Alright! We're hopping into the next chapter, why? Cause one after the other is fun to do! That, and this is mostly a fight chapter. Also, if you think that this fight is going to be one-sided…. Heh, you're funny.
Also, mandatory plug [Sorry FF and Wattpad readers, check BIO]
Now, with that out of the way, let's jump into responses to reviews/comments.
[Response to reviews/comments]
(Qoutev) JammyJam: Nah, I'd never kill off Akane! Well… Not yet, anyway :) Nah, Jk… Unless…
(Qoutev) hello: Hello, hello. How are you doing? Nice username! Really comical, truly! Glad to see someone read my story in real-time (as I'm writing this, anyway.) As for your thing with Junko and her abusive family life…. Yeah, that's pretty much canon as far as I'm concerned. I don't like the whole bored with the world thing, so I changed it. I just hope I see you comment more as time goes on!
(Ao3) Spearow: First of all, Fletchling is the superior bird in Pokemon. Your username is wrong. A-hem, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened there. Anywho, the answer to that is… yes. I mean, one of the tags is Out-of-Wack power scaling. What did you expect?
Now, let's move on, shall we? Onto the chapter!
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[Full-third person POV]
The sun was just rising above the tree line, casting down a golden light on an open field surrounded by trees, and several other campers. Muttering and whispers echoed throughout the grassy plain as two high school students from Hope's Peak Academy stood across from one another.
One was a brown-skinned woman with short dark-brown hair, and hazel brown eyes; wearing a white button-down shirt with a rather… busty chest, to say the least. She was also wearing a short red skirt, black ankle socks, and black flat-bottom shoes.
The second student was a pale-skinned, black and pink-haired teen with emerald green eyes, wearing a black hoodie, grey baggy sweatpants, and black dress shoes.
These two students were Akane Owari: The Ultimate Gymnast, and Jolyne Brooks: The Ultimate Magician on record, and The Ultimate Mage within her classroom.
Jolyne stood across from Akane, getting into a general stance as did Akane. Both had gleams in their eyes, one with determination and dread, while the other was filled with excitement. The dual-haired teen had very little prep time, and as such, she was nervous, reasonably so. Akane was a rather powerful opponent, and as such Jolyne had to take this seriously.
This was the first time that she was fighting someone with equal time to prepare, and were on the same ground in terms of readiness. Meaning that she had to get creative. Jolyne was being barred from using long-ranged attacks, as well as using Whitesnake. However, she wasn't barred from using melee spells, or simply coating her hands in fire and using them as boxing gloves.
And while that was a perfectly good strategy, using that wouldn't be a good defence. So, she used something else. Something more practical. Rolling up both her sleeves up to the elbow, Jolyned dragged her fingernails across her right arm, drawing blood as she formed Bear Claw over both of her arms. Akane narrowed her eyes at this, balling her hands into fists.
"Oi, I thought you said no magic!" Akane shouted as Nekomaru, the mediator of the sparring match, shook his head.
"She said no ranged magic! This is fine!" Nekomaru declared. Akane cracked her neck from side to side, huffing.
"Alright then," the gymnast replied, picking her right ear. "Won't matter anyway! I'll still win this!" Akane said, a smirk on her face. And then, that smirk increased as she got into a fighting stance. "Come on! I'm ready whenever you're ready, Jolyne!" Akane declared as Jolyne stood there, not responding to anything, only narrowing her eyes. A few seconds passed as the rest of Class 77 – B gathered in the distance, murmurs rippling throughout the class as a few of them dawned worried expressions.
"S-Should we are letting them do t-this? T-They could get seriously hurt!" Mikan stammered as Hiyoko scoffed.
"Pft! Quit your whining! I want to see this! I got all my bets on Akane! Without her ranged crap, the mage is trash!" The temperamental blonde quipped. There was a silent agreement forming throughout the rest of the class, with one notable exception.
"Hmph. You are all downplaying the witch. She is much stronger than she looks. You all saw her back at the school, correct? Despite being riddled with bullet wounds, the witch was durable enough to keep fighting even after that. I cannot discount the feral beast, either, but my point stands. Both are skilled in their own right, but we shall see," Gundham stated as a silent scoff rang throughout the crowd.
The source? Nagito. "Akane is far more talented than that faker. Who cares Gundham somehow has magic. He still has his talent. The magic is a bonus. Akane will surely defeat and maybe even get rid of the "magician" before the day's end! Then hope can continue to thrive in this class!"
"You seem really confident in that claim, Gundham. What makes you think that?" Chiaki asked, a curious expression on her face as she tilted her head. Gundham scoffed, crossing his arms as a smirk appeared on his face.
"The witch has earned my respect. A feat most Gods are unable to do. Not only that, but my ice is strong enough to cover running rapids. If she can break that, I can safely declare that Akane has once again found an opponent that is far beyond her strength!" Gundham declared as Hiyoko made a repulsed face.
"Gah! He's talking stupid again! Can someone make him shut up? It's embarrassing!"
