Hey, what's up everyone, it's the fourth chapter of Almost One of a Kind! So, last time we were with Epsilon, his duel with Pyrrha was about to begin. Will the second Android created be able to defeat the Invincible Girl? Let's find out!
Chapter Four - The Immortal Boy
Me and Pyrrha ran towards the centre of the arena, attempting to gain the upper hand. As we reached the centre, I raised my right fist, attempting the first blow. Seeing it coming, Pyrrha raised her shield, taking the force of the hit, getting knocked back a few feet and denting the shield, to her surprise. She morphed her javelin into the rifle form and started firing at me. I calculated where the bullets would hit, and used my hands to stop the bullets, a golden aura circle briefly appearing around where the bullets hit. I unsheathed my daggers and threw them at her, the string trailing behind from my wrists, she blocked one of them with her shield and dodged the other. I pulled the second dagger back towards me, sending it back to Pyrrha. She morphed the weapon into the Xiphos form and knocked the dagger away as well. She charged towards me, as I was now defenceless.
I pulled both of the daggers back towards me, blocking the swing from Pyrrha. We traded a few hits, mostly Pyrrha on the offensive, until I kicked the Xiphos out of her hands, burying it into the ground. I swung both daggers at her, as she spun to narrowly avoid them and landed next to her weapon. She used her semblance to forcefully pull it out of the ground, and stood in the ready position. I switched the daggers into the electrical pistols and fired them both at Pyrrha. She raised her shield as the bolts hit it, briefly electrocuting the shield, making her wince in pain. She turned the Xiphos into the Javelin mode and threw it at me at inhuman speed. I spun out of the way, but it caught on my left wrist, ripping part of the synthetic flesh off.
Momentarily distracted, Pyrrha took the advantage and threw her shield at me, attempting to knock me down. I noticed the shield and caught it without hesitation, much to her surprise. I jump and spun around to gain momentum and threw the shield back, narrowly missing Pyrrha and burying itself in the wall. Now weapon less, Pyrrha decided the safer option and ran for her shield. I ran the opposite way and grabbed her javelin, pulling it out of the ground. With her back still turned, I threw the javelin towards her, flying across the arena. Pyrrha reached her shield and pulled it out of the wall, turning around to notice the javelin mere feet away from her. She raised her shield just in time to block the javelin, getting knocked back to the wall.
I ran towards her, firing electric bolts at her while getting propelled from the jet-boots. She avoided each shot, making sure not to make the same mistake as before. I reached her and turned the pistols back into daggers, swinging at her again. She blocked the swings with her javelin and shield, quickly turning the javelin back into the Xiphos and started attacking, me narrowly avoiding the attacks as we traded hits. I sliced downwards, and she blocked with her shield, but the dagger went clean through the shield and it fell to the ground, now in half. She looked at me, shocked, as I swung again. She blocked my left wrist with her shield-less forearm, touching the metal. I swung a couple more times and kicked her back, Pyrrha landing in the centre of the arena. I ran and swung at her again, but she used her semblance, and I went halfway across the room, slamming me hard into the wall, to everyone's surprise.
I got back up and looked at my forearm, noticing the exposed metal. I realised that I couldn't attack her with anything metal, which included me. I ran to where I began in the arena, sheathing moth daggers in my wrists, and picked up the cement barrier. I took a few steps towards Pyrrha and threw the block at her. Pyrrha, unable to block with her shield, and too shocked to avoid, raised her arms to lighten the blow of the attack. It hit her and she was sent across the room as the piece shattered into dozens of pieces. As Pyrrha got back up, I ran at her, taking the opportunity to end the match, and swung my fist at her. She raised her arm and forcefully stopped me with her semblance. I was unable to move. She moved her arm to the side and I skidded along the ground, flipping back up to my feet. Before I realised it, Pyrrha turned the Xiphos back into the javelin and threw it at me. Too slow to dodge, it struck me in the chest and sent me to the ground. The alarm went off, indicating the match was over.
"And that's the match." Glynda announced, walking out onto the arena floor. I looked at the aura levels and saw mine was in the red, and Pyrrha's was in the deep orange. "Mr. Xiao Long, you have shown incredible strength, speed and power in your attacks, and even used your opponents weapons against them, something I had yet to see this year. Your skill in battle is exceptional, especially for the first we've all seen. To improve, try to think more thoroughly before some of your actions and be more aware of your surroundings." She said to me, and I just slumped my head onto the ground with a thumbs up. "Ms. Nikos, your careful usage of aura allowed you to withstand the large attack from your opponent and ultimately led to your victory, as well as your skill with all three variations of your weapon best suited for the situation. To improve, be aware of unexpected and... unorthodox methods of attack."
