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raebaekaedae · 2 years ago

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Volume One, Episode Fourteen: “The Wrong Kind of Tournament”

Series: SCWR Rating: R (Some Foul Language, Violence against Fantasy Monsters, Excessive Violence, Drugged, Death Mentioned, Subtle Themes of Racism, Prominent Themes of PTSD) Summary: (5,679 words) “In part one of the thrilling finale, Haddy faces his deadliest challenge yet. When he and some other students are kidnapped and held against their will to fight in cruel battles against creatures of grimm, Hadrian must find a way to escape and keep everyone safe at the same time...”

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"Mr. Snow... Mr. Snow, please, wake up..."

The soft voice slowly lolled him back into consciousness. For a moment, he was too weak to open his eyes. His head felt light and loopy like he was spinning through the air and the only thing tying him to Remnant was the musty, muddy smell pounding through his nose. With some effort, he managed to force his blurry eyes open and look up at the ceiling. Or what he thought would be the ceiling. Instead, he was met with the fuzzy visage of a blue figure staring down at him.

Once he blinked the drugged sleep out of his eyes, he found himself laying on a cement floor with his head resting in the lap of a blue-haired faunus girl. She had tears running down her cheeks in waves, absolutely ruining her makeup. She had scratches and bruises on her face and arms from a fight. Her dress was torn in places and dirty in others, and he was willing to bet that was what he looked like too.

She was familiar though... he'd seen her at the dance.

"Blue...?" he weakly asked through parched lips once he found his voice.

If she wasn't already sobbing, though he thought she might have burst into tears when he finally spoke. She frantically nodded, unable to find words as she smoothed his hair back with one hand and wiped her face with the other. After a moment, Haddy managed to push himself up into a sitting position and get a good look around.

It was dark, there wasn't a lot of light, only the dim luminescence from a few scrolls. The walls of the cramped room were lined with steel reinforcement and no windows. The walls were bare with the exception of an iron door sealed on one side. He and Blue weren't alone, there was another girl sitting in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. She was wearing a green dress with a golden necklace draped across her chest. She didn't look much older than the faunus girl.

"Where... are we?" Haddy asked, scooting a little so that his back was resting against one of the walls.

"I dunno," Blue said quietly, following him and bringing her own knees up to hug, "I was just walking back to my dorm from the dance with my brother and then everything goes black..."

The husky closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened. He was at the dance, and then Ozpin revealed the memorials and he bolted. He ran. He was sitting on the edge of the school, crying, when Monroe, Robyn, and Ryder showed up and told him... told him that they knew... and that they didn't blame him.

He fumbled around with his pants pocket, pulling out his scroll and opening it. His lock screen was blown up with messages and missed calls.

CADE: Whoever shot you got away, we're coming, hold on

-Missed Call from RBYN-

RBYN: Are you okay?? Haddy, please respond!

RYDR: Your map is offline, we can't find you. Please, we need you to respond

Haddy watched as about five minutes passed before the messages resumed.

QROW: Haddy! Robyn just burst in here and told us what happened! Are you okay? Where are you?

-Missed Call from RBYN-

CADE: We're coming, I swear, please hold on

TAIY: Dude, Summer is talking to Ozpin rn. Gene and a couple other students are missing too. Are they with you?

There was another pause.

QROW: Come on, man, say something please

-Missed Call from RBYN-

-Missed Call from QROW-

-Missed Call from CADE-

Then, about half an hour later, Summer texted him.

SUMR: We're on our way. We got a tip from someone about some students being seen downtown before they were abducted.

There was a long pause after that. Then, finally...

CADE: I'm sorry

CADE: I'm so sorry, Haddy

He looked to see if he had any reception, not surprised to see zero bars. Reluctantly, he closed the scroll and returned it to his pocket. Haddy turned to see Blue burying her face into her arms, still quietly crying. He sighed before scooting closer to her and putting his arm over her shoulders and pulling her in closer.

"Hey, we're gonna get out of this," he smiled down to her, "Our teams and the Beacon Professors are already looking for us."