As the class of 77 – B prepared themselves for a sight to behold, the two combatants were staring each other down. Neither made a move as the wind stagnated. And then, as Akane's left finger twitched, the down launched at one another. When that happened, the ground cracked and made the campsite shake. Those nearby had to balance themselves as a shockwave rippled through the dust, blowing it in every direction. The cause of this? Akane's fist meeting Jolyne's gauntlet.
"NOT BAD!" Akane shouted, a grin on her face as Jolyne smirked. Disengaging, the Gymnast followed up the punch with a sweeping kick, to which Jolyne jumped over, only barely avoiding it. Mid-air, Jolyne slung a kick in the direction of Akane's head, only for the Gymnast to grab her ankle as it was moments away from hitting her face.
Narrowing her eyes, Akane went to slam Jolyne into the ground, only for the dual-haired teen to use that momentum against the Gymnast. When her gauntleted hand slammed into the ground, causing the ground to crack further, she used gravity against the teen to lift Akane off of her feet and into the air.
However, Akane saw this coming, and using her Gymnastic skill, she let go of Jolyne's ankle, leaped up into the air, and spun in the air. "Ha! You're gonna have to do better than that to—" Akane wasn't allowed to finish as a foot kicked into her gut. Akane coughed up saliva as her eyes widened. While she was spinning in the air, Jolyne had used the momentum from the toss to push herself upwards and just barely above Akane, allowing her to land the first real hit!
A massive shockwave shook the sky and trees, making those watching have to brace themselves.
"What the hell is going on?!" One of the campers called out.
"Two Ultimates are fighting! This truly is a site to behold!" Another camper called out, whipping out their phone to record the action.
Akane hit the ground with a sharp thud, the ground cracking as a result, mounds of dirt uplifting with large chunks of ground. Jolyne reorientated herself mid-air, rearing back her right fist as she frowned. "Years of watching Action Anime, don't fail me now!" Jolyne thought as she came closer to Akane. The Gymnast leaped off the ground and away from the impact zone as Jolyne's fist slammed into the ground.
When it hit, the ground shook once again, shooting up clouds of dust and rock. Using the dust as a cover, Akane jumped back into the fight and blindsided Jolyne with a right-spinning kick. Jolyne tumbled out of the way, narrowing her eyes before springing upward, catching the next kick as her claws dug into Akane's ankle. The Gymnast grit her teeth, freeing herself from Jolyne's grasp.
"Damn, you made me bleed! Nice!" Akane said as Jolyne narrowed her eyes. "But if you think that'll stop me, you're insane!" Akane shouted, stomping on the ground as a good chunk of it ripped out of the ground. Picking up the hunk of grass, dirt, and rock, she hurled it toward Jolyne. The dual-haired teen recoiled her arm back, and with a downward slash, she cut the rock in five even strips. As the strips of ground fell away, she was greeted with a foot to the face, making Jolyne's eyes widen.
The kick was strong enough to send Jolyne flying backward, past Class 77 – B and toward a tree. Hitting the ground, she rolled at blinding speeds, her hoodie getting torn up in the process, bouncing off the ground before coming to a screeching halt at the base of the tree, hitting with enough impact to get the tree to shatter into pieces.
Jolyne spat out saliva mixed with blood as it dripped into her mouth from her forehead and a broken nose. Out of the corner of Jolyne's eye was a health bar, showing that Akane had done 300 damage, dropping her to 50 health. Jolyne coughed as she slowly stood, bracing for another attack as Jolyne narrowly blocked a punch.
"HA! THIS IS WICKED! NOT EVEN COACH CAN GET ME THIS WORKED UP!" Akane shouted as Jolyne glared through the blood. She had to do something, seeing as if she got hit one more time, she was done for. So, using Blood Control to harden the blood to stop the bleeding and begin the slow regeneration, she smirked, confusing Akane. "Huh? What's with the—"
Akane didn't finish asking her question as her pre-emptive answer was given to her with a swift punch to the gut, making Akane double over. Jolyne wasn't down for the count yet, not by a long shot. Winding her leg back, she kicked the Gymnast in the chest, sending her upward into the sky above the trees.
"Whoa! Look that! Brooks sent Akane flying!" Ryota shouted, his eyes wide as Nagito's face became adorned with nothing but a mixture of contempt and fear.
Jolyne followed up the kick by joining Akane in the sky, recoiling her right fist back as she slugged the Gymnast in the face with a quick right hook, then with a left hook to the chest, then with another right uppercut to the jaw, followed up with a flurry of quick jabs at blinding speeds, each punch drawing more and more blood from the Gymnast.
Jolyne had no idea where this speed was coming from, but she had to assume it came from her want to survive, and the adrenaline. As for Akane, her mind was a mess. The mage didn't look like much of a fighter, but then again nor did Chiaki when she kicked Teruteru across the classroom when the aphrodisiac incident occurred.
Remembering that incident, Akane went to stop what appeared to be a final punch, only to realize far too late that it had been a fake out. She was greeted with an axe kick to the chest, sending her to the ground at rapid speed. Jolyne followed the momentum of the kick, rapidly stomping on her on the way down as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "URRRRYYYYYAAAAAA!"
