One of the big differences between a minor Huntsman academy and the four major Academies can be found in the medical wards. Medical facilities were expensive to build and maintain due to a variety of factors, as a result, minor academies opted for emergency care facilities whose purpose was to stabilize patients until they could be safely transferred to a proper hospital. However, the medical facilities of a major Academy were comparable to a hospital and in times of emergency had been known to take on civilian patients to avoid the main hospital from being overburdened. However the benefits to these facilities weren't just in strengthening community ties during times of emergency, it allowed the Academy to structure treatment that addressed the differences between civilians and Huntsmen. Things like Aura and Semblances could be accounted for in a far more satisfactory manner that the regular hospital couldn't do without taking undue burden… but that was not the real reason, treatment was a bonus but not the point.
The point was to monitor and have and to have an irrefutable excuse to "Cut the line," and have first words with people of interest. Suppose a Huntsman caught a criminal who Oz or someone in his inner circle suspected to have a connection to a greater conspiracy, that person could offer to treat the criminal's wounds at Beacon and none would be the wiser. It wasn't just limited to people either, the equipment had a wide variety of applications available to those who were willing to do a bit of tweaking. Ozpin and the other headmasters had an interest in being the first ones to examine new plants, animals, minerals, Dust, artifacts, Grimm, diseases, people with unusual abilities, and the rare cases where the subject in question didn't really fit into any of the other categories. But no matter what the reason was, the people of Remnant could rest easy knowing that the academies were there to protect them, they could rest easy knowing that their guardians were always ready to do what was necessary…
The doors to the surgery room swung open as a large body was carted in by people dressed in medical scrubs, it was the body of the beastial woman that PRAN had successfully hunted down. Along with the corpse came several bottles containing shavings of the woman's antlers taken from different spots on her body and a jar containing her severed head with the antlers cut off entirely to fit inside the jar, the latter two were placed in a freezer for storage. Meanwhile, the body was taken to the center of the room where it was promptly surrounded by small tables containing surgical tools as a nurse began to take photos for record purposes. Another nurse took out their scroll and connected it to a projector, holograms of various x-ray scans of the body then appeared in the air. Finally, the rest of the nurses were busy setting up and testing cameras, lights, and microphones to film the autopsy.
Then the doctor entered the room holding three manila folders, two were closed and he was reading the third, they contained the results of various scans and tests that had been performed on the horns, head, and body. The doctor didn't say anything to the nurses and in turn, they didn't say anything to him, all they did was briefly glance at each other before returning to their work. The doctor then walked over to a desk and placed the two folders he wasn't reading on top of it, always within arm's reach. He then examined the holograms for a minute or so before finally speaking up.
"Are youse guys done yet?"
"Almost, I just want to make a couple of adjustments, Doctor Gris sir!" The nurse on the camera said.
"Alright, but dat excuse only applies to youse! Wat about da others?"
"I'm done, Doctor!" The nurse on the hologram projector answered.
"Then git out! I'm doing to do dis surgery myself and there are patients dat need seeing, go and help them outs! Don't bug me unless youse got a question and remember dat the only dumb question-"
"Is the one that you don't ask!" The nurse on the camera said.
"Yer damn right!"
"Okay! I got everything just right!" The nurse on the light suddenly said.
"Good work! Now git out and git back to work! Also, you'll all be gitting a nice bonus fer dis."
"Thanks!" The remaining nurses soon finished their work and did as the Gris ordered and left the room, soon he was alone.
Gris then walked up to the camera, "Oz, Glynda, James, and anyone else who might be watching, fuck you. I was supposed to be on a date wit my fiancé and nows I ere dining dis shit!" He then sighed and picked up a remote that had been left on a nearby table for him and pressed a few buttons. "Da subject's name is Chloe Whitefield or at least dats wats we think it is, turns out dat she is a settlement woman which is why finding info on her was hard. Qrow did his best to investigate but most of those places don't have good record keeping, we don't even know how old she was or if she was born there or moved in later, not dat it matters."
