Chapter 5 - Vice
Yi's POV
"Hear about the food fight in the lunchroom?" I asked Silver, who was smelling around to where Ezeckiel put the small tablet.
"Hold up, Give me a moment." Silver said. He swiftly made his way around a bush, to find a small white tablet. "Found it!"
"Damn, you're good." Ezeckiel sighed.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Alice dropped her pouch, grabbing her contents out.
"I'm training a wolf." Ezeckiel smirked.
"Bork." Silver laughed.
"Wolves don't bark you dipshit." Yi nudged him in the head with her foot.
Silver gave a blunt but unrestful growl just as a playthrough. "You wouldn't wanna hear me howl then. I'll wake up the whole town."
"Bet." Yi smirked as she crossed her arms.
"Maybe later when we're farther away from the town." Silver said.
"You got all your homework done for the night correct?" Alice asked.
"No." Ezeckiel Replied, sneaking in another tablet for Silver to find. "Silver, Seek."
"Bork!" He go on all fours and started to sniff the ground, his nose going to work. He climbed onto a tree, where he snatched the white tablet.
"Damn." I sighed.
4:00 PM EST, Lecture hall. Ezeckiel's POV.
I was in Professor Zen's class, and the class was learning about joint mechanics and how dust plays a role into everything. With the use of dust, we would have the flying abilities we have. We now started to make our first modifications on our weapons. Our ideas were sketched out, my gun and sword, both redesigned to be more sleek and lightweight, as well as retractable.
Professor was going through all the notes I've made. "I see you've taken an engineering class before you went here."
"Yes sir." I replied.
"Classic. I'll help you along the way of building yours too, cause some of them are super simple." Professor said.
I nodded, and waved myself off. Staring at my notes, I started to pick up the tools and go to work. One by one, parts were desembled and re-assembled. I needed to get this as fast as possible because I have a sparring session with the team.
"Woah woah, slow i down a notch." Professor said, as he scooped up a couple fallen bolts.
"S-Sorry, In a rush because I need to spar with my team next hour." I replied pasting the modifications on.
"Ah, just be careful with your things." Professor said as he trotted along to other stations. I glared at the others, modifying some odd stuff into their weapons. Someone was modifying their katana into a sickle of some sort, pressing a button as it transformed.
Going back to work, the design payed off at the end just at the end of class. The gun could straighten up into a position to slot itself tightly into the base of the sword, which could now be properly sheathed with the modifications I put to the tip. The sword was being scratched every time i sheathed it, so I put a softer padding inside it as well as a new latch. With the gun fitting upward of the base of the gun, I could shoot the gun via a trigger on the sword on the tip. There would be a gap in the handle of the sword once the gun was pulled out, but I fixed that by putting a twist mechanism to seal that gap up so it wouldn't be noticable.
Class ended, and I headed out to the sparring field in which there was already big fights going on. Some of the pride fights we're crowded with onlookers, as others were just legitimately sparring.
"LOOK OUT!" Someone shouted at me. Upward, The sword of someone fell towards my head. I shifted myself out, but grabbed the sword to stab it into the ground. "S-Sorry!"
"It's fine kiddo, be careful next time." It was Jaune, who was sparring with Pyrrha, the one on the Niko's bar. What a horrible matchup, but they're on the same team. Probably training, but the differences are readable.
"We've been waiting for you!" Yi shouted from behind. I turned behind to see her at a doorway outside. "It's way better out here."
I followed her out, in which there were training mats, foam pit, bars, all sorts of acrobatic things. There was also a shooting range, which ranged from what looked like a mile.
"How you do?" Yi said, taking me to Alice, who was stretching.
"Fine, I modified my sword and gun." I said.
"Y-You did?!" Alice stopped, and stood up curiously.
"Yeah…? Why are you so stunned about it? It was gonna happen, because a pistol and a sword are bland." I sighed, walking myself to the gun range. "I'm gonna test it here just incase. Brought a couple tools a long just incase it breaks."
"Where did you get the tools to modify it?" Yi asked as I pulled out my sword.
"A class." I bluntly stated. Pointing at the target with the tip of my sword, I pulled the trigger. The gun went off perfectly as planned, but I started to question myself why I made the gun and sword modular. Pulling back for another shot, I pulled the trigger again. The shots felt weak, probably because of the nozzle of the gun. They were flying though, hitting the target. I then pulled out the gun from the sword, clipping itself into its regular pistol state. Shooting it, there was a definate difference with the gun and the sword. The gun had a ton of more recoil when I shot since I'm using different bullets.
"Looks cool." Yi commented. "Why is there a gap in the handle?"
"Oh." I twisted the sword so the gap could close. "Tadaa!"
"Cool." Alice said as she sat back down to stretch. "Silver should be coming any second now."
