Ironwood took a deep breath as he decided who his opponent would be. "I choose... James Barnes." He declared.

"You mean you want to fight Bucky?" Yang asked, surprised.

"Are you certain, James? You're certainly a formidable fighter, but your style is rather straight forward compared to Bucky's." Glynda advised him.

"You're probably right, but that's why I should fight him. It's important I start to diversify my fighting style and go up against opponents more skilled than myself." Ironwood said.

"A wise decision, James. Our standard styles are fine against Grimm, but I believe it won't be long before we face Salem's forces. And against the likes of Tyrian and Watts, our original skills may not be enough." Ozpin agreed with his friend's reasoning.

"Good luck, general. And be careful." Winter told him.

"Good luck, sir!" Ruby said as she and the rest of the students saluted.

Ironwood smiled at this. "Thank you all. You've just given me more resolve than I've ever felt from my old semblance." He stated.

"Alright, then. Let's get this show on the road, then." Katana said, snapping her fingers.

Then, a man appeared before them, with long hair and a short beard wearing black combat boots, black cargo pants and a black jacket with one sleeve missing to reveal a cybernetic arm with a red star on the shoulder, holding a customized M249 SAW Paratrooper machine gun, as well as having a standard combat knife, a five-seven pistol and a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 semi-automatic sub-machine gun. The former brainwashed soldier looked around a bit before spotting Katana. "Katana. I guess this means it's my turn to fight some weirdos from another dimension with soul barriers or something?" He asked.

"Hey! We're no weirder than guys flying around in jetpacks with wings, or giant green gamma monsters running around, fighting gods!" Ruby pouted.

"Or brainwashed super soldiers with robot arms." Weiss added, the partners sharing a low five.

Bucky nodded at this. "Fair enough. So, who am I fighting this time?" Bucky asked.

"That would be me, soldier. General James Ironwood. It will be a pleasure to spar with you soldier." Ironwood said.

"Well, it's nice to see a general who's willing to step up and fight himself." Bucky stated as they headed to the arena. "You sure you've got enough weaponry there? A couple of pistols are good, but I don't think they'll last you quite as long as mine will." The former HYDRA sleeper pointed out.

Ironwood looked at his guns and nodded. "I appreciate the concern, but I think they'll be more than enough." He stated, aiming one of his guns behind him.

Background Music: "What I've Done" by Linkin Park

The general fired his gun, releasing a burst of force that launched him towards Bucky at high speeds, allowing him to kick Bucky's gun to the side and strike the other soldier across the face with his gun, before landing a decent string of punches, a knee and a round kick that sent Bucky spinning back a few steps. However, this gave Bucky enough room to recover before Ironwood could come in and start attacking again, placing his gun on his back and either dodging or blocking Ironwood's attacks, occasionally landing counter hits where he could. He could tell this man was strong, perhaps even more so than Steve or himself [1], especially in his right arm and leg, but his style was slow and predictable, only slightly better than the run of the mill HYDRA goon or something along those lines.

Eventually, Bucky threw a powerful left hook that Ironwood managed to catch with his right hand, the glove tearing away to reveal the arm was robotic. Ironwood then held the arm to limit Bucky's movement and prevent the use of that limb, allowing him to land more punches, kicks and even a few shots from his gun, thankfully only stinging a bit due to Katana having him swap out for rubber bullets. Eventually, however, Bucky kicked Ironwood in the stomach, forcing him to let go and doubling him over, knocking him back a few steps. Bucky rushed in and landed his own combo of attacks, ending with a powerful hit from his robot arm to stagger the general, before unloading his pistol into the general, his aura taking the damage, but dropping down significantly to about 60% once Bucky had emptied the gun.

Bucky then drew his sub-machine gun and fired as Ironwood drew his movement gun again and fired, dodging several bullets while maneuvering around Bucky, getting off a few shots of his own, before landing in front of the Winter Soldier and attacking again, Bucky having slowed down a bit thanks to the bullets he'd taken. Rubber or not, they still hurt! So the fight was now a bit closer, despite Bucky still being the more skilled combatant. Still, this only meant that they were at a stand-still, Bucky no longer getting the openings he got before to land extra hits on the general. Ironwood went to shoot Bucky once again, but Bucky grabbed his arm and forced the gun to aim away from him, Ironwood losing his last couple shots before Bucky delivered an elbow and rear kick to knock the general back once again.

