Chapter Five: Extracurricular
Pyrrha attached her armor, strap by strap, to her legs. JNPR and RWBY were in the middle of Glynda's sparring class, and as a challenge to herself, she had challenged the entirety of Team CRDL to a four-on-one sparring match. She finished adjusting the plating on her legs, then began the long walk down the hallway to the classroom arena, seizing Miló and Akoúo̱ from her back with her Semblance. These boys had gone after Jaune early in the year, and although Jaune had handled the problem, she had not forgotten… or forgiven. She walked out into the arena where the boys awaited—Cardin, Sky, Dove, and Russel leering at her overconfidently—and with a ding, the match began.
The boys came at her in a clash of metal, which she easily deflected. She sliced at Cardin high and low, throwing him off balance, then came at him from above. He dodged backwards as her spear hit the ground. Staying down, she launched the spear at Dove, then swiped low at his legs, sending him onto his back. She came up towards Sky, trading blows with his long battle axe and blocking him with Akoúo̱ before she thrust Miló forward and threw Sky back. Cardin watched as his gray friend was launched backwards, and as the leader turned, Pyrrha was upon him again, striking him in the midsection. He replied with a jab to her shield with his mace, then brought the weapon bearing down onto her, the Dust crystal in the head launching off a wave of fire.
Pyrrha quickly rolled out of the way, leaving the fire behind her harmlessly, as she blocked another strike from Cardin's heavy weapon. The impact made her slide backward a few meters, where she jumped over the weapon of Sky, who had recovered, as he sliced at her feet. In midair, she twisted and saw Cardin swinging at her again. She allowed the heavy mace to hit her shield towards the ground, using the momentum to roll on the floor and twist her body with a leg under Sky, knocking him over again. She came back standing behind Cardin and charged forward, vaulting the boy's shoulder as he turned. Before he could attack again as he flipped back around, she threw her shield at him, the hard metal bouncing off his face and sending him sprawling away. She ducked as the shield came back, and it soared over her head to hit Sky in a similar manner off of the rebound from Cardin. The boy fell to the floor a third time, and this time, Pyrrha removed him from the fight, coming down hard on his back from a flip above as she snatched Akoúo̱ out of the air.
With three opponents remaining, Pyrrha stared down Dove, Russel, and Cardin as they glared at her. Russel and Dove rushed forward, and she went in to meet them, catching Russel off guard with her speed as she thrust her shield into his stomach and batted him momentarily away. Dove came in with his sword, trading blows with her until she blocked and left him open. A well-placed kick, and Dove was similarly pushed back, although he managed to flip with the kick and come down on his feet as Cardin rushed back in. He leaped in and pounded the mace down, Pyrrha once again avoided the smashing strike. She flipped back and transformed the javelin into its rifle form, taking refuge behind her shield as she fired at Cardin. However, Russel had regained his senses and jumped in, catching the Dust rounds on his own Dust daggers as he and Dove ran forward in a vicious double-teamed attack. Russel rolled in the air as his feet flew forward into her shield, knocking Pyrrha off-balance. They followed the kick with a devastating combination of attacks and slashes to the sword and the shield, and as Pyrrha dropped to a knee, it seemed for a moment that the boys had the advantage. However, she slid beneath Russel and Dove and let their momentum carry them past her, as Cardin once again tried to surprise her with the mace.
Pyrrha ducked underneath his swing and rolled past him, firing once again with her rifle. Cardin managed to catch the blasts on the mace, surprisingly versatile with the cumbersome weapon, as he came at her again. She met with a knee to the face that made him stumble, and when he went high, she ducked under with a kick. Pushed back, he engaged her in a standoff, both blocking and attacking in quick succession, before a stray blow from Pyrrha's spear caught him across the back. He tried to recover, but, off-balance as he was, he was struck more than he blocked and was inevitably driven back as Russel rushed forward to take his place.
