Welcome back everyone! Another chapter of this story is among us. Let us not waste any time and get right to it.
Oblivious IJ: Perhaps, perhaps not. Still a topic of conversation for Crow and I.
Zeldawolffang: And I missed writing it!
Beta & Cowriter: CrowSkull
Now let's get right back into the show!
A Tale of Two Heroes
Chapter 38- Binding Lightning
Two lines of chains were flying towards Robert, blades at the end of them. He reacted quickly and jumped between the two with a flip as they converged on his position, it was a quick start and it wasn't slowing down a bit. Michael whipped the chains back towards himself trying to catch Robert in the way back, however Robert caught on to the movement of the chains and rolled out of the way and started running, and as he ran, sparks of lightning could be seen coming out him, and getting bigger slowly and getting more erratic with each step..
Robert started running towards his opponent, Michael used his chains in impressive and unique ways to keep Robert at bay, cutting him off his path with wide and quick chain whips and wrapping the chains around his arms to make quick turns and switch the direction of the attack. Robert ducked under and flipped over the chains as they came for him, as one of the chains came for him from above he slipped under it with momentum, however he was met with the other chain coming from below, he concentrated and while dodging he let the second chain fly by his head, very close to it, and immediately grabbed the chain and sent a shock through it.
Michael felt lightning surge through his arm and through the rest of his body, but before it could reach down to his feet and into the ground in a quick movement and with impressive strength he yanked the chain from Robert's grasp. The shock didn't do much in the way of damage, but it gave Robert some breathing room, enough to start using more of his semblance with more confidence, as Michael whipped back his chains Robert ran towards firing bolt of lightning and a big missile of lightning. His opponent went on the defensive and used his own semblance, his shields, with them he completely negated the bolts and the explosion created by the lightning missile, to his surprise. Through the surprise, Robert took the chance to dash in and get an up close and personal, he brandished his lightning blades and with a lightning dash he was right in front of Michael, he however create another massive shield around close to his body, and then expanded it suddenly to push Robert back. He skid on his feet backward and they were once more at middle distance, just as he knew Michael wanted.
Robert hummed at the exchange, those shields were indeed annoying, but that was part of the fun isn't it? Maybe his idea of fun was in fact warped, but hey, it could be worse. Without any restraint Michael struck back with an overhead whip with both chains, Robert dashed away and saw as the chains impacted and shattered the tiled ground, he could already hear Glynda groaning about it later. Quickly, they moved back to Robert's position, he ducked and vaulted over the chains again, and when they came back around for the second time, he deflected them with his lightning blades. Striking back with enough force to send them out of their flying path and getting rid of their momentum, Michael groaned as Robert took the chance to dash back in, but this time he stopped half way and jumped in the air, and fired more bolts and grenades of lightning.
Michael made a shield in the shape of a bubble to protect himself, however the grenades created a bit of a cloud of smoke as they impacted the shield. It didn't matter, if Robert kept going for him this way, he'll just push him back again, as the smoke cleared Michael got ready to do exactly that. He dashed in and Michael expanded the created a shield from himself again… however this time Robert dashed back in a lightning flash the moment that he saw Michael do so. Instantly, Michael's eyes went wide as he realized what he had done right after it happened, Robert had baited him and spaced him, the moment the energy for the outward shield dissipated, Robert dashed in again, faster this time, too fast for Micheal to create another shield, and Robert was right on top of him with his baldes at the ready.
Now they were in melee, and Robert hacked and slashed in quick slices and trusts, throwing in the occasional punch or kick. The younger student defended himself well, using the blades and chains of his Kusarigama to deflect the blades, but the older young man was faster, and he could feel Robert's lightning crackling around him and occasionally sending shocks through his chains to shock him with every exchange that they shared. It got to the point where Michael knew that if this kept up, he was going to lose. In terms of close quarters combat, he figured he wasn't too far behind from Robert, but with the use of his opponents semblance and his time intervals in between his shield creations being too much, he needed to get away from him somehow. Michael took a step back to avoid a slash from Robert, and from there he started to use much shorter range version of their earlier mid range game, he moved his chains aggressively in tight circles and side whips, catching him at times. Robert evaded a couple strikes and then got hit on the arm , then he summoned his own lightning shields to push the chains out of the way, however with the shorter range of this fight, Michael had to spend little to no time on getting his chains back on the right direction, Robert decided that he would need to be faster.
Robert started dashing towards Michael left, his right and back again, while Michael continued his short whips and quick strikes with his chains, it was a spectacle, Robert was dashing like blur in all directions trying to prod and forcing Micheal to move in different directions, from their seats all that the people spectating saw was a whirlwind of metal chains being assaulted by a blur of lightning, there were many clashes, and it seemed like neither of them could touch the other for quite some time. But soon enough Robert was able to make some headway, and forced the fight to closer range again, he dashed after deflecting the chains one more time and stretched his palm out to shoot a thunderbolt, he forced Michael to dodge and closes the gap. They exchanged a few attacks until Robert very quickly countered an attack from Michael and quickly does an elbow to his ribs, then Robert quickly does a low standing spinning heel kick that hits Micheal across the face. Michael instinctively made a smaller shield to push Robert back which worked as intended, but not without a cost. Michael saw as his chains go with him, Michael realized Robert used the kick to wrap his chains around his leg, Micheal made a move to just knock Robert onto his back, but he heard something… it was crackling noise under him, he looked down and saw one of Robert's lightning grenades.
