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Chapter 49: Brothers

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“Cease! All combatants are to cease fighting!”

The announcer's voice boomed across the entire field. All gunfire ended immediately in fear of being disqualified.

“The time limit of one hour has been reached which means the preliminary round has come to a finish! Our timers have been keeping track of the scores and here they are! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our top 64 Hunters and Huntresses!”

The big holographic screen stopped displaying the faces of the combatants and instead showed a table listing the top sixteen teams with the highest average times.

1st00:48:5300:48:53 Liela Atkinson

00:48:51 Gaea Bronzewing

00:48:54 Diane Geotal

00:48:53 Ted Turncoat2nd00:40:3200:43:50 Simon Helix

00:42:20 Pyrrha Nikos

00:38:03 Amy Seraphine

00:37:55 Weiss Schnee. . .

Robin stared stunned with amazement. First place was monopolized by their very own Student Council members.

= To think that the timers are so close to each other. Doesn't that mean ever since we saw them attack that hill, they never gave it up? Incredible. What about us? =

Even Robin's team had difficulty not letting their pedestals being taken from time to time. After all, since the preliminary round was nearing the end, the rest of the fighters were a lot stronger than the average contestants. Although there were some variance in the timers, the control of the hill was never out of their grasp, thus leading to the resulting score.

...10th00:22:4200:22:45 Velvet Scarletina

00:22:40 Robin Wolfheart

00:21:41 Sun Wukong

00:23:42 Nora Valyrie...

= Not bad, we're in the middle. How did the others do? =

After scanning the scores, Robin was pleased to find that all the others, with the exception of Osagi, had passed the preliminary round. Some of them ranked higher than him. No doubt it was because they got paired with strong teammates. However, what he discovered about Raven's score left him speechless.

...16th00:19:1400:00:00 Raven Branwen

00:25:50 Yatsuhashi Daichi

00:25:45 Traekul Lua

00:25:21 Neptune Vasilias

= 0?! What in the world? Raven got knocked out before she even got a chance to fight?! Wait, but she's on the board, so she passed anyway. Just how strong were her teammates? =

Naturally, Robin refused to believe Raven was incapable of scoring more than one second on the board. After all, he was probably the only one who witnessed her using the Essence of Darkness. Plus, he was very familiar with her antisocial nature over the past year. Rather than losing very early on, Robin believed she had purposefully thrown the match. The only thing was he couldn't understand why.

(Author's note: I will be replacing “Essence of Darkness” with the acronym “EoD” from now on. Since I plan to be using the term more frequently, this is to avoid tedious typing and reading by both you and me.)

Of course, this piece of news was shocking to the rest of the audience and combatants. Unfortunately, they were not so understanding. In their eyes, they were seeing someone incompetent get a free ride into the top 64 by letting their teammates doing all the work. As a result, many people started jeering. Fighters, both on the field and watching in their infirmary rooms, started to shout in protest.

“What is a weakling doing in the top 64?”

“This is a competition for the best! You don't deserve that spot!”

“I trained so hard for this.”

“Now now. Lets all calm down.”

The announcer named Perry tried to put out the flames peacefully. Eventually, he got the crowd to settle down before speaking again.

“As I have said before, those who have appeared on the screen will be moving on to the next round. No if's, and's, or but's.”

The announcer waved off the complaints with only a single comment. The people were not pleased, but that was the least of the announcer's worries. Competitors are competitors regardless of what the audience thinks. No matter how much they cried, the audience would have no influence over their decisions...or that's how it's supposed to be.

“Moving on, those of you that have made it through the first test, please meet up again in one hour at the dining hall in the East building. Only those who qualified are allowed present. That should give you enough time to clean yourselves up and rendezvous with your family for a short period of time. Thank you for coming everyone!”

And thus the preliminary round came to a close. Robin and his temporary teammates said their goodbyes before heading over to their respective gates. On the way to her room, Velvet was hugged from behind by a beautiful girl with aviators on. She immediately let out a high-pitched squeal.

“Nice job on passing.” Coco said.

“You scared me! Don't sneak up on me like that!” Velvet reprimanded.

“Were you watching from the sides?”

Coco let go of Velvet and smiled softly at the bunny faunus.

“Yeah. Your power is scary as always. Eliminating dozens of players by a lava slide. Still, did you have to beat me? I was hoping for the four of us to fight together.”

“Ah, I'm sorry! I was just a bit threaten by your presence. Plus, I was worried about not passing. I hope you don't mind.”

Velvet bowed her head down repeatedly while apologizing. Seeing this occur, Coco couldn't help but laugh.

“I don't mind. There are only 16 hills anyway. Some of us were bound to be eliminated. I think it's great Yatsuhashi and Fox got in as well... Oh yeah, what was the name of that teammate of yours? The one that helped you beat me.”

