[IC] Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

[Trevor1001]

Amber was leaning against a crate fiddling with his gun wondering what ammo he should start off with. "Just because this is a test don't think I won't try to hurt you. You're no good to me if you can't take some pain." Rotating the cylinder on his gun he flicks a switch on the side opening a place inside the gun so he can combine ammo type. He puts a red round in and then rotates the cylinder to a yellow round and puts it in. The ammo types blend together and causes the lower part of the gun to glow orange. "Shall we get started?"

[Ookawa]

Skyra stared at the board with the listings for the battles. Against her? The bringer of cheese?
She sighed. In some way, which was pretty unusual for Skyra, she had no desire to fight that girl at all. Smash her face in in a heated discussion, maybe, but not intentionally. Still, this was strange... normally she'd jump at the chance to kick somebody's butt, she'd even try to best her team mate, but Mokuren was kind of a different story. In only one single day she had grown too soft to bear even the chance of her hurting her, which, of course was ridiculous considering the rules of combat class. Nobody'd be really hurt, just exhausted.
But alas, it was class, so Skyra moved to the battlefield their pair was assigned to, however, she didn't moved into combat stance, but just sat down on her side of the field.

[Crimmy]

Gratia Mindaro and Cian Kuze

Stepping down onto the arena from the seats, hands hidden within her coat pockets, Gratia Mindaro seemed almost bored by the fact that she would be engaging in combat with one of her fellow students. Her expression had changed not a single bit, the impassive scowl unchanging as if it had been permanently carved onto her when the gods had crafted Man from dust. Yet despite the aura that radiated from her, closer surveyance would reveal that her eyes were staring forwards with remarkable intensity, and that her muscles, hidden behind her bulky clothing, were tensing as if in anticipation.

Underneath the icy exterior, the Mistralese Huntress was eager. Incredibly eager. But she held it in. There was a time and place for everything ... and here would not be particularly suitable for her to let loose, especially when it was really just a class with no importance to her. She would have to keep her inhibitions in check.

Following her opponent with a singular purpose she might not like the whole deal with the arena fighting but it must be done. With a soft sigh she jumped down the last bit of stairs leading to the arena and form the back of her furred trimmed coat appeared her weapon. Holding the briefcase in her had she waited for Gratia to come on down so she could begin. Cian had no thought really pressing on her mind she might be decent at fighting but she knew she was at a disadvantage and she was never one to get excited for battle.

Gratia shook her hands free of her pockets, before stretching them out in front of her. The weapon her opponent had brought fitted the descriptions in the public files, but whether or not she could deal with was another question. Valens and Valentinian hung from her belt, their simple forms a contrast to the complicated device that was Cian's. She had fought few people with such versatility before, but it would provide her ... an opportunity.

"Are you ready?" she called across the battlefield.

"Very well than shall we dance?" Cian called out as she unfurled her weapon into its long barrel form. Jumping back a distance she started to lead with multiple shots from the gun. Using a wall to ricochet the bullets against the wall to try and divert attention away from some of the other quick shots she took. Though as she did so she noticed her aura was steadilly decreasing chalking that up as Gratia's special semblance she quickly changed to a ice dust cartridge. Letting out some shots she hoped to cut use the formed icicles where they landed to create some diversity to trap her and end this quickly or so she hoped.

Valens gleamed in the light, the mameluke sabre swinging with aura-reinforced blows to deflect as many of the incoming projectiles as it could. The air before Gratia was a lightshow as she parried as many of the dust-infused bullets away from her aspossible. At this range, she had a disadvantage; the profiles were not wrong when they described her opponent as a long-ranged specialist.

That of course dIdN'T mEAn tHAt shE wOuLD lose. The Huntress' composed demeanour seemed to disappear for an instant as she bared her teeth, before dashing forwards through the hail of fire, ignoring the stings of the projectiles against the natural aura defenses of all humans; her Semblance would take care of that, if the slow, intensifying drain on Cian's aura bar served any indication.

The bItCh would not be capable of matching her. Valentinian appeared in her left hand, and even as she rapidly closed the distance, fired off a stream of bullets from the carbine at Cian.

With A grit of her teeth she activated her semblance the honeycombed patterned shield protecting her from the hail of bullets. Though that did not ease the pain she felt from them. With a strong forward push she changed her weapon once more into the machine gun mode and switch catridges once more this time to one of fire dust. With a push forward and her shield strong she charged forward letting out flaming bullets coming out at fast rate. This was not one of her better plans but hopefully it would buy her time.

Her opponent was charging at her? Gratia did not know what the other student had planned, but it provided her the advantage to rIP and tEAr Cian on her own terms. Valens moved to block the machine-gun spray that sought to riddle her with holes, aura pushing into the weapon to keep it sturdy under the onslaught. Her right arm rumbled against the force of the blows, and the waves of heat and fire that exploded out from where her sabre met the projectiles were positively blinding.

She let out a hiss, the first sound she had made during the match. It was painful, but she could feel herself grow stronger otherwise. The young Huntress' Semblance had begun to act more rapidly, its effectiveness increasing as Cian closed in on her.

Good. She would need that stolen strength and power.

The hail of fire stopped, and Gratia pushed herself through the smoke. She was face to face with her opponent now. Perfect.

With zero hesitation, the Mistralese teenager raised Valentinian, firing a cartridge of bullets into the charging form of Cian Kuze.

She would aNnIhILaTE that shield.

"Tch can't take this much longer" Cian muttered to herself as she jumped back and to the left avoiding the main charge. Using the dust clouds as cover and changing her weapon once more she carefully took aim with Byakko in its sniper form. With careful aim she took a few shots at her back which was unprotected. Though she switched cartridges once more and took aim again this time hopefully going for the kill as she lt out a "tri burst" shot of fire,ice, and regular bullets in quick succession.

Smoke was anything but adequate cover for somebody wielding such a gigantic weapon, and Gratia refused to allow her enemy to RuN aWAy. Even as the other girl attempted to move the sniper rifle into position, she was already in motion, dropping Valentinian back onto her belt before grabbing the end of Cian's weapon with her left hand, taking advantage of the time it had taken for her opponent to aim at her, pushing the muzzle away from her person.

The heat of gunfire flying past her ear meant nothing to the Mistralese Huntress. What mattered was that she had entered what could be described as "knife-fighting" range. Here, the advantages provided to her eNEmY by the long-ranged weapon would be lost.

Gratia squeezed down on the barrel, her strength continuing to be amplified by the aura she was passively stealing from Cian. It was an iron-clad grip, one that, if not broken, would result in Byakko suffering severe damage to its firing capabilities.

She was, after all, getting stronger at an exponential rate as Bibere Vinum drained away at Cian's aura.

"In lieu of recent events I am going to have to forfeit." Cian knew there was no way to win at this rate first of all her Aura was all but gone due to the semblance of Gratia which makes such matchups unfair due to the aura drain. Second in the position she was in there was no way for her to do anything. She was not meant to fight people close range it was a simple bad matchup more than anything. With a sigh and folding up her Byakko once more to a storage mode she holstered it on her back one more before climbing a few steps and resting once more in her seat. "There was nothing to do no matter how far I think ahead that spot was just no way for me to win" Cian muttered once more to herself as she waited for this "class" to end.

That had been ... anticlimactic. Gratia dropped her weapons back onto her belt, tension and strength leaving her body as the effects of Bibere Vinum began to wear off. Her blood had been bubbling and simmering underneath her skin throughout the entire fight, but it seemed that somehow ... she had kept it from escaping.

Still, it was honestly disappointing. She had desired so much more. Yet the Mistralese Huntress simply stuffed her hands back into her pockets, refusing to allow herself to show those emotions in her actions. Indeed, she merely seemed bored and aloof, as she usually was.

Such a lacking fight.

Evidently, Ms. Goodwitch shared Gratia's sentiments. "Another forfeit. If the situation was truly dire, and your health actually at risk, surrender would be a reasonable option. In a practice setting such as this, however, where the threshold for loss is the point at which students can even begin taking actual wounds, giving up so soon screams of a lack of determination. Both of you will be receiving penalties to your grades." Goodwitch cracked her riding crop against the arena railing in a decisive and impassive note of finality. "Next!"

Wait, it had been a fucking group project?!

. . .

SON OF A BITCH!

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz --Yo that's some

Luke's eye twitched irritably.

It was one thing that Cian and Gratia's matchup had been potentially bad for either of them, and ended up giving the short end of the stick to Cian thanks to a questionable gameplan. That was something that could be worked on. They could iron out the kinks there. As was surrendering. Luke personally had no issue with it.

Their teacher, however...

"Or prudence," he muttered irritably under his breath, not wanting to cause a scene in spite of his disagreement. "Recognizing a situation where you're in over your head and pulling out..."

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he folded his arms and continued to watch.

And that wasn't to mention penalizing both for one student forfeiting. What kind of class was this?

[KabenSaal]

*Tsk*

The noise came fom Mokuren, irritably as she scanned the board in the combat class. Where she had come from, where she had been, why she had been shopping for clothes in a soup store, nobody knew. But, she saw her Super Mega Giga Arch-Nemesis paired off with someone who wasn't her. Or, was she? Mokuren looked at her tail, and the hugged it to confirm she was who she was, which she was. And that was good. She liked being her, but then, how would she know how much she liked being someone else if she had never been someone else?

But then, she saw it. Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. The Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Strength... and Lust... and Power, it was, a Fly! How could they walk across cellings like that wihtout falling down. Such things defied logic, common sense, and even Sanity itself! And then she also saw that she was paired with Skyra.

Not really understanding, or caring to understand the rules, she skipped over to Skyra and sat down next to her.
"Hey. How did you like the cheese?"

[Ookawa]

An eyebrow was raised at Moku's appearance next to her, still Skyra smiled at her new friend, who was, nevertheless, pretty difficult to understand. Not language wise, mind you. Just in thought processes and stuff.
"Yep, but it was soooo freakin' much that I had to share it with my mates and there still was some left for breakfast this morning, which I promptly took care of."

Still sporting her trademark tomboy-grin Skyra pulled out both Aurora Ravagers and put one on her lap. While the right hand was holding the sword, the left one pulled out a polishing cloth and started rubbing and cleaning the deactivated right hand sword with extreme care and visible love for the weapon.

"So, we're supposed to fight, I think. But...", she shrugged still dutifully polishing her weapons, "I can't be arsed right now..."

[KabenSaal]

Mokuren nodded happily as there was sufficent cheese for her new friend. And, she also shared it with the people in her room as well, which meant everyone had cheese. It was, quite literally, cheese for everyone.
"Wonderful. I'll bring something else next time. Maybe.......I don't know. What do you like?" She asked, watching Skyra withdraw her weapons and then start to clean them, all lovely and nice and shiz. It must have been nice to care about your weapon, not that Mokuren disliked Sarasagi, but the question of where it came from still hung heavily on her mind.

