Another upload? Yeah, well I couldn't rest until I got this thing out as soon as possible. Not my best fight-scene, but one that I'm quite proud of. Enjoy!

Second Song

Chapter 9

He who bears the crown

Wolfram

When I woke up, my head immediately turned to see Asuka's bed empty. No surprise there, she was probably already eating breakfast and getting ready. From the way her bag was left open and strewn on the floor in a very aggressive manner, I could very well deduce that she had her weapons with her. Oh well. I checked my scroll and smirked at the time: 7:15 in the morning, the perfect amount of rest allowing me to perform at my maximum level of efficiency. Swinging my legs over the bed, I landed deftly and quickly went to my suitcase, opening it up and smiling at the sight of my saber-hilt. "You seem pretty lively this morning," I heard a voice mumble above me, looking up to come face-to-face with a very sleepy-looking Terra, also known as her regular morning-face. I chuckled slightly, patting her on the head as I stood up, "I guess I am. I suppose that my blood is pumping a bit harder than it normally does this morning." She seemed to truly wake up at that, her eyes going sharp as she smoothly got out of bed. "Ah, you're missing your pants," I pointed out with a little snicker, turning my head to spare her privacy.

"Oh damn, sorry about that," She sighed, the sound of rustling heard before she tapped my shoulder, letting me know she was decent in some shorts. "So… do you think you can do it?" She asked after a moment of packing her bag with extra clothes. "Do you think you can win against her?" I paused at that. Why was my heart beating faster than it normally did? Obviously it had to do with the fight that was to come, by for what reason? Was it because of the battle itself, or the idea that I would win, and establish my pride against her? 'I am a Schnee, and it is my right that I should do so.' My vision tunnelled, and it started to overtake me. 'She wants me to act as a Team leader? So be it. I will crush her underneath my heel and-!' My throat locked up and I snapped back to reality, breathing gently as I let my pride seep away. "…I believe I can win, yes. I must," I said simply, picking up my combat clothes and walking to the bathroom. "But if I have any chance to win, then I'm afraid that this fight will get a bit messy."

The door to the bathroom opened to reveal Riot fully dressed in his combat gear, his hands in his pockets unable to hide the shaking. "If you two are going to get messy, then just… please don't break her. She needs sense slapped into her, for sure, but…" I put a hand on his shoulder, making him look at me. "Riot, you know I cannot let her idiocy pass, and we are both well aware of how this fight will go. But I promised that I will end this foolishness. I have acted as just Wolfram for too long. It is time that I fight as Wolfram Schnee." The declaration seemed to make Riot wither slightly, the sadness and acceptance in his eyes making me wince internally. There was no going back though, and I had promised that I was going to end this foolishness. "Let's go," I said as soon as we were all ready. Combat Class was the first lesson in the morning and was to take place in the open combat-fields, which had been recently repaired by Oscar himself, though it apparently took him a fair amount of time to do so. Breakfast between the three of us was silent, though I couldn't bring myself to care. I didn't even really pay attention to what I was eating, standing after I finished and immediately walking towards where the class was going to take place. The sun had already crested the horizon, revealing a handful of other people who were there early. They were whispering among each other, their glances shifting between me and the other person who was standing out in the middle of the field.

Asuka had her arms crossed and her eyes closed, a deep scowl etched onto her face. Her eyes snapped open as soon as I came close, her face contorting into a deep, unbridled hatred that was aimed at me. Deciding to toy with her for a bit, I sat down cross-legged on the grass and waited, staring right back at her. She trembled and her eyes flashed a burning orange, clearly trying to force down the urge to jump and attack me. 'Good, she's unfocused,' I thought as I openly smirked, driving her insane. Her aura was visibly rising, her body so tightly wound up that I was sure she would combust on the spot. Professor Asuka came not long after with her usual cheerful bravado, shouting for all of our attention. "Hellooo everyone! Hope you all had a good night's rest because we've got no time to… waste…" She trailed off as she noticed the tension in the air, not to mention the raw animosity between Asuka and I. "Hmm, anyway," She started again, "I'm pretty sure you noticed that our class is taking place in a big open field, which we could've used sooner if someone didn't wreak it." She looking at that someone with a playful glint in her eyes, Riot sheepishly hiding his face in his hoodie, still not able to hide how red his face had become. "Either way, this is for everyone who has better ranged abilities to shine today! So whoever wants to-"