However, this gave Ironwood a chance to use his other gun to use its final shot in order to blast Bucky back to the other side of the arena, bouncing off the wall as well. He started to get back up and Ironwood charged again. However, Bucky looked down and realized the general had knocked him right over beside his rifle, which he picked up and started firing at his opponent. However, Ironwood acted quickly and used his new semblance Katana had given him and created a wall of aura that deflected the bullets, protecting its user from harm and forcing Bucky to use his mechanical arm in order to block some of the ricochets from the wall. However, one of the ricocheted bullets also hit the Winter Soldier's rifle, damaging it as well and forcing him to toss it aside, drawing his knife for one final round.

Ironwood dropped the aura wall and rushed at Bucky once again. He dodged or blocked several attacks the blade before Bucky came in for a downward slash, which Ironwood blocked with one of his guns, delivering an uppercut with his other hand, spinning and hitting Bucky in the head with his gun once again. However, Bucky used this to deliver a round kick to the general, cutting him across the chest a couple of times. Ironwood tried for another strike with his gun, but Bucky grabbed and restrained the arm holding the gun with his robot hand, twisting the weapon out of the general's grip and punching him across the face. He let go, but quickly readjusted and wrapped his arm around Ironwood's to restrain it, landing several more blows to weaken the general, finally letting him go with a palm to the chest to stagger him and finishing with a kick to the mid-section that took the general's feet out from under him and depleted his aura.

End Music

Ironwood slammed his metal fist on the ground in anger and disappointment. Bucky then walked up to the general and offered his hand. "No need to beat yourself up, general. You definitely caught me off-guard there a few times. You're definitely a great fighter who could really hold his own in my world. You just need to work on your skills a bit. There's a reason Cap and I left street brawling behind for things like Jujitsu and Krav Maga." Bucky told him.

"Wise words, soldier. I'll be sure to take it to heart. Thank you." Ironwood said gratefully.

"You're welcome. Best of luck to all of you." He told the others.

"Wait, Bucky." Cinder got his attention quickly.

"Yeah, what's going on?" He asked.

"Did you ever get over all the things you did as the Winter Soldier? I also used to be a villain, but I wasn't hypnotized like you were. Someone promised me power and I jumped at the chance to take it. I know it's wrong now and I'm going to fight against her, but I still did so much wrong in her name, of my own free will. Will I ever be able to forgive myself for that?" She asked.

"Have you killed anybody?" Bucky asked.

"A few people, but that was before I was with my old master and three of them tortured me and one tried to arrest me, but when I was with her, I almost killed one person, but I was stopped." Cinder explained.

Ironwood also had to step up. "Also, I learned in the future, in a different timeline Katana altered by taking us here that my actions would have lead to countless death and suffering because I kept making stupid decisions trying to do what I thought was right." He explained.

"Well, at least for you, you haven't done it yet, so you just have to make sure you don't become like that. Use those memories to be better than that version of yourself." Bucky told Ironwood, then looked to Cinder. "As for you... I won't lie, it will be hard. And you'll never truly forget those you've harmed. You just have to keep working until one day you believe you've done enough to atone for what you did. I don't think I ever can, but you haven't killed nearly as many people as I have and the ones you have hurt you first. Just keep doing the right thing. Cap never gave up on me, even when everyone else did. Don't give up on yourself." He told her.

She nodded at this. "I'll do my best. Thank you." She said.

"Like I said, just trying to do the right thing and help who I can. But if that's everything, I think I'm done here. Here's hoping we meet again sometime." Bucky said, saluting to the people of Remnant, who saluted him before he returned to his own world.

"Well, you gave it a pretty good try, Jimmy." Qrow told the general.

"You still did very well despite the skill difference, sir!" Penny assured him.

"Indeed. Your will to fight proved to be just as strong as your body, if not stronger." Ozpin said.

"Alright, alright, next!" Tekko declared impatiently.

"What she said, I want to see more fights." Razara agreed.

"I'll step up, why not?" Coco offered.

"Alright, Coco! Good luck!" Velvet cheered for her leader.

"You got this, partner!" Neo said. [2]

"Yeah! Show them what an upperclassman can do!" Yang cheered.

"This ought to be good." Emerald said.

"Best of luck to you, Miss Adel." Ozpin told her.

"Glad to see you've volunteered, Coco. So, who would you like to go up against?" Katana asked.

"How about Black Widow. She'd be a fun fight. And even if I end up losing, she'll probably use that move where she wraps her legs around me, so it's a win-win." The fashionista said with a smirk.

Velvet was caught off-guard by this. "Wha-!? Coco!" She cried out.

"I'm just kidding, Vel! Jeez!" Coco laughed.

Katana rolled her eyes. "Well, trust me, if she does use that move on you, you won't be joking and having fun then." Katana warned her.


[1] I mean, he stopped Winter's giant, charging manticore summon, that must be comparable to Steve's helicopter feat.

[2] Remember, they're going into the fashion business on the side, thanks to their monsters silk and snakeskin byproducts.