"Don't lose your way."
"Blonde vs Yellow!" Someone excitedly shouted as the unexpected duel began.
"Get ready blondey..." Yang warned him, her voice shaking from the sheer dose of thrill in her veins.
Danger.
Jaune immediately took a boxing stance. Things would get rough very quickly. It was easy to tell.
Sliding her foot forward, brawler continued "Since we're both boxing lovers, I won't use any kicks today. I wasn't too good with them anyway." Slight traces of smoke came out of her gauntlets. "But I'll keep my weapons."
A beat of sweat, a heavy gulp, he saw her eyes turning red.
"I'm sure you won't mind."
She showed a nasty smile, her image suddenly blurring in his vision. With Jaune's heartbeat lost in a fear, his body moved only when his opponents strike was an inch away from his face.
(I CAN MAKE-)
A reflection of sparks appeared right into blonde's eyes. Then flames came.
Too late.
*Bang!*
Yang grinned wickedly as the explosives came off from the made contact, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke in a place where Jaune's head was supposed to be.
'He's done!' Everyone in the arena gasped in horror. They of course knew that blonde's head was still intact. Most likely. But a direct hit from the wild brawler was just enough to finish you off.
Yang took a closer look at Jaune, soon noting that his knees buckled and his body went down.
Then it really was over. So much for him being a great-
A flash of blue.
Jaune suddenly moved away from the remaining's of the smoke, his cheek showing the only damage done. It was only a graze, yet his eyes spoke of a completely abnormal emotion.
Crippling terror. Jaune could still feel the horrifying effects of the explosive going off right next to his face. The loud sound still making his ears ring painfully. A single graze. Just a single graze yet all of his courage and determination was crushed into countless of pieces.
(I….I-I m-must control my emotional level.) Jaune tried to get his act together. Taking deep breaths, his heart did calm down a bit. Especially when he heard his team's relentless encouragements.
(So he managed to dodge.) Yang turned her head to him. Impressive, considering that she moved in her best speed.
(He's fast.) Wild brawler already figured out one of her opponent's best attributes. But she liked that. Meant that this might be an interesting fight after all.
"Nice dodging there blondey!" She congratulated him.
"O-of course…I-I mean I said that I was very, very good, right?" Jaune stumbled back, but more to encourage himself than to answer to Yang.
Brawler smirked excitedly "That you did blondey, but-" She cracked her fingers "that's just one punch." Her grin grew wider "Let's see how you deal with many."
And she went completely wild.
(A left? Right? Uppercut? When, how, where she would-)
Jaune barely dodged her first attack.
(Focus!) Blonde reminded himself, muscles too tensed, awaiting for every move his opponent made.
Beyond nerve wrecking.
That's how Jaune would describe the experience of Yang's fists flying everywhere. Each and every strike made blonde to visualize a light at the end of the tunnel. Few of them missing with such a small margin that Jaune could smell the explosive powder trailing off from her weapons. Fighting someone with insanely strong punch he could understand. But bazooka gauntlets were just a completely different experience. An experience which still made his knees weak and left him unable to use his own boxing to its fullest potential.
(I'm still too worried!) Jaune noted to himself, dodging a one, two from Yang. Then came a left hook.
(I can counter-)
He suddenly stepped back as her punch changed its trajectory.
(Again with those weird angles.) Jaune frowned in a hurry as her opponent was completely relentless. But the more her punches came from those unorthodox angles, the more Jaune's suspicion proved to be right.
An alpha plus brawler with a refined technique. That was her style. All of her attributes proving him so.
Speed.
Yang made a combination of left, right hook plus the uppercut.
First two blonde dodged swiftly but the last one almost got him.
Spectacular. Jaune was faster, he knew. But the fear still slowed him down so the advantage was bare minimum.
Power.
Bazooka gauntlets. No more comments.
Technique.
Wild brawler made a near textbook short uppercut with a sharp, beautiful right hook making Jaune gulp even harder.
Really good.
She was missing a few hours to be called amazing, but it still was easily above the average. Her weird angles which she sometimes made, more than enough making up for it.
Her instincts plus the defense.
Jaune made a gap between them wider as he finally dared to attack.
Start from the basics.
Blonde could hear his grandfather's voice guiding him. He visibly nodded and did as it said. Pivoting his left foot forward, blonde fired an incredible jab at her. Unlucky to him, it slashed nothing but air apart as brawler smoothly dodged it.
(I'm not done!) A little beam sparkled in his eyes and Jaune fired three more lefts.
(Won't be enough!) Though blonde was forced to realize as he barely escaped the fate of his midsection being turned into smashed potatoes. Not only did Yang dodge all of his jabs with animalistic precision, but was able to aim a counter right after.
Which of course only proved that her defense and instincts were top notch. And combining all that, you got an alpha plus brawler with a refined technique. Yang in other words. And that in return was both incredibly annoying and unnervingly dangerous. Each close exchange only making it all the more apparent. And as Jaune and Yang were now locked in their dangerous dance of risk it all, blonde leader's team on looked the dangerous spectacle with worry engraved in their eyes.
"Please Jaune, hang in there." Pyrrha held her arms together, praying for her leader. Ren and Nora did the same, only in their own way.
"Don't give up." Redhead mumbled to herself. "You can do it!" She even raised her voice, not caring what others would think. And as Pyrrha continued to go out of her ways to encourage her partner, a single person kept observing the amazon with her eyebrows being cocked frustratingly.
"Pyrrha….." Weiss said in a low tone.