"Thank you, Professor." Pyrrha thanked with a small nod. Glynda turned towards the rest of the class.
"I'm afraid that is all we have time for today. And remember, your assignments of different class of weapons is due for next week. Class dismissed." She finished, and left the arena. Pyrrha walked up to me and offered me a hand. I accepted and got back up to my feet.
"Well, I guess I was wrong." I told her with a joke frown.
"I still think you did exceptionally well. Nobody has ever gotten that close to beating me in a duel. It was a nice change from an almost always guarantee win." She said with a smile. It faded slightly when she looked at my left wrist, at the exposed metal. I looked at it and knew what she was thinking.
"I'll explain it to you and your team later." I told her, and walked out of the arena, Pyrrha following just behind, after picking up the remnants of her shield. "Oh, sorry abut that. I didn't expect the dagger to literally slice it in half. I'll fix it later."
One Hour Later...
I scanned the door and opened it, entering into my dorm room. As I expected, the rest of the team was already there, I could guess waiting for me. I put down Pyrrha's shield, now repaired to it's previous self.
"So, have you heard what people are saying about you?" Yang asked me.
"No..." I tell her, cautiously.
"Well, after your awesome fight with Pyrrha, and how you almost beat her, people have given you a title." Ruby explained enthusiastically.
"Uhh, what do they call me?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Well, Pyrrha is called 'The Invincible Girl', people have started calling you 'The Immortal Boy'." Blake told me. I sighed heavily and collapsed onto the floor.
"Great. Just... great." I say sarcastically.
"What's the matter?" Yang asked.
"When I became, well, this, I didn't want to become a centre of attention. Now that everyone knows about me, it's going to be much more difficult to keep my true self hidden." I elaborated.
"If you didn't want to draw attention, why did you try and defeat Pyrrha. Surely that would catch people's attention." Weiss pointed out.
"She's never had a decent fight, where she has the possibility of losing. Also, I thought I could win. I was wrong." I explained, getting to my feet. "Now Pyrrha knows something is different about me, and I've got to explain it to team JNPR." I showed them my left wrist, metal exposed.
"Ooh, I'll get that spray stuff for you're arm!" Ruby yelled excitedly, bolting out of the room.
"So... how are you gonna tell them?" Yang asked.
"I'll just... say it. I'm sure they'll understand. Right?" Weiss, Blake and Yang looked amongst each other, slightly unsure. At that moment, Ruby bolted back into the room, almost slamming into a wall.
"Can I do it? Can I do it?" Ruby asked quickly.
"Sure." I said, holding out my arm. She grinned and sprayed the substance onto my arm which quickly regrew the skin, covering the previously exposed metal. "Wow! It's so cool!"
"That is interesting. What is it made of?" Weiss asked, closely examining the can.
"No idea. I just know it regrows the skin on my much faster than my aura can." I told her, and looked at the clock. "Best go give Pyrrha's shield back... and tell them what I am."
"OK, good luck!" Ruby yelled as I left the room. I scanned the telepathic paper on the door and entered the room.
"How do you open the door? I swear I locked it this time." Jaune complained, crossing his arms in annoyance.
"It's... a long story. Pyrrha, here's your shield, sorry for slicing it in half." I apologised, handing it to her.
"Thank you, and it's really no problem." Pyrrha thanked, ever so slightly cautiously. I looked at the rest of the team, and they looked a bit... uneasy.
"I guess you want to know what happened during that duel, how Pyrrha won?" They all nodded. "Ok, I'm just going to come right out and say it: I was an artaficial Intelligence programme called Epsilon, created by Ozpin and given to David, and remained with him for some time, more specifically during the mission to Mountain Glenn and the Breach. Afterwards, I found a man who built synthetic bodies designed for AI's, so he gave this one too me. I became the second synthetic person capable of generating aura, who was first I will leave anonymous. I decided to name myself Epsilon Xiao Long and posed as Yang's brother to learn to be a hunter amongst the rest of you, and here we are. I'm not a threat, I'm not a monster, I'm just here to help keep people safe. Clear?"
"Crystal." Jaune simply stated with a small smile.
"That's so cool! I want my own robot!" Nora yelled, raising her arms.