Gris walked over to a table with several knives and a Dust-powered surgical saw, as he did the camera tracked his motions. "Scans and visual confirmation shows some kinda… change wit da spinal cord so dats where I'm gonna start," he grabbed the saw and approached the body. "Too bad dis shit is top secret, I coulda yoused da help of dem nurses but it is wat it is." He shrugged and then turned on the saw, as he did his Aura began to shimmer before two Aura Clones came into existence and grabbed some tongs. Gris then began to carefully cut into the corpse starting from what remained of the neck and as he did, the Clones used the tongs to pull the skin and flesh further apart as stale blood slowly seeped in to fill the gap. Every now and then Gris put the saw down to clean away the blood and the blade of the saw before continuing until he made it all the way to the end of the spine.
"Before I start talking bout dis I want to remind you dat we already did work on da blood and dat you should ave da results on youse scrolls." He then put down the saw and took out a pointer before turning his attention to the exposed spine in front of him, "As youse can see ere there is some kind of… growth covering da spine." The camera zoomed in and showed that Gris was telling the truth, there was some sort of black fleshy vine-like tissue on the spine that almost seemed to be digging into the bone itself. "Initial scans suggest dat dis… thing is messing wit da nervous system but I'd have to dig a little deeper to find out how it goes, and I will. Also scans on da head reveal similar growth in da brain which is probably why she acted da way she did."
Gris pressed a few buttons on the remote and the hologram projected a new set of scans alongside those of the woman and began to highlight the differences, "These are da scans we took of Jaune Arc and as you can see there also appear to be growth but its dramatically reduced, and before any of youse ask, no. No, there doesn't seem to be additional growth so leave dat boy alone and let him be a kid fer a bit! Besides, they all got some shit to work out wit Riviera after wat she put them through… but dats nothing compared to wat she's been through."
He grabbed one of the corpse's arms and held it up before pressing a button on the remote to make the camera zoom in on the limb, the antlers that had been there were cut off but the stumps and holes were still visible. "According to wat da kids said, we can assume dat dis woman was capable of feeling pain to at least some extent… I don't think I need to explain wat antlers ripping out from under yer skin feels like." He placed the arm down and walked over to his Clones who were still holding the cut open, "Another thing dat those kids said was dat there were Dust shards inside of da woman's body, scans showed dat to be true."
Gris then plunged his gloved hand right into the body and after a few seconds of fishing around pulled his hand back out with an ugly plop. He then showed the camera what he had pulled out, it was dull and covered with disgusting bodily fluids but it was unmistakably a used-up Dust shard. "Dis is da secret behind her rapid regeneration, Dust injected right into her body to put it into overdrive. More importantly, is dat dis confirm dat her and Jaune's Aura does still exist, it jus can't protect dat body like it usually does so it compensates by concentrating on healing rather than prevention. My personal theory is dat da antler armor was an attempt to mimic Aura shielding since regeneration wasn't cutting it, and no, I don't think dat Jaune is at any risk of dis happening to him. Sure his body shifts under stress but it is small and temporary, more importantly, wat she did was only possible because of da Dust shards in her body and she used them all up to do it. If she needed multiple Dust injections to do it, then Jaune who has worse regen and weaker shifting isn't in danger of it and we shouldn't bother em bout it."
Gris put the shard down and returned his attention to the corpse, "Anyway, let's take a look at her heart and lungs…"
Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood sat in silence as they watched the footage of Gris at work, the three of them took notes for personal use as well as thinking up questions to ask the doctor when they next saw him. Then the video ended and the lights of the room they were in brightened up, unlike most of their previous meetings they were not in Ozpin's office as it was deemed insufficiently private for the topic at hand. Instead, they were using one of the secret rooms within Beacon, places that weren't just hidden but were also fully separate and independent of the power and network systems inside of Beacon and even Vale at large. Granted, being off of the network was a little more than just a bit inconvenient but no one could argue with the results.
Ozpin got off of his chair and walked to the front of the room, "Alright then, Gris believes that Jaune will not be a threat and I must agree. During his time here, his… condition has manifested several times and at no point has he ever posed any danger to any of his classmates or civilians. I think we can let the poor man be and focus elsewhere."
Ironwood interjected, "I would still keep him under observation, nothing too serious. Just passive observation while having Penny hang out with his team more often, they're friends so it shouldn't be any issue."