"Why are we meant to fight? Surely it was just a suggestion. 'You may fight if you want, or you can sit around and talk. I'm just a sign, not a police officer'. Nobody has to listen to signs"

[Akashi Mayhiro]

"Fair enough, i could always use a good tune-up." Akashi grinned as he inserted a box of arrow into Black eclipse before a arrow popped out. Pointing at various items he cocked a grin at his teammates. "So, free for all right? I'm down for that kind." He was already in a battle attire. "If i remember correctly, you won the last spar and the time before that was Violet. Looks like i have to win this little fight." he chuckled before getting to fight. "Both of you, i'm ready to roll!"

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Combat Class

Tried as he might, Shiro couldn't find himself focusing on the fights that followed after his and Luke's. A slight, dull aching in his head slowly stole his attention away from the class. "Ugh.." Suddenly feeling sick, he began to break out in a cold sweat as his eyes twitched and trembled. Grabbing at part of his face, he shut his eyes tight. Attempting to weather the storm he knew was coming.

"Why does this keep happening? I didn't even use my Semblance for that long! Combined two minutes, tops!"
As if retaliating at his complaints, his growing headache sharply spiked in pain.
Pulling his hood over his ears, he buried his face in his hands as he hunched over.

Scoot, not yet having witnessed Shiro during one of his 'attacks', was confused and stood on his hind legs as he peered at his friend curiously.
"Friend?"
A high-pitched keening sound deafened him, though he could still 'hear' his telepathic friend's words. Opening his eyes and peering through his gloved fingers, he strained to see through the blurred ocean that swam in front of him. Shutting his eyes again, Shiro began inhaling and exhaling deeply and slowly. Practicing some breathing exercises that sometimes helped him through his episodes. "It's okay..It's okay. I'll be okay. Everything will be alright. Just breathe. Breathe." His breath shaky and ragged. Scoot was fearful for his friend. Gingerly approaching him, Scoot nudged at Shiro's side with his nose and asked again. "Friend?"

Shiro could feel the world shifting and moving around him. He knew he was beginning to attract some unwanted attention. The concerns of the strangers around him caused them to begin to whisper. "Hey, is that guy alright? Is he okay? He looks sick. Someone should see if he needs to be taken to the infirmary. Oi, someone tap his shoulder and check on him. He didn't do that badly in his fight. Is he hurt?" All of their words blocked out by the overwhelming high-pitched screeching that only Shiro could detect. With a final slow exhale, the pressure that gripped his skull in a vice grip eased off. The deafening noise fell silent and Shiro could feel his vision clear as he removed his hands from his face and blinked a few times. Sighing in relief, Shiro turned to face his little rodent friend with a smile. Only to find his friend was gone.

"Wh-what?" He was just right-"
"Hey man, you good?"

Shiro felt a hand on his shoulder. The touch sending cold waves of vile revulsion shivering up his spine, freezing him. Dryly swallowing, Shiro dared to turn around in the opposite direction. He really shouldn't have. Face to face with the creatures from his nightmares, Shiro expression slowly twisted into one of abject horror as his voice caught in his throat. If he were to ever describe the creatures that he dubbed the 'Shadow Men', it would be difficult to understand exactly how they instilled such terror into the tiger faunus. Humanoid in their form, they were merely bodies composed of writhing smoke, ash, and dark shadow. They had no features other than that to speak of. No eyes. No ears. No mouths. No faces, really. No fangs or teeth. Nothing. Perhaps it was their familiar yet terribly unfamiliar and alien form that disturbed the poor boy so deep to his core. People who he used to know and recognize devolved into faceless demons that tormented and haunted him. What killed Shiro more than anything was that he knew what he was seeing and hearing wasn't real. Every doctor, every psychologist, psychiatrist, every respectable member of the medical community have told him time and time again that there was no rhyme or reason to his debilitating mental illness. MRIs and CAT scans revealed a healthy brain nestled within his skull. Physicals and various examinations from youth til present day revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Further stumping the medical professionals and only served to drain the hope out of his body. No one could give him an answer as to what was wrong with him, if there was even anything 'wrong' to begin with.

All that he did 'know' was that nothing could stop him from witnessing the things that he did after utilizing his Semblance.
"Why didn't you end him?" the Shadow Man that had its hand on his shoulder asked.
"Wh-what?" the poor tiger boy asked in return.
"That boy you fought."
"Wh-what do you-"
"Why didn't you kill him?"
"It was j-just a sp-sparring match..There's no need to-"
"Weak."
"W-what?"
"You're weak."
"N-no I-"
"You know that's what everyone else thinks."
"I-.."
"You would've lost if you hadn't used your Semblance, huh?"
"..."
"You could've ended him."
"..."
"Shown them all how really strong you are. What you truly are."
"..."
"A Beast."
"N-!"

Though the Shadow man had no mouth or eyes to speak of, Shiro could feel it grin maliciously. He could feel it laughing at him. Breaking away from the Shadow man's eyeless gaze, Shiro scrambled as he frantically dug in every pocket on him that he could think of. "Shit! Shit! Damn it! Fuck! Where is it?!" As he continued to search himself, he stopped as soon as he could feel the other Shadow people start to get up and move towards him. Moving closer as they began to whisper at him. Looking back up at the one closest to him, Shiro could feel himself begin to hyperventilate as his reality crumbled around him.

"You can't find them. Can't you?"
Shiro could only pant in fear as a response.
"Your little candies."
Shiro whirled around and felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach as a mass of the Shadow people were essentially right on top of him.
Fear getting the best of him. Shiro immediately stood and made a beeline for the exit. Which, he was thankful that he could still see. Breathing heavily as he power walked, he tried his best to ignore the other Shadow people that still sat in their seats. He didn't dare look behind him as he knew some of them would be following.

"Oh, look. One of his crushes is getting cozy with someone else."
"Haha! How pathetic!"
"Aww, wook at the wittle baby trembling in his widdle booties."
"I bet you he's hungry."
"Look at that lustful gleam in his eyes!"
"He wants to kill."
"He wants to eat!"
"Monster."
"Demon."
"Freak."
"Mutant."

Over the sound of his own ragged breathing, Shiro kept his eyes on the ground as he made his way toward Combat Class' exit repeating to himself "It's not real. It's not real. It's not real!" He couldn't have hit the door any harder as he left. Now out in the hallways of Beacon, he halted in his tracks. Thankfully, with everyone at class, there were only a few of 'them' that roamed the halls. Grabbing his hood and making sure it didn't fly off as it pulled it down hard, Shiro broke out in a sprint towards his team dorm room.

Team Swansong's Dormitory

Stumbling and staggering Shiro practically body-slammed the door to his team's room. Instinctually, he reached into his trouser pockets to grab at a Scroll that he no longer had. Remembering, he audibly growled and banged his fist against the door. "AGH, DAMN IT!" Still trying to keep himself in check, he peeled off the elbow-length black glove he wore on his right arm. Carefully unraveling the bandages that covered his forearm to only reveal his fingertips, he was thankful that Beacon was a technologically modern academy. Didn't have your Scroll? As long as your biometrics were properly saved and stored in the school's database and registered to the correct room, you could still get in. He had heard some other student in his class was locked out of his room after showering. Why the boy hadn't thought of that, Shiro couldn't know.

The door beeped and clicked, signalling that it had unlocked. Breathing another sigh of relief, he hastily re-wrapped his arm and slipped his glove back on as he burst into the room. Stopping again, he saw the mess that he had forgotten to organize and clean up and growled again. "GAH, DAMN IT AGAIN!" It would take him even longer to find what he needed because of his laziness. Upon Shiro's graduation from Signal and eventual transfer to Beacon Academy, his medical records followed him and was shared with the medical staff of Beacon. During the first few days of orientation, Beacon's doctors were well aware of Shiro's mental ailments and the side effects that followed him using his Semblance. They had prescribed him a series of antipsychotics that Shiro seldom used or kept on him to help combat the delusions that he witnessed to help him lead a normal life. Though there was hardly any concrete proof of it and his symptoms didn't fall in line with it, the medical personnel reasoned that he possibly had some form of what they called 'chronic hallucinatory psychosis'. Shiro wasn't sure what it meant, but he kept the medication amongst his things regardless. They never seemed to do much for him, other than make him sick, sleepy, and drain his energy. So, he rarely ever took his meds like he should have and kept it as much as a secret as he could from his friends and teammates. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

And right now, Shiro was desperate to prevent his attacks from driving him absolutely insane so early on in the day. Something brushed against his body and caused him to yell out in surprise. Practically jumping out of his skin as he crashed into some nearby dressers. Hand on his chest as it visibly heaved, he was relieved to see his friend Scoot. "Scoot! Scoot, you gotta help me. I-I'm looking for an orange bottle with a white cap on it, can you help me find it? I really need it, right now! I-it has some little...uhh...rocks in it!" He prayed that the Scoot he saw was the actual ferret.

Scoot blinked and tilted his head. Shiro then wondered if ferrets were colorblind. Shaking his head, he let out an exasperated sigh as he continued to dig through his mess of belongings to locate his pills. Scoot sniffed and looked around before helping his friend. After a few minutes, Shiro found the rattling orange pill bottle and scrambled to the connected bathroom. Standing at the sink, he struggled for a moment before he opened the bottle and tossed two of the tablets into his mouth. Setting the bottle down on the counter, he turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the stream of water. Collecting enough liquid in his gloved hands, he brought his hands to his face and gulped down the tablets. Turning off the faucet he stalked back the main room and snatched up Abel's detestable alarm clock. Bringing it with him into the bathroom, he stopped and turned back towards the open door of his dorm. Seeing the curious heads of the Shadow people peeking through, Shiro bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. With the sole and heel of his boots, he kept his legs pressed against the door to prevent any of 'them' from coming in.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed at them.
With a shaking hand, he set Abel's alarm clock on the ground next to him.
The medicine the doctors gave him was supposedly fast acting. If 10-to-15 minutes was 'fast-acting'.
Removing his combined weapons from his back, he hugged them tightly to his chest for comfort as he lay on the ground of the bathroom. His back up against the bathroom sink counter.
"Count backwards from 60 seconds and repeat. Inhale slow, exhale slow."
Staring at the clock as he began his practice, he waited for the medication to take effect.
Scoot stood at his side, still terribly concerned for his friend. Alternating between looking at the bathroom door and to Shiro.
"60...59...58..."
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He would have to remember to keep some tablets with him at all times.
"57...56...55..."
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Maybe in some discreet pouch he could keep with Scoot.
"54...53...52..."
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He didn't think to bring any with him because he was afraid he would drop or lose it during his match.
He could've still kept some with Scoot as he sat in the stands.
"51...50...49..."
Breathe in. Breathe out.
A knock at the bathroom door startled him.
"Shiro? Are you in there? Are you okay?"
Thinking it was another delusion, he couldn't bring himself to answer.
Instead, he just kicked at the door in the hopes of scaring away whatever Shadow knocked for him.
"48...47...46..."
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He felt his eyes grow heavy.
"45....44...."
He struggled to keep his eyes on the time displayed on the clock.
Damn side effects. What if 'they' got to him as he slept?
No matter. Part of whatever medication they gave him had some sort of sedative in it. Within less than a minute, Shiro was out cold on the bathroom floor. The strength that came with him being awake left him. His hold on Kladenets and Perun slackened as they gently slid off of his body to rest on the ground next to him. His boots pressed up against the bathroom door also slid off as the door slowly creaked open.