"Stand the fuck up Wolfram, I'm getting sick of your bullshit," Asuka barked, cutting Yang off. I chuckled and stood up, casually dusting myself off to prepare for what was to come. "…looks like someone's made arrangements beforehand," Miss Yang joked, though she couldn't hide the worry for her daughter in her eyes. "I'm guessing you two want to fight it out first then?"

"If that little shit's up for it, then yeah," Asuka snarled.

"Well, I suppose I am," I said airily, idly rolling my shoulders and activating parts of my suit to cover my chest, arms and feet.

"Okay then, you have thirty seconds to find a starting position on the field before you start. Rules are the same, and don't be afraid to tear the place up. Everyone else, step to the safe-zone and make sure that you don't get stuck inside the Hardlight field. Thirty seconds on the clock starting… now!" Immediately, I activated the thrusters on my boots and flew off, landing about fifty meters away from Asuka on a small hill, the sun behind my back. "Off to a good starting position," I muttered, "She'll charge me blindly and try to engage in a close-range brawl."

"Ten seconds left!"

'Time flies huh?' I pondered, before breathing out, staring directly into Asuka's eyes. Even blinded by the sun behind me, she knew I was looking at her and snarled, her aura bursting around her body as she got ready to sprint. 'Now… you think that I'm weak? I'll show you otherwise, deadweight!'

"Three! Two! One! BEGIN!"

"I'm gonna beat the shit out of you Schnee!" Asuka roared, immediately taking off like a bullet. I kissed my teeth and pointed my open palms at her, channelling dust into them. As soon as they were charged up, I fired a barrage of white-hot dust-beams, dozens of them racing through the air towards her. Her eyes went wide and she tried to dodge, successful in some cases but being forced to a stop about fifteen meters away from me, rapidly pumping her arms and legs to try and deflect them. Regardless, they were already starting to impact her, a beam nailing her on the leg and sending her stumbling back as another clipped her shoulder, the wince on her face making it obvious that it hurt. Good. "Final FLASH!" I shouted thrusting both palms at her and unleashing a quick but massive burst of dust at her. Unable to dodge it, she crossed her arms and took it head on, a quick explosion of heat throwing her backwards head over heels, though she managed to land smoothly enough. "Asuka's Aura-levels, 89%," My HUD informed me, though I didn't much care. She tried to rush at me again but I launched another storm of blasts, getting a bit more creative as I put different dust-effects into them.

A blast hit her knee and froze from there down, keeping her still as another one laced with lightning hit her in the chest, her body spasming before a final one filled with gravity snapped her head back, her body slammed into the floor face-first. "Oh come now, we've barely even started," I called out, sitting down and tapping my knee. "Don't tell me that you talked all that hot shit and now you can't back it up? I suppose that I was right then, you are pretty worthless as a huntress." The air suddenly exploded with heat, the ground steaming as Asuka pulled herself out of the ground. Her bloodshot eyes had streams of flame emanating from them, her skin turning a deep pink as the steam from her body took on a slightly more smoky and thick appearance. Her aura lashed around her wildly, scorching the dirt under her. "You're going to fucking die today." I knew that her semblance was the Accelerate something, so judging from the extreme changes to her body, I knew that she was directly increasing the flow of her blood throughout her entire body to its absolute maximum degree. The only reason that she didn't die outright was her aura being used up to reinforce her body from failing. Still, for her to push it to this degree…