She couldn't understand. Jaune could not win. It was impossible. Doesn't matter that he had gotten a lot stronger over the time, he still was no match for Yang. And unfortunately for him, would never be. (So why do you still force yourself to believe that?) Weiss questioned. And yes, she did know about the redhead's passionate feelings for her leader. Not only that though, Weiss wholeheartedly didn't wish Jaune any bad luck and even found it rather pleasing that he got stronger rapidly. But she wouldn't let it blind her judgment of the more than clear reality. The reality which proved that Jaune could never be anything more than painfully average at combat. (Someone like Pyrrha should know that.) Weiss bit her lip as she got more and more irritated how someone as smart as her, could still be so naïve. And since Weiss always looked up to the spartan, the frustration railed her up to the point where she could no longer stay quiet about it.
"Pyrrha." Ice queen poked redheads shoulder cautiously.
At first there was a pause. Then came a nonchalant "What?" from the redhead as she didn't let herself to slip a single moment from the action.
Weiss of course noted how Pyrrha didn't even look into her eyes when addressing her, but pushed it aside and decided how to word the sentence correctly. After some thought she continued "Pyrrha…..I know that since Jaune is your leader you expect high results of him, which of course is perfectly reasonable. And then there's the fact that he is...precious to you but you do realize that Jaune is completely outmatched here, right?"
Ice queen stopped for a moment to get a response. Strangely though, she didn't get one as Pyrrha only continued to follow the action intensely.
(Maybe she didn't quite hear me.) Weiss decided, readying herself to speak up again but was cut off short as amazon interrupted her "Jaune is a lot stronger than you think, than anyone else thinks. Even I don't know the full limits of his true potential." She meant it with full seriousness.
Weiss rolled her eyes (Again with this.) She thought with annoyance. "Look Pyrrha, I can agree that Jaune has gotten a lot stronger over the time. He really has. But the opponent he's facing right now is Yang." She pointed to the said person "You know, Yang Xiao Long, one of the strongest second year students here? Yet meanwhile Jaune is still struggling with the likes of Cardin. He-" Ice queen gulped but dared to say anyway "He can't win this one. No matter how you look at it."
"Hell yea our leader can win!" Nora decided to protest back.
Weiss sighed "I wasn't talking to you."
"But you were talking about my leader." Nora came back.
"Yes but you….ahhhh, it's a private conversation so don't butt in."
"If it's about my leader then it isn't private anymore!" Nora fired back, forcing a silly argument between the two.
And as they kept trading words, Pyrrha kept her eyes locked on Jaune's figure, noticing just how desperately he tried to dodge everything. So far, blonde did exceptionally good but judging from his overly tired features, it was easy to tell that it came with a heavy price. And that only continued to prove to her that the outcome of this match would be the one she predicted it to be.
"I know he can't win." Both Weiss and Nora suddenly heard Pyrrha say.
Pushing their silly argument aside, both of them turned to Pyrrha, their faces showing a questioning look.
"He can't?" Nora asked, tone mixed with sullenness and a disagreement.
"You admit that?" Weiss found it rather surprising.
"I never thought that Jaune could win this fight to begin with." She addressed herself to the Ice queen.
To that, Weiss didn't even know what to say right away so Pyrrha continued "But it was never about whenever or not he could win."
"Then what?" Weiss asked perplexed, while Nora kept expressing her opinion on how Jaune could win in the background.
"It was about him showing what he's truly capable of. To us, but a lot more importantly, to himself." She finished strongly.
"I disagree, I know that Jaune can win!" Nora said for the tenth or so time.
Pyrrha showed a little smile "Maybe you're right."
And both of them turned their attention to their leader's continuous struggle.
(Those two…..) Weiss face palmed. She sometimes couldn't understand how their brains operated. (Whatever.) Though she brushed it off with confidence. After all, both of them would soon learn the harsh reality. The spectacle happening right before them proving her so.
Jaune backed off again, his face showing pain. The clothes were drenched in cold sweat and his jumper showed shredded apart holes in it. And if looked closer, black, swelling pigments were visible through the holes in his clothing. That was the price he payed for blocking a couple of shots from Yang.
(I….can't….keep this up much longer.) Jaune calculated the harsh reality.
Just 3 or 4 minutes had passed yet blonde felt like he already went through 8, maybe even whole 12 rounds of boxing. The mental pressure was that heavy on him.
(If only…..I wouldn't have to dodge everything.) He wished. The numbness of his arms being a good indicator of the sort of damage Yang's punches dealt even when blocking. Moving one of his limbs, Jaune barely grazed the swelled up part with the tip of his fingers. (Ach!) He felt not only a sharp pain, but also a creeping bolt of fear traveling to the tip of his toes. (If I were to take a few clean shots from her…..) He gulped anxiously.
It would end very quickly. His survival instinct foreshadowed to him with another bolt of sharp pain.
(Damnit…damnit...I haven't landed anything major as well.) Jaune frowned in frustration. Being so preoccupied with defense that he barely attacked back would only prolong the unfavorable outcome. (Just be calm.) Blonde tried to force it on himself, especially since the wild brawler was done with checking him out.
(He is one helluva dodger.) Yang wasn't shy to admit. (But besides that, he hasn't shown anything else.) Her eyes sagged down in disappointment. And if there really wasn't anything else to him, Yang didn't want to drag this out any further.
(Time to wrap it up.) She cracked her knuckles and dashed forward in blazing speed.
(Here she comes!) Jaune's heart skipped a beat, his inner engine working with an overloading throttle. The first strike to come his way was the straight right.