Scoot, unsure of what exactly just happened, nestled close to his sleeping friend as curled himself into a ball as he lay next to him. Deciding to stay awake to guard over his troubled companion from whatever phantoms and specters that plagued him.

[Krayzikk]

(The following is just to serve both as Lorena's introduction, and the resolution to BAS[L]'s most recent in-game activity. Everything that follows will be back in line with current events.)

"I can't..."

Quina had left, realizing all her attempts to comfort Amy had done was make her sob harder. "I can't control..." Her fist hit the ground hard, next to the discarded pieces of Unchained Fury. "I've never been able to..."

Her voice faded again."Well, I don't think it's quite fair to blame the ground." BAST's leader commented quietly, crouching down next to Amy. Ben was quiet a moment after the soft, dry remark, mulling over what to do. He set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Suppose that's part of why we're all here, isn't it? Learn how to handle ourselves in the world. Most of the people here already know how to fight. It's the rest that we all need to learn." He gestured to where Quina had been. "You got worked up, I'm guessing. Doubt it was just the fight, either. I've seen you fight and I've seen you talk, and they're pretty much the same thing. You don't let it get personal."

"Something about this one made it personal. But given that your sparring partner walked away instead of being carried, doesn't seem like you lost control completely."

"Just have to learn to work through whatever's eating you."

"Ben... I would have killed her if I hadn't had that split second... I wanted to kill her. I wanted to."

"But you didn't. A whole lot of things might happen or might have happened. But what happened was a different story."

Lauren Negasi was quickly trying to manuever her way through a crash course in tact.

And your friends faded off shots of
What you ordered to forget about the game
That you on top of
Your famous girlfriend's ass keeps getting thicker than the plot does

She'd intended to go barreling into the gym like a young bull, and had even paused her MP3 player with a single bombastic motion - pulling it out of her jacket pocket and pausing it in the palm of her head with a movement and energy that wouldn't look out of place pumping a shotgun. When the music stopped, however, she found a beautiful girl about her age on the ground, being comforted by a calm-looking guy who might have been the guy she was told to report to? Maybe?

Lauren didn't know what she was doing here. She'd bombed the entrance exam, hadn't she? The only stuff she was good at was physical and getting those around her turned up.

Hrrm.

She'd meant to come in loud and proud, ready to make friends. Now she wasn't sure if she kinda just wanted to tiptoe back out of the room, like the Grinch in the process of stealing off with Christmas.

"...Err..." GET YOUR CHARM UP NEGASI "...hey fam. Are you guys BAST? Or...BASL? I got told to report to you guys."

"I know, Ben... But I can't... I can't lose control of myself like that... The fact that I only had a good possibility of killing one of my best friends isn't a huge comfort..."

Amy's feathers rose in shock when the new girl approached and she quickly smoothed them back down.

"Yeah... We are..." For once, she seemed content to let Ben do the talking.

"We can work on that." His head swiveled when Loren spoke, shifting to a lazy half smile. Squeezing Amy's shoulder one more time he stood and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, we are. And you might be...?"

"Lauren Negasi!" [MOOD LIFTER]

The young woman kissed her index and middle fingers and spun them upwards into a cocked salute at Ben and Amy. For the latter - already frazzled-looking, who she'd apparently spooked - she spared a brief grin.

"Not a good test taker, so after I was done entering, they sent me straight to you guys."

"You'll fit right in." BAS [L]'s leader replied dryly.

"All of us failed." Amy smiled slightly, though her eyes were still far off. "As long as you don't suggest team Basil, we're okay..."

Lauren's eyes lit up.

"Oh, word? So I can speak freely?" She sighed out a long, long breath. "Cause man, did I feel like dirt walking over here. Plus this dress code! They made me put something on underneath this jacket! Can you believe that? Like I joined some kind of fucking convent."

"I don't mind the uniform. It took forever for them to give Amy one."

"Spoken like someone whose midriff has never been in a state of national emergency after being unbared."

"Ben... They still gave me the male one. It doesn't fit."

"Yeah." Ben nodded, almost solemnly. "Amy has had uniform troubles."

"Is having."

"Over/under on me knowing the feeling is a week," Lauren joked. "I'm so far under that I should probably have a marsupial patch stitched onto my collar."

This wasn't so bad! Even if she was dressed like a nun, at least the people seemed fun.

"Is having, right, forgot you were my English teacher." A half grin and an eye roll later, Ben looked at Loren again.

"I'm Ben. This is Amy. Talkative one is Sangue."

"Amaranth Desire's my str- full name."

Amy looked back at the ground, adjusting the strap of her dress.

"Cool name."

"Too long for me to say. I just call her Amy."

"Slacker," Amy said accusingly. "He is. Sangue is the snake. I'm the..." Amy pulled herself to her feet, sighing. Was gonna come out sooner or later. "I'm the stripper."

"I prefer energy efficient."

"If it makes you feel any better," Lauren said, clapping her hands together frequently as she compared the syllable lengths of 'Amaranth Desire' and 'Lorena Negasi' suspiciously. "I'm the...I'm the...shit, I don't even got a title."

"Yo, there's definitely six syllables in both."

"Don't worry. You'll get a title soon. You probably won't like it."

"Nobody likes them. Just depends on how true it is. Slacker is certainly true, and Sangue deals a lot with poison... Though we don't really know how she feels about it. Doesn't talk much."

"Not a slacker. Just energy efficient. Why waste effort on things that don't matter?"

"So hold up, the team leader has the same tagline as one of those little disc-shaped vacuums that moves around the rug on its own?"

"Well, it's either that or being led by the silent snake or the former stripper."

"The other most qualified one is who you're replacing, so... Yeah."

"Heh. What happened to them?"

"Dropped out, I think. He left pretty quick, said he'd try and keep in touch."

"What Ben said..."

"Well, that's tamer than I expected."

"Our team's entire existence is controversial." The young man shrugged slightly, shifting to regard his entire team.

"Even administration's torn on whether we should be here. Can't really afford to be anything except tame."

Lauren's mouth quirked, but for the first time since her notice of the crying Amy, she stayed quiet and shrugged her consent easily.

Amy wiped the last tear off of her cheek and sighed. "What I just did probably hasn't helped any..."

"It'll be fine." The reassurance was firm, the lazy half grin slipping slightly. "You got carried away. Isn't the first time for this school, probably won't be the last. Don't worry, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Ben... Quina..." She shook her head and sighed.
"Is still in the land of the living. So you can make up with her when you think you're both up to it. I promise, everything's gonna be fine." He gave Lorena a wry, half smile.

"You caught us on an interesting day."

"Yeaaaah, I can kinda tell. But it's alright. My mom told me pree much the same thing about the day I was born." Lauren grinned and crossed her hands over her ribs lazily. "No sweat."

Ben nodded, and glanced about the training area. Everyone else had more or less vacated after Amy and Quina’s match, and the group had fallen into a slightly awkward lull in the conversation. Reassurances were given, introductions were made, but no one seemed quite sure how to proceed. Ben made an executive decision after a moment’s thought. Busy day tomorrow, after all. Best to make sure they were all rested.

“Let’s go show you our room, Lauren. Space should be cleared for you already. This way.”

[SevenStormStyle]

Sepia knew she was supposed to be in class doing...something. Well, I guess it can't be that important. I'd remember it for sure if it was! she thought cheerfully. Anyway, scoping out dorms was wayyyy more fun. She giggled to herself, excited at the thought of actually knowing where things were for once.

Suddenly, her ears pricked up. Is someone yelling? Why in... She activated her semblance, tentatively stretching it outwards. People tended to get irritated if she accidently spied on them, so she tried to make a one way connection temporarily.

Homing in on mind that seemed resting but still somewhat troubled, she sent out a message. "Hey, are you okay? I thought I heard something."

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro - Team SASG's Dorm

Shiro's eyes snapped open as he woke with a start, sharply gasping. Still bleary-eyed and groggy from the medication, he sat up and put a hand on his head."Ugh." Back up against the sink counter, he rubbed at the corners of his eyes and looked around to regain his bearings. Scoot sat curled in a ball asleep next to him. His weapons lay still in their combined transport mode. Looking at the clock he tried to recall the exact time he had fallen unconscious. He wasn't asleep for long, though his body ached like it had been in a coma for an eternity. Gradually, his body and mind approached full wakefulness.

Quietly muttering to himself so as to not wake Scoot,
"I was out for a few minutes? Gosh, I feel like I'd woken from the dead.."
Smacking his lips, his mouth dry, Shiro then froze up.
"...W-wait."
That's right, a voice he heard was the culprit responsible for his interrupted 'nap'.

Cold fear growing within his heart, his senses went on high alert. The voice he had heard was clear as day, as if it were holding a conversation in the very same bathroom he sat in. Dryly swallowing, his eyes scanned the bathroom in its entirety to ensure that he was alone save for Scoot. No one else was present and there was nowhere else anyone could hide. But, he was certain he had heard a voice talking to him. He wasn't going crazy, right? He is still sane. The medication works. His attack should've passed, the episode should've been over by this point. He shouldn't be hearing any more voices. Looking back at the sleeping Scoot, it couldn't have been his ferret friend. The voice that spoke to him was female sounding and actually stringed together a complete sentence.

Looking at the slightly ajar bathroom door, Shiro crept up to its side and pressed a silver/white tiger ear against it. Blinking as he waited for a few tense moments, he heard nothing in the adjacent main room. Peering through the open crack of the bathroom door, his golden eyes strained to see if anyone was in his team's dorm. Again, he saw nothing. A bead of cold sweat rolled down the side of his face as he carefully opened the door. Cursing to himself as its hinges and joints creaked noisily.

"Shit! What am I doing?"
He was braver than this.
Or so he thought.
Getting angry with himself, he grabbed the door and swung it wide open with a loud crash.
This wasn't some horror movie and he is not some actor that was only meant to serve as fodder.
Regardless, he still shut his eyes tight as he braced for some terrible thing to happen.
But nothing did.
Opening his eyes, he crossed the threshold and stood in the center of his empty dorm room.
Turning around a full 360 degrees as he did a quick eye sweep, he stood alone.