The daggers in the green-haired boy's hands never even touched Pyrrha as she spun away, spear resting behind her head. In desperation, Russel threw one at her, but she ducked and threw Akoúo̱, causing the shield to bounce up into the air off of him, then making a sweeping arc with the spear that knocked him to the floor and out of the fight. She used the rifle barrel at the back of the weapon to fire the point at Dove, who blocked the attack. However, even as she blocked the shots from his weapon, she closed in and went high and low. Dove jumped over the slash at his legs and flipped backwards by Cardin.
Cardin, the tactical genius that he was, drew back the mace for a swing and inadvertently hit Dove, leaving himself as Pyrrha's final opponent. Pyrrha's eyes narrowed a bit as Cardin charged her. Here it was, the moment where she was able to pay Cardin back for his treatment of Jaune, and she certainly wouldn't squander it.
She vaulted over his fire blast on the ground and then charged him, coming at him from all sides as she sliced and stabbed. Eventually, she launched him into the air, where she hit him a few more times. The strikes sent him hurtling away from her, and she pushed off of her shield to propel herself after him. She came at him and got her spear around his throat from behind, using both arms to bring them spinning back to earth. Cardin yelled as they fell, and she released her hold as he smacked, head first, into the ground. As the coup de grâce, she kicked him back up into the air in a back flip that sent him spinning through the sky, where he landed across the arena on his stomach. Pyrrha called Akoúo̱ back to her with her Semblance and resumed her fighting stance, wary of Cardin returning to his feet.
That, however, wouldn't be a danger. The lights rose as Cardin clung painfully to his ribs and Glynda stepped forward.
"And that's the match," the blond teacher said.
Cardin groaned, "Lucky shot," before he collapsed.
"Well done, Miss Nikos," Glynda continued. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament.
"Thank you, professor," Pyrrha replied politely with a smile.
Glynda turned her attention to the rest of the class. "Alright," she said as she activated her Scroll, "now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" Glynda scanned the sea of students. "Ms. Belladonna?" Blake, who had been reading, slammed her book shut and looked at Glynda apprehensively. There were dark circles under the Faunus girl's eyes. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you—"
"I'll do it."
Glynda found the boy who had spoken up, one of the exchange students. "Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."
"Actually, I wanna fight… her." Mercury pointed down at Pyrrha.
"Me?" she asked in confusion.
Glynda sternly eyed Mercury. "I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match. I recommend you choose another partner."
"No, it's fine!" Pyrrha said with a smile up at Mercury. "I'd be happy to oblige."
Mercury strode down to the arena, seemingly without a weapon, but Pyrrha knew better. All visiting students had had to disclose their weapon for the Tournament, and it was common knowledge that Mercury was one of the few whose weapon was always on him. Mercury sported a pair of shotgun boots on his feet, similar to Yang's Ember Celica, and he usually used his legs as his melee weapon. The two fighters sized each other up. Glynda signalled the beginning of the match, and Mercury rushed forward.
The silver boy led off with a kick that was easily blocked by Akoúo̱, while Pyrrha swept his other leg out from under him with the spear. He fell down but rolled with the motion, coming to a flipping stop several meters back as he sized her up. Pyrrha rushed forward to attack, but Mercury put her back on the defensive with a barrage of kicks to her shield and the javelin.
Pyrrha aimed with Miló at his leg, giving her the space she needed to ram him with her shield and put a halt to his attack. He slid across the floor in a standing position as he once again looked her over. Impressed with the attack, he nodded slightly with a "Hm."
"Hey, your friend's doing pretty good!" Ruby said to Mercury's partner, Emerald, who smiled in return. She turned back to the fight, not seeing the green-haired girl roll her eyes.
Mercury twisted into the air and force Pyrrha back with a kick to the shield. He landed low and threw out a leg, but the other lifted her foot to avoid the sweep as she stepped back. He stood once more for a flying kick, but she blocked again. She rolled out of the way as he kicked again, landing in a crouch behind Akoúo̱ as she flipped Miló in her hands, holding it in backwards by the handle. The silver boy charged and jumped up, a quick series of kicks landing on the shield again.
