Noxis's first blast was blocked by the broad side of Laurel's axe, as was his second. Laurel sprung forward in the time it took Noxis to cock his gun and line up his third, forcing him to abandon the shot and instead raise his bat to block her swing. With a clash of steel, Noxis narrowly avoided a blade to his neck.

He swung back at Laurel as he regained his balance, but the attack and his next- a more powerful, two-handed strike- were both caught by the head of Laurel's axe and deflected. The two clashed several more times, the raw power behind Noxis's Renegade matching the weight of Laurel's Snake Eyes.

"Is that all?" Laurel goaded, blocking an overhead swing with the shaft of her weapon. She pushed upward to free her weapon, but her subsequent swing across Noxis's body was pushed back.

"You haven't seen the start of it," Noxis spat back. He swung again, narrowly missing both Snake Eyes and its wielder. He used a shotgun blast to propel himself forward, elbowing Laurel in the chest and landing a spinning strike across her head.

The viper faunus staggered back. One hand still held Snake Eyes, the other clutched her forehead. She grit her teeth and lifted her weapon with just enough power to hold off another attack. Noxis didn't let up, forcing Laurel to regain her composure. She spun her weapon above her head, eventually bringing her weapon down on Noxis. As he leapt back, she reversed her swing to chop upward, then spun it once more to whip the blunt shaft of her weapon across Noxis's cheek. Planting a foot, she managed to meet the faunus with a staggering blow which knocked him off his feet, and freed Renegade from his grip.

Laurel smirked as she transformed Snake Eyes back into a sniper rifle, and aimed at the heap on the floor. Noxis pushed himself upright. His feet were wider than his shoulders and he hunched over, holding head in his hands. Laurel squeezed the trigger, and a thunderous gunshot rocked the walls.

Laurel lowered her weapon with a bewildered look.

A burst of grey fog exploded from Noxis, obscuring the wolf and whipping through Laurel's hair. A red glow emanated from within, and as the fog began to dissipate its source was revealed. Noxis still stood, Laurel's dust-infused bullet sitting innocuous on the floor next to his boot.

A layer of what could only be described as black armor encased his forearms, and protruded from the tip of each finger like claws. The armor itself looked solid but a thick black smoke lifted from it, shrouding the sparks of deep crimson crackling around it. Similar armor encased his neck and trailed down his back, sticking up like a mane of black fur. It traced up the back of his head, twisting until it formed two black ears folded backward.

"You're an Awakened Faunus..." Laurel noted, holding her weapon as a barrier between the two.

Before she could pull her gun's trigger, Noxis was upon her. She blocked his first swipe with Snake Eyes as she lifted it into its holster on her back, and lost a lock of hair to a second. She pulled a pair of pistols from her hip, ducking under his blows and firing two shots from each.

A couple of the shots hit, but bounced off Noxis's black aura with little effect. His claws tore across her chest twice, and he grabbed her by the neck as she shouted with pain. He stepped into her, tripping her up and slamming her into the ground hard enough to crack it.

Laurel's chest heaved as aura crackled around her. The black armor surrounding Noxis began to fade, and without a word he continued up to the roof.

Snow stood guard at the top of the stairs. Her eyes moved from the floor below to the Holoscreen at her wrist, which displayed her teammates' auras. Lazula's was still full. Ichigo's had dropped below twenty percent a few minutes before, but Laurel's had dropped as well since Snow had last checked.

Footsteps from below. Snow turned off her Holoband and aimed her gun at the base of the stairs.

As soon as Noxis appeared, Snow held down the trigger. Bullets of focused dust shredded the railing, sending wooden splinters cascading down the steps. Snow paused after several seconds of the assault, listening for any sign of her opponent. A fragmented section of railing could no longer support its own weight, and fell away.

Snow took two steps down the stairs in pursuit, but paused. She looked back to the flag, blinked once, then turned back to guard it.

"Come on, not gonna chase me?" a voice taunted from below.

"I have been told to keep my eyes on the flag at all times," Snow replied. "And so I will."

"It's just me. The rest of my team was too chickenshit to follow."

"I cannot know for sure you are telling the truth."

Snow's eyes narrowed, and her weapon's sword configuration flashed from within the handle as boots pounded up the stairs towards her. She stepped forward into his attack, matching its power perfectly. The faunus fought to keep up with her, but was driven backward by each strike.

Snow pulled back, allowing for Noxis to do the same. The two lunged at each other, full power behind their blows. Snow's weapon flashed as it struck Renegade, and she transformed it into its whip configuration. As she ducked to the side of the hefty steel bat, spiked white links of hard light wrapped it, then flung back across its owner's chest and neck.

