Time for the Talent Show!

Overwatch: Remnants Chapter X

Show and Tell Part I

"Yang," Ruby stated, nudging her older sister on the shoulder as her alarm sang away. Their roommates were staring at the pair expectantly, Blake leaning against the door once again another black band t-shirt and jeans contrasting with the primly dressed Winter in her white blouse and blue pencil skirt. Winter was still getting ready, putting on makeup, though Ruby couldn't exactly figure out why.

"Yang!" Ruby stated more insistently smacking her sister on the shoulder, only earning a slight mumble for her trouble, "We're going to be late!"

"Is she always like this?" Blake asked with a slight smile.

Ruby sighed, "Yeah, she's not much of a morning person."

"Well showing up late to the first day of classes is not likely to win any of us any favors." Winter muttered, as she turned and looked at the clock, "We've got fifteen minutes at best."

Ruby grimaced, "I know how to wake her up. I'm just going to need one of you to hide me?"

Blake and Winter shared a look, the later speaking up, "Excuse me?"

Ruby didn't respond as she slowly raised her hand and placed it amongst her sister's long golden locks.

Her whole body tensed as if she had just walked into a minefield, but she was already committed.

She carefully laced her fingers around part of her sister's hair and pulled.

The effect was immediate, Ruby dashed across the room with a yelp as Yang rocketed into a seared position her hair igniting instantly.

"Ruby!" Yang roared, her normally lilac eyes, a deep angry crimson.

"Sorry!" Ruby cried, even as she cowered behind Winter, who looked more than a little offended at being used as a human shield by the younger girl.

"Why?" Yang demanded as she got out of bed and took a domineering step towards her younger sister.

"We were going to be late for class," Ruby muttered quieter than a church mouse as she tried to make herself even smaller behind Winter.

Yang sighed and took a deep breath, the fire dying away, and her eyes returning to a regular shade, "Give me five."

She retreated into the bathroom with her clothes a moment later, shooting her sister one more glare that promised an act of yet undecided revenge as the door closed.

"So, don't touch her hair is what I'm getting from this?" Blake snarked, shooting Ruby a look as she slid out from behind Winter.

"Yeah," Ruby muttered, "You should have seen what used to happen when our dad took us to get haircuts."

The quarter managed to grab food and coffee on the way to their first class.

World History with Professor O, the lanky green-haired man she'd thought looked something like a would-be mad scientist.

His bombastic personality combined with caffeine managed to keep her awake, as he outlined his intentions for the year, some of the others weren't exactly able to hang. Yang nodded off in the first several minutes her head hanging backward. The blonde boy Winter had called Jaune had his head down on his desk, while a girl she recognized to be Pyrrha Nikos seemed to be debating shaking him awake or not, her hand hovering above his left shoulder.

"In short students, my goal is to show you the successes and failings of the past," O stated, waving his mug towards the holo-board and accidentally spilling some across the floor.

"After all as the old adage goes, 'Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it'!" he cried, slamming his hand down on his desk so hard he jolted Yang awake so hard she fell out of her chair, while Jaune snapped upwards smacking himself in the face with Pyrrha's hand.

A smattering of chuckles erupted from the crowd, as Ruby knelt down to help her sister back to her seated position, and Pyrrha retracted her hand with a soft, "Sorry."

"Did you get that Mr. Arc? Miss Xiao Long?" Professor O asked, staring over his glasses at then both.

Ruby's excitement started to peter out as the day continued, she'd been promised a chance to show her skills to the rest of her classmates and see there's as well but instead this felt the same as her regular schooling.

She'd been elated to be taught by a former agent of Overwatch even though she hadn't known much about Mei prior.

Environmental Science and Chemistry were not something she exactly carried about, however. So the two-hour block of near boredom was only broken by Mei's adorable attitude, her little bot floating around the room at random intervals, and her demonstration of how she had escaped the Ecopoint as a demonstration of what you can do with a little scientific know-how.

Port's Class had followed, and hand to God Ruby didn't even understand what exactly it was the man taught. It might have been something to do with literature? He just seemed to ramble about different things, from personal diatribes, and random book or movie quotes to jokes that sent himself into a fit of laughter.

"Now remember kids," he said as the class came to a close, "Constant vigilance is the key!"

"Vigilance about what?" Yang cried as they walked out of the class, "I'm pretty sure he was quoting Gilbert and Sullivan at one point!"

Ruby giggled, as several of the other students nodded in agreement to her sister's rant.

Miss Melody's class had been sort of interesting, on the tin the class was supposedly about Robotics, but in practice as far as Ruby could tell it was going to end up being more like an art class with how Melody went about business.

Prof. Harold's class had been even better, one that she was actively interested in.

"This is less of a class and more of a workshop." Mr. Harold informed, pushing his rectangular glasses up his nose.