His fear and apprehension only grew more and more with each passing minute. He was certain he heard a voice speaking to him! Swiftly moving to shut the door to the room, he pressed his back against it as his eyes continued their frantic search for something or someone that wasn't there. Clearing his throat, "Wh-who's there? Is there someone here with me? If there is, come out now! I'm not in the mood for any stupid games of hide and seek!" Breathing hard, he slid down into a sitting position and grabbed at his head with both hands. White hair sticking out in between his gloved fingers, he shut his eyes and could feel himself slipping away into another pit of despair.

He felt like crying.
"Why? Why does my Semblance do this to me?"
He sharply inhaled and tried his damnedest to fight back the pitiful tears.
"Why does this have to happen? I'm not losing my mind, am I? I'm not crazy! I'm not going nuts!"
Were the Shadows becoming invisible to him now too? How could something that no one else could see become invisible to the single person who could?

Going through his breathing exercises again, Scoot by this point had woken up and tentatively crawled up to his tiger Faunus friend.
"Friend?" the ferret asked in earnest concern.

[SevenStormStyle]

Sepia sighed. Poor guy had it worse than she had originally thought. He seemed to be aggravated by physiological interference, which she couldn't really blame anyone for, but his case was still exceptionally bad.

Cautiously, she raised her hand and rapped lightly on the dorm door.

"I'm right outside the door. I didn't mean to scare you..." she apologized. "but I thought you might be in trouble."

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro

Knock-knock. Shiro's mind blanked as he grew rigid. "That was definitely a knock at the door." For a split second, the knock startled him and had to fight the urge to bolt away from the door. But, the voice that spoke to him from the other side sounded familiar."Was that who spoke to me? But, she sounded so clear before." Getting to his feet, he pressed his ear against the door and sniffed softly. There was definitely someone there. "Phew. So, I did hear someone." He sniffled and wiped at his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. He wasn't hallucinating, so that was good at least. However, he was still wary. Reaching for the door, he slowly opened it a crack and his golden eye peered through to see who it was. Indeed, someone stood on the other side. The girl looked vaguely familiar to him, as did her scent. "I shouldn't be a creep. Standing here sniffing and staring at her.."

"Oh, so that voice was yours? Is that your Semblance or something?" Maybe she shared similar abilities to Scoot, though with more focus and strength. "I-I'm fine though, thank you for your concern." he lied. He was still shaken up, and the drugs didn't help too much with taking the edge off. Not wanting to be rude and speak to her through a small opening in the door, he opened the dorm room door more. Opening it just enough for the two of them to clearly see one another. Now able to see who it was, he blinked and snapped his fingers. "Ah, hey! You're that gal who's in Practice class with me! You and your teammates recently went bowling with me and a buncha other friends, right?" He grinned as he scratched the back of his head. "We haven't really had the chance to meet, have we? I'm Kuhaku Shiro, and...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name? Heh...Sorry, I have a terrible memory." Scratching at his ears, he looked up as he searched his memories for any sort of name. Oddly enough, his distraught mood had all but disappeared though he still stood in the doorway to prevent the girl from seeing his team's mess of a room. Most of the mess being his fault, but he wasn't going to mention that to her. Bracing a hand against the door frame, he still felt a little woozy from the medication and had to remember to take it easy. A curious Scoot poked his head around the open door to see who it was.

[HereComesTheSnow]

Luke Schwarz -- Observations

...

That certainly didn't look too good.

Even under times of duress, Luke Schwarz was known for his insightful commentary and deep, introspective internal monologues, and today was certainly no different. His head had even finished leaking, so he should definitely have been back up to par. Shiro running off was the perfect oppurtunity to, so to speak, "wake up" from the zoned-out haze he'd let himself slip into roughly after Cian's battle with Miss Mindaro-- one where he all but had to root for his teammate, despite being in what seemed like good standing from the Mistralese Huntress.

Really, the way the matchup had played out, he probably would have rooted for the poor gunslinger even if he'd known neither of them.

...Where was I?

Right, right.

Kuhaku.

[Lucius Cypher]

EPIC BATTLE FANTASY

GREN ORCHID VS COBALT CHIDETA

A Lucius Cypher & Floodtalon Collaboration

Cobalt stepped into the arena with a nervous look on his face. He had just seen Gren, his opponent, and was immediately worried. He was as big as him and his weapon even bigger and he just looked like a scary person in general. He shook his head and steeled his nerves though, while fear was good there was no place for it on the battlefield.

"Let's get this over with I suppose." Cobalt muttered to himself under his breath. He cracked his neck and breathed deeply. It was time to battle.

Gren arrived with cowslips in his hand, and the God Eater in the other. Raising the flowers towards Cobalt he tossed them into the air. "TO BATTLE!"

Before the flowers fell Gren used his semblance to slick the ground, allowing him to push and slide himself towards Cobalt. This allowed Gren to cover more distance as he held the God Eater in it's Terror for right in front of him, set to impale Cobalt if he doesn't move. But if he waits for Gren to get close, standing his ground wouldn't be an option as the floor underneath Cobalt would also grow slick, making it almost impossible for the human to keep his footing.

Ryan observed Gren with a keen eye and a calm mind. While most would be panicking as they were faced with a charging monster such as Gren, Cobalt knew that panicking would just cause a sure and quick defeat. He activated his Semblance and the world went into slow motion. Upon observation of Gren one would notice that he was sliding towards Cobalt. A lesser mind would disregard this piece of information but Cobalt was no lesser mind.

Cobalt unholstered his weapon and aimed at Gren with marksman precision. He fired at him in an attempt to get him to jump or at least move away from himself for a moment. As he fired at Gren he also moved backwards to create distance between them. He did not want to fight close range at the moment. Cobalt noticed the flowers falling to the ground and noted their presence. Nothing done in battle was unimportant. They were also quite pretty.

Gren tanked the shots, though it did slow his slide. He's more used to people using rifle or handgun rounds on him. The tank shells he was getting pelted by actually hurt. Fortunately for Gren he at least had the God Eater to help shield him, but he still continued to close the distance, kicking his feet against the ground to build more speed. Knowing that sustained fire would eventually stop him Gren did try to actively dodge the best he can, but still he moved forward, sliding left and right at no dicernable pattern to close the distance as fast as he can.

Cobalt activated his Semblance once more and he analyzed the situation. Gren was beginning to slow down, but not for long. He realized this strategy was no longer viable so he did decided to try something new. After deactivating his Semblance Cobalt rushed at Gren to go into a close range assault. It was then that he realized how Gren was sliding across the floor. Cobalt slid right past Gren and struggled to keep his balance on the slippery floor. He looked at the floor and saw no evidence of oil or slippery substances which mean one of two things. One he was releasing some sort of fast drying oil which only worked for a few seconds at most. This was stupid so he disregarded that. The more likely possibility was that he was using his Semblance to affect the ground around him.

"No. The ground is the same. You're altering the friction of the ground! You've made it as if I'm running on ice!" Cobalt declared loudly. He smiled because he now had the advantage. Cobalt knew what Gren's Semblance was but he had no idea of his. Cobalt scraped his foot on the floor to test if it was slippery. It was not and he felt normal friction. He was in a tight spot now though. He was going to have to play long distance with him. Going in close would make it impossible for him to fight. Cobalt aimed his gun and fired once more. He was just going to have to stall until Gren changed his strategy.

Gren swiped at Cobalt as he rushed passed, but failed to do any meaningful harm. The two found themselves on the oppisite side of the arena again, with Cobalt loudly announcing what his semblance was. Gren just smirked. While knowing his Semblance would give Cobalt the advantage of being able to work around it, he only knew one aspect of Gren's semblace. Though he better take him out fast before he learns too much.

Gren blocked the shots fired from Cobalt and switched The God Eater into it's Destoryer Form. It seemed like Cobalt wanted to fight at a distance and Gren could oblidge. However he had a few more tricks up his sleeve. Aiming behind him, Gren fired the God Eater, using the insane recoil to propel him even faster then before, still trying to get into melee range of Cobalt. However, Gren didn't need to actually hit him: As soon as Cobalt got within at least ten feet of Gren, he'd suddenly stop and put his Friction Semblance in reverse: Rooting Cobalt. Gren just needed to get close enough to him, using the recoil from The God Eater to cover much more distance then before. And if he missed, then he'd aim the God Eater to rain bullets on Cobalt.

Cobalt activated his Semblance and watched Gren go in slow motion towards him. This was a strange situation, he wanted to go long range as evidenced by his minigun, but he was attempting to close in on Cobalt. Something wasn't right. He then had a thought. Too little friction caused everything to become slippery but what would too much friction do? Cobalt didn't want to find out the answer.

Gren was almost there, he needed to act quickly. Cobalt jumped into the air and fired behind him. The recoil from the powerful shots propelled him forwards over Gren's head and he looked down. He aimed his gun slightly downwards and pulled the trigger once more, hopefully directly into Gren's head. If not he was still going forwards and away from Gren so that was a plus.

Cobalt acted fast, faster then his size would imply. Just as Gren zoomed passed he had jumped into the air and used the recoil of his own weapon to put distance between him and Gren. Fortunately Gren went fast enough that the shot fired from Cobalt missed, and Gren was still in possition to pepper Cobalt as he flew threw the air. The God Eater never stopped firing; never showed signs of ever running out of ammo. It just kept going and going and going.

Still, it was obvious that Cobalt didn't have any intentions of letting Gren get close. It was a smart move, even if Gren could match him in firepower. Cobalt was able to react fast in a close melee as well, as shown from him being able to avoid Gren's charges. "Time to change the game."

Instead of aiming at Cobalt, Gren took to the air. He fired The God eater towards the ground and let it's sheer recoil propell him upwards. Just one jump, and without his weight keeping the God Eater for going out of control, Gren was on the wall far away from Cobalt. He still had effective range on The God Eater from here, so Gren began to use his Semblance to allow him to run across the wall, shooting the God Eater at Cobalt all the while. It's Dakka was endless.

"I see." Cobalt began dodging bullets left and right as he witnessed Gren stick to the wall with his Semblance. The Dakka truly was endless. He needed to figure out some sort of way to stop the God Eater or it would consume him in a hailfire of lead. He got clipped by a few bullets and grunted in pain lightly.

Things were not going well. Cobalt ran towards Gren and activated his Semblance. Time slowed down as he dodged bullets and plotted out the ideal path to safety. A bullet headed for his head, he ducked it. More bullets targeted his arms, he deflected them with the 27 Smasher. Finally he had reached the very center if the arena. He set a general area for himself in his mind and deactivated his Semblance. Cobalt began dodging blullets from his position in the center of the arena and began returning fire. At first he aimed at where Gren was but after getting clipped a few times he switched it up and lead his shots to where Gren would be. Cobalt glanced at his aura meter on his arm, he was in the yellow. If he took too many more hits he would lose.

