Fighting Past and Present

Outside the Stadium

"Unbelievable," said Coco as she held her hand to the bridge of her nose, "And I actually said I liked her too." "Yeah I probably should've warned ya," said Wayne, "Emerald's mischievous, and good at finding blind spots." "You could've said something," said Coco, "Considering the amount of times you've sparred with her."

"Wayne hoped you'd get to meet her before the tournament," said Aegis as he handed Coco a spare pair of sunglasses. "It might've been more pleasant," said Yatsu as Velvet finished examining his face for any burns. "Well it is a randomization process," said Wayne, "You could've just as easily wound up fighting me and Aegis." "You still could've warned us ahead of time, like say, right before we entered the arena," Said Coco. "He would've, except he was talking to Emerald," said Aegis. Wayne shot Aegis a look.

"Of course you were," said Coco as she put on her spare sunglasses, "I'll bet you warned her about a few people, unlike you did with us." "I was just telling her good luck was all," said Wayne. "It doesn't look like they needed it," said Velvet.

"Well on the upside we don't have to kick each other's ##$# now," said Aegis, trying to lighten the mood. "Too bad," said Coco, "I was actually looking forward to that." "Maybe next sparring match," said Wayne as he looked over to see team RWBY heading over, "In the meantime maybe we can find something a little less painful to do."

"The randomization process has finished," said Professor Port's voice over the loud speakers, "And our next match is Wayne and Aegis Ursario vs Drake Beller and Exo." "So much for painless," said Aegis. "Try not to lose," said Coco, "Or I might kick your ## sooner than you think."

"I guess that's as close to good luck as we're gonna get from her," said Wayne as he and Aegis turned to leave. "Good luck you two," said Velvet, waving at them as they walked away. Wayne and Aegis both raised their arms up, waving back without turning around as they made their way to the arena entrance.

"So, you still gonna congratulate her," asked Aegis as they walked out onto the arena. "I mean she did win," said Wayne, having to raise his voice a little over the cheering crowd, "It would just be a little weird to say 'hey, congrats on beating the # out of two of my friends, it was quite a show.'" "What you ain't gonna give her a 'I knew you could do it' speech," said Aegis, "I mean you already gave her a good luck charm."

"What," exclaimed Wayne as he suddenly started talking more quickly, "Who told you I gave her anything?" "No one," replied Aegis, "I just saw you carving the symbol on the necklace out in the courtyard yesterday, not a bad fox carving by the way." "Just, just don't tell Mom and Dad okay," said Wayne, donning his helmet as he and Aegis stopped near the center of the arena and faced their opponents.

Their first opponent, Drake Beller, was a faunus about Wayne's height with black cat ears wearing a white combat coat with black pants and combat boots, a belt containing several dust cylinders, a pair of black gloves with what appeared to be small steel claws at the end, and, oddly enough, a Grimm mask similar to the one's he, Blake, and Sun had worn on the night they infiltrated the White Fang meeting.

Beller's weapon, which hung on his left hip, was a straight blade with a curve on one side and what appeared to be a few mechanical parts built into the blade. Their other opponent, Exo, was also a faunus, closer to Aegis's size with a pair of gray wolf ears, dark hair, gray light armor and a black sword with silver rune symbols which hung from his back. Both looked formidable, and Wayne was certain Drake was glaring at him from behind his mask with his left hand clenched tightly around his weapon's handle, while Exo simply stood there with his arms crossed and an impassive look on his face.

"Hey love the sword," said Aegis as the holograms of the backgrounds began spinning, "It's got the whole 'sinister weapon' vibe to it." "It looks better covered in blood," responded Exo as he drew his sword from his back. "Aegis stay focused with these guys," said Wayne as he drew his own weapons, "They aren't like the arrogant pricks we took on in round one." "I know," responded Aegis as he drew his weapon, "Which is why this is gonna be extra exciting."