"Each of you has been gifted with unique abilities, or have skills that leave you apart from the rest." he continued, "But ability and skill can only get you so far and in some cases those of you who are Remnants may be hindered by your abilities."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yang rub the cast on her still-healing arm. She also noticed Winter and Jaune fidget slightly but she wasn't sure why.

"This 'class' will work to overcome those shortcomings if they exist," he stated, "And support your already extant gifts. We will be building things in this class, tech, support items, mechanisms that could funnel and amplify your power all in the pursuit of giving you the best amount of control you desire."

He grinned, "Right now however we're still just in the idea phase, so let's hear them!"

What had followed was a barrage of questions and weapon ideas, some of which he wrote down with a grin and a nod of his head while those that were a bit too wild or dangerous he would go into a one on one discussion with the perpetrator, while the others were told to sketch or write down any other ideas they had in mind.

Finally, the moment she had been craving arrived as she and her roommates followed the pack into a large outdoor arena.

Jaune stared around nervously as his fellow students continued to funnel in. His face still stung slightly from the accidental slap he'd earned from nodding off in class, but what stung even worse was the peel of laughter that had erupted in his ear as it had happened.

Pyrrha had apologized again and again since it had happened, but he'd laughed it off like it was nothing. She was sitting on his one side, dressed in a red t-shirt and a brown skirt while on the other side Nora was talking Ren's ear off.

"So what do you think we're actually going to be doing today?" Nora asked, "Trial by Combat? "A Marathon? Gun Kata?"

"Gun-what?" Jaune interjected, shooting his new roommate a confused look.

"I'm joking silly," Nora stated with a smirk.

"More than likely we are going to be asked to show or at least tell our abilities to our teachers," Ren stated, nodding down into the arena where Professor Harold, Professor Oswin, and Professor Glynda were standing. They were standing in the middle of a wide wooden circle, a ring of stands sitting at the cardinal directions, though only two of them seemed to be needed to account for all of the school's students.

"I think Glynda stated yesterday that we would be demonstrating what we could do," Pyrrha stated helpfully.

"Oh good." Jaune thought to himself with a growing sense of dread.

"Winter!" Nora cried out suddenly, startling Jaune out of his musings before they could even really begin. She had leaped to her feet and was waving frantically at the white-haired girl, who approached with a smile, her roommates following along behind her.

"Skooch!" Nora snapped at some of the people sitting next to them as the other girls approached. They immediately moved from the intensity of the glare Nora shot their way, which turned back into a vibrant smile as she whirled to meet Winter.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha called out with a nervous smile as the other students grumbled softly to themselves.

Jaune gave them a sheepish grin as well, before turning back to the new arrivals. Winter looked as nice as she had yesterday, and he felt a bit of a flutter in his chest as she walked past him and sat next to Ren.

Behind her were a shorter girl dressed in a black t-shirt and red pants with silver eyes and blackish-red hair that turned redder at the tips, a tall tanned golden-haired girl with an army jacket on over an orange t-shirt and khaki pants, and a dark-haired girl dressed like a rock fan with a black bow on her head and oddly yellow eyes.

"Winter!" Nora cried again, wrapping the other girl in a tight hug, "I missed you!"

"It's only been a day." Winter choked out as Nora hung onto her neck.

"I know but still!" Nora warbled, turning to acknowledge the other girls, "So these your new roommates?"

"Yes," Winter stated, as she finally pulled an arm free to gesture at the other girls, "In order, they're Ruby, her sister Yang and Blake."

Ruby waved, as she sat down next to Weiss, while Yang simply nodded with a grin, followed by Blake who kept quiet as the other two slid into seats next to the younger girl.

"Nice to meet you." Nora stated, before hugging Winter tighter to her, "Treat this one right or there will be consequences."

Every head in the combined group turned to look at Nora, Yang with a curious expression, Blake with her eyes narrowed, Pyrrha shocked, and Ruby looking a bit shell shocked.

"O-oh, we will," Ruby mumbled, wilting slightly under Nora's intense expression.

"Don't mind her." Ren stated, bowing to the new arrivals, "Nora means well, but she's a bit…"

"Intense." Winter offered helpfully.

"Yes," Ren said with a smile, "Anyway, my name is Lie Ren, the aggressive hugger is Nora Valkyrie, and the others are..."

"Pyrrha Nikos." the redhead offered, with her usual friendly smile. Jaune watched, Yang and Ruby's eyes widened slightly, while Winter made that awed expression she had yesterday that he still couldn't quite figure out.

"I'm Jaune," he stated, holding out a hand, which Ruby immediately took with a hand-shake while the other girls simply gave him a polite wave.

"Nice to meet you all." Ruby stated, "Are you guys excited?"

"For what?" Jaune asked, the voice in his ear muttering a quiet "Really?"

"To show off your abilities?" Ruby stated, bouncing in her seat, 'I'm so excited to see what everyone can do!"

