Velvet pivoted at the hip, her leg spinning up to catch me in the chest. I braced my aura, and felt the blow roll through me. Hurt, but not bad.

"Was that a mosquito bite?" I taunted, moving in for a counter, aura flowing into my legs as I bounded forward, sending a flying knee to her head. Her arms came up and caught it in a block, the force pushing her back. Without missing a beat, as I began to fall, she spun into a butterfly kick, leg corkscrewing up through the air. I touched down right before her foot would've connected and reeled back, watching the sole of her shoe pass my face. Half a second later, her other foot followed it, and I raised my own arm to block it.

"You fight like a girl!" she retorted, a wide smile on her face. Her feet touched down, and she launched into a haymaker, which turned into a feint as I countered it, and her other arm came in low for a shot to my side. I slipped it, only for her to narrowly clip me anyway. But I used the momentum to step in and return it in kind. Managed to catch her square in the stomach, a rarity. Velvet was hard to hit at the best of times. She took the hit and bunny-hopped back a pair of steps, guard up... Bunny-hopped. Ugh.

"Taste the explosive power of my FISTS! " I bellowed, pressing in and keeping the momentum, flickering a quick combo before following it with a cross. Velvet weaved the first two hits, then deflected and countered the cross. Her forearm came up and guided the blow away as she stepped in, her other fist lashing out. I leaned back and let it pass, then brought an arm up in a guard, expecting another butterfly kick to follow in its place. What I got instead was a knee to the stomach as Velvet continued to dig in.

Still couldn't predict her.

"You're not so smart now, Cowboy." Velvet said, smirking.

Both of my arms immediately lashed forward and wrapped around Velvet. A look of surprise crossed her face as I dragged her in and held tight. Immediately, she brought her arms up , bracing them against my chest as she assumed I was going to crush her. I wasn't.

"Roshambo!" I shouted, then lurched backward, lifting Velvet upward so she arched over me. I wasn't much for grappling or wrestling if I could help it. But I wasn't a stranger to the suplex, weren't many who weren't.

This included Velvet. As I began to reel back and her feet left the ground, she braced both legs against my stomach and began to push off of me. Given she had a better point of leverage, and use of more than just her arms, she was able to break my grapple and buy herself room to move. About halfway into the suplex she broke free and tumbled what would've been upward, now forward past my head. She rolled as she hit the ground, recovering.

I abandoned the suplex right before I hit the ground, straightening out so I wouldn't land head first. Immediately I rolled to the side, moving away from the kick Velvet sent skidding my way as I scrambled back to my feet.

"Are you really the strongest man on your team?" Velvet questioned, deepening her voice before diving in for another quick exchange.

It ended with me landing a Scribe's Counter on her nose, immediately causing her to back pedal. There was little chance I'd actually done anything meaningful, but I knew I'd caught her off-guard. Rather than push in though, I let her have the moment to recover. After a moment or two, she realized I wasn't bombarding her, and looked at me, confused.

"… Patchouli." I finished.

We both chuckled at the entirely asinine exchange we'd just had.

Navy Hale, Vacuo's Finest, and purveyor of dumb one-liners.

We were back in the side room of the fighting hall, and running through the basics. After my bout of collapsing during our last session, it was better to make sure I was up to par before diving into the meat of it. While I wasn't performing at my best, that I was able to keep pace with Velvet at all was a good sign. Even if it was only for very brief spurts.

Velvet was a capable opponent, who I knew better than to underestimate. Trying to read her was like trying to read a book written in three different languages and that constantly switched between them. While also making the reader temporarily dyslexic.

You'd have better luck following footprints in a sandstorm.

I was almost convinced she'd been taking it easy on me.

As the two of us caught our breath, Velvet nodded at me approvingly. "You've gotten better."

"Mm, amazing what a few hours of bed rest will do for you." I agreed. "Still not good enough, but I guess it'll do."

Velvet shrugged. "Compared to the first time you sparred with me, or Fox? Yes, I'd agree."

The two of us turned to look towards her mentioned teammate. He was currently engaged in a fistfight with Yang. He leapt at her with a rising knee that quickly evolved into a straight kick. Yang pulled up her guard and caught the kick rather than try to dodge it, eating the brunt of it, even as I saw her aura glimmer slightly. Something I'd learned to attribute to especially hard hits.

Fox's leg swept back to the earth, and he jerked to the side, gliding his opposite elbow in for a cutting strike. Only for Yang to catch and counter it, guiding herself around it before sounding a mighty hook into his ribs. A victorious smirk on her face.

Seemed I wasn't the only one to have found a worthy sparring partner.

Beyond her, I could see Blake tangling with Coco. Slipping and dodging around the older girl's handbag, yet being unable to have any of her cuts land. Whenever they got close, Coco would simply glide out of the way. Or, as I'd seen once or twice, bring her leg up and catch it in her high-heeled boot. She wasn't like Blake, or Ruby, who were about fast movement. Coco was the opposite, low mobility, but able to handle the trouble it brought. Less a Stonewall, more a chain-link fence.

Weiss and Ruby, meanwhile, were double-teaming Yatsu. Though they were going about it in an odd way. Both darted in and out at odd intervals, striking at impressive speed and quickly moving before Yatsu could retaliate. Ruby zipping around and leaving rose petals behind her, and Weiss skating around on those circular glyphs I'd seen her use on occasion. Normally it would be an effective way of doing things. Especially against someone like Yatsu, who was only armed with a normal albeit large sword. But none of their hits were connecting. If anything Yatsu was blocking everything with contemptuous ease.

His sword was only a sword, but it was also a massive and solid block of metal. Makes for a good barrier against anything without the right amount of oomph.

They were all sparring, while Vel and I were catching our breath.

"Give them credit, they haven't been wasting their time here." I said.

"Is that supposed to be a shot at my team?" Velvet asked.

"No, shot at mine." I said. "Those girls make me wonder sometimes how seriously they take this. I'm glad they've been trying to improve. Just hope it's enough."

"Enough for what?" Velvet asked, clearly nonplussed about not getting much of an answer.

"For… well, anything, I guess." I told her. "The world's crazy, and you can't really anticipate everything, but that shouldn't keep you from trying… Guess I'm just trying to say I'm glad they're trying..." I looked at Velvet. "Don't remember if I ever said it, but thank you, for helping with this. Without you guys I'd be a lot further behind than I am, and I know I've still got a ways to go."

Velvet's face flushed slightly, and she gave me a sweet smile. "We're happy to help. Call it me repaying you for getting Cardin off me."

"I'd hardly call that a favor." I told her.

"Believe me, with some of the things I hear people say, it was." Velvet said, giving her rabbit ears a little wiggle. "Can't go around punching every person who's ever made a Maths joke."

I nodded "That wouldn't… wait, Maths?"

Velvet rolled her eyes "Oh, you know. How many bunnies does it take to make a dozen?"

"Uh, twelve, but that's not-" I started to answer.

"Two, just give them a few hours." Velvet huffed.

"…" I dropped my question for the moment. "Time out, some dumb motherfu- hugger actually had the gall to say that?"

"Not to my face." Velvet said, frowning.

"… Girl, you have the patience of a saint." I told her, shaking my head. "If I were in your shoes I'd have beaten the tar out of people until they got the message."