"It doesn't matter..." the other girl said from across the room, pausing before she looked up, a haunted look on her face, "They're gonna kill us before anyone can save us..."

Before Haddy could ask her why she was so certain, the sound of a locking mechanism shook the quiet of the room. Instinctively, the three Huntsmen-in-training jumped up and backed towards the edge of their cell. Hadrian stepped in front of the girls, guarding them with his body as he heard Blue whimpering behind him. He braced himself for a fight as the door slowly creaked open, scraping along the floor as it swung open.

The smell of blood hit him like a freight train.

He wasn't expecting the body of another student to be thrown in with them, battered and bleeding. The blond boy's once glittering, golden suit was caked in grime and blood, now half-dyed a muddy shade of crimson. He stumbled into the cell, bleeding from a large gash somewhere in his hair, falling forward. Hadrian just barely managed to jump forward and catch him before he face-planted into the cement. The boy was hardly breathing, his chest rising in jagged motions. Haddy quickly flipped him around to examine his wounds.

His dress shirt and suit jacket were torn and tattered, revealing a nasty, slashing gash from his shoulder down his torso. His arm, which had been ripped from his ribboned sleeve was bruised to Hell, most likely broken in multiple places or crushed. When Hadrian moved his bangs from his eyes to get a better look at his head wound, he gasped.

One amber eye was swollen shut and his nose was broken and bleeding, but staring back at him was Gene Aurum. His glittering golden eye shadow was smudged along with his dark eyeliner. His lipstick was more red than yellow, now glistening with blood instead of gloss. He looked up at Hadrian with the same recognition, reaching up weakly and gripping on to his shirt sleeve.

"H-ddy..." the broken Beacon student croaked as the door slammed shut.

"Gene!" Haddy cried, shaking away his shock to quickly tear away his classmate's jacket, "Oh my Gods!"

The husky wrapped the ruined jacket into a ball and pressed down on the gash that was still weeping blood from Gene's torso. The blond nearly screamed but kept himself from crying out by clenching his fist and pounding it into the floor. Team GOLD's leader took in a sharp, shallow breath, still laboring his breathing. Hadrian pulled at the sleeves of Gene's shirt, checking his wrists and finding them absent of his signature golden bracers.

Haddy turned to the girls and hastily asked, "Gold? Are you wearing anything gold?"

"What? Why?" The other girl asked, still shaken from Gene's entrance.

"His semblance is Golden Touch, he can regenerate his aura when he's in contact with anything gold," the husky quickly explained, "More aura means he can heal faster!"

Blue instantly pulled a ring from her finger, handing it over as she stammered, "I-I think this is real, I-I'm not sure!"

He took it, placing it into Gene's palm. Almost instantly, his golden yellow aura sparked back to life weakly. The girl with the green dress hesitated, but then shook her head and unlatched her necklace, nearly throwing it to the husky as she reached up to take off her earrings as well. With the additional jewelry, the blond's aura steadily grew.

After a moment, he weakly lifted his head and asked, "Had-dy... Lamb'rt... Ru... Doron... where...?"

His teammates. Hadrian nodded down to him, "I dunno, Gene. I dunno. I haven't seen them."

Monroe and the R's hadn't been taken, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to send those texts, which meant that maybe... "I-I don't think they're here... I think they're safe."

He watched as Gene let out a shaky sigh of relief, visibly releasing tension that he probably wasn't sure he was holding. The girl knelt down and took over applying pressure on his wounds as Haddy tore his own sleeve off to start wrapping around the golden leader's head. It wasn't much, but it was all they had at the moment.

"What..." Blue hesitantly asked, "... happened to you?"

He took in a ragged breath, laying his head back down as he struggled to reply, "It w's... some kinda... f'ghting ring... 'gainst grimm... but my aura... my aura wa'n't work-ng..."

Hadrian's blood ran cold. He must have gasped or shuddered or fallen back a pace because Blue looked up at him with her big, sad eyes and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong??"

"Gene..." the husky asked, steeling himself, "Did you hear the name 'Diana Gae'?"

The blond weakly nodded, "She's... th' anno'nc-r..."