The range on Cobalt weapon ensured that Gren couldn't simply try to outgun him from afar. But what Cobalt lacked was mobility. When Gren noticed that Cobalt was starting to lead him on, that's when Gren used the God Eater to position him else where, such as onto the ceiling. Gren was careful to cover his tracks and keep Cobalt on his toes: Whenever he was going to move to a new position, Gren stopped firing the God Eater to fire his rockets instead. And not the usual imapct ones, but the time-detonation ones. A few exploded upon impact because their timer was roughly around the same time they would hit the ground, but a few others lingered on for a few seconds longer. Some longer then even that. it was to keep Cobalt careful, since Gren fired at least four at a time.

Gren moved to a new position on the ceiling, firing directly below to Cobalt. He just needed to position himself in such a way where he could literally get the drop on him. Maybe just make the ceiling collapse over Cobalt. Gren would have to be fast: He was too careless and took a few direct hits. He was a little over half, but that was just from two clean shots. If he let two or three more hit him dead on, it might just take Gren out.

Gren knew that just using his legs weren't going to be fast enough. Cobalt wasn't that foolish: He was smart enough to lead a target and even if Gren used his Semblace to slide across the ceiling, his path was limited to his momentum. So it was time to bust out the secret weapon. In order to obtain greater mobility to dodge Cobalt's attacks, various slots on his armor opened up.These armor released an invisible gas at first, before flaring out revealing what they were: Rocket Thrusters.

Now zipping accross the ceiling like some sort of fly, Gren was able to move much faster then before, and he didn't even need to use the God Eater to move him. He could turn on a dime and even move backwards without a pause. And he'd need to as well, since he didn't want Cobalt to intercept him with a tank round. If Gren could just hold out for a bit longer, he could drown his opponet in dakka.

Cobalt saw victory in sight. He had to stay cautious and play smart. At the moment Gren had little mobility and he was probably two or three hits from a loss. He stayed away from the rockets and when he saw one didn't detonate he would actually take the risk of batting it away with the blunt side of the 27 Smasher. He actually stopped that after one nearly detonated after he hit it too hard. 'I need to stay cautious. The fight is nearing its end.'

Gren moved to the ceiling and Cobalt frowned. He was planning something. Then the Rocket Thrusters came out. "Oh come on! First rockets and now this! This is complete-" Cobalt was interrupted by a stray rocket detonating near him. Gren just lost his only disadvantage, which was lack of mobility. Cobalt could probably take one more direct hit and he would be out. He needed to figure out a way to eliminate the advantage that Gren had suddenly gained. The only way he could currently think of was just destroying the battlefield as much as possible. Cobalt activated his Semblance and time slowed to a near halt. There was a rocket heading directly towards him. He had noticed these rockets were actually time based instead of impact, so he was going to have to try something crazy.

Cobalt jumped into the air heading directly towards the rocket. He brought the 27 Smasher to his shoulder like he as a baseball player and swung. He hit the rocket perfectly and it headed right back to Gren. It probably wasn't even going to hit him, but it would accomplish its goal. It was going to blow a hole right into the ceiling. He was going to systematically destroy the entire ceiling if he had to, Cobalt was going to destroy Gren's battlefield.

Gren could only laugh as Cobalt tried to bat his rockets back at him. He knew the timer on most, and most exploded before they got close to him. Still a bit dangerous, but nothing he worried about. Once he became obvious that this was going to be Cobalt's stratedgy Gren opted to stop firing the rockets. Around this time, most of the rockets detonated, causing a cacphonous explosion that was big enough to cause some structural damage to the ceiling. However Gren knew Cobalt would need to concentrate all his firepower into collapsing this place: It was built for much stronger things then him. Gren doubt that even he could collpase the ceiling if he focused all his fire power on it. It'll either take him a long time, or more preperation then just shooting at it.

It wasn't the most entertaining stratedgy, but Gren continued to strafe around the ceiling to avoid Cobalt's counter fire while raining bullets down at him. He wanted to engage into melee but he supposed that would only be for a last resort. For now, simply shooting Cobalt would have to suffice, while the orc did his best to avoid tank shells and the occasional bits of debris. He moved with little hints or consistancy, feinting and juking to keep Cobalt from guessing a pattern. Sometimes Gren's manuvers even messed up his aim, but at this point he wasn't trying to be a sharp shooter, just cover an area in bullets.

"Just got to keep moving. He's a sitting duck and I got plenty of bullets to spare. Don't do anything flashy, keep it simple, keep it efficient."

Cobalt frowned as his strategy failed. He fired some more at Gren but it was clear that he wasn't hitting. Gren wasn't hitting him either. The bullets would glance him and his armor would absorb the damage. This was beginning to get dumb. Nobody was making any progress. Cobalt just kept dodging around, Gren just kept shooting him. At this rate they were going to be here an hour. He wasn't going to be collapsing the ceiling, Gren was just going to keep firing bullets and Cobalt was also going to keep firing bullets. "Hey we're not getting anywhere here! You want to just slug it out with our close range weapons?" He asked as he dodged some more bullets. This was really dumb.

Gren almost couldn't hear Cobalt over the sound of the dakka, but when he noticed he was talking to him Gren stopped firing long enough to hear his question. That would be more entertaining, however Gren was almost certain he was at the advantage. Still...

Landing about ten feet away from Cobalt, Gren switched The God Eater into it's Terror Form. "Heh. That's what I wanted from the start. I normally don't do this, but let's set some ground rules for this, eh? Since we're fighting like gentlemen and all. Call your terms."

" Cool. No using our Semblance. We back off when our aura hits red. And... no going for the nuts. That's just uncool no matter how you look at it." Cobalt set down his terms and hefted his sword. He pulled a small bullet out of his pocket and held it up. "When the bullet hits the ground we'll start." Cobalt tossed the bullet in the air and watched it fall to the ground. It hit the ground and bounced twice. Cobalt was off like a bullet as he swung at Gren's arms with the blunt part of the 27 Smasher.

Anticipating the charge Gren himself charged at Cobalt. Without his semblance Gren was a bit slow, but he was still able to use his Rocket Boosters to get a burst of speed. Gren brought the God Eater up to block the blow from Cobalt's weapon, holding his ground as the two locked their weapons together. Then Gren shot a hand out to grab Cobalt by the throat. Striking was great, but Gren worked best in a grapple. Though his opponent no doubt was strong, Gren weighed about 300lb without the God Eater alone, and intended to make full use of his weight class. Not to mention that he didn't need his semblance to be freakishly strong.

Cobalt began struggling for breath as he felt his throat being crushed. He was already starting to regret challenging Gren to a close range battle. He took one hand off of the 27 Smasher and smashed his fist into Gren's face. He obviously wasn't going to be reversing any sort of grapples but as of right now Gren was in a position to be punched. Repeatedly. After Cobalt smashed his fist into Gren's face he reached his fist back and went for another blow into Gren's oh so smashable face. This was actually starting to hurt his hand. His vision was also starting to get spotty. He needed air badly. If he could eat anything right now, it would be air.

"Ow. Ow. Ow!"

This was taking too long. Cobalt was deceptively strong. Granted, his weapon could do more damage, but his fists weren't exactly light taps either. Gren could try slugging back, but that would require for him to either let go his his neck, or let go of the God Eater, and both could be disasterous. But if Cobalt was tougher then he looked then simply choking him out wasn't going to work. Grunting, Gren lifted Cobalt off his feet and threw him towards the ground not too far from Gren. Shortly after he grabbed his weapon and quickly swung at Cobalt while he was on the ground, hoping to smash him down before he could get up and fight. One, maybe two good hits should take him out, or at least that's what Gren thinks. Gren could still fight, but he didn't want to risk getting clocked again, or for Cobalt to be able to get a clean hit on him either.

Cobalt gasped for air as he hit the ground. The God Eater headed towards his face and he rolled to the side. He got up quickly before Gren could swing again and checked his aura meter. He was in the red, the match was over. "I'm in the red! Match is over!" He called out before Gren could try and choke the life out of him again. "Good match bro!" Cobalt bolstered his weapon and held his hand out for a handshake. "Those Rocket Thrusters are sweet."

Huffing, Gren smiled at Cobalt underneath his helmet. Retracting it from his face Gren reached out and shook Cobalt's hand. "Thanks. Nice weapon. I don't meet many people who could heft something like that, and less who could afford standing under the might of The God Eater. Hell, I didn't want to risk taking too many shots from yours either." After shaking his hand Gren looked down at the rocket thrusters on his body. They served him well, and he was excited to upgrade them once he managed to find the materials for it. "Yeah, if I didn't have them you'd likely shoot me out of the skies. If you want, I could hook you up with some. Might be a bit bulky on you, but... I know a thing or two that might work."

"Thanks. I worked pretty hard on the 27 Smasher, but the God Eater is on a whole other level. The fire rate on it is insane. " Cobalt grinned at the compliment. The idea of Rocket Thrusters of his own was cool too. That would be sweet. But let's move this conversation out of the arena. Other people are waiting to fight." Cobalt walked out of the arena and began thinking on what he could have done to win.

[MULTI_MEDIA_MAN]

Jack Orpheus.

Oswald Connolly.

...

FIGHT!

Oswald's morning had been simple: wake up early, run, shower, and eat. When he arrived at combat class, he paid careful attention to the fight roster. He was fighting Jack Orpheus, Diamond was fighting Amaranth Desire, a hawk Faunus, and Cobalt was fighting Gren Orchid. He figured he and Diamond had a fair shot, but he had little knowledge of Cobalt's fighting capabilities.

Deciding that his own match was all he could really worry about now, Oswald made his way over to Jack and nodded at the other boy. "Jack. Believe we've fought together in Survival class."

Jack's day was as usual, he woke early, got dressed, ate breakfast, then headed out to the first class. It was combat today, which he did look forward to to some degree. Normally as a hunter, they fought Grimm or dissident factions such as the White Fang, they were essentially monster slayers and special covert operatives and were trained for it. Rarely would they get to duel other Semblance users that were skilled as they were, though he was only a first year at Beacon. He'd heard many stories about the second years, so honestly he was looking forward to that.

Combat Class today had his opponent as Oswald... Oswald... He couldn't remember the name, but as the boy named Oswald made himself known to Jack, he recognized the face. Yes, it was Survival where he met this guy.

"Oh, yes I remember... Somewhat, I mostly just remembered your face, I never got your name then", he responded.

"It was a hell of a fight. Much less fun with one arm. Thankfully, you'll get a better fight out of me than Sapphire did. I just wanted to speak a moment before our fight. See you on the inside of the ring." Giving a wave as he walked back to his own seat, Oswald stretched his arms and made sure his weapons were ready for use.

