"The first day," the professor said, standing at his desk and peering down at the small container that sat there. He took a deep breath, sighing as he thought about the following term. Ozpin had brought him into his school to help prepare the next generation, but that only seemed to be a convenient excuse to keep him here. In truth, what Ozpin wanted was Ryker Stockman, not the teacher, but the detective.

He had been read into the Headmaster's little inner circle, almost specifically because Ryker's business was to know things. The zebra Faunus's mouth twisted as thoughts filled his mind, and his ears twitched in agitation. Thoughts of what Ozpin had told him came to his mind. Things that, while they explained so much, also made things so much more complicated.

He opened the small box. Inside were a pair of silver contacts, which he gazed at. He had been close to Team STRQ, specifically Summer Rose back during their collective time at Beacon, and ever since Summer's death, he had kept silver contacts as part of his many disguises. Of all the items he possessed for his wardrobe, these held a certain sentimental value. A way to not forget the friend he had made, but also to try and lure out whoever had killed her, so he could do the same. So far, over ten years had passed since her death, and still, he waited.

Now, he was a teacher, and it just so happened one of his students was Summer's daughter, Ruby. Another was Yang, her sister. He had scoffed when he heard that the two of them were attending Beacon together and that Ozpin had advanced Ruby up two years from Signal, but in truth, he hadn't seen the girls in some time. Even if he wasn't the easiest or friendliest person to get along with, the family that was composed of Team STRQ was a connection he did indeed hold dear to him. Especially Yang, who he affectionately called Napalm. The two had been close, once, when she was a child. It would be good to see her again, even if he had to do so from a distance.

The biggest issue was that ever since Summer's death, he had been somewhat uncomfortable around Ruby. Not that he had a problem with her, per se. But as she got older, she looked so much like her mother. It was so disconcerting and distracting. But, it's been a decade. He supposed it was time to get over this stupid air of discomfort he had.

Ryker sighed as he straightened his black shirt, before swinging the long trench coat around and putting it on, before grabbing his Stetson.

"Time to make introductions."


Professor Goodwitch met the students in front of the amphitheater. All of them, rather than wearing their standard uniforms, were dressed in combat gear, or whatever they had chosen to be most effective. She noted that, aside from Penny, nearly every member of JPDE wore clothes that were more or less normal if one could call the gaudy, offensively colored patchwork suit Evelyn Damerot wore "normal."

"Good morning, class," she began. "Today, you will be undergoing your first, real taste of combat, and as such, you have been instructed to bring your weapons and any armor you may desire to wear with you. On Wednesdays, you will be free of the normal uniform restrictions, as the point of this class is to better train you to use your weapons and Semblances together to overcome your opponents." She glanced hard at both Elandil and Jaune, two that she had been extraordinarily wary of the two blondes and their participation in this class since the Initiation. She held her large Tablet in her arm as she motioned for the students to follow her.

"Is it just me, or was she staring unusually hard at us?" Jaune whispered to Elandil.

"You caught that too?" he whispered back, as the two walked along with their teams to the back area of the amphitheater.

They entered the locker room, which all but Elandil had been in for the Initiation. The group gathered around as Professor Goodwitch waved her hand around and began to speak. "A grand majority of you were already acquainted with the locker room during the Initiation, but I will now explain further about the purpose of these lockers, as they will prove to be both useful and invaluable during your time here at Beacon.

The Second Years already have assigned lockers, designated by their previous years' colors over the locker names. For the rest of you, each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be set to a custom location based on a six-digit code."

The gears in Cardin's mind began to turn. Up until now, he had been bored, standing in the back and listening to the professor speak. But upon hearing her explanation for the locker, he grinned and looked to his left. Jaune stood next to him, unaware.

Perfect.

He suddenly shoved the blonde into the open locker next to him. Jaune began to scream in protest as Cardin entered a random set of coordinates, which caused the locker to jettison through one of the closed tubes in the roof, which opened to allow the locker access to the outside. Cardin chuckled as Jaune's cries for mercy sadly went unanswered, and the locker sailed across the academy grounds.

"Mister Winchester," Glynda said sternly, her eyes locked on the youth. "While I am pleased to see your enthusiasm, I will NOT tolerate such blatant lack of regard for your fellow students here in this or any other class." She looked to the rest of Team JNPR. "Please, go retrieve your team leader," she said. "I'll make sure your tardiness for the class is excused."