Pyrrha moved the shield to attack, but was once again forced back into defense as Mercury aimed for Akoúo̱. He switched suddenly, kicking her spear arm, then spun back to the shield. Pyrrha tried to flip her spear in her hand, but Mercury switched yet again, going high for her head. Forced to block with her right arm, she missed Miló until he once again retreated. She seized her javelin, and the two took a pause to see how the fight had affected the other. They came at each other again, Mercury deflecting the spear with his boot before turning to her shield. She swung the spear up again to graze his boot, but he managed to kick it with enough force to make her lose her grip.
The metal tip of the spear sank into the floor, leaving Pyrrha with just her shield as Mercury smirked. He spun and aimed a kick towards her now-open face, but Pyrrha lifted her hand in front of her and just barely used her Semblance to send Mercury's attack away. His target missed, the boy spun and came down on a knee, off-balance. As he took in this new information, a contemplative look crossed his face, and he gave a thoughtful, "Hmm."
Footsteps behind him alerted Mercury that he'd have little time to process his newfound revelation. Pyrrha had regained her spear and dashed forward, leading with her shield. Mercury jumped and placed both feet against the shield, firing a round to propel himself backwards, where he landed in a standing position across the arena floor. Pyrrha charged after him, weapons at the ready, when he turned to Glynda and simply said, "I forfeit."
Pyrrha gasped in surprise, stumbling a bit as she regained her balance. She ran past Mercury and skidded to a stop. Turning to her metallic foe, she incredulously asked him, "You… don't even want to try?"
"What's the point?" he replied with a nonchalant shrug. "You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."
"In that case… Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match… again." Glynda's voice was a bit agitated. "Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent."
"I'll be sure to do that." Mercury grinned smugly. Pyrrha looked at him with a slightly disappointed expression, hand on her hip in annoyance.
The alarm to signal the end of classes sounded, jostling a napping Blake back to consciousness. "That is all for today," Glynda said as the students prepared to depart. "And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."
The throng moved to leave the room, Mercury hooking back up with Emerald as they left. He smirked at her. "Learning is so much fun!" he said darkly.
"Hey, Blake!" Blake turned and shut the book she had been reading in annoyance. Sun approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You uh, doing okay?" he asked with concern, taking in the dark circles underneath her eyes.
"I'm fine," she replied shortly.
Sun spoke again. "So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend. Ah, sounds pretty lame, but… you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?"
"What?"
"The dance! This weekend!" He gave her a hopeful smile. You wanna go, or what?"
"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that."
Blake stormed away past the rest of Team RWBY, as Sun seemed to wilt from her answer. The girls looked at each other in concerned silence.
"You what?" Blake said incredulously later that evening in the dorm room.
"We want you to go to the dance," Ruby repeated.
"That's ridiculous," Blake said with a scowl.
Yang looked at her pleadingly. "Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head."
Weiss began to tick off her fingers. "You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering."
"You think I care about grades?" the Faunus expressed with unusual emotion. "People's lives are at stake!" she said and gestured out the window.
Yang's hand came down on top of hers. "We know," she reassured their friend, "and we're still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to."
"Thanks to you and Sun," Ruby piped up, "we know they're operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale."
"And, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for Dust robberies over the last few months," the heiress said.
"Don't forget about their missing military tech, too," Yang pointed out.
"But there's still unanswered questions!" Blake protested.
"Blake," Ruby replied, "you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open!"
"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day." Yang gazed at her with firmness.
"It will be fun!" Weiss said with a rare smile. "Yang and I will make sure of it."
"Yeah! We're planning the whole event!" Yang pumped a fist.
"Excuse me?" Blake asked indignantly.
"Team CFVY's away mission lasted longer than expected," Weiss explained.
"So Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off," Yang put in. "And now we can make sure you have the perfect night."
"And once it's all over, we'll return for our search, rested and ready," Weiss finished.
