The class was in session in Beacon academy as Glynda began teaching a lesson. Everyone watched as she walked back and forth talking about the value of strategy in combat. She stopped pacing and looked out to the students. "Okay, today we'll be having three sparring matches. Both fighters will fight until one fighters aura gauge is low. The first fight will be Lai Ren vs Uzziel Mikoshi." She announced.
Everyone was shocked by her choice of fighters. Nora looked at Ren who was now standing up "Go get him, Ren!" Nora cheered.
Weiss looked at Uzziel who was sitting next to her "Looks like you're up, good luck." She said with a smile. Uzziel smiled in return, giving his confidence a jolt and stepped forward.
The two walked down and then stood in front of Glynda. They then turned to look at one another "Let's give it our all and have a good match, Ren!" Uzziel stated with pride.
Ren smiled and nodded "Good luck Uzziel," Ren said kindly.
Uzziel nodded at him "Same to you" he replied as he prepared himself.
Everyone was waiting for the match to start as it brought interest to them all. "Oh boy this is gonna be great!" Nolo exclaimed.
"Indeed. It's most likely going to be a fast pace battle." Lance responded from his position in-between Blake and Yang. "Who do you think is going to win?" Blake asked as she placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward focusing on the two fighters.
Yang crossed her arms, also keeping her eyes on the two. " Well from what I saw when I faced him; Uzziel specializes in close combat and his aura is very dangerous. His weapon is nothing to overlook either, those tonfa will cut you down if you're not careful. But Ren is no weakling either and his weapon is just as dangerous. But I have to go with Uzziel for this one." She explained.
Uzziel and Ren stood across from each other preparing themselves for battle. Glynda looked at the two fighters "If you're both ready, you may begin!" She called out.
Both Ren and Uzziel quickly pulled out their weapons and ran towards each other. Once close enough the two swung their weapons in a slashing motion and made their blades collide. The two had a short struggle with strength trying to overpower the other.
Ren and Uzziel continuously slammed their weapons together which made a loud sound that echoed through the room. A second later the two jumped back and Ren aimed his guns at Uzziel.
Uzziel quickly took a dash to avoid the barrage while Ren was now using his guns and shooting rapidly at Uzziel's retreat. Uzziel jumped left and right dodging the bullets, getting closer and closer to Ren. He shot two shots of Ice dust at Ren's feet, which froze Ren in his tracks. Uzziel then ran at full speed and delivered a hard punch that broke the ice on Ren's feet and sent him flying backward.
Ren landed on the ground but quickly pressed off the ground and kicked himself back up to his feet. Uzziel stood ready as Ren started to charge forward. He quickly started to swing his weapons at Uzziel trying to cut him with the blades but Uzziel dodged each swing. A moment later Uzziel blocked the assault again with his tonfa, which would make their weapons collide. The two struggled once again, trying to outstand the collision with all their might.
The struggle between the two made their weapons fly into the air. Without any hesitation, the two started to fight hand to hand swinging at one another and dodging each other blows at a breaking pace.
Ren then threw two kicks at Uzziel's stomach but Uzziel dodged them both by stepping back then came back in with two quick jabs that connected with Ren's face.
Ren gritted his teeth in slight frustration and swung his fist at Uzziel but Uzziel quickly grabbed his arm and took Ren down to the ground. He then caught his weapon that was now falling back down to the ground and aimed it at Ren who's weapons were now on the ground.
Uzziel was getting ready to blast Ren, but Ren rolled to the left as Uzziel pulled the trigger making him miss completely. Ren then pushed off the ground once he was on his stomach and quickly ran towards Uzziel delivering a quick kick to his stomach sending Uzziel flying back.
Ren's weapons were now by his feet, within the notice of them He quickly picked them up. The two stared each other down for a second before running at each other once again. They both started to exchange swings with their weapons dodging and swinging over and over again. Ren then kicked Uzziel once more who stumbled back and then smirked as red aura started to form around his body.
