Enter Stage Right

The night was the busiest Raishun had ever seen. Stagehands wearing black shirts scurried around the arena, ensuring that everything was flawless. The sizeable octagonal stage where he would be performing was white in color. There was a second stage at a lower position, where Beat would be performing during the fight.

"Hey, how come I don't get a fancy outfit like you?" Raishun asked the masked singer. Butterflies fluttered about his stomach, filling him with a sense of anxious excitement.

"Your combat outfit will suffice. The alterations to your capelet give it enough glamour that you don't need anything fancy." He replied matter of factly.

Gil, or rather Beat, was wearing the same outfit Raishun had seen on the CD case. A navy-colored admiral's coat, cravat and all, with golden accents. A similarly colored and accented sash draped from his left shoulder down to his hip and seemed to shimmer every time it caught the light.

"If you say so." Raishun shrugged, "So how are we getting you out of here after? We don't want you getting chased to the ends of the earth by your fans now."

"Simple. I'll change clothes in the locker room with you when we're finished. Pass myself off as your trainer and all that." Beat replied with a grin, "That way, I can go help Alisa and Laura with preparing the town for the Vytal Festival. You and your girlfriend are welcome to come help too."

"She's not my girlfriend-"

"Please, the girl already put a ring on you." He retorted with a half-hearted gesture to the golden band around Raishun's neck. "Cultural differences aside, rings mean a lot of things, and 'just friends' isn't one of them."

"That's…" The Legion paused to consider the singer's words, his fingers grazing the cool metal of the band around his neck. "Yeah you're right. I've known for a while that it meant something intimate." He relented, "I was planning on making it official once I finished catching up on schoolwork you know. That way I can be sure that I'll provide for her once I'm out of Beacon."

Beat looked at him in surprise, then snickered and began to laugh.

"Hey! Don't tell anyone okay!" Raishun growled in embarrassment, "I only told you cause I know your secret identity okay!"

"You can relax. I won't tell anyone." Beat replied, lifting his mask ever so slightly to wipe away a tear. "It just surprised me. I never thought a clown could be so mature."

Raishun turned away, doing his best to hide his burning cheeks. Suddenly the sound of a horn filled the arena, effectively putting an end to the conversation. He clenched his fist and cast a sideways glance at his accomplice.

"Showtime huh? Play something that'll get my blood pumping!" The blue-haired boy said with a smile before jogging away to his position on one end of the arena.

"I won't let you beat me a second time Eric. You can count on that."

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"Woah. The view's so good from up here!"

The surging roar of the cheering crowd did annoy her. But as long as she was up high, she didn't mind it too much. After being apart from him for so long, something as minor as loud noise wouldn't be enough to ruin the moment. Nestling into an L-shaped cubby behind one of the stage lights on the ceiling, she pulled her black cloak tightly around her body. There was no way she would risk being seen.

"Please welcome to the stage, Vale's Fifth Legion!" The singer, who she recognized as Beat, yelled to the crowd, stoking their excitement at the mention of a Legion. "The Vanguard: Raishun!"

Cheers filled her ears, followed by the lights quickly focusing on the Legion in question. As he walked towards the middle of the arena, her world seemed to be falling away.

Raishun was different from when she had seen him last. Any fat on his body was gone, replaced with toned muscle. His eyes were full of confidence, a far cry from the look of terror he had on when they first reunited. Then he smiled. It was a wide toothy grin, followed by an energetic waving towards the crowd.

[He looks good.] She thought, feeling her cheeks fill with heat. [He did alter the outfit I gave him… but it's a good fit for him.]

"His opponent today is the undefeated fighter of the first year students! The Immortal Demon King: Eric!"

She didn't recognize the other boy. His eyes were the color of warm embers, yet his skin was a sickly pale gray in color. In combination with the black trench coat he wore, the hood thrown over his head obscured most of his features.

"Come on Raishun! Fight!" She whispered to herself as the countdown reached zero. Both boys circled each other, neither one willing to take the initiative. Then in a burst of light, Raishun closed the distance between them, driving his knee into the taller boy's stomach.

Eric lurched forward in pain, only for Raishun to press the tip of his sword against his throat. Orange aura flared, protecting the taller boy from harm. The moment he was on the ground, the music surged. She would admit it sounded beautiful, but most of all, it didn't subtract from the fight.

With a roar, Eric kicked Raishun off and swung his fire-wreathed sickle through the air. The resulting embers blinded Raishun long enough to allow Eric to regain his footing. He said something she couldn't hear before throwing his hand out to the side. A wave of white light resounded throughout the arena, and the yellow wing on Raishun's back disappeared.

[Not good! Without his Burst, Raishun can't beat him in turns of strength!] The girl thought to herself.

However, her worry was short-lived as a large burst of energy swept across the arena. Slowly it started floating up into the air, along with the more minor platform Beat was performing on. The cameras switched from Beat to Raishun, and her eyes widened at the sight.

"Imperial Resonance." She whispered, eyes widening at the sight of his enhanced form. "It used to be orange… but the blue color looks so beautiful."

Ponytail whipping through the air, Raishun closed the distance between him and Eric once more. The lines that ran up his body seemed to pulse brightly as he gathered energy into a blue spike in his hand. With a loud cry, he swung, driving the spike down towards Eric's chest. But the mysterious Huntsman was quick and jumped back out of the way before landing a devastating slash up Raishun's body.

"No! Come on, don't give up!" The woman cheered in a hushed voice, "You can still win!"

The girl watched eagerly as Raishun toppled to the floor. The roars of the crowd swelled at the same time as Beat's singing. She stared in complete shock at his motionless body, her hands balled tightly into fists.

A visible crack appeared on his neck, spreading all over his body until, with the sound of a window breaking, his resonance fell away.

"No…" She clutched the metal rafter she was sitting on for support, tears welling in her eyes. "Get up Raishun… please!"

An image flashed in her head. It was raining, the cries of dying Huntsmen mixed with the rapid beating of her heart. The school was in shambles, the buildings were destroyed mainly by Grimm. The rain beating down on her skin felt like a heavyweight, threatening to crush her if she stopped moving.

"Don't let it repeat itself again! Wake up!"

There was a loud screech of metal piercing metal. The girl looked to her right, and saw a baseball sized hole in the rafter beside her head. Switching her gaze forward, she saw that she was not alone.

"Hohoho! I don't remember you buying a ticket lady." The pink-haired girl in front of her said in a confident tone. She was wearing a sleeveless dark green uniform. There was a black stripe running down the center of her outfit, cut off by the belt full of pouches stuffed close to bursting. Her hair was tied into a ponytail on the side of her head, that seemed to swing about with every movement of her body. On her shoulders was a rifle that was at least twice the size of her body.

"I'm gonna need to see some identification 'kay? That or at least a million lien for me to forget this ever happened."

The music swelled, and the lights starting straying randomly about the battlefield. She could hear cheers, the sound of metal on metal. [He's still fighting! I want to watch, but this pest is in the way!]

From inside her cloak, she pulled free a heavy two-handed longsword, which she brandished at the pink-haired girl.

"I'm sorry, but it's a bit too early for me to be seen!" She said with a polite curtsey. "Please do me a favor, and die quietly so I can see my love in action!"