A Battle Between Equals.
The next day in Ozpin's office, said headmaster was sitting behind his desk. Lucina sat on the opposite side of the desk, having just finished telling the headmaster about her situation with Cinder. Lucina had spent days living in fear of what Cinder was planning to do with her, and she had finally worked up the courage to tell Ozpin about it. Ozpin listened to every word she said, and he had a very serious look on his face. He remained silent for several seconds, taking in everything Lucina had just told him. Safe to say, he didn't like what he heard.
He finally spoke "Lucina. These are very serious accusations you're making".
"I know that. But I swear-" Lucina began but Ozpin held up a hand to stop her.
"You missunderstand. I believe you. I know you well enough to know you would never lie about something like this. But why didn't you come to me sooner?" Ozpin asked.
Lucina looked down "Because... I was scared. I was scared of what she might do if she found out I told you about what she did".
Ozipin closed his eyes for a moment "I see. Unfortunately, without proof, there is little I can do. However, if this Cinder Fall tries anything like this again, I will have her and her team disqualified from the tournament and then sent back to Mistral. And maybe I can even have Cinder reported for sexual harassment".
Lucina smiled, feeling a little safer now "Thank you Professor Ozpin. I needed this".
Ozpin smiled back "We are all here for you, Lucina. So don't ever feel like you can't talk to us if something is troubling you".
"I will, thank you again" Lucina said.
"Now run along, your match will begin soon" Ozpin reminded.
"Right, goodbye Ozpin" Lucina said as she left the office, feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted of her.
Later that day, Lucina and Severa were getting ready for their 2v2 match.
"Well, you sure look more chiper today" Severa noticed.
Lucina smiled at her "Let's just say, I worked through some issues. You also look more relaxed".
"Yeah, I also had some help with working out some stuff. I am ready to win this" Severa declared.
"Yes, we will not lose this" Lucina agreed as they entered the arena.
"And our next battle is about to begin. A battle between Lucina and Severa from Beacon Vs Ike and Nephenee from Shade" Port announced.
Lucina and Severa looked at their opponents. A young man with dark blue hair and a large sword, and a green haired armored girl who was using a spear and a shield. Both looked older than Lucina and Severa, meaning they had more experience. This was not going to be an easy fight.
"You are Lucina Lowell right? Heard you are from a strong family" Ike said.
"I am. And I plan to honor my family in this battle" Lucina said.
Ike nods "Good. Then let us have an honorable match. I too have a family reputation to uphold".
"Good to know you understand each other. But don't think honor means we will go easy on you" Severa said.
Nephenee readied her weapon and shield "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't handle it".
Everyone got ready as Port began counting down "3...2...1... Begin!".
Ike raised his sword in the air before bringing it down with immense force, causing a large crack to quickly form in the ground. Lucina and Severa were forced to jump to the side, but as soon as they did, Severa noticed Ike charging at her like a bull. She quickly changed her weapon in to it's shield form to block his strike... but the force from it sent her flying to the other side of the arena.
Ike followed her, and before Lucina could help her teammate, She had to dodge a jab from Nephenee's spear. Cursing under her breath, Lucina had a feeling she wouldn't be able to help Severa until she's dealt with her own opponent. She could only hope that Severa could hold out long enough.
As for Severa herself, she had recovered from her quick flight and looked up to see Ike leaping at her with his sword raised. Severa quickly raised her shield to block him, and while she was successful, the force from the blow forced her down on a knee. This guy was strong, insanely strong. She can't afford to take any hits from him.
She managed to force his sword to the side and punched him in the face... but despite having her fist in his face, Ike still managed to turn his head back, much to Severa's shock. Few had ever managed to shrug of a punch from her before. Ike removed her fist before delivering a vicious headbutt to Severa's face, which sent Severa tumbling back. She got back up, rubbing her face. Had it not been for her aura, Ike would've shattered her nose with that headbutt.
Severa once again had to block a strike from Ike's blade. But each trikes forced her shield to the side, and she was barely able to raised it back up to block the next strike. Ike had her completely on the defensive, if Severa can't find a way to fight back, she's toast. Her back hit a boulder and Ike made a thrusting strike with his sword, which Severa blocked, but she was sent through the boulder. She groans as got back up, with Ike walked towards her.
"Sorry, but you will not be the one who beats me" He said calmly.
Severa glares before she threw her shield at him. Ike knocked it aside with his blade, which Severa hoped her would do, as it left him open for her to deliver a leaping punch to his face. She delivered two strong punches to his chest before uppercutting him the jaw, which did successfully stagger him. Severa finally had an opening and reached out her hand, hoping she could copy his semblance and use it to finish him... but he quickly grabbed her arm.
"I know how your semblance works. I will not let you copy mine" Ike declared before he kicked Severa back.
Before Severa could recover, Ike quickly delivered a strike with his sword. Severa was sent flying through a wall before landing outside the arena... her aura flickered and she was unconscious.
"Severa!" Blake shouted in dread from seeing her girlfriend lose.
"And Severa is out, she was outmatched by Ike's superior power" Oobleck commented.
"She will not be happy when she wakes up..." Yang said, knowing Severa wasn't very good at handling a loss.
While that fight was taking place. Lucina and Nephenee were locked in their own battle. Nephenee's spear gave her reach, and her shield allowed her to block Lucina whenever she did manage to close the distance. Lucina had a feeling this was their plan all along. They must've watched their earlier team fight and saw Lucina struggled against opponents with greater reach. But Lucina was aware of this too, and she's had time to work on a way to overcome this. She grabbed Nephenee's shield and swung her sword, which forced Nephenee to block it wither her shield, which Lucina knew she would do. Lucina kicked Nephenee in the chest, making her slide back and forced her to let go of her spear.
