With the sound of a rapid heartbeat, the scene cuts to a smiling Cinder as she sits in one of the Amity Colosseum's seats along with the rest of the cheering crowd, their screams being drowned out by the announcements.
Port: (over the broadcasting system) "Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!"
In the center of the battlefield's stage, Yang smirks confidently as the camera pans down the line of final fighters, two new faces mixed in with Nick, Sun, Penny, Pyrrha, and Mercury at the other end of the line.
Port: (back in the announcer's box with his co-host) "Barty, why don't you explain the rules?"
Oobleck: "Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!"
Port: "Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!"
Oobleck: "Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!"
The energetic doctor points out to the screens above the stadium as the roulette starts spinning, this time for competitors instead of biomes. The "random selection" is watched by the owner of the Crow Bar, a group of Human and Faunus kids, the visitors and workers at the Cross Continental Transmit System, before it gets back from the worldwide audience glimpses to reveal the first showdown.
Port: "Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!"
Ruby: (cupping her hands to make sure her encouragement is heard from her spot alongside RWBY (Ruby), NAAE (Unimaginable), JNPR (Juniper), and SSSN (Sun)) "Break a leg, sis!"
Port: "Would all other combatants please leave the stage!"
The rest of the lineup does so, and Yang starts walking up to Mercury in the middle as the floor around them opens once more, with a ring of spotlights rising up to automatically fix their lights on the remaining two.
Yang: (smiling) "You better not go easy on me."
Mercury: (laughing darkly) "You wish."
Both brawlers face the crowds one last time, then slowly start advancing on each other, arms raised defensively until their hands can almost touch, as the final countdown commences.
Port: "Three! Two! One! Fight!"
Immediately, Yang throws a punch, and Mercury spins his foot to meet it, creating a shockwave between the weapons that launches him back. He closes the distance quickly and aims at her feet with Talaria, but she leaps over it and fires off a shot of her Ember Celica that he rotates to avoid. They fight fist-to-fist for a moment, Yang getting in a fiery blast on her opponent at the cost of him also landing a blow on her. She falls back on her feet when Mercury shoots himself into the air to get farther away from her, looking up and smiling. Yang doesn't relent for a second, launching shot after shot only for Mercury to dodge each of them, sliding around the stage on clouds of air until he attempts to come down on her with his leg. She blocks and pushes away the attack, but he goes under her shotgun burst and manages to land a kick on her, though she still lands in a crouch, now grimacing. She launches forward with a double blast and continues landing blow after blazing blow on him, right up to when he roundhouse kicks her in the back and attempts to hit her with his heel. She gets out just in time and punches he ground trying to get him, but he leaps out and twirls to get a hit on her. One of his kicks seems to pass over her, but then he brings it down hard enough to shatter the steel underneath, which Yang narrowly rolls backward to avoid. They exchange kicks after this attack until Mercury hits her backwards, and he rushes forward only to receive a fist to his chin, then his torso, knocking him on his stomach. He gets up right as Yang starts raining down fire again, causing him to somersault back until one explosion causes him to get knocked off of the stage. He saves himself by firing his boots downward and flying back in front of his enemy, unleashing a series of kicks that put Yang on the defensive. She ducks under one attack only to receive another as Mercury jumps into the air to knock her back, and he follows it up with a shot from his boots. Yang avoids it effortlessly, not noticing it still hanging around behind her. Switching tactics, Mercury starts shooting his foot out in every direction, each kick into the air accompanied by a silvery blast that are barely even aimed at Yang. She dodges each one coming her way and gets in close through the circling barrage of shots, fighting with their fists again until Mercury kicks her into the air and knocks her right back to the ground, followed by the dozens of swirling shots that now converge right on to Yang. When the blasts stop coming down on his opponent, Mercury gets up from his crouch and grins to himself, dusting off his outfit and seeming as happy as can be until the smoke from behind him erupts into flames. His momentary shock turns into another smile as he turns around to see the red-eyed Yang slam her knuckles together and come at him. Screaming, she lands a punch that sends him back, and she rushes up avoiding each kick and even taking one with no effect to pound at him with an unrelenting bombardment of left-right blows. He has enough time to let out a pained groan before she hits him in the stomach, his Aura sparkling up to try and defend him from the last hit to the face by the upset blonde. He lands on his back as the buzzer sounds over the roars of the audience, as Yang lowers her fists and closes her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief before opening them back up to her usual lilac and raising her arm in victory.
Port: "What a way to kick off the finals!"
Oobleck: (while the stage is enclosed by the stadium floor again) "Yang Xiao Long wins!"
Ruby: (splaying her arms in excitement) "Yeah! You did it, sis!"
Blake: (giving a standing ovation as Weiss pumps her fists) "Way to go, Yang!"
Yang: (wiping her brow with an arm as she addresses the hunched-over Mercury) "Better luck next time."
Yang starts walking to the exit, as Emerald walks her teammate.
Emerald: "You good, Merc?"
Mercury: "What do you think?"
Emerald: "That you got your but handed to you?"
Mercury: (groans) "...Not...funny..."
Emerald: "Maybe you should've used your Semblance. Why didn't you use it?"
Mercury: "Like growing wings on my feet would've been any help. Why are all of those people who hangout with the Kamen Rider so ridiculously powerful?"
Emerald: "Well...for one; they hangout with the Kamen Rider. So, they probably got into some intense training, or something. Anyways, are you planning on standing back up, or are you just gonna sit on the ground sulking?"
Mercury: "...Whatever."
Mercury then stands back up, and walks to the exit with Emerald. As the scene fads to black.