(Volume 3) Part 7: A Fight Between Brothers/A Collapsing Team...

You're staring at the Colosseum...today's the day you guess...you breathe out shakily as Raiden pats you on the shoulder. Ruby and the others have already gone inside, you need to be at in the arena in 10 minutes.

Raiden:"Hey, I know you're nervous."

You:"Pssh, that's an understatement. I'm fighting in a arena filled with hundreds of thousands with people and it's being broadcasted all over the world first of all, Ruby and Yang don't know that we're going to be fight each other so THAT'S going to be complicated when we get back to the room second of all and finally...I'm fighting YOU." Raiden thinks about this for a moment.

Raiden:"Well, as for Ruby and Yang, like you said we'll deal with it eventually, no point in worrying about that. For the people watching us, you don't need to focus on that, during the match you'll only focusing on your opponent...which brings me to my last point, you are so much stronger than you know. You don't need to be scared in fighting me, because we're teammates and most importantly brothers, you better not hold back alright?" he ruffles your hair as you feel a bit better...

Oobleck(Intercom):"Would Raiden (Last name) and (First name) (Last name) please go into their designated areas." You walk inside the coliseum and look at Raiden as he gives you a two- finger salute before warping to the other end of the stands so he can enter the fighters area. You take a deep breath as you can see Ruby staring at you from where she is, she looks confused and so does everyone else on your team.

You(In Mind):"Maybe I should've told them...well too late now." You walk over to your designated area as you are let in to the arena...stage lights are blaring as a deafening crowd of cheers echoes around the coliseum. You walk into the middle of the arena as Raiden approaches...

Port(Intercom):"Before we start off in our 1-on-1 Finals match we want to give you a taste of what Finals will be like in this exhibition match between (First name) (Last name) and Raiden (Last Name)." Well that's a good way to explain a last minute fight...you look at Raiden as he pops his neck and cracks his knuckles, you gulp. There's no holographic roulette for this match...fun...the platform you're on begins to rise from the ground, which catches you off guard as you stumble a little. You glance at the holoscreen to see your face and name is up on there along with your Aura Level and you also see that Raiden's is up there as well

Oobleck(Intercom):"Ah yes! This match will not be for the honor of their kingdom but for the joy of fighting!" Huh, that's a pretty good way of looking at it "The match will begin in 3!" It feels like everything slowed down at this moment, you shift into your fighting stance as you Conjure your Marasuma, you see that Raiden has Conjured his Cloud Kitsune. "2!" You feel your Semblance flowing as your eye bursts with blue flames. "1!" You can feel Raiden's power as his eye explodes with flames. It's time to go..."Begin!"

Immediately you throw your Trident at Raiden as he throws his Kitsune in response. The two weapons clash in the middle with a ferocious shockwave as red and blue particles fly around from the clash. You both warp to your weapons in mid-air as Raiden swings his Kitsune at you before you clash against it and get sent flying back into the ground as the ground underneath you cracks...you know that your power is at it's peak when you're with Raiden...but so is his power is at it's peak...this'll be interesting. Raiden wastes no time as he Phase Dashes at you leaving red particles behind him as he plunges his Kitsune at you, you barely manage to roll out of the way before spinning around and kicking Raiden in the chin as he is sent flying upwards. He looks down at you before you turn your Trident into it's HF-Engine Blade mode as you ready yourself as Raiden lands on the ground. You dash at him as you clash against his blade, you both try to overtake the other before Raiden presses the button on the side of his blade as his Kitsune splits into 3-whips as it wraps around your blade and he pulls towards him as you lose your footing and stumble towards him as he pulls his arm out and grabs you by the throat and slamming you into the ground. You feel the wind being knocked out of you as your flame burns brighter as you wrap your legs around his arm and swing backwards and using your momentum you flip Raiden over yourself as he is sent flying almost off of the platform. Raiden flips himself upright as he slides back as his feet dig into the concrete. Raiden switches his 3-whip to his 6-whip...he's getting serious now, Raiden swings the whips around him before warping right in front of you, you didn't expect this as Raiden wraps the whips around you and yanks upwards as you get sent into the air before Raiden smashes you downwards. The ground shatters as a mighty shockwave emanates from your painful fall. You get up on your knees breathing heavily, you look at the screen to see that your aura is at 75, as Raiden is still at 90...