"It wouldn't have solved anything." Velvet shook her head. "It'd either be they kept doing it, or they'd fall back on me being violent because I'm a Faunus. I didn't like ignoring them, but it was better than the alternative."

"As said, patience of a saint ." I repeated. "But I wasn't going to ask what you were talking about, I was asking why you used Maths instead of… well, Math."

"… O-oh." Velvet said, her eyes widening. I wasn't sure but I was pretty sure even her ears suddenly turned red. "W-well, there are multiple types of Math. So it's Maths rather than Math."

"But wouldn't them being Maths jokes imply that they've got jokes that go beyond basic arithmetic?" I asked. "You telling me they've got ones for geometry, or trig, or… any of them."

"How do you find a right triangle? Put two rabbits at a point, if they match the lines it's ninety degrees." Velvet ticked. "How do you find a radius? Put one bunny in the center and the other outside the circle."

"… Oh you poor girl." I said.

"It's fine, it's not like you're the one making them." She shrugged. "Most of them are embarrassingly bad anyway."

"So I'd gather." I said, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "You've got my respect, wouldn't have been able to put up with it in your shoes."

Velvet fidgeted at the gesture, but gave a soft smile. Wasn't a lie either. Try hard to keep my trigger discipline under control, but if I'd heard anyone talking about me or my friends like that… Well, they wouldn't have been doing it for long.

Velvet pivoted on her feet and looked at me, stretching slightly. "Ready to go another round?"

Her brow went up in surprise when I shook my head. "Tempting, but there's something I need to do. You've given me a good warm up, but I need to put some other people through their paces." I nodded in their direction. "If we got time left over though, I wouldn't mind another round."

Velvet followed my gaze, and hummed. She didn't ask any further questions, but she was a smart cookie. I was willing to hazard she'd figured out what I meant. With a quirk of the lips, she gave a light bow, and motioned for me to carry on.

I began to walk across the hall, watching as my teammates continued to spar against CFVY. I could see Fox had successfully turned his brawl with Yang back around, giving a fist and knee combo to her stomach. Blake, meanwhile, was suddenly on the back foot and only seemed to be losing more ground. Conversely, Weiss and Ruby seemed to be holding it against Yatsu. Despite the near constant barrage, the two weren't slowing down. Given long enough, maybe they'd have taken him down.

But a two on one isn't what might be considered a fair fight anyway.

Artfully, I maneuvered my way through the fray, towards the wall near the exit, where I'd taken to leaving my weapons. Gathering dust while I worked my way through fighting with aura. Not the useful kind of dust either. I double checked that they were loaded, sharp, and otherwise ready for use. Fixing them to their usual spots.

Then I heard Ruby make a sound like a kicked bighorner, accompanied by the dull gong of struck metal. I spun around, and watched as a red-clad cannonball came screaming towards me. Though the screams sounded more like a little girl's and it wasn't exactly ball-shaped.

I braced myself against the wall, opened VATS for a moment, and caught Ruby as she crashed into me. Back the way she'd come, I could see Yatsu with his sword raised, looking to have caught Ruby with the flat of it. Crescent Rose came skittering across the floor after her in short order. With me raising a foot up to avoid the head of the weapon as it connected with the wall.

"Hope you weren't fond of the paint job." I said, looking down at Ruby's weapon.

"I'm fine, thanks." Ruby said, as I let her go. She landed on her feet.

"Figured you would be, seeing as I caught you." I told her, dusting off. I then looked at Yatsu. "Watch your aim, If I was Weiss you'd have actually hit me."

"Hey!" Weiss called.

Only for Yatsu to immediately seize the moment and broadside her, like he had with Ruby. Difference being he sent her flying towards Velvet instead. Though unlike Ruby, Weiss gracefully took control of herself mid-flight, her uncontrolled spiral turning into a graceful series of spins and flips, ending with her landing on another of her mid-air glyphs, this one black, and horizontal facing. She sent a glare down to Yatsu, to which he merely shrugged. Was on her for getting caught off-guard.

Ruby worked a foot under her weapon and flipped it up into the air. She caught it, and arched forward, ready to leap back into the fray.

Before she could, I grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Pump the brakes, Tiny." I told her. "I was going to pull you aside anyway. This just saves time."

"Huh?" Tiny huffed.

As she did, Weiss launched herself at Yatsu again, howling triumphantly with her toothpick thrust forward.

Then Yatsu swatted her with the flat of his sword again, sending her flying again, only this time she didn't catch herself. I was going to need to have a word with her about that. But then, I was planning to anyway.

I let go of Ruby's shoulder, and she stepped a little away before turning to face me. Spinning her weapon so the crook of the blade was resting behind her legs. Couldn't help but think that was unnecessarily dangerous, but I wasn't judging, yet. "What's up?" She asked.

"We need to go a few rounds." I told her. "I wanna make sure you girls are ready, you're up first."

Ruby looked at me, surprised for a moment. Then her eyes started sparkling, and a big grin tweaked the corners of her mouth. "You wanna spar?"

"Yes."

"Really!?" She shouted, getting the others' attention.

"No need to shout."

"Oh, uh-… really?" She asked again.

"Yes." I repeated. "Just keep in mind-"

Ruby started bouncing backwards into the hall as CFVY and our teammates slowly put their fights on hold. Paying attention to the fact that Ruby wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"This is gonna be fun~" She tittered.

" Ruby ." I stressed. "This isn't about having fun."

"Oh don't be like that, I've been waiting forever for my turn." Ruby smirked, spinning Crescent Rose in a quick flourish.

"There something we're missing here?" Coco asked, letting her fight with Blake peter out.

"We've got some business to take care of." I told her. "Before we get to it, I want to put these three through their paces." My hand gestured to each of my teammates as I followed Ruby back out into the hall. "Need to make sure they're not going to cause problems where I can't keep an eye on them."

"That we're not going to cause problems?" Weiss asked, insulted.

"Considering two of you got swatted like a pair of bugs just now, yes." I told her.

"I'm sorry, what exactly are you planning to do?" Velvet asked from across the way.

"Don't worry about it." I said. "Just better to handle it now rather than later. That's all."

"What about me?" Yang asked, motioning to herself.

"I'm not worried about you, They're still fixing the wall last I checked." I told her. "Do you really want to waste our rematch on this?"

Yang pursed her lips, then scowled at me. "Low blow."

"You'll get your chance later." I told her, before pointing to Ruby. "But me and you? We need to take care of this. Now."

"Yeah!" Ruby said, excited smile beaming brightly, She spun her weapon in front of her, instantly ready for a fight. "On three?"

"Four." I said, instantly drawing That Gun.

Ruby's smile immediately evaporated as I cracked off a shot. A sharp, strangled note escaped her as she flung herself to the side. It'd been a warning shot, could've hit her but had intentionally sent it over her head to get her into gear. The one that followed it was aimed for center mass. It missed however, as Ruby did dash away from it, zipping in a sharp diagonal line away from me and my lane of fire, deeper in. Everyone else immediately took that as their cue to get out of the way and darted for the sides of the room, lest they catch stray fire from either of us. Something I would try my best to keep in mind, but knew would be dangerous all the same.

Not missing a beat, I sprinted after Ruby, pushing my aura into my legs and springing the distance in long strides. Tracking where she'd moved to was easy, just follow the giant ball of flower petals. I wasn't going to match her speed, but it wasn't about that. It was about closing her reaction window. Not give her the moment she might need to respond properly.

