Ch. 28

"Lucky shot." That was all Cardin managed to utter before he collapsed. His entire team had been decimated by Pyrrha alone. Although, everyone expected this outcome from the world renown fighter herself.

"Well done Ms. Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," said Glynda.

"Thank you, professor," Pyrrha nodded.

"Alright. Now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one last sparring match. Any volunteers?" Glynda looked around, but no one even budged. So, she decided to pick someone. "Ms. Belladonna, you've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-."

"I'll do it," Mercury interrupted.

Glynda adjusted her glasses. "Mercury Black. Well, lets find you an opponent?"

"Actually, I'll take on Pyrrha. That is if she's ok with it," said Mercury.

"I'm afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished a matched," Glynda replied. "I recommend you choose another partner."

"No, it's fine," Pyrrha said, then turned to Mercury. "I'd be happy to oblige."

With the match set, Pyrrha and Mercury faced one another in the arena. No dimmed lights to add dramatic effect, just them. Mercury circled around Pyrrha before getting into fighting stance. Mercury struck first with a forward kick, which Pyrrha blocked with her shield. She swept under his legs and tripped him. Mercury landed on his back, but immediately spun back on his feet and did a few back flips to gain distance. Pyrrha charged forward this time with her shield up. Mercury retaliated with a barrage of simple kicks. Pyrrha blocked each attack, then shield bashed him when she found an opening.

"Hmm." The boy nodded to himself, assured of how tough his opponent was. He had been feeling her out, trying to get a handle on how Pyrrha fought.

"I should stop taking this battle so lightly. I am facing a world champ after all," he thought.

Mercury was the first to attack again. He started with an over head downward kick, which Pyrrha blocked, then followed up with a barrage of fast and wide horizontal kicks. His attacks became more aggressive, putting Pyrrha on the defensive. He continued to advance, not letting Pyrrha out of her defensive. His kicks came from the left, right, and above, but the last kick he aimed for her head…missed her, and lost his footing. He noticed something odd about that, especially since she held her hand out as if to guide his boot.

"That was odd? Her semblance maybe? Well if it is, then its time I used mine." Mercury stood up and repositioned himself. Pyrrha charged forward, but when she got close she immediately found herself falling over. She quickly regained her posture and put her shield up. Pyrrha was surprised at Mercury's newfound speed. She didn't even see the attack coming, it was like it instantly happened. She attacked again. This time she braced herself for anything, but Mercury appeared next to her and blasted her in the right abdomen with a shotgun shell from one of his boots. The bronze champion attempted to retaliate with her sword, maybe even use her semblance to slow him down, but it didn't work out as planned. She found herself getting launched by a kick to the chin, then another in the gut. Pyrrha tumbled backward before gaining some footing.

"How is he moving so fast? I can't see him at all. Does his semblance deal with speed like Ruby's?" Pyrrha questioned.

She would have to figure it out quick if she wanted to win this little match. She decided to wait this time, keep herself on the defensive and learn more. Mercury jumped into the air, firing several blasts at the bronze champion. Pyrrha blocked all of them with her shield, then parried an overhead kick with her sword. She used the recoil of her sword's rifle barrel to make it briefly extend into spear form for a fast jab. Once again Mercury outpaced her and kicked her shield away. Pyrrha instinctively rushed with her sword, but Mercury slipped past her and hit her with an unbelievably fast barrage of kicks until her aura ran low. Pyrrha knelt on one knee in defeat.

"Mercury Black is the victor of the match. Nice performance Mr. Black," said Glynda. "Defeating Ms. Nikos is no easy feat. You are also qualifiable for the tournament."

"Thanks madam," Mercury replied.

"That is all for today. And remember the dance is this weekend, but you all have your next mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses," Glynda commanded.

"Sorry if it felt like I was doing too much. I thought that since you were using your semblance, then I should too." Mercury helped Pyrrha to her feet, then picked up her shield and handed it to her.

"You could tell? What is your semblance anyway? I tried to figure it out, but couldn't," Pyrrha told him.

Mercury whispered in the redhead's ear. His answer caused her eyes to widen. "I know, it seems unreal but that's what it is. Well, my team's waiting for me. See ya later champ."

Mercury walked off and joined the rest of his team and KAJE.