(I can counter it!) Jaune slipped by her punch and extended his fist. But with the fear pushing on at the back of his mind, Jaune's punch lost its sharpness and Yang not only easily evaded it, but aimed a perfectly timed body shot to his side.
Split.
Jaune's teeth closed shut in pain as he felt how few muscle fibers were torn apart in his forearm. The explosion afterwards making him slid sideways.
(That got him good.) Yang could see though barely showed any excitement. He just wasn't what she hoped him to be.
"Sorry blondey…..but this will be it for you." Brawler warned him and leaped forward. As she expected, Jaune raised his guard and was ready to block or evade her attacks completely.
Ain't gonna cut it anymore.
Though spoke the confident glimpse in Yang's eyes as she made a wild combination of bizarre punches to make sure that Jaune would be completely focused on them. Just like before, blonde dodged everything with annoyingly sharp precision using the last spurts of energy he had.
A little smile. Amidst her flurry of attacks blonde saw a little, dangerous smile.
Jaune didn't like that smile.
(A body shot!) Blonde suddenly snapped in realization and instinctively guarded his midsection.
(I'm open!) Yet blonde immediately gasped in horror as Yang aimed her short body shot to the side of his forearm, blowing his exhausted arms apart like they were nothing.
But. Whenever it was his talent, instinct or anything else but Jaune's legs moved him away from the danger.
Or so he hoped yet blondes eyes shut wide open as he felt how Yang's shoulder touched his chest.
Whenever it was her talent, instinct or anything else but Yang moved in at the same time as Jaune leaped backwards.
Chances of escaping.
He was tired, shocked and crippled by fear.
Zero.
Jaune gulped harder than he ever remembered to.
This was the end.
Blonde felt as Yang caught him flush for the first time. Bending to the side like a two piece, Jaune's entire core was rocked from the sudden burst of explosive energy travelling through his body, the wave shaking his entire being.
(There's nothing I can do…) Jaune's unresponsive body told to him, yet he hardly felt anything back. He knew things would end up like this right from the beginning.
Then came a second body shot. Even if it didn't land perfectly into his solar plexus area, he had the chest plate after all, it still knocked the little wind he had out of him. With pitiful tears glazing his eyes, blonde somehow could tell that he was in mid-air. Going down, soon came the third shot to his gut. And again blonde went flying upwards, his blood gushing over the lower lip. Helplessly falling down, Yang too lowered her position as close to the ground as she could, readying a merciless uppercut. Awaiting for the right moment, brawler sprung herself up and smashed the gauntlet into the Jaune's chin. With the help of the explosives, blonde back flipped at least 10 times or so, blood droplets splashing everywhere from his mouth. And as he went down again, brawler was ready to deliver her very last attack.
Full body, wild right straight. That would be her finisher as Yang thrusted herself forward. In between the last moments, Yang managed to catch a glimpse of Jaune's eyes. She bit her lip angrily.
"Just what the hell were you thinking about?! Do you even realize that if not for my help, both you and Ruby would have died right here?!" She suddenly remembered but pushed those memories quickly aside. Jaune's eyes were defeated and showed self-pity. Yang hated those sort of eyes and those sort of people. Her heart skipped a furious beat and eyes turned dangerously red. With everything she had, brawler instead of aiming her last attack on Jaune's chest plate, crashed her gauntlet into her opponents miserable face.
"You're pathetic," Yang said bitterly right before her attack connected with Jaune's face.
"This is over."
Someone already stated from the audience as JNPR leader was sent flying.
"There's no way that he could have defeated Pyrrha."
Someone else said as blonde bounced the first time off the hard surface.
"He's the weakest from the team after all."
As if it's a secret.
"He's no match for Yang."
I never claimed to be.
"Never will be."
I know that already.
"He's just too weak."
She's simply too strong for me.
"He's just a loser."
No. You simply have never seen me in boxing. I'm unbeatable there 'You have been defeated'. I never give up in boxing 'You gave up on 'The boxing'. I have reached the highest peaks there 'No you're lying.' When it comes down to boxing I'm…I'm…I know that I'm….still a loser.
There's only so many times you can bounce off the hard surface to escape the reality. Jaune reached his limit and came down permanently. After a few more meters of his body sliding, Jaune's movement stopped altogether. Now being completely motionless, through the blur in his eyes Jaune tried to have a closer look at his opponent, yet all he could manage to see were her feet. So this was the difference between them. That in return made him question something.
Just what the hell was he trying to do?
Seriously, what the hell was he trying to do?
(Me, one of the weakest students in Beacon against Yang?) Jaune chuckled bitterly, dragging his eyes to his palm which he couldn't turn into a fist anymore, or more like didn't want to. (It's a bad joke at best.)
Bad, pitiful joke.
Exactly what he was.
(Just give up and be done with this. It will feel a lot better afterwards.) He decided on a reason. Wiping the tears away from his eyes, blonde wanted to have that final look at his team. Checking out what they felt right now, seeing his miserable state.
Utter disappointment. His eyes first crossed with Ren's and Jaune could immediately tell that his friend looked utterly disappointed.
(And what were you expecting?) Jaune wanted to ask back, his limb going up to declare his defeat.
Utter disappointment meant that he had high expectations. For someone like Jaune. Blonde made a dry smile and advised his friend to not place those sort of hopes on him. Ren would only end up being disappointed again.