Yang reached over and put a hand on her sister's head to stop her from shaking the bleacher, "Hope they're not expecting a grand show, I'm short-handed at the moment."

She lifted her cast covered arm with a snicker as Ruby groaned.

It was then Jaune recognized her, "Did Talon do that?"

The other's sitting beside him gave him a look excluding Pyrrha.

"I think he's talking about what you did at the Neo Smithsonian," Pyrrha stated.

Yang's expression grew partially hardened but also even wider as if she was getting excited just thinking about it, "No, this was me. She didn't know what hit her."

She mimed a punch and laughed, while Ruby rolled her eyes.

"That was very brave of you." Blake stated, giving Yang a once over, "It must have taken a lot to stand up to them as you did."

"It did." Yang admitted, "But that's why I'm here. To make standing up easier."

Pyrrha went to open her mouth, only for the sound of Glynda's voice to cut her off.

"Good afternoon everyone," she began, "I hope your first day at Beacon has been a good one, but I sense that for many of you it has just been an obstacle to what we are doing now."

"This is going to be the first introduction the staff and most of your peers have to your abilities, so it is understandable if some of you don't wish to be put on the stand today." she continued, "However the staff at least will need to be informed of your abilities so we can cater to you when it comes to your individual training. You will become very familiar with this arena in the coming years, as you hone your skills to the best of your ability."

She tapped something on her wrist, and suddenly several walls emerged from the ground, made of what appeared to be glass, forming an octagonal dome around the central area. With another tap, a series of drones emerged floating in the back of the dome.

"The arena is modular and can take many forms, which I will see fit to challenge you all within the coming days." Glynda stated, "But for today this will suffice. Of course, the arena does not supplant regular physical activity, which is why Ms. Oswin is here to see how far she can push you all."

"That seems like a bit too dire a way of putting it." Ms. Oswin joked, earning a few laughs as she looked around at the students, "We're gonna have fun, I promise."

"As for Professor Harold, he is here to get a good idea of what support items may be needed for you all." Glynda continued, "Not all of you will have had him for class at this point, however, this might prove a boon in his workshop. He will also be handing out shields for the final demonstration."

"I look forward to seeing what all of you can do," he stated with a sincere smile.

"So with that out of the way," Glynda stated, as a door opened at the front of the walled arena, "Who would like to go first?"

The following silence could have been cut with a rusty butter knife, as the student body looked amongst themselves, stage fright seeming to grip the entire student body bar one.

Nora Valkyrie leaped to her feet, with her arm high in the air and continued hopping as if fighting to catch Glynda's attention.

There was a smattering of laughs at Glynda's raised eyebrow.

"Nora Valkyrie, it seems as if you are made of sterner stuff than your classmates," Glynda remarked as the girl darted down the bleachers and into the arena.

"Oh, we already knew that Professor," Nora joked, as she whirled about and bowed to her classmates in an overly theatrical manner.

Ren smiled softly while Winter laughed from behind her hand.

"Hi, I'm Nora," she began with a wave that elicited a smattering of laughs, "Imma a Remnant, and well my ability is a much better show than it is a tell."

And then she whipped out a taser and held it against her neck.

Jaune stood up in his seat, as several students gasped and winced as Nora kept the button pressed down, the sound of crackling electricity filling the arena.

"What is she doing?" Jaune asked aghast, turning to look at Ren and Winter.

Winter looked less shocked than him, but she still winced as Nora jolted slightly from the continued spark of electricity.

Ren looked up at him, "Just watch."

Blake had sat forward with a curious expression while Yang and Ruby were sharing worried glances.

Suddenly Nora dropped the taser, and flexed, pink lightning crackling across her entire body for a second before she whirled and uppercut one of the drones. Its head came off with a loud shearing sound and shattered against the top of the arena in a rain of scrap metal and ruined plastic.

Nora then turned around as the pink lightning dissipated and went into a deep, flourishing bow.

"So what did you think?" she asked, as several of her classmates actually began clapping for her demonstration.

"That I want the next demonstration not to be so panic-inducing." Prof. Harold stated as he lifted a hand to his heart.

Glynda nodded at Nora appreciatively and turned to face the crowd, "So who's next?"

There was a flurry of hands, followed by people standing all around him as he sat back down, fresh worry gnawing on his brain.

The was a red-colored omnic named Faux who didn't fight but instead yelled "Boo!" in the mind of every person in the arena, earning more than a few swears, screams, and jumps from his audience.

Ruby was up shortly after, racing around the arena like a rocket, even leaving the ground at one point and just becoming a spinning whirlwind of red as she ping-ponged off the side of the arena. Jaune thought she might have purposefully overdone herself as she slid to a stop, and immediately teetered over with a woozy expression on her face.