The grenade exploded and blasted Michael into the air, while in the air Michael saw Robert stretching his hand out, he couldn't allow him to continue, he focused and used his semblance to make a bubble shield appear at Robert's foot, it was a burst so sudden that it knocked Robert on his back and freed the chains from his leg, while still on the air Michael made giant wide swing with his chains while descending, he hit Robert once while he was still on his back, but Robert reacted quickly and got up and avoided and ducked the other attacks. Michael got closer to Robert with a downwards cross chain that again shattered he tile floor, they shortly engaged in melee again, both slashing at each other, Robert made low pinning kick and unbalanced Michael, followed by a stream of lightning that made Michael back away, however through the pressure Michael made a shield right at Roberts back, making him bounce on his direction, once close Michael got some solid slices of his own, three quick slices, he made move for fourth but Robert bent backwards and made slice to Michaels leg while he backflipped away.
Just then Michael wrapped a chain around Robert's gauntlet, this was his chance to get him away from him, Michael got close and made to go for another slash, Robert blocked with his other blade and started sending lightning through the chains, Michael powered through though and flipped Robert over him with his signature disarming move. Throwing him away from his weapon.
"AHH! He did the thing!" Hector shouted from the stands. Now standing nearly over the railing and pointing a finger toward his teammate. "He taught me that!"
"Snrk." Michel couldn't help but snicker, he knew that was going to get a reaction out of his leader, and he was just waiting for an opportunity like this to come by. Robert was still flying through the air due to the massive throw that Michael just made, Michael himself created a shield in front of Robert to blast him away even further, he did so and Robert was blasted to the ground, but just in that moment Robert spun back and charged up a thunderbolt, Michael didn't quite saw it coming, and go hit square in the chest full force by the massive thunder.
Robert landed hard on his back but rolled with the fall, Michael did something similar, however he could still feel lightning coursing through him, they were both taking the chance to recover, however Robert was already while he was on a knee trying to get up. They were back at long range, but this time both more hurt.
"Say…" Ruby started as the two combatants circled around each other, taking a small break from their battle. "Michael is doing good against Mister Urra, like really good." She said, thinking hard as she rested her head on both of her hands, watching the fight.
"He is," Blake agreed. "Strange, I have sparred against him before myself, but if he fought me the way he is fighting Mister Urra right now, I would have lost much more quickly."
"I don't think he was fighting against you seriously Blakey." Yang pointed out, smiling at the sight. "This fight is getting my blood pumping, I wish I had both my arms so I could go in there for a bit myself."
"Absolutely not Xiao Long!" Weiss berated her immediately. "You will not be fighting with anyone until you are cleared by our school nurse. Am I understood?"
Yang rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes Mom."
"Hmph."
"But I still don't get it," Ruby went on as if neither Yang or Weiss had any of their banter. "He's fought with us before, and he's lost against Pyrrha a few times, how is he taking up with a Huntsman now?"
"Its because he is truly not holding back," Pyrrha answered her. Ruby turned around to look at the red haired girl in the eyes, a questioning look to her face. "I knew Michael when we were younger, not very well. But I would say that if it weren't for my semblance, I would not be as famous as I am today. I would not be undefeated."
"Really?" Ruby asked.
"Really." Pyrrha smiled. "He was most likely holding back to challenge himself, by restricting himself to only one weapon he has made himself more versatile, and like myself, he has fought against people with all kinds of different fighting styles. Dual swords included, even if Mister Urra has a special kind of blade."
"Wooow," Ruby cooed. "He's like, an actual ninja. Why can't you be more like him Blake?"
"Pardon?"
"Y'know, the whole ninja weapon thing, he's got the chain too, which is similar to your ribbon. But he uses it way better than you do."
"Gee… thanks." Blake said, not sure on how to feel about that. Should she use her ribbon in battle more? She had a lot to think about now, including the fact that a fifteen year old girl had just called her 'too little of a ninja' practically.
"Mister Urra still seems to have the advantage, however." Weiss pointed out,
Gesturing toward the aura gauge. "He has more aura than Michael does, and while I give him credit for doing as well as he is now, I believe that experience and skill will beat over Cedric's intelligence."
"But… Michael can make voices!" Ruby complained.
Hector snickered after overhearing Team RWBY's, and JNPR's banter following that last sentence. He himself was very impressed by Michael's newly revealed skill, he knew that his teammate was a good fighter, but this good? No, he would have never guessed. He supposed that Michael did fight seriously back in Mount Glenn, but he was hardly paying proper attention to him at that time. Focusing more on his battles rather than his teammates.
He's seen Robert fight however, and while the fight was close as it was now, he wouldn't be surprised if he won. It was sort of a lose-lose situation for him anyway now that he thought about it. Win, and he beats a student, who cares. But lose…? Ouch. Even if he did win, he might get a little bit of trouble for how much it took for him to put Michael down for the count. Whatever happens however, he was going to support both of them. Michael and Robert were some of his closest friends after all.
As Robert and Michael circled each other, Robert was the first to talk.
"Can I ask you something?" Robert asked Michael.
Michael raised an eyebrow, but relaxed his stance slightly and pushed his glasses further up his nose. He nodded his head to show his answer.
"Tell me, if you were always this skilled and had all these tricks up your sleeve, why wait for situations like Mountain Glenn and… well me, to use them?
Michael shrugged. "I never really had too much of a reason too. Most of the time no one is good enough to bring the serious side out of me. For what happened at the docks, under the bridge, stuff like that when I am fighting with teammates I have to use my semblance to keep them from getting themselves killed." He pointedly looked to his team over his shoulder, who all three of which looked away and started whistling. Pretending that they were totally not called out just now.
"So not even initiation? I've seen the recordings. Why not use this when some people were close to dying? Not when it could have made more of a difference, not when people where at risk? We both know you are good enough to fight and protect at the same time… why don't you?"
