Chapter 4: Losing and Winning
When Yang was finally released from the medical center, it was all of an hour before she found her way to the Schnee mansion's state-of-the-art exercise and training facility. Like everything in the Schnee mansion, it boasted nothing less than the best the world had to offer. It even included a full-size dueling arena.
Most of the facility's equipment looked absolutely pristine. Yang wondered if half of it had ever even been used. She was getting the impression that daddy Schnee didn't really care if there was any need for the things he acquired, just so long as they were the best.
Yang was in the center of the facility, stretching out her poor, stiff muscles. She was dressed for a workout in her tank top and shorts. Her ankles and left hand were wrapped in athletic tape. Out of habit, she had almost taped up her right hand too before realizing that it wouldn't really make much difference.
Yang finished up her stretching. She walked past all the elaborate resistance training machines, past a row of high-tech practice dummies, and stopped in front of a good old-fashioned punching bag.
Beacon Academy, like the Schnee mansion, had also had a very well-equipped training facility, but Yang had usually passed up using the fancy equipment there too. She preferred to literally beat the stuffing out of a punching bag or three. There was just something so very satisfying about it. It had always been her favorite workout, and it probably always would be.
Yang dropped into a fighting stance. Even after all these months, her body remembered the correct position. She spent a moment just bouncing on her heels, giving herself a chance to loosen up. She opened with a few quick jabs with her left hand followed by a right hook. She hadn't quite mastered her new cybernetic arm yet. It still was a little jerky when she moved it. But she was good enough with it to make a fist, and right now that was all she needed to do.
The chains holding up the bag creaked as Yang laid into it. Working out with her new hand was strange. She could feel when she touched something with it; but a forceful punch, a gentle tap, and everything in between all produced the same mild sensation. It was something she'd have to get used to.
Yang decided she'd warmed up enough and really opened up on the punching bag. Her fists struck twice as fast and twice as hard. She dodged and weaved against imagined blows. She even threw in a few kicks for good measure. It was exhilarating to be taking the first steps toward reclaiming her former glory, but it was also exhausting. After only a few minutes, Yang had to draw on her aura to keep up the same intensity. She'd known her long months of being sedentary had taken their toll, but she couldn't quite believe that she was this out of shape.
Yang kept up her assault, refusing to give up. Her muscles began to ache and her lungs were burning, but she wouldn't go down before the punching bag did. She wasn't going to lose to something that couldn't even fight back.
The punching bag began to tear under the repeated blows. Yang redoubled her efforts. With each hit, the tear got wider. The knuckles on Yang's left hand began to sting. She saw blood on the punching bag. She'd burned through so much of her aura to keep going that it was no longer protecting her. Without any aura to intervene, she'd torn through the tape over her fingers and broken the skin beneath.
Yang didn't stop. She ignored the pain and kept punching, kept fighting, just like she used to do. She didn't care if she ended up breaking all the bones in her fingers; she was going to take down the punching bag. Her aura would heal her, and she was done with giving up.
Sand was already leaking from the punching bag. It had almost given out. With a roar, Yang slammed her artificial fist into the bag and it finally surrendered completely. The bag blew open, and sand sprayed out onto the floor.
Yang doubled over. Her breath came in heaving gasps. Her whole body trembled. Blood dripped from her hand. She tried to right herself but only toppled to the floor. Sweat soaked her clothes and she could hardly move. She was still a shadow of what she'd been, but Yang was beside herself with glee. When she had lost her arm, the worst part had been that no matter how hard she struggled, no matter how hard she tried, there had been nothing she could've done to fix it. Being out of shape was entirely different. That Yang could fix. It would be an uphill battle all the way, but Yang was made for battle.
Every day for the next week Yang showed up at the Schnee mansion's training facility. Every day the facility's supply of spare punching bag got a little bit smaller. Yang only stopped to eat and sleep. She'd barely even seen Weiss, which was why she was surprised when she walked into the training room one day and found Weiss waiting for her there. Weiss was dressed in her bolero jacket and combat skirt with her rapier hanging at her side. She had the left half of Ember Celica in her hand.
