Sun made his way through the winding halls within Atlas Academy, his sleep-addled mind rendering his thoughts somewhat incoherent as he walked. The air within the building was quite cold, and his decision to forgo a shirt for his early-morning training session was one that he was already beginning to regret. His muscles ached, his mind was foggy from a lack of sleep and early start, and a lingering twinge of frustration was nested in the center of his forehead following the events of the previous night. He paused in the hallway to rub at his eyes and try to massage some of the sleepy feeling away, only to nearly jump out of his skin as he heard a voice call out from only a few feet behind.

"Hey, Sun!"

Sun turned immediately, his mid-stretch yawn almost turning into a bark as he caught sight of Jaune, with his stained egg-crate mattress topper of hair proudly spiked as usual. Something about the boy's eager voice and posture struck Sun as completely different, though he was unable to put his finger on what exactly had changed.

"Uh, hey," Sun offered weakly as he looked over the other boy with confusion.

Jaune was both fully armored and carrying his weapon as expected, though curiously enough, he had his infamous Pumpkin Pete hoodie on beneath the plating once again. Sun raised a brow at the sight and nodded toward Jaune's collar, which seemed oddly bunched on one side.

"I thought you gave up on the hoodie?"

"Yeah, I…" Jaune paused, laughing nervously as he pulled at the lopsided hood a bit more. "It's cold up here. I'm surprised you're out and headed for the training room in just your old shorts and sneakers."

"And this," Sun reminded as he knocked on Ghira's pauldron with his knuckles. "Though, without a shirt, this actually makes it feel colder. But… yeah. I'm guessing you came for some training, too? Maybe we can spar a bit."

"I'd like that," Jaune acknowledged as the two boys began to walk once again. "I was actually looking for you to get caught up on whatever happened last night with the White Fang, since I was… I was…"

"…where were you?" Sun asked, his tone full of curiosity rather than accusation. "I can fill you in, sure, but are you alright? It's unlike you and Yang to miss something… so…"

Jaune sucked in a nervous breath as Sun slowly came to a stop. Just as abruptly, Jaune stopped as well, putting a few feet between them as he pretended to check his equipment over. The faunus' tail swished from side to side behind him, and Jaune could imagine both literal gears turning within Sun's head and the uncomfortable conclusion his friend was drawing.

"Yeah, I didn't come back to the dorm last night because… listen, can we please keep this between us? I'm sure the others have already figured it out, but I really don't want it to become a big thing…"

Sun's features softened as he closed the gap and placed a firm hand upon Jaune's armored shoulder.

"Dude. I'm not gonna give you shit over it. I'm just… kinda surprised. You and Yang, huh? That's awesome!"

"No, not… not 'me and Yang'," Jaune corrected before swallowing hard. "We're not a thing or anything, we're just… uh… you know, we're… friends with benefits…?"

Sun's eyes widened as he watched Jaune pull the loose hood away from his neck to reveal a dark hickey upon the flesh of his neck. The boy's cheeks turned a color almost dark enough to match the incriminating mark and he gave Sun a quick, nervous glance. The faunus' grin only widened, and he gave Jaune's shoulder a quick pat before removing his hand entirely.

"Nice. Good luck keeping that from Ilia, though honestly… maybe you should show her intentionally to lift her spirits. She had a rough night. Kept me up for most of it."

"I can imagine," Jaune acknowledged as he covered the mark once again. "But… you're cool with this?"

"Cool with it?" Sun asked as they began to walk toward the training room doors. "Are you happy?"

"Well… yeah," Jaune answered immediately. "Happiest I've been in a long time, to be honest. I know that probably seems lame, but… it's nice to just have something that isn't complicated, for once. I think Yang feels the same way. We were both just in desperate need of something fun without a ton of thought behind it, and it ended up… like that. Besides, Yang's cool, we've known each other forever, and it was just… it was just nice. Made me forget about things for one night."

"Yang is indeed cool," Sun agreed as they stepped into the training room and moved to the scanning area at the entrance. "But we can talk more later. Looks like we're not alone."

Far on the other side of the room, Elm was locked in fierce combat with Harriet. The floor of the training stage was set to mimic the inside of a cave, and the ceiling of the training room had been lowered to better suit the atmosphere. The white tiles had all turned a deep brown upon terraforming into stalactites and stalagmites, and the bleachers were nowhere to be found on the side of the room.