Michael sighed. "I admit, you're right on the dot there. I wasn't as… kind and caring about other people besides Reggie back about half a year ago. I was angry at the world for some…"
'Promise me, Mikey…' His mother's voice echoed within his mind.
"things that happened… I don't have any good answer other than I didn't care much for them." He flourished his weapons. "But now, I have those I want to protect, and after what happened… I learned that holding back is not going to do anyone any good, it's part of the reason I wanted to challenge myself against you... Not purely out of distaste as I may have previously stated."
"Huh…" Robert couldn't help but smile a little bit. "I thought it was more on the side that you just hated me for some reason but… well I get the idea of the challenge."
"Which is also why I don't get why you are not being faster!" Michael accused, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Hmm?!"
"I've seen you fight, I know some of the things you can do and I know you are holding back! You are faster than this, far more rapid fire, you have more tricks up your sleeve, why are you holding back?! Huh?! Think a student is not enough of a challenge?!" Michael said this with a certain hatred in his voice, but his expression spoke of another emotion. A wide smile, wider eyes, the lens of his glasses shining in the light like it would in some TV show. It was the first time Robert saw him so… excited, was the word he was looking for.
"To be fair I was figuring you out, and apart from that, well I suppose you are right… it feels different I guess, to go from a fight that's life or death, to one where that's not the case… it's different, the adrenaline is different." Robert said, his steps took another pace however, his breathing too, he would admit, he wanted to go faster, to feel like he was going through a wild fight again… his semblance agreed, because he could feel that feeling… a cold rise of air from lungs to his throat, it felt fresh… he wanted to let loose, with no fear of hurting anyone or failing and getting others hurt… but he couldn't discard those thoughts, he needed to control himself, but he figured he could let loose a little, go wild… it would feel right. It was what Michael basically asked for, anyway.
Robert took a deep inhale and wielder sparks surged from the ground, it was different, and some amount of dust (the one from the ground) started to idly circle around him. Robert started to snap his fingers, it was a quieter snap than others, but Michael could see it, it was like Robert was getting in a rhythim. He looked different too, his posture, he seemed more loose, relaxed, but the lightning around him was getting wielder.
"I have no idea what he is doing," Hector said when Reggie asked him if he knew what this was. "But it looks cool, so it probably means something."
"He looks pretty relaxed," Reggie pointed out. "Doesn't his semblance put a strain on his brain though?"
Hector nodded his head. "Yup, like how mine puts a strain on my heart. Whatever he's doing, let's keep an eye on it. Take some notes."
"Why, so you can use it against him if you have a potential rematch with him?" Ashley teased.
"No," Hector answered.
"Bullshit." Hell said in his mind.
"No one asked you." He responded to Hell out loud.
"Eh?" Ashley made a hurt sound.
"What? Not you-" Hector shook his head. "Probably." He said honestly, answering her question.
Glynda narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched the match carefully. You're going to use that on a student? She thought, trying and failing to speak to her apprentice telepathically. She helped him develop the move, and Mister Cedric was proving to be a challenge, so as long as he didn't overdo it and do damage beyond aura limitations, then she would allow it. She would have warned him herself if she could, but the rules to not interfere with a fight unless absolutely necessary applied to her just as much as it did for the students. Even if they didn't know it.
Michael took a deep breath, and let his chained blades fall to the ground with a metallic clang. This was what he wanted, Robert to go all out against him. He would have to go beyond his own limits and think and react even faster than he was before if he wanted to have a chance at coming up on top. Keeping his distance was going to be a lot tougher now, so he might as well ditch any attempt at trying to make distance, especially if it was with his semblance because of the adaptability of his opponent, already having a counter for that specific move.
As Robert gained an electric blue aura, slowly the chasking of his fingers got faster and louder, his aura growing along with it. As that was happening, Michael focused on his semblance, and projected it inward. Into his veins and the fibers of his muscles, gained a green shine to his skin and reinforcing them and giving him a small strength boost. He worked his semblance down to his very nervous system, nullifying the damage he felt, but not the damage already done to him. It wouldn't completely take away any pain he may feel the more this battle goes on, but it would help him tolerate it. It wasn't much in the way of a power up, but it was an old trick of his that he hasn't used in a while.
In a moments notice, Robert stopped chasking his fingers, and made a quick move. He bowed and crossed one foot behind the other, as if it were a dance move he bowed and snapped his fingers with both his hands and forth came a wild Thunder roar, lightning flew out words from him, and soon the ground around him started shaking, soon enough lightning formed around him and pieces of stone came from the ground and started circling around him rapidly, forming a sphere of rocks and lightning around him, the appearance of it was so quick and so… dramatic in way that a couple gasps could be heard, Robert looked up from his bow towards Michael and in his face was a wide smirk.
"Wow, I am very intimidated." Michael quipped, something rare coming from someone like him.
That was so cool! Ruby gushed in her mind. Squealing like she had just entered a weapons store with everything being on sale.
"That's… new." Weiss said, mostly thinking on how had Robert managed to make his semblance to that. What kind of control did he really have? She thought to herself. To her and other's surprise it didn't end there.
Robert came back into the fight in full force, he ignited his blades and made full swings into the air that became arc waves of lightning, and those waves went straight for the blonde. Michael widened his eyes and made his shields in a quick reaction, the fight had become something else now. The waves impacted with force against the bubble shields and showered them sparks, Robert had dashed in faster than before and was close to being in close range now. Michael swung with his chains, but the moment they hit the barrage of rocks and lightning around Robert it got deflected, the second chain came down quickly and the same happened, Michael realized how things had changed now.