'The real fight begins now,' I thought as I stood, forming my armour into its strongest and most durable configuration, the shoulder-pauldrons, chestplate, gauntlets and leggings growing denser and taking on a sharper, more sinister appearance. My helmet morphed into something closer to the shape of a classical knight's helmet, the visor becoming a single glowing slit across my face and a thin but lengthy plume flowing from the back of my head. "Configuration: Lancelot!" Multiple tendrils of writing metal sprouted from the back of my suit, smaller by high-quality dust-exhausts on the ends of them as all twelve of them pointed at her. She charged at me, the ground bursting beneath her feet as she closed the distance between us in seconds, dodging my initial set of blasts and cocking her fist back. "Void Strike, Black Turtle!" She was blindingly fast, my own arms barely moving in time to block the strike, the gravity-dust in her fist blasting me off my feet and into another hill. "Even with Lancelot, my arms are still ringing," I muttered, quickly leaping into the air and landing elsewhere as she slammed herself right where I was once standing, the ground exploding in a shower of burning dirt. Wasting no time, I pointed all my tendrils and opened fire with everything I had. Gravity, lightning, fire, pressurised wind, water, I wanted to overwhelm her with the ranged advantage that I had, and it seemed to be working. Her aura was steadily going down no thanks to the extra effects aced into each blast: she could block or deflect the initial impact, but the secondary dust will always damage her. Still though, I caught glimpses of her face, and that deep-seated rage seemed to grow with each passing second. 'Yes, hate me! Aim your full intent to kill me, and I'll utterly crush you under my heel!' I thought as a grin split my face.

Not happy with being stuck in one place, she had enough common sense to use a massive burst of wind and gravity-dust to deflect my blasts, tearing through the air as she raced right at me again, using up her own cache of dust to counter my own. Again she managed to reach me and she immediately started to throw out terrifyingly fast and powerful combinations. Right hook, left straight, left hook, right uppercut. Yet despite her overwhelming speed and strength in comparison to me, there was one glaring problem. "You can't hit for shit!" I cackled as I used a combination of footwork, dust, and simple perception to dodge her blows. "You really thought you could just walk in here, spout some idiocy about killing me and then fight like some backstreet brawler?!" She missed another right hook and I quickly used a small blast right by her foot to upset her balance, the distraction enough for me to wrap a tendril around her arm and yank her into to air. Pointing my palms at her again, I unleashed another big burst of dust that slammed into her defenceless form, sending her body careening through the air and crashing into the floor. "You don't have what it takes to beat me, you third-rate fighter!" She got up again, but I didn't give her the room to recover as I raced towards her and planted my foot in her face with a *BANG*, her body flung into the ground.

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed, clawing her way to her feet and launching a stream of fire right at me. I just held out a hand and activated another feature of my suit: recharge. The fire was absorbed right into the suit, and the thermal energy used to recharge one of the Dust-Cores that powered the armour itself. I leapt away again as she launched her high-pressure water attack, the draconic figure carving through the dirt like wet paper. 'That might pose a problem, even if my suit is water-proof,' I thought. Looking back, I flinched in surprise as I saw her right in front of me again: her skin was practically red this time, eyes crying tears of blood as foot blurred faster than I could dodge. *CRACK*. My vision went blurry and I felt my body crash through several meters of dirt and hills. "Helmet breached, repairs underway." I definitely had a concussion, but I forced myself to my feet and immediately leapt up as high as I could with a quick boost from my thrusters. "I told you that you'd fucking die today. I'm done holding back," She said from behind me. I turned to try and counter, only for her heel to crash right into my ribs, another *SNAP* echoing through my mind as I shot straight into the ground. "Floating rib broken, aura negating swelling and mending damage." Again I tried to establish my range, willing my tendrils to open fire with gravity, combustion and wind to try and give me greater breathing room, but Asuka was too fast for my projectiles to reach her in time, and I was the one too slow to react to her movements, however wild they were. "Raging Storm, White Tiger," She snarled, her wind-dust helping her movements speed-up even further before her constant left-right rook combination tore into me. I called the tendrils back into my body to strengthen the integrity of my armour as much as possible, keeping my guard up as my body was thrashed around. 'My arms are going to break, even with my Lancelot configuration…' I thought as that wave of scorn and pride engulfed me once more. 'Who the hell does she think she's dealing with?'

