It only took a few minutes for Adam to change out of his school uniform and into his usual attire. As he removed Wilt and Blush from his locker, clipping his gun-scabbard firmly in place upon his belt, the bull Faunus craned his neck to look over at Ren, who was in the middle of inspecting his own weapons- the pair of green, bladed machine pistols that Adam had still not learned the name of.
"Good luck out there, today," the bull Faunus told his teammate. "I hope you give it your all." Ren slid his pistols up inside his sleeves, and turned to face his leader, bowing his head respectfully.
"I plan to," he promised, before his pink eyes glanced off to the side. "Though I doubt it will help much..."
"You'll be fine, Ren," Adam told him. "I was hoping to spar against you, Nora, and Pyrrha at some point anyway, to get a better feel of your individual fighting styles myself."
"Hmm. I'll try not to disappoint then," Ren said, giving the bull Faunus a slight smile. "Well then, shall we go out there and give our class a show?"
"Works for me," Adam replied, an eager grin of his own on his face. "Don't worry, I promise I hurt you... too much."
"How kind of you," Ren said drily.
When Adam and Ren returned to the amphitheater, they found it much darker than it had been when they left. The seats where their fellow students sat were completely unlit, although the bull Faunus could still make out Nora, Pyrrha, and Team RWBY from among the dark shapes clustered in the darkness. The only part of the large room that was still lit was the tiled stage in the back, which the two young men began to make their way towards, their footsteps echoing throughout the silent amphitheater. Once they had climbed onstage, a pair of spotlights switched on, casting brighter circles on opposite ends of their elevated flooring. Adam headed left, while Ren moved right, putting a fair amount of distance between each other. Once they had situated themselves within the center of their respective spotlight, Ms. Goodwitch's voice echoed out of the darkness.
"The match between Adam Taurus and Lie Ren is set to begin," their combat instructor announced, somewhere off to the bull Faunus's left. "I want a nice, clean fight between you two," Ms. Goodwitch continued, addressing Adam and Ren directly. "Your spar will last until either one of your Aura meters enters the red zone, at which point the match will be called. Falling out-of-bounds, in this case offstage, or delivering a wound that Aura cannot easily repair will result in an immediate disqualification. Am I clear?" The amount of sternness in her voice made Ren raise an eyebrow, while the bull Faunus rolled his eye, before visibly nodding his head. "Then prepare yourselves, gentlemen."
Adam's hand slid down to Blush, gripping his scabbard tightly right beneath its locket. His free hand hovered near Wilt's grip, as he bent his knees, preparing to charge forward. He watched as Ren settled into a martial arts stance, lifting his left foot of the ground to stand on its toes, while his right leg locked in place, and his arms out in front of him, both hands open and straight, with his palms facing the ground. He met the bull Faunus's gaze, and nodded once, his pink eyes hardened with resolve.
"Begin!" Ms. Goodwitch declared.
Adam immediately burst forward, closing the distance between himself and Ren in almost an instant. Wilt sang as it slid out of Blush flashing outward to arc towards Ren's stomach, but the boy was already moving, diving past the bull Faunus to spring up onto his feet behind him. His fist flew towards Adam's face, only to be knocked aside by Blush, but Ren was undeterred, simply ducking under a sideways slice to his throat and rising into an open hand strike towards the bull Faunus's chin, forcing Adam to step backwards to avoid the attack. The bull Faunus retaliated with a thrust, which Ren shoved away with a palm, then a swipe from Blush, which the boy blocked with his elbow. Seizing his chance, Ren dropped down into a sweep kick, which Adam leapt over, then sprang forwards, both of his fist closed and aimed at the bull Faunus's sternum, pink Aura rippling around his hands. Unable to dodge, Adam opted to cross his arms in front of himself and block the strikes, the force behind the blow sending him skidding backwards several feet.