Ozpin nodded in agreement but it wasn't total agreement, "I don't like the idea of taking advantage of their friendship like that but, I do agree with you."
"Well we are already taking advantage of their friendships," Glynda added. "Putting them in teams so they learn to look out for each other and let's not forget that we took their teammates into account when we made suggestions for the next Fall Maiden."
"And we are still making suggestions," Ironwood grumbled.
"It can't be helped," Ozpin said with a bit of cheer in his voice. "There are a lot of promising candidates this time around, take for example Arslan Altan of Haven! That young woman is wise beyond her years, disciplined, and a master of martial arts, I'd enjoy seeing a fight between her and Miss Xiao Long."
"As would I but that's not what we are here to discuss Sir," Said Glynda before looking over to Ironwood. "James, were you able to figure out how the Nightwatch managed to sneak past Penny? Or why a Mistral gang was in Vale at all? Or how about how the arrested members claim to have seen their leader despite how she didn't go with them?"
"Yes and no." Ironwood got up and made his way over to the projector.
"Yes and no?" Glynda repeated confused.
"You'll understand soon," he answered as he plugged his scroll directly into the projector. "What I am about to show you is what Penny saw just before the error that allowed those thugs to slip right underneath her."
The hologram showed them an image of the city of Vale at night from the point of view of Penny Polendina who was standing on top of the roof of a tall building and looking down at the streets below. Every now and then her eyes would catch sight of someone or a large enough group of people who would trigger something in her database and be marked as a potential threat. Whenever this happened, her eyes would then zoom in on the targets and her database would conduct a more thorough analysis. Once the target was cleared, Penny would go back to search the crowds below but then something changed. It started when her sensors detected a large group of people approaching, she turned her head to look at them but as she did so her scanner suddenly picked up someone that it marked as a high priority. Naturally, Penny chose to look at the high-priority target first but that was when the problems began.
Error messages started to pop up as the database search somehow returned both a positive and a negative. Her memory banks were being reviewed and gaps were being discovered as information kept appearing and disappearing almost as soon as it was found. But even stranger was that the person who caused this reaction seemed to be normal, the person was just a healthy young woman with sunkissed skin who looked like was waiting for a date to arrive. Nothing about her warranted the reaction that she was giving Penny, nothing about her raised any red flags except for one small detail that was getting harder and harder to ignore; The woman was looking right at Penny.
"Is that… Iris?" asked Glynda in a barely audible whisper.
"You know this woman?" asked Ironwood who had overheard her.
"No, not personally but I have seen her picture and heard of her from Peach."
"Are you talking about Professor Thumbelina Peach?"
"Yes, I am."
Ozpin then chimed in, "I do remember Peach once mentioning that she had a niece, is this her?"
"Yes, she is Peach's niece but from what I understand their relationship isn't very good for reasons that I don't know."
The Headmaster began to pace around the room, "And if I remember correctly Iris attempted to become a student here about a year or two ago, she was promising but nearly fell victim to a bit of poor luck and a pack of Beowolves. She failed but I'd hope that she'd try again after she recovered."
"What happened?" Asked Ironwood.
Glynda was quick to answer, "She instead chose to use her talents to become a courier, I believe I've actually seen her using her semblance to glide from one building to another, perhaps that's how she met Penny?"
Ironwood thought it over for a moment and then said, "Perhaps but that doesn't explain Penny's reaction or why she showed up when she did… has she ever expressed any anti-Faunus sentiments?"
Glynda shook her head, "I wouldn't know, I'll try and talk to Peach about this after we're done here."
"I supposed that this is a good enough time to talk about the other big thing, did the small handful of White Fang agents we caught have anything to say?" Ozpin asked.
Ironwood thought to himself, We would have caught far more if your students hadn't agreed to let them go. No, this is not the time or place."Yes actually, and it's not something that you're going to like… the White Fang has been operating here inside of Vale itself!"
"What?!" Glynda couldn't help but say as the revelation took her completely off guard. "Here? I know that they have been growing bolder under Adam but this is absurd, how could they have been here? Where were they?"