"Thank you, Professor," Pyrrha said, turning and heading for the exit with Nora and Ren on her tail. As they passed Cardin, Pyrrha gave him a hard glare before exiting the room.

"And you, Mister Winchester, will be seeing me after class," Goodwitch announced, glaring at Cardin. "I'll be retrieving you once the class is over."

"Wait," Yang said, confused. "I thought you would be the teacher for this."

"Under normal circumstances, I would, Miss Xiao Long," Miss Goodwitch replied. "However, a new teacher was brought on this year at the last minute. An experienced Huntsmen that will be more than satisfactory to replace me as the instructor for Combat Class. As such, I will be heading administrative duties, coordinating with the Huntsmen in the field training the Third and Fourth Year students.

Now, if you'll return to the amphitheater and take your seats, we will begin class shortly."


The bells sounded as the students, excluding JNPR, slowly shuffled into the combat arena. The amphitheater had its bleachers raised for student safety, and the different teams were sitting together, wondering what this new, unknown instructor would be like. Jack had taken a notebook out of her pocket, pen in hand, ready to begin jotting down notes during the fight.

She glared at Cardin as he sauntered over to his team, over in the far corner. Between what had happened to Velvet beforehand and now Jaune, she felt the need to put the pompous ass in his place. But she held back, deciding that the best time to do that would be in a sparring match. And she was looking forward to it.

As the rest of the class whispered to one another, a gunshot caught everyone's attention. Cardin sat, frozen in place, eyes wide. The wall behind him had a large bullet hole in it. All eyes turned to the entrance of the amphitheater, where a tall man stood holding a large hand cannon.

Standing roughly six foot two, his grey eyes were steel and robust, an annoyed look adorning his rugged face. He was wearing a heavy black coat that went past his waist. A blue, bulky protective chest piece was underneath, on top of a black shirt. His blue denim pants, tucked into heavy black boots, looked as if they had seen some wear, which gave him the look of someone who was used to being out in the field. And he topped it all of with a worn, faded, black Stetson. His tan complexion framed his cold eyes, which scanned the scene before him. He slowly lowered his gun while taking a short breath to speak.

"I heard about your little prank in the locker room," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "I don't much appreciate bullies, kiddo."

He holstered his gun as he walked to the center of the arena. Ruby and Yang stared, wide-eyed at the man, smiles on their faces. Elandil looked over at them as Ruby practically bounced out of her seat in excitement.

"Well, I didn't expect to see Ryker here," Yang said to her sister, in a hushed tone, an amusing amount of surprise on her face. "He's gonna be our teacher?"

"Names Ryker Stockman. I'll be your Professor on everything that has the word 'Combat' in it," the man announced. "From this day forward, my job will be making sure you are all combat ready, both for the Vytal Tournament at the end of the year, and the world at large."

He stepped back and waved at the arena. "So, who'd like the first duel?"


'... I always considered myself a survivor, a fighter who fought to see the next sunrise…

I know my situation was never that dire or epic, but a man can dream!'

'… I always hold on to the belief that through hard work, believing in myself and all the other crap holo-vids tell us, I could beat any challenge that life threw at me… THOSE HOLO-VIDS NEVER TOOK AN ICE QUEEN INTO ACCOUNT NOW DID THEY?!'

Elandil slid back against his will, a strike from Myrtenaster catching him mid-dodge, forcing him to take the blow with his aura. The young vigilante glanced over his scroll, which stayed in his jacket's inner pocket. Phase's aura was already at yellow, while Weiss Schnee retained an almost full bar. Despite training every day, Phase was a novice at best; most of his attacks were sluggish and undisciplined, lacking finesse and technique. Weiss would often deflect them and send a quick thrust to counter. The only reason he stood so far was because of his Semblance. Despite being relatively slower than all his fellow students, Elandil's Semblance made up for it tenfold. While in his "Phase" state, not only was Elandil faster than Weiss, but his afterimages that followed his every move confused Weiss greatly. However, it wasn't enough, and Elandil knew he couldn't rely on his Semblance for much longer unless he wished to be reduced to nothing but a scared child in the middle of the arena.

"Are you insulting me?" the heiress accused her rapier pointing downwards, standing with her right foot in front of her left. She looked at the boy before her with disdain in her eyes.