The white-haired huntress stomped as she swung with all of her might, launching Noxis dangerously close to the edge of the roof. Dust returned to her weapon, coalescing into the shape of an axe. Snow flipped through the air, slamming her blade down where the faunus lay in a daze not half a second before. She paid no mind to the new split in the roof, picking up her axe and spinning to swing it at her opponent once more.

Noxis lifted Renegade to block her swing, but as the weapons clashed, he inched closer to the roof's edge.

"You trying to kill me?" he growled.

"I'm trying to get you away from the flag," Snow explained flatly. "A fall from this height would not be lethal to a huntsman with unlocked aura, and would result in the greatest distance from the flag in the least amount of time."

Caspian, Lilly, and Rowan stared down their enemy. Lazula's eyes flicked between the three. Noxis must have gone alone, she figured. No matter. There was no way in her mind Noxis could fight all three of her teammates faster than she could beat the rest of Team CRLN.

The tip of Rowan's Sanguine Storm pulled back, and blood red energy began to course throughout the weapon. "You may be strong," he recognized. He let fly a blast of focused energy, which lit the dark room red. "But there's no way you can resist this!"

Lazula raised Aegis, bending her knees and propping her spare hand up against the back of her shield. The blast slammed into her, pushing her back as it split down the middle and shredded the floor to both sides. Lazula still stood, unsheathing Impetus.

Rowan's eyes widened, his jaw going slack. "...What?"

Lazula strode forward, shoulders square, with eyes locked on Caspian's. The floor seemed to quake with each of her steps. Whether he imagined it or not, he could not know.

He let out a nervous chuckle. "You know, y-you don't have to try so hard to intimidate me," he jested. His smile faded a bit as his twin continued toward him. "You... kinda do it naturally."

Lazula broke out into a run.

Caspian raised his blade to block his sister's strike. She twisted Impetus, flinging Undertow into the ground and smashing into Caspian with her shield. As their weapons collided, a sharp pain shot up from his elbow to shoulder. Apparently, his wound from the Bullfiend attack hadn't healed entirely.

Rowan came in from the side as Caspian rolled across the ground. She blocked his overhead swing with her shield, then channeled her semblance into Impetus as she thrust forward. Rowan was flung back as well, but during his distraction Caspian shot at a pipe on the ceiling. His shot connected and its target burst, drenching Lazula and spraying a puddle across the floor. His sister looked furious.

"Lilly!" Caspian called.

The faunus paused for a second, but apparently caught on. She opened Elysian Bloom and lifted it, raising dozens of icy spikes from the floor. As the spikes honed in on Lazula, more began to encase her in their frigid embrace, but she thrashed them from her body with sword and shield.

A spire of ice stabbed her from the back, eliciting a pained grimace. She whipped around, shattering it with her shield more out of irritation than necessity.

"If I have to claim a weakness, it's dust," Lazula commented. She stabbed the ice at her boot, freeing it. "I'm sorry, Lilly. But I'll have to take you out first."

Lilly smiled. "I can't say I've ever wanted to be on the business end of your blade," she admitted.

Caspian pushed himself to his feet. Now was his chance. If he could just step in between the two, block Lazula's attack to protect Lilly, and provide her enough time to attack again...

Yes. Perfect.

Caspian sprinted forward. As Lilly opened Elysian Bloom's cover to protect herself, Caspian took the brunt of the impact into his armguard. Despite his armor, the crushing weight of his sister's swing was excruciating. He bent over, holding his arm and giving up on a follow-up strike. Lazula pushed him aside, swinging on Lilly.

Lilly struggled to keep up with Lazula's power and speed. Each swipe of her rapier was forced back, and her parries suffered under Lazula's blade until Rowan intervened. His semblance-enhanced blow was bounced back by Lazula's own semblance and shield. She struck once as he fell back, knocking him away and turning to Caspian. They clashed steel several times before Caspian was kicked to his back, and Lazula honed in on Lilly once more.

The faunus yelped with pain as Impetus clipped her arm at the end of a failed block, and was smashed once more by Aegis. Lazula's eyes narrowed as she prepared another strike, and she raised Aegis behind her head. The ring of violently clashing steel assaulted her ears, and she stepped toward Lilly with the force of Rowan's blocked attack behind her swing.