Ozpin sighed, "That would explain why our search of the Forever Fall and Emerald Forest was fruitless, they were already gone by the time we came. So tell me James, where was it that we should have been looking?"
"Remember that storage depot near the old Mt Glenn train station?"
"Really? There?" Ozpin shook his head, I must be losing my touch. "And let me guess, they weren't there when you arrived."
"It's more than that, they cleaned shop and took whatever they deemed valuable and burnt everything else. We're doing our best to try and find any worthwhile information but it's hard."
Glynda frowned, "But how could they… unless they already knew that you were coming." She didn't have any evidence to back up her assertion other than the odd timing of the two events and yet there was no doubt in her or anyone else's mind that she was right.
"Don't forget that they also beat us to the punch during the Raid of that old apartment with the barrels of Rage. Once is a coincidence but twice is a pattern, we need to assume that there is a leak," Ironwood softly spoke.
"Yes, indeed we do. I'll handle the search within Beacon, meanwhile, let's continue with our discussion. James, did you find any clue at all that we might be able to act on?" Ozpin said while already compiling a mental list of suspects.
"Yes actually, we were able to recover bits and pieces of logs and records that confirm that at least a portion of the stolen equipment and Dust were held there for a bit before being sent to Mt. Glenn. Now whether or not that's the final destination is currently unknown. Either way, I believe that we need to assume the worst and act as though an attack is being planned against Vale."
"Yes… I suppose you're right. Glynda and I will handle this, after all the job of securing the Kingdom should fall on those within it." There was a hard-to-ignore sorrowful undertone to what Ozpin had just said.
"What's wrong old friend?"
"This sort of thing never gets easier but this time is especially… disappointing. Why would the White Fang spend all of this time building up goodwill only to squander it like this? What is the end goal here?"
"I wish I could tell you, Adam is not like the other leaders of the White Fang. They would have never worked with someone like Roman Torchwick nor would they have been holding that woman captive."
"Woman? What woman?" asked Ozpin.
"I- I didn't say it earlier?" Ironwood asked and immediately got his answer from the confused looks that Ozpin and Glynda were giving him. "I see, the woman whose autopsy we've just witnessed was being held inside a storeroom located near where the Rally was being held."
"Are you sure?" There was a grim look on Ozpin's face as he asked this.
"Well that would explain where the Dust inside her body came from," Glynda said dejectedly. Just when I dared to hope that we were witnessing the start of a new chapter for the White Fang.
"I'm afraid you're right Glynda, we found surgical equipment, a box containing traces of low-grade Dust, and various retraining devices such as a cage."
"A cage!?"
"Yes, even worse is that Nightwatch members that were caught admitted that the storehouse was their objective, they believed that a weapon was being stored there and intended to use it on the Rally… I suppose that they were right in an odd twisted way."
"James, are you implying what I think you are?"
"Yes Ozpin, I am. I think that all of this was planned but… I'm not sure it was Adam."
"I agree," Glynda used her scroll to check the time. I have a class to teach soon, we better wrap this up. "These PR stunts and rallies may draw in recruits but they are not the kind that he'd be interested in. They are joining because they want to directly help their fellow Faunus in the same ways he is doing now but that is not what he wants. What he actually wants are soldiers, and that is not what those people are signing up for… someone else must be calling the shots."
"That would explain Torchwick," Ozpin said in thoughtful agreement.
"It would also answer how he got those vehicles, equipment, and a temporary base of operations. Ozpin, Do you think it is her?"
"I do, James. This is exactly the sort of thing that she would do and she has been getting better and better at doing it."
"Then we need to strike now! I'll take my men to Mt Glenn and-!"
Glynda interrupted "And if they're not there, James? Then what? Or what if she wants you to chase after Adam and leave Vale exposed?"
"And what do you suggest? Wait and let her strike whenever and wherever she pleases?!"
"Of course not!" answered Ozpin. "But being rash will only play into her hands, we need to move forward but we have to do it carefully so that we avoid any pitfall she may have placed for us. Most importantly we need to keep in mind our own advantages."
"Such as?"
"We have two major ones, the first is that her goal is right here in the Academy, meaning that she has to fight us on our own terms. The second is that we can safely assume that she will make her move during the Vytal Festival, this gives us a little time to prepare and investigate."
