Wait, it's been how long since I've updated? Looks at calendar Um, yeeeah. My bad, life just gets in the way. Plus side, this chapter is almost 9k, sooo gotta love more content. Anyways, enjoy. Btw, when you're reading, let me know if Nora sounds too much like Junko Enoshima. Wasn't trying to go that far, but if she does, then hey that's another potential fandom I can write for.
Guess who's live, it's chapter five! This story's alive, ain't no way it goin to an archive!
Gunshots echoed in the air. The clang of a metal rapier bouncing off its target followed. The shimmering of one's ability being brought into the world by their will to aid them appeared. Feminine cries then rang out, one promising satisfying retribution and the other full of pure excitement. However, their spirits were equally as heated in their glorious clash of wills. That wasn't the end though. Soon after, began the real show of combat. The two furious warriors were practically destroying their stage with the powerful impact of their attacks. Each of them had their own reason for being in this fight, but there could only be one winner.
Was it to be given to the berserker who wielded flaming fists? She was a strong, confident Huntress who lived for the thrill of battle. She fought using her martial arts taught to her by a legendary womanizing chad with her gauntlets that were able to unleash mighty shells at almost any range. Her strength was fearsome indeed, able to knock out even the sturdiest of men with a single blow. Seeing her in her natural element, you could only compare the unrelenting fighter as that of a furious dragon! Her raw and intimidating might practically shook the earth every time she made contact similar to the mythical, overwhelming strength of the beasts of legend. Her flaming aura aided the image with her ability creating an inferno around her form as her anger went wild. Finally, her gauntlets let her move through the air and ground faster than any vehicle, giving her control and reach over every domain as any fearsome tyrant should be able to.
Currently, it looked like she was in the lead with how aggressive her attacks were, leaving no time for her opponent to think, let alone breath. She was delivering strong jabs, followed by hefty hooks, and sometimes a shot from her weapons to mix it up, but never aiming at the same part to keep her prey guessing where she was going to strike. The strong devoured the weak. Those at the top all enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. This fearsome dragon had a crazed grin that was full of bloodlust, fights were just full of thrills! That grin was wiped away when she took another step, and was promptly sent flying back. She had forgotten something important.
The dragon-like berserker wasn't fighting some third rate weakling. The challenger was someone equally as skilled, but where the berserker was as hot as the sun, this Huntress was as cold as a glacier. She was a sorceress with a heart made of ice, but a mind so cold and cunning that she made all feel helpless against her. She fought using a rapier, and while this was lethal and she was skilled fighting with it, her main strength was her mastery over Nature's Wrath. She was able to command every element known to a frightening degree both for blunt strikes and subtle lures to terrifying traps. It was akin to fighting the planet itself, and that wasn't hard enough, there was the strongest tool to aid her. Her Glyphs. The reason as to why she is a sorcerer, and not an alchemist. Manipulating the elements is a known science to all, but her ability given only to that of her bloodline and gives them incredible magic. It could only be called that with all it can do. She can speed up time, move faster, create shields and platforms alike. Her arsenal was powerful and could overwhelm inferior combatant with ease.
That was not the case now as the two warriors still were fighting hard to claim victory. The berserker charged in with a discharge from her gauntlets, raring a hefty right hook to obliterate her opponent. The sorceress wasn't going to let her succeed. She quickly constructed an icy wall twice her height to stop the blow. The berserker scoffed at the weak barrier and demolished it like a meteor, ready to send another blow at her opponent. What she found on the other side surprised her as there was no sign of the sorcerer. Her surprise turned into anguish as a sharp thrust was made into the center of her back, forcing her to let out a cry of pain.
That wasn't the end though. The berserker was pushed onto a black Glyph in front of her from the force, in front of her was her foe standing on a golden Glyph with a spinning clock shining in the center. Immediately, the effects were clear with the golden dragon moving slower while the ice witch was readying her next attack almost instantaneously. The fist fighter had wasted no time getting to her feet, ready to dodge, but it wasn't enough. The white huntress unloaded a barrage of thrusts with the tip of her rapier coated in ice like an arrowhead to deal extra damage.
The berserker wasn't one to go out without a fight, and fired her gauntlets at her opponents head. The tactic worked, as she blocked the shot with her rapier which allowed the golden Huntress to escape from both the attack and the Glyph. While she hadn't been stuck long, the sorceress still managed to unleash a huge amount of blows, leaving a significant dent in her aura. But it wasn't enough to finish her, that meant it was time for her ability to be unleashed. The berserker roared, her golden mane burning like wildfire from how fiery her aura was. Her eyes were equally as heated as they turned a bright crimson. She was ready to end this.
The sorceress refused to back down. Her eyes narrowed, she lifted her trusted sword, and readied her stance. She conjured a storm of Glyphs around her, all ready to help in delivering her ultimate strike. This moment would decide if all. A clash of fire and ice. A fight so legendary that all would tell their descendants for ages to come. A climax that would be a spectacle like no other. An ending so epic, so bloody, so sweet that it would-"
"Nora, what are you doing?"
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The ginger paused and blinked. Woah! She had been in deep! She had been describing the fight they were watching in class to practice her storytelling, and she was killing it! Until somebody had to go and ruin her fun. She was right at the end too! She turned to see who the totally uncool person was messing with her mojo.