He made a quick move and made a shield in front of Rober path in hopes that he would run into it, but Robert lightning dashed to the side and went around the shield. He stretched his palm out, and out of his hand came a barrage of four lightning missiles, Michael made his move to make another shield to block those missiles, and he did creating another shield at his side. However the moment they impacted Robert was already at his other side launching another lightning wave. This was bad, Robert was moving too fast, and was now really attacking from all directions, so Michael did what he hadn't done in the match yet, he dodged. Michael threw his chain to one side of the arena and stabbed his chain on the floor, he then yanked and with a leap he traveled a far distance to avoid the increasing firepower that Robert was outputting.
Robert followed him without a second thought, and with a leap and a lightning dash he was on top of Michael again. Michael spun his chains in front of him on fast continuous circles, making his to catch Robert, but his opponent went in deflecting all the spins of the chains with both his personal cyclone and with his blades. Each strike of the chains was deflected on way or the other, and now they were face to face again. Michael and Robert exchanged blows for what may have actually been the hundredth time this match. With Robert making slashes and dashing in different directions, and on Michael's side it was more difficult, he kept his chains up and continued with making a barrage of attacks and swings to keep Robert at bay, but each deflected strike was taking a toll on his arms and he could feel the lightning. What was more, if Robert got closer, he would be definitely be pelted by that cyclone he created. Michael made his move and twisted the chains around in a wide swing, Robert backwards to avoid it, it was enough for Michael to make a large shield around him again, Robert dashed back and started to launch projectiles again.
Robert moved from left to right to avoid long range swipes of the chains, all the while throwing bolts, missiles, grenades and waves of lightning towards Michael. He deflected all those projectiles with both his shields and some even with his chains, this new far range play consisted of him using one chain to deflect attacks while he used the other to attack, however he knew that so far Robert was setting the pace for the match, he needed to try something new.
Robert dashed to the right and deflected Michaels chain with his blade, he took the chance to start making a ball of lightning on his hands, while the other shot out a constant stream of lightning at Michael, Michael covered himself with his shields and blocked the stream, he also made to attack Robert again, but the cyclone protected Robert from the chains swipe well enough, he then finished making the ball of lightning, and threw it at Michael, it turned into a giant cluster of lightning bombs. Michael saw the grenades and put all his focus and making a giant shield around him, he did so and was unharmed by the attack, but the smoke screen was massive, he saw quickly Robert come from the side and spun his chains again. Robert made to quickly dash back and around to avoid the strikes and Michael felt as rocks from Robert cyclone flew towards him and pelted him, he reacted naturally and made another shield to protect himself, feeling the strain of making this many protective bubbles slowly catching up to him, and made another swing of his chains, but Robert had dashed again, this time behind him.
Robert made a wave of lightning and saw as Michael rolled out of the way of the wave, it was his chance to pressure, Robert made a quick dash in and saw as Michael defended himself briefly with his chains against cyclone, but it was too late, he was already this close, he surged forward and slashed at Michael twice and kicked him away, Michael skidded on the ground, and Robert made on to continue his assault, but what he saw next surprised him, he had moved in to strike with both blades, but they had become stuck on something, he saw and looked as his blades had been trapped in a different shield, it looked different at the very least, but they were certainly of Michael creation. With Robert trapped Michael took the chance and used one his chains to deliver a massive forward trust to Robert's head. Robert got hit and flew backwards, flipping through the air once before sliding on the ground on the ends of his feet, as soon as his feet finished skidding though he started running at Michael again. He couldn't let up this pressure.
He ran back and launched a lightning bolt, Michael instantly made his new shield again and reflected the lightning back at Robert. Michael was glad it worked… but he was less pleased when he saw that it didn't do anything to Robert. Of course shooting that much lightning maybe he should have assumed that he was resistant to it. Michael did notice that he could trap Robert's blades though, and that was good.
Robert made a missile while running back at Michael. He made a reflective shield to bounce it away right when Robert jumped in the air while he was distracted. He decided to throw almost all the rocks of his cyclone at Michael while he was in the air, he did so and Michael covered himself with his chains to block the damage and then continued to spin his chains around and aimed towards Robert. Robert deflected the strikes with his blades. All of them, and descended on down to his opponent. Michael made a shield right in front of him, and Robert stretched out his own hand. The tiny bubble shield was right between the two and as both touched it it started to glow brightly and shoot out sparks with the sheer energy of both the people affecting it, the shield exploded and both of them got slightly separated.
Michael used his chains in desperation, Robert dashed in and flipped between the chains and came at him with an illusion twist kick that got him across the head, after that they exchanged blows again. This time Robert with his blades and Michael with his Kuramisaga, not as chains, but the sickles at the end of them. Michael made multiple moves to trap Robert's blades with his own and with his reflector shields, but each time it happened Robert deactivated his blades and turned them on again. Robert was consistently pushing more towards the edge. He trapped Robert's blades again, but this time he deactivated them and dashed back, Michael made to strike him with his chain… but suddenly the last rock from Robert cyclone trapped the chain and trapped it in the air, extending it, Michael was bewildered, Robet had trapped him. Robert didn't waste time, he shot a thunderbolt at Michael, hit him on the chest and then leaped for the chain, as he did so he spun around it landed a kick towards Michael's head, he did and pushed further to the edge, but Michael was still standing.
Michael yanked on his chain, ann with Robert and his rocks holding the other end of it, he had enough resistance to propel himself towards Robert in a drop kick, Robert reacted with a kick of his own and both kick clashed in mid air… however there had been a mistake of calculus, Michael had his feet slightly apart, and as the kicks collided, Robert's kick went between his legs and straight to his crotch. The result was Michael nearly dropping to the ground and groaning, his legs fighting against instinct from squeezing together. "Fuck you…" He grumbled.