-------------------

When the two were called to battle, Oswald swiftly made his way to the arena, sword and shield in an arm each. As he entered, he took a short breath and nodded.

It wasn't long before Jack would find himself in the arena facing Oswald shortly after their pre-battle pleasantries. He walked into the arena throwing one of his knives up and down and catching it before holding it still once he reached position. The moment the countdown for the match to start went off he closed half the distance between the two with his Semblance before sprinting at Oswald, a moment taken would allow one to notice him throwing down a Lightning Pin, and covering it with his body, another one was thrown down at his starting position. He was starting with something a little simpler.

As Jack sped towards him, Oswald took a defensive posture and waited for him to approach. Shield held up, sword at an angle, he was ready to parry an attack as he slowly circled around to the side.

Jack cracked a wider smile as he stopped in his tracks, feet forward and with the momentum of that stop, flung his arms forward forming a cross as he threw several pins in random positions on both sides of Oswald. Upon one of them landing, he dashed to the one on Oswald's left, although he only had one dagger in hand, the other holstered while his free hand set another pin behind Oswald via throwing as Jack went in for a flank attack. It looks like Oswald guessed right on this move, and his dagger met his shield, but that wasn't much of a problem, upon hearing his dagger clang against the shield, he Lightning Rod dashed twice, circling around to the back.

Grunting angrily as Jack began throwing dagger-pin things all over the place, Oswald realized that a defensive posture wasn't going to work. Spinning around, Oswald lashed out with his sword, hoping to catch Jack on the attack with a slash covering nearly 270 degrees. As he finished his spin, Oswald raised his shield in front of him and quickly glanced to the side, looking to see how much of the arena fell within Jack's pins.

Jack after dashing around to the back, didn't act immediately then in case Oswald tried anything, and it turns out he did, and keeping himself alert to a counter-attack instead of rushing in paid off. Oswald's wide slash was easily ducked under as Jack went straight for the legs with a sweeping double kick, one to take the advancing foot, the other to just as quickly take the back foot before Jack did an independent dash above and behind Oswald. His legs out front as he attempted to land on the back of a hopefully tripping Oswald and secure the win.

As soon as he noticed Jack aiming for his lower body, Oswald's front leg was hit by a brutal sweeping kick which knocked him off balance. The instant his body started to fall, Oswald started to spin, rolling out of the way of Jack's next attack before springing to his feet and attempting to retreat outside the reach of Jack's pins. He wasn't sure of their exact purpose, but he knew that he did not want to be inside the area they encompassed. Despite being forced to act more passively than he was used to, Oswald was starting to enjoy the fight now that it was warming up.

His landing missed as Oswald rolled out of the way. Unexpected, but he can react pretty immediately to it. This was getting interesting. Surrounding someone with his pins can ensure he can continually attack from all sides, which he probably should have done and close to fight quickly, but now he had several retreating options instead. Time to give Lightning Rod a shot. Upon landing he threw one of of his knives on the ground at Oswald, but try and defend against it chasing as he might, the knife would fly right past him. Jack actually dashed twice here. First, to one of the knives in the circle he made closest to Oswald, but without phasing out of it. It immediately jumped to the knife that flew past Oswald, he could feel a sharp clang as the bolt of lightning zipped past him as Jack struck it mid-Semblance. However, within a single second, and before the sound of the clang even fully passed, the lightning bolt would rebound from behind like a deadly boomerang, aiming to strike Oswald in the back as Jack returned to the front of Oswald's vision, picking up one of the several he had thrown at the beginning of the match. As he landed, the knife he threw past Oswald kept flying until it hit the stadium's edge.

Everything happened more quickly than Oswald could react. Jack's pin landed in front of him as the speedster dashed around like a bolt of lightning. The blast of electrical energy struck him solidly in the back, and while his brigandine managed to absorb some of the energy, Oswald was forced to stumble forward. However, Jack returned to Oswald's vision, and this was the point where he decided to get serious. He was always wary of using his own Semblance in sparring matches, but Jack had forced his hand.

As suddenly as Jack appeared, Oswald was mid-swing, directly to the side of the other boy. Jack might have been fast, but Oswald had the upper hand in terms of power and versatility. If he could keep Jack on the defensive, this battle would go his way.

Jack wasn't proficient with his semblance for nothing. Time didn't literally slow down for him after all. Oswald's sudden flank was managed by a breif roll coupled with swinging his dagger mid-roll to meet the blade, landing him in the middle of all his knives. As he finished his roll, he threw the knife he had picked up before Oswald's counter-assault directly at Oswald instead. His intent was to hit, so he aimed at the center of gravity.

Jack's dodge was to be expected, and his throwing attack was also consistent with how he fought. Daggers, thrown or swung, and quick movement. Oswald had fought people like this before.

As the blade flew towards him, Oswald raised his shield to knock away the flying projectile, advancing rapidly towards Jack and delivering a downwards diagonal slash of his blade.

Oswald was charging into Jack, who was currently in the center of all his knives, he even knocked the thrown knife away, letting it bounce up and spin away... The moment was perfect. The moment Oswald's foot stepped into range for his blade to strike Jack, he instantly dashed straight at Oswald again, but it was at an angle this time. It was at the knife he had deflected. As he flew past, he didn't aim to strike Oswald directly, but instead, struck at his blade, likely knocking it out of his hand. Now Oswald barely able to wield his sword for a short moment and standing in the bulk of Jack's knives, countless flashes of lightning bolts darted all around the circle and even reaching the knife that hit the edge of the stadium, and the two he used at the very beginning, and a few times reusing the one Oswald had knocked away before it hit the ground laying down, now inactive. It was clear he wasn't aiming at all, but the gigantic barrage that Oswald had stepped into, the pure quantity, it didn't seem to matter. In moments Oswald would have suffered dozens of light and medium strikes, before Jack would stop at the knives from the starting point. Their positions were now unchanged from when they first started this fight, except Jack's knives were still around Oswald. He was panting, a little tired and unable to attack properly for awhile, but if he was given a few moments, he could recompose. Now all that was left was to see if Oswald was still standing.

While nobody could say that his idea was a good one, Oswald was still convinced that he made the right choice, even as Jack flashed around and around and around him, striking him on every side. While a good amount of the attacks necessitated the use of Aura to block, Oswald's heavy armor was enough to absorb most of the energy behind the weaker, more haphazardly placed strikes. Overall, it had been quite a beating Oswald was given, actually. A quick glance at his Aura levels showed that Jack had brought him down to about 75% of his full reserves. He figured that maybe two or three other students in their class could take that maelstrom as well as he did. Gren was the first name that popped into mind for his sheer physical presence.

Right now, all that mattered was that Oswald was, yet again, in the arena wielding only one weapon. This time, however, he wasn't wounded, it was only temporary, and he wasn't fighting an injured opponent he couldn't truly size up.

No, Oswald knew what Jack was capable of, and that was a hell of a lot of unpleasantness. For the moment, his blade was too far out of the way to go to it, even with Jack panting and seemingly unable to move. He'd put a lot into such a barrage of attacks. He looked like he'd need a few seconds to recompose.

A few seconds he didn't have. Instantly, Oswald was on him, fist and shield flying in his favored offensive style, turning the heavily-armored fighter into a storm of steel, marked with cuts and the signs of years of wear and tear. To most people, the key to winning was to hit more than your opponent did, or get better hits in. Against Oswald, there was only one way to win: don't get hit in the first place. A blade or shield being swung by someone like Oswald was enough to rend limbs from Grimm nearly effortlessly. Even an armored punch was enough to crack the bones of the Soulless beasts.

So, he turned Jack's strategy against him, making careful use of his Semblance to ensure the other boy was never out of striking range for long.

Looks like he was going to need something heavier... Which he didn't have, but he had other ways. Oswald's recovery wasn't immediate, he had to lower his aura shield after all, but it was swift. He was probably going to need imbued strikes. With both daggers in hand he held them in a way that let him deal damage while parrying at the same time. He held ground as best he could, while trying to match his breathing to his movements, it was working a little, but it would take a little longer before he could mount a counter-attack. He knew with this kind of Semblance, he couldn't simply run, he needed to make best use of Oswald's lack of sword.

He didn't have the strength to withstand or block a hit, so he made use of rotating movements to redirect as much force as possible, while maintaining his own position and stance. It took far longer than normal, and his arms were beginning to feel sore from parrying Oswald's onslaught, but the moment he recomposed himself, there was a single flash of lightning on the next parry as he made an independent dash to Oswald's backside, barely two steps from his original position. Both his coat and his dagger imbued, increasing the strength of the single strike to a sharper edge, and his coat allowing him to leave behind an after-image. He kept his dagger at the ready, in case he had to rinse and repeat the whole parrying and dashing thing again. He was low on stamina, so he couldn't use his Lightning Rod anymore, not unless he wanted to put himself in a much more incriminating position, so he vied instead for a more efficient approach, using imbued strikes and tiny micro-dashes and positioning himself around Oswald rather than away. Oswald was far sturdier than he had thought, and that cost him the advantage he had earlier.

Had Oswald started this kind of tactic early, he probably would have a much worse chance at this, after all, it would've been harder due to his sword's reach. He can deal with the shield, it was easier to stay out of reach of that, or avoid it, since it was slower than his sword due to it's shape. His fists were faster definitely, but it was bare fist and arm grinding against a blade each time Jack successfully parried.

Oswald had underestimated Jack's recovery, it seemed. The other boy was quick, much quicker than Oswald could hope to be, but he was also worn down from the liberal use of his Semblance earlier in the fight. Jack had corrected that tactic, now making much shorter dashes to move himself from Oswald's reach. Every time he tried to predict the speedster's movements, Jack was already out of the way when an attack reached where he was a moment ago.

The imbued strikes weren't helpful, either. Each blow was individually powerful, slowly wearing even Oswald's impressive Aura reserves down. He needed his sword. Making sure he knew where it was before moving, Oswald let out a bellowing roar before sprinting towards his weapon. Jack was already carving at him more than he was willing to take, so running wouldn't have put him at much of a disadvantage anyway.

Oswald was making a mad dash for his weapon, this wasn't the best course of action for him. Especially since lightning travelled faster than being on foot, in any case, he could not afford to let Oswald reach his weapon. He two-pronged his chase attack, hurling a random couple of knives at the backs of his legs, before dashing forward. Having fought him this long, and dealt many strikes to him, he had a pretty good idea of where to strike in order to do as much damage as possible, but it was difficult, since his centre was always so well guarded, but now with him running... He can capably fulfill his role, imbuing his dagger for what would hopefully be the final blow. If his strike were not true, the knives at least would hinder his movement somewhat, and his dash would place him in-between Oswald's sword and Oswald himself, putting him in the position to control possession of it. His eyes were fierce and his smile had long faded, it was clear he wasn't playing anymore. He looked the image of the role he filled out on his team.