Glynda gave her boss an odd look, "Sir…perhaps we should consider canceling the Vytal Festival."
"With all due respect, that would not be a good idea. People would ask questions but worse is that Salem won't let all of this prep go to waste, she won't hesitate to throw everything she's got at us if there is a chance that she'll win." And it won't cost her anything either, that damn curse of hers is her single greatest weapon.
Ironwood was not satisfied with that answer, "With all due respect, I still believe that we can and should be doing more. For example, I am now planning to call in more men from Atlas including my second-in-command, if she were to pass through Mt. Glenn on the way here then it would be easy for her to carry out a search and destroy mission without sacrificing our defenses here."
"And if that's what she wants?"
Ironwood grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he let his frustration rise, "Maybe it is but we cannot allow her to dictate our actions. Please Ozpin, we must do something!"
The headmaster said nothing for a few seconds but then closed his eyes and sighed, "You're right. You're right… how about this; The yearly mission is coming up soon, if you conclude that there is something worthwhile up in Mt. Glenn, then we'll send a team to confirm before you finish the job."
Glynda cut in, "That team will Not be PRAN, RWBY or CFYV, or even SSSN. Those four are Not going to be given any mission; At All. Not until they have been cleared by Dr. Riviera. Furthermore, that mission will be reserved for third-year students and up. Understood, Sir?"
"U-understood," Ozpin answered with a little shake in his voice as her admittedly justified outburst had caught him off-guard, Well so much for my first choices but she's right. They have already been involved in too much too soon, the last thing I need to have is for my guardians to be run ragged before they even graduate.
"Ozpin…," Ironwood was looking straight into the eyes of the man he considered his friend and mentor and wondered how to best word this question, Keep it simple and direct. "Do you really think your children are capable of fighting, let alone winning this war?"
"Yes, I do. But I hope that they won't have to."
Cardin Winchester was many things but fast was never one of them, his large frame meant that his body naturally leaned towards feats of strength rather than speed, and that was fine. He was no fool, he knew his limits and knew how to compensate for them and his armor was an example of such compensation. The strong steel covering his body was vastly inferior to Aura in terms of protection offered but it did also reduce the amount of Aura needed to block attacks which made it a viable option, especially for Huntsmen who lacked confidence in their ability to dodge. The fact that armor also made the wearer look like a knight of yore was just another sweet bonus on top of everything else… and none of that was helping Cardin right now.
*THWACK*
Cardin fell to the floor, his jaw aching but his Aura held on and he was able to keep a hold of his weapon, it was a small blessing. Despite the ringing in his ears he could hear the rapid shuffling of feet fast approaching him as his opponent moved in to take advantage of his prone state, Shit! Cardin tried to quickly roll away but he wasn't fast enough, fortunately for him, he was fast enough to move the shaft of his mace in the way of the blow.
*DONG*
A deep ringing sound echoed throughout the arena as the two weapons met, and then the ringing continued as Cardin's attacker swung and thrust again and again as Cardin continued to try and defend to mixed success. I got to do something and do it now! Out of desperation he then sent a pulse of Aura into the Fire Dust shard held inside of his mace which triggered an explosion that didn't hit his foe but it didn't have to, it just needed to get him some space and it worked. His opponent had been in the middle of another swing but jumped back partially out of shock and partially out of the instinctual desire to protect himself, which gave Cardin the opportunity to stand up.
This isn't going well for me, Cardin thought to himself as he took a moment to size up his opponent and take account of his situation. The man he was fighting was named Bolin Hori, he was a student of Haven Academy, a member of team ARBN, and a master of the Bo Staff, At least it's not also a gun. More importantly, Bolin was serving as a good example of the second reason why most Huntsmen did not wear armor, and it was because speed won fights. Now, this wasn't to say that speed was the most important thing, Aura made it so that striking first wasn't a conflict ender but it did help. In this particular fight, Bolin used his superior speed and the length of his staff to keep Cardin back and get free hits in and it was working. He had carefully worked around Cardin's superior strength and durability and poked the man until the opportunity to land a real solid blow had presented itself and Bolin took it while Cardin took a tumble to the floor, the fight wasn't over and both had taken hits but the Aura gauges made it clear that Bolin was well in the lead and quickly closing in on a win.
