LXIX - Shrub
I kinda lost the password for my FFN until like yesterday lol. My old laptop died a sad death and lost all my passwords. Took me an embarrassingly long time to recover it… also haven't been getting email notifications about reviews like I used to for whatever reason. Idk how to fix that.
~~~(LXIX)~~~
The head of Bulls Breath and the blade Crocea Mors met with a hearty clang as the two teens clashed. Oxon swung down with a heavy overhead blow, aiming to stagger the blonde and end the fight before the knight could recover.
To his surprise and impress, the blonde held the blow with only a minor slouch to his spine.
In one fluid motion, Arc used his cross guard to push the ax high, swung the sword around the back of his head and slashed diagonally at Oxon. The family blade sparked over the metal mask and grated on his pale green aura. Oxon had to squint his eyes to reduce the harm from the sparks on his eyes.
Jaune made to follow up with a second upward slash, but the blow was backhanded away by an armored fist.
Oxon struck back by twisting his waist and swung his ax at the blonde. The blow was stopped by the shield but the blonde wasn't expecting the follow-up kick to the ankle. The blow used the momentum from his previous swing and quickly unbalanced the knight.
Jaune fell onto his back and Oxon spun his body three sixty and swung his ax downward into the prone body. With his shield underneath him, Jaune attempted to block the blow with his sword, though he instead took the blue to the forearm.
"Ahh!"
Not letting up, Oxon pulled his way back, took quick aim, and pulled the trigger of his weapon.
The high velocity round just barely missed Jaune's head, who had just managed to roll out of the way and onto his feet. Oxon swapped his grip and swung the barrel right to let loose another shot, this time hitting the shield placed in front of the blonde's upper body. Jaune was crouched a few feet away, and before Oxon could attack, the shield was thrust forward and then flashed purple. The next thing Oxon saw was the ceiling as he flew backwards.
What in the gods damn..?
The blonde was courteous enough to let Oxon get back up and shake his head, yet the smirk on his face was oh so smug.
"So… you've added some dust to that shield of yours." Jaune gave him a grin as he got back into a ready stance. "I thought you were one of the "anti-fancy" people? What happened to the classics?"
The teen rose to his full height and started to circle Oxon. "It's good to change things up, keeps things fresh, yeah?" Oxon rolled his shoulders and his eyes before he put Bulls Breath into a firing position, barrel trained on the blonde's head.
"Proud of you, buddy." Oxon muttered under his breath. His eyes narrowed as he imagined what other upgrades other than just the gravity dust was in there. He and Ruby were incredibly close, so she probably had him kitted out. Well, there was probably a very quick way to find out.
An annoying one too in all likelihood… With a hidden smirk, Oxon created a plan. In the play to keep the fight on his terms, Oxon pushed aura into his legs to burst forward at Arc.
As he closed in, he switched his hold on Bulls Breath to a one hand grip while his left removed New Leaf from its holster. An overhead swing of the large weapon skidded down the shield, but Oxon wasn't stopping and turned the momentum from the swing into a spin with a shot from Bulls Breath and used an underhand swing of New Leaf to force the heater shield upward. With the barrier out of the way, Oxon stomped forward with a vengeance. With the shield out of position, the third strike was able to land. Bulls Breath bit deep into aura and would have cleaved the blonde if he did not have it.
The blow landed heavy on his unbalanced form, causing the knight to stagger. And as a reward, his semblance began to charge up and cause a faint light to begin glowing over his form. The glow thickened when a kick followed by a series of quick slashes from Bulls Breath.
In a frantic attempt to stop the assault, Jaune swung his sword at Oxon's face. The blow failed to land, but Oxon, on instinct, hopped back to avoid it. A fresh blast of gravity dust out furthered the room between combatants.
With space created between the two, Oxon quickly placed New Leaf back into its holster and took aim with Bulls Breath. Dust rounds pinged off the white surface with each blast as the blonde rushed forward, except that the goal wasn't damage, but to obstruct vision as Jaune rushed him. When Arc got close, Oxon sidestepped the shield bash and thrust his weapon forward, hooking itself on the side of the expanded sheath. With a toothy grin, he began to pull it aside.