He knew he fell back this time. Hadrian ran his hands through his hair, nearly pacing as he stood up and tried to recall every single thing they had learned about the matriarchal murderer. Semblance; pheromones. Contacts everywhere. Fights don't take place in the city...

"Y-u... know 'er..." Gene said, looking up at him with a sharp determination in his eye.

Haddy knelt back down and nodded, "She's the one who killed Peri..."

The blond leader took a deep breath as he closed his good eye, quietly breathing out, "D-mn't..."

"Peri??" the girl asked, half-crazed, "The guy from the memorial? Oh my Gods, I was right; we're gonna die here!"

Blue whimpered, pulling her knees back up again as she wrapped them in her arms. Hadrian quickly interjected, "No one is dying tonight! We just have to stick together and remain calm!"

Just as he finished, the slow unlocking of the door tore through the flimsy shield of faith that the students had. The green-dressed girl was nearly hysterical by this point, pushing harder and harder down on Gene's chest wound, causing him to gasp and wince with pain. The husky rose again, positioning himself between the girls and Gene and raising his arms to defend them if he needed.

When the metal door scraped along the stone floor it sent little chunks of cement scattering through the cell. Four armed and armored brutes entered the room in a wave. As they approached, Hadrian hunkered down, remembering all that Tai had taught him, as he sharply inhaled and threw a hook into the jaw of one of the men. The brute was sent sprawling back a few paces before another one of his friends slammed the butt end of her rifle down onto Haddy's shoulder.

The husky was flung down into the floor, his aura protecting him from the brunt of the blow. He quickly adjusted himself, kicking forward as he connected his foot with the knee of the woman who had hit him. She screamed as her leg crunched and bent back at an angle it wasn't supposed to bend. Haddy activated his semblance, sliding to the side just as the boot of brute he'd punched came crashing down towards him.

Before he could do any more damage, the other two armored goons jumped on top of him and wrestled him onto his stomach as they dug their knees into his back and pinned his arms there. After a moment of struggling, he was pulled to his feet. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get free. But still, he fought against his grapple, shouting and kicking in futile attempts to escape.

He was almost gifted the strength he needed when the female brute grabbed onto Blue's bicep and pulled her up, despite the beagle's desperate cries. Hadrian snarled, "Leave her alone!"

The golden-haired spartan was pushing himself up onto his elbows weakly, determined that no one would have to go through what he just had despite his injuries. However, the remaining goon put an end to his feeble attempts with a swift kick to the ribs. Gene cried out, falling back as he coughed and sputtered.

Hadrian continued to fight back, now yelling and screaming. There wasn't anything he could do as both he and Blue were ripped away from their cell and pulled along through a dimly lit hall. He could only watch as the thick, metal door was slammed shut and locked behind them, sealing Gene and the female student away. He continued to struggle and fight as he was dragged along.

Soon after, he was thrown forward into a copper cage, stumbling forward and slamming into the opposite wall. Before he could turn and resume his fight, Blue was tossed into him. He caught her before she fell, but not before the cage's door was shut and locked. Just as suddenly as they'd appeared, the brutes were gone, leaving the two faunus trapped and alone.

Blue rubbed the red mark on her arm as she softly cried, "What are they gonna do to us?"

Haddy wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly as he reassured, "I don't know, but I promise that I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?"

The husky quickly pulled his arm back, yanking his remaining sleeve up to reveal his beaded and leather bracelets. He swiftly unlatched the brown sling, unwinding it as he revealed its hidden weapon properties. Hadrian brought his wrist up to his mouth and tore the beaded string with his teeth. The plastic-coated dust capsules broke free as he caught them in his hand. He had two sets of fire, lightning, gravity, and ice pellets.

It paid to keep some of his Atlas trinkets a secret.

"Stand back," Haddy ordered, clicking his heels together to reveal his crampons.

The blue-haired, blue-eyed girl nodded as she sniffled and wiped her nose with her arm. She moved against the copper bars, shifting herself so that she was braced. Hadrian lifted his boot and gingerly pierced one of the black orbs with his spiked soles. Once it was secured, he brought his leg back and kicked forward. A blast of energy buckled the cage's door as the husky felt a wave of pain reverberate up from his ankle to his hip.

