Black Paladin
Chapter 21: Obsidian vs Penny
Ozpin
The sound of the roulette plays, and after a moment, Port explains "It looks like our first contender is... Penny Polendina from Atlas…"
And after several more seconds, the wheel turns and turns and goes black. Ozpin's eyebrow raises, and a small smile takes root. Port's voice continues, "That can't be right." There is an audible commotion and continues, "It would seem we have a technical difficulty. It will just be a…"
The wheel suddenly comes back on and began to spin again, and it landed on... "Obsidian Sinclair from Beacon!"
Ozpin sipped his coffee and frowned. This was unexpected.
I spoke to the people behind the scenes and learned that while I may have tried to concede, I hadn't done so early enough for me to have been removed from the matches today. I gather my weapons, and I entered the ring.
As the stage rose I drew my daggers, recreated after the mess with the train to have small dust charges, in a ring floating around me spinning lightly.
Penny politely salutes, saying, "Sal-u-tations, Obsidian Sinclair! It's an honor to fight you!"
I look toward her, and ask, "I've heard excellent things about your combat prowess."
Penny draws her swords, hovering in a similar pattern to my daggers, and exclaims, "This is going to be so much fun!"
Oobleck begins a countdown, "3...2...1...Begin!"
As the countdown finished, Penny launched her knives in a stream at me. I bring my knives forward to counter. As they clash in the center on the area I push, testing the respective strength of her telekinesis. She begins to cave slightly, and I surge forward, only for her to pull back swiftly, and plants 3 of her knives in the ground and surges forward and upwards, her other 9 for 3 tight circles, separating to attack from left, right, above, slightly out of sync with the others to divide my attention.
I match her knives one to one, while 3 of my knives separate and surge towards her, each activating different dust. I throw a stream of fire, bursts of icicles, and the occasional bolt of lightning at her. She dodges in the air gracefully, and increases the force of the attacks, as she draws closer to me. As she does so she drops, and the blades once planted in the ground come up, glowing green and slash near, but not at my 3 ranged knives. As they pass through the area of the Geist arms the arms burn, and my knives fall to the ground. I step back shocked, as she says, "Aura Interference."
I pause, and I smile, "That's very clever." Aura Interference would prevent my semblance from working, it was also what prevented me from grabbing people until I learned to suffuse aura into my Geist hands. I smile, as I pick back up the three knives, and launch them towards the lower edge of her blades. The fight shifts from her knives hammering into me unpredictably, and into a dance of blades as I attempt to copy her maneuver while being more cautious to prevent it, and as she attempts to capitalize on the weakness, while gracefully pulling back to her half of the battlefield.
After a moment, she pulls fully half of her knives back, and they shift into a gun-like shape, and thin bolts of green energy fly out at rapid speed. I dodge, pushing myself to my limit, and slightly altering myself to compensate. Her other knives come in occasionally and are stopped by my remaining knives 2 to 1. I drew Duality, intending to make this shootout a little less one-sided until the blasts stop for a moment, and she used her knives to accelerate towards me in an aurora of green. I react with a glyph, and she turns upwards. I had a moment to wonder about her smile, as the energy wave of her turn/assent washes over me, launching me backward.
I frown, as annoyance washes over me, and I stand firm again, as an idea crosses my mind quickly. I push my blades out, seemingly pushing her blades back into a contest of strength until I reach out with my other arms, and grasp at the 6 blades surrounding me.
Penny freezes, her eyes locking onto me, frowning for the first time.
Penny
Initiate Combat Procedures: Level 1 … Activated.
Begin Test: Opponent Name: Obsidian Sinclair; Strength Parameter: Semblance; Form: Telekinesis.
Testing … Completed.
Data: Strength Parameters; Equal or Greater than Level 1 Combat Protocols
Conclusion: Direct strength ill-advised, alter combat parameters.
Altering combat parameters … Completed.
Begin Test: Opponent Name: Obsidian Sinclair; Reaction Speed Parameter: Semblance; Form: Telekinesis.
Testing … Completed.
Data: Reaction Speed Parameters; Equal or Greater than Level 1 Combat Protocols
Conclusion: Direct speed confrontation ill-advised, alter combat parameters.
Alert: Opposition using ranged attacks.
Initiation aerial evasion protocols.
Investigate:
Countermeasures to Attack:
Status: Ranged and Telekinesis.
Requirements: Nonlethal and Combat Level 1.