"It's nice to see I'm not the only one who practiced some Aura techniques," the bull Faunus chuckled, lunging forward to slice at Ren's chest, then spinning into a two-handed downwards swing, which the smaller boy just barely managed to pivot out of the way of.
"If need be, a Huntsman's very body must be a weapon," Ren replied, responding to Adam's advancement with a roundhouse kick, which the bull Faunus blocked with his elbow. "I hope those punches didn't sting too bad."
"Was that supposed to be trash talk?" the bull Faunus. "Because you might want to work on it..." Adam feinted a stab, then pivoted into a thrust kick, which Ren sidestepped, before using both of his hands to shove the bull Faunus's leg away. Adam's body turned involuntarily, but the bull Faunus adapted quickly, reversing his grip on Wilt to jab it behind himself as Ren moved forward to take advantage of a potential opening. The boy grimaced as the blade jabbed into his stomach, and then Adam's arm moved to wrap around his head, pulling Ren up and over the bull Faunus's shoulder to land heavily upon his back. Adam raised his sword up to stab downwards, but Ren managed to roll out of the way, before pulling himself up into a crouch and launching himself up into a backflip, one of his feet snapping out to catch the bull Faunus on the chin, causing Adam to briefly stumble backwards.
"Yeah, show him what you've got, Ren!" Nora's voice called from the darkness. Steeling himself, Ren rushed forward, going on the offensive this time as launched a pair of spinning kicks at the bull Faunus, which were blocked by the flat of Adam's blade. He followed with a punch to the bull Faunus's throat, but Adam brought up his forearm to block the attack, and retaliated by planting his elbow into Ren's chest, before shoving the shorter boy away. Ren fell backwards, but managed to catch himself with his hands, using them to spring back up onto his feet, just in time to see Adam bring Wilt down towards his face. Gritting his teeth, Ren managed to catch the bull Faunus's sword by the blade, his pink Aura rippling around his hands a second time as he used it to both enhance his strength and protect his fingers from the blade. The two struggled against each other, but even without using Aura himself, Adam was proving to be stronger, slowly forcing the shorter boy down to his knee with just one arm.
"Impressive..." Ren commented, even as beads of sweat began to collect upon his forehead. "What's your secret behind this strength?"
"Hard work, and genetics play a role as well," the bull Faunus told him, grinning slightly. "It's pretty sweet to be a Faunus sometimes, huh?" Adam's free hand went down to Blush, angling it so that his scabbard's locket was pointed right at Ren's stomach. His pink eyes widened, and he was forced to throw himself to one side, barely avoiding the bullet that burst from Blush, which slammed harmlessly into the far wall behind him. Ren rolled across the ground, putting some distance between himself and the bull Faunus, before coming up into a crouch.
"I completely forgot your scabbard also doubled as a rifle," he admitted, before hardening his resolve. "But I haven't been using my full arsenal either!" Ren's twin pistols slid out of his sleeves and into his hands, which he leveled at Adam's chest, both of them releasing a spray of automatic gunfire. The bull Faunus grimaced as he stood his ground, spinning Wilt in front of him like a propellor, the blade reduced to a circular blur as he deflected the onslaught of bullets fired at him. Finally, the gunfire stopped, and Ren was moving again, trying to get around behind Adam, who fired a couple more shots from Blush to try and slow him down. The smaller boy dropped into a slide, getting next to the bull Faunus and rising into an upwards slash with one of his pistols' blades. Adam sidestepped the attack and retaliated with a short jab from Wilt, which Ren spun away from, before launching a kick to the bull Faunus's leg, which was blocked by Adam's rising knee.
"That's more like it, Ren," the bull Faunus grunted, parrying a few sideways slashes aimed at his neck, before bringing Wilt up into a pair of two-handed downward strikes. Ren managed to dodge the first, and tried to block the second, but only succeeded in keeping the sword from cleaving down into his shoulder, which dragged itself down the front of his chest instead. Adam kept up the attack with another thrust kick, this time tagging Ren beneath the ribs as he attempted to leap aside. The shorter boy skidded backwards away from the bull Faunus, before turning one of his pistols sideways to unleash another spray of bullets, forcing Adam to block, before leaping into a spinning slice from with his other, which the bull Faunus only just managed to duck under, the green blade scraping against his glossy black horns. Ren's knee rose to meet his face, and so Adam threw himself onto his back, rolling back up onto his feet.