Oxon's grin turned to shock as a blue light extended out the side, pushing his ax left. As quick as it came, the light was gone and his ax had been thrown to the side and his left arm out of position to defend himself. Arc capitalized on it.
A flurry of blows to his torso opened up with the edge of a shield striking between his mask and his chest guard, right into his throat. Thanks to his earlier hit, the blow was absorbed by his semblance as Oxon used the extra durability to swing at the blonde. Jaune fucked the swing and bashed his cross guard into Oxon's sternum which broke the glowing barrier. Not wasting time, Arc's blade tried to lop off his less protected arm and kept knocking said limb into positions that were far too awkward to get his weapon in a position to block or counter.
Stop hitting my elbow, asshole!
With a growl of frustration, Oxon lifted his right foot and stomped it down on the blonde's left. The interruption to his footwork caused the newest swing to miss its mark and harmlessly scrape on the face mask. Using his unbalance, Oxon gripped him by the newly added bevor and pulled him forward before quickly letting go.
"Hu-" The confused gasp was interrupted when Oxon extended his arm violently which impacted Jaune in the jaw, steel covered arm knocking him to the ground.
Arc reacted quicker this time and his shield that he spun in order to point at the floor flashed purple for a moment, pushing him back up in an impressive fashion. Instead of a tumble to the ground, he rolled backwards before springing forward, sword raised. The two traded a series of blows once again, each using their offensive and defensive tools to the fullest.
Oxon might not have dust capabilities, or the quick deployment of Crocea Mors' shield, but Virginiana covered his whole form from harm when needed. The attempts to remove Jaune's shield from play was countered by a burst of gravity or hard light dust. Each attempt to snag it by the side resulted in the hard light dust barrier springing out and leaving him in the backdoor. Trying from the top or bottom was trickier, not including the gravity dust to push him away. Jaune made a stellar choice, he had to admit.
After a minute of trading blows, the two found themselves a few paces apart. Each sporting competitive eyes. The fight had been far more annoying than expected, Arc wasn't fighting dirty per se, but it was frustrating nonetheless. He'd picked up some things since Beacon.
"I'm gonna need to find a new way to disarm you now." Damn dust…
Jaune merely moved his arm and shield in a taunting manner. "I'd like to see you try!"
Surprisingly, the mood wasn't as hostile as Oxon feared it might be. Sure, things had been going better since the farmhouse incident for him and Team RWBY. But his progress with JNR had been slower. Nora was fairly easy to get along with, high fructose habits aside. Ren seemed to, well not exactly enjoy Oxon's company, but he tolerated it. Arc had been different.
The moment they reunited at Haven had probably been one of the most anxious moments in his life. The high amounts of adrenaline pumping through everybody's systems, the resurfacing of bad memories, and the fact they were all armed had been a risky combination. And it hadn't exactly gone away until Argus.
Letting Arian doodle on my face may have helped.
"There a reason you're not getting fully serious with me? I distinctly remember a certain upgrade that you are not pulling out." The blonde had a confused face for a brief moment before realization spread in his eyes. "The big sword that you used on the horsey grimmy thingy."
"I use it for big threats, like the Nuckelavee and Cinder. I don't think I need to use it on you." Oxon's eyebrow twitched at the unintended slight. "'Sides, this is just a spar."
"Then how about we make this a bit more interesting, Arc?"
"Oh?"
"You win, you get to ask me for any favor you want, but if I win, I get the same."
"Anything?" The blonde's blue eyes glanced above Oxon's eyes.
"You touch my hair like what happened to your own, I shave you bald."
"Now that's a tempting idea, how do you feel about a mullet?" A bullet nearly hit the blonde's forehead if not for a hasty block. "See, that's exactly why you need one."
With terms set, the two got back to their fight. And Oxon finally got what he wanted when the two halves of the heirloom combined and transformed into a greatsword. The extra offense came at the expense of defense, and Oxon couldn't wait to keep his streak against the team leader.