Narrowed teal eyes met curious pink. Ah, of course! Nora should have known. Yup! The wet blankets of all wet blankets was the culprit! Her trusted, buzzkilling partner was staring at her, probably waiting for an answer to his question. Ha! What a silly goose! He made the mistake of messing with the queen, now he must suffer the consequences.
With a childish huff, High Queen of Pancakes Nora Valkyrie crossed her arms and pouted. It was truly legendary. Take that! She didn't have to pay attention to him at all, or answer his dumb question. Check and mate! There wasn't anything he could do, she was the harbinger of chaos, a storm of uncontrollable energy! He couldn't get her to do anything!
"Nora, what is it you were doing? I know you heard me this time, so it'd be nice if you could give me an answer." No way buster! She wasn't going to say a peep! The ultimate buzzkill had other ideas. Ren exhaled softly while he leaned back in his seat, and spread his body to get more comfortable. "Fine. If you don't want to say anything, then that's fine by me. I'll just sit here quietly, minding my own business. Seems a lot easier than getting you to talk."
Huh. Huuuuh! That was it?! He wasn't going to keep trying? He wasn't going to plead and beg for his queen's attention?! Weeell, that was good. Now she could get back into her storytelling groove! With that thought, Nora tried to get back into it, and pay attention to the fight. Unfortunate for her that it was easier said than done.
Nora had forgotten two crucial facts. She had the attention span of a kid seeing the world while hopped up on Beo Party Powder for the first time. The second being that Nora was a total attention hog, so her best friend, who she's known for forever, now ignoring her might cause minor problems for Nora.
Nora directed her eyes back to match happening in the arena and stared. And stared. And kept staring. Rather than going back into the zone, she was now engaging in a one woman staring contest, or in other words, her doing something meaningless and looking stupid in the process. Why? Where did all her mojo go? Maybe it was how she was sitting? With that in mind, Nora changed her position to have her left ankle go on her right knee while tapping her foot quickly. Feeling no change, she then moved to planting both feet back on the ground while her hands clutched her knees. She then moved again, but now was upside down with legs over the back of the seat. With increasing irritation, she finally changed one last time to a criss cross applesauce position with her body swaying sideways impatiently. Nora was getting fed up with how long this was taking. However, the truth was that all of this was done in less than a minute.
Nora sneaked a glance back at the lazy excuse for a ninja beside her. It was just to check to see if the silly guy had fallen asleep, definitely no other reason. What she glimpsed out of the corner of her eye was her partner still in the exact same spot, wide awake, and paying close attention to the match below. Grrrr. There's no way she would talk to him, that'd be admitting defeat! Nora knew this was somehow all part of his diabolical plan... Maybe she could get her trusted Fearless Leader to bail her out, he was like the master of evil plans!
This time Nora looked at the other seat beside her to see her favorite blonde. Unfortunately, the dum-dum was curled up in the fetal position on top of two seats, snoozing away without a care in the world. What the what! Usually Combat class is where Jaune-Jaune paid the most attention, always on the lookout for new fighting styles and plans to learn and steal, more evidence of his diabolical nature. Was it Opposite Day?! Both Ren and Jaune were acting completely out of character, these aren't their assigned traits! Gasp! What about Pyrrha, was she going to start acting funky too?
The last member of Team JNPR was next to their fallen leader, gently petting his hair to provide some form of comfort. She had been looking down at Jaune's face with a sweet smile, but lifted her head suddenly to meet the ginger's stare. From there, Pyrrha just did what was natural for her: wave and with her brightest smile, sing "Hello again!" Nora blinked in response, and then mimicked her gal pal's action. "Hey Pyrrha!" Nora joyfully exclaimed. So Pyrrha was still the same, that meant it wasn't Opposite Day after all. Hmmm. Hmmm. So why was Jaune being such a lazy butt then? Ughhh, forget it. She'll ask him later.
With a huge sigh, Nora decided to just pay attention to the fight again. Annnnnd now she remembered why she needed her Fearless Leader in the first place. The fight was boring as hell, Weiss was going to launch a fireball there, Yang would dodge and throw a haymaker back. She had seen all of this before. Wait a pancake flipping minute! She had really seen this before, it all happened the same way she envisioned in her story! That had never happened before! This was Le-gend-ary! She could totally see the future, she had to tell Ren!
Nora burst out of her seat, and moved in close to her partner, bypassing the annoying thing people called 'personal space.' "Ren! Ren! Guess what, guess what!" She exclaimed excitedly.
Unseen to Nora's eyes, the corner of Ren's lips quirked upwards. He turned his head to her, and calmly replied. "Yes Nora, what is it?"
Nora's body was shaking with eagerness to reveal her newfound ability. Practically every atom in her body was vibrating, waiting to absolutely knock her partner's socks off! Like the explosions she so lovingly uses, her answer erupted out of her body. "I can see the future!"
To her disappointment, Ren did not look like his socks were blown off. The only sign of his reaction was a lifted eyebrow. Boo! "Oh really, can you explain to me how? Sounds like a pretty cool trick."
Nora reeled back, as if she had been struck by a stinging blow. "A trick? No, my naive, simple minded subject." She dramatically brought a hand to her chest and preened, like a smug noblewoman. "This is one hundred percent, all natural, all mystifying, all stupefying, jaw shattering, world breaking, universe shaking, pantry dropping real! For you see, this amazing power comes from my greatest talent: storytelling!"