Just as he was lifting his boot up to go again, the ground shifted, nearly knocking him off balance. Blue caught his shoulders as the pair started to ascend with their cage. She whimpered, but she stood strong as she raised her fists for a fight. Haddy quickly stuck one of the colored orbs into his sling and pulled back his arm to fling the projectile if the need arose.

Blinding lights shone down as a trapdoor opened above them and the thumping bass of music tore through his ears. Haddy had to raise an arm to block the shining stadium lights as loud roars of cheering erupted around them. The floor beneath them sputtered and locked into place as the copper walls fell, sending a puff of dirt up as they slammed into the packed floor.

"Welcome," a feminine voice rang out over loudspeakers, "to the Ataxia Arena!"

"Blue..." he whispered, moving in front of her and taking a good look around, "Stay behind me..."

They were in a lowered arena of some kind. The uneven, bumpy floor was packed down with dirt and splattered with blood and viscous grimm goo. They were surrounded by smooth, stone walls that rose about fifteen feet up before a chain-link roof separated them from rows and rows of stands; completely full of raging "fans". The walls were lined with large doors that could be raised up to reveal whatever monsters were making the hurt growls from inside their dark cages.

As he scanned the stands, his eyes crossed a box raised above the sea of onlookers. There she was. Her hair was black with a magenta ombre weaving through her wavy curls. She was wearing tight, black leather pants with golden buttons and zippers. You could see the curves of her hips underneath her deep purple corset with the transparent, flowing sleeves that tied off at the wrists. Her boots rose up to her knees and wore six-inch heels.

And she was staring right at him.

"Hello again, folks," she seductively spoke, "If you were paying attention before then you'll know I'm your hostess, Diana Gae, and that we here at Ataxia have a special, Vytal Festival show here for you tonight!"

Angry cheers rang out before she continued, "Let's give a great big round of applause for the hypocritical, Atlesian figureheads of the famed 'Faunus Outreach Program'! Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between; Isabella Blue and Hadrian Snow!" Her voice was sweet like honey but had a deadly venom to it.

Screams of mixed affirmations and boos rang out through the arena as all the patrons roared with anticipation. Through the pungent smell of blood, Haddy could faintly sniff out traces of gunpowder and steel. He scanned the pit again. He couldn't see any weapons, but as his eyes ran across one of the lumpy mounds of dirt, he couldn't help but think it was vaguely shield-shaped.

He nudged Blue's arm, motioning with his eyes towards the mounds as Gae continued, "We wanted our Atlesian mutts to feel at home, so we have a special selection of grimm chosen for them tonight!"

He made a mental note that Diana Gae wasn't a fan of him, Blue, the Faunus Outreach Program, and/or Atlas. Maybe there was a rhyme or reason the students who'd been kidnapped were chosen. That could come in handy if he made it out of here.

When he made it out of here.

His thoughts were cut short as the grinding screech of metal-on-metal tore through his ears. Haddy whipped around, following the sound, as one of the large doors slowly rose. Icy claws scraped at the ground, trying to get traction before they were fully released. He'd recognize them anywhere; Sabyrs. At least three trying to scratch their way out.

Quickly, he pulled back his sling and prepared to fire, shouting, "Blue! Make a break for a weapon! They're--"

"--Hidden in the floor!" She called back, already making a break for one of the closest mounds, "I've got it!"

Cheering erupted once again as one of the feline grimm managed to claw its way out and began making a mad dash for Haddy. He threw his sling forward, pelting the iced beast with an explosion of fire. It was sent tumbling in the smoke, but it quickly recovered as it rose and shook itself off.

"Looks like Hadrian has a few tricks hidden up his sleeve!" Gae announced with a smirk, watching from above, "I can't help but wonder how he managed to sneak that past security, right folks?"

