Italics = text messages or Neo's signs or thoughts

Bold = TVs, calls, and other electronic voices

(POV - Zarek)

"That was fun! Oh, ohohohohohohoho, we need to do this again sometime! Ohahahahahahah!" Ray exclaims rather cheerfully, considering she lost.

"I don't see why not," I give the (probably) slightly crazy girl with the weirdest intonation I have ever heard my number. And Collin has a unique accent due to his genetics and Ray tops even his pretty wild speaking patterns.

But I digress. I reenter the waiting room, which is notably more empty since people have been eliminated. After the Aura healer, can't forget her.

"Hey! Nix! Over here!" Mercury calls out from a corner of the room, near one of the many TVs.

"Looks like the White Fang's reign of terror has begun. I thought they were to hold off until July?" I ask, given the assassination of a prominent anti-WF member. Side note, even in an alternate world, people still hold to frankly stupid beliefs. At least, I think they're stupid. Then again, I understand that I'm fairly biased.

"They were. I guess their part of the plan is moving forward smoothly." Merc pulls me from my thoughts.

"Ah. Do you know if Roman has a place picked out to put all the Dust we'll be getting?"

"No, Neo?" Merc responds to my question. Neo shakes her head no.

"I'll have to ask him the next chance I get. Who's up next for the tournament?" I ask and Neo puts her hand up like a schoolgirl.

"Well, good luck. I don't think you'll need it though." I wish my little icecream girl luck as she enters the arena. Guess what? She didn't. It was a one sided ass whooping.

Soon enough I return to the arena, facing off against someone that looks awfully similar to someone I just met.

"Haaaaaaay! I heard you beat up my sister! Good! That means you might be interesting!" Ecru, as the scoreboard names her, yells out across the arena.

I roll my eyes at her antics, "Just worry about fighting, I only have so much patience after a fight like earlier."

"OOOOooooh. You'll make a great plaything." Ecru maliciously states.

The countdown begins anew as we draw our weapons, her a javelin that has a very large magazine attached to it, and me my twin revolvers. The arena appears to be split between a mountain and a city, with the city behind me… Is the universe trying to tell me something?

"Begin!" Ecru opens up with a newly shifted LMG (light machine gun), catching me flat footed.

"Guess I'm more out of it after that last fight than I thought." I mention aloud before making an expeditious retreat into the city.

"I was right, you are going to be a fun plaything. Now, come out, come out wherever you are~!" Ecru singsongs out through the empty city scape. I bide my time as she checks empty buildings, occasionally spraying bullets at the shadows.

"Now don't make this boring for me or I might have to pull out all the STOPS!" Ecru says, enunciating the end with a massive flare of fire that quickly ravages one of the buildings turning it into a molten puddle of concrete and steel.

'Challenge accepted.' I swing using my line launcher and flip before spiking her head into the ground and use the kinda wonky gravity of Remnant (how else do you think it's possible to jump from falling rubble?) to get back into one of the buildings, but not before firing a shot at the vulnerable Ecru.

She kicks herself back up and says, "There you are…" with true venom leaking from her voice while spinning her LMG to bear. I purposely fall out of the window and kick off from the building, bullets spraying around me, towards her.

I meant for that to be a feign. Totally. "Enough with the tricks, come and play with me~!" I'm kind of standing in front of you. What do you mean tricks? I'll find out later. I end the fight unceremoniously by clocking her on the back of the head with my revolver.

(POV - Ecru)

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" My voice echoes out across the poor town my sister and I have come across. My flames have spread across this unprepared town in the Vacuan desert with my sister dimming the flames to the point of being invisible. Nothing has people scream for me like an invisible flame. I do prefer being able to see the flames spread and just cause chaos but that attracts too much Grimm for my tastes.

(POV - Zarek)

That was… Enlightening. In more ways than one. Like getting confirmation on Ray's Semblance, which is light manipulation. Just an example. I arrive back to the waiting room with Merc and Neo waiting for me.

"Nix, what the hell was that?" Mercury questions.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I respond, deadpan.

"Then what is this?" he continues questioning me while gesturing to one of the TVs which is playing back footage of me shattering through the hail of bullets that lead me to Ecru.

"Looks like Neo's semblance. Babe?" I ask Neo, who shakes her head in response.

"I already asked her if she messed with the fight. Now. What. Was. That?" Mercury presses. As if I actually know what happened.

'Unless…?' I focus my thoughts inward looking for a similar mental thread to my Semblance. I find something alright. If Adaptation feels like pulling on a rope ladder, then this feels like pulling a rope with a bunch of objects I associate with certain people; for example the one that feels closest to the top of that rope is an ice cream cone. I pull on it and a copy of me appears before us.

"What the hell?!" Mercury exclaims, with both him and Neo taking a step back.

"Huh. So that's what that was." I speak my thoughts aloud at the fact I just called upon someone else's Semblance. I flick the copy me and it shatters, as expected.

"Ok, now you have to explain." Neo forms a sign in her hand.

"Long- Ok, short story even shorter, I think I can call upon other peoples semblances after I touch them. It would explain all the visions, that would be the best way to put it, I have been getting." I explain.

"Now, how on Monty's green Remnant does that work?" Mercury asks visibly confused.

"Merc,"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go into Semblance based metaphysics or are you just gonna say that it's bullshit and move on?" I deadpan my sarchasm.

"That's bullshit."

"My points exactly. Semblances are all equally stupid and I love it." I spout my thoughts.

"This will be awkward, maybe hold off practising that until after the tournament?" Neo signs after a second to take in exactly how ridiculous and crazy powerful that would be.

"Just for you babe." I respond flirtily. Wink and everything.