Ren blinked slowly in response to her statement. "Please elaborate." He politely asked.
Hoh hoh hoh! Hook, line and sinker! Now, he was interested. "To keep my incredible skills sharp, I needed some practice, so I decided to try and commentate on the fight." She started off her super epic explanation. "You know, be like an announcer and stuff, describing their attacks with my flair and pizzaz. But then, being like the awesome queen I am, I got into it reeeal deep and transcended to a new level: The Chronicle Zone. There is where stories come to life! I was describing the fight, it's setting, the characters to an unheard of level that I knew the fight so well, I could see exactly how it'd progress before it even happened. I had already known the ending before it even got halfway done!"
How was that for mind blowing? That was totally going to get him to freak out! While Nora wasn't able to see Ren's jaw totally hit the floor in awe, she did get to see his eyes widen and both eyebrows rise. Yesss! "As amazing as that sounds, can you prove it to me?" He still questioned.
How could he still doubt her awesomeness?! Oh well, she'll make him eat his words! "You betcha! See, look at Weiss." Nora's tone suddenly did a one eighty as she went into her 'Narrator Mode.' She spoke slowly as if she were in a trance, but her words were strong and verbose. "The ice witch will aim for a thrust at the berserker's chest, but it'll be deflected by her gauntlets. Then a dust shell will go flying into the witch in retaliation! Afterwards, the blazing dragon will unleash a series of blows to corner her opponent, but the sorceress will put a stop to it with her icicle lance from the Glyph hiding on the ground."
True to her words, and to Ren's shock, the events happened exactly like Nora predicted. "Huh, you were right. Never should have doubted you." While Ren was shaking his head in slight disbelief, Nora was looking extremely smug, well deserved in her opinion, and was just soaking up the attention and that she proved that she was completely and one hundred percent right!
But then the wet blanket decided to open his mouth again, and ruin the queen's fun like usual. "Guess that explains what you were doing earlier." He mused. Nora froze immediately. "Even if it took some time, thanks for finally answering my question." Ren said with a smirk.
Nora did the next reasonable thing. She collapsed onto her seat, and hugged her knees. Then she fell onto her side, and groaned. AAARRRRGGGHHH! How could this happen?! She was supposed to ignore him until he was on his knees begging, but instead she went ahead and just blabbed everything out like Ruby when she has a secret! Ren was absolutely evil, this was undeniable proof! This was all Jaune-Jaune's fault! Where was her Fearless Leader in her time of need?! Snoozing his sexy butt away, and not doing his job in saving her!
Turning her attention back onto the match to ignore her partner for a completely different reason this time, she decided to look at the outskirts. There was the man-killer professor and her new assistant. Man, he looked really miserable. Like a zombie, but without any of the cool parts of being an undead, it seemed like he would rather be dead. Well, it made her glad that somebody's day was worse than hers.
Silver lining, aw yeah!
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Cloud suddenly felt really pissed off.
Normally, that wouldn't be anything weird, he used to get pissed all the time. Usually it happened because of either Jaune or Sephiroth, sometimes Yuffie too, but she just made him annoyed, not the blood popping rage he got from those two. This time felt random, like somebody had just mocked him from afar. Weird, and a total pain too. At least it made a nice distraction from this boring ass fight.
He rubbed his eyes. Cloud had already known from sparring against that kid for his interview, but these newbie monster hunters were... If Barret was here, he'd call them amateurs, but would love how much they use guns and explosions. If it was Tifa, she'd say they still had the kids' gloves on and needed some harder training. Now if it was Drunk Tifa, she'd call them a bunch of cocksuckers that didn't know shit on how to throw a real punch, or felt what it was like to shit yourself at fighting a giant ass monster. For Cloud, all he had to say was that they were trash.
It was like seeing how Jaune fought back when they first met. All flash and no substance. Sure they had power behind them and some level of skill, but that was it. Well, it made sense considering the level of monsters they had to fight. For ordinary people, the Creatures of Grimm were probably the scariest sight they would ever see and a nightmare to fight. For him, the average Grimm was on the level of a second class SOLDIER, the stronger ones like alphas were midway between first and second class, but this strength only applied to packs. Fighting an individual Grimm was something a third class could do easily. They just didn't compare back to what he fought with on Midgar, at least from what he knows.
There was another thing too. These kids hadn't ever been in a real fight, he could tell. Or at least enough times to really grow and feel the shadow of death over their shoulders when fighting a stronger enemy that was ready to kill you. Most of them had been fighting in these practice matches, or facing off against weaker opponents their whole life in a safe place, and it showed in how rough their techniques were. That forcefield of theirs didn't really help either when it kept that safety net in the back of their heads. He bet they probably never trained in fighting even when their Aura ran out. Just like Jaune.
So yeah, they were trash.
But that was just the kids, the professionals were probably a lot stronger and could give him a good fight, but then that'd just raise some questions he wouldn't want to answer, or know how to without sounding batshit bonkers. Since his 'students' weren't up to snuff, he'll have to go back to his usual punching bag to get his blood pumping.
