Hey Everyone, sorry if I haven't been uploading as often as I usually do, been busy recently. Anyways, here is Chapter 12!
Chapter Twelve - Xiao Long Dual
I walked to the elevator, and pressed the button to go to the top floor. I lean against the wall as the elevator rises and think to myself. How could this happen? Post-Traumatic stress, I thought I got over it, after I failed to kill Adam, only Ozpin can help me... I stop thinking when the elevator door opens, revealing Professor Ozpin's office. I walk towards his desk as he ends a video call. He looks up at me and smiles a little.
"Ah, David, I was just going to message you to come here, how convenient you're already here. Is there something I can help you with?" Ozpin asks me, taking another sip of coffee. I frown to him.
"It's bad. I'm suffering from Post-Traumatic stress from the night at the dock. I need your help." I plead. Ozpin sighs and looks at the floor.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this. This 'stress' you have is incurable, simply forgetting about it will not work. My suggestion, avoid any contact that will relate with the event." Ozpin suggested.
"The doctor said that, I'm not sure that is the best idea." I say sadly.
"If that doesn't work, I suggest you reconcile with your old friend Indiana, talk to him about that night and get it out of your head." Ozpin said, frowning this time. I shake my head, disagreeing.
"I can't do that, I can't even talk to him, let alone see him. Better I just try to forget." I say.
"If that is what you think is best." Ozpin ended.
"Anyways, why did you want to see me?" I ask, suspicious.
"I need you to do another job. General James Ironwood is coming to this academy and requires escort. I have already talked with Ms. Nikos and Mr. Wukong to assist in the escort. You will be helping them get James Ironwood from his academy at Atlas to here in Vale, so it will be a long trip. You will leave tomorrow, so I suggest you spend the day with your team, and bid your farewells, but hopefully the trip should go smoothly." Ozpin finishes, taking another sip of coffee.
"Well, you can count on it, as soon as my weapon if complete." I inform him. "It's still not done."
"Very well, I will see you tomorrow in my office at 07:00. You may leave now." Ozpin finishes with a small smile. I get up and leave. I walk to the elevator, push the ground button and my scroll vibrates. It is a notification from the forge master. I read it.
David, your new weapon has been successfully forged and colored, you can now come and retrieve it. - Forge Master
I smile happily, and send a message to Ruby.
Ruby, my weapon has been forged, come and meet me at the forge so we can see it. - David Xiao Long
I leave the elevator and walk towards the forge room.
Beacon Forge Room...
"Hey Ruby." I say as I approach the desk, where Ruby is standing.
"Hi David!" Ruby says, smiling enthusiastically. I smile back and the forge master enters.
"Ah, David, right on time. Here is your new weapon." He says proudly and hands me my new weapon. It is heavier than my last weapon, quite significantly, and is painted black with yellow detail, my emblem printed on the right back side of the gun. I already love it.
"Forge Master, I cannot thank you enough for this weapon, it shall slay many grimm." I proclaim, causing the forge master to laugh.
"I'm sure you will, just make sure you don't break it like the last weapon. Oh, and you'll need these:" He hands me a dozen magazines filled with dust, and a special magazine, which channels you're aura into the gun. "come back if you ever need any extra ammunition." He ends, and me and Ruby smile and leave.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that weapon will last you a long time." Ruby comforts me, walking besides me, examining my new weapon. I continue to walk until my scroll vibrates. I check who it's from and it's from Yang. I read the message.
Fancy a sparing match? I've wondered since the Emerald Forest who is the superior Xiao Long? See you soon ;) - Cousin Yang
I roll my eyes and turn towards Ruby, who looks at me curiously. "Who's the message from?" she asks innocently.
"It's Yang. She want's t do a sparing match, see who is the 'superior Xiao Long', let's head to the sparing room." I say, and we both walk towards the sparing room.
Beacon Sparing Room...
"Hey Yang, ready to get your ass handed to you?" I yell to her, to which she turns to me and grins widely.
"I could say the same thing." She replies to me, activating her gauntlets, Ember Celica, and readies herself for the dual. "One rule: Hand-to-Hand combat only."
Well shit, not using my gun today. I sigh and walk towards her, putting my gloves on. I'm suddenly stopped when a hand it placed on my shoulder, stopping me. Ruby looks at me, with a small smile. "This should help even out the sight." She says seriously, handing me a pair of arm bands. No way!
"Ruby, these aren't what I think they are, are they?" I ask, excited. She nods, knowing I like them. A lot.