The petals molded back into a solid Ruby several yards away and she immediately spun to face me. As the tip of the scythe slammed into the ground her hand flew to the rifle's action. With a practiced jerk and twist, she chambered a round into the barrel, a spent casing from her spar with Yatsu falling out. I could see her eyes track to me, wide but focused as she quickly tried to line up a shot. It wouldn't take more than a second.

I couldn't give her that.

With a grimace, my sprint turned into a dive and my arms flew forward, hands clasping on my pistol.

Crescent Rose and That Gun rang in unison. My aim was hampered by my dive and forward momentum, Ruby's aided by her weapon's planted blade.

She missed, the bullet whizzing past my head.

I hit my mark.

The 5.56 hit Ruby in the left side of her chest, and she instantly flinched. A pained cry slipped through gritted teeth, as she began to fumble with the rifle bolt.

I hit the ground and locked a bead onto her again. Center mass was an easy shot to make, no fancy business as long as I was hitting something.

Ruby's eyes widened again as she drew the bolt open. I cracked off another shot. Right before the bullet would've hit her, she launched to the side, yanking Crescent Rose from its mooring. She tumbled to the side, the muzzle of her weapon wildly whipping around. She slammed the bolt home and fired.

The bullet hit the ground in front of me with a burst of stone chips and fire. Would've hurt bad if she hit me.

Before I could adjust my aim, she scattered into a cloud of petals again and bolted away. I took the spare seconds it bought me to scramble to my feet. My eyes didn't leave her as I came back to rights, tracking her as she moved in a slow arc away from me.

Then, without warning, the blur of flower petals rose away from the ground. Going maybe ten feet up before sharply arching backward, reversing course. It rocketed towards me at a breakneck speed, the air howling around the mass as it bore down on me, covering over a dozen meters in nearly a second.

Right before it would've hit me, Ruby emerged from it, scythe cocked back and ready to swing.

Scythes are tricky weapons, even with the ones not as big as Ruby's. Their reach and swing speed lend to being very effective cutting weapons. They have a massive cutting edge at that, paired with a thin blade. The angle its set at also makes it so every cut is preceded by a stab. If one doesn't catch you, the other will. They are insidiously hard to predict because both the cutting edge and tip move in advance of the weapon's shaft, quite significantly. All married together, it was a dangerous combination.

The trade-off is that they're not weapons. They're farm tools.

The blade is set at an angle that aiming for a proper strike is a challenge all its own. While you can hook your opponent, the blade's cutting power is only at its best when the weapon is swinging. Against armor, they lack the weight to deal meaningful damage. Handling them could also be dangerous to the user, if they weren't paying attention. The tip of the blade was far trickier to keep track of.

But it ultimately attested to Ruby's own ability that she could wield it well.

I saw the glint of Crescent Rose's blade as it sung towards me. With only a half-step back, I avoided the tip of the weapon less than a second before the tip would've stuck my ribs. Even then, I felt the back of the weapon drag against my chest.

Ruby gave a challenging smile as she gripped her weapon with both hands. Spinning it by the haft, the spear tip at its opposite end narrowly missed my gas mask as I weaved away from it. The weapon twirled a half circle over her head, before dipping down towards her shoulder. The blade arcing behind her, before looping underhand, slashing upward at me.

I weaved out of the way, and used the opening to crack a quick shot at Ruby, unaimed.

Almost like she'd seen it coming, or maybe she was just lucky, she twirled Crescent Rose in front of her. Letting the receiver catch the bullet, sending spall and spatter away from her, without breaking stride. The scythe then looped horizontally around her coming around for another horizontal slash.

Knowing the weapon's reach, I began to back step.

Ruby's smile redoubled.

She shifted her hand and there was a grinding of lubed metal. In the corner of my eye I saw the light around Crescent Rose's blade change.

At the last possible second, my backstep turned into a squat, letting me fall beneath the blade.

I watched Crescent Rose's blade pass over my head. It had straightened out, leaving the full length of the blade exposed, more a glaive or spear than scythe… No, a war-

The blade passed over my head, arc deepening to the ground, the tip sparking off the hard ground. The blade folded back onto itself as Ruby twisted it in her grip, pivoting at the hip. Almost as quick, she swung backhanded, blade turned my way again.

Knowing I couldn't throw myself back or to either side, I flung forward instead. Best case I was stepping into close-quarters and had to fight like that, worst I was avoiding the scythe's blade.

I sprang forward from my squat and folded my right arm, bracing my side with Aura for the hit. Felt the haft-receiver of Ruby's scythe sting through the leather of my armor. Better that than the blade.

Ruby's smile faded into a surprised grimace, and she tried to backpedal at the last moment. But I was already too close.

Point blank, I shot Ruby in the sternum.

Won't lie. For half a second, I swore I'd killed her. Knew aura would protect her, but my mind wandered the moment I pulled the trigger. Caused me to freeze.

It gave Ruby long enough to fall back half a step, free hand clasping at the spot I shot her. She grimaced, and I heard the breath hiss through her teeth.

Then, for half a second, she blurred into petals and pulled back. Only traveling maybe ten feet. Then she was back, skittering to a knee with Crescent Rose's muzzle pointed at me.

I unfroze right before she pulled the trigger. VATS opened for a heartbeat, long enough for me to see where best she was pointing.

Then it closed.

She fired.

I spun hard to the left, so my side was facing her as I weaved just barely out of the way. The air pressure from the bullet battered my armor as it flew past my stomach. Without missing a beat, as Ruby raced to grab the bolt of Crescent Rose, I spun hard to the right. The cylinder was empty, and I wasn't going to race Ruby for the next shot.

That Gun left my hand, flying towards Ruby with all the power my now aura enhanced arm could muster.

Hearing me, she looked up. Half a second before five pounds of gun-shaped steel slammed into her face.

She yelped in surprise, hand leaving the receiver of her weapon and flying to her face. It clattered heavily to the ground as she pawed at her nose. "Did you just throw-" Ruby squeaked.

Without waiting for her to finish, I peeled my shotgun off my back and cocked the hammer with the heel of my hand. Right as Ruby's hand came away from her face, I took aim.

Then I froze, again.

I didn't know how much more of a beating Ruby could take. I'd already hit her, multiple times. Would it be able to take one more?

Ruby's hand fell, and her line of sight cleared.

I emptied the shell at her feet. Let the spatter and stone chips keep her off kilter. She shut her eyes again and jerked back, spinning Crescent Rose in a practiced motion that re-opened the blade.

While she did, I charged at her. I'd gotten almost everything I'd needed out of these short exchanges. There was just one thing I needed to know.

Grimace hardening on her features, Ruby spun her scythe with a flourish, trying to clear her eyes. I stopped short of the blade as it passed me, then pushed in while she readied another swing. Her silver eyes opened, and she saw me. She took a half step back and spun the spear-tipped end of the haft at me. I brought up my shotgun and channeled my aura into it, strengthened it enough to take the hit. The tip caught and I blew it off course. Letting my receiver skate off hers as I pushed in again. Rather than back pedal, she tried to force a contest of strength. See if she couldn't use her bigger gun to keep me back.

I closed the distance for a second time, and only when I was in grappling distance did I willingly move my shotgun. Letting it slip into my left hand as my right grabbed Ruby's cape.