Naturally, sitting beside him was Nora so Jaune took a look at her. Maybe he shouldn't have though as his chest moved painfully. She was sobbing. Small tears ran down her flustered cheeks, as he could even hear her make some sort of promises how she would do something awesome for him, if would just get up and fight. To that, blonde even wanted to smile back like he always did, but his lips remained to be a thin line in the end. It was the first time he had ever seen her crying. Always being so cheerful, full of life and joy, yet now she was shedding tears over him. And he didn't want that. Jaune never really told her, but her joyful smile always made him to see the world as a better place. And he wanted it to remain to be so.
(So please, Nora. Don't ruin your cheerful smile because of me.) His hand weirdly twitched but went higher than before.
Pyrrha. Moving his eyes just a little bit to the side, blonde saw his most trusted partner. At first blonde blinked as he thought that maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but closing his eyelids 3 or 4 times the image was always the same. She looked enraged. Her narrowed eyes seemingly trying to match the color of her hair, Pyrrha repeated something under the breath. Since Jaune didn't hear her, he tried his best to read from her lips. Barely, unsurely but Jaune figured out that the sentence which amazon repeated again and again was-
Don't you dare to give up. She relentlessly repeated those same words over and over again.
Don't you dare to give up.
His hand went a little bit lower and froze. (Give up? Just when exactly did I promise to even try? I never said anything about-)
'Guys, I can't make any promises but I'll try.'
(Oh, that's right. I did say something along those lines.) He remembered. (But I did try.) He pitied himself (Maybe not the best but I did.)
And after some struggle, his hand moved higher again until it was fully stretched out. All he had to say was 'Give up.' And as that thought crossed his mind, Jaune remembered the 'Good luck' from his mother. How sincerely she wished those words to him.
Good luck, follow the path you believe in and give it your all. Be the best you can be. Maybe it was something along those lines. But it didn't matter. All of the hope and expectations the people he cared about placed on him, it was all wasted and ended up being nothing but wishful thinking.
I'm too weak to carry it all. Jaune thought he knew and moved his lips to declare the defeat.
I give up. He said.
Or at least wanted to.
Yet the moment the very first letter crossed his lips, Jaune's palm turned into a furious fist which he crashed into the ground with all the might he had. In a completely overtaken rage, he pounded the hard surface again and again, not stopping even when the skin started to peel off.
You miserable pile of…..And he continued to drill his fist into the ground. The audience around him being disturbed and perplexed from the spectacle. Wondering if maybe he went crazy from taking too many hits.
He was pathetic. Not because he was too weak, but because Jaune wanted to give up again. Despite all the struggles, all of the help received and his own promises, he still dared to try and throw all of that away. Leaving nothing but bitterness, self-pity and disappointment.
He wanted to lose his way again.
(I maybe used to a narcissistic-ego filled-self-centered-scumbag, but I wasn't a quitter.) Jaune spilled in rage as his pounding eventually stopped. With his anger and frustration now left into the ground, blonde brushed himself off and got back on his feet. Wiping the blood away from his mouth, Jaune extended his fist to the team who had supported him all along. (Guys, please, sorry for wanting to give up again.) He apologized sincerely, though wanted to do a lot more than that. And he would.
Pyrrha and Nora reached out their fists with-out any shame at all, while Ren made a subtle thumbs up.
Do your best.
Jaune could tell the message right away. With an appreciative smile, blonde turned his head to the general direction of his house.
You're kindness too…I won't let it go to waste. He pledged to himself and took a few, deep breaths. It felt so refreshing. Self-doubt-pity, insecurity, low self-esteem, disappointment and all the rest of trash which held him in chains. To let it all and empty his spirit. Then giving a chance for new emotions and possibilities fill up the free void he held inside. Slowly exhaling, Jaune locked his eyes into his opponents.
He was different.
Yang could immediately tell. For the first time during the whole duel, Jaune looked like he actually wanted to win. But brawler only smiled back to him. (He maybe looks different but how much will that change the outcome?) She speculated, getting back some of the excitement.
There was only one way to find out. Taking her stance, Yang marched forward, though did so with a lot more caution. Jaune too, took his boxing stance.
Emotional level-stable. He could read from his heartbeats. (But the piled up damage still takes its toll.) Jaune wasn't naïve enough to think he could take her on with-out any sort of plan. (If only there would a way to slow her down.) He tried to figure out as his foot slid forward, but knees suddenly buckled a bit. (Damnit, those body shots got me good.) Jaune scoffed in a hurry as there wasn't much time left. (Slow her down, slow her down, slow her down, damnit, there has to be a way…..to-) He suddenly looked down on his legs. (But of course!) Jaune snapped, dodging a wild hook.
There was a way.
Not a sure fire hit but still, the only option he had.
'Risk it all for a chance to win.'
With his glimpse being sharper now, Jaune leaped forward and willingly threw himself in the very fangs of his opponent.
"So you'll fancy the close range now, huh?" Yang backed off a bit. "Well then, I'll bring it to you blondey!" She smashed her fists together and leaped in as well. With everything Jaune had left in his engine, blonde dodged Yang's punches only do deliver a short, precise strike to her body.
Yang yelped in pain. Yet she easily brushed it off as her body was a lot tougher than that, a lot. And she delivered back. Again, taking those short breaths in between her strikes to save his consciousness, Jaune dodged her attacks and delivered a little bit of his own.
Brawler felt a sharp, stabbing like pinch at her side again. But just like before, it barely lasted and didn't stop her from firing back.