Elandil did his best to answer between pants of breath."...What?" he asked, confused. His hands were busy holding onto his legs, keeping himself upright, Judge's Reach currently stuck in his left hand.

"We are fighting and your monologue? Am I not a threat worthy of your attention?" she asked, clearly annoyed, her free hand gesturing at him in annoyance as she scolded him.

Several first and second-year teams, along with Ryker, had been watching the duel for some time now. While the students chatted idly among themselves - either about the fight or only out of boredom - the teacher forced himself to enjoy the scene before him. Either that or he would soon fall asleep. He chose instead choosing to take an interest in the beat down Elandil was receiving.

Jack gave him a pitying look, arms crossed as she analyzed the situation. Granted, Elandil hadn't been able to truly master his weapon - not nearly as well as Weiss, who's fighting style clearly spoke to years of training - but the fact that he was indeed distracting himself was a giant concern. She would have to have him concentrate on that, to avoid counter-productivity.

She glanced at Weiss as well, though the intent was less analytical and more out of distrust. Her brow furrowed, and she found herself reciting a mantra she'd created since learning of the Schnee Heiress's enrollment: "The sins of the father are not those of the child." It did little to calm her inexplicable irritation, however.

Penny and Evelyn watched on with different reactions, the former full of concern and the latter flipping between amusement and shock. Evelyn in particular thought that Elandil should forfeit the match. She did admit, however, that it was more for the sake of him keeping any dignity he had left before Weiss trampled it outright.

Phase, who finally found the strength to rise to his feet, responded dumbly, "Well, you are inhumanly scary." He paused for a moment, eventually finishing his thought, "And honestly, I have no one else to talk to."

After a brief silence, Weiss Schnee judged the idiot before her. Trying to decide between sparing his life or providing his execution, her judgment leaned towards the latter. She reminded herself, however, that it was a crime to kill, so she resigned herself to having to enjoy the experience of beating him senseless. Creating a glyph behind her left foot, she launched herself forward, Elandil found himself blurting a surprisingly high-pitched yelp in surprise, his mind quickly remembering how to block. He quickly spun his blade to his chest, where Weiss appeared to have been attempting to strike, his semblance assisting him in his defense. What he hadn't anticipated was his own strength, which quickly failed him as he thrust displaced his stance, with most of the force finding its target anyway. He was spun around a few times before he caught himself, pausing only for a moment to gather himself. He quickly put on his mask, which he had been holding in his right hand for some time now. He knew that Weiss was not about to show him any signs of mercy or leniency, and he already had more than enough scars around his cheeks.

As soon as the visor of his mask came to life and glowed red, the first thing his eyes saw was a furious looking Ice Queen charging him. Out of instinct, Elandil threw himself to the side as Weiss charged past like a missile, missing him by no more than a hair's breadth. Weiss had expected such a move, and she had no intention of allowing him a spare moment. She quickly spawned another glyph where she was heading and once again used it as a launch pad, backflipping as she spun mid-air. She then held her weapon with both hands, intending for such a strike to become a painful stab. Seeing the intent and the glare in Weiss' eyes, Elandil once again called out to the Old Gods, grabbing the left side of his coat and wrapping it around himself. Upon impact, Myrtenaster slid across the fabric, failing to cause any damage as the dust woven into the coat protected itself and the wearer. Yellow dust exploded from the coat in a spectacular shower of golden amber as Myrtenaster glanced off Elandil, who quickly thanked the Gods. The rapier's tip struck the ground with tremendous force, cracking the marble at the point of impact.

Elandil rolled around quickly and admired for a moment the sheer power of such a strike but took no time to gawk. He put all his force behind a swiping kick, aimed low and straight at Weiss's leg. The heiress had no time to react, she distracted and somewhat shocked at how she had failed to hit the relative amateur she was now facing. The kick swept her feet out from beneath her, and Weiss clumsily fell to the ground with a painful thud cursing on the way down.

Elandil once again summoned his Semblance, rising quickly to send one of the blades of his weapon crashing down on the heiress. Weiss reacted quickly this time, spawning another glyph to block the attack, eager to counter her previous moment of carelessness. He used the momentum from the bounce to spin his blade back around while taking a few steps away from his opponent, eager to keep her on the defense. Both his hands held its hilt, the weapon pointed once again at Weiss. The vigilante took the split second as his blade swung back to review his options; he could either try for a stabbing motion, which Weiss would most likely work her way around it and stab back at him putting her once again on the advance. Or he could try to trick her with a quick feint of his blade. But could he pull it off on such a strong opponent?