Ruby's eyes widened in panic as her cloak began to turn to petals-

I slammed my head into her nose, drawing a noise I'd have expected more from Nora than her. She immediately lost her grip on her weapon, and I pushed her back.

After a moment, Ruby recovered and looked towards me, and her weapon.

My head shook, and my shotgun stayed at a low, ready.

"Well, I think this just about sums it up." I said.

I could see Ruby's eyes darting. Her weapon. Me. My Weapon. Back to hers. Calculate, calculate.

With a small flourish, I made it easier for her and put my shotgun back over my shoulder.

The confusion was clear in her eyes, so I cleared it up.

"C'mon then." I said, motioning with my fingers. "Come an' get it."

Ruby scowled at me and, without hesitating, charged in. A vicious war-cry like a battalion of yowling puppies escaped her lips as she cocked her arm back.

My arm shot out at head level and went rigid. She ran into it and stopped short, stiff armed. Her punch whiffed me by about half a foot. When the first didn't land, she quickly followed it with another, which just turned into a flailing windmill.

Were it not that we'd been fighting quite seriously until a second prior, I might have found it funny.

I found it greatly upsetting.

My arm relaxed and Ruby pitched forward. As she went to catch herself, my hand cupped the back of her head and pushed her down.

Right as I brought my knee up to meet it.

With the added strength, she shot up, pitched back, and landed flat on the floor. Could swear I almost hear someone shout 'K.O.!'. Or maybe it was a pained hiss from our teammates, watching the display.

Either way, I knew it hurt.

I shook my head. "Gotta admit, Ruby, You had my hopes up." I told her. "But this… this was a bit disappointing."

From the floor, Ruby glanced at me. Her silver eyes muddled with mostly what I would describe as indignation and frustration. But I could see hurt mingled with them too. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, wincing as she did, reaching towards her nose. "You didn't even give me a chance."

"You shouldn't expect me to." I told her. "Were this real in any way, you wouldn't expect it either."

She fixed me with another look as she rubbed her nose, a grimace of, possibly, acceptance. That was the point of sparring after all, try to imitate a real fight in a more constructive environment. Don't think she'd really expected me to go easy on her, she just wasn't ready.

Which, again, was the point.

I knelt slightly and held a hand out to her. After a moment, she took it, and I hauled her to her feet.

"So what exactly did any of that just prove?" Coco called from the sidelines. "Kinda just seems like you attacked her for no reason, kid."

"There was a point." I answered, not turning around. "I'm only going to know how any of you react to a real fight by putting you in one. Get to see your skills and training put to the test in a way I know how to quantify."

"And I did bad?" Ruby asked, clearly bothered by her performance.

"Bad? No." I told her. "On a technical level you handled yourself admirably. You clearly know your weapon and skill set, and are working to improve them regularly. On that front, you're good."

"O-oh." Ruby said, her expression brightening, but still confused. "Then, why did I do bad?"

"Because when it came to the finer and more intrinsic parts of a fight, you kept making mistakes." I told her. "Things that, in a real fight, making them could mean the difference between life and death. For you, or others."

Ruby's head tilted slightly, but she was clearly listening.

"Firstly, and this one should be obvious, you're impulsive." I said.

"Impulsive?" Ruby asked.

"You have been since the first time I've seen you fight." I told her. "You take your first instinct and run with it, without stopping to consider things. Sometimes, that's not a bad thing, quick thinking can save lives. But only if your instincts are keyed in the right direction."

Ruby blinked, as I reached down and picked up her weapon. I held it out to her, allowing her to take it back.

"It's not the only time it happened, but early on in this fight, when I hit the ground, had you chosen to enter melee you could've had me. However, instead of using your aura to tank the hit, or your Semblance to dodge it, you chose to retreat instead, providing me with a chance to recover. I can tell you didn't do it intentionally either, because the moment you realized your mistake, you turned back and tried to hit me."

Ruby gave me a pained look, but nodded. Whether she denied it or not didn't matter, since I was just listing off what I'd observed.

"Secondly, and almost as important, you're reckless." I said. "This goes together with your impulsiveness, but you don't think about what's going to happen before you do something. Again, you chose to retreat, I stood up, and when you came back I was ready for you. Being impulsive can have its merits, but being reckless can be more a hazard than a benefit. Not every situation requires you to think about the consequences of what you're doing, but you need to be aware of them all the same."

"I-I'm not reckless." Ruby tried to defend.

"You charged at a Deathstalker during initiation, alone , and refused to retreat when it would've been smarter to do so." I reminded her. "That's textbook."

"But you did too ." She countered.

"To pull you out." I answered. "The moment I got there, the only thing I tried to do was get you to safety before you got yourself killed." I paused for a moment then acquiesced. "Recklessness in small doses isn't much different than courage. But too much of it is a bad thing, especially if applied wrong."

Ruby scowled, but didn't answer.

"Lastly, and this is a big one because it's probably the one thing that has me the most disappointed in you." I told her, motioning to the weapon in her hands. "You are utterly helpless when you're unarmed."

That one stung Ruby, she winced. Not even bothering to resist it.

"The moment you were disarmed, you chose to charge at me headlong, screaming like a banshee." I told her, before motioning to myself. "I've got over a foot on you in size, and probably close to fifty pounds on you in muscle. In what world did that seem like a good idea?"

"… The one in my head." Ruby admitted.

Which earned a chuckle from me, and a blush from her.

"That last exchange was a perfect example of all three problems." I told her. "Rather than pull back and try to find a better answer, you charged me, showing impulsiveness. You did so despite knowing I could go blow-for-blow with Yang, and knowing you're undertrained, so reckless. The lack of preparedness for what to do when unarmed speaks for itself. I can't fault you for not knowing how to box, you've got terrible reach… but Ruby, I've got no way to sugarcoat how bad that display was."

Ruby pouted angrily, like a puppy that'd had its chew toy taken away. "… So?" She asked. "What's any of it supposed to mean?"

"It means what you make of it going forward." I told her, turning back towards everyone and approaching them, Ruby fell in step with me. "I'm showing you where some of your faults are, what you do with them is up to you. Try to get rid of them, work with them, or work around them; it's up to you what happens next."

Ruby nodded, her pout turning inward and thoughtful. I knew enough about her to tell she was at least considering my words. They weren't meant to be critical, merely guiding. I couldn't tell her what the answer was, only show her what she should put some focus on.

I gave her a pat on the shoulder, as we approached our teammates and CFVY. "Cheer up. Next time we train, I'll show you some grappling techniques."

"Grappling?" Ruby asked. "You mean like wrestling?"

"Kinda like wrestling, but less broad." I told her. "Grappling's focused more on joint locks and grabbing. Better suited for people who don't have the reach or power for more strike-based forms of unarmed combat. Smaller folk tend to be better at it, like you, Tiny."

Ruby's elbow suddenly lashed out and caught me in the side, bouncing off harmlessly. Which made me chuckle as she just kept blushing. After a moment though, she sighed and nodded "… Thanks."

"What're friends for?" I told her, which got a little smile out of her.

As we walked back to everyone, I took a moment to pick-up my pistol and reload it. We reached everyone else shortly after. Our teammates watched Ruby as she approached, Blake and Weiss giving her a thoughtful look. Yang just pulled her in and gave her a noogie, which Ruby didn't really appreciate.

"So what's this supposed to be?" Yatsu asked. "You're going to pull them out on the floor one at a time and hit them to figure out what they're doing wrong?"