The backgrounds stopped spinning, signaling the four corners of the stadium to slide back and reveal the four environments they'd be fighting in: an abandoned cityscape, a desert, a mountain with lightning at the top, and an area full of tall, jagged rocks pointing upwards. "All contestants ready," boomed Port over the loud speaker as the countdown began.

"At long last," said Drake suddenly as he removed his weapon from his hip, "I can cut you down Wayne Ursario." Wayne tilted his head at that, but he didn't have time to wonder about it as the counter reached zero. "BEGIN!" boomed Port over the loud speaker.

Exo attacked first, throwing his sword at Aegis who quickly knocked it up into the air by forming his basic glass axe blades on his weapon. Drake charged immediately after, his sword aimed at Wayne's heart. Wayne held up his weapons to fire when suddenly he noticed a shadow over him and Aegis as Exo appeared above them, swinging his sword straight toward Wayne's face.

Wayne barely had time to move to the side as the blade was deflected by Aegis while Wayne switched his weapons to their sickle form and parried Drake's sword. Exo landed on Wayne's right and tried to attack Wayne but was blocked and pushed back by Aegis as Wayne squared off against Drake, blocking his first series of strikes before leaping back and joining his weapons together to make his blade staff.

Drake pushed the offensive as he slashed first at Wayne's head and then his feet. Wayne twirled his blade staff, deflecting the first blow, then swinging downward to intercept the next blow. Drake's attacks were ferocious, though, as he kept striking at one side then the other, left then right and up then down in rapid succession, forcing Wayne to stay on the defensive as he tried to find a weak spot in his opponent's attacks.

Wayne got his chance when his opponent used a feint high attack then stabbed at his chest. Wayne sidestepped with his weapon held out, causing the blade to go in between him and his weapon until he trapped Drake's right arm by holding his staff close to his body and pushing the left side of his weapon down on the back of Drake's neck while pulling up on the right side of his weapon, raising Drake's arm up while forcing the rest of him downward.

Wayne was only able to keep him in the hold for a moment as Exo's sword landed behind him, distracting him for a split second. A split second was all that was needed as Drake twisted around, flipped his sword to a reverse grip and reached for his weapon with his left hand and pulled the large blade off, revealing a second, smaller blade as he swung with his other blade, forcing Wayne to release his hold and back away as Exo suddenly appeared behind him, pulling his sword out of the ground and swinging an upward horizontal strike at Wayne.

Wayne managed to block the blow but was knocked off balance as Drake leapt up and brought both swords down in a horizontal strike. What the, thought Wayne as saw the blow coming, recognizing something familiar about the way his opponent struck. When both blades impacted against Wayne's weapon, the middle suddenly came apart, converting his weapons back into their sickle form. Drake took the momentary opening to kick Wayne in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards as he felt some sting from the blow.

Wayne was saved from another attack by several glass shards suddenly flying into view, forcing both Drake and Exo to turn and either block or dodge the razor sharp shards. Aegis then came leaping in, wildly swinging a flaming ax blade, forcing their two opponents to take a few steps back to avoid the smoldering edges. The two pairs took a moment to regroup as they eyed each other again.

Wayne sniffed the air as he examined Drake's weapon, his eyes widening a little bit under his helmet as he realized he'd seen the unsheathed blade before. The blade of the weapon was attached to what appeared to be the pistol grip of a gun which Drake was using as the sword's handle while the blade in his other hand had a handle built into the frame.

"That weapon," said Wayne, "If I'm not mistaken it can also convert into a sniper rifle." "Quite right," replied Drake as he slid the smaller blade back into the larger blade then hit a switch which converted the blade into the form of a black and white sniper rifle, "It seems I won't have to explain as much as I thought." "He figure it out already?" asked Exo as he relaxed for a bit and rested his sword on his shoulder.

"What's he talking about?" asked Aegis as he spun an earth cylinder and formed a one-sided earth ax blade. "If I got this right, I met our masked friend here two years ago at the only Sanctum academy tournament I ever entered." "That's right," said Drake as he began backing up, "And now I'm here to settle the score." Suddenly as black mist appeared from behind Drake and quickly advanced toward Wayne and Aegis.