"Scanning… Sun Wukong and Jaune Arc. Welcome back," a robotic voice chirped as the two boys remained in the designated square of tiles.

Elm looked over her shoulder as she blocked a flying, electrically charged haymaker from Harriet with the shaft of her hammer. The shorter woman paid the boys no mind as she kept up the pressure with a series of jabs, all of which Elm turned away with either her weapon or her forearms.

"Oh! Just a moment!" Elm called as she returned her attention to Harriet.

"Don't let us stop you!" Sun replied as he guided Jaune around the edge of the room. "We can learn just as much from watching two Aces!"

"Sure, you could!" Elm agreed as she spun backward out of the way of an overhead toe kick from Harriet. "But that's not what you're seeing!"

Before either of the boys could question what Elm meant, the burly woman tapped at the screen of her scroll. Just as Harriet lunged in for another strike, she burst into thousands of digitally constructed cubes of white and blue. The tiny blocks seemed to evaporate into thin air, leaving Elm standing alone in the middle of the arena as it shifted back to a flat surface of white tile and the ceiling raised with a mechanical whirr.

"Whoa…" Jaune commented, wide-eyed as he watched Elm approach with her hammer slung up over her shoulder. "That was just a fake?"

"A fake, but a very convincing one," Elm answered with a grin as she offered Jaune her hand. The boy took it with a raised brow, and she then offered a shake to Sun as well. "Breakthrough technology installed both here, and in Amity. Great for training solo when the others aren't awake yet. I'm surprised to see you two are such early birds!"

"Well," Sun replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm usually not this early, but… last night was kinda stressful. I didn't sleep much, and I don't feel like lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. Might as well get something done, right?"

"Might as well," Elm agreed. "How's Ilia?"

"Not… great," Sun admitted with a ragged sigh. "She's barely holding it together."

"I had a feeling. And how are you?" Elm asked as she inverted her hammer and folded her arms atop the shaft while sinking the head down into the tile.

"Me?" Jaune asked as he watched Elm's attention divert to him. "Oh! I'm… I'm good. Really good."

"Good!" Elm replied with a wide grin before looking back over to Sun. "But do catch up on rest, later today. It's important, young man."

"I know, I know," Sun groaned with a wave of his hand. "I will. Promise."

"I hope so," Elm said with a nod. "After all, you're the leader of your group, and they need you in high spirits. Did you two come here to spar?"

"We did," Jaune answered quickly. "But could you maybe explain what it was we just saw? I'm interested."

"Ah, right- digital opponents," Elm replied. "One of the many privileges you both have, now that you've been given higher clearance by General Ironwood. There are many things that this arena and Amity can both do, and the two are synched together. This room is obviously on a smaller scale, but I prefer it, really. More intimate, if you know what I mean."

"I guess you could say that," Sun agreed. "So are the people you summon up just an A.I. fighter wearing a familiar skin, or…?"

"Well… yes, and no," Elm answered as she lifted her scroll once again and began to tap away. "Here. It's easiest to explain by showing you."

Quite suddenly, Sun found himself standing next to himself. The boy had to do a double take as his digital doppelganger stood next to him, clothed in the purple shirt and armored belt that he had arrived to Atlas with. The clone stared straight ahead, seemingly unbothered as Sun began to circle it, looking somewhat unnerved.

"…dude. How…?"

"Anyone who has ever fought in a battleground synched to the database, or anyone we could find ample footage of, has their own A.I. routine programmed through the Academy network," Elm began to explain. With a tap of her scroll, the digital Sun's outfit changed to the white dress shirt and cargo shorts he had worn at Beacon Academy. "You wore this at Amity Colosseum, correct?"

"I… yeah…" Sun said hesitantly as he stood before his clone, staring straight into his own eyes. "This is so weird…"

"So you record combat data?" Jaune asked. "From in here, Amity, or any other data that makes it up to Atlas, to digitally reconstruct someone's fighting style, semblance, everything?"

"Exactly that," Elm agreed. "And you can access those summoned fighters with the touch of a button, just by perusing the list of those available. The A.I. isn't perfect, but it's damned close. Digital Harriet can hold her own against me. Would you like me to run you through the list of things you can now do with your scrolls?"