~~~(LXIX)~~~
Not fighting allowed her to observe her friends as they tried out their new gear and get an outsider's perspective. She could watch as Nora tried to deny Blake her higher speed with blasts from her grenades. Ruby and Ren were a near blur as they dashed about, each trying to out speed the other. Oscar had been trying to find holes in Yang's offense, much to his immediate and painful disappointment. Oxon and Jaune had been in a battle to see who could break the other's defensive style first, and it seemed like Arc was changing his strategy when he brought out the modification he requisitioned in Mistral. Sword sword as Ruby called it.
Weiss watched the two men fight as a new presence made itself known.
"Why did I have to fight Yang…" Oscar limped away from a triumphant brawler and clutching his side. "I'm sure I could have had a better time fighting Ruby or Ren, work on my agility?"
"I'm sure fighting Xiao Long was full of valuable lessons."
"I guess I learned how to get punched…"
The former heiress laughed lightly at his mild annoyance. "It's not an awful lesson, all things considered. Giving up after a hard hit has caused the end of many aspiring huntsmen and huntresses careers. The fact you kept getting back up is admirable, especially since you had a later start than most. I'm sure you'll get her eventually at this pace."
"It's not like staying down would be any good, why do the heavy hitters love to hit me when I'm down?" The boy's green eyes slid over the forms of Yang, Nora who was facing off against an elusive Blake, as well as Jaune and Oxon who traded heavy blows. "Nora likes to hit my legs, Ox likes the neck and head and stealing, and Yang just pummels everything."
"It's just their combat styles, and maybe their personalities as well. And I'm sure you will also find a method that the others will complain about in time" his own progress has been nothing short of amazing. The speed at which the boy picked up fighting was impressive, as well as a little envious. Ozpin's influence, she was sure. "Take Nora for example, why do you think she focuses on hitting her opponents, both human and Grimm, in the legs?"
"Sadism?" The flat tone of voice was amusing and Wiess let out a brief chuckle.
"Not quite. While Nora can use her semblance to speed her muscles up, she uses her aura sparingly even though her speed is not the highest." As she spoke, the two watched said girl's fight against the evasive faunus. The sweeping blows flowed in an almost graceful manner as the ginger tried to cartwheel the ravenette. "If she can injure or stun her opponent's legs even for a brief moment, then they won't be able to dodge her slower but incredibly powerful blows. She knows this and uses her bubbly attitude to lure her opponents into a false sense of security and capitalize on their misconceptions."
"Smart."
"Yes, not many people recognize it, but the girl is far sharper than she lets on. Yang is a bit different, still intelligent, but her philosophy is a bit more simple than Nora's." The blonde was leaning against one of the walls as she watched her sister square off against Ren. As if sensing their attention on her, she turned to them and gave a cheery wave which the two returned. "Her blistering offense can be daunting when one is on the receiving end. Even if her foe lands powerful hits on her, she can turn around and use that power via her semblance. And don't forget, her father and uncle are both professional huntsmen who also teach at Signal. She was raised in the perfect environment to come out incredibly strong, her own innate talent only made her all the more formidable." Looking away from her teammate, she looked over to Oxon who took a blow to the back when Jaune rolled between the tall teen's legs.
"Oxon is the most different of us, in terms of background." Oscar turned his gaze to watch said northerner and the blonde team leader clash. Oxon took another hit to the shoulder in order to get right up to Jaune and grabbed him by the neck, firing two shotgun blasts in a less than sporting area. Oscar winced and fidgeted in male understanding. "He's come a long way from what he used to be, both combat wise and in his goals. Though he still has more to go."
"And his fighting style? You've broken down the others, what do you see about him? I'm sure you have some insights on the way he fights?" Oscar was right, she'd paid a lot of attention to the brown haired teen back in Vale. She'd noticed his changes since The Fall with interest as well, but perhaps not in the same way as before. She'd been struggling internally on how to act around him or think about him.
She took a calming breath before answering. "He's a versatile fighter. He tends to be front and center in a battle, taking foes on directly. Even though he has the tools necessary to fight at range if need be. Due to the fact he did not train to be a huntsman until he infiltrated Beacon, his combat tactics are a bit simplistic in some ways. He prefers to act like Yang in a way, taking out the enemy quickly before they can counter him, oftentimes by wasting his aura either by taking unnecessary blows or to enhance his own."