"Stay close and move back," said Wayne as he and Aegis retreated. But the mist was on them in moments, blocking out all the light around them and plunging the two brothers into a musty darkness so thick Wayne could hardly see his hand in front of his face. "Well this is just great," said Aegis as they held their weapons up defensively. "Just keep calm and listen," said Wayne, "It's like the shrouded forest back home, this mist blocks off sight but it doesn't completely muffle sound."

As if to prove Wayne's point, the sound of a blade embedding itself in the stadium suddenly rang out. Aegis shifted to face the direction of the sound as the blade was suddenly pulled out and swung. Aegis blocked the first blow as a sniper shot rang out, which Wayne was barely able to block in time as another shot rang out shortly after, this one grazing Aegis's shoulder as he was knocked over by another blade strike. Wayne shifted his right Crescent Fang into its SMG form and fired in the direction of Aegis's opponent. Wayne's ears were greeted with the sound of energy bullets colliding against metal as the attacker, Exo, Wayne guessed, retreated back into the mist.

Another shot rang out which Wayne grazed Wayne's upper torso as Aegis quickly rose back to his feet. "Keep moving back," said Wayne as he fired in the direction of the sniper shots, "The mist typically only covers a short distance." "Why not try a fighting retreat," whispered Aegis as he deflected another shot with his weapon. "Couldn't hurt," replied Wayne as switched his Crescent Fang back into sickle form just in time to block a swing from Exo's black blade before he once again retreated into the mist.

"Ready," said Aegis, spinning his stone dust cylinder. "Keep me covered," said Wayne as he blocked another sniper shot and shifted his weapons to their SMG forms and fired back in the direction of the sniper. Aegis took this time to quickly form a large shield about the size and width of his body and deflected another attack by Exo. Wayne took this moment to duck behind Aegis and began charging his semblance while Aegis held off any frontal attacks from either Drake or Exo.

Wayne fired behind them occasionally to insure that no one was behind them with his left weapon while he switched his right weapon to its sickle form. As the next sniper round impacted on Aegis's stone shield, Wayne tapped his shoulder. "Change up," said Aegis as he raised his shield up enough for Wayne to slide under his arm and unleash a wide horizontal wave of energy into the mist in front of them. The satisfying sound of a pair of shrieks met their ears as the combined assault on them halted completely.

"Ready to move forward," asked Aegis as he let some of the stone crumble off the shield to reduce its weight. "Let's take it to-," but Wayne never got to finish his sentence as the sound of something igniting caught their ears. The mist in front of them began to glow as it suddenly ignited into a wall of flame which quickly raced towards them. They didn't have time to think as they both turned and ran as fast as they could towards the other end of the mist.

The flames chased them relentlessly and were about to overtake them when they both jumped up, Aegis spinning his ice cylinder and forming an ice shield and Wayne blasting some of his semblance out of his fist into the flames, pushing him back while also creating a gap in the flames. The air pressure from the igniting flames did the rest as it pushed them both out of the flames and into the abandoned city scape. Both brothers landed on their backs, feeling somewhat singed but otherwise ok.

"That's new," groaned Wayne, still on the ground. "Ol' Drakey's gone and learned some new tricks," said Aegis. Suddenly their attention was drawn to the sound of metal embedding into stone as Exo's sword stuck into a section of the building above them, followed shortly by the appearance of Exo himself.

"If you liked the fire," said Exo as he grabbed his sword and sliced through a large section of abandoned building, "You're gonna love the falling debris." The cut section of building crumbled as it fell, raining large chunks of rock down on Wayne and Aegis, who both rolled in opposite directions to avoid some of the larger pieces of rubble. Exo leaped down with the rest of the debris, swinging his sword at Aegis and driving him further back. Wayne tried to get to Aegis, but more debris blocked his way.