Raiden:"Come on. I know you're holding back!" You sigh as you glance over at Ruby who is VERY nervous...you focus back on...Raiden, as he's no longer there. You look around you before you close your eyes trying to sense him with your semblances. You immediately realizes that he's high above you and coming down insanely fast. You jump out of the way as Raiden slams his fist into the ground as the platform cracks and rumbles. 

You realize that you can't hold back, not here. You breathe out as blue particles form around you as your Marasuma Conjures in your hands again before you begin warping around Raiden slashing at him multiple times. Raiden gets hit multiple times before he manages to grab you from the air and throwing you far from him. You look under you to see that you've fallen from the arena. You aren't done yet as you warp back up. You spin your Trident in your hands as you slam the hilt of it into the ground as a giant shockwave is headed towards Raiden. He jumps out of the way but you use that opportunity to warp over to him, grab his arm and spin him around you before launching him into the ground with incredible force. The platform forms a major crack in it as you don't allow Raiden space as you plunge your Trident down at him. Raiden barely manages to lift his blade up as it clashes with yours as a shockwave comes from the clash. You feel pain coming from your cheek as Raiden kicks you so hard that you crash into the ground and continue sliding as the concrete gets crushed underneath you. Raiden gets up shakily as he finally unveils his razor sharp 9-Whip mode. In this mode the whips itself are all coated in spikes and oh boy this is going to hurt as the whips wrap around your leg as you feel massive pain as the chains dig into your flesh as blood pours out as he sweeps your leg and you fall to your back. Raiden jumps on to your chest.

You(Pain):"A-AGH!" You look at Raiden to see...he's becoming aggressive...he's giving you the same crazed look he gave Qrow...you have to end this quick. Raiden kicks you while on the ground as you cough up blood. Your aura is at 16 as you Raiden grabs you and throws you before warping to where he threw you and slamming your face into the concrete. Raiden picks you up by the throat as you notice his flame...it's...flickering and starting to change color, it's no longer its warm regular color...it's becoming dark. Raiden is smiling insane like as his arm fills with flames. A Flare Smash? That will kill you in this state! "R-Raiden?" Your eyes widen being frightened. You realize that you have to use full power...but you don't want to hurt Raiden...you all of a sudden hear a sharp noise...as you feel everything fade and you look up to see...that Raiden's no longer the one holding you up...it's the Man in the Cloak.

Your flames burn brilliantly as you fill up with unbelievable rage as you grab his arm pry it away easily and punch him so hard that the shockwave coming from him tips the platform you're on. Your thoughts have shut off, you just want to end this now. Little did you know that the aura on your screen is rising steadily. You feel your flame leaving you as you feel electricity course through your veins and Electricity courses from your eye. You appear in front of the Man in the Cloak as you kick him up in the air with unbelievable force. He's sent high into the air as you appear in the air with particles forming around you as you flick your finger and thumb as the resulting shockwave send him flying into the ground as the platform shakes and electricity fills the air. You appear on the ground as he gets up before you send a flurry of powerful kicks at him before appearing behind him and slamming your fist into his back as he flies to the opposite side of the platform...You feel something new surrounding your arm, you look to see that flames along with electricity crackles around your arm. This is it, you see the Man in the Cloak laughing as he brings his arm up as a black flame surrounds his arm. You dash at him with full force as the ground beneath you shatters as he does the same...right before you can hit him, something in your Soul is telling you to stop...why? You suddenly are reminded of Raiden, you feel the flames fade from your arm but your electricity still crackling brightly as you collide with the Man in the Cloak's fist.