"You are skilled with this spear. But I'm not someone who will be bested by the same weapon twice" Lucina declared as she threw the spear back towards Nephenee who dodged it.
Lucina used her semblance to charge up her sword and rushed Nephenee with a stab. Nephenee blocked the stab, but Lucina focused all the power in to the tip of her blade, and the force sent Nephenee flying out of the ring. Lucina was lucky Nephenee was close enough to the edge for her strategy to work.
"And with a ring out, Nephenee has been removed from the fight! Looks like it will be a showdown between the leaders!" Port said.
Lucina looked and saw Ike approaching her "You defeated Severa?".
"She was strong, but unfortunately not strong enough. And I see you defeated Nephenee by outsmarting her. Not bad" Ike said.
Lucina turned to face him "Then it's between us now. For the honor of our families, we will fight".
"And for the honor of our families, we will not hold back, and we fight to win" Ike said as he got ready.
Lucina got ready as well "Yes, we go all out until one of us falls".
Lucina dashes towards Ike who kept his guard up and clashes blades with Lucina, both sword wielders now lock blades before pushing each other away a few feet. Both dash towards each other and clash blades again, however Ike's superior strength allowed him to overpower Lucina, and kicked her back before attacking her again with his blade, and Lucina had to dodge him, knowing she couldn't block his attack.
Lucina now understood how Ike beat Severa. Her teammate's fighting style was not suited against someone who brought even more power than her.
Lucina knew Ike was stronger, so she needed to be faster. She caught Ike off guard as she slashes at him, he barely managed to block her quick strikes and kicks her back. Lucina slid back and dodged another strike from Ike, which shattered the ground.
Lucina gripped her blade as she dashes towards Ike clashing blades again. Lucina was faster and more agile, but Ike countered this by being stronger and had a very good defense. Lucina kept moving around, knowing if Ike managed to corner her, she would lose. She leaps over one of Ike's strikes and she lands a kick to his face, making him stumble back. She used the opening to strike with her sword. But Ike deflected the strike and delivered a powerful punch to Lucina's gut. Lucina felt the air leave her lungs as she was sent flying before tumbling across the ground.
Lucina coughed as she tried to recover some air. She looks at Ike who made no move to attack her, seemingly wanting her to recover so they could continue fighting on equal footing. Lucina got back up, she closed her eyes and raised her blade. She then opened her eyes, she was ready for him. Ike smiled as he got ready again.
Both blades once again began clashing into each other witch grace and precise cuts. They were so evenly matched and the audience began to believe the fight could go either way. Lucina dodged one of Ike's strikes and leaps back, with Ike chasing after her. She then dodged him again, and managed to trick him in to strike a crustal of fire dust. This resulted in an explosion which engulfed Ike. Lucina watched the smoke and saw Ike slowly emerge from it. He looked tired, but not finished.
Lucina was reaching her own limits so she got ready to finish the fight. Ike did the same... and both charged, letting out a battle cry as their blades clashed, which created a large dust cloud. Everyone waited intensely for the dust to clear... and when it did... Lucina was laying on her back, unconscious.
"Lucina is down! But wait, what happened to Ike?" Oobleck asked loudly.
Ike was soon revealed. He was still standing... but he soon dropped his blade, collapsed on his knees, and then fell on his face... he was also unconscious.
There was a brief silence before Port spoke "My wonders. After an long an evenly matched battle, we got our first ever draw!".
The crowd were speechless. No one expected this... and everyone wondered what this meant.
A while later, Severa woke up and noticed Blake was looking at her.
"Blake?" She asked.
Blake smiled "Welcome back Severa. You took quite a beating".
Severa gasped and quickly sat up "Wait the match... did we... loose?".
"It was a draw. Some argued Ike won against Lucina since he remained standing longer. But both their auras were depleted at the same time. So it was ultimately decided than no one would advance to the 1v1 rounds" Blake explained.
Severa looked down "I... lost...".
"Severa..." Blake said as she put a hand on Severa's shoulder.
"I lost! In front of everyone... in front of you... I failed!" Severa said with angry tears in her eyes.
Blake quickly hugged her "You didn't fail anyone, Severa... And I don't think any less of you. You did your best, and that's all anyone can ask of you".
Severa said nothing, but she was so angry at herself for failing to go any further in the tournament... she later learned Yang and Weiss won their fight, so she took some comfort in that... but she would still need time to recover from her loss. Luckily, Blake was there for her. As for Lucina, she was fine. A draw against a worthy opponent was nothing she felt shame in. She just needed to grow stronger, and hoped she and Ike could fight again one day.
Later on that evening in a certain Beacon dorm room, Cinder is sitting on her bed looking through files on her Scroll. Emerald is lying on the floor also playing with her own device, and Mercury is doing push-ups beside her and Líf was medetaing on the other side of the room.
Cinder's eyes widens in surprise, followed by a smile "Oh".
Emerald looks over with Mercury "What?".
Cinder access a document regarding the blueprints of P.E.N.N.Y. "Oh nothing. We're just going to be making a slight, hmm... alternation in the plan".
Mercury and Emerald share a somewhat concerned look "What does that mean?".
"It means that this will be even easier than we thought" Cinder said with an evil smile.
Líf looks at her before he smiled himself. Looks like his long wait was finally coming to and end real soon.
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Yup, another double update. I had this chapter planed out before I even finished the last one. So I needed to get it out while it was still fresh. Shows how much I love writing this story.
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Tell me what you think.