"I'm pulling out all the stops, Adam," Ren called from the edge of the stage, hanging back to consider his next move. "I hope I'm not disappointing you." Making his decision, he rushed towards the bull Faunus, bringing one of his pistols up to lob towards Adam, who raised his sword to knock the impromptu throwing knife aside. Undeterred, Ren fired a few shots from his other gun, one of his bullets catching the bull Faunus on the shoulder, then sprang up into the air, launching a kick at Adam's face. The bull Faunus rolled to the side, allowing the shorter boy to sail past him. Ren landed in a roll, snatching up his fallen gun, then moved to press his advantage, but Adam jammed Wilt back into Blush, squeezing down on his scabbard's trigger to force his sword back out, a short blast of fire erupting from the blade as he swung it down at the floor, forcing Ren to leap away to avoid getting caught in the flames.
"Taurus!" Ms. Goodwitch's voice rang out, as the bull Faunus shoved his rifle through the remnants of his elemental attack to fire off another round, this time nailing Ren solidly in the chest. The smaller boy winced, but continued, bringing up a foot to use Adam's extended knee as a makeshift springboard, launching himself up into a flip, attempting to bring his pistols' blades down into the bull Faunus's shoulders. Adam lifted Wilt, partially sheathed within Blush again, and blocked the pair of strikes, although the momentum behind Ren's attack caused his legs to buckle, forcing him down to one knee. For a few moments, the two of them struggled against each other, and then the bull Faunus fully unsheathed his sword, forcing Ren's blades aside, before pushing himself up to bring the top of his horned head crashing into the smaller boy's face, sending him spiraling away from Adam. "Enough!" Ms. Goodwitch shouted, causing both combatants to freeze.
"Are you okay?" the bull Faunus asked Ren quietly, noticing the small trickle of blood leaking from the boy's nose.
"I'm fine," Ren assured him, his pink Aura rippling over his face to mend his internal injury, before the lights turned back on. Ms. Goodwitch stormed her way onto the stage, clutching her tablet tightly as she glared at Adam, before looking up at the large overhead screen. The bull Faunus's Aura Meter had a small, yet sizable chunk missing, its coloration now a bright lime green instead of its usual darker coloration. Ren's Aura Meter, however, was was now missing the majority of its bar, a little less than a quarter left, its coloration a bright red.
"The winner is Adam Taurus," Ms. Goodwitch said testily, looking at Adam with a fierce expression. "I must applaud your ability to keep up with a more agile opponent, though I would advise you to consider working on your own speed and maneuverability. Brute force may win you some fights, but not all. Also, keep in mind that Aura can only reduce the damage dealt from Dust attacks, not prevent it. If the flames from your sword had connected with Ren and caused any visible injury to him, you would have been immediately disqualified. Are we clear?" she asked sharply, causing Ren to look at her with mild surprise.
"Of course, ma'am," the bull Faunus replied, his face an expressionless mask. Ms. Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed, before nodding.
"Very well, then." She turned to face Ren. "As for you, Mr. Ren, I commend your valor, but be mindful not to confuse that with foolhardiness. While you may score some hits, a direct confrontation with a larger individual, such as Mr. Taurus, is likely to end less favorably for you, due to the shorter reach of your weaponry and his superior strength. I would advise you to use your greater speed and agility to your advantage, and use them to reposition yourself to give you the chance to get strikes in and move away before your opponent can retaliate, to slowly whittle them down."
"I understand," Ren said with a nod, still eyeing his instructor warily.