He decided to risk his idea, perhaps against his better judgment. He ran towards Weiss and launched himself, spinning his blades from the right side of his body, trying to make it look like he was attempting another topside attack. But just before the point of contact, he once again activated his Semblance and brought his momentum around to stab at Weiss from below, the mirage of himself still swiping at her from above. It looked as though his feint had tricked her, for a moment; gasps and noises of surprise rose from the watching crowd, and apart from Evelyn, Elandil's teammates blinked in surprise. Evelyn however, merely chuckled to herself. Her double irised eyes were wide in anticipation, and she wore a grin that only grew bigger as the fight progressed. Ruby's mouth formed a gaping "O," while Yang got up, finally being able to witness real fighting. Blake, for her part, simply kept reading her book.

Weiss had in fact anticipated such a move, and effortlessly spun to the side, her eyes closed, and face relaxed the entire way. Thankfully for Elandil, his mask hid his face as it shifted from a look of satisfaction to one of horror as Weiss swung at him for what she knew would be the last time. Her swing caught him at his waist, sending the ex-vigilante catapulting into a wall. He smashed into the marble, the smoky white dust billowing over the arena as Elandil disappeared inside the violently roiling cloud, obscuring him from view. All the students gasped in collective surprise and shock, some of them even going so far as to mockingly pay their respects. Weiss looked on in satisfaction as marble dust settled around her. She held Myrtenaster in front of herself, giving it a quick but sincere salute for the respect it deserved and left the arena.

"Oh, dear!" Penny exclaimed, looking at her teammates in surprise and worry. "Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine," Evelyn replied with an assured voice. She stared intently at Elandil, whose eyes were still wide in shared surprise.

Jack elbowed Evelyn in her side. "Carrots stop using your Semblance. The match is over."

Evelyn blinked and frowned. "Yeah, but I'm sure you wanted to know if he was going to get up again. I mean, he is your partner."

Jack merely rolled her eyes and stood. "Tell him that we're going to get some training in today, in a few hours, after he's recovered. I need to see more to find out what to do."


Evelyn raised her eyebrows. "Where are you going? It's lunchtime."

"I'm not hungry. I'm going for a walk." Jack's voice sounded distant, distracted as if she had something weighing on her mind. As she walked away, she didn't look back at her team, instead of mulling over ideas and strategies and thinking about ways that Elandil could potentially improve. She had noted several areas he needed to focus on first off, the monologue, which was something he tended to do. A lot. It hadn't been much of a problem before, but in combat, it was clearly causing a distraction he couldn't afford. She exited the arena, making her way to the surrounding perimeter.

Ryker, who had failed miserably to stay awake through the fight, finally came to his senses. He entered the arena and walk towards where Elandil's body ought to be. As the marble dust settled, a half-conscious figure came into view, lying on the floor and dazed out of his mind, above him a new crater in the wall that only looked like it had been made painfully. The cowboy grabbed the half-dazed Elandil by his wrist and hoisted him up to his feet, yet the young ex-vigilant could not even remain standing upright "P-put me back in coach… I can do t-this…" he blurted out, obviously confused as to his current situation.

Ryker shook his head a few times, then turned towards his students. "Remember to always keep an eye on your enemy as much as your Scroll, kiddos," he explained so everyone could hear, pointing down at Elandil. "Information about your Aura won't do you much good if the opponent in front of you has a field day," he explained while taking the beaten Elandil outside, who remained disoriented as he slipped into half-consciousness. Penny rushed to help his poor teammate. Meanwhile, a certain rabbit Faunus was nowhere to be found…

Jack's fingers cupped her chin in thought, brows furrowed. Elandil's Semblance usage was excellent, and his timing was accurate, but his movements were stiff, predictable. Combine that with the lack of familiarity with his new weapon, and he was a walking recipe for disaster in a fight unless she could get him back on track.

The problem was he wasn't used to fighting opponents with Semblances and Aura - or at least, she assumed as much. They hadn't really talked about his prior experience, which was something she needed to rectify. She needed to find out more about him because, at this rate, his improvement might be stunted if she couldn't find a good training regimen for him. She knew he wasn't a student, so all of his maneuvers were self-taught, but -

"Hey!"