If there was laughter in the stands, he wasn't paying any attention. Haddy had already pulled his hidden sling and pushed another capsule inside. The Sabyr hissed as it resumed its charge, eager to tear into the husky. Swiftly, Hadrian began backpedaling, throwing another charge at the grimm. However, just as the black pellet was about to reach its target, the cat-like monster skidded to a halt and ducked its shoulder, dodging the impact. The dust capsule exploded on the wall behind it.

Before he could pull another capsule, the Sabyr had closed all the distance between them. It pounced and pinned him to the floor as its red eyes cried with hunger. Haddy felt the wind rush from his lungs as he was thrown onto his back. Gene was right; his aura wasn't protecting him. Just as the beast opened its maw to sink its dagger-like teeth into his flesh, there was the distinct sound of releasing pressure, and the grimm was flung from his chest.

Haddy quickly recovered, jumping to his feet as he watched the grimm begin to dissipate, leaving only the thick stem of a crossbow bolt stuck into its hide. He half-turned his head to see that Blue was supporting a comically-sized crossbow with ease, staring down the sights as she nodded to him.

He didn't have much time to nod back as Gae spoke, "Looks like Isabella found one of our toys! Too bad it's only got one shot... although, she could reuse her ammo, that means running straight toward our little kittens!"

Haddy hated to admit that Gae had a point. He quickly snatched the crossbow bolt as the remaining two Sabyrs clawed their way out of their prison. They circled for a moment, studying their prey before they lunged into a sprint. The husky quickly whipped around, tossing the bolt back to Blue as he pulled another pellet into his sling.

"Find a melee weapon," he called back, "We don't know how many of these things she's gonna throw at us!"

"Yes, sir!" The beagle shouted back, knocking the bolt again.

Together, Haddy and Blue fired their projectiles. On the right, the crossbow bolt tore through the eye of its Sabyr, downing the beast in one hit. The husky flung his sling ahead, striking the grimm on the shoulder. Frost and ice exploded, creating a misty fog as the capsule burst. The feline beast hardly even flinched. Damn it; he really should stick that last ice pellet in his pocket if the grimm Gae was going to throw at them were from Solitas.

He wasn't gonna give the grimm the same chance its brethren had. Haddy ran at the charging Sabyr, jumping just before it pounced. As he kicked, he activated his spikes, slamming his boot into the face of the big cat. It screamed and hissed the husky pushed off and forced the beast into the ground. Before it could recover, Haddy braced and jumped as high as he could, crashing down onto the Sabyr's skull.

As black, smelly goo splattered against his boots and pants legs, he heard Gae announce, "Ooh, that doesn't wash out. Looks like we're gonna have to up the ante if we're gonna see any blood!"

The creaking sound of another door being hefted open shook the arena. Hadrian took the chance to get a better look around. Blue had her arms full of weapons, her beautiful, tattered dress now covered in even more dust and dirt, and she was headed for him. She was good. There was no trace of the shy, skittish kid she'd been up until the fight. No aura meant limited or no semblance, so she wasn't relying on that, which meant she either didn't use it often or she was capable of switching up her style. Either way, she's pretty cool-headed under pressure.

Alright, he didn't have to worry about her as much as he thought he'd have to. He turned his head up. The walls were made of sheer concrete, so they definitely weren't gonna be able to climb out... not that they could get past the fence trapping them in. He might be able to pry open that rising trap door if they could get back to it, but he doubted it.

By this point, Blue had joined him, opening her arms to show a myriad of choices. He asked, "Which ones do you want?"

"I can use anything, sir," she replied sincerely.

He nodded, quickly glancing before snatching a painted shield and wooden hatchet. That left Blue with the crossbow, a training dagger, and a dulled greatsword. Gae really wasn't making this easy for them... That was when he realized he hadn't been paying attention to the next wave of grimm approaching.

Blue was already searching; but, as Haddy scanned the area, there was nothing. The heavy door was chained up, revealing a dark and empty cage. Not good. As the pair slowly circled with their backs together, he continued to look around.

The magenta murderess said she'd be using creatures of grimm from Solitas, which narrowed the pool of potential candidates down. He couldn't currently see them, which meant they were invisible or currently undetectable. He took a deep breath in through his nose. His senses were bombarded with what felt like ten thousand different smells. Popcorn, blood, metal, sweat, honey, pollen, make-up, crowds, death, and... something sharp. He focused, inhaling as his nose told him an acidic story.