"Come to join the fun?" Yang asked.
"You could say that," Weiss said. She held up Yang's bracelet. "I thought you might be ready to move on from punching bags."
Yang grinned. "Are you challenging me to a fight?"
"A sparring match," Weiss insisted. "They're not the same thing."
"You're on!" Yang said. She snatched her bracelet out of Weiss's hand and hooked it onto her wrist.
Yang followed Weiss to the dueling arena. Team RWBY had spent a lot of time sparring last semester. In addition to their regular combat classes, teams were encouraged to spend some of their extracurricular time facing off against one another. It was the best way to learn your teammates' strengths and weaknesses in battle.
Team RWBY had agreed early on that they wouldn't concern themselves with who'd beaten who how many times, and instead focus on getting better as a team. It had been a sensible idea that Yang had completely ignored. She'd secretly kept track in her head how well she'd done against everyone. In fact, if she was so inclined, she could list off her win rate against every single student she'd ever fought against.
Ruby would've probably been embarrassed to learn just how often Yang beat her. Even with Ruby's incredible speed, Yang knew all her tricks. After all, they had been mock-fighting each other since they were little girls. More to the point, Yang couldn't let her baby sister get one up on her. Weiss, however, was an entirely different story. Except for Pyrrha, no one had managed to beat Yang more often than Weiss. And as the semester had gone along, Weiss's win rate had only gone up. Yang had a huge amount of respect for Weiss's fighting prowess, although she would never admit it.
Weiss walked up to the dueling arena's control pad and tapped some buttons. The lights came on and holographic screens flickered to life. She asked, "Shall we use tournament-style rules?"
"I'm up for anything," Yang said.
Weiss pushed a few more buttons. An automated official with a synthesized voice announced overhead, "Arena is ready. Contestants, to your marks."
Weiss took her position in the center of the arena on one of the starting marks.
"Contestant One ready," the official said.
Yang took her position as well. There was a big grin on her face.
"Contestant Two ready," the official said.
Weiss drew Myrtenaster and held it in front of her in a classic ready pose. Yang activated her gauntlet. Weiss had offered to pay to have the missing half of Ember Celica replaced, but Yang had refused. Like Ruby, she'd crafted her weapon herself. She wasn't about to let someone else make a cheap copy.
The official started counting down. "Three. Two. One. Begin!"
With a blast from Ember Celica, Yang launched herself toward Weiss. It was a bit awkward using only one gauntlet to propel herself, but she managed. Weiss deftly twirled out of the way and countered with a series of thrusts. Yang managed to block the first few, but the last one broke through her guard. The tip of Myrtenaster clashed against Yang's aura, although not as forcefully as Yang knew Weiss was capable of.
Yang fired off a blast from her gauntlet. Weiss dodged the spray of shot, but Yang let the recoil spin her around and into a kick aimed right in Weiss's direction. Weiss managed to duck the blow, but it put her off balance and completely on the defensive.
Yang pressed her advantage with a flurry of punches. Weiss tried to create some distance between them, but Yang matched her step for step. Just went Yang thought she had Weiss cornered, however, Weiss managed to slip away and put Yang back on guard.
Yang and Weiss fought back and forth. Each of them landed a few good hits here and there, but no one kept the advantage for long. Yang should have been loving it, but instead she was getting more and more frustrated as the duel went on. Between her arm, her missing gauntlet, and the past months of inactivity, Weiss had no excuse not to be mopping the floor with her. Instead, the fight was almost easy.
Until now, Yang had only had one fight with Weiss that had been easy. It was the first time they had ever sparred. Weiss had tried to encase Yang in ice, apparently not realizing that Yang could light herself on fire. The results had been predictable and hilarious, at least hilarious to Yang.
Yang realized the only explanation for why this fight was going so well for her was that Weiss was holding back. The fact that Weiss hadn't used any glyphs or Dust made it all the more obvious.
Yang knew Weiss meant well, but she absolutely, positively refused to be coddled. Now that she had two arms again, she wouldn't let anyone treat her like she was weak, especially not a teammate.