The result is a massive fireball with electricity surrounding it to fill the entire arena...the entire coliseum fills with a brilliant white light as you are sent flying to the end of the arena...as you crash into the wall as it shatters behind you, out of bounds...your body is broken...you can't feel anything but you know that you're going to be in indescribable pain as you feel everything fading, you look over to see Raiden on the opposite side...where did the Man in the Cloak go? Raiden is also crushed against the wall and out of bounds...his entire body smoking as sparks of electricity come from his body, making him twitch a little, though your vision is blurry you look over to see the screen to see that you both are completely out of aura...you look back at Raiden closely to see that he's not breathing...the sound is muffled by you can hear Professor Port yelling about something...Before you pass out you make out Ruby running towards you with Weiss as you look pass them to see Yang and Blake with Raiden...everything fades as you slump on to the ground.

1 Minute Earlier(Ruby's POV)

I'm getting REALLY nervous watching them...Gah! Why didn't they say anything!? Was this last minute? Or did they know all along or...Ugh! It doesn't matter, the battle between the two is really intense, Weiss was earlier betting that Raiden would win, and of course I bet that (F) would win...though now the betting has stopped as we now watch with curious and worried eyes...they seem like they're going to kill each other, please let both of them be alright...I watch as (F) gets slammed into the ground as blood escapes from his mouth...please let this fight end, Raiden picks up (F) as flames begin to surround his arm, w-wait that could kill him in that state! I quickly glance at (F)'s aura level on the screen and he's 1 point away from being eliminated, that's going too far!

Yang:"H-hold up, is Raiden really planning to..." Yang seems terrified as we all exchange worried looks at each other

Blake(Yelling):"RAIDEN YOU NEED TO STOP!" Gah it's no use, they won't be able to hear us from here.

Weiss:"They're going to kill each oth-" All of a sudden a massive sound comes from the arena...I prepare for the worse and look at the platform to see that (F)'s now on the ground as electricity is coming from his eye... I glance at the screen and see that (F)'s aura level is rising, and quickly too...(F)'s expression is one with the intent to kill...please tell me this is just a dream and that my love isn't going to try to kill his brother...(F) immediately proves me wrong as he carries out massive attacks that would kill any normal person...(F)...please stop. (F)'s arm is now shrouded with fire and lightning...as he glares at Raiden...Raiden stumbles onto his feet as flames surround his arm...everything goes quiet as they dash at each other as the entire coliseum is blinded by a bright light and a ear-deafening explosion fills the air. I cover my eyes until the light is gone, neither of them are on the platform anymore, I freak out as I see (F) smashed against the wall, Yang notices Raiden against the other

Ruby(Simultaneously with Yang):"(F)!!!"

Yang(Simultaneously):"RAIDEN!" We all rush off into the arena.

Port(Intercom):"Cut the cameras and get an ambulance, now!" Gasps and frightened mumbles can be heard throughout the coliseum...we run into guards who are stopping people from entering the ring, we shove past them as we see (F) and Raiden. Both seem really hurt 

Ruby:"Weiss come with me, Blake you go with Yang!" 

We immediately begin running towards our teammates but as I run closer to (F)...is...he not breathing!? Oh please God no, I'm trembling as we slide over to him, I check his pulse and...

Ruby(Screaming as her voice breaks):"WE NEED HELP! PLEASE!"

3 Hours Later (Ruby's POV)

Both (F) and Raiden had to be rushed to the hospital, the medics couldn't do anything from the arena...we wanted to stay with them but they told us no, of course we didn't listen at first especially me and Yang as Yang activated her semblance and destroyed an entire wall...until Ozpin himself reassured us that they'll be fine...and that we should focus back on the Tournament...We're all still very shaken by this...what happened to them out there that pushed them so far? I can't think, I can barely breathe...Weiss and Blake are trying their hardest to assure us that they'll be fine but...I'm worried about how they're going to act after this...they didn't even act as if they were brothers...it felt like I was watching to bitter rivals trying to kill each other...We're waiting inside of the hospital at the E.R anxiously, they won't even tell us WHERE they are inside of the hospital...I can't stop pacing back and forth, 

Weiss:"Ruby, please, sit down, we're all worried about them okay?"