So how do I beat him? Cardin thought to himself as he started to circle his foe from outside of the staff's range. He jabs at me with that staff every time I try to move in and won't risk overextending ever since I managed to get that one clean hit in… I'll have to catch him off guard but how? Cardin considered his two-handed mace that was lovingly named the Executioner, the thing has basically a wrecking ball on a stick and the Fire Dust shard made its destructive potential skyrocket. But what good was all of that if he couldn't get a good swing in…, But what if I didn't swing? What if I thrust? It wouldn't do as much damage as a swing but it would be faster and have a greater range… Let's do it!
Bolin frowned as he watched his opponent take up an odd stance, it was one he recognized and knew by heart but he had never seen it done with a great mace. His opponent was standing sideways while looking right at him, his feet were wide apart, Too wide, and his knees were slightly bent. Meanwhile, his hands were in the air, the right hand was gripping the end of the mace's shaft and holding the weapon over his head while his left hand held the head of the mace for stability. He's doing it wrong but it's not too bad, he must have seen plenty of people do this before… Let me show him how it's done.
Cardin smiled as Bolin took up an identical stance and began to slowly edge towards him, he returned the favor and edged closer to Bolin. Okay, I'm only going to get one shot at this… I can't let him get the first hit in! And with that final thought Cardin made his move, he thrust his mace forward and at the same time took a big step forward and just let the weight of his weapon drag him along while hoping that this would somehow make up for the fact that he attacked too early… it did not. Bolin saw what Cardin was attempting to do and had already taken a step back and was now out of range of the thrust.
However, he was not prepared for the mace to accidentally slip out of Cardin's fingers and fly right into his face and knocking him to the floor. Nor was he prepared for the larger man to run up to his prone body and body slam him as if he was some kind of amateur wrestler before putting him in a chokehold.
"And that is the end of the match!" Glynda loudly announced before getting on stage as the two fighters separated and awaited her criticisms. She addressed Bolin first, "You underestimated Mr. Winchester at the start of the match and you got hit as a result, however, you learned and dominated until the very end. Practice your grappling techniques, if used correctly they can bring the strongest man and restrain Grimm allowing a comrade to deal the final blow. More importantly, is that they can prepare you for this exact scenario."
She then looked over at Cardin, "Adding thrusting techniques to your repertoire is an excellent idea, practice it until you master it and your skills will reach a new level. Also, it was a good idea to use grappling techniques at the end, I would like to see more of that from everyone. However, you also need to practice more against faster opponents and don't make a habit of letting your weapon slip out of your hands." She then addressed them both, "Shake hands and return to your seats."
"I'll teach you thrusting if you teach me grappling.," Bolin said as he shook Cardin's hand.
"I'd love to," Cardin answered his new friend before the two of them walked off the stage together.
Glynda quickly checked the time, "I do believe that we can squeeze one more fight in, any volunteers?"
"Can I challenge someone?" Spoke a young man as he stood up with an armored hand in the air.
"Of course, keep in mind that it will be up to them whether or not they accept the challenge." Glynda then checked her scroll to find out about her volunteer, Name is Mercury Black, he's from Haven Academy, has no known Semblance, and uses shotgun boots?! Glynda had heard and seen many strange weapons during her career and those boots had just found a spot in her top ten.
Mercury then walked on stage and looked at all of the students gathered as though he was admiring a buffet rather than a room full of potential rivals. "I pick… Pyrrha Nikos."
There was an audible gasp as Pyrrha got up to accept the challenge.
"Denied," Glynda firmly said.
"It's alright professor, I want to do this," Pyrrha answered back.
But Glynda was not moved, "I understand that you feel that way but Beacon has a policy of a period of mandatory rest for people who were involved in a combat intense mission. Your hunt met that standard and therefore you and your team are to rest." She then looked over to Mercury, "I'm sorry Mr. Black but you need to challenge someone else."