"I made these during your 'off' time, to help you fight in future battles, as I know you have little defense." Ruby explains, happily. I examine my new defense. They are a pair of defense gauntlets, identical to Yangs, but instead of yellow, they are solid black, matching perfectly with my outfit. I put the gauntlets on and activate them. Perfect! I give Ruby a thank you hug and approach Yang, who smiles just a little bit less than before.
"So, got a new toy? No weapon attachments? I thought I was getting a challenge?" Yang teased, taking her ready stance. I walk up to her and take my ready stance.
"I'm just going easy on you." I taunt, smiling a little. Yang activated her Ember Celica, loading the shotguns, while I activated my gauntlets and activating the power dust in my gloves.
"Ready... Steady..." Ruby yells from the audience, also filled with Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Sun and even Ozpin. I guess news spreads fast about a dual...
"Fight!"
I run towards Yang at top speed, as she does the same, and we both raise our right fists to see who gets the first blow. I punch down, as Yang punches up, and we hit each other, me being sent back first into the roof while Yang is sent face first into the floor, cracking the once smooth ground. I fall back to the ground, landing on my feet, and watch as Yang get's up, shaking her head.
"So, you want to play rough!" She yells, as her eyes turned red and her hair set ablaze, re-readying her gauntlets. She charges towards me, and takes several attempts to hit me, but I dodge them all barely, until I get hit in the stomach with a dust filled shotgun punch, sending me to the other side of the room. The crowd yelled in excitement, except Ozpin who kept calm. I get up and teleport in front of her, taking her by surprise. I smile devilishly and punch her squarely in the face, knocking her to the ground, and I kick her to the wall with my boots.
She gets up and looks at me with pure death in her eyes, and fires a shot from her gauntlet towards me, which I evade just in time. I loom towards her and she fires another half-dozen shotgun rounds, which I either evade or block with my gauntlets. "Hey, that's cheating!" I yell to her, which she simply smiles and fires another shot. So, you DO want to play rough... I reach to my back and grab my gun, aim and hit her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the ground, aura reserves depleted. I teleport to her, and help her up, already knowing I had won.
"The winner: David Xiao Long!" Ruby yelled, and the audience roared in applause. I smile as I carry Yang to the seats, as she is too exhausted to walk. I put her down and walk towards Ozpin, who is also clapping.
"So, what made you come watch?" I ask, curious to know why he'd take time to watch a sparing match.
"I wanted to see how well you'd do with your new weapon against a difficult opponent. It seems you'll do well tomorrow. Remember, 07:00 tomorrow." Ozpin reminded me with a smile. He walks off, and I walk back to Yang.
"How you feeling?" I ask. She looks at me with pain in her eyes.
"That new gun of yours really packs a punch. Better not use it unless it's grimm, or a raging student like me." She says with a small laugh, but ends up collapsing from the pain. I frown to myself and lift her up, carrying her to the hospital wing. She'll get better, I hope.
That night...
"You felling alright now?" I ask, now in my pajamas, same as the rest of my team. Yang looks at me, cheery as always.
"I've already said yes, so I'll say it again if it will make you feel better: Yes." Yang finishes, laughing a bit. Weiss simply looks at me, disappointing.
"I still don't know why you'd use your gun without knowing how strong it is." Weiss said in true Weiss fashion.
"Speaking of that, what is your gun, gauntlet and knife combination called?" Blake asked, still reading her book.
"I don't know. How about... Proelium Compositum?" I suggest, Ruby and Yang look at me with blank faces, Weiss and Blake, who understand Latin, agree with the name. "I was meant to tell you earlier, but I'm going on a mission tomorrow." I inform my team, who all loo at me shocked.
"What! You're still not at full strength and you're already leaving?" Ruby yelled at me, clearly concerned for me.
"What's the mission?" Yang asks me, also concerned.
"I've been asked by Ozpin to escort General James Ironwood from Atlas to here, with the help of Pyrrha and Sun. We will be gone for a couple of days." I inform them.
"Sun? Why's he going?" Blake asked, putting down her book. Odd, she doesn't act like this...
"I can't go by myself, so he also asked Sun and Pyrrha to go too. You never know, it could be just a few days of nice chatting and getting to know each other." I assure her.
"Let's hope it's like that." Ruby added.
"Well, it's getting late, we'd better get to sleep." I suggest.
"Agreed." The girls said at the same time. We all got in our beds and turned the lights off.
This mission aught to be fun...
Epilogue...
As I sleep, unknown to me, my walkie talkie turns on and a voice comes through that nobody hears.
"David, are you there? I'm coming to Beacon..."
End of Chapter Twelve
So, someone's coming to Beacon... Who is it? (You should know...). Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter, and make sure to follow, favorite and please review, any criticism is read and replied to. See you next time in chapter 13.