Dodging a left hook, Jaune almost collapsed to the ground. Not because it even grazed him, but because he had passed his limits that far. Every move he made earned a sharp pain as muscle fibers were being pulled apart painfully from the overwork. Breathing became near impossible and vision blurred from the fatigue. But every time Jaune thought of stopping, he always reminded himself-
Don't lose your way.
He knew there wasn't any other choice but to go all out. And that's why he needed others to stay with him and help him to stand out. In order to outshine those who wanted to take his star away right now, Jaune had to figure out how truly strong he was, and what it takes to be more than just alive. Syncing and learning of what he could do to take her down. But it wasn't a revenge to those who dared to doubt him, nor did he push himself that far in order to just survive. He knew that part and could feel it in his heart. With the help of those who trusted in him, Jaune was able to stay focused and not fall apart despite everything. He wanted to be complete, so there was nothing that could make him to retreat. But because he could lose on his own, Jaune truly, really needed others to be with him.
If he needed to struggle until his body would become dry. Then so be it.
And he fought back.
People in the arena started to whisper among themselves. Just when exactly had Jaune become this strong? Many wondered. Sure, it's not like he had done some massive damage to Yang, but he did better, far better than most initially believed him to do.
"I-I knew that Jaune could last a lot longer than 10 seconds against Yang," A male student said. His partner quickly turned to his side "No, you didn't idiot. You actually said that he wouldn't even last 10."
"I was just joking," He tried to fire back. "Yea right, I can tell from a mile away when you are lying."
Young man shifted nervously though retorted back "Look who's talking. You wanted to make a bet with me that Jaune would be defeated with a single blow."
"No I…..just….I…..whatever." He didn't know what to say back as it was genuine truth. Then, both of them gulped and turned back to the action and just like many others, noted to themselves that they wouldn't be glad to have JNPR leader as their combat sparring partner anymore.
"That's right Jaune, you can do it. Just don't give up." Pyrrha was one of the very few who knew that goofy leader was capable of this much, though she personally believed he could do even more. With hands clasped together, she and Nora kept chanting good luck charms to the leader. Just doing anything to help him out whatever way possible.
"He can't win," Weiss shook her head.
"Shut up! Yes, he can!" Nora spouted back, soon returning to her supportive duties.
Ice queen sighed "No, he can't." She silently hissed back.
Truth be told, she was one of the many who were impressed that blonde leader had lasted this long. She even found it admirable. But, everyone had their limits no matter how much one could fight it. And just having a quick glance at Jaune it was easy to tell that he would soon reach his.
Life wasn't a fairy-tail after all.
"I admit that Jaune has showed much better results than I and many others expected him to. And that is something he should be proud of and see as an accomplishment. But there's no denying that he will soon meet his end."
Pyrrha frowned in disagreement "You can never know the outcome till the fight is over."
Ice queen pointed to the duelers, her tone being just a bit more daring "True. But observing the fight you can make solid judgements about it. And observing the fight it strongly shows that Jaune is just barely hanging in there anymore. What sort of miracles do you expect him to pull off in his battered state?"
Pyrrha half opened her mouth, but instead of saying anything, gulped worriedly.
She was right.
As much as Pyrrha felt otherwise, her eyes and mind saw the truth. Jaune's state was truly worry-some. Most of his jumper had turned to ashes, showing a lot more of his skin which looked gruesome. It was bleeding in several places, big, dark spots covering most of it. Few places of his skin even showed burnt marks. And that is with-out taking into account of how utterly exhausted he looked in between those moments were you could see his face. Then comparing that to Yang, who only showed slight traces of pain time and time again. Her movement a bit slower than before.
Pyrrha again gulped with uncertainty. Yet even so, with all that being taken into account she still felt that there was something more to Jaune. (There has to be.) She strongly believed and continued to watch the battle.
Jaune was blown away by Yang's hook. Sweat coming into his eyes, the pain he was in made his fists spasm haphazardly.
(T-this is….it….I….h-have to…..wrap it up.) He couldn't afford to waste any more strength. He had to put it all. His almost everything in that next attack. Taking as deep of a breath as he could, Jaune smiled. This sensation called breathing felt like a divine blessing to him. Sliding his foot forward, blonde's eyes beamed with clear intentions.
Yang's guards tightened. (It's easy to tell.) She smirked to herself. He wanted to wrap it up. "Then be my guest." She dared him to try and take her down.
Blonde looked at his team.
Please, lend me your strength.
His legs moved and Jaune dashed forward.
Yang's eyes widened at how insanely fast her opponent closed the distance between them, but was able to throw a hook in time. As if it was the only thing he was good at, Jaune ducked under and unloaded his might in one of the four spots he aimed all of his last attacks. Brawler almost choked on her spit as Jaune's fist sank into her spleen, but the bolt of pain didn't last long enough and she threw an uppercut. Jaune's bones snapped as her gauntlet crashed into his guard. With his teeth closed in pain, Jaune knew that he couldn't afford to be blown away. Absorbing it all, Jaune came back with a body shot. Yang again felt a rush of pain running through her from the solar plexus shot. How the hell did he have this much strength left, she couldn't phantom. But it wasn't a time to be in admiration and she threw a hook. Jaune's mind almost went blank for a split second. He managed to block her attack but his guard got completely destroyed in the process.
Don't you dare to step back!
Not losing his ground, feet twisted in motion, body rotated around and his fist flew into Yang's floating rib.
Strong. He was damn strong.