“Robin?..I think his name was Robin Wolfheart. Why?”

“Oh no reason. He just piqued my interest is all.”

Velvet gave Coco a stare.

“...Don't flirt with our juniors.”

Coco tilted her shades and started at Velvet's eyes with her own.

“Don't be silly. I just said he was interesting, not that I wanted him in bed.”

“Say that to your past five boyfriends... I need a bath.”

With that said, Velvet dashed off to find her parents and her hotel room. Coco took off her shades, staring at Velvet's back disappearing into the crowd and chuckled.

“ 'I was threaten by your presence', she says. Ha! You knew I was one of your difficult opponents, and decided to beat me first.”

Despite her timid nature, Velvet wasn't stupid. Coco could beat her in a 1v1 matchup, but Velvet held the advantage in the team battle. Since team battles weren't guaranteed in the main rounds, Velvet decided to take care of Coco now. For the two of them who were partnered for some time, this knowledge was not needed to be spoken, but was understood. That's why Coco accepted Velvet's challenge in the first place. In the end, Coco lost and Velvet was the victor. Coco once again shook her head.

“You talk as if you tried your hardest just to pass, but in reality you didn't even use your weapon once that preliminary round. You sly girl, are you hiding your strength?”

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Robin after wandering in the lobby found the rest of Team COBRA talking with Amy and Osagi. He jogged over and greeted each of them.

“Hey!” he said.

“Looks like we all past.”

“Almost all of us” Osagi corrected with a look on his face. Robin feigned ignorance and questioned him.

“Whaaat? Someone didn't pass? And here I thought our strength was unrivaled. Who didn't past, Osagi?”

“Screw you, Robin.”

The kids laughed at the banter between the two boys. As they begin talking to one another about their fights, Blake tapped Robin on the shoulder.

“Hey Robin, who were your teammates?”

“I was in a team of 3 faunus and one human girl. It was Velvet, Nora, and...Sun? Yeah Sun.”

“Was Velvet the bunny girl?”

“Yeah she was amazing. It was thanks to her we got off so easily. I am really in her debt for saving me. Do you know her?”

Blake didn't know her of course, but before they left the stadium she had searched through the crowd for Robin's silhouette. Upon finding him, she saw he was talking to another faunus girl who happened to be a bunny, a popular race among the guys both human and faunus. How could Blake, who had feelings for Robin, not get jealous? Of course, she wouldn't admit that to him.

“No, I don't.”

She turned away and pouted. Robin had a forced smile on his face while Conner observed the two of them closely. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge shadow snuck up behind Blake and embraced her. His burly arms squeezed tightly around his precious daughter as he rubbed his face against her own.

“Ah my precious little baby. Look at how much you've grown.”

“Ew Dad. Stop it!”

Yes, the cat faunus man in front of them was Blake's dad, Ebon Belladonna. Just like Blake, he had an extra set of cat ears on the top of his head and had black hair that reached his shoulders. He had a beard covering the side of his face that was currently rubbing against Blake's cheeks. Thankfully, a hand pulled against Ebon's ear and separated him from Blake.

“Ow,ow,ow! Honey please!”

“Don't you “Honey please” me! Give the girl some space would you!”

“Mom!”

Blake immediately hugged her mother, Elina Belladonna. The mother and daughter pair smiled at one another while the father grumbled.

“What with this difference in treatment...”

“Haha. Don't get so down Ebon. We'll be here for the next few days. Lets enjoy ourselves.”

Of course, Robin knew this voice very well. Upon turning around, he found himself face to face with his own mother and father, Christina and Joseph. Beside them were Conner and Ophelia's parents as well. Each one of them greeted their children ecstatically.

“Mama! Papa!” Ophelia squealed.

“Good to see you Chief.” Conner said.

“It's good to see you too, Conner”

Barney Dinkleberg, the chief of the village, stood next to his wife and they smiled at Conner. He returned the expression.

“Come now Robin. Don't you have anything to say to your parents after not seeing us for so long?” Joseph said with a wry smile on his face.

Of course Robin was silent. He was staring his mother, Christina, or to be more precise, who she was holding. Christina smiled as she rocked the baby child.

“Mother...who is that?”

“This, dear Robin, is your baby brother, Jackson.”

= Well this is news to me! =

“What?.. when?”

His mother blushed as his father laughed heartily. Blake's dad nudged Robin with his elbow, and spoke into his ears.

“Haha, your mother was pretty lonely without you home. It seems that they got a little busy, but they didn't expect to get him in the first try if you know what I mean.”

“EBON!”

Those words only caused Christina to blushed harder and his father to roar louder.

“When did this happen? You never bothered to call and tell me?” Robin questioned.

“We wanted it to be a surprise.” Joseph responded.