"And his kleptomaniac tendencies?" His faux annoyance brought her mood up slightly. Oxon had a reputation back in Beacon for being an annoying opponent, not the strongest, but a menace with surprisingly sticky fingers in a fight. She smiled at the memory of when he'd stolen Scarlet's pistol/ grappling hook combo during combat class. The redhead had been embarrassed when tripped by his own weapon.
"It's not a bad strategy. Many of us, myself unfortunately included, rely on our weapons too much. I think he, Yang, Nora, Ren, and maybe Jaune could fight without their weapons. "Take the fight against Adam for example. From what the three that fought him said, the faunus practiced Iaijutsu, the quick draw style. And by gambling on his defenses, he managed to remove the shotgun-sheath from play, reducing the ways the terrorist could fight back and ultimately causing them to come out victorious."
"You really have been analyzing them all, haven't you?"
She gave him a grin before she looked over the three fights once more. "Oh I've been analyzing them all for a long time, as I'm sure they have also been analyzing each other too. Nobody in this room is unaware of how the others fight and think. And it is that understanding that makes us as good as we are." She allowed herself to puff out her chest in pride at what they have accomplished. "No matter what situation or group composition, we can all work together in a cohesive unit."
"I guess you are right, we cover a lot of bases in our group."
Oscar stood there and looked over the group. He had a look of thought as he studied the three fights. After a moment, he spoke up, confidence in his voice.
"Blake and Ren are both high speed fighters and can zip around to distract an opponent from high damage threats like Nora or Yang. It's clear the two pairs of partners have had a long time to complement each other. Ruby and Jaune are both incredibly gifted in their decision making and quick thinking, I can trust their decisions in the heat of even the fiercest battle, not to mention how they fight. Ruby excels in every range of combat from up close to sniping and can use her semblance and weapon to place her in advantageous positions with ease."
He's really paid attention to us. Perhaps we have another genius waiting in the wings?
"Jaune, setting aside his great tactics, is a phenomenal support fighter. I've seen him mesh well with everyone in unique ways, and now that he has his semblance, I'm sure he will shine even brighter. No pun intended."
"Oxon is similar to Jaune in their style, Jaune's aversion to firearms aside, but their specializations are slightly different. He's slower than Nora but has a variety of weapons to make up for when an opponent is able to move out of the range of his blade. And like you said, Ox is also far more focused on pressing forward on the front line and taking blows many others might dodge, oftentimes to his own detriment."
"An endearing yet highly annoying facet about him." And one she and her partner vowed to fix.
"He leaves himself open on risky gambits now and then, and values the others around him over himself. He probably thinks it's his duty since he has the most armor out of all of us, with the size of that shield, he could probably fully cover any one of us. I can see a bit of where he's coming from."
The boy's observations were quite spectacular. Nothing she hadn't noticed herself, but impressive to see that he had also caught onto. Though she noticed he left himself and one other person out of his teammate breakdowns. "And me?" The boy rolled his eyes at that.
"Hah, you and your summons are just stupid." He pointed at Myrtenaster with an amused expression. "That knight, the manticore, the queen lancer, and your new sphinx can catch anybody off guard, especially in the heat of battle. As long as there is somebody watching over you as you summon, the fight will easily go to your side."
"Yes, the Schnee semblance is a powerful one. The glyphs and summons allow me great versatility."
"Humbleness aside." The two shared a chuckle at his flat toned reply. "We have a good mix of front line fighters, high mobility tag and go experts, strategists, and witches that can raise the dead on our team that any force would find difficult to break apart."
"Witch?"
His ignoring of her indignation would be punished at a later date. Perhaps trapping him in a glacier will teach him manners. "That's not including Qrow, he's easily the strongest and most experienced in the group and brings a lot to the table, especially now that he seems to be drinking less lately."
"A true miracle, that one is. I plan to pick his brain later and see what I can learn. Him and the rest of the Ace-Ops." She glanced down at the boy. "Ozpin, or Ozma, as well. It's hard to beat multiple lifetimes of knowledge. It's unfortunate that he's shut himself away."