It didn't help that he was feeling all kinds of tired and shitty from yesterday's torture. He definitely didn't get enough sleep despite passing out right away when they got back to the room. Seriously, it was like when he was back in basic training for the Shinra infantry. That was a time he didn't want to go through even if the adventures he'd been through more recently were way way more life threatening.
A loud bang brought his attention back to the spar. He saw Blonde Tifa and the other one knocked to the floor, both looking extremely exhausted. Oh yeah, those two did look like they were doing a classic final attack showdown. Their Aura meters were both at zero and with both of them down, it was a draw in his eyes. His new boss seemed to think the same.
"The match is over. Both combatants have run out of Aura and have collapsed, therefore there is no decisive victor." She announced. The two on the ground suddenly were floating in the air and now facing them, must be the professor's Semblance. "For Ms. Schnee, I have to commend you on your improvements in your control of the battlefield. You were able to guide your opponent to where you wanted them, and were able to disrupt their attacks before they overwhelmed. However, you were hasty today as well as more aggressive than usual, and while that can give you an advantage, it made your attacks more sloppy and predictable." 'Ms. Schnee' gave a tired and respected nod to show she understood.
The Tifa look alike snickered until She-Devil Goodwitch set her sights on her. "As for you Ms. Xiao-Long, how many times do I have to remind you to not get lost in the heat of the fight. You become easily predictable, and all that power just goes to waste! Work on using that head of yours, otherwise I will have to deal with you personally after hours to remedy this issue. Am I understood?" The blonde frantically nodded her head as soon as she heard that she'd be alone with that monster in human skin. She was lucky she got a warning.
"Excellent. You two are dismissed." The two were lowered onto their feet, and they headed off to the locker rooms to go change. So she wasn't going to ask his opinion on how they did? Made sense, after all he got the position probably as a joke considering his supposed work experience was from being an extreme mailman. Well at least that meant less work for him, he was earning an easy paycheck.
As if the world wanted to say fuck you, like Gaia did all the freaking time, his boss decided that he had to participate in her class too. "Mr. Strife, I was informed that you fought a second year as part of your interview, as I wasn't there to witness it, I would like you to fight one of the first years. Now." She told, no ordered, him. What the hell. Didn't she get the memo? He already kicked a whole team of first year's asses. Maybe he could get out of it? He had a habit of not listening to authority.
"Do I have to? I've already proved myself to the old man, he saw what I could do first hand." Cloud whined that turned into a yawn midway through.
A deep scowl appeared on her face. Uh-oh, that didn't look good. "Mr. Strife." She said his name so cold that he wondered if she had casted Blizzaga instead. "While I trust our esteemed headmaster, I insist you do this. I need to know how well your capabilities are." So she just wanted to if he was dead weight or not? It didn't look like he had a choice, or that it was worth the trouble.
"Fine."
She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Very good. Let me activate the randomizer to select your opponent." Oh hell no, after seeing, that snoozefest, he knew there was only one person here who could give him a challenge.
"No. I know who I'm going to fight."
"JAAUUUNNNEEE." He shouted. Cloud felt very satisfied when he heard a very loud thump. "Get down here!"
"Cloud! What the fuck?!
"Looks like you're still asleep, so I'll repeat myself. Get. Down. Here."
"You want me to fight, after everything we had to do yesterday?! No way! Get somebody else to do it." He screamed with wide eyes full of disbelief.
"Trust me, I want this just as little as you do, but…" He pointed back at the She-Devil behind him. "You-know-who is insisting I fight one of you kids." Cloud felt he got his point across by how much Jaune's face paled. The memories were still very fresh after all. "Also don't blame me, blame your classmates for sucking so much that you're my only option." He finished with a shrug.
Cloud could feel the glares coming his way, but considering what he's had to deal with, students getting butt hurt didn't really affect him. Jaune, on the other hand, looked nervous for some reason and was biting his lip. Eventually he realized there was no way he was getting out of this, and with a heavy sigh, started heading down towards the locker room to get ready to get pummeled. This was going to be great. For him. Not as much for Jaune.
"I hope you're aware that I'm not pleased with your choice of opponent." Oh shit. "Or of your comment towards my students." Double shit. "Anything you'd like to say... Mr. Strife?" she said slowly and very menacingly.
Cloud wished he had an out right now, but Jaune was still getting ready, so that meant to get out this mess without any trouble, he was going to need to choose his words carefully and respectfully. Unfortunately, Cloud remembered he was talking to an authority figure he didn't like, and his mouth autopiloted to what it did naturally. Talk some serious shit and get them pissed off. Somehow always worked for Jaune.
"Well, if these brats knew what a fight was really like, then I wouldn't have to say anything. Would I?" Cloud kept going when it looked like she was going to say something. "And I'm talking about a real fight. I can tell, they don't have that look." The one where you've repeatedly fought someone so terrifying that every part of yourself told you to run away, or you'll die. "I'm sorry, but Beowolves and Ursai don't cut it. These students of yours haven't seen real how scary our world can be. As a professional, you should know that more than anyone." He challenged back at her.
The two were locked in an intense staring match with neither refusing to back down, both seeming like unshakeable fortresses locked in a cold war. However, Cloud was anything but on the inside. His thoughts were frantic and in disarray.
Why did I say that?! She's still my boss! Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm going to get fired on my first day. Damn it, Jaune will never let me get over it. He still talks about the fucking dress! Tifa can never know about this- no, Barret! Barret absolutely can't know about this! He'll tell me I fucked it up like usual.