Wayne's attention was also drawn by the sound of a blade leaving its sheath as Drake leaped in between some of the rubble, jabbing both blades at Wayne's heart. Wayne swatted both blades aside with his own weapons and swept his left foot into Drake's ankle, causing him to stumble. But Drake expertly rolled away and swung up with his left weapon to block Wayne's downward strike before taking a swat at Wayne's midsection. Wayne leaped back a couple feet and tossed his other sickle at Drake, who knocked it away. Wayne spun left and tugged on the wire he'd attached to his weapon and used his weapon's new found momentum to make a return strike at Drake, before also attaching a wire to his right weapon as he continued rotating and swinging his weapons.

Drake dodged and batted away both sickles as he quickly closed the gap, forcing Wayne to reel his weapons back in, spinning them a couple more times to keep Drake back before the wires reeled in completely. Drake kept up a vicious assault on Wayne as he struck high and low with both blades, and sometimes he struck in two different areas at once, forcing Wayne to keep on his toes as he blocked and deftly evaded each strike. I can't charge up a strong attack like this, thought Wayne as he continued to fend off Drake's merciless assault, guess I'll have to settle for something a bit less destructive.

Wayne charged what energy he could before he finally caught both of Drake's blades with his sickles and pushed back as he and Drake tried to overpower each other by strength. "You haven't lost your conviction have you?" Asked Drake as he forced his blades ever closer to Wayne's head, "Defeating you won't be any fun if you aren't fighting your hardest."

"Don't worry about me," said Wayne as he pointed his right finger at Drake's chest and released his semblance in the form of a small, straight blue beam. Drake yelped in surprise as he was sent rolling backwards. "I'm just getting started," said Wayne while he took the momentary opening to charge more energy to his weapons.

"Yes that's better," said Drake with a sinister grin as he rose back to his feet. Got to hit him now, thought Wayne as he unleashed a wave of energy from his right weapon. Drake leaped over the wave of energy as Wayne released a couple more blasts while shifting his other weapon to its SMG form and firing. Drake dodged, rolled and blocked his SMG fire as he leapt from rock cover to rock cover within the abandoned cityscape. Drake closed the distance between them, but this time Wayne was ready for him as he sent a blast wave at some of the rubble Drake was landing on, slicing through it and knocking Drake off balance and onto the ground.

Wayne decided to close the gap this time as he charged some energy into his fist and leaped towards Drake. But, as he was about to land the blow, Drake sent out a blast of mist, this time mixed with earth dust. Wayne was blinded by mist and bombarded in midair by flying rocks, causing his attack to go off target as he landed a few feet short of where Drake had been, creating a small crater in the ground as his attack impacted. Wayne quickly switched both weapons to SMG form and fired at the area Drake had been at.

But Drake had already moved as the mist dissipated, revealing an empty space where he had been. Now where are you, thought Wayne as he looked around, trying to sniff the air through the dissipating haze and straining his ears to hear above the noise of the crowd. Wayne soon got his answer as he saw the muzzle flash of a rifle. Moving on instinct, Wayne was barely able to leap out of the way in time as he felt the hot trail of an energy bullet graze his right side above his hip.

Wayne rolled behind cover as a couple more rounds impacted on the ground barely a foot from where he'd been earlier. Great, now we get to play hide and seek, thought Wayne as dared a look around the other side of the rubble he was hiding behind. He was rewarded with more stone in his helmet's visor as a round impacted just an inch from his head, forcing him to pull his head back. Ok, you're up high, he thought, let's see how well you can aim.

Wayne shifted his left weapon to its sickle form and slowly reached it out from behind the other side of the rubble. Another shot rang out as a sniper round impacted on his weapon, knocking it from his hand temporarily as he whipped his other weapon around the corner and fired with his SMG at full auto. As he fired he pulled his left weapon back to him with his wire and shifted to its SMG form, firing both weapons simultaneously now. His barrage didn't last long, though, as another round flew by Wayne's cheek, nearly grazing his helmet.