"Oops… heh heh." Robert said it once, and he would say it again, but for some reason being the nutcracker and destroying his enemies testicles was funny to him… even if by accident, because he hadn't planned this one.
They were both close to edge now though, and Robert saw his chance and while still holding on to Michael's chain. he dragged Michael to the ground and wrapped his own chain around him, Michael was fighting back, however, and even though he was half wrapped in his own chain, he was still moving.
"Do you submit?" Robert asked Michael. Michael only struggled harder, which was fine it was what he would have done, but he needed to end this… and he could, he just needed to use his lightning, he thought that as he felt sparks coming to his hands, he thought of it… he would be wrapped, and the lightning will… will…
Robert widened his eyes, what was he thinking, he saw it for a second, he saw his dream again, he saw himself making sparks going through the water, this was metal… what if it was worse? He thought.
Robert's gripped loosened a tiny bit, and that was all that Michael needed, he used the sickle at the end of his chain to lift Robert's foot, Robert stumbled, enough for Michael to flip him, hook his other Kusarigama on Robert's arm pit, he then pulled both his weapons and Robert spun on the air, then Michael made a shield and blasted him away with a quick and large expansion of his shield.
Robert landed on his back, and rolled with the fall, he got up again… alright, that was enough, enough daydreaming, everything was fine, back to the fight it wa-
"Mister Urra has been thrown out of grounds." He heard Glynda say, did he hear that correctly?
"Wait what, what does that-" He looked around, he had fallen of ring.
"You have been defeated." Glynda said, driving it home. When Robert turned to look at her, she seemed as shocked as she was. When he turned back to Michael, he had already untangled himself from his chains. His expression was complicated, as it had always been. Almost like it wasn't his intention to throw him as far as he did.
Robert looked back down at his feet, then back at the ring, then back at his feet at where they were and then again at the line of the ring, he looked while pointing with his finger at both his feet and the ring. He looked up, down, and back up again. Ring out, a fucking… ring out.
"Ah fuck! Fuck, dammit. Fuck fuck fuck…. Aaaaah, fuck." He said to himself, uncaring of who might hear him, ring out, after that far Dammit! He thought to himself, he was an idiot, they had been close to the edge, why didn't he think of that, why… You fucking idiot, he thought to himself as he sighed… well then, yeah… he was an idiot.
Almost taking some moments to calm himself down, he heard someone walking toward him. Looking up, of course it was Michael stepping down from the ring and closing the distance between them. His face was red from exhaustion, and his hair came undone sometime during the fight. He didn't look like he was proud of himself, but he extended a hand toward him nonetheless.
"Dude… I was bamboozled." Robert said as he stretched his own hand.
"I would have rather not ended our match like that…" Michael said, his voice betraying his exhausted flushed cheeks as they shook hands. "Rematch, someday." He practically demanded, not even putting in the effort to make it sound like a question.
"Yeah… uh, fuck…" Robert said, he looked back at the ground, making it look like he was pondering on his error, and well he was… but not the ring out itself, something else crept back up to his mind… we could have ended it right there me… why… why did you think of making it like torture… why did you?" Robert knew it wasn't okay, it really wasn't, was he acting different because of his dreams? Or by how he wasn't fighthning cultists and dangerous terrorists anymore? He didn't quite know. But again… he… he lost control, if that happened again when it mattered…
"Shit…"
"Are you okay?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow after noticing the strange expression he saw on his face.
"Uh, well yeah, just thinking…"
"Hm, it seems that people from Earth do that a lot." Michael whispered so that only them too could hear.
"Hey, I've been told I'm a special case." And it was true, for better or worse he did think too much sometimes.
"Sure," Michael snickered. "'Special.' But yes, agreed… Also, I believe we have a peanut gallery, and a rather large one at that."
Robert sighed. "Course we do…"
When Roberts feet hit the ground out of bounds, the entire classroom went silent. And for good reason. Hardly anyone with a logical way of thinking would have expected an outcome such as the one they have just seen, and Hector was among that group of people. Throughout the sparring match he helped cheer on both of his friends, Reggie was exclusively there for Michael as everyone predicted, but even he wasn't so complacent to hide his shock. This was like watching a student beat a teacher, even if Robert wasn't officially made a teacher as of yet.
The betting people on the other hand, started going crazy, while Robert indeed lost by tournament rules, there had been a significant amount of aura difference between him and Michael, and people were now arguing on whether or not if this counted as a victory, all in the name of Lien of course.
Blocking all of the arguing out, Hector felt a pair of eyes staring down at his side, he didn't know what it was until he turned his head to his right and looked into the silver eyes in the row across from him and to the side. For some reason, while the rest of her team, including Team JNPR, were all talking about the fight they had just watched, and Hector would have guessed that Ruby would be right there with them talking about what they have just seen.
But then her face grew a smile wide enough to split her head in half, and she slowly raised two bottles up from underneath her desk. Hector squinted his eyes to read the labels. It was bleach in one bottle, and red dye, same tone of red as her own hair in the other.
"Oh…" Hector realized suddenly. Right, the bet he made. To be completely honest, he wasn't that serious about it, but it seemed that Ruby was and had already gone and bought the things that he needed. He only wished that the bottles could have at least looked a little more masculine.
"That… was an unexpected outcome." Hell commented, his ghost form appearing sitting on the edge of his desk facing toward the arena. "However, it seems your friend isn't taking advantage of this victory to gloat. A pity."