Results Returned For:
Ranged: 14985 Results
Telekinesis: 895 Results
Crosschecking: 286 Results
Filtering: Nonlethal
Results: 65
Filtering: Combat Level 1
Results: 6
Sorting: Auto: Probability of Success
Result Selected: Interrupt telekinetic hold of weapon via Aura Interference.
Initiate Combat Procedure … Success.
Begin Dialogue: Tone: Auto: 3: Cheerful, Volume: 58, "Aura Interference.",
Display Emotion: Happy.
Alteration: Victorious = 25%
Return Dialogue Registered: "That's very clever."
Analysis: Pain = 4%, Thoughtful=86%, Admiration = 10%
Conclusion: Praise for efficient counterattack.
Anomaly Detected: 3.54% Increase in Aura output.
Anomaly Stabilised.
Alert: Opposition attempting to attack ranged operation cords.
Investigate:
Countermeasures to Attack:
Status: Melee and Telekinesis.
Requirements: Nonlethal and Combat Level 1.
Results Returned For:
Melee: 31604 Results
Telekinesis: 895 Results
Crosschecking: 1146 Results
Filtering: Nonlethal
Results: 109
Filtering: Combat Level 1
Results: 44
Sorting: Auto: Probability of Success
Result Selected: Defensive Evasion and randomization of operational cord dynamics.
Initiate Combat Procedure … Ongoing.
Combat Procedure … Ongoing.
Combat approaching stalemate.
Investigate:
Countermeasures to Attack:
Status: Ranged or Melee and Speed.
Requirements: Nonlethal and Combat Level 1.
Results Returned For:
Ranged: 14985 Results
Melee: 31604 Results
Speed: 11695 Results
Crosschecking: 8963 Results
Filtering: Nonlethal
Results: 695
Filtering: Combat Level 1
Results: 198
Sorting: Auto: Probability of Success
Results Selected:
Offensive Implement 1-6: Encircle and attempt to Disarm
Continue: Defensive Evasion and randomization of operational cord dynamics
Offensive Implement 7-12: Rapid Fire
Initiate Combat Procedure … Ongoing.
Alert: Opposition drawing Offensive Implement designation Duality; Threat Level: High.
Investigate:
Preemptive Attack Measures:
Status: Ranged or Melee and Speed.
Requirements: Nonlethal and Combat Level 1.
Ranged: 14985 Results
Melee: 31604 Results
Speed: 11695 Results
Crosschecking: 8963 Results
Filtering: Nonlethal
Results: 695
Filtering: Combat Level 1
Results: 198
Sorting: Auto: Probability of Success
Results Selected:
Offensive Implement 1-6: Encircle and attempt to Disarm
Continue: Defensive Evasion and randomization of operational cord dynamics
Offensive Implement 7-12: Accelerate to Impact Target
Initiate Combat Procedure … Interrupted.
Alert: Barrier
Investigate:
Preemptive Attack Measures:
Status: Flight and Interrupted.
Requirements: Nonlethal and Combat Level 1.
Flight: 604 Results
Interrupted: 1109 Results
Crosschecking: 98 Results
Filtering: Nonlethal
Results: 78
Filtering: Combat Level 1
Results: 6
Sorting: Auto: Probability of Success
Results Selected: Arial Assent and Force Wave
Initiate Combat Procedure … Success.
Result: Target Staggered.
Returning to Ongoing Combat Strategy.
Alert: Target Shifting Attack Pattern.
Alert: Grimm Interference detected.
Class 2 Breach: Geist Interference Detected.
Initiate Combat Procedures: Level 2 … Activated.
Alert: Operation cords to Offensive Implement 1-6: Severed.
The 6 blades in my hands are connected to Penny by cords. I smile and mumble "Touch-based control then, that's convenient."
I slam my second set of daggers into the thin cords holding her blades up, interrupting her aura to allow me to cut them. As her blades all fall towards the ground, her frown intensifies. I pull back my knives, as I really get into the fight. Then Penny moves. At easily twice the speed she did before, she jets at me, I respond with another shield, but this time she lands on the glyph, and attacks me from around it with lightning speed. I block with duality, but her blades morph mid-swing to go around it and shove me backward, and as I do, the blades entangle Duality ripping it from my grasp.