"Since when did this become a deathmatch?", he muttered.

"Ahh, dammit!" Oswald shouted as Jack's knives hit the backs of his legs, causing him to stumble for a moment before Jack's attack came. Instinct took over as Oswald's shield arm swung to block the attack, but Jack's speed was too great. He felt the blade bite into his Aura as his shield moved towards Jack's attacking arm still. While normally he'd be worried about the consequences of smashing his shield into someone's arm at full-force, Jack had enough Aura to prevent anything more than an ugly bruise. Besides, this was a good fight.

The fact that Jack was still between Oswald and his sword wasn't much of a deterrent to the armored fighter. He could still make his way forward if he needed to, it would just be tougher.

It looked like Oswald was hell-bent on continuing. He stepped right into Oswald, jamming one dagger into Oswald's shield arm joint, while the other pressed onto his neck. The way he was using his daggers now was much dirtier, and simpler. He had only used slashing up until now. If Oswald continued to ignore him, he would start going for debilitating wounds and puncturing instead. To a heavily armed opponent, slashing wasn't an issue, but stabbing was a different story.

"This is a good fight, but neither of us are risking our lives in a silly spar", he pointed out.

Feeling the steel rapidly cutting into his Aura, Oswald groaned and looked Jack in the face. "Unfortunately, you're right." He spoke as his free arm launched itself upwards to push the speedster's knife from his throat. Even in a fight to the death, his Aura would have given him a moment or two of reprieve. To take care of the blade in his armor, Oswald flicked his wrist hard, sending his shield towards Jack's arm while his free hand braced itself to parry any further attacks.

"So we are agreed? You can lower your weapons", he said, or... Weapon, his free arm and shield. Jack took a spaced step back to see if this really was the end, which he hoped. Both combatants were starting to move into dangerous territory, where they would really be risking their own health to simply keep fighting. This wasn't what this class was for.

Oswald sighed and looked up at the display which showed their Auras. His was unpleasantly close to red after the trick Jack had pulled. On the other hand, Jack was only faring somewhat better. "I'll surrender as soon as I need to. I don't need to just yet."

Raising his shield to cover his torso, Oswald ran towards Jack, intending to bowl him over with the force behind his charge.

Jack with one hand held his collar up higher, whilst holding his dagger, covering up half has face as Oswald charged him down. If he wasn't going to end it, then he himself will. He knew his intention, it was to power through and grab his sword again, however, it was a last ditch effort, and with his attention faced forward, he was more vulnerable to attacks that were outside of his line of sight.

Jack charged back, but his intentions were different. Oswald didn't use a tower shield, and both their running speeds combined would make his next attack far more difficult to react to. As he neared range, he slide along the floor in a sliding kick, swiping Oswald's legs before using his Semblance to dash to Oswald's legs which were stuck with a few of his pins, stepping on them and ensure he falls before holding his back down, and delivering an ending blow with his dagger, imbuing it to ensure this is the end of it.

Oswald, with as much momentum as he was carrying, had no hope of stopping himself from falling once Jack had ruined his balance. He stumbled for a step or two before Jack forced him to the ground, stabbing him in the back as he fell. He didn't even have to look up at the display: he knew he'd been beat. He just waited there for Goodwitch to make the call.

For once, it seemed, the huntress had not been disappointed. Her tone was more congratulatory than simply matter-of-fact as she said, "An excellent display of talent for first-years. This match goes to Mr. Orpheus, but both of you will be receiving full scores." After making a few notes for future improvements on her clipboard, she spoke again, addressing not only the fighters but the others as well in a didactic manner. "For a minute there I was worried. These fights are precursors to those you will be facing as hunters. While they may seem like games, in order to play hard you must practice hard, and you two realized that in the end. Time for the next match-up."

[SevenStormStyle]

"Oh, it's no big deal." Sepia waved her hand dismissively. "I forget things all the time, and I don't know if you heard my name in the first place. It's Sepia Russet, by the way." As she said this, her stress began to lower considerably. At least he's okay now, but I have a feeling he isn't exactly "fine". Noticing the ears sticking out of his hair for this first time, she gasped in excitement. "Yes, I remember you now! You're the cu- cat, I meant cat- faunus from my practice class!" she paused for a moment and studied his features. "Unless you're something more exotic, like a lion or tiger, maybe."

"And yeah, that's my semblance. Don't worry, I can't really tell what you're thinking unless you want me too." She looked down, her borderline ADD canine tendencies showing as she was immediately distracted by the funny little creature. "Woahhhhh....Is that like a cat-snake or something?" Her pale green eyes were widened with curiosity.

[harinezumikouken]

Kuhaku Shiro

"Cu-?"
Shiro tilted his head and blinked.
"Slip of the tongue?" he wondered.
Shaking his head, he dismissed it as an irrelevant thought and quickly demolished it from memory.

Smiling, he took comfort in knowing someone else had bad memory just like him. Not that it was an uncommon thing, people forget stuff all the time. Regardless, he still felt a little better with her having admitted the fact. "Well, it's nice to meet you Sepia! Glad to see you remember me! But, I'm not a Cat faunus. Most people get that confused, but I'm actually a Tiger." he laughed. "My stripes only appear when I'm fighting, otherwise I look just like any other feline so I get that a lot." he understood the confusion. His exact breed was always difficult to discern because of his stripes only appearing in the high-stress situations of combat. He definitely felt a kinship and affinity for other faunus that were of feline origin, but still felt he was drastically different. How? He could never explain. But he felt the differences to lay in general personality traits and physical attributes. Making a face and wrinkling his nose, he found the 'exotic' description to be a little odd, but not insulting in any way.

"That's a pretty cool Semblance. So you're like a psychic or something?"
"Please don't go digging around in my head." His inner voice begged quietly.
When Sepia brought attention to Scoot who was actively sniffing at her and now circling around her feet, Shiro grinned.
"Oh, him? That's Scoot. He's sort of Swansong's mascot. He's a ferret that somehow has his own Semblance that's a lot like yours. But, he can only use it to speak a few words in people's heads who are near him. Can't really do much else with his ability." He scratched at the back of his head. Scoot, sensing Shiro's energy returning, began to ask "Friend?" Constantly. Shiro chuckled again, "I don't want to say he's stupid, but he doesn't know how to say much. He's a simple little guy but I love 'em."

"Wait a minute, doesn't she belong to another freshman team? Isn't she supposed to be in Combat Class?" He stared at her for a moment, lost in confused thought. He thought to ask, but then the same question could be asked of him and he didn't feel like spilling his guts about how he was secretly taking drugs to fend off his 'episodes'. He could just as easily lie, but he could already feel the guilt growing just from thinking of fibbing to a new friend. Screw it, right? "Uh, if you don't mind my asking...What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Combat class with everyone else?"

[Lady Seraphina]

Sapphire Rode and Napoli Fiordilatte - Combat Training

When her name was called, Sapphire rose from her seat and jumped from the stands into the arena, landing with her feet braced and one hand on the ground steadying her. She could, of course, have used the stairs, but it was slow and she liked using the time it took her opponent to enter the arena to size them up and evaluate any weaknesses they might have.

Sapphire stood and drew her shotguns, she placed the ends together and they interlocked transforming themselves into her polearm weapon. She aligned the blades on the barrel in the position most suited for slash attacks and awaited Napoli's entrance.

The ever grinning sniper was still chuckling from the results of his irksome compadre's fight. Getting screwed over because she scared her partner, it was dumb, sure, but knowing how frustrated Gratia would be right now made it all worthwhile. Seems Cian's surrender wasn't all that Gratiaous. Yeah, that was pretty terrible.

Still, while reveling in Gratia's misfortunes was fun, the duelist did understand that it was now his turn to shine. His opponent, one Sapphire Rode, currently awaited him in the arena, and while she may have seen fit to engage in pointless acrobats, Napoli found it much more prudent to save his energy. After all, there was no use in rushing, save his energy for when it mattered. Hence why he was casually walking down the steps.

However make no mistake, Napoli, despite his appearance and demeanor, was still taking full advantage of the opportunity to study his partner. Shotguns that turn into a polearm. Not the greatest weapons to face, but hey, this isn't my first Rode-o. Man, I really am fantastic sometimes. Rode-o, that's a keeper all right. Still I should probably get back to analyzing her. Let's see, she's uptight, a little frigid, one might say that she's a real hidden gem.

It wasn't that long before Napoli reached the arena. "Yo, nice to meet you, Ms. Rode. Hopefully my tendency as a sniper doesn't make this fight too easy for you, cause I'm kind of hoping for a fun little match." However even as Napoli gave his greetings, his eyes brought to his attention something far more worrying. His aura levels were already halfway depleted.

How in the world did that happen? Wait....

"That Bitch!" Napoli interjected as the circumstances behind the depletion dawned upon him. His ever consistent teammate just had to always view him as the enemy.

When I see her again, she's dead.

Sapphire watched with a critical eyes as Napoli nonchalantly walked down the stairs into the arena. It appeared her first assessment based solely on his name had been a little more accurate than Sapphire had expected. He had a bit of a strut to his walk as though nothing could disrupt it and a lazy grin plastered on his face that while making it seem like he didn't take anything serious also gave Sapphire the irresistible urge to punch him.

His primary weapons appeared to be a rapier and short sword. It was a common combination which unfortunately for Napoli was designed specifically to deal with others that wielded similar weapons. It would be far less effective against her polearm.

As the battle was about to commence something else caught Sapphire's eye. It was the score boards at the back of the arena that reported the progress of the match. While it registered that Sapphire's aura levels were normal Napoli's where more than half depleted. This was going to be a very short and very sweet fight.

A smile spread over Sapphire's face. It wasn't the humorous kind, it was the smile of a predator that had her prey surrounded and knew the outcome of the fight before it even began. Using one hand Sapphire spun her polearm twice around flipping the weapon over the back of her hand and taking hold of it again before she spun it once over her head and stopped it's motion with her other hand. In one swift movement she swung one end forward and spun it down next to her side so that one of the shotguns was pointed directly at Napoli's head. "Your move, Fiordilatte."

Napoli just chuckled at Sapphire's excessive movements, if she was serious she would have just fired her gun. Taking care to gently step out of the shotgun's line of fire, Napoli addressed his rather rude partner. "Now come on Signorina, I did you the courtesy of a proper greeting, is it too much to ask for one in return."

Now circling around Napoli merely shook his head, "Ah well, I suppose the people in this country are just lacking in manners. I guess I can't be all that surprised that you're a bit rode. Get it? Rode like in rude, please tell me that you at least have a sense of humor? Oh forget it, I suppose we should get this over with already, it's not like we have much shot at a fair fight anymore. Aura levels and annoying teammates am I right?"