"Uh, yeah." I told him. "That's the point of sparring, considering how we've handled the past few weeks it should be obvious."

"You could've let us help with that." Coco said, looking at me over her shades. "Instead of just having us sit on the sidelines."

"Didn't say you had to." I told her, twisting at the hip in a quick stretch. "Besides the fact, I need to know what my teammates' shortcomings are if I'm going to be fighting with them. Plus, advice from an outsider can come across as condescending and bossy, even if we're better acquainted by now."

I saw Fox's lip twitch slightly, like he wanted to chuckle. It matched the small one Coco had in her eye nicely.

"So are we just going to ignore that you threw your gun at Ruby's face?" Velvet asked.

"Blake throws hers all the time, don't see how it's any different." Ruby answered.

"It's also on a ribbon." Blake cut in.

"Huh, wasn't aware." I said, pausing to muddle through my memories. "Don't recall seeing you fight… ever really. You were never big on participating with Goodwitch's class."

"Like you're any different." She retorted.

"Point." I shrugged. "But I threw my pistol because I knew I wasn't going to reload before Ruby got another shot off. Not like it was going to do me any good then anyway."

"Sounds like a skill issue." Coco smirked.

I shook my head. "You knock it, but doing that has actually saved my life more than once."

"…Seriously?" Coco asked.

"It's a five pound chunk of steel hitting you in the face at a soft-balled 45 miles an hour, without Aura." I told her. "How about we give it a try and see if you can so easily ignore it."

Coco rolled her eyes.

"Careful doing that, they'll roll out your head if you do that too often." I told her.

"Whatever." Coco answered, sliding her sunglasses back up, a stony look on her face. "So, you got your fight in. We going back to training?"

"Not exactly." I told her, looking towards Blake. "We're not done yet."

Blake returned the look, golden eyes searching over me for a moment, before meeting my gaze. "…What, you want me to fight next?"

"Yes." I answered.

"You're not going to just attack me like you did Ruby?" She smirked.

"No. You'd see it coming." I told her. "Rule four, don't do the thing your enemy expects."

"Thought there were no rules in a fight." She countered, quirking a brow.

"There aren't, only in how you choose to engage the enemy." I told her. "Once you're in it, anything goes."

Blake nodded, yellow eyes locked sharply onto me. I knew the look. She was already looking at me like I was an opponent. Not unwisely either. I'd already proven I was willing to sucker-punch Ruby. If Blake let her guard down, she couldn't be sure I wouldn't do the same to her.

"So why exactly are we doing this?" Weiss asked. "Do you really just want to understand how we fight? You could've just asked."

"I'm a visual learner as much as a book one." I told her, eyes still locked on Blake. "Plus, as you saw with Ruby, I'm not just looking for what you can do, but what you can't. Some people are good about managing their weak points. Others need them pointed out."

"I think we all know what we're capable of quite well, thank you." Weiss snipped, turning her nose up at me.

"Says the weakest link." I bit back.

CFVY immediately looked at me like I'd told her to screw herself.

Weiss, however, stamped her foot and scowled at me. Though it honestly looked kind of cute to see her angry, in a bratty sort of way. "Stop calling me the weakest link!"

"You'll have your chance to make me." I told her, still looking at Blake. I motioned my head towards her and started back out onto the floor, not turning my back to her.

Smoothly, Blake followed after, making sure her weapon was ready. Likewise, I made sure both my pistol and shotgun were properly loaded. Soon as we were at a respectable distance to everyone, I turned to face her, half expecting her to do to me as I'd done to Ruby. When she hadn't I laid things out for her.

"Same as the bout between me and Rubes." I told her. "I'm going to come at you like this real, and I want you to do what comes natural to you. This is as much for your own benefit as mine."

"What're you hoping to find?" Blake asked blandly. "That I need to work on my aim, or sharpen my sword more?"

"Some of that." I answered, quirking my chin to her. "But, just as much, any flaws or gaps in how you fight. I respect that you girls all figured out your own way to fight with your weapons, just like everyone else. But you're not going to know what your problems are until you've run into them."

"You seem to think you're going to be one." Blake said, subtly moving into a stance. Not subtly enough.

"You seem to think I'm not one." I countered, reaching over my shoulder and grabbing the handle of my shotgun. "So that's one-"

There was a blur in the corner of my eye, and a whistle of wind.

My shotgun flipped over my shoulder as I stepped forward. The receiver moved across my chest, as I pulled it into a guard, turning to face the sudden attack.

Weiss lunged towards me like a bullet, her toothpick connecting with my shotgun and skating off the hardened receiver. I twisted with the motion of the blade, guiding it and letting both it and her pass me. She continued to fly through the air for several yards, before landing, turning on heel to face me.

By then, I'd already gotten both her and Blake in my line of sight, and had my shotgun trained on her.

"Not cool, snowflake." I told her, tone even and suddenly very focused. "You oughta wait your turn."

"What was that about treating this like a real fight?" Weiss asked coolly, chin raised and eyes narrowed with a sense of regal authority. "There's no such thing as turns in a real fight, are there?"

I didn't answer, just calmly let my gaze pass between her and Blake. Gauging their stances, the way Blake seemed to favor the side nearer Weiss. Whether she'd been counting on the help or not, she wasn't going to turn it down. They'd both seen how I'd gone about things with Ruby. Maybe they felt there was more to gain by working together than just letting me go one to one on it.

Truthfully, I wasn't going to disagree with them. It was a risk, but sometimes they're worth taking.

I nodded. "Alright then, I can work with this." I told them. "Saves us some time, if I use the both of you to mop the floor, we cut down on clean-up time afterwards."

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Blake's gaze hardened. "You don't really think this is a good idea, do you?"

"'Course not." I answered. "You both want a real fight, and I need to stress test you. It's gonna suck." I felt a smirk curl my lips. "Promise not to rough you up too bad."

"Just try." Weiss challenged.

'If you insist.'

Without responding to her words, my shotgun snapped in her direction. I paused half a second before pulling the trigger, as Weiss bolted out of the way, glyphs appearing beneath her feet. Could've made the shot, leading it means far less movement on my part than hers. But I wouldn't learn anything from dropping her out the gate.

Turned out to be the smarter choice, because Blake saw an opening and instantly tried to take it. While Weiss circled me, Blake sprang towards me. She drew a bead on me with her pistol and fired, barely had time to react. If I'd been paying attention to Weiss, I wouldn't have had it.

I threw myself back as Blake fired, bullets whizzing past me as I pointed the muzzle of my shotgun. Despite knowing the shot was liable to miss, I fired anyway for suppression. Was closer to the money that I'd thought at least, because Blake immediately dodged out of the way, using her Semblance to leave another copy of herself behind, one that had a stray piece of shot rip through her head. Could've been real gruesome if it didn't immediately fade into thin air afterward.

My hand worked the lever of my shotgun, the shell ejecting as Blake began to circle me, moving in the opposite direction Weiss had. Almost as soon as I began to track her, I heard the faint whine begin to course towards me, coming from the opposite direction.

I spun to face it, once again catching Weiss as she thrust her blade at me, having it skate off my shotgun. Instead of running this time though, she stayed her ground and tried to press in, her thin silvery blade skating and rebounding off the darkened metal of my gun, what little cutting edge it had scraping against the wooden fore grip of the weapon. Enough to feel, not enough to bite in.