Penny slowly picks up Duality and levels it at me with all the grace of a veteran spearmaster. Before firing another barrage of green bolts at me, I dodge and weave through them, but as I approach her, they slowly get harder and harder to dodge as she begins to anticipate my movements while shifting her ranged offense. As I get in range she begins to stab at me with Duality, but I sneak Geist hand behind her and grab it as she pulls it back from my far more visible grab for it from in front of her. I yank it forwards, unbalancing her, and a feint for her arm, allows me to catch her with a low-kick, effectively allowing my other hands to disarm her and return my weapon. I leap backward and summon up a large lightning bolt to drive her backward when a green beam cuts across my glyph and me. The glyph detonates and pushes me back to the edge of the arena.
She approaches fast, and with a flip, brings her remaining knives down like a hammer. I roll, taking a blade slash to the side, and curve myself and back further away. An inner voice protests giving ground to anyone. I stand and meet her next charge head-on, and she nearly overwhelms me with rapid-fire slashes, alternating seamlessly between firing green bolts at me, and cutting at me with her blades.
I smirk internally with the thought, 'Seems I made her mad.'
As we circle the ring, each pushing not to give up and ground, and her blades attempting to push me off the edge with every other blow, I silently telekinetically draw Fóvos Behind me. Altering it into its gun form behind me, but not loading it, as the lightning is more than enough. As it finished charging to half, and do I wish it could charge closed, but the machinery isn't capable of everything, I leap and fire. It catches her full in the face, and for a moment I felt pretty bad.
Until the lightning doesn't disperse, but collects around the center on her chest, before being distributed into her form, turning her energy from green to an uncomfortable yellow-green, and she pushes towards the center. I stood dumbstruck for a moment, and she takes the opportunity to form the circle she used to rush at me but pointed at me this time. I tense and throw up a barrier, but she punches right through it with her fully yellow beam. It shatters the glyph, and I feel the energy hit me like a lightning bolt. A last-second glyph keeps me from flying out of the ring, and I hear the buzzer.
I look up in confusion and see my aura down in the red. I didn't feel it fade. I stand, sheath my blades, and turn around. As a tidal wave of fear and anger crashes down on me, I see her collecting another energy beam. As I begin to collapse to the floor from the overwhelming weight of the emotion thundering in the arena, it launches, cutting through the last of my aura, and the heat leaves a sizzling hole in my chest.
Vaguely, I can feel the arena begin to lower, as I fight for consciousness. The sheer rage, and the crippling fear of the people drowning the sounds of discontent, and the slight pain in my chest, and as the arena finishes it's decent, I can feel hands wrapping around me. I hear someone crying, and yelling. I feel the hole in my chest begin to close, as something shoves me sideways, flipping me over as a green beam passes between me and...Pyrrha?
As I close my eyes, I turn and see Penny turning to attack Pyrrha, and I suddenly don't feel the rage drowning me any longer. Feel it pushing me forward. To destroy.
🏶Ruby🏶
- 3 Minutes Ago -
Ruby was walking towards the arena, slightly dazed. Yang's fight and the events had shaken her. It felt, everything feels, wrong.
As Ruby walked to her seat, she shook her head, "Pyrrha and Penny are both still fighting, they …" as she looked and saw, lounging in the front row, Emerald.
Ruby froze. "What? Emerald….But..."
As Ruby stares, and as if feeling Ruby's disbelief and discourse, Emerald glaired around, and Ruby ran. She ducked through a maintenance door, as Oobleck and Port's intro to the final fight, introducing Penny. As Ruby walked, her mind fluttered over Emerald, 'Why was she here?', 'What about Mercury?'
Footsteps...Ruby looked up and saw him...Mercury...walking...A brief stop in the roulette sound before Port and Oobleck paused, and Mercury spoke, "Metal versus pol…"
"Obsidian Sinclair of Beacon!"
There is a small pause, while Mercury looks arbitrarily towards the arena, and sighs, "Huh?"
Ruby turns to run, realizing something was wrong and that she needed to tell someone and to prevent whatever Mercury and Emerald were doing. She turned to run, a shot rang out, whizzing past her, and Ruby turned to see Mercury, leg raised, and smoke pooling from his boot.
"Ah, ah, ah." Mercury says, firing several more times, forcing Ruby to dodge, and chasing her down several hallways, as his homing shots could keep up with her without Ruby being able to accelerate to full speed. As Mercury chased her, Ruby ran, and ran, until she hit a dead end. As she did, she paused and took a shot in the leg. As she fell, Mercury lept around the corner. Ruby stood, wishing she had Crescent Rose.