Such thought crossed brawlers mind as her body folded to the side. But she was stronger and would prove everyone else too as her fist flew straight into his face. Jaune smiled weakly. He couldn't dodge it nor could afford to block. An immediate exchange. That was his only option as he threw the last body shot. A click from Yang's gauntlet and blonde was blown away. Her ammunition went out so her right hook was just that, a right hook. But her raw strength wasn't to be taken lightly as well so blonde still got hammered badly and his body was thrown back. With a heavy thud, blonde collapsed on the ground. Slowly turning his head, Jaune had to see whenever on not his plan worked. Did the hellish work pay off? Sliding his eyes up to the brawler's body, Jaune soon blinked in refusal, but the image stayed the same.
A triumphing grin.
"You failed." Yang herself even declared as she knew his intentions. "It wasn't a bad idea though." She even admitted. But unfortunately for Jaune, her body was stronger than his strikes. Even the last one which she still strongly felt in her knees, wasn't enough to add up to her opponents result desired. Which only meant one thing.
He lost.
"You were quite strong after all. But just not enough." Yang raised her fist in the air to show that this would soon end. Not that she had to as others knew perfectly well.
"Jaune did his best and surpassed many expectations, but this is his limit." Weiss commented on the obvious.
"Jaune! Jaune! Get up!" Nora screamed while Ren and Pyrrha whished the same as well. But how much were encouragements worth anymore then blonde was helplessly laying on the ground, while Yang stood proud and unfazed. For quite some time.
"Jaune! Get up while Yang isn't moving! Please, the fight isn't over yet!" Nora still refused to believe this was the end and supported her dear friend with everything she had. And as she continued to do it, Pyrrha cocked her eyebrow in confusion.
Something was wrong. Yang wasn't moving, at all. In fact, if looking closer it was evident that she showed bothersome emotions engraved in her features. Others students too, were getting confused as even if everyone knew that the wild brawler was a show booster, she took just a bit too much time with her triumphing posing.
(Why isn't she…..wait…..could it…..could it really be?) Pyrrha's eyes went wider apart the more she recalled the last exchanges between Jaune and Yang. Running her hand over the stomach, a single possibility ran through her mind over and over again.
(My legs…it…no, it can't be. It can't.) Yang wouldn't accept it. There was no way. She was tougher than that, she knew. (Move damnit! I said move!) She angrily commanded, trying to move her unbearably heavy sticks forward. They refused for better amount of time but eventually her legs gave out a weird twitch and suddenly felt alive again. (Finally!) She felt relieved. Going back to what she intended to finish, Yang stepped forward and almost collapsed.
A paralyzing bolt of pain ran through her entire body, though it was her midsection which suffered the most. Her abdomen muscles shrank beyond their motion and brawler felt like throwing up for a moment.
(No…..there's…no….it can't be.) Yang looked down on the floor in a complete disbelief and denial. But the pain she felt proved her otherwise.
Everyone in the arena got confused as they couldn't understand what was wrong with the wild brawler.
"What is wrong with Yang? Why isn't she moving?" Even Weiss found herself asking.
Pyrrha gulped before answering as she could partially understand Yang's struggle. "Because she can't."
"What? Why?"
"Body shots."
Weiss got even more confused "But besides like the last four, he didn't land anything major. She has her semblance as well."
"That may be so, but he always aimed at her vital spots. Each and every single strike was thrown with clear intention. Even if they weren't fully loaded, his pinpoint accuracy made up for it which means that…." Pyrrha leaned closer to the handrail, her heart beating rapidly faster. (I' not sure about her semblance, but she's clearly hurt. Yang either didn't check upon her damage or underestimated Jaune's precision striking which means that right now…right now it's-)
Smashing her fists into the handrail, amazon than grabbed it with such a force that metal got bent "JAUNE, GET THE HELL UP AND FIGHT!"
A white feather crossed the fight plat.
Turning their heads to Pyrrha, everyone than turned back to Jaune only to see that he had disappeared.
"Over there!" Someone suddenly pointed as Jaune was already firing at Yang, each strike's thud crossing the whole arena.
(Y-you bastard.) Brawler cursed to herself, blocking a barrage of lefts from Jaune. "Don't think that you'll get away unscratched!" She declared, firing a hook.
Pain.
Yang felt how her abdomen muscles stretched wrongly, slowing her down.
A counter.
Brawler's jaw wanted to leave her head as blonde got her with a right straight. (H-he can bang…) Getting hit in the head was something she definitely wanted to avoid, so her hands moved to protect it.
(Her guard is tight.) Jaune couldn't manage to get a clean hit on her face.
A dangerous smile. (Then let's spice things up a bit.) And blonde dashed in.
Yang almost collapsed as her opponent drilled his fist into her midsection. (S-son of a…) She tried to get air back but was nailed with a brick. Or at least so she would describe getting hit in the face with Jaune's jab.
(I'm a frikkin sandbag!) She frowned in utter frustration as her opponent danced around her, his left hand limiting her already bare minimum movement. (I…..gawk….n-need a plan.) Yang realized that she actually had to use brains right now. The brawler of course had another option, but she wouldn't be able to call it a satisfying win if she were to use it. Luckily, Yang knew that Jaune attacked her upper section so relentlessly in order to nail her in the gut.
All she needed was a right moment.
(Focus…..focus….focus….watch him carefully.) Like a predator, brawler's lilac eyes followed her prey's every move with determined caution.
Left….left…..left….left…..left-
He dashed! Now!
And she immediately threw a hook with animalistic timing.
Nice and soft. That's how Jaune's cheek was under Yang's fist as it sank into his face.
"Sorry blondey, but this…..t-t-this…..is…" She paled in horror.
Jaune didn't even flinch from her punch.