The aura took on the shape of a wolf, in mere seconds, Uzziel threw his weapons into the air and quickly dashed at Ren in a high-speed motion. The aura covering his hands formed into wolf claws and Uzziel who now faced to face with Ren swung upwards slashing Ren's face and sending him into the air. Uzziel then pressed off the ground and slashed Ren multiple times before changing the form of his Aura and shaping it into a gorilla.
Uzziel then put his hands together and delivered a clubbing blow to Ren sending him flying straight to the ground. Upon his descent to the ground Uzziel released the aura and caught his weapons, standing over Ren. He aimed his weapon at Ren who was laying on the ground and prepared to pull the trigger.
"That will be enough Mr. Mikoshi," Glynda said as she walked over towards the two boys. Uzziel took a step back as Ren stood up and shook Uzziel's hand.
"See, what did I tell you," Yang said as she smiled. Blake nodded and leaned back in her chair "You were right Yang, Uzziel came out victorious. Impressive deductive skills." She stated with a smile to her teammate.
"What did you expect? Uzziel is an extremely skilled fighter, no offense to Ren in any way but I know that guy's strength firsthand." Lance stated remaining in his relaxed demeanor.
Sitting across from them was a young man and woman who were watching the match. The man was a pale, well-built young man with silver-gray eyes and, hair, partially slicked back while unkempt at the front. He also wears a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket, that covers his upper body. He also wears a single notched belt with what appears to be a sash or bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms are sets of rerebraces and vambraces
The young woman had medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair is a light, mint-green cut with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. Her attire consisted of an intricate white top and an olive-colored crop top, on the back of which is her personal emblem. This emblem is in the shape of a cut gem, most likely referring to her name. This was intended to be accompanied by white shorts, decorated with what appears to be a gold coin-plated belt, with four gold chains draping around her back from two of the coins and what seems to be a green loincloth.
"Isn't that..." The man started.
"Yeah, it is. To think he would be here." The women chimed in.
Nolo who was sitting with Regulus laughed as he looked at Ren. "Now that was an old-fashioned beating, Ren got whooped, That fight looked painful. I'm glad I don't have to fight." He said as he leaned back in his chair and put his hands on the back of his head.
"Mr. Heller you're up next," Glynda called out.
Nolo's eyes widened as he quickly sat up straight in his seat "Wait, what? Why me?!" He whined. Glynda wasn't having any of it as she gave him a stern look "Get down here Heller." She demanded.
Regulus smiled as he watched Nolo sigh and stand up "Good luck out there buddy." He teased. Nolo just sighed once more in response and walked down the steps. Glynda then scanned the room and then nodded "And his opponent will be Ms. Warren." She said.
Nolo's was shocked "I have to face Arrietty?" he asked, as Arrietty stood up and prepared to take the stairs. "Go get him, Ari!" Midori cheered. Arrietty smiled and put her hand on her shoulder "Thanks, Midori." She responded.
Midori smiled as she watched Arrietty walk down the stairs. Once she made it down the last step she took a few steps forward and turned to look at Nolo who was across from her. "Oh man, i have to fight a girl." He complained.
"Yeah, you keep thinking that Nolorona." She teased.
Glynda looked at the two and nodded "If you are both ready you may begin." She said.
Nolo quickly pulled out his pistols and fired two shots at Arrietty. The young girl dodged the bullets by running to her left. Afterwards, She pulled out her weapon the transformed into a double-bladed Glaive.
Nolo noticed that she was trying to get closer and quickly started shooting rapidly. Arrietty dodged the bullets moving side to side while picking up more speed. In seconds she was near Nolo and with three slashes with her glaive, Nolo was forced to stumble back.
"She's a fast one," Uzziel said as he was now sitting with Wiess again. Weiss nodded her head in agreement "Yeah, she's already taken the lead with the Aura gauge." Weiss stated.
Arrietty did not let up as she continued to attack Nolo with slashes, but Nolo had caught his balance and was now dodging each swing.
He flipped his guns and used the blades to block the onslaught and stop her, "That will be enough of that." He said.
Arrietty smiled and looked at him "Is that so?" She said as she let go of her weapon and grabbed Nolo's arm with her left hand then she balled up her fist with her right hand and swung at his stomach.