Ruby:"No! Okay? No, the guy I love and his brother were both at each others throats and they both didn't even have a pulse and now I don't even know where he is a-and..." I stop as I feel tears coming to my eyes.

Yang:"...Ruby?" I look at Yang as she's crossing her arms while sitting down while looking at the floor. "I know...trust me we're both in the same situation...how could he have done that...just...how could he?" She stops before taking a quick breath and continuing "We just have to wait...and hope that all this was is a battle taken too far..." I go to speak again but stop as the door to the rooms open and a nurse comes out

Nurse:"You four were the ones who wanted to see (First name) (Last name) and Raiden (Last name), correct?" We all nod quickly "Then come with me, they've been recovered." We all breathe out a sigh of relief before the nurse walks through the door that she came in and we quickly follow her. She leads us into a room where Raiden and (F) is as they're both in hospital beds hooked up to many machines, more machines are hooked up to Raiden...both of them are asleep but breathing...and that's what I'm grateful for... "They have been stabilized but...there are some complications to both of them, when the doctor gets here he'll tell you all news." We all exchange worried looks to each other as the nurse leaves the room and are left with the sound of their heart monitors going off...their pulses are...identical, (F)'s is a little slower than Raiden's though...odd, we get closer to them as I place my hand in (F)'s...he's out cold...his hand feels cold, Yang goes over to Raiden's side before placing her hand in Raiden's...as he coughs a little and opens his eyes a bit. Tears go down Yang's face in joy just to see him alive. We all look at him

Raiden(Soft and weak):"Where...am I...?"

Blake:"You're in the hospital...your heart stopped, along with (F)'s." His eyes widen a bit as he looks to his left side and sees (F)...

Raiden(Weak and breaking):"What...have I done?" tears go down his cheek as he reached for his brother  and takes (F)'s other hand "I'm sorry...I'm so...so sorry..." Raiden looks absolutely devastated before the light in his eyes fade and passes out to his exhaustion. Just as that happened the doctor comes into the room, he's holding a clipboard

Doctor:"Hello, I presume you're all friends of these two?" We nod slowly "...Then I have some bad news." He turns on a holoprojector and puts up X-rays of Raiden and (F) on the screen...oh my God... the X-Ray shows a picture of the arms they used in that final clash...the bone in the arms is barely recognizable, all shattered and splintered "As you can see, their arms are shattered. (F)'s is more serious however, though they will both need surgery in order to get the shards of bone out...sadly neither of them will fully recover. (F) will still be able to use his arm...but not how he's used to using it...his movement in his right arm will be severely limited as he has nerve damage in his arm as well..." I look down at (F) as a tear falls down...I just want to cry into his shoulder...but I need to be strong for my team... "Now...onto Raiden, though his bone isn't as shattered as (F)'s his left arm has still suffered major damage and will experience a similar experience to (F)'s...but..." the doctor takes off his glasses as he says this "He will suffer memory loss..." Yang's eyes widen along with all of ours

Ruby:"B-but he just recognized us and talked to us?" The doctor sighs

Doctor:"Then that means it hasn't fully affected him just yet...you see when we ran our tests we did a full brain scan." He places two more pictures up showing Raiden's brain and the activity inside of it along with (F)'s... "Now you see this area right here is the medial temporal lobe. It's the region of the brain known as the limbic system, which includes the hippocampus, the amygdala, the cingulate gyrus, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus, the mammillary body and other organs, many of which are of particular relevance to the processing of memory...whatever (F) did to him...it short circuited those areas in a sense...now it seems like he remembers you all along with this fight...but you will notice that there will be blanks in his memory...and as time goes along you'll see it appear more and more, as this affected all of his temporal lobe, eventually he will gain short-term memory loss and eventually he won't be able to remember a thing..." I can't believe what I'm hearing...please...wake me up from this nightmare...how is Yang going to react to this... "Now it seems like this is happening very slowly, at this rate he will lose his memory around his 50's, the dose of electricity was lethal but oddly the way the electricity went through him, it was almost like it has a mind of it's own, trying not to damage him severely. Because had it been any closer to the center it would've hit his brain stem and...he would have not survived...everything inside of him would've shut down..." He stops...none of us were prepared for this "I'll leave you all to come to terms with this..." He leaves the room...leaving us completely empty inside.