"Would Neopolitan and Nix please come to the arena. Neopolitan and Nix to the arena." The announcement of the match echoes through the mostly empty waiting room.

"Shall we?" I ask, holding out a hand for her to take. I know right? Hand holding in public? So lewd.

She does take my hand as we walk to the arena, "Hey, Zarek." Neo begins aloud, "What other semblances can you call on?"

"Good question." I focus back inwards, letting her lead me to the arena, the top of the rope is still the Neo stand in of an ice cream cone. The next would be a bowler hat with orange trim just above the rim of the hat. Fairly certain that is Roman's, although I don't actually know what his semblance is. Side note the memory that I got from Roman was the same as Neo's just from his perspective. Next would be… a Camera? Interesting, I have no idea who or what the could be. The camera itself is a standard, if not high quality, camera I would expect to see at a professional photoshoot. If it is somehow Velvet, i would expect it to be her camera or a bunny or something. "I think I have Roman's here just after yours, then I don't know who's that is. Let's see what else…" I trail off as I reenter my mental scape.

Neo nudges me to pull me from my almost meditation to show the arena, blank as it has reset again. She crosses the arena to take her position as I take mine. She pulls out a sign, "Are you ready? ;)"

"Better question, are you ready?" I rebut with a smirk as the battlefield randomiser begins again. Half of the randomiser slows and stops showing a desert with a lake in the middle of it before my half of the arena begins forming. By forming I mean dumping a lot of sand on my half of the arena before a lake forms in the center of the sudden desert. Several palm trees and other greens quickly grow around the lake leaving the classic form of an Oasis.

When my half of the arena finishes forming, the other half of the randomiser finally stops, showing a snowflake with a tree in the foreground. A sudden blast of cold erupts from Neo's half of the arena, swiftly freezing the small amount of shrubbery that formed just a moment before. Several trees of different species spring up through the frozen ground as a second blast of cold, this one accompanied by snow, leaving the trees and ground covered in the white substance.

Neo pouts as this is not good for her usual fighting style, being hit and run, and considering how she hides herself… She is going to have to be creative to win this. So am I as she knows all of my fighting styles as well.

"THREE!" The countdown begins.

"TWO!" Neo deploys her parasol as I draw Luck and Probability.

"ONE!" Neo takes her fighting stance, which is parasol deployed over her shoulder and her stance ready to react to a hit. I meanwhile merely shift my weight to the right.

"FIGHT!" Neither of us move until I lazily raise Probability and take a shot at Neo. Predictably, she shatters into a million pieces.

"Playing hard to get I see. Two can play that game." I dryly state as I begin my search. I'm not trying particularly hard to try and find her as it's my entire goal to get her to come to me. To that end I have my guard seemingly lowered as bait. I start with the Oasis, given how the sand should show her footprints or the water will ripple should she move through it. I have tried to give her every possible advantage while still keeping my trap ready.

The tell tale sign of Neo's semblance shattering warns me of her attack. I duck below the first swing, high aiming for my head, but the follow up flurry I am no so lucky. However, it is my time to retaliate. I break from her attacks and fire off a few shots. Neo opens her parasol to block; evidently she forgot I have smart targeting on these revolvers as the bullets find their mark anyway.

She pulls the parasol onto her shoulder again, waiting for me to take a move. I lazily shoot the illusion again. "Really, Neo? I won that engagement, why drag this out longer than it needs to? Or do I have to incinerate this arena for you to come out?" At my taunting she reveals herself again or maybe she doesn't want me to pull on a certain pyromaniac's Semblance, we all saw what that could do.

Neo swings her parasol, once again closed, for my legs. I jump and fire Luck and Probability to propel myself away from the ice cream psychopath as she is far better than me in melee. I barely land before she's on me again. I thumb the scorch crystal on my belt, releasing a small burst of flame. It wasn't enough power to do much damage, but it did throw her off enough to allow room for a counter.

And counter I did. Or tried. There wasn't as much room in her defense as I thought. I tried to pistol whip her but she batted away my swing like a cat bats around a mouse. Now, being stuck in melee with her (for the time being), She returns the bludgeoning I attempted to do at a speed I could never hope to match.

I manage to catch her parasol in hand, unfortunately I dropped Probability to do so but sacrifices had to be made for victory before. I pull her closer and into my freshly formed fist. If it weren't for Aura (thank that bullshit of basically magic) I probably would have broken Neo's nose. Or her face. I happen to like said face, so I am happy in return that I didn't break it.

The buzzer blares, I apparently lowered Neo's Aura enough to constitute victory. I let go of Neo's parasol and reclaim Probability, promptly returning it and Luck to their holsters.

"That was anticlimactic. I was hoping to continue just a little longer. Now how am I going to vent my frustration?" I ask sarcastically. I saw that look Neo, I'll get to you after I beat the snot out of Mercury.

Speaking of Mercury, "You ready?"

"Hell yeah, bring it." I respond as he enters the Arena.

(A/N Omake Time! Long live Monty's work and the inspiration he has bestowed upon me!)

Omake: What's up with the head in the fridge?

"Hey, Neo." I get the attention of the tricolored girl, "I've always wondered, why is there a head in the fridge?"

"Oh that," she rolls onto her back, head still in my lap, "Long story short, he pissed me and Roman off and I taught him a lesson."

"But how is he still alive without consistent food, water, a working respiratory system and cardiovascular system?" I ask while guessing at the answer.

"Semblance interaction, Roman has permanent injury while the bodiless guy has stupid regeneration. To the point where doctors believed the guy would never die of old age until Roman came along and," She puts a finger in her mouth to make a Pop! "Took his head off. The body died without the head while the head continued living. So I put him in the fridge to make him suffer more. Although at this point messing with him is just a running gag."

"That's mean. I love it."