"Pity-" Hector cut himself off before he could draw attention to himself. "Why is it a pity? He's just not being an asshole."
Hell shrugged. "I would have bragged. A Huntsman in training defeating a Huntsman without the "In training"? Hah, I'd be making sure all of Remnant heard my victory."
Another flash of memories. A snowy battlefield, black and red blood mixed with dirt and gravel, a dark cave with a glowing tree. Hector got a headache just thinking about it. "Well, that's why I am in control, and you're not." He said, shaking his head slightly to refocus on his surroundings.
"Boss!" A metal hand slapped against his shoulder, making him jump out of surprise. "Dude, like, holy shit! Did you see that!?"
"Yes, I did." Hector said, smiling. From the corner of his eye he could see Hell look at him from over his shoulder, and slowly fade away back into his self conscience.
"Rob was like lightning dashing and shit, and Michael was reflecting some of that shit — a move I haven't seen him do in a while by the way — and then he was wrapped up in his own chains an' shit,"
"A lot of shits in there." Ashley pointed out.
Reggie carried on without missing a beat. "And then it was like whoosh and then the match was over!" The orange eyed boy practically screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I know Reggie. I was there." Hector snickered at his teammates antics.
"Wait, doesn't this mean that you have to dye your hair red now?" Reggie asked, remembering the talk from the other night.
Hector nodded his head and sighed, sparing a glance toward Ruby who was still gawking at him with the two bottles of bleach and dye in her hands. Except this time she nodded her head, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Yes. Yes it does."
"Cool," Reggie chuckled. "Do we have to come hold you down or are you good?"
"Good enough." Hector said. "I won't cause any trouble. What are they talking about down there?" He asked, changing the topic. Michael and Robert were still talking to each other about something, and for the life of him he couldn't hear what they were saying because of everyone screaming at the top of their lungs about bets that were won and lost. Robert kept taking glances up at him, however, he was able to see that, and Michael kept nodding his head. In the next couple of seconds, they shook hands again and left into two different locker rooms. Hector tilted his head in thought as he wondered about what could have been said between the two. It probably wasn't that important, probably Michael just getting friendly with Robert for once.
"Students, do not forget that there is another class for you all to attend." Glynda announced, her voice cutting through theirs like a hot knife through butter. Attention was demanded and attention was granted when the green eyed woman stepped into the ring, repairing the damage done to it as she did so. "You are all dismissed." And just like that, her word as law.
As the fight ended, and Robert was getting out of the locker room he was met by Glynda. Who waited outside for him to return once all of the students left the classroom.
"Ah, okay, now look… there were people discussing if it was victory or not, that means I didn't make a complete fool out of myself oka-" Robert didn't get to finish.
"What happened?" Glynda asked in a commanding voice.
"I, well I slipped up and… uh."
"Why?" Glynda asked again.
"Umm…"
"We both know something particular happened, you shifted, just stood there, why?"
"Umm, a… a relapse." Robert said while scratching the back of his head.
"I feared as much, there wasn't water however." Glynda said, sighing and signaling him to explain himself.
"I felt like I was about hurt him, severely." Robert said.
"Were you?" Glynda asked, in a softer tone.
"I… I don't know I… I don't think so, but if there was a chance then-" Robert tried to explain.
"You are afraid of hurting people, people that are your comrades, your friends." Glynda finished for him.
"Yeah." Robert said with his head down. Glynda eyed him for a bit and released, a sigh after a bit.
"Would you like to discuss it?" She asked.
"It's better if we do." Robert answered.
"Then we will, but later for now you should rest." Glynda said as she made her way out of the locker room. "You did well managing your energy however, you should teach Mister Rivers how to control his own semblance the way you control yours." She said.
"His semblance uses a lot of energy, mine is different I generate energy, he has to expend a different kind of energy." Robert responded, taking the change of subject for what it was. "Besides with his current state, he would need to be extremely careful, and unless we have a way for him to store that energy better, then we he might hurt himself."
"You store your energy in your gauntlets, couldn't he do the same?" Glynda asked.
"I don't know, maybe. If so he would need something that could withstand that self destructive power, something that can take energy that shatters you own body and aura, but more importantly release it… he could learn, but again with how he is, he would need to learn way too quick and I don't want to have that risk, his gauntlets would need a way to release that… energy… precisely…" Robert said as he started to form an idea on his head.
"You figured something out?" Glynda asked.
"Shatter aura… Glynda…" Robert looked back at Glynda. "Do we still have Vaseer's Railgun?"
Hector ran a hand through his hair for what felt like the twentieth time since Ruby had her fun with it. Unlike he previously though, and feared, Ruby only took one portion of his hair, particularly the left side where he had more bangs, and bleached it. It was a tense and slow process, but with the patience of a saint, a towel, gloves, water and strong armrests. He bore through it with a smile on his face. Ruby was having fun with this, laughing with him as they spoke like she wasn't totally bleaching and dying his hair.
Since his hair was so damn black however, it took more than a few rounds of bleach to break it all down to make it a light blonde color, similar to Reggies portion of bleached hair, but somehow even lighter. Ruby also had the pleasure of finding out that his hair was very thick, and was also not brushed that often. That was when things started to get less fun for Hector, and very painful when Ruby rushed into her bathroom, and took out one of Yangs hairbrushes. By the sound of the busty blonde giggling at the sight, she didn't seem to mind.
Bleaching it alone turned out to draw out much longer than any of them anticipated, and dying it was no less hard because of how thick his hair still was. They ended up using almost half the bottle on just that portion of hair on the left side of his head, but in the end it was all worth it. Hector now had red hair on one side of his head, and it looked surprisingly great. Matching his clothes and weapons and everything with the black and red color pallet he was going for.