Weiss's arm retracted, her feet flitting back, before she thrust forward again, toothpick at a new angle. My shotgun rose to meet it again, barrel parrying it aside as I shifted my grip. Wasn't a weapon made for one-hand, but with aura it felt like one. At least for this purpose. Pistol grip felt right for it, like a war club with a knuckle-bow. Even if the rest wasn't balanced to work as a club. Her blade skated across my shotgun, led aside as I swung the barrel around. Opened her for a counterattack, so I smacked her in the face with the barrel.

Disadvantage to a weapon purpose built for a single angle of attack: it sucked at everything else. Even as she stepped back and tried to recover, she tried to catch me with her toothpick's 'edge'. The angle of it was wrong though. Too steep, it couldn't actually cut me though.

Not missing the opening, I put the pressure on her and pushed in. Smart thing might've been to use the space she gave to dump a shell into her. But I'd already picked up a thing or two just from the opening exchange, how we went from there would only reinforce or tweak it.

Weiss's eyes tracked to my shotgun as I swung at her again, and she raised her weapon to meet it. She attempted to parry it, but the weight of my swing made it easier to guard than counter. I let my wrist relax and let Weiss slip out of the guard. Forced to follow the barrel before she could re-angle her blade for another strike. The moment she did though, the muzzle of my shotgun dipped back towards her. Her eyes widened briefly at the mistake.

Right before I could pull the trigger though, Blake intervened. Her weapon, still in its pistol configuration, flew at my right arm, before sharply curving downward. The long black ribbon affixed to its end before going taut, causing it to snare itself around my arm. My finger left the trigger half a second before it was violently jerked aside. A quick glance showed Blake attempting to restrain me, pulling hard against the floor.

Weiss didn't waste the opening, immediately seizing the clearer opening to try and run me through.

Recognizing a losing position, I acquiesced to Blake. I let her guide my arm in a straight line to her, while slipping out of Weiss's way. The sudden shift caused Blake to lose her balance as Weiss's toothpick narrowly missed the side of my chest.

My head snapped briefly to Blake, helping to guide my aim with her bow. VATS flashed open, closed, and I fired.

Even mid-fall, Blake was already in motion. Right before the buckshot would've got her, another copy appeared over herself, the lower one helping to launch her out of the way. The shot tore into the clone, and it vanished.

The ribbon around my arm went slack, and her weapon slowly dropped to the floor. As Weiss began to pull back, I twisted and kicked Blake's weapon. The momentum caused it to spin back around my arm, unwinding and coming loose from my arm. Even as she pulled back, Blake's weapon caught her under the chin.

Right before the cat Faunus could regain control of the weapon, it went slack enough that I could slip my arm from it. As it yanked away, I pulled my shotgun in and cycled the action again.

Despite knowing that Blake would take any opening I gave her, I put my attention firmly back on Weiss. The moment she recovered, she would take the opening to keep testing her swordplay against my gunplay. Couldn't have that, melee beat guns in close-quarters too often for my liking. Only thing I could do was beat her to the punch.

While she was recovering, I closed the distance between us, swinging the butt of my shotgun up. This time I caught her on the cheek, torquing her head to the side. She back pedaled, and I continued to push. Gripping the muzzle and butt of the shotgun, I slammed the receiver forward against her chest. Keeping her off balance as she tried to recover. Feet almost skipping across the floor as the extra force threatened to bowl her over.

She grimaced and grit her teeth, trying to pull into a stance, get some proper footing.

I pointed the muzzle of my shotgun at her and pulled the trigger.

A squeak of a scream escaped her as the pellets slammed into her, sending her tumbling to the floor. She skittered a few feet before stopping, toothpick flying out of her hand.

I breathed, cycled the action, and spun to face Blake.

Only to find her waiting for me. Her weapon back in her hand, blade extended over the pistol, and its edged sheathe in her off-hand, held in a reversed grip.

My shotgun pushed towards her, underside of the receiver facing out as she slashed her blade at me. It scraped and skated across the metal, immediately followed by the sheathe, hitting more like a cleaver. The heft of the sheathe carrying more force, I felt the shotgun shake in my hand. If it weren't for my aura, that would've left a mark, one I'd hate to fix later.

I twisted the muzzle towards her and pulled the trigger. As before, she blurred to the side, a clone eating the blast as she slashed her blade at me a second time. I twisted at the hip and dipped, narrowly missing the blade as it passed, taking a back step.

She seemed to be able to pull out those copies, clones, whatever they were whenever she wanted. They just didn't last long.

My hand came back to the receiver as I cycled an action. Half a second before snapping it shut, I realized I'd emptied the tube.

Without giving me a moment to reload, Blake took another slash at me with her cleaver. Empty, I snapped the receiver shut and brought my shotgun to guard again. Another trembling blow, and my hand lifted the stock as I swung it by the barrel with my offhand. The handle flying to connect with the corner of her eye. As expected, she dodged and left another clone behind.

Unexpected: The clone remained standing.

The moment the grip of my shotgun passed into it, its form changed. With an icy hiss and a puff of fog, a statue of ice appeared in its place. Meticulously mirroring its previous image.

Except for where my shotgun connected. It formed around the grip seamlessly, trapping it in place.

"What the-" I muttered, genuinely confused.

Then my eyes flashed up to Blake, still retreating. She slashed her sword in my direction, but too far out of reach. A thread of pale purple like arcing from the tip.

It carried towards me, growing larger and faster as it closed the distance.

"Fuck!" I grunted, Releasing my shotgun and throwing myself back.

Too late.

The arcing beam of light hit me, throwing me back several feet. My aura glowed bright, but held, and I tumbled across the ground. It felt like I'd been hit with an I-beam moving at missile speeds. I had no idea what it was, but I was going to need to find out.

I began to scramble to my knee when, suddenly, one of Weiss's black glyphs appeared beneath my feet. The moment I tried to rise, I couldn't. I felt rooted in place, even trying to straighten out or lift my arms was a struggle.

Off to the side, I saw Weiss low to the ground, her toothpick pointed at me. She then gracefully stood, holding her weapon in front of her, parallel to her body, her off hand working the weapon's cylinder. The glyph beneath me vanished, almost in time with the one that appeared beneath her. It glowed with a golden-white light, as she pointed her sword towards me.

I sprang to my feet, pulling Blood Nap into my left hand, drawing That Gun with my right, VATS flashing open as I prepared to fire.

Weiss launched towards me at blinding speed. Even with VATS open, she moved like time hadn't slowed to a crawl.

She was too fast.

VATS closed, and I had all of a half heartbeat to react. Traded getting a shot off for a half-stumble out of the way. Weiss whistled past me like a bullet, the air practically turning me after her all on its own. I saw her go another ten feet, jerk to a halt, then about face and launch back again, angle changed.

I couldn't dodge again, so I flipped Blood Nap in my hand and pulled into a guard. A half breath later, Weiss's toothpick sparked against its blade as she blew past me again, this time checking my shoulder as she went. By the time I turned to face her, she was already coming back. I stuttered VATS open for the little good it did to buy me breathing room. Even pushing my aura, it was close, too close.

And she kept it up. Every heartbeat, she came in and struck, half a dozen times. Each one getting closer than the last, my knife hand trembling each time she did. I felt the tickle of adrenaline along my nerves and dancing in my stomach.