"Lilly!" Caspian shouted, wincing as he watched her tumble across the ground and slam into the wall. With a breath to compose himself, he charged in again. Lazula traded with he and Rowan for several seconds, her sword and shield more than enough for the pair of opposing blades. Caspian stuck forward, but his blade was twisted until it locked with her crossguard. Lazula held Rowan's attack at the top of her shield, managing to wedge his blade between the spikes adorning it.

She whipped her head around, eyes breaking their steely focus. Caspian realized he had hardly ever seen the look before.

Genuine concern.

"Lilly!" she called. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit so hard!"

The faunus staggered to her feet, feathered hair falling out of its ponytail. "I'm fine," she managed, mustering up a weak smile. "My aura held, but just barely."

Lazula nodded. With a vicious spin, she flung Caspian and Rowan to the ground. Eyes flicking between the two of them, she opted to eliminate the redhead next. She jumped, bearing down on him with Impetus as she blocked the dust bullets raining in from the side.

Rowan managed to block her stab with the flat of his blade, and pushed out as Caspian slashed from behind. Whatever she did next was too fast for Caspian's eyes. He saw her ducking under his attack; to be expected of the "Indomitable Girl." Somehow, he was lifted off his feet and launched over Rowan before landing painfully on shoulder and head.

When he came to, a red X displayed from Rowan's Holoband, and Impetus was raised to the final position of a strike.

Caspian staggered to his feet, gasping for breath and mulling over the battle. Lazula had been hit by Lilly's ice, but aside from a single spare swipe from Undertow, she hadn't been touched since. His eyes flicked down to his aura. Just under half. Without a doubt, Lazula was still near full.

Knowing there was a near-zero chance of victory, Caspian dashed forward. His strike was parried easily, and met with a shield bash, then a spinning slash, which he narrowly deflected. He blocked two more before realizing just how little effort his sister put in. Caspian put his all behind each block, and each desperate swing. Lazula's face lacked its signature scowl, and her attacks, though retaining their speed and peerless form, carried little urgency.

"Have you been practicing?" Lazula questioned. She knocked Caspian's attack to the side and met him with a shoulder to the chest. "Your form is getting sloppy again."

His heart began to pound, and his grip on Undertow slipped with sweat. "I-I haven't been able to practice much, no..."

"Hm."

Undertow clashed against the middle of Aegis. Lazula lowered herself and twisted, swinging Impetus with the force of a Deathstalker's claw.

Caspian couldn't free his weapon in time, and joined Rowan on the floor.

Lazula looked him over. No concern. No pity, at least. She sheathed Impetus, and grabbed the flag.

"Still can't believe you three let her win," Noxis growled as soon as Team CRLN opened the door to their living space in Cedar. "It was three on one, and you managed to blow it."

"We held her off pretty damn long, considering who she is," Rowan protested. "If you had stayed, we might have had a chance."

"Had one of you come with me, we would have rolled over her team," Noxis argued. "The only one I actually had to try against was that one creepy girl."

"Snow is NOT creepy!" Caspian objected.

"You knew who I was talking about."

Lilly sighed. "I understand you're upset-"

"You don't understand shit."

"...If any of us had come with you, the flag would not have been defended as strongly," she continued. "Lazula likely would have reached the flag in less time, and won."

Caspian nodded in agreement. "I think... we really just got unlucky. Any team that went against Lazula would have lost."

Noxis laughed. "Big talk for a team leader! Love the confidence!"

"W-We aren't strong enough to beat her..."

"You aren't strong enough."

Noxis's words struck Caspian harder than Lazula's blade. He balled his quivering hand into a fist, but all responses that formed in his viciously buzzing mind were washed away by one simple idea.

Noxis was right.

"And I want to prove it," Noxis continued. "Duel me. One on one, safety parameters at ten percent." He stepped closer to Caspian, pinning him in front of the wall and towering over him. He grinned. "Unless you're too nervous, of course."

Caspian's gaze was fixed on the ground. He could feel the malicious excitement radiating off Noxis's chest in waves. He was close. Way too close. Caspian felt queasy, short of breath, and trapped, wanting nothing more than to push Noxis off him and run.

Away from him.

Away from Sentinel.

"I... I'll do it," Caspian managed. He felt Noxis clasp his shoulder, and grimaced against his vice grip.

"Good. I look forward to it."

Apparently satisfied, Noxis turned, unlocked the door to his room, and entered. Letting out a deep breath, Caspian sat at the table in the common area between the four rooms. He looked at the view of campus, Sentinel Stadium, and Port Cyrreine further in the distance. He couldn't bear to look at the sparring courts lined up along the water, and curled up to hold his head in his hands.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"