The boy glanced away from her eyes to look back at the fights. "Y-yeah, too bad…"
~~~(LXIX)~~~
Oxon blocked the loose dust thrown at his eyes with a smirk. Good thinking. But not quite good enough to work on me! His charge continued, a dormant Virginiana deflecting a blow aimed at his sternum and placed his shoulder in Arc's gut and lifted. The boy let out a squawk before his back was slammed into the floor. He was quick to try and get back up, the blonde not willing to give up.
A knee on his sword arm stopped that.
"And that's that, Arc." A loaded and cocked Patris placed in front of his face emphasized his point.
"Ugh…" Oxon saw the blonde speed through ideas in his head before relaxing on the ground. "Almost had you though."
Oxon got up and offered the blonde a hand, which was accepted and he pulled Jaune to his feet. Oxon took off his helmet and clipped it to his belt, his other hand pushing sweaty hair out of his face.
"You've got twenty seven percent while I have thirty three."
Oxon raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"How about we call it a draw?" The easygoing face almost made him agree, except for that Oxon knew why the knight wanted to call it that.
With a fake cruel smirk, he patted the guy on his shoulder. "And lose out on a favor from you? Not likely, Red Oak." The two shared a surprisingly good natured laugh as they walked back to the others. The fight had been a good one, Jaune was right that he wasn't who he used to be. He'd seen a bit of it on the train, but this was a more personal way to really understand.
"Oxon." Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Oxon turned to look at Jaune who had stopped a few steps behind him. The blonde had a serious look on his face as they stared at each other.
Blinking away the mild surprise, Oxon replied. "Yes, Jaune?"
"I need to apologize. No, let me talk." The hand up had Oxon close his open mouth. "I've been a huge jerk and I'm not proud of it. We both understand why, and it took a bit, but I've finally come to an understanding."
"Uh…"
"You did bad things because of that bitch." Jaune swearing was incredibly out of character, like a golden retriever hunting a deer. "After everything we've learned about Cinder, and Salem, your actions are understandable. Not to say you were right to follow her, but I don't blame you for being scared of the woman. I just wish things had been different. Perhaps without Cinder, we could have been classmates studying together at Beacon instead of trying to save the world."
Sensing it was his time to speak, Oxon gave the guy an awkward pat on the shoulder. He regretted it immediately. "Thank you, I know you and your team went through the worst out of us, and I played a part in that. I never blamed you for how you acted since, I just never was able to come up with a proper apology, didn't want to ruin things. Also, if Cinder never happened, I'd still be working security at a nightclub, never would've met y'all."
"That right?" Jaune looked in thought for a moment. "I just realized I never actually got your story out of you. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get the full picture."
Oxon was mildly surprised the teen wanted to hear about him. He didn't think he was that interesting compared to the others of the group. "Any time, anything to get back to how things were."
"Without all the weird tree nicknames this time?" A light punch on the shoulder made Oxon flinch, but he quickly realized it was a good natured one. "I have no idea what a Red Oak means in tree-speak, but it better be a good one."
"Don't worry, it's a pretty good tree. And no, that's here to stay, Arc."
"I can live with that! Also sorry about the last few weeks, I wasn't exactly acting all that great either, I was being broodier than you were back in Vale."
Oxon let out a sigh at the use of the old title. "Not that nickname again..." Arc merely shrugged.
"Hey, it fit. You were."
Oxon rolled his eyes at that. "I had stress pouring out my eyeballs back then. You try sharing a room with an assassin and a thief while also trying to spy on the only people that treated you like a friend all while under threat of a woman who branded you." The tapping on his armor was right above the spot the hand shaped scar still stood.
"And you try living with a monk that makes awful drinks that may have been poison, a global celebrity that could bench press your entire team without her semblance, and Nora, all while juggling the fact you faked your way into Beacon." Oxon tried to picture that scenario, then shuddered. "Thought so."
"Well, pretty sure we're on the same level when it comes to the legitness of our enrollment. You and your transcripts paired up with my criminal syndicate." The joke got a light chuckle from the blonde. "Though I do have to ask, what made you want to fight me? Besides the attempt at ruining my streak?"