It would've only taken one hit to run me through.

Then she launched herself into the air, before planting herself against another of those black glyphs. I recognized it, the same as she'd used it against Yatsu.

Seeing an opening, I locked That Gun to my hip, arm craned up-

Blake rushed in from the front, sword and sheath closing in like a pair of shears at my neck.

Blood Nap slipped in, catching both blades with its own. They skated towards me in a blink.

That Gun snapped down to Blake, firing point blank.

She couldn't dodge this time. A pair of shots nailing her in the chest.

Then Weiss crashed down on the both of us.

Blake, her senses more keen than mine, dipped out of the way. But Weiss crashed into me like a wrecking ball.

She sent me flying back, weapons skittering out of my hands, aura instantly broken. The world spinning and swimming as I dragged myself to a stop. The impact nailed me square in the chest, making my ribs ache even through the padding of my armor, knocking the wind out of me. One of those rare times where it took me a moment to even start picking myself up.

From the sidelines I heard Ruby and Yang cheering. Not in my favor either.

"That's what we're talking about!" Yang shouted "Kick his butt Blake!"

"Go Monochrome!" Ruby chirped.

Then, rather unexpectedly:

"Don't let them get in your head kid!" Coco shouted. "You got this!"

From my spot on the ground, I looked towards the Peanut Gallery. Ruby, Yang, and CFVY were all looking on in interest. I could note CFVY were watching me with particular intensity.

I grit my fist, and started forcing myself to rise. First to my knees, then to my feet. Once upright, I took a deep breath and looked across to my opponents, some yards away.

They were creeping towards me, ready for a fight, standing close to one another. Blake's weapons low, Weiss's high.

"Still think I'm the weakest link?" She challenged.

My eyes flashed past them, then to the ground. My shotgun was still frozen inside a piece of Blake-shaped ice, way behind the two of them. My pistol was several yards in front of me, closer to them still than me.

But Blood Nap was at my feet. A part of me wanted to pick it up then and there.

I didn't.

I'd been given a moment to breathe. A mercy I wasn't going to waste.

So I looked at the two of them, as they inched towards me.

A chuckle found its way out my throat. It led to me clapping my hands, slowly. Weiss and Blake looked at me in confusion.

"I'll admit, I was wrong." I said, shaking my head. "You're not the weakest link. Frankly, having now fought everyone on our team, I can't help but feel I'm probably the one most fit for that moniker."

The confusion on both their faces turned to surprise.

"Each of you is incredibly capable." I continued, eyes flitting down to Blood Nap, That Gun, formulating. "While I might have been poking a bit hard there, what I said was meant in good fun, and because I do want to help. I wanted to know what each of you was capable of, because I want to know what I can do to help."

I slowly began to ease back into a stance myself, Weiss and Blake tracking me.

"But it's clear that I'm still learning too." I said. "You're both powerful on your own, and even more so working together. Shouldn't have underestimated you."

"Are you going to give up?" Blake challenged. "Did you get everything want?"

I felt my lips curl up in a smirk I would almost call thrilled.

"Fat chance."

My foot lashed forward, kicking Blood Nap up into the air. I caught it, flipping it over my knuckles. With a focusing breath, my aura washed back over me, glowing green.

"I've got two fists, a knife, and an ornery will to fight that scares the piss out of most people." I told them, willing my aura into my arms, legs, everywhere, bolstering my strength. "Let's dance ."

Blake and Weiss's eyes flashed to each other, then back to me, set in grim determination.

They nodded, mutually.

Then they launched at me in tandem.

I charged to meet them. They passed my pistol far quicker than I'd have been able to get to it. Knew they would. Even with the boost from aura, there was no beating them in distance. If I was going to get it back, I would need to fight for it.

We collided a couple yards after that. Weiss struck high while Blake swung low.

I dipped below Weiss's thrust, and kicked out at Blake's arm as she began her swing, stopping it dead in its tracks. I then lurched back up, catching Weiss with an uppercut, while pressing down onto Blake's arm with my boot. My uppercut landed, but Blake pulled back, replacing herself with another clone. As Weiss staggered back, Blake snapped her weapon back, folding it into a hook again, and hurled it at me. Ready for it this time, I sidestepped the weapon, opened VATS, and caught it mid-flight. Blood Nap lashed up to the ribbon holding it, and it snapped easily. Leaving the pistol sitting in my off-hand as the cloth trailed back to Blake.

It settled in naturally, as I pointed the muzzle at her. Like holding a 9mm.

Blake's eyes widened as I began mag-dumping in her general vicinity. Another clone blurred out of her, and she darted away. My arm tracked after her, bullets flying.

One pegged her in the shoulder, no clone that time.

Important information.

Weiss took control of her faculties again and lunged, blade coming high.

I turned Blake's pistol on her next and fired.

She side-stepped, diverting her stride with a glyph that let her slide across the floor. It vanished, and she spun her hand across the cylinder of her weapon. A pair of glyphs appeared over her shoulders, blinking in succession. From each launched a projectile. One, a giant icicle, the base as thick around as my thigh.

The other was a fireball the size of my head.

I tried not to let their appearance faze me. Admiration and awe later, fighting first.

Neither moved slow, but they weren't bullet speeds. I slipped past the icicle, and felt the fireball pass so close it fried the hairs on my neck. Without losing the momentum, I met Weiss in her lunge, spinning Blake's pistol by the trigger guard.

I let it fly, two steps before we'd have engaged.

Weiss saw it coming, and stepped out of the way as the weapon flew past her.

I took the opening, letting Blood Nap skim over her blade, coming in at eye height.

She blinked in surprise, and threw herself out of the way, right before the edge would've bit her. Let me get past her.

Which was what I'd wanted.

I bolted past her, knowing she'd need a second to piece out what I was doing. Another to react to it.

By the time she did I was already diving for That Gun.

As I landed on top of it, I heard her blade whip through the air. Heard the whining-chime that I was starting to associate with her glyphs.

My hand snapped down onto my pistol and I flipped over, opening VATS.

Another glyph was appearing at the tip of Weiss's sword, pointed at me.

Could've gone for a headshot. Probably could've landed it.

I shot her weapon instead. The bullet hit the cylinder of the weapon. Spatter spraying white-hot over her hand. She yelped, and twitched her aim off. I saw the cylinder move. Lock-up issue, she'd need to address that.

Then a funnel of wind shot out of the glyph. Like a tornado pointed at the horizon. Blowing away everything in front of it.

Even as it missed me, the wind still kicked me and any surrounding dirt up. I pushed off the ground and let it carry me. Used the lift to gracefully pull myself into a series of flips and spins that ended with me several feet away and standing upright.

Frankly I was surprised I'd pulled it off. Acrobatic Marvel or not, that wasn't the sort of thing I normally did. Even Weiss seemed surprised by it. Good reaction speed on my part, I guess.

Then I saw Blake behind her, making a break for her pistol.

I aimed, tracked ahead of her and fired.

She spawned a clone where I thought she would, blurring ahead.

Immediately taking a bullet to the side of her head.

She tumbled to the ground, clasping at the spot where she'd been hit. No flash of aura, so she was fine, probably just gotten taken by surprise.

'Someone get me a lotto ticket, something's up with my Luck right now.'