While Cloud was internally freaking out, the source of his distress softened her glare, and turned away. It wasn't until she quietly sighed and started speaking did he snap out of his thoughts. "It seems I've underestimated you, Mr. Strife. As rude and blunt as they may be, your words are not inaccurate. These young men and women are the next generation of protectors, but they are still training. Soon they will know the real horrors that our profession can bring, but that time still is not now." She turned back to him. "Now they must learn. To prepare. And to improve, so that they survive when they fight those indomitable monsters whether they be Grimm or someone truly evil." A look of contemplation crossed her face. "Is that why you've chosen Mr. Arc? To teach him this lesson, and to use him as an example?"
That sounded like a perfect get-out-of-jail card if he ever heard one. Wished he could use it, but using that excuse would just make things more annoying later. "No. That's not why I picked him." Cloud replied, turning his attention to the center of the arena where his punching bag was, now all armed and ready. Aw that's cute, he got a brand new outfit. Shame it wasn't going to help him.
"Better keep an eye on him, professor." He said while walking onto his place in the arena. He brought out his Buster Sword, and stared right into Jaune's eyes. They were tired and covered in bags, but in those blues eyes of his burned a hardened, intense flame. Good, he was taking this seriously. Better not let him down.
"This crazy bastard always got something hidden up his sleeve."
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Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
Jaune was really regretting waking up this morning and going to class rather than staying in his nice, comfy, and safe bed. Now he's gotta fight while feeling like crap against Cloud. As much as Jaune likes to poke fun at him, his skills in combat are nothing to laugh at.
He could rag doll the fight, but Professor Goodwitch might not let him get away with it, and after what happened yesterday, he was taking NO chances in upsetting her right now. Not to mention, Cloud picked him. That meant he actually wanted to fight. Jaune couldn't afford to hold anything back if he wanted to avoid being beaten to a pulp.
This is where Jaune's mind for planning kicked into overdrive. He was running through ideas and strategies on how to win a mile a minute. Should he play the long game and try a battle of endurance? Possible, but Cloud's Limit Break would trigger and could easily turn the tides. Charge straight in to get the upper hand. No, Cloud may not have Aura, but he was still much stronger than Jaune was. His only advantage was speed. Cloud was quick, but Jaune had always been faster. His new combat gear had less armor, perfect for evading those huge slashes of his. Jaune quickly decided his only option was to keep Cloud at a distance, and hit him with range - OH SHIT!
While Jaune had been stuck in his thoughts, figuring out his plan of attack, Cloud decided to take advantage of that and strike! He reached Jaune in no time at all, and charged at him with an overhead slash. With a femenine yelp (That he would deny if asked about it), Jaune barely was able to put up his guard and defend the blow with his shield. Once contact was made, did Jaune grimace and feel his legs buckle slightly. Brothers almighty, he forgot just how tough Cloud's hits were, Yang's punches had nothing on him.
Jaune twisted his shield to the side, letting Cloud's sword slide off his shield and come crashing towards the ground thanks to gravity and Cloud's own pressure, giving Jaune a chance to sidestep and attempt to jump back away from Cloud. Cloud was no newbie however, and refused to let Jaune get away. He charged back at Jaune while using an upwards slash this time. But the noodle was prepared this time and parryed the blowed to the side. Cloud then used his impressive strength to assault Jaune with more slashes from his Buster Sword as if it was the same size as Crocea Mors.
Jaune continued to deflect the blows, but he was starting to get worn down by the countless heavy blows, his face was beginning to sweat and his shield arm was slowly starting to numb. He needed to break away from the combo, or he would slip up and get hit by a direct blow. He just needed a chance. That opportunity came when Cloud went in for a thrust, Jaune dodged to the left and retaliated with a strike aimed at the jerk's wrists. Cloud, knowing that he would be at a disadvantage if he loses his grip of his weapon, quickly switched his sword to a back handed grip to block the disarming blow. What Cloud didn't expect was for his face to suddenly meet the front of the taller blonde's shield. Nor the sudden hard kick to his family jewels.
With his feint led into a surprise attack leaving Cloud momentarily incapicated, Jaune used that time to create a huge gap between them. Alright, now that he had a chance to breathe, he could now put the plan he came up with into action. Jaune then poured Aura into his blade, and furiously sliced the air in front of him with short strokes. Jaune grinned. Time for payback!
Cloud was still recovering from man's fatal weakness when he suddenly felt a familiar cutting sensation hit him. Turning his attention back onto his opponent led Cloud to see the storm of small, white crescent waves coming straight at him. He used his Buster Sword to block a majority of the attacks, but a few were landing their mark. Now the tables were turned with Jaune launching ranged Aura slashes to slowly build up damage against Cloud, but Cloud had a way of fighting right back.
Cloud swept his sword towards the sky, and a Bladebeam came flying out. It was headed toward Jaune, and swallowed the Bladearcs he was sending in its path. Jaune evaded it, but he also kept sending his Bladearcs out at Cloud. In response, Cloud ran around the edge of the arena to avoid a repeat of the onslaught while occasionally releasing a Bladebeam. Unwilling to let Cloud turn the fight back into close quarters, Jaune also ran around the edge in the opposite direction while he continuously launched his Bladearcs.