She stopped and looked up ahead of herself, processing the voice behind her. She turned to see Evelyn with a scowl on her face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Go away, Carrots," Jack replied. "I'm thinking."

"You're distracted is what you are." Evelyn walked up to Jack and grabbed her arm. The blonde spun around, partly because the Faunus spun her and partly to wrench her arm free.

"You've been distracted for days. The others don't see it, but I do. I don't need my Semblance to see that you're stressing about something."

"And why do you care?" Jack snapped. "Since when has my well being been any kind of concern of yours?"

"Since we got stuck with this damn arrangement," Evelyn snapped back. "You think I'm happy about this either? I spent two and a half years avoiding your ass, only to get thrown back into the frying pan with you."

"Personally? I don't care if you are happy with it or not." Jack turned around and started walking. "I just care that you leave me alone."

Evelyn, however, did not let up. "I know that you've been thinking about him."

Jack growled. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I read your diary, Jack..."

Jack turned around again. "You got into my journal?"

"Of course not. I didn't need to." Evelyn seemed to be pleased with herself by her tone, but her face was more serious than it had ever been. Jack scowled. Of course, she didn't need to see her journal. She's the one person in all of Remnant who didn't need to open it to read it.

"Drop it."

"No," she replied. "This affects me now too. Forgetting the whole spy on Kyrus thing, we must find some way to not rip each other's throats out. And frankly, if you're thinking about him, it's going to cause you to make mistakes."

"Carrots, enough!"

"You really think dredging up the past will help you make peace with everything? That's as asinine and backward as it comes, idiot."

"I'm not going to ask again." Jack's tone grew darker, edgier, as she glared at Evelyn.

"And yes, he's definitely a nice guy. Easy on the eyes, has a great personality, sure -"

"Evelyn…."

"- but he left you! It's been two years!. It wasn't like you two were even a thing really. And Ha-"

A fist came barreling straight towards Evelyn's face. Startled, Evelyn pressed against the wall of the school and closed her eyes, expecting the blow. Instead, the punch landed to the side of her face on the wall of the school. She looked around at Jack's hand, which had created a small crater where it had landed.

"Novah left me, and I'm trying to leave him in the past," Jack hissed. Evelyn blinked - she had never seen Jack so angry before. "Drop it."

Evelyn quickly regained her composure and pushed off the wall, coming nose to nose with Jack. "So, you're not even on a first name basis with him now, huh? That's fine. Novah was my friend too. When you poisoned me, it was he who made sure I was alright -"

Jack roared and punched the wall again before pushing off and glaring at Evelyn. The Faunus didn't need to turn around to know that the crater had just gotten much bigger. "Dammit, Evelyn! I've had enough of your sick accusations! I've been civil up to this point -"

"Civil?" Evelyn couldn't believe her ears. "You fly into a rage whenever I mention it."

"Because you keep mentioning it!" Jack's eyes locked with Evelyn's. "You won't let the past die! You keep bringing the damned incident back up, over and over, slandering me in the process. How the hell am I supposed to react?"

Evelyn paused as Jack backed away, her fists shaking. She was struggling not to deck her teammate right then and there. "You know why I keep bringing the fucking incident up?" She asked voice heated. "Because you fucking abandoned me, you asshole! That's why! You thought I'd be dead weight, left me to stew in misery, and what happened? The fucking Branwen Tribe captured me, and the whole mission nearly went FUBAR because you wouldn't fucking apologize and help me!"

"Oh, so that's all you want?" Jack gave an irritated chuckle of disbelief. "I hardly think that an apology would have satisfied you. You kept prodding, over and over. Yes, I left. I made the tactical decision to have you rest at camp while Novah and I finished the mission. And when you got captured, I rescued you."

"And I returned the favor in Argus," Evelyn said. "So, if we're even, why the fuck haven't you even thanked me for that?"

"Argus?! Don't even get me started about Argus!"

Evelyn closed the distance between them and drove her finger into Jack's collarbone "If I hadn't of come in when I did, that White Fang assassin would have surely killed you! And Novah!"

"You stalked us for a fucking week!" Jack snapped back. "You followed us from Shion to Argus, and you didn't even ask to come along - you just made up your mind to follow us until Ozpin gave you another assignment. Either that or your sense of guilt over owing Novah wasn't satisfied."

