RWBY: Remnant's Blond Bard

Chapter 11

Pyrrha's suited agents came and picked him up at the agreed time and drove him to a rather sizable stadium – a domed building with its own stands, all enclosed under a glass roof that from the outside looked clear but was actually opaque on the inside.

"Holographic tech from Atlas," said one of the bodyguards when Jaune asked. "It usually dims for fights so the glare from the sun isn't a factor. Either for the competitors or the audience. This place isn't just for fights, though. They music concerts, theatre, and all sorts of things here and the ceiling helps with that."

"They even do movies on Wednesdays," said the other. "And they can simulate rain with mist generators and surround sound. Full 4D cinema experience."

"That's so cool!" Jaune said. "We don't have anything like this back home!"

"Nothing like this anywhere outside the cities, kid. I should know. And you only have it here because of how new Argus is, relatively speaking. It was a big deal between Atlas and Mistral to be able to make a town work, especially when Mountain Glenn didn't, so once it was clear the place wasn't going to fall to the Grimm, they went hog wild on investments. Wanted to show off to the world what they could accomplish."

"And they did a good job," said Jaune. "This place is amazing. What's Mountain Glenn, though?"

"Vale's own attempt at creating another city," said the first agent, morosely. "Didn't go well and everyone died. Don't let the glitz and glam fool you. Argus is something of a miracle – and between you and me, it's the proximity of Atlas that helps. Argus has faced off Grimm several times, but Atlas is close enough to respond within the hour." He shook his head. "In here. We'll go through the back and avoid the lines out front. Staff entrance."

Jaune guessed he counted as staff for today. They mentioned lines, and there was certainly one hell of a crowd outside the stadium, and even more within. He'd put it at over a thousand people, many of whom were young and waving flags with the letter P on or, in some cases, Pyrrha's own face or figure. There were posters along the walls of Pyrrha as well, though the bodyguard mentioned those changed depending on what they were advertising as their next big event. They'd be movie posters for cinema day and were only dominated by Pyrrha today because of this charity event.

Soon, he was brought through to a smaller and more comfortable room with a bar, tables, and a glass-pane window wall looking over the arena from above. There were numerous television sets and a few vending machines.

"This is the VIP booth," explained one of the agents. "You'll be watching from here as the fights start and run through. You won't be expected to play until after the finals when Miss Nikos returns for the celebratory afterparty."

"Is it that much of a guarantee she'll win...?" The two laughed. "Did I say something funny?"

"The party is to celebrate the money earned for charity, not who wins." The answer had him blushing. "But, in all honesty, it is a bit of a foregone conclusion. Maybe there'll be an upset, but I highly doubt it. Nikos has proven herself the match of everyone and anyone in Argus. We're all waiting to see how she matches up in the bigger tournaments in Mistral, but she's crushed the Sanctum and Argus ones. No competition."

Wow. He hadn't realised she was so strong. Well, he had thanks to his Semblance telling him her level, but an arbitrary number didn't really do good job of showing that. It made him wonder how strong Raven and Qrow were, because they were some of the highest levels he'd seen. Then again, they had twenty years' experience on Pyrrha. How strong would she be at their age? It was crazy to imagine the disparity in strength between the average sixteen-year-old and her.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha's voice called his attention to a far door where she'd appeared with a tall woman with red hair tied back behind her head. Her mother, he assumed. The two agents stepped aside as she jogged up, smiling brightly. "You made it!"