While this was happening, confusion was plaguing Jaune's head. Why is he launching Bladebeams? I send out Bladearcs faster than he can return with a Bladebeam. He's open when he's winding up his attack, letting me get free hits in. Blocking was a better strategy, what's he trying to do? The answer to his question came when a shining, blue energy burst out of Cloud and covered his body. Oh shit, this was bad.
With Limit Break active, Cloud was not only stronger, but also faster. That meant that Jaune could no longer keep Cloud at bay, and he made that fact apparent real fast. He was on the noodle in an instant, delivering a mean uppercut that had Jaune too stunned to move. He followed with a kick to his back that sent Jaune crashing towards the center of the arena. After pulling his head out of the crater he helped to make, Jaune quickly rolled when he saw a looming shadow fill his vision. Jaune did it just in time to avoid a killer slam from the Buster Sword that widened the already hefty, sizable crater.
Now back on his feet, Jaune knew he now only had two options. Plan A: getting Cloud to use up his Limit Break in an attack that he'd hopefully dodge, or... Plan B: dodging all of Cloud's attacks until the time limit ran out. Both seemed pretty unreasonable, but that was pretty much always the case when you picked a fight with this blonde bastard.
He decided to go with Plan A, and do something stupid. He went on the offensive and charged straight at a Limit Broken Cloud with a furious shout. He hoped it sounded intimidating instead of reflecting the mind-numbing anxiety he was feeling. The shorter blonde smirked, and easily met Jaune's incoming strike with a horizontal swipe. Jaune refused to give up though, and used his weapon's lighter weight to quickly slash at him to keep up the pressure. Cloud was keeping up with Jaune seemingly almost effortlessly. For every swipe that he deflected, the jerk was able to return one back that Jaune was only able to block thanks to his shield, but they felt ten times worse than before. He needed Cloud to lose his Limit Break fast or else he'd get a one way trip to the infirmary.
With that in mind, Jaune steeled his body, and went in for an all or nothing shield bash. Cloud, using his years of experience as a fighter, knew what to do next. He used the butt of his sword, deflected the attack, and more importantly, sent Jaune's arm fully extended to the side which left him completely exposed. Cloud did not waste his chance, and vertically swung the Buster sword, which would start a killer Limit Break Cross-Slash. However, everything was going according to Jaune's plan. He had faked the shield bash, and let it be deflected, Jaune would now leap back with Aura pumped into his legs, and let Cloud hit air. Yep, all going according to his plan, or at least that's what he thought.
Cloud had kept smirking the whole time, and when Jaune had jumped away, did he show why. Rather than executing a Cross-Slash like Jaune had been expecting, Cloud instead hit the ground and stuck the tip of his sword in it. He used the momentum of his attack to fall forward, then he pushed off the hilt to flip his body forward in an aerial spin that kept his momentum and force continuous which enabled him to fly straight towards Jaune, Buster Sword in hand. Jaune with wide eyes could not put up his guard fast enough for Cloud's next attack. Oh man, this was gonna hurt.
With a flurry of blue slashes almost too fast to see, Cloud landed his Limit Break Cross-Slash that sent the noodle tumbling on the arena's floor, groaning all along the way. What the hell? Jaune didn't remember Cross-Slash hitting anywhere that hard before. He weakly lifted himself to his feet. Jaune definitely could feel that one attack had taken out half of his Aura, which left at around roughly thirty to forty percent left. Meanwhile, Cloud looked like he was all fine and dandy with that annoying smirk still plastered on his face, not moving from his position and just waiting for what he did next.
To be honest, there wasn't a lot he could do at this point. He was on the edge of defeat, a couple more strong hits and his Aura would hit the allowed minimum limit. Jaune sagged and visibly sighed. He really did have to put out all the stops if he wanted to win. This is what keeping some tricks up his sleeve got him. Man, he really wanted to keep them a surprise too.
Jaune then put on his game face again. He put all of his focus on finding a way to win. Jaune could only feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the remainder of his Aura moving with it. All he could hear in head was the rapid beat of his heart.
Now the question was... should Jaune use the best tool in his arsenal? An image of a wheel of burning white, hot flames fills his head. No, he decides. While it would certainly give a definite edge, the difference with this one is that Cloud already knows about it, and nobody else here. That meant he'd get a whole load of questions he wouldn't be able to answer, not worth the hassle. That didn't mean there were things he could use that Cloud didn't know about.
With his back to the wall, Jaune prepared to start his last strategy for victory.
o()xx[{::::::::::::::::::::: o()xx[{:::::::::::::::::::::
Cloud was having a blast.
Letting out all the frustration and pains from yesterday on his trusted punching bag was doing wonders for him. He hadn't felt this good since he beat Sephiroth which admittedly wasn't too long ago, but Cloud didn't care. He was finally having a good fight since he got here even if he had gotten his balls smashed in.
It seemed like the peanut gallery was enjoying the match just as much with how much they were talking. Seriously, they were so loud that ignoring them was a hassle in itself. Didn't seem like Jaune had the same problem. He was staring him down as if they were the only two people there, the fire in his eyes was burning even more intensely than before. That was good. This is when the real fight starts.