A powerful gust of wind came out of her right hand and hit Nolo, carrying him across the room and onto the ground.
Nolo growled in annoyance as he got up off the ground. Arrietty smiled and then started to thrust her hands in a straight punch motion, sending out balls of wind at Nolo. "This must be her semblance." He said to himself as he started to dodge the balls of wind.
Nolo ran left and right dodging the attacks and then used his semblance to multiply his guns into four. He threw two of them in a boomerang the air. The guns made their way towards Arrietty who now had her weapon back in her hand. She dodged the first one and used the glaive to block the other one, making it fly into the air.
She then grabbed Nolo's gun and in an instant one gun turned into two, which caused everyone's eyes to go wide. "Wait, what!" Nolo exclaimed.
"Did she just..." Regulus said to himself as he was in awe.
"You just used my semblance, but how?" He asked.
Arrietty quickly threw the guns at Nolo who dodged them but was caught off guard as another wind blast came flying at him and sending him to the ground.
Regulus watched as Nolo stood back up "Now what are you going to do about this Nolo?" He examined in concern and curiosity.
Arrietty smiled and went back on the attack. She dashed forward and tried to slash Nolo again but Nolo continued to dodge. This time, however, Nolo was shooting Arrietty in between dodges which made her aura gauge lower. Arrietty then held her weapon with only her left hand while trying to swing with her right, causing an air blast to appear but Nolo was ready.
He dodged to the left and evaded the blast. He shot her four times in the head which dropped her aura gauge drastically. She was almost about to pass the line which made her pick up her slack.
She quickly ran forward again and began to slash away at Nolo, spinning her glaive at remarkable speeds. She got three more hits in making Nolo even more ticked off. As Nolo held his gun out and aimed it at her chest. Arrietty transformed her glaive into a double barrel shotgun and held it with one hand aiming it at Nolo. With no hesitation, both fired at the same time and hit each other in the chest at the same exact time making them both fall to the ground.
Glynda held her hand up "And that's the match. Both of your aura gauges have been lowered so this match is a tie." she said.
"That was close, he almost got his butt kicked," Lance stated as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Uzziel shook his head "No he got it kicked, he wasn't expecting her to be much of a fight." he added.
Nolo walked over to Regulus and sat down as he heard Glynda call for Pyrrha and Team CRDL. "You underestimated her," Regulus said.
Nolo sighed and leaned back in his chair "Yeah, yeah." He groaned. Regulus smiled at his longtime friend "Don't be like that, at least you didn't end up like these clowns." Regulus said as he looked down at the front of the class where Pyrrha was decimating Team CRDL.
"Yeah, this is embarrassing," Nolo stated.
"I'd be kinda upset if my whole team got wiped out by one person," Uzziel taunted as he continued to watch. By this time Pyrrha had won the match and left Team CRDL laying on the ground.
"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." Glynda stated.
"Thank you, professor," Pyrrha replied.
Glynda who was tapping her scroll looked at the class "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna? You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you -"
The man with silver hair raised his hand "I'll do it." he chimed in.
"Mercury, is it? Well, let's find you an opponent." She said as she looked at her scroll.
"Actually, I wanna fight... her." Mercury pointed to Pyrrha who was caught off guard.
Pyrrha didn't know what to say all she could get out was "Me?"
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Glynda said with a stern tone. "No, it's fine! I'd be happy to oblige." Pyrrha said as she smiled at Mercury who just smirked.
Mercury struts into the arena, visibly sizing up Pyrrha. Their spar begins when he makes the first attack and is knocked down. Recovering quickly, he deflects an attack and begins trading blows with Pyrrha until she knocks him back with her shield.
Ruby Rose turns toward the girl with mint-green hair sitting behind her. "Hey, your friend's doing pretty good." She said. The girl gives a fake smile and then rolls her eyes as Ruby turns her back. Mercury unleashes a series of powerful strikes.