Yang was about to stop the fight and tell Weiss to get serious when she saw Weiss bring the pommel of Myrtenaster up to her chin just like she always did before she lunged. Yang saw an opportunity to really make sure Weiss understood that she needed to take the kid gloves off. It was probably a bad idea, but if Yang could pull it off, it would be awesome. And that was always reason enough for Yang to try something.
Just as Yang had predicted, Weiss lunged forward. Yang, ready for it, reached out with her cybernetic hand. It was very convenient that Weiss was left-handed, otherwise Myrtenaster would've been on the wrong side. The open palm of Yang's hand connected with Myrtenaster and slid down the rapier's length. Had Yang's hand been made of flesh and blood it almost certainly would have been sliced opened, even with an aura protecting it. Yang snapped her fingers shut. She used her strength to yank Myrtenaster out of Weiss's grip. Weiss stumbled, having been thrown off balance, and a kick from Yang sent her sprawling to the mat.
Weiss got to her feet. No doubt she was expecting Yang to have a goofy smile on her face, just like she usually did whenever she pulled a stunt like that. But Yang was not smiling. Instead, she was giving Weiss her sternest look.
"Stop taking it easy on me," Yang said.
"Yang, it's only been a week," Weiss said. "You can't expect yourself to be completely recovered."
Yang could see the sympathy on Weiss's face. She hated it. It seemed Weiss wanted to do this the hard way. That was fine with Yang. She always enjoyed pushing Weiss's buttons.
"Well I guess that makes sense," Yang said.
"I'm glad you agree," Weiss said, brushing herself off.
"After all, it'll be way less embarrassing when you lose to me if you can say you weren't giving it your all," Yang said.
"What!?" I haven't lost to you!" Weiss said.
"You haven't won yet," Yang said.
"I know what you're doing, and I'm not going to play this game with you, Xiao Long!" Weiss said.
Yang knew she had Weiss now. Weiss only called her by her last name when she was really annoyed. Yang asked, "So you're going to surrender then?"
"Who said anything about surrender?" Weiss asked.
"You did. Just now. I accept," Yang said.
"Stop that!" Weiss demanded.
"It's not like you can even really fight me when I've got your sword." Yang dangled Myrtenaster in front of Weiss teasingly.
"Yang!" Weiss shouted.
"Winter will be so disappointed when she hears about this," Yang said, delivering the final, verbal blow.
Yang could actually see the exact moment that Weiss snapped. There wasn't a scream of rage or any other sub-verbal utterance; Weiss's face just turned cold enough to frost glass while her eyes lit up with a burning fury that rivaled any fire Yang could produce. Weiss thrust a finger at the ground and a yellow glyph appeared underneath her. Yang recognized it a second too late as Weiss's time dilation glyph. Of course, a second was all she'd had.
Faster than any human or faunus eye could follow, Weiss charged Yang and punched her in the face with more strength than most people would guess the petite woman possessed. Yang went flying backward. Myrtenaster slipped from her hand and Weiss plucked it out of the air.
Before Yang had even hit the floor, her semblance came to life and energy surged into her. The second she made contact with the mat, she sprung back to her feet, grinning like a madwoman. "That's more like…oh no."
White glyphs surrounded Yang on all sides. In a flash, Weiss was everywhere. She struck from the left then the right then the back, all in the blink of an eye. Each blow was precisely measured to inflict just enough damage to not fuel Yang's semblance any further.
Yang realized she was going to lose far too quickly at this rate, so she took all the strength Weiss's glyph-assisted punch had given her and smashed her fist into the ground as hard as she could. The resulting shockwave threw Weiss across the arena and blew away all her glyphs.
Yang charged at Weiss immediately. Even as Weiss was scrambling to her feet, Yang could see Myrtenaster's barrel rotating. Yang guessed that Weiss was about to infuse her rapier with red Dust and forcefully repulse the next blow. That was the tactic Weiss usually fell back on when pressured by a strong opponent.
Just before Yang finished closing the distance, she used her gauntlet to launch herself into the air and came down over Weiss's guard with a head-over-heels ax kick. The kick connected with enough force to bend solid steel. Weiss's aura flared brilliantly against the attack, but it could do nothing to keep her on her feet.