"You will not reach me." Her body stopped dead in its tracks and her eyes went wide, her body completely frozen. The familiar pressure behind my eyes was all the indication that I needed that my second Semblance was now in effect. Charging my right gauntlet with the full force of gravity and pressurised air, the metal vibrated and glowed violently. "Increase velocity." My fist shot forward and crashed into her face with a resounding *BOOM*, her body flying through the air and slamming right on the hard-light shield that surrounded the combat-field. 'That's two charges gone, but one more should be enough to crush her like an ant,' I thought with another smirk as she struggled to get to her feet. 'Look at her: she can't even stand upright! Sure, she can close the distance, but if she does that one more time, I'll end her miserable existence.' She did just that, raggedly trying to dash at me, though her speed wasn't as sharp as it used to be. I blasted off with my thrusters to meet her, my pride soaring as I charged up my fist once more with dust to completely obliterate her. 'Your end is here, brat!' I thought as I cocked my fist back in time with hers. I wanted her to look me in the eye, to remember that I was the one who was ground her to dust. When she looked at me though, something in my chest twisted. Those tears of blood were mixed with actual tears. She was crying. The despair and fear on her face was so clear to see that it hurt.

'…Wait, did I do this to her?'

*BANG*. My head snapped back and I was flung into another hill, but as much as my ears were ringing, I knew that she hadn't put her full strength behind that attack. I quickly leapt to my feet to see her standing there, the despair on her face only deepening. "What, now you want to hold back!? Fucking fight me like you mean it you dickhead!" She screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. She dashed at me and lashed out with her fists and feet, and I could've dodged, I could've blasted her away, I could've used my 'Ruler' to completely obliterate her… but I stood and blocked as best as I could. "FIGHT ME! PLEASE!" she screamed hoarsely, her attacks more and more desperate. 'I did this to her. I fucking did this to her!' I thought in a daze, the pride that was previously swelling in me now completely dead. 'I… I shouldn't fight like a Schnee here.' A kick to my already broken rib made me wince, but I stood tall. 'I need to fight as her leader! What kind of Hunter would I be if I didn't?!' She roared as she shot her fist right into my chest, all the air leaving my lungs: and still I stood, ready as she cocked her other hand back. 'I WILL HELP YOU!'

SCHWOOOM

Cue Music: Fate Stay Night OST, Emiya original version extended

"HAA!" I breathed out sharply, instantly forming my lightsaber in its 'scorch' setting and meeting her fist with my own sharp swing. Her knuckles met the blade with a sharp, grating *SCHIIING*, both of us stumbling backwards from the recoil of the clash. 'It worked! The Hardlight field can be laced with other dust-types!' Putting the thought aside, I looked up and met her surprised look with my own determined one. "I hear you Asuka… I hear you loud and clear!" Standing as straight as I could, I pointed my saber at her and shouted, "Give me everything you've got, because I'm going to be taking you seriously now." Breathing in shallowly to make sure I didn't aggravate my healing rib, I quickly twirled my saber and shifted my stance to that of a duelist's. "Do you think you have what it takes to keep up?" She snarled and got back into her own stance, though through her aggression, I could see the hint of confusion on her face. 'This is stupid. All my nanobots need to be used for my lightsaber, so no armour. I'm going to get really badly hurt, and she'll crush me at close range.' Yet, I couldn't help but smile a bit. 'But if this is what it takes, then so be it!'