"Oh, okay," Mercury started to scan the crowds to find someone else, Well I suppose this is fine. We already got the virus inside the system so soon we'll be able to pull up security camera footage and learn her semblance from that. So I guess this will be a match for pleasure instead of business.
"I wish to challenge him!" A dark-skinned woman with a mop of platinum blond hair on her head and dressed in a yellow monk's robe that oddly had only one sleeve stood up with her hand raised.
"I accept!" Mercury happily answered especially as he watched her walk toward the area, Not a single wasted movement, this girl is good.
Glynda checked her scroll to learn the woman's name and found that she was also a Haven student like Mercury, Are they Rivals? Either way, this will be interesting. "Very well then, the final match for today's lesson will be Mercury Black versus Arslan Altan!" The two fighters took up their stances and quietly observed the other one looking for any hints about what to expect.
Arslan made a note of the way Mercury raised his leg, the strange gun-like device attached to his boots, and how he moved his arms, A kick-based fighting style that uses the arms for defense, or is he trying to trick me? Only one way to find out…
Meanwhile, Mercury watched as she took up a wide stance and held out open palms, It's some kind of Eastern Mistralian martial art but which one? Maybe it's Leigong's Palm or Agni's Mountain Style? Only one way to find out…
*Bam*
Mercury leaped forward and into the air with the sound of a gunshot and attempted to strike Arslan with an Ax kick to the face. Normally a move like this would be used to end fights rather than start them, as powerful as the move was it also wasn't something that could be easily stopped once started and it let the user open to counters, it was a double-edged sword in the truest sense of the word. However, Mercury was also moving far faster than most people and that speed along with gravity made the move something that needed to be avoided at all costs, and people tended to overestimate how much they need to move in order to dodge.
However, Arslan didn't dodge. Instead, she firmly anchored her feet, focused her Aura, and thrust her palm forward to meet his heel. The impact created a shockwave as Mercury was stopped in his tracks with a dumbfounded look on his face as she stepped in with a shoulder strike that didn't do any damage but it did push him back and give her room to sweep his legs.
Mercury tumbled to the ground but by this time he had returned to his senses and returned to his feet before Arslan could follow up.
"Okay, I'll admit that I did not see that one coming," Mercury said with a flirty smile. "You have got to tell me what kind of protein shake you're drinking." What the actual hell was that?! Is this bitch crazy or is she just that arrogant?
Arslan didn't say anything and didn't lower her guard.
"You're not very talkative are you?"
She edged closer, keeping her guard up and her eyes firmly on his feet.
"Catch!" Mercury threw out three kicks to fire his gun three times at three different spots on her body. The first shot was aimed at her legs and she stepped out of the way. The second shot was aimed at her waist and she took that hit in order to free her hands to deflect the third shot aimed at her face. Mercury then switched legs and repeated the process a second time which resulted in the same effect, she dodged the first, got hit by the second, and deflected the third all while steadily closing the gap. Mercury then switched legs again and acted like he was going to throw out another three kicks but it was just a feint to try and bait her into attacking and it worked
He smirked when he saw her suddenly dash forward to try and stop his attack with one of her own while he was off-balanced, Gotcha. He swung his leg forward and fired two shots one after another, the first one was from the leg still on the ground and that shot pushed him into the air. The second shot was from his raised leg but he wasn't aiming for Arslan, the purpose of that shot was to push him backward and out of her range so when she moved in to attack, she'd hit nothing but air and be completely open to a match-ending counter. Sorry babe but this fight is over!
Just like he had planned, Arlan hit nothing but air while all it took was a couple more gunshots for him to back in the perfect position to deliver an ax kick just like the one at the start of the fight, "Maybe you should step out of your dojo more often and get some actu-MPH!?"
"You talk too much," Arslan said as she buried her fist in his gut and sent him sprawling to the floor. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice what you were doing?" She whipped her sleeved hand towards him and a dagger with a long piece of cloth attached to its handle flew out of it and towards his face as he struggled to get up.
