Some Extra Practice
by CreativeChaosStudios

After watching him spar with Pyrrha, Yang was interested in this Haven Huntsman by the name of Mercury Black. Maybe even attracted? Maybe.

As the class ended, Mercury could be seen talking to who Yang assumed to be his teammates, two young women. Beautiful young women, actually. One with green-hair and the other with black, Emerald and Cinder or something. Ruby had talked to them once before. What was this feeling? Jealousy? Maybe.

Yang looked the young man over, a playful grin on her face as she formulated a plan, and tapped her fingers idly on the desk. Blake Belladonna, Yang's teammate and partner, noticed where the girl's gaze was focused and turned the page of her book. "Go talk to him."

Yang snapped out of her little trance and looked to the Faunus. "What am you talking about?" She was clearly embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head, thinking of an excuse.

"I'm not stupid, Yang," Blake replied as she read her novel. "I see you staring a hole into Mercury. You've been staring at him since he stepped up to fight Pyrrha. Go talk to him."

Yang sighed and relaxed into her chair as the two lingered behind the rest of the class. "Am I that obvious?"

"Always." Blake replied dryly, slowly turning the page of her novel.

With that, Yang smacked the desk with an amused smirk and stood up. "I'll see you later then, Kitty. Oh, and I'm surprised you're readin that in public."

Blake closed the book quickly, a thick blush on her face, and looked to Yang with widened eyes as the blonde left her alone. How did she know what this was? Where did she get her information?! Blake placed the book in her backpack and hurried out of the classroom. She needed to find a new place to hide her...novels.


"Why did you forfeit, Mercury?" Cinder asked the young man, arms crossed as she looked to him in curiosity.

Mercury smiled and shrugged. "I got all I needed from it."

"Meaning?" Emerald asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Her Semblance. Magnetism. Polarity probably." He replied as he moved his hands into his pockets. "I wasn't going to win that fight. At least now I can prepareand maintain my reputation." His lips curled into a small smirk.

Emerald rolled her eyes and noticed the blonde woman coming towards them. She motioned her head towards Yang subtly and looked to Cinder. "We got company."

Cinder didn't react with anything more than a smile in greeting. "Hello. Something we can do for you?"


As she approached the group, she noticed them noticing her and grinned a little. When the black-haired girl spoke, Yang shook her head. "Not particularly." She pointed to Mercury.

"You, however, might be able to."

Mercury looked to the blonde, then to his associates, before smirking, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh? And how can I help you?"

Yang cracked her knuckles boldly in front of them and winked to Mercury. "Name's Yang. Gym in an hour? Seeing that fight against Pyrrha, I'm kind of interested in seeing what you're really capable of in a level fight."

"Level fight?" He asked, feigning a lack of understanding, his eyes focused on her. "What are you talking about?"

Yang laughed a little and leaned forward, looking Mercury in the eyes. "I saw Pyrrha's subtle Semblance usage. And I saw you noticing it too before you forfeit. Not many people can see what happened that quickly, nor do they even know what happened. You're talented. Against me, you don't have to worry about that. Just good old-fashioned fisticuffs and kicks. Why? Because I think you were holding back." She punched him lightly in the arm and made her way towards the classroom door. "I'll be waiting. Even if you're not in the mood for a little test, drop on by and we'll grab some food or something."

Yang winked to Mercury and disappeared out the door. The martial artist was baffled and honestly slightly annoyed, but smirked as he rubbed his arm. "Huh, she's an interesting one."

"So, Mercury, seems like you have a little date." Cinder teased with a sly smile. Emerald was holding in laughter at the situation.

"It seems I do, Cinder," He replied, figuring he'd learn as much as he could about another student for nearly nothing. "It seems I do..."


Yang waited patiently in the gym, now wearing her usual outfit, and hit one of the training bots idly. She didn't have Ember Celica with her as she had offered him a straight fist-and-foot spar. She was hoping he's show up and show her what he was made of, figuring the Hunter themselves were what made them talented, not just the weapons.

She punched the training bot again and blocked with a bored sigh as it spun around. She looked like she wasn't even trying to fight more so than just going through the motions. On the bench nearby was her half-sister Ruby, eagerly trying to give her a pep-talk before her fight; Weiss, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation and the resident princess; and of course, Blake with a different book than before. Yang giggled a little the change of literature.

She kicked the training bot away and walked over to her team; Ruby eagerly offered her a water-bottle. She shook her hand at it and crossed her arms as she looked around the gym. Still no sign of the other fighter. "I wonder if he'll show up..." Her voice carried the slight hint of disappointment.

Ruby shrugged, kicking her feet idly in front of her, and looked to the blonde. "He'll show up. Unless he's scared!" Ruby began to laugh a little at the thought of Yang scaring off another boy.

"I don't believe scared is the right term, I'm afraid. No pun or joke intended." A voice stated behind the four girls. It was Mercury. Behind him, Cinder and Emerald took a seat on the opposing benches; Cinder crossing her legs idly as she waited for the fight to start.

Word must have spread through the school about Yang's challenge because a few more students filed in; the entirety of Teams SSSN and JNPR, Velvet and Fox of Team CVFY, and various others.

Mercury looked at the crowd and gave Yang a small chuckle. "I take it you're pretty well known around here?" He wasn't expecting a large crowd, but it seemed he would have to fight in view of the public, much to his dismay. He wasn't really one for displaying his abilities openly.