Wayne quickly ducked back behind cover as more rounds rang out, striking the ground near him. Okay, can't hit 'em with the SMGs, only throw his aim off a little, he thought, gonna need to be a bit more forceful. Wayne shifted both weapons to sickle form and began charging his semblance as he formed a plan in his head. Alright, he thought, assuming he hasn't moved this should force him out. Wayne turned around and made a fist as he punched the rubble in front of him and released a straight blast of energy which shot straight through the rubble and to the location he assumed Drake was hanging out.

The effect on the abandoned structure was better than Wayne had hoped as not only did part of the wall get blasted, but part of the floor caved in as well, forcing a figure to leap to another section of the building. Wayne unleashed another energy slash, forcing Drake to leap down into a prone position as he took aim and fired at Wayne. Wayne was ready this time, however, and deflected the sniper round with his Crescent Fang as he charged up energy in his feet and released one orb of glowing blue energy with a kick, blocked a sniper shot, then released another orb of blue energy as they sailed towards Drake, impacting against the building and blowing two large holes in it.

The remainder of the structure collapsed, forcing the sniper out of the building and back into the open. Wayne rushed over into the cloud of debris created by the crumbling structure, coming upon Drake just as he shifted his weapon back to its sword form. But he managed to reach Drake before he could draw his second sword and knocked the blade aside with his right weapon and swung at his opponent's head with his left weapon. Drake narrowly avoided by ducking his head to the right, but couldn't get out of the way in time for Wayne to kick him in the chest and send him stumbling even further into the rubble.

Wayne pressed his attack as his opponent managed to draw his second sword and block his first couple of strikes as Wayne slashed at his opponent's head and torso with his sickles while occasionally kicking at his opponent's legs with his feet whenever he saw an opening. Got him on the defensive now, thought Wayne as he increased the ferocity of his attacks, forcing Drake to move backwards. Eventually they locked weapons again, but this time Wayne used his opponent's force by letting his swords go by him and sidestepped to the left as he let Drake pass him on his left side.

Wayne shoved both of Drake's weapons down by their feet, blades nearly touching the ground before he hit Drake in the face with his left elbow, causing him to stumble back. Wayne pressed his attack again, only for Drake to sidestep left and unleash more of his mist, but this time it was a much smaller white mist, which covered the whole left half and some patches of the right half of Wayne's body as it settled and turned to ice. Now that's cold, thought Wayne as he tried to back up, his movement slowed greatly due to the ice which had settled on his body. Now it was Drake's turn to press the attack once again.

Wayne turned and tried to fight him off with his right arm, which hadn't been frozen, while trying to swing occasionally with his left, which was stiff and awkward. Drake blocked his right weapon while easily avoiding his left weapon before stopping his right weapon with one of his swords before bringing the second sword down on Wayne's wrist. Wayne suppressed a yelp as his wrist stung from the blow. Drake whirled around to the other side and blocked and hit Wayne's left wrist in a similar fashion. He was aiming for my wrist wires, Wayne realized as he felt the simple machinery give out under his sleeves.

"You've gotten a few new tricks Wayne," said Drake, "But I've studied how you fight, nothing you do can surprise me." Drake attacked again, this time with a flurry of blows aimed at Wayne's head. By this point Wayne had managed to break some of the ice off of his left leg and arm and began retreating and sidestepping while blocking as many of Drake's blows as he could.

"It's like I told you before," said Drake while still attacking, "I'm a Faunus, I'm naturally better at fighting and surviving." They locked weapons. "You still spouting that B.S.," said Wayne as he pushed back against Drake. "I'll admit losing to you the first time was a shock," said Drake, "But I suppose even a half breed, as appalling as such a thing is, is still better than a human!" Drake broke their grapple and swung his weapons at Wayne's head again.