1 Day Later (Your POV)

You woke up yesterday with the sound of Yang crying against Raiden's chest...you knew the room was devoid of hope...Once they had told you of what happened to Raiden...you couldn't take it. You got up forcefully even with everyone telling you to stop, you unhooked the machines on to you before heading to the door, you needed to think...well until Ruby stopped you and slapped you before hugging you you can still remember the sobs coming from her...that's what made you stopped...even if it only was for a little while, as soon as they left which took a very good long while as they stayed there passed midnight and were forced to leave, you remember the words you told Yang 'Continue smiling and win this for us, alright?' . You're watching the finals on the screen in your room. 

Raiden has woken up and you both had a very long and emotional conversation...and you had to tell him the news, which devastated him...(I will show the conversation, but later, it'll become important eventually) you can feel that the team is losing hope...you wish that you could be there for everyone...that through kindness that everything would be fine but...that's not how life works, is it? Are you just going to be another forgotten name, be something next to worthless? Or are you going to rise up and prove the world wrong...you don't know why you're ranting in your head, only that the Finals are about to start

Port: (Intercom):"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals! We made a delay to start the Finals today as some of the combatants had an emergency with yesterday's exhibition match." In the center of the battlefield's stage, Yang Xiao Long smirks confidently -trying her best to be strong and act like her normal self- as the camera pans down the line of final fighters, you see a few new faces mixed in with Sun, Penny, Mercury Black, and Pyrrha...she looks troubled about something at the other end of the line. "Barty, why don't you explain the rules?"

Oobleck(Intercom):" Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!" Huh, no time to prepare?

Port:"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Oh well that answers that...

Oobleck(Intercom):"Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!" The screens above the stadium as the roulette starts spinning, this time for competitors instead of biomes. You wonder who the first match will be? It lands on Yang and Mercury...oh boy

Port(Intercom):"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!"After a slight pause Professor Port speaks again "Would all other combatants please leave the stage!"

The other do what Port says as Yang starts walking up to Mercury in the middle as the floor around them opens once more, with a ring of spotlights rising up to automatically fix their lights on the remaining two....'Well that's more fancy than our fight' you think to yourself

You:"Who do you think will win?"

Raiden:"Hmm...Mercury's strong but Yang can take damage and dish it back out twice as hard...hmm, I'd say Yang." You smile seeing that your brother is still managing to smile even after such dark news.

You:"Heh. You're only saying that because she's your girlfriend!" Raiden laughs before regretting it by coughing 

Raiden(Coughing a bit):"Maybe but you've seen her in action, just watch."

You:"Pssh, they beat team CFVY he'll beat her......also I bet you 20 Lien that Mercury will win."

Raiden: scoffs "With what money, little bro?" Raiden smiles smugly at you

You:"I'LL STEAL YOURS AND THEN CLAIM IT AS MINE SO IF I WIN I KEEP THE 20 LIEN AND GAIN 20 MORE FROM YOU! IT'S A GREAT DEAL!" Raiden laughs

Raiden:"Reminds me of your trade deals back in...back in..." You smile lightly

You:"Menagerie..." Raiden sighs, before smiling

Raiden:"Okay...hmm...if Mercury wins I'll buy you ice cream and if Yang wins you have to do my homework for the rest of the year."

You:"HEY! That's not a fair deal!" You stick your tongue out at him as he laughs and then you laugh before watching the screen

Yang:"You better not go easy on me." Mercury laughs darkly

Mercury:"You wish." Both brawlers face the crowds one last time, then slowly start advancing on each other, arms raised defensively until their hands can almost touch, as the final countdown commences.