Like a cornered animal, Jaune was at his best when he's in a desperate situation. Whether he was cornered from fighting powerful monsters or running from pissed off husbands, he'd be able to come up with something to get on top. A desperate Jaune did desperate things after all, and Cloud could tell that Jaune was trying desperately to win.
Cloud inwardly snorted. Look at him, for all that bitching he was doing earlier, all he had to do to get out of the match was let himself get knocked out when he got hit with that Cross-Slash. Instead, he pulled himself to his feet, and was all his attention and determination on the match. Cloud bet that Jaune blocked out everyone else in the room just so they wouldn't distract him. He hadn't changed a bit. He was still a sore loser, his pride wouldn't let him get knocked down so easily.
Now what was the sneaky bastard going to do next? Cloud charged in at the beginning to catch him off guard, but now he wanted to see what tricks Jaune would pull out. He still had his Semblance or whatever. Cloud was content to wait and see, his body was still in good condition, He didn't need some cheap forcefield to protect him from bullets and blades. His body was tough enough to handle them on its own.
It seemed like Jaune was finished thinking up his new plan. His punching bag suddenly started to run towards, but not before he threw something at him. Cloud tensed up at the small, bright, and red object coming at him, but something felt off. Jaune had thrown it too low, it wasn't going to reach him.
What it did reach was the edge of the crater that Cloud had made earlier. As soon as it made contact, an explosion burst out which created a huge cloud of smoke. It also sent the loose debris to come flying towards him, but Cloud wasn't fooled. This was just a distraction.
Cloud let the rubble fly past him, and blocked any that came close, but he never took his eyes off the smoke cloud blocking his vision. However, instead of a tall blonde charging in, a flurry of Bladearcs came soaring out, and all aimed toward Jaune's favorite target. While unexpected, Cloud still protected his family jewels with ease.
Was this it? Was he just going to make it another ranged battle? Talk about disappoi - Argh! Cloud's complaints were cut off by a very hard impact to his unguarded forehead that knocked his head flying back. What in Gaia was that?! Cloud looked upwards, and found what hit him spinning in the air. He couldn't believe it, bastard through his sheath at him.
Then something weird happened. The sheath suddenly stopped in midair with the end of it aiming right at him, but instead of it coming at him for round two, it went away from him to the top of the smoke cloud. The reason why became more clear when he saw where his punching bag had gone.
The bastard was falling towards him, the sheath was coming at him, but he didn't look surprised at all. What next happened was the sheath pushed itself back onto Crocea Mors, he didn't know how, and Jaune spun before bringing his sword back. He was stealing his moves! Cloud quickly moved to block the familiar attack.
When Jaune's sword landed it's strike, Cloud thought he had been hit by a meteor. Cloud actually felt his arms shake from all the pressure, and the clash had left a powerful shockwave into the air. It hit hard and it hit fast, but why? Where was all this weight and force coming from? Now that Cloud had an up close and personal view, he could see that Crocea Mors was different than before.
The weapon was noticeably bigger with it looking more like a greatsword now than the bastard sword it had always been. This extra power came from him combining his sword with the sheathe? What kind of person made a sword transform into a bigger one? Remnant was such a weird world.
They maintained their stand still for a few moments with neither backing down until Jaune pulled back, and attempted an upward swing. Cloud stepped back, avoiding the hit, and fired a close range Bladebeam. Jaune used the increased size of his blade to compensate for his lack of shield and blocked it. Then, he charged right back in, choosing to continue on the offensive.
Cloud was confused. He sidestepped a slash, ducked under an overhead swing, and rolled back from a slam. This process of evading the noodles attacks kept going, but why? The attacks were telegraphed too easily, too obvious, most likely from Jaune's lack of technique and experience with this mode. He was using this to level the playing field with power, but it meant nothing if he couldn't land another hit, so what was he doing?
Eventually Cloud got fed up, and counterattacked with a sweep aimed at Jaune's legs. Instead of Cloud hitting the bastard's legs, his Buster Sword met the edge of a planted Crocea Mors while the target he'd been aiming for seemingly disappeared from view. Turns out he'd jumped, and using the sword embedded in the ground as support, drop kicked his face dead center. With a grunt, Cloud stumbled back and swung wildly to try and hit his airborne foe.
Gaia damn it! He was going to get black eye at this rate. So, he knew that he couldn't match up in technique, and used it to lure him into a counter. He'd wanted to fight up close to end it quick with how low Jaune was, but now the bastard was outsmarting him. Eventually, Jaune would catch him in another trap, and then he'd use his Semblance to do some real damage. He had no idea why didn't use it before, it should have been good to use a while back.
It didn't matter. What Cloud needed was to change the flow of the fight. When he saw Jaune panting pretty hard, he got an idea. If Rabbit's Foot wanted to copy him, then it'd be fine for him to take a page out of his book. With that thought in mind, Cloud jumped back, fired a Bladebeam to keep him still, and moved to the edge of the arena. That had been the plan, but those tend to never really work out.
Seeing him retreat, Jaune had charged in, but instead of blocking when he saw the incoming projectile, the bastard went faster. What happened next was that Jaune, using his modified Crocea Mors, was able to launch a bigger Bladearc, one that matched his Bladebeam and the resulting clash canceled each other out.