Putting the gun back into the sword, I shiethed my sword back into the leather case. Silver arrived, running up to us in a hurry.
"W-What happened?" I asked.
"Nothing." He panted. "Just wanted to be with you all." He inhaled. "I'm bored in the class before this."
"Ah." I said.
"Well, let's start." Yi stated. "You and me Zeke."
"Zeke?" Silver and Alice questioned.
"Erugh." I sighed. "Fine, and why did you call me Zeke?"
"Cause Ezeckiel is too long." Yi walked over to the other end of the battle ground.
Zeke... There's something about that name.
I walked to my side of the battle mat. "Whenever you're ready."
"And…. GO!" Silver stomped the floor, pounding out a sound. The mat shaped shifted, turning into a terrain that was mostly flat with a couple of trees. That wasn't enough to bother Yi, who was already on the charge. Pulling my sword out, I pointed towards her, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew out right towards her head. Clicking her pen just intime, the pen transformed into her lance, swiping the bullet in half somehow.
"Damn." I said, pulling the trigger again. Same result, and she was half way across the field. Time to pull out my pistol then if my sword won't work.
I clicked the gun out of my sword, and snapped it into it's pistol position. This time, the bullet flung left, but in a hurry. Yi was now dodging instead of hitting them. The bullet hit the forcefield, sending a plated wave across the arena.
Clipping the gun back into the gun, I went for a charge.
Yi growled into a roar, "RAHH!" She swung leftward towards my face, but I dodged that intime for my own blow.
I kept counter swinging, trying to tap her on the right spot just to get a hit, but it turns out I was wearing myself out more than she was. Stepping back, I observed her feet on where she moved.
Yi smirked, spinning her spear around her back into a different stance. "You're now realizing my semblence, aren't you?"
Huh? I kept silence, her moves were odd, and her stance changed. Her timing I agree was perfect, but I don't think I can hit her in a forceful manner. Jabs will get myself down in a hurry, so all I could rely on is counter swings.
"You see…" She suddenly appeared from behind. "I'm the best at dodging."
"MPHH!" I swung backwards lending me off balance. Yi backed out, giving me a dark stare. Indeed, she was getting into her deep scenes.
"Team leader, It would be a shame if I took you down with one blow." She pointed her lance downward, then pulled a charge right under me. I stepped back, but I have something she won't know.
I activated my semblance, slowing down our times. The semblance is called Axel, so I can work around the clock in a hurry. Axel doesn't stop time, but it can slow down time significantly. If someone is in contact with me, I could also link the into my Axel, but i'll have to use their energy to link them up correctly. I can do this as long as 20 seconds, but that's max. I can slow down the time further, but that decreases my time. Steeping my back foot into the ground, I rolled right before I qued my semblance to revert back to normal time.
Once the time reverted, I looked behind to see Yi shift her spear upward, then to realize that I wasn't there. Her eyes ran wide. "What?"
I jumped up, and back slashed down, putting her down onto the floor. Yi sighed, giving up. She swallowed in fear, looking away in a skeptical face, unknowing what I did.
"W-What was that?" Yi asked again, still panting in panic. I offered her a hand up in silence, and she gazed in awe as I smiled.
"Axel." I said. "I could slow down time with my semblance, but I'm pretty limited."
Silver and Alice ran up to us. "T-That was crazy!" Silver patted my back as I lifted Yi up. Alice crossed her arms, giving me a daring look. I turned to look at her, but she swiveled her head upward. Is she pouting over a fight she wasn't involved in?
Silver nudged Alice, who jumped a bit. She lifted her eyebrow in curiousity, asking for a reason on why Silver nudged her.
"Shall we dance?" Silver tilted to the maiden. Alice slightly amused by the offer, she straightened herself up.
"Gladly." Alice bowed back to Silver, smiling.
Yi and I pulled ourselves to the side as we watched the two duel it out.
"On your mark." Alice gave way to Silver. Silver slowly moved up, but started a forward charge as the terrain started to take shape. Instead of the flat plains I got, It turned into a forest, perfect for Alice to pin up Silver.
"Damn." Silver cursed as he had to dodge the growing trees around him. He swiftly made through the bushes, cutting down them like paper. His moves were quick and timeless, and he kept his head pointed forward as he weaved his way through.
Alice shot a grapple arrow onto a branch, and swung herself upward to get a different point of view. Both of them were now in Proximity, and Silver was the first to make the move. He spotted Alice without Alice even realizing, and knifed his way up onto the tree extremely fast. He made his way up to the branch Alice was standing on, then slowly creeped his way up to her.
Not so fast enough, Alice turned around with a quick spin, shooting an arrow right at Silver's feet. Silver jumped, but couldn't land right, falling down onto the other level of branches. The game is now starting…