"He was the one who stayed with me to make sure I wasn't Grimm food! Not you! You abandoned me again the moment we finished that mission and escaped the tribe! He came back and stayed with me for three full days while I recovered from YOUR mistake! And then I so graciously saved your sorry ass at Argus, without so much as a thank you from you. I was willing to let bygones be bygones but after that. All I felt was that you just wouldn't change so -"

Jack grabbed Evelyn's collar and nearly lifted her up onto her toes. "What did you -"

"Jack! Evelyn?"

The sudden sound of Penny's voice snapped both of them back into reality. Jack released Evelyn, who huffed and straightened out her suit. "For the sake of Elandil and Penny, who doesn't need to be involved in this, I'm dropping this discussion," Jack said. "Do not bring it up again."

"Fine," Evelyn agreed. "Once the assignment is over with, both this thing with Kyrus and whatever Oz has us here for, I don't intend on seeing your damned face again."

"For once we agree." Jack's eyes locked on Evelyn for a moment, before sighing and taking a deep breath to calm herself. Looking back in the direction they had both come from, she called back to Penny. "Over here!"

Penny came rushing around the corner, with Elandil dragging himself there as though he were a zombie, stopping in front of the two. Penny immediately looked concerned. "Has something happened?"

Jack glanced at Evelyn. "Just having a…. disagreement," she said, before quickly changing the subject. "I'm going for a walk. ALONE this time. I'll be back soon, once I figure out how to best focus on properly helping Elandil." Before anyone could protest, she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked away.

Elandil, however, would have none of it, even if he were beaten to a pulp. "H-hey!" he yelled behind Jack, waving his hand as if she could see it. "I did not agree to -" he got cut off by a sharp pain in his ribs "Owww…!" was all he could wince before falling to his knees, the pain practically pushing him to tears.

Penny glanced at Evelyn, but her eyes immediately noticed the crater in the wall. "Did….something happen?"

The rabbit Faunus sighed. "Nothing I can talk about without risking serious consequences, and I don't want to disrupt the team. We'll be fine...I think."

Penny gave Evelyn a sad nod. "Well then, shall we join our classmates in the mess hall?"

"Sure." Evelyn agreed, taking a small detour towards a teary-eyed Elandil before she headed for the mess hall. She grabbed him by the collar of his coat, slowly dragging him along.

"C' mon tough guy, let's get some meat on those bones." she lazily said to him. Elandil could only whimper as he was dragged along the entire way to the mess hall.


Jack called Penny about an hour later, having her gather the team in the courtyard outside the school. She had decided that, when possible, training in the fresh air was the best thing she could do; it seemed to boost Velvet's and her own mood during their spar.

Today, however, she did not see that happening.

In fact, as the three of them approached, her mood only worsened. But that was more from seeing Evelyn than anything.

"Alright," She started, "after watching Elandil's fight with Weiss today, I've noted three things about his fighting style. The first, he needs greater control over his Semblance. He has the right ideas but needs practice with them to compete with people like Weiss. The second issue is that you don't feel entirely comfortable with your new weapon. Perhaps having you spar in the fight so soon after receiving them was a bad idea."

"Ummm…. that was only two things," Elandil said tentatively. He could sense that something was still on Jack's mind from earlier. However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

"The third thing," she said, looking straight at him, "is your monologuing. Your entire flow in battle was disrupted when you paused to talk to yourself. That might have worked on psyching you up before while on the streets. But here, you'll end up getting yourself badly beaten, and you'll make a fool out of yourself in doing so."

Elandil was insulted and in disbelief, although they were overshadowed by the sheer force of shame. His cheeks burned with it. He stood there sheepishly, twirling his fingers and looking down as much as his neck would allow, Elandil murmured; "...I don't think it's a problem…"

"On the contrary," Jack replied, her tone curt. Evelyn winced; even if the words weren't directed at her, she knew what was going to come was most likely a rather painful lesson, and she felt partially responsible for it, given Jack's mood. "The entire amphitheater saw you thoroughly beaten and bested by Weiss. Furthermore, you were directly called out during the fight by her. All things considered; I'd say it very much is a problem.

"Monologuing in the middle of a battle like that is not only disrespectful to your opponent, it's also distracting yourself from incoming attacks. You're not fighting petty street thugs anymore. And yes, Professor Ozpin did indeed tell me much of your story and history, or as much as he felt obligated to say. But anyway, this is a combat academy designed to create fighters capable of taking on far more formidable foes.