Centinels.

On cue, the creepy crawlies burst from the ground. Both he and Blue barely managed to push off into the air as the ground exploded. The beagle girl shouted as she twirled around with the sword horizontal at her hip. She easily slashed the head off of the nearest Centinel, clearing a place for the pair to land as Haddy threw another capsule with his sling.

Lightning jumped from grimm to grimm, stunning them long enough for the husky to quip, "I hate these damn things..."

The faunus split, each jumping off in separate directions to try to thin out the hoard. Hadrian slid on his knees as he slashed into one of the scaled grimm, slicing it in two with a jagged cut. He managed to twirl up to his feet to avoid the corrosive blood that splattered to the ground, sizzling as it landed. As he twisted, he used the edge of his shield to partially decapitate another. The arthropod nearly ripped its own head off to turn and drench the husky in a generous bath of acid. The beagle girl landed, bringing the large sword through the remaining tendons.

Haddy danced around the Centinels, striking the back of their necks with the dulled blade of his hatchet, aiming to injure them while Blue followed his lead and finished the job. They worked well together despite having never fought side-by-side before. Atlesian training, he suspected. In his mind, he counted down the number of fallen grimm, trying to keep track of how many enemies were left.

The blue-eyed girl ducked under a wide swing of his shield as she sunk her dagger into the eye of one of the arthropods. As she pulled back, a few drops of the corrosive blood boiled on her skin. Haddy quickly pulled her around as he bashed the grimm back with the painted shield, finishing it off with a strike in the break of its segmented, scaled armor. He quickly turned his head back to Blue, only to find that she'd easily recovered and already stabbed the greatsword through the next grimm. He couldn't help but wince at the growing burn on her forearm.

"Ooh," Gae commented, "Not quick enough on the follow-through, ladies and gents."

He didn't let it distract him though, instead, he pulled his sling back as he easily slipped one of the icy blue pellets into its cradle. With no effort at all, he flipped clear over the beagle, flinging the projectile at the ground in front of her. It exploded with a frosty mist, which once cleared revealed that he'd frozen the remaining Centinels in place... or so he thought, at least.

As Hadrian approached the ground, upside down no less, he flung his shield like a discus straight through the segmented torso of one of the grimm where it slid around on the ice, bouncing off the trapped grimm and back to Blue's feet. He had planned to finish his aerial feat with a graceful landing atop the shield to use as a sled or ski along his icy path. What he didn't expect was the gentle rumble of burrowing as one of the Centinels burst from the wall, apparently just able to avoid being frozen.

He watched in slow motion as it opened its proboscis maw stretched open and a spray of green acid came flying at the pair. Blue had already started to fall to her knees, dropping her sword in favor of going for the shield to attempt to protect herself. Haddy wouldn't be so lucky, and he knew that she wouldn't either. No matter how fast the beagle was, she wasn't going to be able to prevent herself from being coated in the corrosive spit.

Instead, Hadrian used his falling momentum to twist around and push his back towards the Centinel. He pushed down a scream as the viscous venom splattered onto the back of his shirt and easily burned through into his skin. The acidic sputum tore through his muscle and forced an explosion of pain to tear through his nerves, but he didn't care. Haddy worked through the pain as the world sped up again.

He clicked his boots together, activating his crampons as he slammed into the dirty ground and couldn't hold back his pained scream this time. He didn't hesitate though, just pushed through as he used all his strength to push back up into the air, connecting his spiked boot to the underside of the Centinel and goring it through. He barely managed to keep his balance as he continued what had morphed into an attacking back handspring and staggered into a landing next to Blue.

Cheers erupted louder than ever as Haddy fell to one knee, straining not to howl with pain. Gae gleefully clapped as she exclaimed, "That's gotta hurt, folks! Looks like our perfect, little faunus-in-shining-armor isn't as indestructible as he'd have us believe!"

By the Brothers, he hated this woman.

