Chapter 36
POV: Rocket
Ozpin had called us all out onto the training field, not even telling us why. His only other words of instruction had been "don't bring your weapons". When I arrived outside, I found that I was the last one out. I quickly joined the line standing in front of Ozcar.
Ozcar: Now that everyone is here, we can begin. The reason I called all of you out here, is to spar. Now, we've been practicing through sparring for quite a few weeks, but we now have the addition of Weiss and Yang. Because of this, we now have 8 people, the perfect numbers for a tournament. I've already organized the matchups, based purely on raw strength. Nora and Yang will go first. Then, Weiss and Ren. Then Jaune and Rocket, before finally finishing off with Ruby against Oscar. One last time. The rules are simple. Any hand to hand combat methods are allowed, aside from semblances.
We all glanced at each other. Yang seemed to be the only one psyched for this. That was probably because we had done nothing over the last few days, and Yang always needs to do stuff. Practicing was basically out, since no one else had wanted to spar. To deal with her boredom, she had tried cooking. On her first attempt, she somehow managed to burn water while trying to boil it.
Yang: Um… oops…
Rocket: How?! Charring water is physically impossible! There's no carbon in it!
Yang: Does that mean I invented a new science thingy?
Rocket: No, it means you really suck at cooking.
I rubbed the side of my head, still sore from that day. That last comment was totally worth it.
Ozcar: 3… 2… 1… FIGHT!
I snapped back to reality, realizing the fight had started. I needed to watch closely, in order to learn their strategies. Yang and Nora started by circling each other, as per usual for fights like these. Nora surprisingly attacked first. She finally put some of her famous infinite amounts of energy to good use. Speeding around Yang, while punching and kicking. Yang blocked all of them perfectly. I could see her focus tightening as Nora's onslaught accelerated. Finally, Nora made a mistake. She went for a punch, but put too much force into it, throwing herself slightly off balance. That was enough for Yang. Yang quickly swept Nora's feet out from under her, and then, while Nora was still in the air, delivering a quick kick to the abdomen. The result was a small trail of displaced dirt where Nora slid to a stop.
Ozcar: And the winner is, Yang! Next up, is Ren vs. Weiss. Please come up to the front, and get into fighting positions.
Now this one would be interesting, as I had never seen either Weiss or Ren fight hand to hand. I would expect Ren to be a bit better at this, since his weapons are closer to boxing gloves than Weiss' is. But-
Ozcar: ...FIGHT!
I really need to stop zoning out… So, once more they began circling each other. I don't know why people do it, except that they do it for effect in movies. And everyone sees them as great models for actual fighting apparently. Both were shy and kind of awkwardly stanced, but Weiss was still had a bit of her previous competitiveness, so, as predicted, she attacked first. This match was a little bit slower, since neither of them are the pillars of strength and fighting Yang and Nora are. Ren's style was more focused on dodging than blocking, and he tended to use swinging punches, where he straightened his arm and slashed, as if he had a dagger. Meanwhile, Weiss seemed to have a strategy more reliant on kicking. This worked a bit better than her punches, since she also had heels on. When she attacked, though, she kept form. Because of this, Ren knew exactly what was coming next whenever she attacked, letting Ren easily dodge most of her attacks. Finally, I felt like I could almost see the idea appear in Weiss' head. She then proceeded to kick, and "lose" her balance. It was easy to see from our point of view that she was completely faking, but it gave Ren enough reason to go on the offense. He swung his left arm at Weiss' head, which she caught easily. Not blocked, caught. Then, she landed a kick to the side of his head, before throwing him to the side, almost like a dance move. He was sent spinning away, and soon stopped, but was left dizzy. This opened up so many different attacks, but she went with the biggest one. She ran forward, and, using her forward momentum to increase the force, punched him clean in the face. I could even see Ozcar wince.
Ozcar: Ok, keeping this moving, up next is Jaune vs. Rocket.
After Ren and Weiss had cleared out, we both walked forward and faced each other. I could see how nervous Jaune was.
Rocket: Don't worry, I'll go easy on you… maybe...
We got into fighting position. Or, at least he did. I simply put my hand into my jacket pockets. Ozcar looked at me, curious.
Ozcar: 3… 2… 1… Fight!
Instead of the usual circling. I simply stood in front of him. Already off-putting to Jaune, he slowly approached. I could tell his muscles were tensed, ready for any motion that might be required to block an attack. I let him get a little bit closer, before finally taking my hands out of my pockets and putting them into a fighting position. Still, he walked closer. Finally, when we were only around a meter apart, we fought. I went for a straight jab, which he quickly blocked. Unfortunately, that attack was immediately followed by a side-kick, which he was barely able to step out of range of. Of course, he knew he couldn't keep blocking and dodging forever, and so threw a sloppy right hook. I caught it and quickly sent a left jab at his face. He was so close to blocking the punch, but he only had his left hand, which he had significantly less coordination with. Thus, I nailed him in the face. Of course, he hands flew up, as an instinctive reaction, along with the eyes watering. This blocked his view of the devastating right hook, aimed directly at his temple. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
Ozcar: And the winner is… Rocket!
I quickly helped Jaune up.
Rocket: You might want to work on that left hand.
Jaune: Ugh, thanks… Did you really have to hit so hard?
Rocket: Enemies won't be going easy on you, so neither will I.