"Sure!" Sun said excitedly as his clone disappeared into a storm of pixels. "This is awesome! And I'm guessing it'll record our efforts against the A.I. to make our own A.I. better?"

"It will," Elm said with a nod. "Next, terraforming. You've seen it in action several times by now, but give it a go. Check your options."

Sun and Jaune both took out their scrolls and began to cycle through the onscreen menus. Elm summoned up the bleachers to manifest against the wall once again before making her way over to the seats with the boys in tow, both buried in their scrolls.

"Dude… there are so many variants…" Sun said with a laugh. "And a bunch of these are places I recognize. Beacon, the dust mines, Amity, the training room at Haven…"

"We've got access to just about everything you could want," Elm informed with a shrug as she sat on the lowermost bench. Sun sat beside her, though Jaune remained standing. "Something wrong, Jaune?"

Jaune didn't answer, prompting Sun to look up.

"…Jaune?"

Suddenly, a cold feeling sank deep into Sun's stomach, though he couldn't quite understand why. Jaune's face was ghost white as he stared down into his scroll, his finger shaking just above the surface of the device. Without a word, Jaune closed his eyes and pressed the screen while exhaling heavily through his nose.

"Jaune?" Sun tried again as he stood up. "Dude, what's wr-…"

Sun's breath caught in his throat as he watched a digital construct slowly come to life, seemingly printing a person from the ground up to stand at the center of the room behind Jaune. What started as a pair of simple brown boots soon gave way to plated armor of gold, enwreathing a pair of long, muscular legs. Next came a short red skirt, brown leather corset, and long black gloves. As a choker and tiara finally manifested in thin air, flaming red hair materialized into a long red ponytail to fill in the gaps, followed by bright green eyes and skin of ivory white.

Sun was left speechless as he watched the construct fully blink to life and stare straight through the back of Jaune's head. Jaune kept his eyes closed and shook his head sorrowfully as he took another deep breath, providing the only sound in the otherwise silent room for nearly a full minute.

"I know… it isn't her," Jaune said in a strained voice. "And it's… it's not what you think. That's not why I'm doing this."

"Are you certain that this is a good idea?" Elm asked as she watched the scene play out before her. "I can send her away, if y-"

"No," Jaune interrupted. "I need to do this. I need to prove to myself that I can do this."

Slowly, Jaune turned around and let his hands drop to his sides. With one final, deep breath, he opened his eyes and stared straight into a pair that he had thought he would never see again.

"Hi, Pyrrha…"

The digital construct of Pyrrha Nikos made no effort to respond as she held her spear and shield idly at her sides, staring straight ahead. As she blinked, Jaune looked away and shook his head while clenching a fist. He jumped as he felt a hand upon his shoulder once again and turned to find a look of deep concern upon Sun's face as the faunus stood right next to him.

"Jaune, you do not have to do this," he warned. "You've come so far, and seeing a tool like this drag you back down would be… I'm not going to stop you, but seriously think about what you're doing. Please."

Jaune gently laid his armored hand atop Sun's as he gave the other boy a sad smile.

"You're a good friend, Sun. A great friend… but I don't expect you to understand. Please, just let me do this. Elm?" Jaune called as he looked over his shoulder. "Set her up for me, if you would? Leaving the room like this is fine."

"If you're sure," Elm said hesitantly as she began to manipulate her scroll. As if on command, Pyrrha turned and began to walk to the other side of the room before adopting a familiar combat stance. "She's ready, on your mark."

Jaune nodded to Sun, and the other boy dropped his hand. Without another word, Jaune moved to stand opposite of Pyrrha and drew Crocea Mors from the sheath at his side.

"Sun… you're absolutely right," Jaune began as he looked over to his faunus friend. "I have come a long way… and that's exactly why I have to do this. To prove that to her, and to myself."

Sun simply nodded before heading back to sit beside Elm on the bleachers. He watched in silence as Jaune turned his attention back to Pyrrha, who stood resolute as ever a good twenty feet away.