"Agh, sucks that it looks like I'm bleeding out of my eyes." Hector said, laughing to himself. Looking in the mirror after Ruby was done with him came with both awe and terror. Since some of the dye simply ran off and out of his hair and down his face so many times it stained his skin somewhat. Giving him the illusion that he was crying tears. Yang made a lighthearted joke that she didn't know he started using Kaioken again, and for all he was worth he couldn't resist laughing along with her.
After showing his team, who all had ranging reactions of awe, shock, and terror at his face and hair, they all took it rather well. Michael did what Michael did and gave him a thumbs up, still tired after his match with Robert, Reggie complimented him and said he wasn't the only one with dyed hair anymore, and even Ashley said that he looked good. Hector thanked them all, and headed out one more time after Michael told him that Robert wanted to speak to him about something.
He found him sitting on a bench in the moonlight, by the fountain near his dorm building. Walking toward him, he raised a hand up to hide the red part of his hair with a giddy smile on his face. His hair was long and thick enough that he couldn't cover it all with just his one hand, but hopefully the darkness of the night would be able to hide the rest.
"Yo," He greeted when he got close enough to not have to yell to get Roberts attention. "Wanted to speak to me?" He asked, still covering half of his head.
"Yeah, I have an idea that..." Robert said after noticing him. And then he looked at Hector's hair. "What are you hiding?" He said, seeing a strange color that definitely was not there before.
"Nothing," Hector said with a way too suspicious smile on his face.
"Oh, really? So you want to play this game…" Robert said, leaning back on the bench. "Move your hand then."
"Nope."
"Also, why does it look like you're crying?"
"I don't know, why does it look like you lost a fight earlier?"
"..."
"Too soon?"
"For your information I lose a lot of fights, want to hear my personal score against Glynda?" Robert asked.
"I mean…" Hector's look said enough. Enough to show that he didn't really care about what the record may be.
"Eight hundred and sixty seven to zero, and if you haven't realized, I'm zero." Nothing. Robert sighed. "Move your hand man." Robert demanded with a sigh.
Hector rolled his eyes playfully. "Sure, man, you gotta loosen up more sometimes." He said as he moved his hand from the red part of his hair.
"That's it?" If Robert was surprised at all, he hid it well. "I mean I would still like to know why but… okay, it's surprising, I don't know why you are hiding it though, okay once again why?"
"You want me to answer the first, second, or third question?" Hector asked
"Yes."
"One: To try and surprise you. Two. To try and surprise you. And three: Because you lost the fight against Michael. By the way, if you won I would have had to get it dyed blue, had Neptune on speed dial for that outcome. Ruby was excited that Mike won as you could imagine."
"Huh…" Robert hummed "Thank whatever's above I lost, no offense but I already have enough blue for the both of us."
"Well first off fuck, you," Hector said jokingly as he sat down. "And second off, what's up?"
"I'll be honest, a lot of things as you can imagine, but the reason I've called you here is because… I am a genius, and I have a plan that could potentially help you control your Kaioken… or at least protect you from the damaging effects, in time for the mission you accepted and the upcoming Vytal Festival where… you know." Robert said with an excited smile.
Hectors smile slowly faded away at the mention of what was going to happen during the festival, his mood seemed to take a complete one-eighty with the way his eyes darkened and his demeanor shifted as if he was getting ready to fend off an attacker. With a slight shake of his head however, he brought himself back to his senses.
"Think we should probably tell someone about the fall soon? It's only like a month away at this point. I think." Hector pointed out.
"Oh… ah, about that, would you believe me if I said I kind of already did?"
Hector's narrowed eyes demanded him to explain.
"Well not all the information, but a big part of it. You see when I revealed that we knew some things of the future, I did it because I didn't want to lie anymore… and when I did Glynda demanded answers, from both of us. But after the train incident you were in a coma, and I was left alone in a room with Ozpin, Ironwood and Glynda and… I had to explain some things, for better or worse, I said the Vytal Festival was at risk, warned them a bit about the Black Queen… the virus I mean, they haven't snuffed it out by the way, and uh… other things, there were questions about Earth, and they are checking my brain from time to time… but apart from that, I haven't been specific, I merely asked more questions about Aaron, and those questions so far always get deflected."
"Hm," Hector hummed, committing all those words to memory. His eyes were red again, something that Robert took careful note of. "Alright, before the festival begins though, we should definitely have another chat with Ozpin and them. Together. But that's for another time, what's this about controlling the self-destructive energy of my semblance?"
"Look.. I know it doesn't sound good what I said but, well I guess with how things have changed, I thought maybe collaborating with more people was a good idea, I haven't mentioned things like how much we really know about Ozpin or you know… Raven, but I'll trust you on that if you trust me to… well not really trust, forgive, yeah forgive me for uh… spilling some of the beans... ." Robert finished kind of lamely. "I'm sorry I just thought that… maybe we should open up, what we already tried, hasn't really worked."
Hector tensed up at the mention of Raven, the memories of their talk repeating themselves in his mind. He shook his head again and wiped his mouth, he tasted something nasty in there for some reason. "So that's why you called me out here? Checking to see if I'm okay or something?"