"It was Nora. She came to me the night before we left Argus and gave me some advice." Nora? Oxon would've expected Ren, or Yang even, to be the advice giver. He'd need to thank the girl, perhaps with a sloth carving. "She had a lot to say. No blaming, no anger, just compassion; for both of us. Pyrrha's death hurt us all, and blaming another of Cinder's victims forever wasn't going to help. The way she saw it, you were looking for a second chance and didn't deserve to be sent packing."
She was definitely getting a carving. He promised himself it'd be done within the week. "And she said beating the snot out of each other was the way to fix things?"
"Nah." Jaune waved his hand at that. "That one was all Yang. Something about guys being simple creatures that think with their muscles instead of their heads."
"Wow…"
Jaune shrugged. "Hey, it worked, didn't it? I for one got out my lingering anger during the fight."
"If it works it works…"
"And honestly, it says a lot that you risked everything to betray them. Heck, you even went to prison for it before Taurus broke you out. I, and the others, are glad you finally grew a spine in Menagerie to help us beat him and the White fang back."
"Adam being the scumbag he was played a big part of why im here and not looking for Taxus. He and Cinder might be gone, but the others are still out there. Emerald, Mercury, Tyrian, Hazel, Salem, and however many other henchmen she has."
"Well, we poached you from them, so they're down one and we're up that." An eyebrow went up at that.
"Did you just make a joke about me double crossing a multinational and multispecies group of terrorists run by an evil immortal witch?"
"What? No good?"
With a final pat on the shoulder, Oxon went ahead to a newly reformed group of post-fight teens. "There's a reason why Yang's the funny blonde."
"Hey!"
~~~(LXIX)~~~
New chapter! Wooooooooo! Hope y'all enjoyed it!
The song "Everstrong" from Arrowfall slaps hard, great soundtrack.
The USA has bullheads now. The Bell v280.
Due to the long time between updates and how I was feeling when I was writing chapter 68, I felt the need to go back over it. I definitely found places I could have done better and changed a few things. I may need to look back over some others as well.
Don't forget to review :) I really do appreciate all the feedback, all of it. It will help me write better!
~~~(LXIX)~~~
Omake - Timber Goes the Ox
"Are you sure you want to do this? I know when I told you I was going to clobber you, it wasn't meant to be a joke, not me actually wailing on you." The girl didn't seem too apprehensive about the plan Oxon told her about. Even though it was basically the two of them slugging each other until their auras got into the red.
"Trust me, I need to figure out my limits somehow. I can't let another person like Hazel get the drop on me like he did. And it's either you or the crazy one."
"She wouldn't like it if she knew you called her that." Yang said as she cracked the joints in her hand. "Nor would Ren, I imagine."
"Right, he'd probably spike my food…" Oxon scratched behind his ear in worry, glancing around the Arc residence for any sign of the members of Team JNR. Thankfully it seems like they were elsewhere.
"Anyways, I know how your semblance works." The blonde walked in front of Oxon and took a look at his ax. "You gotta hit somebody to get a defensive boost. Pretty much the opposite of mine, kinda strange if I'll be honest. But in this case, it works perfectly."
"Yup, I could supplement it with my aura, but it's incredibly inefficient, takes too much for too little." Oxon crossed his arms and nodded. "I just need to hit you a few times and then let you slug me. That way we can test the limits of my semblance in a safe environment."
"Works for me, it'll help me beat you next time you pull a stupid stunt." The threat was paired up by the cracking of knuckles.
"I give you full permission to do so in the unlikely case I do." Honestly, Oxon wasn't feeling like a stellar person knowing he was about to one-sidedly beat on the blonde, especially after their relationship had started to heal. Especially with her sister watching from the balcony. "Red, you said you quantified your sister's semblance boost right? How did you do that?"
The little reaper was perched on the balcony railing above them and gently swinging her legs. She jolted slightly at the question before a large grin broke out on her face. "Yup! We used Grimm to test it out! I had sis get hit by Grimm in various amounts and then had her punch a huntsman grade strike meter. She broke it when we tried to see what her semblance would do when she was brought down to one percent. Dad got so mad that he had to buy the school a new one…" The last part was muttered, but loud enough for the two to chuckle at. Yang's was a bit strained though.