"Good," Ms. Goodwitch stated. "Well, gentlemen, thank you for an... entertaining first spar of the semester. Go ahead and change back into your regular school uniforms, and then we will commence the next spar. You have five minutes."
"Okay, I didn't want to mention this, but it's gonna keep bugging me until I do, so I guess I'll just come right out with it. Did anyone else notice that Ms. Goodwitch was being a little hostile towards Adam earlier?" Yang asked later that evening, as Team ALPN and Team RWBY shared dinner together. After Adam and Ren's spectacular opening spar, there had been three more matches during combat class, the best of them being Yang going up against some purple-haired boy wielding a sword that extended into a spear, and beating him handily. When the final match was over, Ms. Goodwitch had waved her class off, reminding them that the school gym was open every day until 10 p.m., which she suggested they take full advantage of. After that, the cafeteria had been open again, so at Ruby's suggestion, the two teams had taken a table for themselves and recollected all the highlights of the day's spars. However, now that Yang had brought up their instructor's unnecessary disposition to one of their friends in the group, the mood immediately began to sour.
"No, I noticed that as well," Pyrrha said, looking away from the table with discomfort. "Don't get me wrong, Ms. Goodwitch is strict, but Adam, she was glaring daggers at you. And compare that when she seemed to single you out while talking about us having to fight human and Faunus opponents..." The bull Faunus paused, a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth, and let out a sigh.
"It's nothing, guys," Adam assured them. "She was probably just concerned for Ren's safety, is all. I did pull a rather dangerous stunt towards the end of our bout."
"Perhaps, but I was unharmed, and Yang went a bit overboard during her spar, as well," Ren reminded everyone. "She literally punched her opponent out of the auditorium, but Ms. Goodwitch was not nearly as harsh towards her."
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Nora demanded, before her blue eyes widened. "Wait a minute, you don't think-"
"She is not racist, Nora," Weiss said flatly, from the end of the table. The heiress was eating with her team again, although she and Ruby still had not spoken to each other since her outburst during Grimm Studies earlier that day. "She was likely just being overly cautious. It was the first spar of the semester, after all."
"I hope so," Pyrrha said, still looking uncertain. "I'd hate to find out that the professors at the most renowned Huntsman academy on Remnant had racial prejudices."
"Right, racial prejudices," Blake mumbled softly, causing the bull Faunus to glare at her, as Yang turned towards her partner in confusion.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." The raven-haired girl shook her head. An uncomfortable settled over the group, during which time Adam finished his meal, and rose from his seat to discard his dirty dishes.
"You know what?" Ruby announced, causing everyone's attention to turn towards her. "I think everyone's just a little stressed from trying to maneuver our way through our first day of classes. I think we should do something this weekend to blow off some steam!"
"Oh yeah, like what?" The bull Faunus asked, setting his plate back down.
"There's this arcade in the commercial district of the city that I know of," the silver-eyed girl explained, smiling brightly. "You can play pretty much every game in there and only spend about twenty Lien. And the best part is, it's right next to this ice cream parlor that makes the best sundaes I've ever had. We should all totally head out and have some fun on Saturday!"
"I like the way you think, Ruby," Nora said with a grin. "Do you know if they have a whack-a-mole in there? I am the undisputed queen of that game!"
"Last time I was in there, they did. It's been a while since I visited, though."
"How come I didn't know about this place, Rubes?" Yang demanded. "Are you holding out on your big sis?"
"I've got a life outside of you!" Ruby said defensively.
"I've never been to an arcade before," Blake said, looking intrigued at the very thought. "My idea of a fun time is to curl up in my bed with a hot cup of tea and a good book."
"That's something we have in common," Ren said, before smiling wryly. "Of course, I do enjoy a good beat-em-up video game on occasion, too."
"You do realize that we are going to have required readings and papers to write this weekend, right?" Weiss asked everyone at the table. "I am not so sure it would be prudent to waste our time on such frivolous entertainment."