"Well… yeah,but are you-"
"You want the honest answer?" Hector's voice suddenly got darker, and deeper, something that didn't sound like him at all. "Fuck no, I'm not okay," He said with a bitter chuckle. "I have voices in my head and now I can't use the thing that makes me strong because it would kill me if I do. I have Raven's words stuck in my head, and I am reminded every day that the Vytal Festival is coming, and we both know what happens then." His eyes shone, and he rubbed a hand over his heart as he felt it beat harder in pain. "All these… memories… of him… snow, blood, fear, something being stabbed into my chest before I descend into a void of darkness between realms of life and death. Specific? Yeah, I know, that's been eating away at me too…" Hector groaned in frustration, and shook his head violently. Robert got even more concerned when his aura spike up for a moment, only for it to painfully recede back into his body. "Ever since what happened in Mount Glenn, with Aaron, Raven, stopping that train, Hell… It feels like something has awakened in me…" He looked down to his hand, which was trembling as red aura flickered on and off around his body.
"I'm tired," He said next, clenching his fist and shoving his hands into his pockets. The flickering aura turned off, and his shut his eyes so he didn't have to see the red shine coming out of them. He stood up, and took a step forward before stopping. "I'm going crazy, aren't I?" He asked, feeling something warm trail down his cheek. "All these things happening to me… it's either magic, or I'm seriously fucked up."
Robert didn't speak for a moment. He pondered, and then he looked into the distance while holding both his hands. "Tell me, what did you feel when it happened? When you killed I mean, was it this moment of going crazy, or did you feel like you were in control, what was it like?" Robert asked, his voice low and serious.
Hector's answer was short and bitter. But completely honest. "Freedom." He said quietly. With a sigh, he took another step forward, and then another.
"I felt different you know." Robert said letting the implication sink in, Hector stopped after taking his sixth step to listen to what he had to say.
"I never told you, or anyone else much about my mission on the sewers did I? Well, if you have to know, you aren't the only one here that has killed people, and I don't know if you were completely in control of what you did, but I felt I was… and I killed more people than I thought I would. Made them explode, Implode, slashed some to pieces, I've cleaved in half… and I, I was in control, and I still think of what my mother would think now, seeing little Robert have to do what she hoped he would never have to do, kill someone, and sometimes I cannot tell if it was because it was necessary, to just not hold back in the face of death, to save people… or maybe because I'm just sadistic, I wonder about all of that, but then it became more present when… something happened." Robert took a deep breath.
"You see, I cannot judge for what you did, if I did I would be a hypocrite, so I won't, but also in a way I'm glad that you only had to kill people that were trying to kill you. To use every chance you get to defend your own life is not wrong, even if it is a bit insane, I just hope… that you, or we, really never have to kill our own people, your allies or your friends… I had to…" Rober stayed quiet for a few moments. "In the sewers we were ambushed by Grimm sharks, we swam through shit to get away, part of the group made it, a vast majority didn't, then a DeathStalker came out and poisoned the water with its stinger, they were being eaten and slowly dying to poison… and our leader knew I could kill all the Grimm, if I just put my hands in the water, and channeled lightning though… she told me to do it, it would be a mercy killing. Maybe it was, but… while we were swimming, I couldn't do anything, if I did something people could die… and I ended up killing them anyway." Robert said with a sad tone. Hector still stood there, listening, Robert knew by how he slightly tilted his head toward him to offer him one of his ears.
"Hector I really hope you don't have to do something like that, I'm glad you survived and I'm also glad that even if you changed you are still you in way, and I'm not mad you had to kill people, because to be honest it was in desperation and… there are worse things you could have done… and you haven't… unlike well, yours truly." Robert said, finishing his confession.
"It won't come down to that." Hector said quietly, almost too quietly for Robert to hear. "I won't let it. I… don't want to know what that feels like. I already feel like a monster, if I had to do something like that, then…" He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need too, the implication was there. He placed a hand on his head and sighed, watching as the glow in his eyes slowly but surely began to fade. "It's getting late, and all this emotional talk is getting to me." His eyes brown again, he turned back around to look at his friend. "You and me, we're the only ones here from Earth who counts. We're here for a reason, we have to be. So let's make sure we find that reason, together preferably."
"You know… I'm really afraid of doing something and fucking it up, it terrefies me, but there' something I'm far more afraid of… and that's what would happen if we did nothing, that's why I did what on telling the truth about… us." Robert then stood up. "And it's also why we need to fix your little issue." He said.
"Yeah… doesn't seem like I'm alone there." Hector said. "I got Oobleck as my therapist already, even if I haven't went to go see him yet. You got Double G, so you should maybe try her some more.
"I was referring to your Semblance, but you should do that too." Robert said.
"Oh, how exactly do I even attempt that? Hector asked.
"Well… you need to store energy in a different place that isn't your body, and remember I said I cleaved someone in half? Would you believe me if I told you that that person had a really advanced Railgun that could store a lot of energy? And that I now have said Railgun"
"Sure, why not?" Hector shrugged. "I'll talk to Ruby about it and see if it's possible, you should be there too. We can make a day out of it. I can already hear her excited squeal." Hector snickered.
"Excellent… we have a direction and something to do!" Robert said a bit too excitedly.
"Yeah…" Hector said, smiling along with him. "This weekend? The mission is like, next week, so I would rather have that ability sooner rather than later and see if I can test it out during the mission."
"I'll see you there friend." Robert said with a two finger wow
"Yeah," Hector saluted back. "See ya."
And there we go. A longer chapter than originally intended, but hey, when does any chapter I plan actually go its intended length?
Partially my fault, sorry, but hey hope you people enjoyed the fight. -CrowSkull
Here I am though, bitching about length after writing a 44 thousand word chapter for the finale of Unlikely Hero like three weeks ago… *Sigh* I am never going to be able to complain about length again, am I?
Phrasing. -CrowSkull.
Please review and let us know what you think of the chapter, if you would like to keep up with me and everything that I write, please do give me a follow on my twitter.
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See you all in the next one!