Then came the girl in the beret that introduced herself as the Coco Adele. She asked for a gun of some kind, and after a bit of deliberation Glynda agreed, Prof. Oswin darting away and returning with a paintball gun. Adele walked into the arena, lowered her sunglasses slightly, shot the crowd a smirk, and then shattered the eye-piece of three drones as the gun in her hand began to glow.

Winter followed, creating brilliant sigils of hard light shaped like snowflakes, darting around the arena like an ice-skater as she propelled herself along. She finished by creating a holographic snow shower that flickered out as it touched her fellow students.

They were all amazing, and as more and more students stood up to take their turn Jaune's gut tightened harder and harder.

Eventually, it was going to be his turn, he rubbed the back of his head, feeling the electronics attached to his skin.

"I'm a fake." he thought, thinking about trying to slip away just as Ren stood up and walked down into the arena.

At first, it appeared like nothing changed, as Ren lowered tapped something on his wrist. The light seemed to warp around him for a second, but it wasn't until Glynda used her tablets to bring up several holo-screens that Jaune noticed what he had done.

He could see Ren just fine, but it appeared as if he simply wasn't there on the holo-screens, he then darted at the drones, two blades of hard-light emerging but the drones didn't seem to notice he was there either.

A second later two were in sparkling pieces on the ground, and Ren deactivated his cloak, blinking into existence on the holo-screens.

"See," the voice stated with a chuckle, "He's using tech, you're gonna be fine."

He grimaced slightly as Pyrrha stood up next to him, and made her way down.

"Hello everyone, you might know this already but I'm Pyrrha Nikos," she stated, which elicited a much bigger reaction than Jaune figured it would. A smattering of claps, cheers, and one wolf-whistle that earned a hunting glare from Glynda went up.

Pyrrha ignored the noise and continued, "And my ability is Magnetism."

She gestured with a hand and the drones lifted off the ground, twirling about, joined by the missed remnant of their destroyed fellows. She closed her eyes and lifted her other hand, and the arena itself began to lift off the ground, followed by the bleachers, eliciting shocked and elated gasps from the crowd. It was only a few inches, but it still shocked Jaune as she set everything back down without even a rumble.

"I've never seen anything like that." Jaune stated, "How is she so strong?"

Winter shot him a look, "You really don't know who she is do you?"

"Should I?" Jaune asked, shooting her a confused expression.

He suddenly felt eyes on him from every direction as all of Winter's roommates turned to look at him as did Nora and Ren.

"She's a celebrity." Winter stated, "She used her powers to help people after an earthquake, she's won three of Greece's Neo-Spartan Championships, it's said she was being scouted to join Greece's Olympics Team. None of that rings a bell?"

"Uh...no," Jaune said with a nervous shrug.

"She's on the front of Pumpkin Pete Cereal," Winter said flatly, looking slightly offended at the elated gasp he let out.

"That's her?!" he asked excitedly.

Yang snorted, while Nora and Ruby broke out into a laughing fit as Pyrrha walked up behind him.

"That's who?" she asked, shooting them a confused expression.

"Jaune just got a little history lesson." Yang offered helpfully, hiding her smile behind her hand.

"Oh?" Pyrrha asked, sitting down beside him, "About what?"

"How did you get to be on the Pumpkin Pete cereal box?" Jaune asked suddenly, eliciting more laughter.

"W-what?" Pyrrha asked, laughing slightly, giving him a befuddled smile.

"Pumpkin Pete, like the world's best cereal, that's you on the box right?" Jaune stated very seriously, smiling slightly as her own grew a bit more.

"I-yes-they asked me to sponsor them," she stated.

"Huh, that's pretty cool," Jaune stated, turning to look at the others who were staring at him like he'd grown a second head, "What?"

Yang opened her mouth to say something, only for Glynda to cut across her.

"We're coming near the end of today's allotted time, so the demonstrations will have to continue tomorrow. However, we have enough time to demonstrate the second usage of this arena. Sparring."

The drones disappeared back into the ground, and the top of the dome retracted.

"You will not just train against drones, but your fellow students as well. I will not be taking volunteers for this part of the course today, but in the future participation will be mandatory and volunteering is to be expected. The selection of today's combatants will be randomized, as befits an actual combat scenario. However, it should be noted that all sparring matches are till shields are broken, purposeful injury of another student will never be accepted."

The crowd went silent as the holo-screens began cycling through images with a sound similar to that of a game show wheel.

"Blake Belladonna," a robotic female voice called out, "Vs. Jaune Arc."

Jaune froze as he felt Blake's golden eyes fall on him from around her roommates.

"Well this should be fun." the voice in his ear snarked as he felt even more eyes fall on him.

Jaune once more fought the urge to puke.

And scene!

Next time, Jaune vs Blake, both are hiding things from their fellows, who do you think will win!

As always any comments, questions, or critiques are appreciated.

This has been VerBeeker, signing off!