"Sheesh, you just can't help yourself, can you, Schnee?" Adam demanded. "Always have to be the killjoy..." The heiress's cheeks reddened.
"H-Hey! I'll have you know-"
"Come on, Weiss! Live a little!" Nora told her. "Besides, how much homework are you honestly expecting them to assign in one week?"
"I think Nora raises a good point," Pyrrha added. "It is only the first week of the semester, and as long as we keep up with our assignments, there should not be too much for us to do over the weekend." Weiss looked like she wanted to refute this, but seeing how everyone was looking at her, some pleadingly, the heiress sighed, and lowered her head.
"I guess an ice cream sundae does sound rather appealing," she admitted.
Roman Torchwick took a long drag from his cigar, then lifted his head up towards the ceiling as he let out a long, exhausted sigh, a steady puff of smoke trailing from his mouth. Working for Cinder Fall was quickly starting to become tedious, especially now that she was forcing him to work alongside those animals in the White Fang. Day after day, it was the same, boring routine- hold up Dust shops, relieve them of their crystals, and burn down the establishments of any who resisted. The repetition was bad enough, but even more infuriating was the fact that the Grunts the White Fang supplied him were extremely reluctant to follow even the most basic instructions he gave them. To an extent, Torchwick understood: the whole point of their organization was to fight for Faunus oppression, and now their mutual menace in the red dress was forcing them to take orders from humans all over again. However, their disobedience to their commands had almost gotten them all caught on more than one occasion, and the whole point of being a criminal mastermind was toavoidthat danger. If Cinder did not find someone to get the White Fang more compliant soon, Torchwick was just going to find whatever safe house she had Neo holed up at, and the two of them were going to leave the city.
"Roman..." Torchwick sighed, setting his cigar in its ashtray and reaching for his glass of brandy, before turning to regard one of Cinder's lapdogs -the dark-skinned girl with minty hair and red eyes that he never bothered to learn the name of- that was now standing in the doorway of his quarters, a hand on her hip.
"What do you want?" he demanded, swirling his brandy impatiently. "I said I didn't want to be disturbed."
"Cinder's not happy with the amount of Dust you have been bringing in as of late," the girl said, completely ignoring his comment. "Her associate is going to need a lot more of it to supply us with the weaponry needed for our master plan to be put into full effect."
"You mean her master plan," Torchwick corrected her, taking a sip of his brandy. "You know fully well that she hasn't told either you or me heads or tails of what she actually wants all this Dust for, only that it will 'bring Vale to its knees,' or some such poetic nonsense. And it ain't my fault that progress has been so slow. Has she ever thought that maybe trying to make the violent revolutionaries take orders from their oppressors was a bad idea? Because her 'friends' don't listen to half the things I say."
"Cinder is working on that," she assured him. "She's managed to get into contact with leadership of the White Fang in their Menagerie, and is in the middle of negotiating with them. She's hoping to convince them to send one of their higher-ups to assume command of the Valean sect. They should be able to get your goons to fall back in line."
"I hope so, for your sake," Torchwick grumbled. "If this crap keeps up, then I'm outta here- it's as simple as that."
"You really think you have the power to refuse Cinder?" the girl demanded, smiling at him smugly. "She's got power the likes of which you have never seen. If you try to double-cross her, she'll kill you. That's the true simplicity of this matter. Now, Cinder wants you to plan up a heist for a shipment of Dust coming in at the docks soon. I suggest you get to work on it." Then she was gone, strutting back the way she came with a sway in her step, no doubt heading back to Cinder to report on how he was quaking in his boots and would do anything she said, and then try to ply for Cinder's attention. Torchwick grumbled, drinking down the rest of his glass of brandy in two giant gulps, before staring into the empty glass bitterly.
"I hate to say it, but I'm in a hot mess right now," he said with a grimace, turning towards the window to look out into the starry night sky. A single shooting star whizzed by overhead, and without really thinking about it, Torchwick made a wish. "I wish I had a way to get out of this jam..."