"But this time I'll show you," said Drake as Wayne dodged the first couple of blows, "Just how much better a pure blood Faunus is." Drake slashed wildly a few more times until he managed to knock both of Wayne's weapons out of his way before swinging once, then twice at Wayne's head. Wayne managed to step back, but the first blade still impacted against the left side of his helmet, cracking the left visor and cutting through some of the helmet.

As the first blade left Wayne's helmet, the second blade came swinging in, cutting and shattering the two visors as Wayne fell backwards from the force of the blow, rolling as best as he could while the ice on his body crunched against the ground. Wayne rolled several feet, dropping one of his Crescent Fangs as he hit the ground, before hitting another piece of rubble, causing his head to throb even more. Got to charge up, he thought as he struggled to rise.

"This is the fate of all nonFaunus!" Yelled Drake as he landed next to Wayne and raised his blades up for a final strike. Wayne quickly raised his hand up and released the energy he'd charged up in a fist-sized blast which sent Drake flying back several feet until he finally landed on his back.

"You just don't get it," said Wayne rising to his feet, "Being human, Faunus, or half-breed doesn't mean a thing." Wayne grabbed his helmet and released the mouth guard before yanking the helmet off his head. "Sure some Faunus traits can come in handy," said Wayne, looking at his own hand while gathering more energy, "But they're only a part of who we are." Wayne clenched his fist, causing a small burst of his aura to flow out of his body and shatter the remaining ice on his body.

"It sounds like I'm not the only one spouting nonsense," said Drake as he rose to his feet. "You actually believe humans and Faunus are equals?" "We're all people ain't we," said Wayne, "No reason to give someone a hard time just because they may or may not have some animal ears." "You sound just as naïve as the last time we fought," Said Drake as he took a fighting stance, "I'll just have to beat the lesson in to you," Said Drake as his black mist started to form again.

"Same goes for you," said Wayne as he stood ready, charging energy in his right hand where he held his remaining weapon, while he held his helmet in his other hand. Drake's mist charged towards him one more time, this time it started glowing a bright blue as energy flowed through it and rushed towards Wayne. Now's as good a time as any, thought Wayne as he charged even more energy into his weapon and unleashed his new attack. With only a single swing multiple energy slashes were released from Wayne's weapon, a couple more swings released even more waves in quick succession in all directions in front of Wayne which impacted against the energized cloud.

A series of small explosions rocked the stadium as both attacks collided, causing some of the ground to shatter and send small bits of rubble flying in all directions, as well as kicking up a huge smoke cloud in front of Wayne. Let's see if you figured it out, thought Wayne as some of his attacks managed to get through the energized mist. Suddenly Drake sprang from the smoke bringing both weapons to bear on Wayne.

But Wayne was ready this time and sidestepped deflecting one of the blades with his sickle before spinning out of the way of another slash. As Drake swung a couple more times, Wayne parried and dodged until Drake went for a vertical strike with his left weapon. Wayne quickly spun to the right and smacked Drake's hand with the helmet in his left hand. Drake visibly cringed as he dropped the blade, but managed another stab at Wayne, knocking the helmet out of his hand as Wayne barely managed to avoid the blow.

The two fighters engaged each other again, slashing, kicking, and occasionally punching as they blocked and avoided each other's blows. At one point they locked weapons again, grabbing each other's weapon hands with their free hands as they tried to wrestle each other's arms out of the way. Suddenly, their attention was drawn upwards as the whole other structure above them was cut and blasted open by a black glass blade. In another instant, an injured Exo went flying out as Aegis with his own damaged outfit, scarlet eyes and a menacing looking black sword blade formed on his weapon leaped after him. As the two left the building it began collapsing and falling in the direction of Wayne and Drake. The two fighters glanced at each other before pushing away from one another and leaping out of the way of the massive falling debris. Alright time for a new plan, thought Wayne as he dodged, dived and rolled out of the way of the debris and ran to the edge of the cityscape, let's hope this works.