His chuckle finally subsiding, although his grin remained ever plastered on, Napoli finally drew his rapier and dagger as he settled from High Ward into Low Ward stance. Knuckles low, blade pointed up and to the left, dagger in left hand, legs ready to move in an instance. The most versatile of the three Wards Napoli had learned. At any moment Napoli was ready to step forward with a thrust or avoid an enemy attack.

"Well, Ms. Rode, shall we begin this party? I'm serious about wanting to have a fun match. There's a time and a place for life or death, but this is school. Lighten up a little and just roll with it. You don't need all that weight to be valuable. Get it? Sapphires and weight like carats and I'll just shut up now. As you said, your move Ms. Rode. Seriously though just saying the last name of a guy you barely know is a little rude. Yeah I know, shut up already. Fine."

Sapphire starred at her opponents as they circles each other. He seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice far more than was healthy. "Are you for real?" she asked with disdain. This fight was going to be so easy it bordered on pathetic. From the little she'd seen of this Napoli Fiordilatte he was a pompous ass who Sapphire would be more than happy to stamp into the ground. Then again if Napoli was as prideful and arrogant as he was making himself out to be he would simply claim that she’d won because his aura was already depleted before the battle commenced.

Sapphire knew she was more skilled than this Haven know it all, so instead of attacking she lowered her weapon and closed her eyes. There was a shrill ringing in her ears that no one could hear except her. As she concentrated her body glowed purple and the score board in the back reported her aura level falling to half. The same level as he opponent. "I’m not a cheat and I’m not going to win on a technicality. You have no skill worth boasting about Fiordilatte and very little wit to compliment it. Now show me what you got." Sapphire said as she raised her weapon again the gun pointed at Napoli’s face and tracing him as he circled around her.

"Oh come on, I'm just trying to be polite. Why is this such a foreign concept? Seriously, can we talk about why you're so angry? I'm sure it'll be worthwhile." Napoli pleaded one last time as he continued staying a step ahead of Sapphire's gun. I swear this chick is almost as bad as Gratia. Do people here really have no concept of manners?

"If you're really itching for a fight that bad just start it already. It hasn't stopped you from being rude and disrespectful at every turn. I haven't even tried boasting about anything. I dunno, I just feel like we got off on the wrong foot somehow. You sure there's nothing worth talking about first?" Napoli asked even as he grew more certain of what the answer would be.

Rather than indulge Napoli’s flippancy any longer, Sapphire instead started running, at the last second she jumped into the air over Napoli’s head. As she passed over him she fired two dust infused rounds into the ground at his feet. One was ice and the other fire. As Sapphire landed the two opposing elements mixed in a violent reaction with Napoli at the center. They vented hot steam in every direction completely obscuring the arena from all the onlookers except for Miss Goodwitch who was able to see through the obstruction.

Sapphire while now able to see only a few feet in front of her had the advantage. The girl in blue had had plenty of practice fighting without the use of her sight thanks to the after effects of her semblance. She could feel air currents change and concentrate on the smallest sounds. Sapphire moved silently over the battlefield constantly aware of where her enemy was but invisible to him waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Napoli merely sighed as he noticed the distinct lack of conversation as Sapphire started charging at him. Guess we're doing this the hard way, the Mistralese Hunter in training mused as he focused in on his target. It didn't take a genius to realize that her leap over was a planned action, and the best plan in response was simple.

Run.

Thus even as Sapphire fired her rounds from above, Napoli was rolling clear out of the blast. The time for talk was evidently at an end. A real shame all things considered, conversation always made for more interesting fights after all. This was school, what was the point in being so serious all the time. As far as Napoli was concerned it was far better to take pleasure in the peaceful moments. If he had a chance at fun, he'd take it after all.

Yet that was neither here nor there, and Napoli quickly adapted to the now steam filled arena. See Napoli functioned primarily as a sniper, and the thing snipers constantly had to be aware of was the wind direction. An extra breeze here or there was the difference between a direct hit or a wide miss. The added steam of course, just gave Napoli a visual cue to complement his other senses. Polluted wind after all was a whole lot easier to feel. Even now Sapphire's movements were imparting subtle changes in the steam, there's a reason people didn't go into the smoke grenades they threw, it was only good for blocking sight when you weren't in it.

One other fun fact about snipers, they were really good at being absolutely still and silent. While Sapphire circled around slowly, Napoli stayed in his position awaiting the moment she came into range to thrust forward fast and suddenly at her chest. However regardless of the outcome of his attack, Napoli was prepared to instantly roll out of the way and disappear into a different section of the steam.

Sapphire was more than aware that despite the steam she wasn’t invisible. While it gave her an advantage she couldn’t assume that this Napoli was completely oblivious. Even if he didn’t know where she was right now all his senses would be working overtime ready to lash out at the tiniest hint that she was going to attack. If this were weaponless combat she could likely beat him with ease. However being unaware of what special qualities his weapons might possess promoted caution.

She withdrawn one of the school’s daggers from her belt and threw it into the steam at the misty figure where she believed Napoli’s head resided before rolling to the right and out of range of attack. Here she fired off the same flashpoint round she’d used in her previous combat class. She closed her eyes, the steam dampened the effects somewhat but it was still effective for the first three seconds that it was active as opposed to the usual ten. Knowing that she must have blinded him at least for a few seconds Sapphire aimed a blow with the furthest edge of her polearm at Napoli’s ribs.

As previously mentioned Napoli had been patiently awaiting his moment to strike, paying close heed to shifts in the steam to get an understanding of his opponent's whereabouts. Thus even as she circled around him Napoli was well in the know and then she came within five feet to throw her dagger, but Napoli was quick. The moment she came into his range he instantly pivoted and thrust forward before rolling to a new location himself.

While his attack had unfortunately missed, the roll saved Napoli from the brunt of the flashpoint round, and besides sight was already a secondary concern thanks to the steam. Not letting the moment pass, Napoli rapidly stepped back into range and thrust while Sapphire was distracted by the flashpoint round. His own eyes might have been a bit dazed, but he still had more than enough sight to deliver an accurate strike.

In the process Napoli closed the gap and slipped within Sapphire’s guard, causing her polearm to exist uselessly behind Napoli. “So Signorina, can we get that proper introduction already?”

Sapphire cursed herself internally. It was a rookie mistake to think that the steam had completely blinded Napoli. Of course had she activated her semblance passively the steam would be all that she needed to ensure that he would be unable to ascertain her location, the shifts in the steam wouldn't register on a conscious level and as long as she was quiet he couldn't find her until she attacked.

However after she'd used her ability to just barely snatch victory in her last sparring match Sapphire wanted to know her skills better without it. While she was distracted by the flashpoint round Napoli took his chance to attack. Sapphire saw it coming at the last second. Sapphire was fast but she had been caught unawares and the rapier was a weapon of speed. She managed to ensure that it did not hit her chest as was the intended target. Rather the blade slashed through the top of one of the leather gloves she wore.

The blade was so fine and her aura already depleted from evening the playing fields Sapphire's collapsed momentarily as the blade sliced a shallow gash through her skin. She could use her aura to heal it after the battle.

Napoli had the advantage and he knew it. Just a little too well, the blonde boy became over confident that she could not retaliate in any meaningful way. He slipped inside her guard but rather than attack as would have been Sapphire's first instinct he spoke.

Napoli's proximity did render her polearm all but useless for its conventional uses however the same could be said of Napoli's sword and Sapphire was more than capable of fighting bare handed. Sapphire let her polearm drop to the ground. Sapphire and Napoli where so close that she didn't need any sort of fancy attack, she raised her knee lightning fast into Napoli's rib cage.

Without wasting a second Sapphire grabbed Napoli by the shoulders and hooked one of legs under the back of Napoli's calf. She dove forward tripping him over her leg and they both landed on the ground.

Sapphire shifted her weight pressing her right knee to his chest, her left leg crushing Napoli's sword wrist into the floor. With her opponent securely pinned beneath her Sapphire leaned in close pressing her forearm into the side of his neck where an artery ran blood straight to the brain, ready to choke him out if necessary. "You ready to call it quits or shall we wait out the timer?" she smiled just a little bit. "I'm Sapphire by the way."

"That will not be necessary, Miss Rode," the smooth, icy voice of the instructor addressed the victor from across the arena. Ms. Goodwitch was not, evidently, in a good mood due to the nature of the match's beginning--to have someone start at a complete disadvantage would have infuriated and demoralized anyone else. By keeping a calm, joking demeanor, however, Napoli had kept himself out of that rut. Now, however, the duel had ended utterly predictably despite his bravado. or so it seemed.

"You might be curious to why the observant, speed-oriented Mr. Fiordilatte did not put up a proper defense against your hold. As it turns out, the match was decided already. Your aura dipped momentarily into the red zone, which means that you have lost.

Sapphire looked up as Goodwitch strode through the steam. She'd lost? Sapphire glanced at the scratch on her hand. That was enough to end a combat match? Pathetic, if this were true fight she'd have so much more left to do. She grabbed the torn glove and tossed it into the steam. Then she looked down at Napoli. "We're not done, you've won nothing." She hissed darkly.

The azure haired girl stood up putting more pressure on Napoli's chest than was strictly necessary or comfortable. She gathered up her weapons and stored them before walked off, her semblance causing her to disappear into the steam.

"What? Right after I get a proper introduction she gets all pissed off again. Come on Signorina, you're almost as bad as Gratia." Chuckling a bit from the outcome of the match, Napoli spun his sword breaker, which he had turned into it's pistol form during the fall, in his hand before placing it in its holster/sheath. Sholster for short.

Probably a good thing I didn't go ahead and fire those shots at her back, being a murderer after my first duel at Beacon isn't all that great of a reputation. Wonder if I should tell her that I could have shot her in the back there. Might help her realize that she would've lost anyway? However a quick glance at his opponent, as she disappeared into the steam, quickly dissuaded Napoli of any such notion. After all she appeared to be in a bad enough mood already, telling her she had lost completely probably wouldn't make matters any better.

"Hey uh, Ms. Rode, if you can still hear me, I had fun. Shall we do it again some time?"

Man, are all Huntresses pyscho? What'd I give for someone normal, instead of these Rode-y characters. Rode-y, like rowdy, get it? Yeah, I probably could've thought that one out better.

"So uh, Miss Goodwitch, thanks for the compliments. At least I think they were compliments. If they weren't then, well, I'll be leaving now, thanks again." Can't wait to see how the others criticize this match, Napoli mused as he made his way out of the arena.

Also those scars, seems like she's another broken ace with a rough childhood. Probably should ask her about it sometime. Y'know, when she's not pissed off and wanting to brutally maim me.