Ragna wasn't pleased with his predicament. He slipped through the trees, clumsily coordinating his way through the Emerald Forest. Bushes and brambles constantly brushed against him and he found himself with cuts on his clothes and skin, and greenery decorating his body. Ragna brushed himself off quickly before continuing on his way.

"I can't believe I'm doing this for a damn bench," he muttered, his spirits falling even further as he came to another flora-filled area of the forest. As he prepared to hack his way through, he heard a rustling sound.

"You're not being very stealthy, kid," he said, sounding bored.

"Good thing I don't sneak around, then," Ruby replied, hurtling from the trees with her scythe unfolded in all of its splendor. Ragna lifted Blood Scythe to knock aside Crescent Rose, and Ruby was smashed into a tree, her small figure possessing far less strength than that of Ragna's. She grunted and careened back at the Grim Reaper, using the shots from her scythe to propel herself. Ragna might have had the strength advantage, but Ruby was far faster. He just managed to raise his blade in time to block her strike. He staggered back, having been caught off-guard. Ruby then twisted in midair and landed, skidding on the ground, before shooting herself back at the defenseless Ragna. He had no choice but to use the momentum he gained from staggering to fall and roll under Ruby's attack, and when he got out of his roll, he found a red blade heading towards him. He raised his sword to block, and Ruby fired a shot off and used it to propel her swinging strike, as she twirled and went to attack the opposite side. Ragna flipped over it and landed a few feet away from Ruby, but she quickly cleared the distance, twirling her scythe like a baton. Ragna held his blade up and the descending scythe bounced off of it, leaving Ragna with a clear opportunity to attack. His foot slammed into Ruby's chest and she was knocked back. However, she managed to flip into a position that granted her control over her flight and slammed Crescent Rose into the ground, slowing herself down. She panted as Ragna ran at her. He was stronger than she'd thought. However, she was also smiling. Ragna slashed at her with a wild, arcing motion, but she kicked Crescent Rose into the air, bringing it out of the ground, and did a back handspring away from Ragna's attack. She caught her scythe and swung it down. Ragna sidestepped and attacked, dark energy following his strike. Ruby flipped over it and aimed Crescent Rose downwards, firing it and slamming the blade down as the shot propelled her. Ragna rolled out of the way and her downwards strike hit the ground. She then ripped her weapon from the earth and shot forward, swinging Crescent Rose wildly. She used her gunfire to propel the attacks as always, and Ragna was having trouble blocking. She swung and twirled, disorienting the white-haired warrior. However, he had been trained by Jubei of the Six Heroes and was more than prepared for anything she could throw at him. He ducked into her strike and caught the scythe just beneath the blade. He lifted it and slammed Ruby, who was holding onto her weapon, into the ground. He then ripped the scythe from her hands and kicked her across the forest. She slammed through multiple trees before stopping herself with a branch. Ragna hurled her weapon at her, but she dodged and snagged it from the air.

"Not...not bad..." She panted.

"Is that all you got? I waste time coming out to this fancy-ass school so I can sit on a damn bench my ass was already on and end up fighting some idiot who can't even land a hit on me? Just my luck that I'd get the kid of the group," Ragna snarled. As he spoke, Ruby looked down. She found herself wondering if he was right, if she was just a kid who got lucky. However, she didn't want to think about it. She'd moped plenty the previous night and knew that she could win.

"See what I can do and decide for yourself!" She shouted angrily, shooting herself forward. Ragna ran up to meet her and soon found himself flying into the air with a cut on his sword arm.

"I really need to learn to stop calling teenage girls idiots..." He growled as he flew.


"Bang? Nail guy? Weird dude? Where are you?" Yang shouted out, knowing full well that he most likely hadn't reached her yet. However, she still felt like she had to do something. Bored out of her mind, she tried punching trees and making noise so as to attract the ninja, but he didn't show up. She hurried through the forest, running towards where she last remembered seeing Bang. As she ran, she found herself brushing branches and bushes out of her way, which left her vulnerable. She thought nothing of it, thinking Bang wasn't around, but what she didn't know was that he was waiting for her only a small distance away. She kept running, calling his name, and when she ran past the perch he sat on, the ninja shouted loudly.

"You seek, but you do not find! I, Bang Shishigami, fight my opponents with honor! I have given you a chance to find me, small as that chance is. I am a ninja, trained in the art of stealth! If I wish, I can be unseen by even the keenest of eyes-gah!" Yang clearly pinpointed where Bang was hiding by the sound of his voice, and fired a red orb of flame at him. He barely managed to dodge it, but the explosion sent him flying face-first into a tree.

"Next time, can you try to shout louder? I don't think they heard you in Kagutsuchi," Yang teased. Bang slid to the ground, but quickly got up and wiped the dirt and leaves off of his clothing.

"Very impressive, young lady. However, you have hardly even scratched the surface of my power!" He proclaimed.

"Prove it, loudmouth." Yang held her gauntlets behind her, and in a move reminiscent of her sister's fighting style, used the shots she fired to propel herself forward. Bang didn't even have time to react as Yang planted her feet firmly into his face and kicked him into the same tree she'd knocked him into earlier. This time, however, he shattered the tree and slammed into one behind it. He wiped blood from his mouth and his smile turned into a focused snarl.