Of all the times for an interruption, thought Drake as he leaped out of the way of more falling rubble. I was about to skewer that blasted freak of nature, only for his own abomination of a younger brother to interfere. Drake dodged and dived around more rubble as he approached the edge of the cityscape. But Wayne won't escape, I have his scent, I can find him wherever he hides in this arena.

Drake dodged the last of the falling rubble as he stepped onto the section of the stadium full of large jagged rocks. Now where are you Ursario, Drake thought as he slowly started walking, his eyes scanning the area while he sniffed the air. You left a bit of a trail while you were trying to get away, he thought as he picked up Wayne's scent. After another minute of following the scent, something caught Drake's eye, a bit of white and grey just barely perceptible behind one of the thinner rocks.

You poor half-breed, thought Drake as stalked closer, making sure the wind was in his face so that his scent wouldn't reach Wayne, If only you had extra Faunus ears like a full Faunus, you might actually hear your death coming. After stalking just a little closer, Drake leaped and released some of his mist, energizing it with the last of his energy dust and released it in a slashing wave which cut clean through the rock and anything on the other side.

I'll get disqualified for that, thought Drake as the dust settled, but I hadn't intended to win this tournament anyway. Drake waited and listened but there was no announcement, why was there no announcement. Drake approached a little closer as the dust finally cleared and his eyes widened at what he saw. Just a coat, Drake nearly exclaimed out loud, then where's-. Drake didn't have time to finish his thought.

Wayne, without his coat, leaped out of his hiding place just as Drake was turning around and slashed Drake's hand, causing him to drop his only remaining weapon as Wayne kicked him in the chest then spun and slashed, hitting Drake in the mask and knocking him over as Wayne took a couple steps back.

"Nearly had ya," said Wayne as Drake clambered to his feet, a hand covering his face, "I was aiming for your center, but you moved so now you might have a scar on your hand, which I think the ladies still like." "It wouldn't be the first scar you ever left on me," said Drake as he removed his hand, revealing his predatory yellow eyes and a burn mark which covered the area above his nose and either side of his eyes, "You do remember this I hope," asked Drake.

"How could I forget," said Wayne as he held up his left arm where the two slash marks he'd gotten were, "I'm reminded every time I take off my coat." "It must make you feel so superior," said Drake, "Being born with a powerful semblance." "I did feel that way once," replied Wayne, "But I got over it, heck some days I even envy those whose semblances aren't destructive, be them human or Faunus."

"Why would you ever envy the weak," spat Drake, "This is a world where power makes the rules, it is why the Faunus must fight for what they want." "And that's exactly your problem," said Wayne as he threw his weapon down, embedding it in the ground, "Having power doesn't make you better, it's how you use it that makes all the difference," Wayne took a fighting stance, "So let's finish this, no semblances, no weapons, just a couple guys slugging it out."

"Fine," said Drake as he took his own fighting stance, clawed gloves barred, "Squeezing the life out of you with my bare hands sounds more fun anyway." The two fighters starred each other down for a moment before charging. Drake started with a spinning kick, which Wayne ducked before throwing a left hook. Drake blocked his attack and tried slashing at his face once, then twice, but on the third try Wayne batted with his left hand and threw a right cross, hitting Drake square in the face. Drake reeled back, but managed to get a kick in under Wayne's guard, forcing him back a bit.

They exchanged and blocked several more blows from each other before Wayne managed to catch Drake's right arm with his left and elbow him in the face with his right arm. But Drake managed to recover, block Wayne's next blow and spin around, catching Wayne in the face with a back hand. We're both exhausted, thought Wayne as he continued throwing and blocking blow after blow, my hand to hand is a bit slow. Wayne took a kick to his side as he thought this, but as Drake came in with another punch, Wayne moved to the side and caught his right arm as he placed his hand on Drake's shoulder and forced his arm up, leaving his ribs open.

Wayne punched Drake in the ribs three times before releasing his grip and kicking Drake in the side, causing him to fall backward. As Wayne tried to force his opponent to the ground, Drake used the momentum of his fall to pull Wayne down and kick him over. Wayne landed on his back before quickly rolling over and scrambling to his feet at the same time as Drake before charging again. Wayne threw another punch at Drake, which was blocked and counter-attacked as Drake hit Wayne in the face with a palm-strike.