Adrenalin flowed through Yang like it never had before. She was actually going to win. After a blow like that, Weiss's aura had to be nearly depleted. All it would take was one or two more hits and it would all be over.
Yang raised her fist just as a white glyph appeared underneath Weiss. Weiss flicked her wrist and used her glyph to drag herself clear of Yang's punch. She sprung to her feet. She had indeed loaded Myrtenaster with red Dust, and now she unleashed it all in an inferno of flame.
Yang raised her arms to block. The blast hit her dead-on and sent her skidding backward a few feet. Her semblance hungrily ate up the energy, setting her hair aglow. A strength that even most huntsmen and huntresses could only dream of filled Yang's body. Power surged just beneath her skin begging to be released. More than anything else, this was what Yang had missed. She was ready to literally explode in a firestorm of destruction, but for the first time ever, she hesitated. Something wasn't right. Weiss had already hit her hard enough once in this fight to activate her semblance, and Weiss never, ever made the same mistake twice.
Yang was conflicted. A small, strange new part of her was telling her not to charge headlong at Weiss, but her semblance had been awakened and she was not going to ignore it. She shoved her doubts down as deep as they would go and did what she always did. She ran straight toward Weiss, straight toward victory.
Yang didn't make it. Halfway, her feet adhered to the floor, nearly causing her to fall over. She looked down, confused, and saw a black glyph beneath her.
"Oooooh," Yang said. She looked back up at Weiss.
Weiss extended two of her fingers and flicked them upward. The glyph holding Yang's feet to the ground turned red and violently launched her into the air. An instant later, Weiss flew to meet her, Myrtenaster extended and glowing with the power of Nature's Wrath.
Weiss's strike connected. There was a bright, white glow followed by an explosion of energy, and Yang was tossed aside like a rag doll. She promptly collided with the arena wall and slid down it unceremoniously to the floor.
"Match! Combatant One wins!" the automated official announced.
Yang lay there, sprawled out on the ground. She tried to bite back her disappointment. For a moment she'd really thought she was going to win. Admittedly, her beating Weiss hadn't been very likely, but she really, really hated losing.
Yang heard the sound of boots stomping toward her. Then she heard Weiss say, "What were you thinking!?"
"Yeah, sorry about goading you," Yang said. She picked herself up off the floor. "But hey, it worked."
"That's not what I'm talking about, you dolt!" Weiss shouted. "Why did you charge me? It was obviously a trap! I know you knew! I saw you hesitate!"
"I figured I could handle it," Yang said.
"You can't keep pretending that you're invulnerable!" Weiss scolded. "You're not!"
Yang's expression darkened. "I know I'm not."
"Then why did you charge? You might have won if you'd been a little more cautious," Weiss said.
"It was just a sparring match." Yang shrugged.
"Someday it won't be! I don't have to tell you that!" Weiss said.
"No, you really, really don't," Yang said. Her artificial hand curled into a fist. She didn't like where this conversation was going.
"I'm…" Weiss started, then thought better of it. "Look, just try to be more careful in the future."
"Sure," Yang said, unconvincingly. She really felt like punching Weiss in the face for reminding her of what she'd been through. It had happened, but it was over now. She could fight again. Everything was alright.
Weiss sighed. She said, "I think it's time we focus on how to locate your sister."
"Don't worry about that," Yang said, forcing a grin onto her face. "I've got a brilliant plan."
Author's Note: Let the debate commence on who could beat who in a fight! That's something that fans never get tired of doing.
Creating a RWBY-style action sequence in a written format is definitely a challenge. Even without the limiting factor of an animation budget, I don't think I can compare to the late, great Monty Oum. All I can do is offer up a pale imitation.
I should note that I have a theory on how Yang's semblance works. Specifically, I think there's a certain threshold that has to be passed before a hit will make her stronger. If that's the case, her fight against Neo in Volume 2 would make a lot more sense.
Constructive criticism is always welcome so please feel free to review or comment. If you want to be notified of updates or send me a message, you can find me on tumblr under the name electronicyarn.