Yang held up two fingers, the spacing between them barely visible, and winked to Mercury as she stepped into the middle of the gym with him. "People knowof me."

Mercury couldn't argue that fact as he watched her step closer to him. He stood about a foot taller than the rather busty woman, his eyes wandering for a moment before snapping back to her, and then he noticed her lack of weaponry. "No gear?"

"Nope." Yang replied before stretching her arms above her head, grinning slightly. She had noticed his gaze earlier and found herself enjoying the attention.

Mercury exhaled in some relief that his weapons would remain unseen and brought his legs up one at a time, unbuckling his greaves from over his boots. He tossed them to Emerald for safe-keeping. "Well then, any rules?"

"First to three?" Yang offered. "No low-blows, no Semblance. Physical contact is fine; I'm a big girl." The last part came out playful. Mercury smirked.

"No doubting that."

Yang grinned and got herself into a fighting stance, her arms raised. Mercury mimicked her preparation, his forward leg raising slightly as he stood on the back-foot.

Cinder looked to her silver-haired associate and smirked before leaning towards Emerald. "Is he flirting?"

"When is he not?" Emerald replied dryly despite the eager smile on her face. This was going to be interesting. It had been a while since Mercury acted that way.


In the stands, Sun Wukong laid back against the row of benches behind him and laughed. "Is he flirting with Yang?"

"I would like to believe so." Sage - the dark-skinned, green-haired member of SSSN - replied, looking to the two fighters. "From what I've heard about Yang, though, not many guys are willing to try. Kid's got some balls."

"He better watch himself or Yang's gonna rip 'em off." Neptune teased, eager to see this play out.

Scarlet chuckled as he bit into his sandwich. It was the only part of his lunch he had left with me after Neptune pulled him away from the table and into the gym to watch.


Deciding to take the position of the referee and make sure everything went smoothly, and to avoid any troubles with the Headmaster and Headmistress, Pyrrha stepped onto the gym floor and smiled to both contestants. "Have you two decided on rules?"

"Yes, we have." Mercury replied as he glanced to his opponent from earlier.

"Of course." Yang replied, smiling eagerly.

"Well then," Pyrrha commented as she stepped back, hand in the air. She waited a moment and brought it down to signal the start of the fight. "Begin!"

Yang was the first to strike; something Mercury had been hoping for. She threw a quick right-hook at the male. He struck back by kicking her arm to deflect the strike and spun his body, his blocking leg going to the floor to plant itself as the opposite came around from the side, aiming for her side. Yang used the momentum from his kick to spin, bringing her left-arm up to block the blow. Pushing his leg back, she lunged forward with a confident smirk and threw a straight-jab with her right hand once again. Mercury dodged with a lean and spun low, aiming to sweep her legs out from underneath her. Yang jumped over the strike and looked to Mercury, noticing a small smirk on his face as he spun his body once more. He shot up and gave her a strong sidekick with his other leg, knocking her onto her back. She rolled to a crouch, her hand on the floor as the other held her stomach, and looked to Mercury. She looked to him and huffed, clearly annoyed he got such an easy hit on her, but her annoyance turned transformed into eagerness. This guy was definitely something else.

"One point for Mercury." The red-headed referee Huntress announced as she waited for Yang to get up and back into position.

Mercury hopped in place as he waited for the blonde, a teasing smile on his lips, and went back to his stance, one leg up as he rested his weight on the back-foot once more. She was fast, he'd admit, but she was still a student after all.

Seeing his smile, Yang smiled back and hit her knuckles together before getting back into her stance. "So, you like things rough? I'm game." Her words weren't menacing or venomous, but rather playfully. Incredibly, incredibly playful.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Doll." The martial artist replied with a sly grin. This girl seemed fun.

Pyrrha swung her hand down again. "Begin!"


The match went on a little longer until Mercury took the third point, officially deciding him the winner. Yang was on the ground, groaning in childish defeat, and looked to the male before her. He got three points, fair and square. She couldn't argue that. Still doesn't mean her pride wasn't suffering since most of her friends just saw her lose.

"You're a tough one." Yang looked up to the young man after hearing his voice comment her.

Mercury was standing over her, a hand extended to help her up. As per Yang's wishes, he had played rough. She was slightly bruised on her forearms from constant blocks and had a slightly swollen cheek, the result of Round Two's point. She took his hand and stood up, showing there wasn't any real damage or injury to worry about. Looking to Mercury, she slapped his arm and crossed hers over her chest. "And you're a fast one."

Mercury looked to the blonde before looking to his associates. They were getting up and leaving, but he noticed Cinder looking to the two fighters. She winked to Mercury and made a 'shoo' motion with her hand playfully. Realizing he had been given the night off, Mercury looked back to Yang as she slowly returned to her team. Mercury noticed a little girl in red looking completely flabbergasted. Weiss, too, carried a look of amazement at the outcome.

"Hey Yang?" He called out to her, causing the girl to stop and turn to him, an eyebrow raised in interest.

"Hmm?" She replied with a small smile as she tried to patch herself up on the inside, never really having lost a fight in her life.

"Want to grab some of that food you mentioned?" He offered to her with an inviting smile.

Yang just smiled and winked to him. Food would help patch things up inside of her. "Sure, I could use a meal after that ass-kicking."

Mercury Black just laughed. This girl was something else. And he liked that.