"So what do ya think?" the leader asked her.
Blake stood with a scowl. "I think this is a colossal waste of time." With that, she stalked to the door and opened it. "I'll be in the library." She walked away.
Yang sighed. "Great."
"She can't keep going on like this," Weiss said, half to herself. There was another knock at the door; thinking it was Blake, Weiss hopped up to open it. However, the sight that greeted her sent her a surprised step back and prompted Ruby and Yang to see who was there.
The sound of a guitar filled the room, along with Jaune's voice. "Weiss!" he sang, strumming the guitar. The heiress immediately slammed the door in his face.
"Oh come on! Open the door!" Jaune's voice dropped pitifully. "I promise not to sing."
Weiss sighed and opened the door, expecting to regret the decision. She groaned as Jaune sang out, "I lied!" with a strum of the guitar. "Weiss Schnee! Will you accompany me? To the dance… on…" He paused, seemingly searching for the date. "Sunday!" he finished with a grin.
"Are you done?" the heiress asked.
"...Yes?" Jaune said hopefully.
"No." She slammed the door on him again. Catching a stare from the sisters, she asked, "What?"
"And that is why they call you the Ice Queen," Yang said from her position leaning over from the bed. Ruby, similarly balanced, fell over.
"All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name." Weiss crossed her arms and smiled. "Besides, I already have a date in mind."
Ruby frowned from the ground. "Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go."
The clash of metal rang out from the rooftop as Jaune and Pyrrha practiced. The blond boy had improved with his swordsmanship over this past semester, and his strikes were more controlled and precise. He seemed to have the upper hand, but Pyrrha grinned as she spotted an opening. She went low and kicked out her foot, swiping his legs and landing him on his back.
She laughed as she extended a hand. "Well done! Your swordplay's improved immensely."
"I couldn't have done it without you," he returned with a smile as she hoisted him to his feet.
"So, are you ready to move on to Aura?"
Jaune's face fell a little. "I'm actually thinking maybe we just skip Aura for tonight? Might go on a jog or something."
She gave him a supportive smile. "Come on, I know you get frustrated, but you must keep trying. I'm sure you'll discover your Semblance any day now."
"That's not it." He paused for a moment, debating what to say. "It's just… it's dumb."
"What is it?" At his lack of response, she walked forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me."
"It's… Weiss."
Pyrrha's smile twitched, her face falling slightly. "Oh. What about her?"
"I asked her to the dance, and she shot me down." The leader of JNPR chuckled in self-deprecation. "Big surprise, right?"
"Well, I believe the saying goes: There's… plenty of fish in the sea," she said with slight emphasis.
"That's easy for you to say," he replied. "You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out."
"You'd be surprised," she said with a frown and a cheap chuckle.
"Oh please. If you don't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress. Heh," he chuckled dryly as he walked away. Pyrrha watched him go, her casual demeanor and helpful mask dropping to an upset frown.
"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos."
"Ah," Cinder said, "the invincible girl."
The trio sat in their boarding room together, Emerald reading out names from her Scroll of people of interest while Mercury did pushups. Cinder sat on one of the beds, casually sewing a black dress for the weekend as they discussed.
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible," Mercury said.
"Do tell," Cinder said with interest."
"Her Semblance is Polarity," Emerald began. "But you'd never know just by watching."
"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted," Mercury explained. "But she only made slight adjustments."
"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage."
"Hmm," their mentor mused. "People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting." She looked to Emerald. "Add her to the list."
"You should be able to take her on no problem," Mercury pointed out.
"It's not about overpowering the enemy," Cinder said with a dark smile. It disappeared into a firm scowl as she continued. "It's about taking away what power they have."
She sat back. "And we will, in time."
Mercury collapsed onto his back on the floor, hands behind his head. "I… hate… waiting."
"Don't worry, Mercury," Cinder reassured with a smile, staring at her needle. "We have a fun weekend ahead of us."