Wayne reeled back a bit, but managed to catch Drake's next swing as he grabbed his opponent's right arm and collar and kneed him in the chest before punching him in the face. As his opponent reeled back, Wayne tried a spinning back kick, but was intercepted as Drake closed the gap and caught his leg and brought his elbow down on Wayne's leg. An involuntary yelp escaped Wayne's mouth as Drake tossed his leg away and came in with a ferocious claw attack. Wayne sidestepped as best as he could, grabbed Drake's arm and twisted before punching his opponent's joint.

Drake screamed in pain as Wayne released him and the two fighters backed up before charging one last time, Drake with a claw strike and Wayne with a right cross. As their arms crossed, Wayne managed to move to the side just enough to avoid Drake's outstretched hand, while his own blow hit home, catching Drake square in the face and knocking back. Drake staggered with his head hung a little lower, his exhaustion showing as Wayne delivered one last upper cut to his face with all his strength, knocking Drake off his feet and onto his back.

"And that's the match, what a stunning victory by team WA!" Port suddenly boomed over the loudspeakers. Wayne looked up and saw that Aegis and Exo were both below the aura meter limit, and Wayne was just one percent out of the red. Wayne leaned against a large jagged rock, finally letting exhaustion take over.

"How," Wayne suddenly heard as he looked over to where Drake was laying on the ground. "How could you possibly beat me twice, after all the time spent training and studying you?" "You still don't get it do you," said Wayne, breathing hard as he let himself sink to the ground a bit, "After all this time you still let your arrogance get the best of you, you still think that just because you were born different that you deserve more, or that you're better somehow."

"How could you understand," Said Drake between breaths, "You were born in a place of acceptance to a huntsman and huntress, with a powerful semblance and plenty of opportunities." "So what if I was," said Wayne, "You're here too, fighting in the Vytal festival tournament, can you really lay there and tell me you didn't have opportunities and choices, that after everything you've accomplished to get here that you still don't."

Drake remained silent, so Wayne continued. "Life ain't easy, but it only gets harder if you spend all your time hating, give people a chance once in a while and you might be surprised." Drake simply grunted at that as Wayne's attention was suddenly drawn by the arrival of Ruby and Velvet, followed closely by Weiss.

"Oh my gosh are you okay," asked Ruby in a semi-panicked voice. "My leg's a bit stiff but nothin' a little bit of rest and aura healing won't fix," Replied Wayne, "Though I don't think I'll be able to make your match Weiss, you're gonna have to find someone else to yell stupid stuff at you for your match."

"Here let me help you," said Velvet as she put Wayne's arm over her shoulders and hauled him up. "By the way how's Aegis," asked Wayne as he saw Yang and Coco walking over, both supporting him as his head was drooping lazily. "Your brother made quite a mess of the stadium," said Coco.

"Yeah they're gonna have to remove part of the arena to repair the environment," Said Yang. "How are ya bro," asked Wayne. "My head hurts, my joints hurt, my ass hurts, and at some point we punched each other in the # #s so that hurts too."

"Come on, we'd best get you two to the medical wing," Said Yang. "Hey Wayne," Wayne turned his head to see Blake, "I managed to find this." She held up his helmet, which had a gash in its left side and both eye visors broken. "Oh thanks Blake," said Wayne, "though now I'm, fairly certain that my Dad is gonna kill me for that."

Ladies and Gentleman, my two new OCs, Drake Beller and Exo, hoped you liked them, and don't worry, this won't be their only appearance if you're worried about that. As for Wayne and Aegis, a bit of hospital time and embarrassment befalls them next chapter. Oh, and Wayne explains the meaning behind the pendant he gave Emerald. Thanks again to everyone whose taken their time to view, follow, and review this story. 'Til next time.