Mercury jerked his head to the side and threw himself back down onto the floor to dodge the dagger before kicking himself back onto his feet, "So now you talk?!" He took a moment to observe that the cloth that was attached to the dagger was actually a bandage and that led back to the bandages that she had wrapped around her arms, It's a rope dart, she's going to try and tangle my feet! He quickly stepped forward to try and do something about that potential snare but at the same time, she charged right at him while giving the bandages a sharp tug. She's trying to trap me in between herself and the dagger! Quickly ran down a list of options that he had in his mind; There was no way that she'd get hit with her own weapon so that wasn't an option and neither was dodging since she'd just grab the dagger and throw it again. If he caught the dagger then she'd hit him like a wrecking ball and if he attacked her then the dagger would hit him… all options were bad but one let him hit back.
"Arrgh!" Mercury pumped all the Aura he could spare into his legs and charged forward with a battle cry that Arslan returned as her left hand burst into flames that began to take the shape of a roaring lion. The two combatants met in the center of the ring and threw out their attacks at the same time resulting in his kick running headlong into her fist as she threw out one of the strongest punches in her life.
The impact created a shockwave that dwarfed the one that came before it but neither fighter seemed to notice, they were too focused on trying to overpower the other one and when it became clear that they were tied in power, they instead began to compare their speed by launching, blocking, and getting hit by a flurry of attacks empowered by Aura to make them come out after than what would be considered humanly possible under any other circumstances but that wasn't what decided the match… It was the dagger that had been thrown earlier which proved to be the deciding factor. While Mercury was trading blows the scenario that he had imagined played out exactly the way he thought it would, he was trapped by Arslan and was powerless to stop that blade from stabbing him in the back.
"This match is over and Arslan Altan is the winner!" Glynda announced.
Both Mercury and Arslan ceased their fighting and awaited the professor's criticisms but before that, there was something that the young man needed to get off his chest, "That was AWESOME! Seriously, who taught you to fight like that and that fire lion, by the brothers that lion was so fucking COOL!"
"Cool?" Arslan gave him an odd look. "What I did was just a fancy parlor trick with my Semblance. You on the other hand are using a fighting style that only an hour ago I would have dismissed as the product of a child's imagination, now that's what's actually cool."
"It's good to see that there are no hard feelings between you too," Glynda said with an earnest smile. "Now Mr. Black, at the start you attempted to catch Miss Altan off guard with a haymaker of an ax kick, why?"
"I thought that I could catch her by surprise and get a huge lead."
"So, you spent Aura and risked a counterattack without any understanding of your opponent's abilities all because you thought that you could score an easy win? Did I get that right Mr. Black?"
"Y-yes, yes you did Ma'am." Suddenly his brilliant opening move didn't seem so clever anymore.
"And you Miss Altan, why didn't you dodge?"
"Because… I- I wanted to test my strength."
"So you took hits that you could have avoided just because you wanted to see how far you've come? Really, you are both better than that. These classes are meant to expose you all to new opponents, help you identify weaknesses in your own fighting style, and remind you that Grimm isn't going to be the only thing after your life. If you want to test your strength then do it during personal study time. Understood?"
"Yes Ma'am," the two students said in unison.
"Good, now chin up because both of you are exceptional fighters and I predict that your careers will be ones to watch." Glynda then turned her attention to the rest of the class, "What I said applies to you all as well, this Vytal Festival will be one of the most exciting ones yet! But more importantly, I am going to raise the difficulty of this class. Next time we will begin battlefield simulations, it will not be pretty. You are all dismissed."
Mercury was about to walk back to his boss and teammate when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning around he saw Arslan holding a fist out to him, "What?"
She smiled, "Rematch soon?"
There was a big smile on Mercury's face as he stretched out his own fist until it bumped into hers, "You better be training hard because next time I'm winning!"
Author's Notes: As you can probably tell, there was a lot to go over and that was just one perspective. The next chapter will feature our heroes preparing for the dance but more importantly, we will be getting their thoughts on the Rally. Also, I will hopefully get a chance to show off what Glynda meant by raising the difficulty, I have an idea of how to kill two birds with one stone but we'll see how things work out.
Also, the reason why Arslan got a bit of focus here isn't that I'm currently planning on doing anything with her beyond what would make sense for her character. She is just an example of a cool character that I wanted to see more of but alas, her role in canon was doomed from the start to be small.