“He was born only a couple of weeks ago, and we figured you were busy training for the tournament, so we didn't say anything. So... Surprise!”

= … =

Robin had a complicated look on his face as he stared at what was now apparently his little brother. Despite the name being identical to his little brother in his past life, they were born very far apart in age which was completely different from last time. Only bad memories resurfaced when he thought about his little brother. But how could this baby be the same little brother he had in the past? After all, Robin was the only one in this new world, right?

“Robin?”

“Ah! Sorry, I guess you really did surprise me a lot.. Congrats! You succeeded.”

In response to his father's voice, Robin pulled himself together and banished his negative thoughts.

= Stop. He's not the Jackson I knew, and I'm not the Robin I was. This is my little brother. I should be happy. =

“Well lets go eat lunch.” Ebon proposed. “You all must be famished.”

Elina once more yanked on her husband's ear with a sigh escaping her lips.

“You fool. You don't understand girls at all.”

She looked at everyone with a gentle expression.

“You must be dirty from the fight. Lets get you washed up in our hotel rooms. You also need to get to that meeting later right? We'll have to catch up later. Do you have your room keys?”

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At a five star hotel, Kalte Schnee was pacing the room slowly. He stepped towards the door, turned around upon reaching it, and then went to the window. When he got to the window, he turned around and started the cycle over again. Even if they were provided with a luxurious hotel room, how could the Schnee family resort to using something meant for the commoners? Because of their sense of pride, they were currently occupying a room meant for eight people for the sake of one Weiss Schnee. Her father was simply visiting.

For anyone else, this would look like a man who was deep in thought. His face showed no signs of emotions, and his stature displayed elegance and power as he paced back and forth. However, for the young Weiss Schnee sitting on the chair in the middle of the room, the atmosphere was unbearable with the silence that filled the room.

“What place did you get?”

Kalte's stern voice echoed in the room. His tone demanded a reply that he already knew.

“Second place, father.” Weiss reply in a respectful tone.

“And who did you lose to?”

“The Myriad Four, favored winners of--”

“Ah-Ah-Ah.” Kalte stopped her and waved his finger.

“Who are we?”

“The Schnee family.”

“That's right. We are the Schnee family. The ones that stand at the top. Does the family at the top lose?”

“No, father.”

“That's right. We don't lose. Especially since your team was supposed to be the strongest.”

“But father, they we--”

“Stop... Now I understand. Those four were favored winners. For whatever reason, you were grouped with two freshmen instead the upperclassmen which was not supposed to happen. After all, I did spend a good amount of money to convince the people in charge to adapt our.. way of thinking.”

Weiss had a look of shock on her face.

“You bribed them, father?”

Kalte ignored her question and continued.

“Thus, I can understand you getting second place. However, that does not excuse your performance against that animal.”

Of course, the “animal” was referring to Robin who single handedly saw through the illusion and defeated Weiss. If not for Simon's interference, the chances of her team getting second would have been nonexistent.

“We are the Schnee family. The Schnee family do not lose. Your performance has made me the laughingstock among our people. As punishment, I am deducting 50,000 dollars from your allowance.”

“Father!!” Weiss pleaded with her eyes, but she knew such actions were futile.

“I will not hear it. I hope you will reflect on these events and make sure you don't make this happen again.”

“..Yes, father. I understand.”

“Good. I must go now. Make sure you aren't late to the meeting area.”

With that last comment, Kalte left the room without delay. Weiss waited for time to pass by. After she was sure her father was gone, Weiss kicked the table in anger. The force flipped it in the air and landed upside down. She was absolutely livid.

“I should have won! There was no way that scoundrel could have beaten me fair and square. He must have cheated. This isn't fair!”

Weiss took out her rapier and stabbed the table repeatedly. The face of the boy that caused her so much misfortune caused her mood to turn sour. In her heart, she knew this wasn't true, but her pride was stepped on by one of those animals. This lead to her making excuses for her shortcomings.

“It's all because of him! If he wasn't there, none of this would have happened! I will remove you from this competition as soon as I can. Just you wait, scum!”

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“...”

“...”

They were currently in the building where the contestants were to meet. The host was standing on the podium and speaking to the Hunters and Huntresses.

“And there you have it. These will be your new teammates for the first round tomorrow. Please get along with each other and exchange pointers. Those with same numbers will be on the same team. Have fun!”

Robin and Weiss stared at each other. Both held a token on their hand, each one with the number eight. Nearby was a redhead and Diane who also held a number eight token. Diane looked at the two of them with an amused expression.

“..So.” Robin began.

“You're my teammate huh? I'm Robin. Nice to meet you.”

He held out his hand, but was promptly ignored by the girl.

“Hmph.”

A vein popped on Robin's forehead as he was once again put in an annoying situation.

= ...God damn it all. =