The warcry echoed throughout the campsite as the combatants narrowly reached the ground before Jolyne pushed off the Gymnast, sending her into the ground before she herself hit the floor. When Akane hit the floor, blood followed with the massive shockwave, sprinkling the grounds as it rained down with dirt and rocks.
Mikan rushed over to the fighters, as did Nekomaru, who was making a dead sprint for them as well. A massive dust cloud blocked their vision, unable to make out what was going on. Fists were still flying through the plume of smoke, however, just as Nekomaru reached them, one fist impaled one of the other people, making his eyes wide.
"NO!" Nekomaru shouted, jumping into the dust cloud as Mikan came to a halt, gasping. The rest of the class caught up to them, and what they saw made their eyes widen.
It was Jolyne… who had been impaled on the fist of Akane, who was just as wide-eyed as everyone else. "Holy shit…! I- I didn't mean to—"
"WITCH!" Gundham called as he ran toward the two fighters. Jolyne fell limply to the ground, her eyes wide in shock.
Jolyne blinked. This was not how this was supposed to end. This couldn't be. She just barely began her journey! She didn't want to die again! Dying sucked, horribly so!
"What the hell was that noise?" A calm voice that Jolyne barely recognized came from her right. It fell into the background like all the other voices. Until one came to the forefront of them all.
"It seemeth as if…. thee art dying. Well, this is a bummer. I'd misprise for thee to kicketh the bucket so early… that would beest quite boring, wouldn't t? They're trying to save thee, thee knoweth that? Rantaro Amami is using his healing magic on thee right now as we speaketh! coequal that Nagito Komaeda knave who hates thy guts is thither. Daimen hath toldeth me a lot about thee, thee knoweth. Hmm…. thee interest me, Jolyne Brooks. thy time hath not yet arrived, for now…. Rest."
And then everything faded to black.
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[Jolyne Brooks]
She didn't know how much time passed after that. After her fight with Akane, that was. She didn't even know if she was alive, and if she was, how. Akane had impaled her, depleting her health bar. After that, all she remembered was a deep voice speaking to her, telling her how everyone was trying to save her life. It said something about how"Now was not her time" and then after that… nothing.
So if she was alive, did that mean….
[Fight, Fight Fight]
Quest: Failed
Punishment distributed: Minus 5000 yen.
.
[The Student and The Master]
Quest: Complete
While you were in your coma, Gundham perfected Icicle Spear within the time limit.
Rewards Distributed.
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LEVEL UP! LEVEL INCREASED FROM LV. 12 to LV. 13!
[Name: Jolyne Brooks: Ultimate Mage – Age: 16 – Class: Renegade – Level: 13 – Faction: World Ender/Remnants of Despair – Race: Human]
Stats:
HP: 375
Stamina: 375
Mana: 201
Atk: 40
Mg Atk: 80
Def: 40
Mg Def: 85
Endurance: 40
Int: 20
Crit: 6.1
Crit Def: 6.1
Mg Crit: 13
Charisma: 6
Faith: 0
Luck: 3
Karma: 70 (Evil), 1 (Neutral), 2 (Good)
HP Regen: 3.9 per second
Stamina Regen: 3.9 per second
Mana Regen: 8 per second
Currency: 1,780 Yen
Class Bonus: Deal Extra Damage to those who sided with the Future Foundation and other Ultimate Students.
Title Bonus: As the Ultimate Mage, all of your magic stats (Mana, Mg Atk, Mg Def, Mg Crit) have doubled. However, your attack and Defense stats have lost 30% of their normal upgrade. (+3 instead of +5)
Exp till next level: 3,751
"Well… that answers my question…." Jolyne thought as she slowly came to. She had lived, somehow. She could hear the sound of machinery working overtime; a heart monitor, probably. She could hear her breathing, so she must've had a breathing mask on.
"Just how long has it been…?" Jolyne thought, trying to open her eyes, though it was beginning to prove to be harder than it usually was. She couldn't even summon Whitesnake. She didn't know why she couldn't, but she had to assume it was because of her being drained and too damn tired to do so.
"Ensure that she survives. I need her for my plan to work, damnit!" A voice that Jolyne did not recognize even in the slightest reverberated in what she had to assume was the hospital room. Now she had to open her eyes. If she was in a room with an unknown, that unknown needed to stop being an unknown, now.
Her eyes slowly began to open, straining as light flooded into them. A shadow loomed over her. The shape of the figure was feminine with large twin ponytails on either side of the figure's head. "Oh? Well, look who's waking up? Puhuhuhu…. Well, I can't have you see me just yet. Tell ya what, Brooks. Meet me at the top of the roof in two weeks from now. There, we will discuss things. Until then, sweet dreams~!"
A sharp pinprick feeling made itself known throughout her body as she winced, then fell back into her sleep.
-To be Continued in – Hope's Peak Elementary Division – Part 1-
Not how you were expecting that to end, huh? Also, this is by far the shortest chapter in the whole story if we're discounting the prologue. And, as you all can see, by the name of the chapter title for the next chapter, we're ditching the camp and moving onward to the plot of the story.
By the way, this was the first real fight scene I've written in a while. Gotta say I think I did a pretty good job.
Welp, till next time. Peace!