"Very well. Words shall no longer be my claim!" Bang ran at Yang, who acted likewise towards him. The two reached each other and Yang fired a quick, brutal punch which Bang blocked, raising his arm to deflect the blow. She then went in for a low kick, but Bang slid his foot into hers and as she was thrown off-balance, surrounded his hand with brilliant flame and delivered a punch that resounded throughout the forest and sent Yang flying. She shattered not one or two but three trees, hitting the fourth tree like a car hitting a brick wall. Yang coughed and fell to her knees, watching as Bang dashed across the forest to reach her. She stood up and smiled, slamming her gauntlets together. The metallic clang created a burst of bright flame that consumed the space around her, spreading through the air. She then readied herself for Bang's assault, the metallic noise still ringing in her ears like a battle cry. Bang threw three small nails at her, and she knocked them away with a swipe of her hand. Bringing her arms to her face, she met the ninja halfway and began to initiate the first move in their melee dance. She went for an uppercut, and Bang stepped to one side, retaliating with a right hook. Yang ducked under it, dashing to meet Bang, her fist rising up in another uppercut. Bang brought both of his arms down and blocked the blow, but he rose slightly into the air with the sheer force of Yang's attack. He landed and staggered back, blocking a strike aimed towards his face. Yang then fired off three straight jabs, two which Bang dodged and the third he met with his own punch. The ground cracked beneath the two warriors, and they both took a step back before lunging back at each other like wild wolves. Yang tried a kick which Bang ducked, and he slid in an attempt to knock her off of her feet. Yang flipped over his slide and he twirled around on the ground as if he was break dancing and pushed himself into the air, immediately ducking one of Yang's deadly punches. He tried an uppercut, but Yang twirled out of the way and shot her fist around in a curved arc. Bang didn't have time to block, and he felt the cold sting of metal and the searing pain of fire as Yang's punch elicited a flaming blast from her gauntlet. She then ran into him and fired a series of punches, keeping her fists close to her body, as she juggled Bang into the air. His feet left the ground and Yang's punches were all that kept him from falling to the ground.

"Can't take the heat, huh?!" Yang fired a finishing punch that sent Bang's head rocketing back as well as his body, and he shattered a grand total of four trees.

"Beat that! Four is a new record for me," the fiery brawler shouted at her opponent. Bang coughed up blood, knowing that he had to be more careful.

"You are truly a skilled warrior, well-versed in the chaos of battle...however, you cannot stand against the might of an Ikarugan ninja! Prepare!" Yang scoffed at him and charged. She fired a well-placed punch, but it was for naught. Bang blocked and as soon as her fist made contact, he vanished from sight only to appear behind her. She felt raging flame around her as he brought his fist into her back, then shot up to meet her ascent with such speed that he hardly seemed to move at all, and sent her back to the ground with a flame-powered punch.


Trees were caked with ice that looked like blemishes on the brown bark. The ground was frosted over, and looked like a frozen river. The ice was so white that the ground couldn't be seen beneath it. The path the ice took wound and curved, never following one straight path. However, when it finally stopped, it found itself leading to an area that was practically a glacier. Ice spires shot from the ground, ripping apart trees, and smooth, pristine swords of ice that looked as if they had been designed by a master pierced trees and shot from the ground, creating a hazardous arena for the two fighting within it. Jin slashed at Weiss, who rolled under his strike. His katana sliced one of Weiss' ice spires into two perfect halves, and the top half fell to the ground and shattered. Weiss held her sword with one hand, pulling it to her chest, and shot forward like a bullet, straight and precise. Her path never strayed and her speed never lessened, and Jin staggered as he blocked Weiss' rapier. She then began to attack with a series of slashes. She bent her knees as she brought her blade down, twirling it as she raised it up again and spun around with her sword, her skirt twirling with her hair, which whipped back and forth. She looked elegant and cold, the precision of her strikes matched only by the grace that she struck with. Her wild swings were balanced by her speed, and Jin could find no openings to attack. He found himself gripping Yukianesa tightly, moving it to where Weiss attacked. He stepped back, trying to keep up with her pace, but she was too fast. Jin found himself tripping up, and a jagged bed of ice rose from the ground to meet him. It shot him into the air and he snarled, flipping so that he faced the heiress as she shot up into the air to meet him. He surrounded himself with a snowflake-shaped ice statue, and Weiss' sword bounced off of it. As she fell, she made a strange movement with her hand, conjuring a glyph underneath her that resembled a snowflake as well, but differentiated from Jin's design, focusing less on the snowflake motif and looking more like a magic sigil.

"You have no advantage in aerial combat, Jin Kisaragi!" Weiss shouted triumphantly, using the glyph to jump at him. However, he snarled and summoned a strangely-shaped block of ice underneath his feet. It propelled him towards Weiss, and he flipped over her thrust. He brought Yukianesa down upon her, and she was barely able to turn around and block his attack. The strength of his blow knocked her to the ground, and dust rose when she hit the cold forest floor. Jin landed gracefully, using an ice pillar to land on and jump down from so as to not take the full impact of landing on the forest floor. He sheathed Yukianesa and grinned cruelly.

"Insufferable brat. Don't fight battles you can't win," he said arrogantly.

"I don't." Weiss stalked through the dust cloud, blood dripping from her forehead. Her hands were cut, but she wasn't done yet. She held her sword and red energy twisted and turned around the blade. She swung it down and waited. Jin did nothing as well. Then, he raised his arm and bent it, looking to bring it down to Yukianesa's hilt. Then, a sigil appeared in midar, in front of his arm. Weiss readied Myrtenaster, not sure what Jin was trying to do. However, it didn't feel good. His Aura was stifling, as if she was trapped in smoke. It did not feel good at all.