"Keep up? I'LL KILL YOU!" She bellowed, dashing forward with clenched fists. I dashed to meet her, twisting my wrist to bring my saber to race towards her ribs. "Too slow!" She shouted, her movements sharper and more focused than they were previously, her fist batting away my initial strike. My body spun with it, not letting my flow be disrupted as I twirled and swung at her neck. She ducked under and widened her stance, lowering her center of gravity, all too similar to Riot's technique. 'Endure the barrage!' Instead of shifting her weight, it was more like she planted her feet and used her body like a piston, firing off a hail of sharp and deadly punches. I never stopped my body from moving, working my wrist like a madman to deflect, block and counterattack. Even with my technique, this was ultimately her best range, taking my swift attacks head on and managing to land blows of her own. 'Don't stand right in front of her, get creative and find new angles of attack!' Deflecting another straight-right, I swiftly pivoted and stepped to her far right, slashing with both hands and scoring on her ribs. She winced but stood her ground, lashing out with another right that clipped my cheek, powerful enough to crack bone through my aura.

'Too obvious, more dynamic!' I suddenly flipped into the air and swiped at her head twice, forcing her to stop attacking and put up her guard, streaks of glowing metal left in my wake before I landed in a deep crouch, thrusting at her stomach. Even on 'scorch', the clean hit burned a hole through the exposed Kevlar, forcing her backwards to try and regain her balance. 'Take the initiative!' Dashing to her, I pressed the advantage and switched back to my duellist-based attacks, quick slashes and thrusts meant to quickly and efficiently cut her aura down. Even on the backfoot she was dangerous, able to attack and defend with sharp accuracy. 'She's not overworking her semblance as hard as she used to, but she's using far more of her skill than normal. Good!' The despair and rage slowly bled from her face, replaced by an intense focus and concentration that had never been seen before in her previous matches. 'This is the real Asuka!' Her backpedalling soon stopped and we were fighting toe to toe. The wild, burning speed and power behind her attacks were now fully supported by her sharp and compact technique. My rib screamed at my constant movements, and my pride roared at me to just crush her with the power of Ruler. 'I refuse!' I roared to myself and her roundhouse-kick clashed with my diagonal slash, sparks flying everywhere. 'She wasn't wrong when she said that I wasn't acting as a leader. This is where I fulfil my duty!' I gnashed my teeth together as another punch rocked my chest and lashed out with my elbow, hitting her squarely in the jaw. 'She still hasn't seen it yet though,' I realized as I saw the focused hatred in her eyes, even if it wasn't really focused at me. 'She may respect me at the end of this, but she won't see the truth behind her actions until it's too late.' Her foot shot straight up and forced me to backstep from the trail of smoke and fire, though it was nowhere near as hot as it should have been. It was a sly but masterful setup, her other foot suddenly piercing through the distraction and almost clipping my ribs again.

'…I have one way,' I thought after a moment, grimacing as she pressed her own attack and forced me backwards. 'But it's definitely going to suck.'

"You call this your all?" I taunted, "I know you can go further than this!"

"Tch, you want more? Fine, you asked for it Schnee!" She roared back, more weight behind her attacks following shortly afterwards. Trying to match her with a weapon as light as my lightsaber was suicide, every punch or kick batting my weapon aside and disrupting my flow. "Time to switch it up." Surprising her with a sudden sidekick that landed square on her stomach, it gave me enough breathing-room to deactivate the lightsaber and willed the nanobots to shape into something a bit more my style. Shifting like sand, they formed a three-foot long straight-sword, the symbol of the Schnee family embedded at the very base of the blade above the hilt, it's edges alight with Hardlight. It was meant to be a symbol of those who would inherit the title of King, and in this case, my status as heir filled the role quite nicely. Such was the sword, "Caliburn!" Drawing on the extra reserves of aura, I roared as I blasted forward and swung down with all my might, activating the gravity-dust to increase the weight tenfold. Her eyes went wide and she frantically put her guard up, a resounding *CLANG* echoing through the field as the ground under her feet cracked and heaved from the impact.

"First a tank, then a duellist and now a swordsman?" She growled, straining against the weight bearing down on her. "Just stick to one, you damn overachiever!"