"Weiss Schnee is one of the top tier students in the school, and despite what her namesake might mean, in no way did she get to where she is now using money or fame. She worked her arse off to perfect her fighting style and continues to do so. Since you have unfortunately never had the opportunity to study at a lower academy or under a mentor like the three of us have, I need to catch you up quickly, to spare you a similar fate as you all saw today."

She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "So starting today, and every few days from here on now, you will be working with us. Each of us will be dealing with one of the three problems I have identified."

The color drained from his face as Elandil swallowed the decision thrown at him. Usually, he'd jump in without even sparing a thought when it came to training to make him a better fighter. But now it was Jack who scared him.

Jack's eyes flicked to Evelyn. "You'll take on training his Semblance. His goal - to hit you. It sounds simple, but considering your own Semblance…"

Evelyn nodded. Usually, she'd be grinning at the opportunity, but she was tiptoeing around Jack, for the sake of the team. Penny noted this shift in behavior and studied her, though her attention was quickly called away. "Penny, you'll be handling weapons training, specifically working on defense. I want you to focus on making him dodge and block incoming attacks. Your multiple swords will make ideal training methods. Go easy on him for now until he gets used to the new weapon, then slowly increase the number of swords he must deal with. I'll trust you to use your best judgment."

Penny smiled and nodded. "Affirmative!"

She then locked her eyes on Elandil. "As for myself, I'll be helping you focus in battle. I don't plan on attacking you, only dodging and blocking your attacks, unless - and I do warn you not to do this - you start talking to yourself. The moment I hear you start; I will floor you.

Elandil gulped hard, holding onto and squeezing the sides of his coat.

"We will just work on this for ten minutes each, today since you fought against Weiss earlier. Later on, you'll spend at least an hour with each of us, alternating days, until we feel you have improved enough."

"Okay….," he said hesitantly. "So…. I guess we just start now?"

"Evelyn," Jack called out. The Faunus stepped forward and drew her tonfas from behind her back, where they had been attached to her belt. "This will just be a warm-up, so you can see what we plan on doing. I don't expect any real progress today, but this will give you a taste of what's to come."

"Hey, Evelyn," Elandil started, "What exactly is your Semblance?"

Evelyn grinned. "I already told you, bucko. It's a SEE-great!" she said mischievously, before closing and opening her eyes. Her pupils and double irises dilated, and she grinned, dropping into a crouch with her tonfas readied.

A half hour later, Elandil was on the ground, sweating. There had been a ten-minute break between sessions but felt like they had been back to back. In the end, he hadn't been able to tag Evelyn, whose reflexes were simply too quick for his attacks, even with his Semblance. He had never seen someone react that fast. Penny had put him through the ringer, forcing him several times to backpedal and bounce. Jack had said if he was touched three times or managed to dodge or block fifteen blows, they'd end it. He did well, narrowly missing nearly a dozen strikes before she snuck one under him and jabbed his calf for her third blow. The movements to twist, deflect, and dodge the hovering blades took a lot of effort. They had reset three times, but he couldn't pass that test, either.

He panted, catching his breath, and looking up at Jack, who appeared to be frowning. His ten-minute rest was almost up.

'How are these people so...unphased? It's like they haven't even moved, yet each one had completely outclassed me. And now…'

"Stop talking. You're lucky we aren't sparring yet," Jack said with a serious tone. "This'd be over, otherwise."

Elandil gulped. He stood, readying his weapon. And as he charged, he noticed Jack lazily sidestep. She kept doing that, avoiding every blow he swung at her. He felt his muscles burn as he moved to catch her, but the blonde effortlessly ducked, weaved, and parried his attacks using her gauntlets, which she activated on his first attack.

Each swing took its toll on his stamina, but more than that, each blow was a distinctive miss. And the frustration was starting to show.

Meanwhile, Jack remained composed entirely. He started analyzing her movements. He had to figure out how to break her defense.

'Okay, so her legs are expertly planted on the ground. I need to somehow trip her up. But to do that, I need a little time. She is just like that Weiss girl, quick on her feet. And those insanely scary eyes -'

She ducked his next swing and balled her fist up. Without warning, she sprung upward, her left fist connecting with his jaw as she leaped into the air, sending him over two meters high and sending him careening back a full three meters. The force of the blow caused her to spin in the air, and she landed with ease as he fell awkwardly and painfully on his back.