As he stood, smug as can be, Ruby ran towards him, going for an imitation of Yang, and slugging him hard. As Mercury was knocked backward, Ruby ran towards the arena, and as she ran outside, she could see Obsidian's aura in the red, and as he stood, and he seemed calm, as Ruby saw Penny charge another attack, Ruby screamed. A beam of green, cutting through Obsidian, his aura gone, and his chest sporting a hole. Ruby fell, her knees giving out, and she felt angry. She was angry at Mercury, at Emerald, at Cinder. Penny's betrayal and Obsidian's death felt too large for her to move anymore.
Until she saw Pyrrha.
As Ruby fell to her knees, she saw Pyrrha charge onto the arena, holding Obsidian, crying, and Penny attacking them.
And then...and then Ruby was just angry.
Cinder
Obsidian Sinclair, what an interesting figure. She watched the fight from the city below, and he was powerful. It's a shame Mercury had failed, but Her plan needed the world to see the callousness of the Atleasian war machine. And the battle was perfect. It showed Penny cutting him down, despite the battle being over, and his trust in her. Seeing her begin to attack Mrs. Nicos, Cinder began, "This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both." Cinder paused in her monologue, as Mr. Sinclair was standing up.
🏶Ruby🏶
As I stood, I felt anger fade nearly to the background, as fear spiked into a massive typhoon, and Obsidian stalked forward, bringing Fovos From his back. The hilt alone came to his hands. He tossed it to the side, bringing up the disconnected blade of Duality. The hilt was bisected, and it regrew in his hands as he looked to Penny. Green waves cutting close to Pyrrha, her remaining suspended blades, and Pyrrha narrowly avoiding the attacks.
Obsidian grew a refractive Chimeric plate about him and waded into battle, his eyes burning red. As I watched Pyrrha's back and forth with Penny, Obsidian seamlessly slid into the dance, preventing several beams from striking Pyrrha so she could line up shots, and tuning his armor. After several small grooves drilled in him, I could feel smirk, as the beam reflected. Penny's hand disintegrates under the beam, and visible circuits hanging from the stump. I frown, confused as to what that actually means, as we all pause, as Penny looks shocked at her hand.
Penny
Alert: Left Beam Weapon Destroyed.
Alert: Grimm Interference detected.
Humanoid Grimm Presence Detected.
Investigate:
Alternative Anti-Grimm Combat mode:
Status: Humanoid Grimm.
Requirements: Combat Level 2.
Humanoid Grimm: 2 Result.
Gilgamesh Data
Black Queen Data
Data set 1 restricted to level 4
Results Selected: Black Queen
Initiate Combat Procedure … Success.
Then Penny turned red. Her eyes, several red lines began to glow down her limbs, forming a powerful glow in her chest. I tense, and as a massive wave of red energy lances forward I shield Pyrrha from the effect, throwing both of us back into the wall of the arena. As I struggle with regenerating from this new firepower, Penny launches herself towards us, and Pyrrha throws her hands forwards, as Penny's glowing red blades glowing red, formally invisible cables and all advance towards us like a tsunami. Then the blades curve in the air, as Penny runs into the glowing cords, she sizzles as the energy cuts through her. As Penny falls to the ground, circuits, and metal exposed for the world to see, the red glow fades to green, and then to nothing.
The world seems to hang silently for a moment, as a voice begins and I look up at the monitors to see the three of us, pictured prominently on the overhead screens. My eyes red, and my eerie black shield very distinctly fading from view,l under the gaze of everyone.
"Those that cling to power, spouting their own importance in the name of peace, and yet, what do we see here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, slane in the midst of its bloodthirsty rage, the combined efforts of another's star pupils. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference." Whoever this was, she really could control the narrative.
"And speaking of the monsters that haunt the night and fears of the Remnant, Vale's Indomidible Man seems to have a dirty little secret. What could Vale's illustrious school be doing with a Grimm? After the red eyes of Beacon's golden girl, and the bestial violence she displayed, do all students sheltered away upon Beacon hill have to fear being sculpted into monsters."
"Perhaps this was all a plan by Ozpin as if he felt defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his answer to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom and forged children into beings of war. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves." A pause carried, and all not frozen in wake of the spectacle were nearly quarreling in the stands.
"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. And so I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"
As the speaker finished, and the screens went to a chess piece highlighted in red, the world seemed about to break.
Until a final word pushed the world into chaos. "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."