Blue had already jumped to his side, putting a ginger hand on either of his intensely burning shoulders. He sucked in a sharp breath before ordering, "Blue, you need to take out the rest of the grimm while they're still frozen in place! I'm fine; go!"

She hesitated but complied, turning on her heel and charging the short distance between her and the remaining arthropods. She had enough sense to kick Mr. Snow's shield back towards him as she knelt down and sunk the flat greatsword deep into the abdomen of one of the beasts. The beagle easily bisected the creepy-crawly, jumping as she carried the blade through the air. Using that momentum, she swung the sword around at her waist and easily decapitated the remaining grimm before her feet even touched the melting ice.

By this point, Haddy had managed to use the wall and his returned shield to push himself up along the wall. His blue-haired partner quickly came to his side, pulling one of his arms across her shoulders to support him as the crowd began to boo and throw drinks and refreshments into the pit.

"Isn't that adorable..."

Hadrian's head rose back up to where Gae's announcing box was stationed high above everyone else. She was staring down at them with an amused smirk, one arm perched on her hip as she leaned to one side. She chuckled, "Let's see how that 'pack mentality' holds up against another one..."

The creaking of more chains quickly drew his attention back down into the arena. Another one of the metallic doors was being hoisted open. He wanted nothing more than to just collapse there and leave whatever was coming at them this time to Blue, but he refused to give in to the throbbing pain pulsing through his back. With a shaky inhale, he pulled himself off the girl's shoulders and brought the shield up defensively. For just a moment she looked as if she were going to object, however, she just nodded and returned her attention to the grimm.

Quickly, Haddy stuck the hatchet into the back of his belt, securing it by the wooden head as he loaded his sling with one of his two remaining shots. He pulled back his arm, readying to fire as soon as the door was high enough for one of them to slip in and take the grimm by surprise. He just needed one more moment... as his arm started to fling itself forward...

A shrieking, bloodcurdling howl pierced his ears as flashes of heartbreaking pain tore through him.

The orb of lightning slipped from the sling just a tad late as Haddy nearly stumbled backward. It exploded harmlessly against the rising door. He couldn't help but shake as a large paw stepped into the blinding light of the arena, followed in suit by many more. The iced Alpha had to lean down to not hit its head on the metallic door as it sulked into the pit, scanning until it found its prey.

When its bloody red eyes met Haddy's, he couldn't help but fall back a pace, nearly dropping the shield as his weeping back painfully scraped along the concrete walls trapping them here. He could feel himself hyperventilating as his entire body shook uncontrollably. He knew Gae was taunting him and that Blue was trying to talk to him, her back turned to the enemy as she gripped onto his shoulders and shook him, but all he heard were screams.

"Y'all have'ta get outta he-AGRHHHHHHHHH--"

"OLLIE! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, BASTARDS! I SWEAR, I'LL MAKE YOU PA--AHHHHHH!!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!"

Leo didn't even have time to scream out in pain...

That had been his first coherent thought after waking up in that infirmary.

He was jolted back to the present when Blue grabbed the shield from his grasp and twisted around to charge at the murderous grimm. They were still grouped together, circling one another as they howled and waited for the students to make a move. He wanted to scream for her to fall back, to yell and plead up at Gae to release them, because he knew that he and his team hadn't been able to beat a pack like this at their full power with their auras, semblances, weapons, and training... so, what chance did they stand now?

Blue parried away a sweeping set of claws that attempted to gore her as she drove her sword through the chest of another Beowolf. She easily twisted out of the way as another tried to tear into her flesh, pulling her blade from its brethren and swinging it into the lanky arm of her attacker, literally disarming it. However, she couldn't avoid it as the Alpha swung down at her, creating a set of bloody gashes down her torso from her shoulder.

She screamed in pain as she was no longer able to hold the heavy weapon, dropping it into a puddle of her own blood. He could only watch as she tried to grab her wound, apply some feeble pressure to alleviate the gushing tears in her flesh... and as the Alpha's gaping maw dripped with saliva, raising its blood-soaked claw up again to strike her.

"BELLL-AAAAHHH!!"

To be continued...

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