"I can't believe dad made me pay him back…"
"Entirely predictable consequences aside," Oxon dodged the joking slap sent at him from the embarrassed blushing Yang. "How do we want to go about doing this? Do I just hit you a bunch and then see how much my semblance can handle?"
"Pretty much, unless we want to go outside the city to find Grimm. This is probably the easiest way to go about it, so come on." The girl got into a defensive pose. "Hit me already."
Seeing how there was no choice, Oxon un hooked Bulls Breath and swung hard at her forearms. Gold light flared as the ax made contact with her organic arm. To her credit, Yang only let out a muted grunt as she took the hit. And with a check from her scroll, she was down to ninety three percent. Oxon himself had a light glow around him. It wasn't much, perhaps good enough to block a single slash or a few bullets, but not much more before fading.
The two kept going until Yang was at seventy five before the first test. With a flash of gold from the girl, it was Oxon's turn to get in a defensive stance.
"Seventy five percent clocked out at three thousand pounds of force!" The words from Ruby were a bit daunting, this being the first test, but he was confident he could hold. In a fight he usually gains and loses his semblance too quickly to notice. But he felt pretty confident.
"Here it goes, Ox." The girl cocked her fist back and sent it towards his crossed arms. There was a loud sound of impact as Oxon's barrier winked out. But Oxon stood hadn't moved back.
From above, Ruby called out the results. "Alright, Oxon lost three percent from using his semblance and lost another fourteen percent of his aura from that hit, once we reach Atlas, we should try this again and see how much he would lose without his Hyper Armor active."
Ox sighed and rubbed his wrist. "I still haven't agreed to that name. Heck, I don't think it needs one in the first place!"
"When your semblance is straight out of a fighting game, then your semblance gets named after it. I don't make the rules, Ox."
Shaking his head, he saw Yang get back in a defensive pose, ready for the next round. They'd keep going in incrementally higher outputs to see what amount of force is too dangerous for his shield. With a roll of his neck, Oxon went back to swinging.
~~~(LXIX)~~~
"Wait!"
A glowing Oxon paused his swing at a non-concerned Yang to see Ruby waving her hand while staring at her scroll. "Yang's at one percent now, so we can test to see if your shield can take the maximum she can put out."
"Sounds good to me." Seventy five had been easy; a forty percent beat up Yang beat the shield but broke it instantly even though it was charged more than the previous one and the residual force of the blow moved him back about six feet. According to Ruby, at sixty percent charge, Yang was able to dish out enough force to break the Paladin back in Vale. The fact that a ten percent usage plus twenty five percent from damage to his aura was able to negate most of that? He felt pretty good.
"I've still got fifty seven percent left, all that's left is to test the ninety nine percent charge." Oxon placed Bulls Breath against a tree and walked back over to the open part of the backyard. "I reckon fifteen percent use for my semblance and might end up taking forty percent damage."
"That would leave you at two percent, pretty low if you got the math down."
"We can call in Jaune if we need to help if it breaks." Ruby seemed to have gotten herself a bowl of strawberries and seemed to be enjoying the show.
Oxon got into a crouched position, armed in an "X" formation in front of his face. "So how much force did you say Yang puts out at ninety nine percent?"
"No clue." Ruby said, popping the drupe in her mouth and began chewing as she elaborated. "Reader got obliterated when we tested it."
"It broke?"
"Yup, gone, reduced to Dust." Yang got in a ready pose, metal fist cocked back. "Now let's see if you do any better."
Oxon only had a brief moment to feel regret before the green barrier shattered and his vision went dark.
~~~(LXIX)~~~
"…" Oxon felt himself return to reality and to a massive headache. Though it seemed he wasn't alone and felt something on his face.
"Ahaba ab haba."
What? Did my hearing get fucked or is some chanting a spell?
"Ughhh…" Light filtered through his eyelids as consciousness returned to him. He wasn't quite ready to open his eyes, but as he got more lucid, he was able to piece together what was happening to him.
"Babawa bbbaaaab."
"He's gonna be pissed."
Nah, the big dude likes kids."
"Really? Does he have other siblings?"
"Nah, just the one. Mercury shared some photos of their team mission with me. Oxon paid me fifty lien not to share em."
"Wanna share them now? You know, as righteous revenge for Beacon?"
