So I've realized something these past few days, I hate golf. Yeah, so thats a thing. Enjoy.
Fidelis threw his Gunbai forward towards Neo who ducked and charged with her umbrella pointed at Fidelis's stomach. Seeing this coming Fidelis gave a quick and hard pull on the cable he added to the war fan, it shot back towards Neo's head who rolled to the side to avoid the attack. After catching his Gunbai Fidelis charged and brought the fan down towards Neo who expertly shifted her body letting the fan hit the ground creating a small crater.
Neo swung her umbrella towards his side while he was still recovering from his own attack. The umbrella crashed into his side like a baseball bat and was sure to leave a nasty bruise. Fidelis unexpectedly grabbed a hold of the umbrella with his free arm and yanked it towards him with Neo still holding on, he rammed his shoulder into her gut causing her to fall to her knees trying to catch her breath. Fidelis pivoted and placed the edge of his fan next to her throat.
Neo looked up at him, there was a moment of silence between them before they both smiled. Fidelis held out his hand and helped the girl up off the ground and brushed a bit of dirt off her. Fidelis then turned to look at the group of recruit who were standing off to the side watching their demonstration. "Alright, Neo and I were just fighting at around an equal skill level during that spar. Can anyone tell me why I won?"
One of the recruits raised his hand. "Because you were stronger and were able to hit harder." He said flatly.
"While my physical strength did indeed play a role it was not why I won. I've fought dozens of people who were far stronger than me in that regard and won. No, the main reason I won is because of my combat type." This caused a few confused looks from the recruits. He sighed before explaining. "I was taught that there are three combat types that every warrior falls into. Discipline, Instinctual, and Reactive. Discipline fighters follow a strict martial art style of fighting that has been taught, developed, and passed down for generations. Instinctual fighters, as the name implies, fight solely based on their instincts and reflexes. Finally there are Reactive fighters, these fighters prefer to stand back and use their enemies moves against them and adapt to the enemy fighting style."
"These three combat types work in a sort of Rock, Paper, Scissors kind of way. If the combatant are of the same level of skill then Discipline beats Instinctual, Instinctual beats Reactive, and Reactive beats Discipline. I myself would fall under the Instinctual type while my lovely assistant here would fall under the Reactive type. The reason Instinctual usually beats Reactive is because Reactive fighters adapt to their enemies fighting style and take advantage of the patterns, Instinctual fighters don't generally have patterns they stick to making it nearly impossible to predict or adapted to their fighting style. However this by no means is to say that Instinctual fighters will always beat a Reactive fighter in a fight. There are still many variable to take into account such as, location, experience, size and speed, and plenty more. Alright now I want you all to pair up and do some sparring, try to figure out what type your opponent falls under." As he said this all the recruits did as he said and took off.
Once they were all sparring he turned to Neo. "You okay? I din't mean to hit you that hard." He asked in an apologetic tone. Neo smiled and elbowed him in his side where she had hit him. "Aww! Damn I think you bruised a rib." He groaned.
Neo pulled out her scroll. 'You wanna get some diner after recruitment tonight?'
"Sure, where you wanna go?" Before she could answer Fidelis's scroll beeped showing he had a message. He read it and his eyes went wide at its contents. "Actually Im gonna need to take a rain check on dinner and recruitment tonight. Theres somewhere I got to be. Tell Roman he'll have to show off the Paladins on his own, have one of the corporals do his intro." Neo grabbed his arm.
'Where are you going?' She held up her scroll.
"My brother invited me to have a little chat tonight in a warehouse on the other side of town. He says he wants to discuss something important. Im 90% sure its a trap but it sounds like a good time either way." She looked a little worried. "Don't worry I'll be fine... probably. If I do make it back here in one piece I have a question for you, until then Im off." With that he went to the armory to prepare.
With Rideat hours later
Rideat was sitting on a crate in the middle of the warehouse with Velvet leaning on the side of it. He heard a beep from his scroll signaling it was almost time. "Everyone come here for a moment." He called out as the members of team GRIN and CFVY all gathered around him. "Alright lets all go over this one more time. We're only here to keep him busy for an hour or two, we're not trying to beat him or take him in for the reward. So when he gets here just close the doors behind him and don't let him out. If combat can be avoided here than we should try to keep this peaceful."
Coco chuckled. "It's eight on one and your talking like we're at a disadvantage."
"If we were to fight him and he decided to get serious I can guarantee at least one of us would be killed or seriously wounded before we took him down. He's strong but not invincible." Rideat said flatly.