"Why not? It's my job to be good at everything!" I shouted back, flipping over her head and landing behind her. She had already turned to meet my thrust with a sidekick, the clash leaving us both at a standstill for the moment. Gritting my teeth, I pulled back slightly and swung straight up, almost knocking her onto the seat of her pants had she not cartwheeled back into her stance. 'Here goes nothing!'

"YOU'RE THROUGH, ASUKAAA!" I roared, firing up my aura and pouring it right into Caliburn, the sword glowing brightly as I held it by my side, leaping and thrusting forward with all my might. "YOU FIRST, WOLFRAAAAM!" She screamed right back, meeting my charge with her own. I bellowed as Caliburn let loose a beam of light that tore through the air and punched a hole through the Hardlight-barrier at the other end of the arena. Asuka had already got right by my chest with one more burst of her semblance, her right fist cocked back. 'Here goes… time to grit those damn teeth!'

*CRUNCH-SPLAT*

End Music

One of the first things that registered in my mind was a sound that was something fleshy breaking, like a watermelon being dropped on concrete. The second thing that I registered was that my body was weightless, careening through the air like a piece of paper through the wind. Or like a plastic bag. I couldn't really move my limbs, but at the same time, it was kind of peaceful. Then, my body crashed into the ground, and pure agony wracked me to my very body. I let out a choked scream, choked because a glob of blood rose to my throat and stopped me from screaming in the first place. Oh. Oh wow, that was a lot of blood coming from my mouth. 'Where is pain like this even coming from?' I wondered idly, slowly looking down and freezing when I was pretty certain I saw the source. 'Huh. That's a hole in my stomach.' The affirmation made another wave of pain nearly suffocate me. Asuka stood with a bloody fist outstretched, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide as her body trembled. She was crying. 'Rapid blood loss, going into shock,' I assessed as best as I could, shakily putting a hand on my stomach.

"M… MEDIC, SOMEONE GET A FUCKING MEDIC!" I heard her scream, though her voice was all strange and distorted. I could tell that she was sprinting towards me though, I supposed that such a fact was a good thing. "O-oh no oh god oh fuck," She panicked, the image of her face warping in my vision. "Stay with me you fucking dumb-ass, fuck there's so much blood! Oh god, I'm so sorry!" She was trembling, hands shaking wildly as she tried to give me some of her aura. The act was appreciated, but the healing would be too slow, even concentrating it on the wound would only do so much.

"…M… more… aura," I muttered, my mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. She heard me and drained herself dry giving me every last drop of her aura. I spotted the line of blood coming from her shoulder: the energy-release of Caliburn had managed to slice through her aura just before she could dodge in time, it seemed. "You're… hurt…"

"Fucking sh-shut up!" She sobbed, "Don't you dare die!" I grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at me. I put on the best grin that I could muster and gave her a thumbs up. "I'll… be fine." Closing my eyes and pushing out her sudden screaming at the idea that I was dying, I willed my aura to flare to life, calling on that final charge that I hadn't used just yet. Did I even have enough aura to pull this off? Only one way to find out. My eyes snapped open, and everything was clear. "Restore." It was like someone jammed a car battery into my open wound, and I unashamedly screamed like there was no tomorrow. It felt like my flesh was being tugged and pulled into place by a bunch of needles and talons, constantly piercing and weaving together to create this one big haze of pain. It felt like it went on forever, yet it also seemed like it ended almost as soon as it started. The sudden changes of sensation to sensation made my eyes roll up into my head, and my consciousness was switched off like a light. Vision faded to black, and I knew only bliss, the sensation of a warm hand on my face finally letting me relax.

To be Continued...

Yeah. Well, that happened. Is he dead? Hell, probably. Seriously though, I hope that you all enjoyed the fight and the emotion that went into it, it's not the most complex fight that I've done, but at the same time, it's one of my better ones using both emotion and technique thrown into the mix. Take care, and peace out.