"Holy hell!" Evelyn blurted out once he landed and did not move. "Did you kill him?"

"No, Carrots," Jack said, annoyed. "If I were going to kill him, he'd be dead."

"Did you take that move from a video game?" She asked. Jack shot her a dirty look, but Evelyn didn't back down. "It just needs some stupid name like the 'Shoryuken' or something."

Jack walked over to Elandil, who was completely unconscious and sighed, her blonde hair hanging down in front of her face. "I warned him."


Penny, who had proven herself strong by effortlessly carrying Elandil's limp body to the nurse's office, gently lay him on the bed. The young man was out cold. Evelyn joked that she could see his spirit leave his body, but between Jack's mood and Penny's concern, the joke was somewhat wasted.

The nurse on duty took a single look at the boy then turned her gaze to the rest of the team. She had pinkish hair and eyes, which matched nearly perfectly. These would have been her most notable features as the team walked in, as these features stood out exceptionally well against her mocha-colored skin. But the first thing everyone noticed instead was The visible bump under her shirt and opened the lab coat, a sign of pregnancy

She set her glasses aside and gave everyone a sweet smile. "So…. what have we here?"

"Hello, nurse," Jack said cordially. "Our teammate -"

"Jack knocked him out," Evelyn cut in. Jack growled quietly at Evelyn, who merely turned away from her.

"Oh my!" The nurse blinked in surprise. She turned to inspect Elandil. "Hmm… this must be the young man Professor Stockman said got hiding while fighting Miss Schnee earlier." She glanced back at Jack, a scowl on her face and her tone becoming more serious. "You know, it's not very good leadership to punish your teammates for losing, Miss Ivory."

"I didn't -" Jack started to protest but stopped when she noticed the nurse smile knowingly and wink at her. She felt deflated at the gesture, then suddenly confused. "Wait… how did you know my name?"

"As a teacher at Beacon, it'd be rather irresponsible of me to not learn the names of my students!" The nurse said. "I'm Professor Peach, the teacher of the Dust Studies class."

"And you work as the nurse, too?" Evelyn asked. Peach just laughed.

"Every teacher is assigned days to be stationed at the Nurse's Office! As a Huntress in training, part of your learning unit will consist of a first aid course, though after your first year the material will advance dramatically! Professor Oobleck and I just so happen to also be trained medical professionals, which his handy, since I'll be gone for a short time in a few weeks!" She gently patted her belly. "Since I'm just the surrogate and not the baby's proper mother, I'll be back to teaching in short order - no maternity leave needed. I might still take a week or two to visit Atlas… Ah! But I digress!" She turned back to Elandil, still unconscious on the couch. "So how did this happen exactly?"

Penny briefly explained the situation to her. The nurse nodded in understanding.

Professor Peach then turned to Jack. "So, you knocked him out completely, with what looks like a rather nasty uppercut! Sounds almost like something out of a video game." The professor smiled.

Jack rolled her eyes as Evelyn snickered.

"As long as I am here, you don't have to worry about your friend," Peach assured them before turning back to Elandil. All of a sudden, she had a desiring look in her eye, almost akin to hunger. "Pity he hasn't signed the consent forms yet. He might make the perfect test subject for an experiment I've been hoping to try..."

All three of them froze, looks of concern spreading over their faces. Penny speaks over the awkward silence "Uh… Professor?"

Professor Peach turned back to them, the friendly face that had first greeted them suddenly returning. "Oh, don't worry! He hasn't signed any sort of consent form, so performing an experiment on him, especially in his current state, would be a most serious crime indeed! I was merely thinking aloud. I assure you he's in the best hands possible!"

"I'm suddenly starting to doubt that for some reason..." Evelyn muttered. Peach just laughed.

"Oh, don't fret Miss Damerot! I promise nothing will happen to him. Even if switching his arms at the elbows might improve his combat efficiency…" She smiled again at them, secretly enjoying the internal moral dilemma that was inevitably going on in their heads. "Now, your friend needs some rest. Run along now, I'll send him to you once he has awoken."

"He'd better be intact when he returns," Evelyn added with a startled expression as she followed the other two out of the room.

After a moment to herself, Peach turned back to Elandil, eyeing him up and down. She reached for her nearby notepad, which contained her medical journal. She produced a pen from her pocket and began to make notes about his physical appearance, his size and stature for future reference, a smile slowly spreading across her face once more.