"Oooh! Can I have that?!" Nora is salivating at the prospect of having yet another pancake rumble around in her belly.
"Nora! You've had five already! Pyrrha even gave you hers' so you would calm down!"
"I can't help it! I'm hy-hy-hy-hy-hy-hyper!"
"My god…" Blake retreats back into her book. The worst case scenario of Nora hopped up on sugar has officially come to pass. Ren sits next to her, clearly annoyed. But nothing can be done about this. Everyone must wait until the sugar rush has passed. That doesn't mean that they're happy about it, though…
"Lie Ren! How could you possibly let this happen!" Weiss looks at him, even more annoyed than he is.
"How could I know that she would chug the whole bottle?"
"It's Nora!"
"Yes it is!" Said Nora interrupts the conversation before standing up and running around, hammering away at some imaginary Grimm.
"*clears throat* You of all people should know how she would react!"
"Look, I wanted to make her feel better! She was [*thunk*] coughing for half the night!"
"And this is what you did? Have some-" [*VWOOOOM*] She is cut off by a certain hammer-wielder swinging way, way too close for comfort. Weiss turns around toward her, that annoyed look even more dug in.
"Watch it, Valkyrie!" She follows her around for a bit, waiting for an opening. One quickly presents itself, and with a quick swipe, Nora and her hammer are decoupled. She hands it off to Ren, who gladly takes it while everyone else sighs in relief.
Ren slots it under his empty plate of pancakes for safe keeping. Within milliseconds, Nora is on him, reaching around his head and upper body like a backpack trying to gain sentience. Those 'cushions' Nora is so bountifully gifted with coil around the top half of his neck, hanging onto him like an ugly necklace. But he pays no mind whatsoever, instead putting both his hands on the hammer.
"No Nora, you can't have it." Ren drags her hands away, but he is unable to completely stop her from weighing on him, literally.
"Pretty please! I promise I won't go after Weiss again!"
"Then you'll just go after Blake or something." Said cat immediately sets off two amber daggers aimed straight at Ren. It gets even better when Nora decides to walk around and beg her to help get her weapon back, upgrading those daggers into lasers. Or so she wishes, anyway.
Luckily (or unfortunately depending on how one looks at it), the ending bell rings, which stops any further pestering from the Valkyrie.
"Alright Renny, hand it over!" Hey, wait just a goddamn-
With classes approaching, Ren realizes that giving it back is the smarter play. "...*sigh* You promise that you won't do anything bad with it? Or swing it at anyone?"
"I promise!" She stands at attention like a superhero, her hands held as if she had her hammer already, just yearning for the chance to hold it once again. Ren, the gentleman he is, obliges, slotting it perfectly inside her waiting fingertips.
"Nora to the rescue!" Before anyone can blink, she bolts off toward class.
The rest see her fly out of sight, then turn their heads toward Ren. Yang is the first to sound off.
"You should-"
"I will, don't worry. Just let me have a moment of peace first."
There's no harm in that. Everyone sympathizes, staying silent for a few seconds.
"Ren, you really shou-"
"I know, Pyrrha, I know." He finally gets up from his seat and walks after hear, silently praying that there will be no screaming or supercharged whacks before he gets there. Everyone else follows behind them, throwing their plates away in what is hopefully just blissful, and not also ignorance.
"Classes are going to be so boring!" Ruby yells out, being the last one to move.
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️
Unsurprisingly, the classes were very, very boring.
Except for one class: Sparring!
The instant the last bell rings for whatever irrelevant class comes before it, every student's eyes instantly morph from drooping down in a dance with sleep, to wide awake and shining brightly. Yes, even Jaune's, despite his Lion of a 0-16 record. Hopefully he doesn't get called today…
But even that thought is not in his mind right now, as he wears the same happy look as all the others. Maybe the classes were just that uninteresting. Regardless of the reason, he takes his seat in the spectator section. Yang and Pyrrha sit on each side of him, with Ruby and Blake flanking those two, and so on and so on. Nora and Ren are the last two in, forced to sit in the far corner. Not that Nora is particularly minding, as she is still feeling the effects from that early morning sugar rush. She bounces toward their seats without anyone paying a single morsel of attention. There's barely a second for some mindless chatter before Glynda calls for attention, instantly snapping everyone over.