"Sounds like a fitting punishment, lemme pull 'em up. He should have paid the hundred to make me delete them."
Oxon kept his face impassive as he pretended to still be unconscious. If he woke up now, he'd have to deal with whatever nonsense Yang was sharing with Nora. He'd get the blonde back later. There was the sound of footsteps as no doubt the peanut gallery was gathering around Yang to see when those kids from the wall side community treated him like a climbing tree.
"Awwwww that's adorable! Look at all those munchkins climbing over him. And you his this from us!?"
"Sorry girl, I needed fifty lien for some streaker slugs to use in the tournament."
"He looks like dad when most of us were little."
"He looks like Qrow whenever he babysat us."
"I can't believe you didn't tell us."
"Well Weiss-cream, if you'd have spotted me the cash, I might have."
"You never asked!"
"Adorable photo aside, don't you think we should stop your nephew from doodling on his face?"
"Sorry, I tried, but Adrian gave the puppy dog eyes. Nothing could be done."
"I mean, it's Oxon, he's not exactly menacing. He's more like a grungy teddy bear."
"A teddy bear that likes to hit below the belt. I for one don't need to give him extra incentive."
There was some more shuffling as he heard someone stand up. "Well I for one am not going to hang around for his post-Yang comma to end. I won't be taking any blame for this either."
"See ya kitty cat."
"Yeah, I also would rather not face his wrath, I doubt he'd be upset at the little guy, but us? Pretty sure we'd be free game."
"Yeah. I can see that."
"I literally just got him to laugh at my puns the other day, I ain't letting him go all frowny again."
"I'll go get some rubbing alcohol to help clean himself off."
After a moment and the sound of multiple pairs of feet leaving, Oxon was about to open his eyes when one last voice spoke up. "They're gone now Ox, you can wake up now." The voice sounded incredibly sure of Oxon's level of consciousness. With no other choice, he opened his eyes and stared into the eyes of a grinning Adrian Cotta-Arc.
"Gauba!" The kid fell back off Oxon and the couch he was laying on, only to be caught by his smiling uncle.
"More perceptive than I thought you'd be." Oxon glanced at the black marker in the tiny hands of the child. Leaning up, he glanced at a nearby window and saw the gibberish scribbles put on his face by the toddler. Oscar better hurry with that face wash. "How could ya tell?"
"Seven sisters, remember?" He had not forgotten; such an absurd family life was hard to forget. "If you think I haven't pulled the "faking sleep" to get out of stupid things, then you must really have not had any sisters. Yang and Rubes probably noticed too, Nora may have even caught on as well."
Jaune was being nicer than he had been the last few days, which was odd. Welcome, but odd. Oxon slid his feet off the couch and rubbed his forehead that was begging to lose the dull thrum that had been bothering. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
Ninety nine percent was too much, easily more than what Hazel dished out. We might need some more testing to see where exactly the force gets to be too high. Ugh, not looking forward to that… but in the meantime.
"I appreciate you not rating me out."
The one shrugged calmly. "It seemed like you would rather not deal with all that, especially once those photos got out." The blonde gave a small smile. "I didn't know you were good with kids."
Oxon rolled his neck to get a few cricks out, a few being a bit painful. "Had to watch over some kids of our neighbors when there were hunting expeditions, just a night or two usually. A few of the munchkins like to ride Babe, that bull would be so morose when he had to haul a half dozen around Prism. The kids loved it." Those were good times; little Tannis always braided the bull's tail.
"Well, I gave your aura a boost when Yang knocked you into the wall of our house. Sis is gonna be pissed when she sees the cracks."
"Add it to my tab. At this rate I'm going to piss off everyone on Remnant before I'm fifty."
The blonde snorted a bit at that. For the first time in a long time, Jaune gave a small smile before heading out himself, raspberry giving nephew in his arms. Oxon sat there wondering what happened to Jaune to lift his mood so when Oscar came back into the room. The kid fulfilled his promise in helping Oxon get the marker off him.
Things must be looking up, I hope Atlas goes to plan.
~~~(LXIX)~~~
Well, the best way to gain tolerance is to expose yourself to it. Please don't try this at home folks, I will not be held responsible for concussions.