"…you taught me everything I know about fighting," Jaune began as his shoulders stiffened. "I've watched the recordings of our training sessions almost every day since Beacon and used them to try to improve. It hasn't been easy to even get out of bed without you some days, but lately… lately, it's been getting a bit easier. I'm learning to let go. I'm learning to be strong. People need me now, just like I needed you. Part of me still does… but I want you to see that I'm not the hopeless mess that I used to be. I'm ready."

"…good luck, Jaune," Elm offered as she fiddled with a few more settings on her scroll.

"Luck won't save me," Jaune replied with a sad smile. "If that thing is anything like her, this isn't going to take long at all. I'm no match for her, even now."

"Give her everything you've got!" Sun yelled as he cupped a hand around the side of his mouth. "We all believe in you, dude!"

Jaune sank into a deeper stance as Pyrrha began to move. He only just got his shield up in time to block her opening rifle shot, and he whirled his sword in response.

"…I believe in me too, now…"

A sound seemingly louder than the previous gunshot rang out as Pyrrha's flying shield bounced off of Jaune's own, only for the whirling discus to fly backward toward her as if guided by magic. Pyrrha caught the shield and spun into a low sweep at the end of her charge toward Jaune, aiming to cleave at his ankles beneath his guard. Jaune hopped the attack and came down with an overhead strike, only for Pyrrha to catch the attempt with the center of her javelin and dip forward. She jabbed the butt of the weapon into Jaune's stomach, sending him reeling before scraping at his raised shield with the tip of her weapon.

"Gah! That feels real!" Jaune exclaimed as his aura flickered.

"Nanomachines at work," Elm explained. "She'll stop if your aura shatters."

"Good to know, but I plan to last as long as I can!" Jaune replied as he pushed forward with a shield charge.

Pyrrha leapt upward and kicked off the shield, flipping backward and slinging her own toward Jaune in midair. Jaune swung wide to deflect the projectile off to the side before advancing with two sweeping slashes. Pyrrha parried each with her javelin as she stepped backward with perfect grace and raised her free hand. Jaune realized a second too late what was happening as her buckler came whizzing toward her and slammed into the back of his head, unbalancing him and causing him to stumble forward.

As Jaune was left wide open, Pyrrha caught her shield upon her arm and placed the shaft of her javelin behind Jaune's neck before grabbing it with both hands. She thrust her knee up into the boy's gut and fell back to the floor, dragging him with her and using his momentum to toss him over herself. Jaune had the wind knocked out of him as he hit the ground hard, only to find Pyrrha wasting no time before she sank a knee just beneath his ribs. In an instant, Jaune found himself staring into the tip of Xiphos, the javelin's deadly point held a mere inch above the space between his eyes.

"I… yeah, I yield," Jaune said with a laugh. "I can definitely do better than that, but I wasn't ready…"

"Resetting," Elm replied before tapping at her scroll.

Almost immediately, Pyrrha rose from her place atop Jaune and walked back to where she had begun before taking up her combat stance once again. Jaune merely watched and shook his head, unable to hide his embarrassed grin.

"Gods… that really is Pyrrha, or at least, as close as we'll ever get. I'd forgotten just how good she was. She's gotten me with that shield trick so many times... I don't know if I'll ever be able to stand up to her, or even a close approximation."

"Maybe not alone… but what about with a little help from a friend?"

Jaune looked up in surprise to see Sun's hand ready and waiting to pull him up.

"And hey- Elm, wanna get in on this? You and Pyrrha versus Jaune and I? See how long we can possibly last?"

"…that does sound fun…" Elm admitted as she stood up from the bench. "And wildly unfair."

Jaune chuckled and grabbed Sun's hand before using it to pull himself up.

"…and that's what makes it fun. I think we can hold our own pretty well. Maybe we'll even surprise you, now that I'm over the initial shock…"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Elm taunted as she hefted her hammer and stood beside Pyrrha. "Ready, boys?"

Sun whirled his gunchuks and sank into a stance beside Jaune, who bashed his sword against his shield in a taunting motion.

"Born ready! Let's do this!"

Author's Note:

I have been waiting ages to do this… and for next chapter, as well. It might not quite be Sun and Neptune vs Pyrrha and Nora in the cut scene that we were supposed to get in canon, but it's close enough. Look forward to an all-out brawl to ring in the new year, as well as another short scene next week.

-RD