"Alright class! The first match today will be between Pyrrha Nikos and Coco Adel! Come up to the stage please!"
Pyrrha shifts up from her seat, and walks straight in front of Jaune as she makes her way up. Jaune's deep blue eyes are following every step she takes. This fact is not lost on the resident Jokester of the Year sitting next to him, Yang Xiao Long, but she doesn't try anything. But it would be so, so wrong to say that this little weakness has not been saved in her mind for a more… effective time. Jaune can not see her lick her mouth like a shark spotting prey as he watches the two take their battle stances.
"Bring the best you've got, girl! 'Cause you're about to get rained on!" Coco's cool shades give her words an even harder punch, sending a few in the audience into laughter. On the other hand, Pyrrha seems to show no response whatsoever, her trademark smile not wavering for even a moment.
"Begin!"
Coco comes out swinging as she lands the first blow with a hail of bullets courtesy of Gianduja. Very few actually hit thanks to some expert shielding, but that semblance is already doing its work, pushing Pyrrha back out of javelin range. But being farther away means more range to avoid those bullets, as now not a single bullet manages to pierce her.
Coco gets more and more annoyed as Pyrrha continues to put on a show for the audience, dodging and shielding every bit of Dust that rockets her way. After about 30 seconds of complete failure, she has had way more than enough of this ranged battle. She grabs Gianduja with both hands and charges straight for her. Pyrrha shields her face and top half, but can not avoid the energetic fashion star forever, Akoúo and Gianduja meeting just inches away from Pyrrha's face. The arena explodes with a resounding *THUNK*, locking everyone's eyes on the fight if they weren't there already. The sheer weight of her handbag almost causes Pyrrha's arms to fold right then, but her raw grit and years of experience carries her through the storm.
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Man, she really is going all out for this...
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Pyrrha's brain can barely form coherent thoughts as she has to focus more on ducking under bullets, and steering clear of Coco's many, many minigun swings. With all this avoiding and not really much attacking to speak of, it looks like the fashionable coffee-drinker has the upper hand. Some of the less interested members of the audience have already begun to talk amongst themselves about her defeat. But the ones that know her best are still keeping their eyes glued to the arena, especially teams RWBY and JNR. They know the ace that's up her sleeve. And Coco is about to find out too.
️
A remnant of a missed bullet slowly begins to rise from the floor. Then another. More and more rise like the undead, breaking the shackles of gravity and rising into the air in the most terrifying patterns imaginable. Everyone's mouth drops open as their brains try to process a display of this magnitude.
This includes one of the disinterested parties, Russel Thrush, who just happened to look over at that exact time. His eyes warp in astonishment, and his hands immediately tapping Cardin several times on the shoulder.
"What the he-" That's all that Cardin gets out before he too is entranced by the stunning beauty that is raging in front of him.
Meanwhile, the little Gatling Pea that is the target of this zombified horde of bullets is seemingly unaware of its impending doom. She still chases Pyrrha around with her gun, completely oblivious to the hail gathering around her. She even fires a few more bullets, which only graze the floor before being added to the swarm. While gathering up every bullet she fires is really, really fun, eventually the fight has to reach an end. She redirects the swarm directly in front of Coco's face, taking delight when her eyes shrink to the size of pinholes. Gianduja clacks on the floor as her eyes take in the field of projectiles, all pointed directly at her now motionless form.
Her eyes flutter everywhere as she struggles to find a way out of this trap. They eventually land on magnetic lord herself, pleading at her not to continue with this. But today is not a day of mercy. Pyrrha's right hand balls into a fist, and at once the roaring sound of hundreds of bullets drowns out any other thoughts that anyone in the sparring class may have ever had. They crash into her like a bunch of little freight trains, quickly throwing her aura into the yellow, almost knocking her out in one move before Coco can run out of the way. The bullet rain follows just inches behind her, stretching around into a massive sheet, shrouding the arena. Everyone's eyes are magnetized to the arena now, some daring ones even eating out of a suspiciously placed bag of popcorn.