"You beat a world-renowned fighter Merc. Nice," Jurano said.

"Thanks dude. I didn't expect to have to use my semblance though. I wanted to keep it a surprise," Mercury replied.

"She would've lost either way, in my opinion," Emerald added.

"What is your semblance though?" Emma asked, her curiosity spiked.

"I'll tell you later. First, you should go say hi to SSSN." Mercury pointed forward towards Sun and Neptune, who were also accompanied by Sage and Scarlet.

"Hey! Hey! Hey monkey boy!" Abaddon yelled, but Sun didn't hear him as the boy's attention was currently on Blake as she passed by.

"He's going after his girlfriend bruh," Jurano joked. "Let's talk to Neptune instead. Yo Neptune!"

At the sound of his name being called, Neptune turned their way. He waved for them to come closer. KAJE promised to see team MNCE later and joined Neptune at his request.

"What's up guys? How's it goin?" Neptune asked.

"Eh. Same old, same old. Just finished combat class," Jurano said.

"Although, not everyone got to fight today," Abaddon whined.

"Maybe if you hadn't fallen asleep like Blake did then you could've fought Pyrrha in Mercury's place," Kathleen told him.

"Sun was talking about that too. She hasn't been the same since that night we went out into Vale," Neptune added.

"Yeah, the mission Abby left us behind on." Emma jumped on Abaddon's back and started messing around with his ears.

"Hey, hey, if you wanna play with someone, go climb on Sage. He could use some attention," Abaddon said.

"No thank you. I'm allergic to cat hair." The others chuckled at Sage's joke. Emma stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, you guys ready for the dance?" Sage asked.

"Don't know, I haven't chosen a dress yet. And Emma will need help with hers because she's indecisive," Kathleen said. "But I do have a date in mind."

"And I haven't asked Velvet yet. I have to wait until she gets back from her latest mission," Jurano added.

"What about you Abaddon?" Scarlet asked.

"Haven't really been concerned about it. I'm probably going with Emma. At our old school she would ask either one of us or one of her close female friends cause she didn't trust any of the boys there," Abaddon told them.

"Why not?" Neptune wondered. "They weren't cool enough, were they?"

"Its not that. She just had a bad relationship experience in her early years at Altair academy," Abaddon said. "Don't worry about it though, it's all good. Well, it was nice talking to you guys. See you later."

"Later man." Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet all waved before KAJE left for the dorms.

"Hey Abbs, guess what time it is?" Jurano asked as they walked.

"What? Oh, is it bro time?" Abaddon guessed.

"Hell yeah! I'll meet you at the next dropship to Vale alright!" Jurano ran ahead to the landing pads.

"Now I gotta go make a fool of myself." Abaddon pulled Emma off his back. "I'll see you girls back at our dorm tonight."

"Please don't get arrested," Kathleen requested.

Abaddon smirked. "No promises."

XXXXXXX

Somewhere deep in the emerald forest…

"It's not here sir. The energy trail ends here," said an Atlesian trooper.

"Well that's unfortunate," said Ironwood.

He and a small group of troops had been following an energy trail through the emerald forest. It led them to the remains of an old dust factory, another grim reminder of Vale's expansion plan. They managed to close off the area and brought in a squad of Atlesian knight-200s, or AK 200s, along with two paladins to help dig through the rubble. Once most of the debris had been cleared, Ironwood was surprised to see a hole already dug into the basement floor along with a path leading into a cave. Although, finding the cave empty only proved his suspicion that someone had been there before they did.

"Another trail running cold. This is very troubling. Who could've taken this fragment? My thoughts usually point towards the White Fang, but to be so far ahead feels too quick for them. Maybe, the vigilante? It could be, but that man has been gone for 3 years now. If he is collecting fragments as well, then I'll have to deal with him too." Ironwood continued to ponder for a while until another soldier caught his attention.

"Sir, anything else you need us to do?" the trooper asked.

"Our objective isn't here, but their may be some valuables among the rubble. Salvage what you can onto the airships, then we'll depart," Ironwood told him.

"And what will we do about the situation concerning the Amity Coliseum? Don't the operatives need help? And what about Melanie?" the trooper continued.

"I am aware of your worries soldier. Do not worry, and please, get back to your duties," Ironwood replied. "I will be sure to fix all our problems in due time."