He could hear the voices of those he cared about and wanted to be with.
And it made his blood pumping.
If they were ready to fight, then so was he.
Their bond was not something which Jaune would let to be broken by anything.
This was the moment he would show what it means to be a shining star.
Every time the pain wanted to win over him, their bonds strengthened his body.
Let's fight as one.
This is your way to be more strong. Jaune could feel his heart saying.
And he let his fists fly.
Liver shot.
Yang left a nasty screech of agony, barely able to stay standing.
Solar plexus.
Brawler felt her dinner in the mouth, only second-handed.
Left hook.
Clearing that content out of her mouth was Jaune's hook. With her legs giving out, she weirdly enough was staring at the ceiling instead of the floor. The reason-
Jaune's uppercut. Accidently, brawler stumbled forward and threw a fist in a motion which couldn't even be called a punch anymore. And Jaune again lost a heartbeat. But not in a fear. This one was absorbed by the conclusion of the continuous struggle of his.
'Left, left, left! Remember El Jauney, those who rule with their lefts, rule over the world!'
Jaune threw the punch just like his grandfather always told him to.
'A perfect one, two is a single punch, meant to end the fight. Stunt with your left, but finish things with your right!'
Jaune's body moved in a perfect motion before he could even think. "Old pops, like this?!" And he released it all out.
Something pure and beautiful.
Yang blinked an interesting image away. For a fraction of a moment she saw…..no-it probably was nothing more than a mirage. And her world went completely dark. A train wreck to her face, nose destroyed, eyes almost popped out of her sockets. But she was lucky. The result would have been a different one.
If the second feather would have crossed the fight plat.
Barely anyone in the arena dared to blink. Most of the mouths being half open, they tried to process of what just happened right before their eyes. It was hard for them to truly grasp it.
(Jaune, do you hear this silence? Do you know what it is?) Pyrrha asked, as even if she was overwhelmed with emotions as well, she could think straight (Just in case you don't, let me tell you. It's a sign of disbelief and respect.) She gazed at motionless Yang. (Disbelief of what you just did, but respect because you exactly did that.) And Pyrrha smiled earnestly.
She dared anyone to call Jaune Arc a weakling anymore.
"T-that last one," Blonde quietly mumbled to himself, collapsing on his knees. Being high on adrenaline and emotions, he did brush her attack off, but with those elements fading away, he felt the effects. Lifting his gaze off the floor, Jaune slowly made the progress to motionless Yang. (Did I…did I really make it? Did….did I truly win?) Ironically, Jaune ended up being the one who had to fight that denial the most. Gazing around, blonde decided to search his answer among the other students. Unfortunately, he couldn't really tell since everyone was so awfully quiet. Uncomfortably, Jaune looked back on the floor.
(He probably can't believe it.) Pyrrha even found it somewhat amusing, though at the same time so understandable. (Better say something before he thinks he has lost.) She chuckled.
"Jaune, that was-"
"Amazing!" Suddenly a male student exclaimed, clapping his hands vigorously.
Blonde felt how something moved in his heart.
"Holy crap that was awesome! You're one helluva fighter!" Someone else decided to join in.
"Congrats!"
"Y-you're amazing!" Even a timid girl exclaimed.
And soon, half a class erupted in all sorts of praise, some grander, some not. Even those who decided to stay quiet at least clapped their hands as Jaune Arc proved to everyone that he was one hulluva-no, that he was a shining star. The one who maybe had to depend on others help a lot in order to reflect its light, but when it did, no one would miss it.
As students kept raining their praise and respect on blonde, he turned his head away. The urge to cry was seriously messing up his face. (It wouldn't look cool.) Was one his silly reasons why he kept the tears of joy to himself. Wiping the mist away from his eyes, Jaune's smile just kept growing bigger and brighter as it finally started to dawn on him.
"I did it. I really….really did it."
He quietly repeated it over and over again only to realize that it wasn't a genuine truth. Turning his head, blonde found his team and said "Thank you. For giving me strength and just…..being the best." He hoped they could hear him. All of them smiled back. They felt his message with-out the need of words. It was perfectly written in his face.
Glynda picked up her glasses from the floor. Carefully cleaning off the item, the older woman's face showed a barely visible smile. (I don't know if this is what you saw in him Ozpin, and this would be the reason why you let him in. But you were right.) She placed her glasses where they belonged (There's a lot more to this young man than meets the eye. A lot more.) And she moved herself to Jaune's side.
"Seems that I and many others underestimated you Mr. Arc," Goodwitch complimented.
Jaune faced the teacher with his bright grin, though stayed quiet. Kindly returning his gesture, teacher continued "I of course would like to ask couple of questions to you, regarding few, interesting observations I made but…that isn't of great importance right now. I will let it unfold naturally. What is however, is to congratulate you." And her smile grew just slightly kinder "Well done Mr. Arc, you have won today and did it splendidly well."
Jaune quickly covered his face to wipe the mist away from his eyes. These words. He really loved the sound of it.
"I'm awesome alright." Jaune kind of joked back.
"You're looks certainly don't match the statement." She pointed to his burnt jumper. "But let's ignore that for now and say that it could be a truth for now. Though I feel the need to inform you that if you want to stay 'awesome', you'll have to-"
"Jaaauuuuuuuuune." Suddenly, a dangerously scary voice behind the teacher reached out to blonde.
Anxiously gazing past the Goodwitch, to Jaune's horror, the voice belonged to no other than Yang herself. Her body covered in bright, hot flames, she creepily raised herself up, her red eyes seemingly seeking a bloodshed.