Hmph. Well, to get what he wants, looks like he'll have to give Jaune what he wants first. Cloud then pivoted sharply, and suddenly went back to the blonde copycat. Cloud started with an easily seen thrust that Jaune blocked, but he was forced to stumble back from a lack of solid footing. Using that moment, Cloud went at him with a storm of shallow cuts and spinning clashes from his sword. Jaune was using his greatsword to block the hits, but they were too fast for him to get them all. Just like he thought. The sly copycat was making a gamble on his brains to counter with devastating hits to make up for the difference in technique.
Too bad the guy was running low on stamina. Now he could just keep wailing on him with sheer speed fueling his attacks. Before, he would've lost the ranged endurance match, Jaune's limit was normally double Cloud's, but now in this state within this close quarters battle, Cloud would end up as the victor.
The relentless assault kept going, Cloud was giving no room for Jaune to breathe and with each passing second, Jaune's stamina and Aura were slowly getting lower and lower. This was it. The final push. He was close to victory. Rabbit's Foot was on his last legs, and was sluggishly trying to fight back with Crocea Mors in his right hand, but his eyes were making him wary. They were burning the brightest they had been throughout the entire fight. That meant Cloud needed to end this right now before Jaune manages to suddenly turn the tables.
Cloud pushes on, going even faster and harder, his sword swinging so fast that its just a blur. Unfortunately, that makes it too hard to stop when he sees a bright, glowing yellow crystal tossed in the air between them, and in the path of his Buster Sword. As soon as they collide, a surge of lightning bursts out, and electrocutes the both of them. Fuck! That hurt! What's worse is that it traveled from his metal blade into his nervous system. He's now stunned! He knows from experience that it's temporary, his mako cells will get him moving in a few seconds, but that's not the same for Jaune.
The bastard did that on purpose! He may have gotten hit, but he used that stupid forcefield to protect himself. Now he's got the opportunity to end this, and it didn't look like he was going to waste it. He was already moving, slowly getting into position. It looked like he decided his finishing move was going to be a lunge. He lifted it up so it was next to his waist while parallel to the ground, and he closed his eyes.
Then, Jaune's body pulsed with Aura. From it, Cloud could feel a familiar pressure coming out. He was going all or nothing now. When Jaune's eyes opened, Cloud felt that something was very wrong, they didn't burn like they had before. Instead of a bright passion and determination, all Cloud could see was a dark inferno of rage and bitterness in his blue orbs. Cloud could feel it too. The sensation from his Aura pulsing wasn't the same as he remembered, it was more frenzied and out of control.
Things could go bad real soon, so Cloud pushed his cells to heal his nerves. Jaune then came at him with a beastly snarl on his face. Shit! He wasn't going to make it! Then something unexpected happened.
Jaune's whole expression did a one-eighty. He blinked, and all the anger disappeared as if Cloud had just imagined it, but that wasn't the case. Jaune's face was full of shock and doubt. He slowed down, and moved at him with more hesitation than a second ago. That was enough for Cloud.
As soon as Jaune came close, Cloud swung his Buster Sword down, knocking the distracted noodle into the ground, but that wasn't all. He'd hit him hard, not hard enough to make him crash, but hard enough to make the impact force Jaune's body to go back in the air. And so, with the pitch lined up, Cloud swung his sword at Jaune and made go flying out of the arena like a bat to a ball.
"That's the match! The winner is Cloud Strife."
He won. It should've felt good, but Cloud couldn't get those last moments out of his mind. He had never seen Jaune make such an expression in a spar. The last time he had seen Jaune that angry was when he really saw how evil Shinra could be. The idiot was out for the count too, so he couldn't even ask what happened. Looks there were some more things he had to worry about.
Cloud wished he could stab the guy who said this was going to be a vacation.
This was worse than the work he had back home.
(Warning! Long Important A/N ahead! Warning!)
Y'all enjoy the fight scene? I hope so because it's the first one I've ever done, so had to think on how to make it pretty good. Need y'all to tell me if you enjoyed it or not, so I know whether to keep adding fights in or just skip past them. Imma also break this down right now to make it simple if you didn't get it. Jaune is not OP. At all. Cloud is 100% stronger than him and has alway been. The gap is just now bigger because Cloud has just beat FF7, but Jaune is faster than Cloud. How Jaune fights now is more nimble, speed based. That's why his armor changed. I'll talk about power levels later. As for the Dust and his V4 Sword being added, I'll save that for later too.
Now big news! I'm gonna be taking a break from this story. WOAH! Before you guys get out the pitchforks, let me explain. I love this story, but writing for it feels more like a chore lately. I can't get out thousands of words out in one sitting like I did at the beginning. Sooo what I'm going to do instead is mix things up a little.
On my page there's gonna be a poll, you guys are going to vote for which One-Shot you want me to do. Granted I'll do all of them at one point because they're all ideas stuck in my head, but you choose which one you want me to focus on first. These'll be posted in a new story called "Fairy Tale Fragments" Why that is, I'll explain in the story. Blondes Sure Have It Rough will not be abandoned, I just need to write something new to help.
Phew! Sorry about all that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll definitely post something new in less time. Oh yeah! And review my dudes and dudettes! Like the last chapter had reviews in the first week it posted, and then completely stopped! Bruuuh! And I know people have been reading and following this story! Sigh Don't worry, just typical author woes. I'll see y'all in the next one!