunt armor under that coat? Weird.

"MATCH!" Amber shouts, stepping into the arena with her hand raised. The buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the fight.

Wait, already? Pryce looks up to the screen and sees that three out of four of the opposing team members' aura levels are already in the red zone.

Ah, they didn't have much aura left then. Their team attack must have depleted their reserves faster than expected.

Ren is still in the yellow zone, so the mistralian could still continue. Kinda unfortunate but rules are rules—once three team members hit the red, the match is over.

"YES!" A very loud voice booms from the stands, which comes from Yang who is laughing and patting Nora's back enthusiastically. The orange-haired girl is sulking dramatically, her arms crossed and her bottom lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout. "That's my sister! Woo!"

But that doesn't matter as Ruby starts cheering and yelling, "Wooo yeah! We did it team! We actually won! Our first official team fight victory!" She comes running across the arena at full speed, Crescent Rose collapsed and stowed on her back, rose petals scattering in her wake as her semblance activates unconsciously from sheer excitement, and glomps Pyrrha with enough force that even the fighter stumbles slightly.

"We were amazing! Did you see that combo?!" Ruby's words tumble out in an excited rush as she bounces in place, still clinging to Pyrrha like an overexcited puppy.

Weiss walks over with considerably more dignity, though there's a small satisfied smile on her face. "I suppose we performed adequately. Though there were many errors that we'll need to address in our debrief an—"

"Oh come on, Weiss! We won! Can't you just be happy for like five seconds?" Ruby protests, finally releasing Pyrrha to turn toward their other teammate with pleading eyes.

"I am expressing satisfaction in my own way," Weiss replies primly, adjusting her ponytail with a slight huff. "Constructive criticism is how we improve. If we're going to continue winning, we need to identify and correct our mistakes before they become habits."

Pyrrha laughs softly, adjusting her hair and putting the shield on her back. "She's not wrong, Ruby. But our team leader is also right that we should celebrate our victory."

Well, they have tomorrow free day so there are options.