Coco can't even hear herself think over the constant wind surrounding her. She fires some more bullets while moving, only to be thrown further into shock as they immediately turn against her, shaping into another tendril of the foul beast. Coco dives under with the grace of a swan as the two converge together just barely above her head. After the dust clears from her vision, the only thing Coco can see is the piercing eyes of one Pyrrha Nikos glaring at her, those vibrant greens eating into the very fibre of her soul. The bullets close in behind her before she can move. All that is left is two huntresses, a badly damaged minigun, and a singular red javelin flying between them at breakneck speed. It lodges itself perfectly in the center of her chest, tearing through her clothes like butter. Coco's aura sinks into the red, and instantly, as if Pyrrha is psychic, all the bullets hanging in the air drop like rocks, clanging onto the floor in a cacophony of harsh hits. Everyone, even Glynda, has to cover their ears as the sounds all radiate through the room.
All in attendance eventually uncover their ears, mouths still wide open in astonishment. Coco lays motionless on the ground, but Pyrrha is already moving to pick her back up and take that javelin out from its comfy position between her breasts. Glynda takes her eyes off the fighters and looks at the final results screen:
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Coco Adel: 14%
Pyrrha Nikos: 61% ️≺WINNER≻️≻
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"The winner is Pyrrha Nikos!" She announces the victor as if there was not a titanic battle between the two just moments earlier.
Everyone is stunned silent for a few seconds, before slowly breaking out into massive amounts of cheering. Both fighters shake hands and smile at each other, clearly discarding what just happened in there as nothing more than fighters being fighters. The two go off the arena, both of them having the exact same thought:
Damn, my breasts feel weird.
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Halfway through their walks, they both get down to business making the necessary 'adjustments'.
While this is all going on, Yang looks over to her left and sees the best huntsman that is named Jaune in the entire academy fiddling around doing nothing of consequence. He's just begging to be teased! And the way to do it is right there, fruit so low-hanging that it's impossible for Yang to resist going after it. She leans into his ear with the best possible delivery already prepared...
"Don't look now, but Pyrrha's adjusting her boobs."
"Wher- a- I don't want to see that!" His eyes quickly betray him, though, stealing multiple glances at her armored chest.
"Pffft! You should see your face! Ahahahahaha!" Yang spirals into uncontrolled laughter, bringing the attention of the rest of his friends squarely onto them.
"Yang, what did you-" The look of pure embarrassment tells all that Blake could possibly need to know. "Oh no…"
"Oh yes! And it was so worth it!"
"Worth what?" Nora has flied over from her spot to join the rapidly expanding gathering.
"Ahahahahaha- oh, this is so good- ahahaha-haaaaaa!"
"Tell us, tell us!" Jaune really hops that's not who he's thinks he's hearing...
You too, Ruby? Jesus Christ my life is a joke…
This joke is about to get 69x funnier, though, as Pyrrha has finished her quick little pit stop and is now jogging over to join this little party.
"What's going on with Jaune?"
Everyone else parts for her like the Red Sea, giving her a perfect opening to face Jaune 1 on 1.
"Uhhhh… A little help, guys?" Jaune whispers to no one in particular.
"You've got this, Vomit Boy!" Yang whispers oh so encouraging words straight into his ear, being as helpful as a Yang could possibly be.
But let's be respectful. We don't need to see his life flashing before his eyes or anything. It would be so, so rude.
Pyrrha is too overpowered for her own good. And that's not just me writing her that way either. Polarity Manipulation is pretty much a cheat code for an uncountable number of obstacles in life. Maybe that's part of why they killed her off, to avoid her just being used as a solution for everything.
I'm not that good at fights. I would say I've improved since that other sparring class scene in that fic that shall not be named, but after actually writing it I'm not so sure... Or maybe I'm just overthinking again. That begs the question, though, why is half the chapter dedicated to one fight then? Really wish I knew how my mind worked.
Now the ball is starting to roll, so to speak. Not really fast right now, but oh boy, that won't be the case for too much longer.
I decided to throw in a reference to another cool game during the fight scene, one that I think at least some of you might get this time. It also has some connection to the other reference mentioned at the end of IWoSP, so there's that.
Last thing, I'm surprised this has 1k views already. I would be cliché as hell and say thanks from the bottom of my heart for all the support, I couldn't do this without you, yadda yadda yadda, but that would be a total lie.
It's still nice to have you all along for the journey though. :)