"That's absolutely incredible." Pyrrha said, shocked.
Ren was disinterested, or already knew, somehow.
"Great! Glad we cleared this all up, hopefully we can socialise more with... less awkward circumstances." I say, and start to leave.
"Actually, I was wondering." Pyrrha began, catching my attention. "What metal are you made of?"
"Umm, I don't know, Iron?" I wondered.
"No, the metal you are made of I didn't recognise with my semblance. And I can recognise most, if not all, metals. You may want to find out, as this metal is special." Pyrrha stated.
"I guess that explains how I sliced that shield like it was made of butter. I'll look into it." I tell her, and leave the room. I enter back into Team RWBY's dorm room.
"Did it go alright?" Blake asked, looking up from her book.
"Actually, it went much better than expected. I was expecting more questions and 'that's impossible', I guess you eight have seen a lot." I say, jumping up to sit next to Yang on her bed.
"So, how did my bro feel about losing to the infamous Pyrrha Nikos?" Yang asked with a smirk.
"I'll admit, not what I expected. She certainly does deserve the title 'The Invincible Girl'. However, she only won because of her semblance. I literally couldn't move!" I complained.
"That doesn't sound fair." Weiss added.
"It isn't fair, if you also happen to be a being with an endoskeleton made completely out of metal. Luckily, you don't." I said sarcastically. "However, I know something I always win at." Yang glared at me.
"I will reclaim my crown, one day or another!" Yang yelled, getting a confused look from the rest of the team.
"Me and Yang played Remnant: The Game, I controlled Atlas while she controlled Vale, Vacuo and Mistral. Yet, she was utterly destroyed by my Atlesian empire, leaving her in tears." I declared, Yang not stopping her glare. "Every day since then, she has tried to defeat me, but is yet to win."
"That's it! I won't have you bragging about my losses in front of my friends and baby sister. Ruby, get the game: time for me to win." Yang announced with a cold stare, directed towards me.
"Yes! And don't worry Yang, I will help you win against the big meanie! Be right back!" She yelled, and shot out the room with her semblance.
"You're going down, Xiao Long." Yang said with a maniacal grin.
"No, you're going down, Xiao Long." I responded with a cocky grin.
"This is a complete waste of time. You play your little game, I'm going to study." Weiss told us, which we ignored, and left, Blake following behind her.
30 Seconds Earlier...
"Be right back!" Ruby yelled, and shot out of the room with her semblance. After only a few seconds of running, she slammed directly into the back of someone, falling onto her back. She groaned lightly and shook her head.
"No... not again." She muttered dizzily. It took her a second, but realised she wasn't on the floor. A man in an Atlesian uniform caught her just before she fell completely.
"You'd aught to be more careful when you're running in narrow spaces. Trust me, I know." He said and pulled her back up to her feet. She laughed nervously to herself, blushing.
"T-thank you. Are you new, I haven't seen you before." Ruby asked.
"We're from Atlas, participating in the tournament. I'm Willow, this is my younger brother, Peter." She offered Ruby and hand, which she shook happily.
"Hello, I'm Ruby, leader of Team RWBY! Yes, it does get confusing. I'm sorry I can't talk for long, I need to get something." Ruby explained quickly.
"It's no problem. Maybe we'll see you around." Peter said to her.
"Yeah, maybe!" She finished, and ran off again. "Oh, and welcome to Beacon!" She disappeared around a corner, rose petals falling behind her.
"That went well." Willow stated, walking down the corridor with her brother.
"Yeah, they seem nice enough. That's too bad..." Peter spoke, going quiet.
"I know it's only temporary, try to make the best of it." Willow reassured, pulling Peter into a one armed hug. "Let's just get this mission done, so we can be free."
End of Chapter Four
Well, the plot thickens, now that the Inhumans are in the House! Or, in the Academy? How will their mission for freedom go? Will they succeed? Will you enjoy this story recommendation!?:
Name: From Beyond
Author: Coeur Al'Aran
General Synopsis: Seeing that young man die in initiation was horrifying for her. Even with all her time in the White Fang, she hadn't expected to see much an idealistic man as Jaune Arc die like that. It should have been nothing more than a tragedy... Instead she's now stuck with the lingering spirit of this guy following her around, and no one else can hear or see him in any way. Jaune x Blake.
And, as always, remember to follow this story, give this story a favourite and leave a review, any and all reviews are responded to in the next chapter. Have a good day/night and I'll see you all in the next chapter.