And then, I turned back to the last fight or this round, between Oscar and Ruby. They stepped up, and I could already see that they were way more confident than they had been during training. Oscar had mostly gotten over his aversion to hitting someone else, finally realizing that Ruby probably barely felt any of the impact. Ruby, meanwhile, had significantly improved, somehow keeping up with Oscar as he recovered some of Ozpin's muscle memory. Even after all those improvements, I noticed that their feet positioning still wasn't the best, but that would require they figure it out for themselves, since everybody is different, and each body has a different center of balance.
Ozpin: Rocket, would you mind counting us off?
Rocket: No problem. 3… 2… 1… Go!
Immediately Oscar shot forwards, knowing Ruby might do the same. He was right. Their fists met in the middle and stopped each other, neither overpowering the other. Then, almost in unison, they disengaged their fists and continued trading blows. I noticed how their fight seemed to follow the same pattern as all their other fights. Oscar attempted a backwards roundhouse kick, but Ruby caught it. Then, she tried to emulate another move she had seen, and thus tried to throw him over her shoulder. She couldn't move him. Looks like he finally mastered aura anchoring; a method involving the user pushing a part of their aura into the ground beneath their feet. This keeps them from sliding upon a massive impact. Back to the fight… Now, Ruby was doing her usual thing, where she tries to get around him by jumping around him quickly. He easily punched her, since the motion was predictable. The fist grazed her forehead and only succeeded in aggravating her. She ran forward once more and tried a leg sweep. This time, he didn't quite engage his aura in time and went down. The only problem was that she lost her balance and went down as well.
Rocket: Um… I guess no one wins?
Oscar helped Ruby up, before closing his eyes, once more handing the controls over to Ozpin.
Ozcar: I'll give that one to Ms. Rose, even if her swipe was a little sloppy. After all, Oscar made more mistakes than she did.
Ruby: Oh, you kept track of them?
Ozcar: 14-15
Rocket: Also, you both might want to work on improvisation a bit more. You both follow the same patterns every time.
Ozcar: Well, moving on, it's time for Yang vs Weiss. Take your positions!
Yang and Weiss moved forward, and stood facing each other. Weiss was tense, for obvious reasons. Yang, meanwhile, was the epitome of relaxed. She was loosely in the fighting position and looked almost bored.
Ozcar: 3… 2… 1… Go!
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POV: Omniscient
Yang walked forward slowly. That was probably the most unnerving part. Weiss knew that Yang slightly outreached her, meaning Yang would always be able to attack first like this. Weiss realized she had subconsciously been moving backwards. She stopped herself, hearing her sister's words in her mind, "Keep moving forward. The moment you stop pushing in a fight is the moment you lose." Weiss knew she couldn't sit here and wait, and decided to hurry the fight along, at the very least getting it over with. She dashed forward, apparently something Yang was waiting for. Yang went for a kick which Weiss rolled under, something Yang hadn't been waiting for. She spun up, trying to sweep Yang's feet out from under her in the process. It didn't work. Her leg simply bounced off Yang's leg, throwing her slightly off balance. She fell back, dodging a straight jab she hadn't even seen Yang start. Now on the ground, she had to roll to avoiding Yang's stomp. She hadn't been holding back and created a small crater on impact. Weiss quickly sprang to her feet, and almost stumbled. She was standing in mud. Yang was once again walking towards her, at the same speed she had used before. Weiss began forming an idea but didn't know if she had the timing to pull it off.
Weiss: Well, I guess it's all I've got…
She waited until Yang was right about to step into the mud, before sprinting at her. Yang, startled by the sudden action combined with the strange change of friction, actually fell. Weiss kept moving, hoping her momentum would be enough for a knockout. Yang, thinking quickly, pounded the ground beside her, creating a cloud of dust. Weiss couldn't stop herself in time, and disappeared into the cloud. When the dust cleared, she was on the ground, with Yang standing over her.
Ozcar: And the winner is… Yang!
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POV: Rocket
With that match out of the way, it was my turn to face Ruby. We walked out onto the field, and held up our fists once more. This time, I also prepared.
Ruby: Not going to go easy on me?
Rocket: Nah. Hey, when was the last time you had sugar?
Ruby: Um… earlier this morning?
Ok, that meant she would most likely have already hit her sugar crash. No outside advantages.
Ozcar: Ready? 3… 2… 1… Go!
Ruby dashed forwards, jumping over me. I had already seen her do this before and knew where she would be. I spun around, and my fist met air. She had gone further than usual. The punch had left me open, and she managed to land a hit. Luckily, it didn't do much. Before she could follow up on her advantage, I rolled back to recollect myself. Soon, she came back for another attack. She didn't try the other trick again, and this time attacked in earnest, starting with an aerial front kick. I blocked it by crossing my arms, supporting the top arm to absorb a higher impact. She pushed off, but I added a slight shove to move her trajectory to-
Crash
She landed back first on the ground. She had expected to go higher than she actually did, and left a trail, where she slid along the ground.
Ozcar: And the winner is… Rocket
I walked over to Ruby and helped her up.
Rocket: That was a good idea, starting a predictable pattern while switching it after. The thing is, you should never leave yourself in a position where your opponent can completely change your movements. I only gave a slight push. If I had pushed a little harder and aimed down, you might not have gotten off with just a scratch.
Ozcar: Final round. Yang vs. Rocket. Fighters take your positions!
I stayed where I was, already ready.
Ozcar: 3… 2… 1… Go!