Pyrrha allows his kick to slam against her forearm before Mercury manages to disarm, a kick impaling her blade into the ground. Pyrrha then uses her Semblance to redirect the direction of Mercury's next kick. As she charges him with her shield, he shoots off of it and turns his back to her. Pyrrha tries to rush him again by running at a fast pace.
"I forfeit," Mercury said in a nonchalant tone.
Pyrrha almost stumbles as she stops beside him. "You... don't even want to try?" she asked. Mercury shrugged, "What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." He said as he held his hands up and shook his head.
Glynda then stepped forward as she looked at Mercury, " In that case... Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match... again."
The girl with mint-green hair smirked while Mercury sneers smugly. Pyrrha had an annoyed and disappointed look on her face and placed her left hand on her hip. The Aura displays for Pyrrha and Mercury are shown as Mercury's is changed from green to red indicating his loss.
"Next time you might want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent." Glynda scolded as Mercury started to walk away.
"I'll be sure to do that." He replied.
The bell rings and the students begin to rise "That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." She announced.
As everyone leaves, Mercury stops beside his mint haired companion. "Learning is so much fun." He said with a smirk on his face. She just nodded and continued to walk out of the classroom.
Outside, SSSN is standing at the entrance as Team RWBY walks past. Sun notices Blake and runs after her. "Hey, Blake! You uh, doing okay?" He asked as he grabbed her shoulder.
"I'm fine...." She replied as she shut the book she was reading.
Sun scratched the back of his head as she looked at her "So I hear that there's this dance going on this weekend, and it sounds pretty lame, but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?" He asked.
"What?" She asked.
"The dance! This weekend! You wanna go, or what?" He asked.
"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that." She said in disappointment. She walked away past her team as Sun sinks from rejection.
Nolo smiled and put his hand on Sun's shoulder as Team Rwby left "Don't let it get you down man. Sometimes it just doesn't work out." He said.
Lance smirked at this comment "Yeah just like your fight with Arrietty." Lance teased. Nolo growled, "Shut up as if you would have done any better!" He exclaimed. Sun just sighed not really being up for a laugh.
Later that night in the exchange student dorm room a woman with ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes, her fingernails painted dark red, sewing a black dress as she sits on one of the beds. The mint haired girl that was with Mercury is sitting on the floor while looking at her scroll, and Mercury is lying on the ground and reading a comic book.
"Ah, the invincible girl." The black-haired woman said.
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." Mercury said
"Do tell." The woman was interested.
"Her semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching." The mint haired girl explained.
"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments." Mercury added to the statement.
"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage." The mint haired girl stated.
The black haired woman put her finger to her lips "Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list."
"You should be able to take her no problem," Mercury said as he looked at the black haired girl.
"It's not about overpowering an enemy. It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time." She stated
"Cinder there's something else you should know." The mint haired girl said as she looked at the black hair woman now known as Cinder.
Cinder smiled and raised an eyebrow "And what might that be?" She asked.
"Emerald and I stumbled across that Mikoshi kid today," Mercury said as he laid on his back and put his hands on the back of his head.
"The son of the Mikoshi's is here? This just keeps getting more and more interesting." Cinder said as she smirked.
"Apparently his semblance allows him to engulf himself in Aura, and it gives him enhanced power and speed." The mint haired girl now known as Emerald said.
"Are you sure that's what his semblance does or do you think there's more to it?" Cinder asked.
"I believe there's more to it, but I haven't figured it out yet," Emerald replied.
"Well we need to find out, put him on the list as well, I doubt going up to him and asking will get us anywhere, we need to get close to him." Cinder said.
"He doesn't seem like the type to talk to anyone who he isn't already friends with, and he's extremely smart so he might catch on" Mercury chimed in.
"Then get close to the people around him, maybe one of his teammates, Emerald, I'm leaving that job to you. Get as close as you need to whoever you choose to get that information. I wanna make sure we know what we're dealing with so we can take every step to ensure we succeed." Cinder explained.
"Got it," Emerald replied rather quickly. "I hate waiting," Mercury said as he sighed in boredom. "Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." Emerald said as she continued to sew with a charming smile on her face.