Glynda quickly gazed at her scroll to double check. To her great surprise, Yang's aura indicator showed dark yellow, not the red. (But how could I have…oh dear.) She did make a mistake. Since her eyes were so glued to the strange happenings in Jaune's aura indicator, the older woman didn't pay enough attention to Yang's one. Others too, were obviously too mesmerized and thrilled by the action to notice anything. And that only meant one thing.
"I hope you didn't forget." She was fully back on her feet "About my semblance." The flames around her even changed the temperature in the arena.
The students around were surprised at first, but soon erupted in excitement.
"Holy cow! Yang can still bang!"
"Come on blondey! Show her what you've got!"
"Both of you are just unreal!"
"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!" They started to chant. Almost everyone wanted to see a continuation as both of the combatants were just that amazing. And as people around kept chanting for more, letting out different conclusions, it was hard to hear the sound of Jaune shitting his pants as roughly 70 kg of unstoppable force would soon storm his way. Yet he didn't even have enough strength to stand on his own. Turning his head, blonde searched for his most trusted partner. Finding her, his face pleaded for help before he even spoke "Pyrrha, let's switch places."
He heard Yang storming his way, enraged promises how she would leave nothing but dust after him accompanying her.
"I think I'm done here." A lonesome tear of end ran down his face.
Authors note-Well God damn, we have finally reached the chapter 10. Though more importantly is that this is the chapter I believe, quite a lot were really looking forward to. I did try to put even more effort into this one than the previous chapters. But did it pay off? If would say so myself then-yes, it did. I do like how I wrote it and think the fight and everything else is quite solid here. But those are only my thoughts, and I will gladly read yours if you will leave any. Also, besides this I have to say-Holy Jesus pants, 7 reviews? Well, 6 technically but that is for later. But seriously, you guys were on fire with those reviews and…..well I really appreciate that. But okay, let's just move onto answering the reviews themselves-
The SENDER and the TRAVELER-Well too bad, but no, Jaune won't go full Dempsey roll on her. Though that definitely would be fun, yet painful for Yang. And yes, his skill did shock the audience. And that is how it should be.
Justjustin3099-Sorry man, but I guess I was really evil with that cliffhanger. Yet true evil comes from the fact that I intended it to be a real killer:D Though truly appreciate that you loved the chapter and thanks. I'll try and keep working hard;)
Jkdelta38-What's up man! Glad to hear from ya. Anyways though, onto the review. So it's a yes and no. Yang certainly didn't expect Jaune to be as strong as his team told her he would be, but she did have some sort of expectations none the less. But your guess was a close call either ways.
Thanks. Glad to know that you enjoyed the build-up chapter and hope that the fight didn't leave you disappointed. See ya;)
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta-From what you mentioned, it's clear that you placed your bet on Yang. Well, the chapters end certainly answered to you that it was a right choice.
anon-And it's completely fine with me. If you think that it was quite unbelievable, then please do. You could very well be right about that;)
Yes, I know. It is quite a killer, but that in fact makes me happy because it proves that I accomplished what I wanted to. As for taking enough time and release only when I deem it ready, yes. That's how I do try to post them. It certainly isn't an easy task at times, you probably know what I'm trying to say with it, but I do try to fight that urge back. And with this one, I think I did a solid job on that. Did it pay off? As I mentioned, I think it did, but I would very much appreciate your thoughts as well.
As the chapter proved, it was a hard fight on both sides. But your calculation that Yang would win was a correct one, so good job on that one.
And a fuckin rumble they did:D
Jaune hater-So there are two reviews from you. On a single chapter. Well, I'm not complaining so thanks:D And yes, I get it that you probably just wanted to edit it and address your points a bit differently here and there:D But that's beside the point so let's just move on.
So it was a joke, sort of. Well, that's fine with me so let's leave it at that.
Damn man, you're really relentless to know whenever or not he will abandon Crocea Mors, aren't you?:D But…..I'll keep it a secret, for now. Why? Because I'm evil. Two, because that question will be answered in the next one, or the chapter after that one. So sorry, but you'll have to squeeze your buttocks until then:D
Yea, it could have been confusing to get whenever he talked to father or grandfather, although I do believe that I left enough clues that he did in fact, talk to his grandfather. But anyways, still appreciate that you pointed it out.
And now onto the review.
Glad to know that you liked the build-up. I tried pretty damn hard and it's refreshing to know that the work payed off. As for your guess on the outcome, it turned out to be a correct one. So you calculated it right. Though I feel the need to inform you that Jaune doesn't have a professional experience. I even touched on that topic in chapter 8. So you either forgot or didn't pay attention to that detail. Though Jaune has wonderful amateur record with plenty of experience there, then plus his unreal talent and he is still a good match for even someone like Yang.
As for Ren being OOC, maybe you're right there. I mean he doesn't really get a lot of screen time, but maybe he does act unnaturally to his character. But it's an interesting observation either ways.
As for your request, sorry man, but I somehow feel like it would be…..well, I don't know, a bit weird for that situation. I mean I totally get the point, but since it isn't an official boxing match, not all of the rules apply to it. And even more important thing is that Yang used her weapons while Jaune had to fight bare-fisted. So you know, a little bit of extra protection would certainly be of most useful to him. But do not worry friend, you'll get plenty of Jaune's chiseled, sexy, man chest action in the future chapters:D So look forward to that:D
And that's the end of that. Well, almost though you know how I end things.
Like always guys-
Have a nice one;)