Port:"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Immediately, Yang throws a punch, and Mercury spins his foot to meet it, creating a shockwave between the weapons that launches him back. He closes the distance quickly and aims at her feet with his boot, but she leaps over it and fires off a shot of her Ember Celica that he rotates to avoid. They fight fist-to-fist for a moment, Yang getting in a fiery blast on Mercury at the cost of him also landing a blow on her. She falls back on her feet when Mercury shoots himself into the air to get farther away from her, looking up and smiling.

Yang doesn't relent for a second, launching shot after shot only for Mercury to dodge each of them, sliding around the stage on clouds of air until he attempts to come down on her with his leg. She blocks and pushes away the attack, but he goes under her shotgun burst and manages to land a kick on her, though she still lands in a crouch, now grimacing. She launches forward with a double blast and continues landing blow after blazing blow on him, right up to when he roundhouse kicks her in the back and attempts to hit her with his heel. She gets out just in time and punches he ground trying to get him, but he leaps out and twirls to get a hit on her. One of his kicks seems to pass over her, but then he brings it down hard enough to shatter the steel underneath, which Yang narrowly rolls backward to avoid.

They exchange kicks after this attack until Mercury hits her backwards, and he rushes forward only to receive a fist to his chin, then his torso, knocking him on his stomach. He gets up right as Yang starts raining down fire again, causing him to somersault back until one explosion causes him to get knocked off of the stage. He saves himself by firing his boots downward and flying back in front of his enemy, unleashing a series of kicks that she deflects with her arms. She ducks under one attack only to receive another as Mercury jumps into the air to knock her back, and he follows it up with a shot from his boots. Yang avoids it effortlessly, not noticing it still hanging around behind her.

Switching tactics, Mercury starts shooting his foot out in every direction, each kick into the air accompanied by a silvery blast that are barely even aimed at Yang. You realize that he's doing the attack he did against Team CFVY, she dodges each one coming her way and gets in close through the circling barrage of shots, fighting with their fists again until Mercury kicks her into the air and knocks her right back to the ground, followed by the dozens of swirling shots that now converge right on to Yang.

When the blasts stop coming down on his opponent, Mercury gets up from his crouch and grins to himself, dusting off his outfit and seeming as happy as can be until the smoke from behind him erupts into flames.

You:"Oh...welp Yang's won."

Raiden:"Welp looks like your doing my homework for the rest of the year."

You:"I NEVER AGREED TO THAT!"  His momentary shock turns into another smile as he turns around to see Yang slam her knuckles together and come at him. Screaming, she lands a punch that sends him back, and she rushes up avoiding each kick and even taking one with no effect to pound at him with an unrelenting bombardment of left-right blows. He has enough time to let out a pained groan before she hits him in the stomach, his Aura sparkling up to try and defend him from the last hit to the face by the upset blonde. He lands on his back as the buzzer sounds over the roars of the audience. Port begins to speak as Yang breaths out a sigh of relief

Port: "What a way to kick off the finals!"

Oobleck: (while the stage is enclosed by the stadium floor again) Yang Xiao Long wins!" 

You:"...I'm not doing your homework..." Raiden laughs

Raiden:"Okay, okay, then I'll buy you ice cream."

You:"HOLD UP, NO! That ain't fair for you...hmm...I'LL buy you ice cream, with your money, deal!?" Raiden laughs

Raiden:"Deal." You watch Yang circling around Mercury...Yang all of a sudden fires her Ember Celica on Mercury's leg! A painful crush is heard...Yang?

You:"YANG!?" Raiden's eyes are wide as he stares at the screen...

Oobleck(Intercom):"My word!"

Port: (Intercom):"Cut the cameras!" The cameras are cut and you both are left there...wondering...what just happened... You glance over to Raiden as he's unhooking himself from the machines, you get up and do the same as you both run through the door.