"How do we know he's even coming? I mean he could have guessed this was a trap." Iris piped in.
"Oh he knows its a trap, that probably the main reason he's coming in the first place. My brother is a bit of an idiot." This got a chuckle from Gabriel and Fox.
"What can you tell us about his fighting style and how to counter him?" Velvet asked put her hand on his.
"He's extremely dangerous in close quarters so if possible try staying at a distance. He's also a bit of a juggernaut so wounds won't really slow him down much if any. In other words, the best way to take him down is with one massive hit from a distance. Everybody got that?" Rideat asked the group, to which they all nodded. "Good, cuz he's here."
As he said this the door to the warehouse opened and in walked Fidelis with his Gunbai on his back and a briefcase in his hand. He paused for a moment and looked around at everyone before making his way to the center of the large warehouse. He stopped about ten feet away from Rideat and sat down on the floor cross legged. There was a profound silence in the room as Fidelis opened up the briefcase with him and pulled out stack of small glass cups and a bottle of expensive looking whiskey. Without saying anything he opened the bottle and Rideat could instantly recognize the smell of the alcohol. Grimm's Tooth Whiskey, brewed in Opal town in Vacuo, it was Rideats favorite drink though he hadn't had any since he left the Fang and joined Beacon academy.
"So, am I drinking alone or are any of you gonna join me?" He asked as he poured a small amount into a glass and took a sip. He glanced around at the people who were surrounding him, he stopped when his eyes fell on Velvet. "Ah you must be Velvet." He said with his demonic sounding voice courtesy of his masks voice filterer, causing her to tense up a bit. "My my you are a cute little thing, far out of my brothers league if I might say so. Theres no need to be afraid, I won't bite."
Fidelis then turned to look at his brother. "So little bro, why did you call me here? If this is your attempt to take me out so I can't threaten CarrotLover62 over there," He pointed to Velvet who blushed when he said her online name. "then you can save yourself the effort. I told Ozpin to tell you that I set a redlight on both you and her already." Rideats eye widened a bit under his beanie.
"Whats a 'redlight' mean?" Gabriel asked his partner.
"Its a 'Don't Approach' order. Anyone with a 'redlight' status are to be left alone by all members of the Fang. Ozpin hadn't told me that yet, thank you." Rideat walked over and grabbed a cup and poured himself some of the whiskey. "However that is not why I've asked you to come here." Rideat took a sip, smiling at the flavor.
Fidelis raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then why pray tell, have you brought me all the way out here?"
"Well mainly to keep you busy for a little while." Rideat replied.
"Who are you trying to keep me away from?" Fidelis asked as he put two and two together. The only reason Rideat would want to keep him busy is so that someone else could do something and not have to worry about him getting involved. After a few seconds Fidelis realized and chuckled. "So what is Belladonna up to tonight?"
"I don't actually know, but whatever it is will end better if your not present." Rideat took another sip of the heavenly liquid.
"I see."
"So how's this gonna go down. We could all sit here peacefully and enjoy the fine liqueur you brought for an hour or two, maybe even catch up a bit. Or you could try to bust out of here while taking on all eight of us at once." Rideat asked as everyone placed their hands on their weapons while they waited for his answer.
Fidelis let out a loud laugh. "Booze or a good battle, you really know how to make a guy struggle. I've got a better option. How about I take you guys on one at a time tourny style, and if Im able to win three fights in a row you let me leave without any problems." Fidelis said causing Rideat to stop for a moment.
"And if we win?" He asked.
"Then I'll stay here in this warehouse until dawn without a struggle, I'll even throw in the rest of this whiskey. Do we have a deal?" Rideat looked around at the people gathered who all nodded.
"Fine." Rideat relented.
"Sweet!" Fidelis put the whiskey away in the bag and tossed the briefcase to Velvet who barely managed to catch it. "For my first opponent I'll take on tall, dark, and oriental over there." Fidelis said pointing at Yatsuhashi who grinned.
He stepped forward and bowed. "I accept your challenge."
The two of them walked to the center of the huge room and awaited the signal to start. Gabriel stepped between them. "Alright this is gonna be done tournament style, meaning that when your aura drops into the red then your out. There is to be no killing." He then pulled out a yellow card and threw it into the air and making his way off to the edge of the room. The second the card hit the floor it burst into a tiny explosion of light signaling the start.
Fidelis and Yatsuhashi charged.
OH DAMN I"M BLUE BALLIN YOU GUYS. Don't worry though next chapter will be nothing but fights so look forward to that. Until then Im gonna be playing Dragon Age. LATER.