Blake stayed where she was on the ground, catching her breath. I let her. Come back to bite me or not, if she was out then I wasn't going to strike her. So I let my focus go to Weiss instead.

Weiss watched me with a hawkish gaze. Eyes tracking me as I began to walk calmly to one side of the arena. Likewise I didn't take my eyes off her, but kept my ears open for her Semblance. It made a very distinctive noise.

She held herself in a ready stance. At any moment, I expected her to launch in my direction, or for another of those black glyphs to open under my feet. But they didn't. Instead, she was just eyeing. Taking a chance for both of us to catch our breath.

Her Semblance must have been tiring to use. To do the things she did, it had to be. Just like Blake, she had limits. She could only have so many glyphs going at once. She could only make so many of them.

There was a good chance she didn't have much fuel left in the tank. Not with how hard and fast she and Blake had been coming at me. Enough to be dangerous, always. But only if she was smart.

I still had a round left in the chamber. If she'd been paying attention to that, she knew I'd have a free pot-shot left on her. Then she'd have a window left while I was reloading.

If she was going to end things, either Blake would need to step back in. Or she would need to play fast and smart. With Blake down, she seemed to know the score. The more time she had to catch her breath, the more likely she was to build up enough strength to keep using her Semblance.

Which I couldn't have.

I opened VATS again and aimed. It closed, and I fired my last shot at her weapon.

The bullet missed, but hit her hand instead. Earning another yelp from her. " Again !?"

A window of my own opened, and I turned, bolting for the slowly melting statue of Blake. It bought me all of three seconds, after that the glyphs began appearing, slowly, each launching giant spikes of ice and great balls of fire after me. Getting more accurate with each one. As I came upon the statue, I practically had to dive into it to avoid them. Which I did, knocking the statue over and shattering it. Leaving giant chunks of ice to trip over.

And a solid block of it, frozen over the receiver. Keeping it shut. I was half tempted to bash it quickly against the ground, try to force it open.

Then a black glyph briefly opened underneath me. Followed by another chiming far behind me.

I could hear Weiss howling with it.

Without even bothering to look, I sprung up, turning and swinging my shotgun by the barrel.

The receiver connected with the underside of Weiss's ribs. The ice shattered on impact.

She then slammed bodily into me for a second time, sending us both sprawling to the floor, but I kept my grip on my weapon.

Weiss didn't. It skittered a short distance away from her, as she lost all sense of grace.

With a groan, and flickering aura, I snapped the action open and loaded a pair of shells. One in the chamber and another on the carrier. My hand slapped it shut, and I began to get up.

Then another black glyph opened underneath me, and I was pinned back to the ground.

I heard Weiss huff, then saw her pick herself up on my periphery. She grimaced, casually retrieved her sword, then came back over to me and fixed me with a glare.

She looked completely mussed. Her outfit was smeared with dirt and sweat, her jacket was a bit torn-up, and the little accessory that kept her hair up had fallen out. Leaving her white hair cascading down her back in a tangle.

I idly noted her hair looked better like that.

"Finished?" she asked.

In response, the muzzle of my shotgun began slowly tracking to her.

She rested the tip of her sword on my vest. Right between the ribs, lucky guess.

"I think I've won." She said, sounding increasingly tired. "Yield."

"Think you missed the bit about me being ornery ." I grit out, watching as her features continued to strain.

"I don't want to hurt you." She told me, voice starting to get thin.

"First mistake." I told her. "You know that's not how this works."

"…"

Weiss exhaled sharply and the glyph vanished. The weight behind her sword became more pronounced as she suddenly needed the support.

My shotgun snapped up to her, poking into her breast bone.

"Give up?" I asked.

"Never." She huffed tiredly, giving me a deadened glare.

We stayed like that for a second or two. Long enough that Blake was finally starting to recover. Not enough to spring back into the fight, but enough for us both to come to a silent agreement.

"A draw then." I told her, not moving my weapon. "We can pick this up again later, try going one on one then."

"…" Weiss exhaled, pulling her weapon back. "Agreed."

As she did, I pulled back my shotgun and slowly eased the hammer down. I set the shotgun on the floor and sat up, twisting my back. Don't know what magical nonsense let her do that, but it'd do a number on my joints if she kept it up.

I went to get up, and found Weiss holding a hand out to help me. Perhaps seeing my stiffness.

My hand clasped to hers, and I began to get up.

Weiss then immediately lost her balance and we both fell back on to the floor. She gave another yelp as she did, before landing on top of me.

"… Really?" I asked.

She blushed incandescently. "You're a lot heavier than you look!" she squeaked indignantly.

"Oh so I'm fat now." I said. "Gee, thanks."

"You two lovebirds having fun?" Yatsu called from the sidelines.

"…"

Weiss immediately shot up off of me and stalked over to Blake. Leaving me flattened out on the floor.

' Whatever, the ground is comfier anyway. '

After laying on the ground for a few moments, I rolled back and sprang onto my feet. Admittedly, that fight wasn't my best performance. Was really starting to question my recent showings of force. Did I really have this much trouble back in the Mojave? I had to fight smart, sure, but this didn't feel right. Maybe it was just all the changes in how our worlds fought. No magic rocks and soul magic back home, just science rocks and body armor.

It was going to bug me, I already knew it.

Blake and Weiss came up to me after fully recovering, though Blake was still rubbing the side of her head. Would probably have a nice sized egg after a day or two.

I gave them both a pat on the back and corralled them back together with the Peanuts.

"So, was it worth it?" Blake asked dryly.

"Honestly, no, I'm less than pleased with my performance." I told them, then shrugged. "But I saw enough out of both of you to get what I needed."

"And what would that be, kid?" Coco asked, drumming her fingers on her arm. "Seemed like they handled themselves pretty good."

"Pretty good, not great." I said. "There's always room to improve." My gaze fell to Blake. "Since you want to know so badly, we'll start with you."

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Speaking plainly, you're serviceable." I told her. "Fast, cunning, good reflexes, and plenty of tricks. All good points that work well in your favor. There's just one problem: You're a fuckin' coward."

Blake looked like I'd slapped her.

"You don't stand your ground, you only look for opportunities to strike when they show themselves, and you only consider fighting straight when you think you're got some edge on your opponent. Be that they aren't physically capable, or you know you've got an ally nearby." I explained. "Now, there's nothing wrong with that in the slightest. Fights aren't fair, and you shouldn't fight fair if you can avoid it. That's a lesson I hope everyone of you figures out, or already has, before you wind up in a bind."

"Then how is it a problem now?" Velvet asked. "That sounds kind of… hypocritical."

"I know it does, but there's a point." I continued. "If at any point, Blake had chosen to stand by Weiss's side and stay there, rather than running off because I fought back, the two would've had me. Instead, the moment I put up even a little resistance, she'd bolt off to wherever I wasn't looking. What's more is that she, rather you , Blake, showed you have the prowess to do it. If you'd been willing to risk the danger, you and Weiss would've been far better off."

"You weren't exactly giving us openings." Blake frowned.

"Nor should you expect any, which brings us to the second issue." I told her. "You only look for the opportunities that present themselves, rather than trying to make any. Part of surviving in combat is knowing when to get aggressive and stay that way. But your constant tendency to run away and only look for the opportunities, again, hurt you more than helped."

Blake grimaced, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"I'm not saying you're a bad fighter, not by any stretch. Clearly you've got what it takes." I told her. "But the problem, is that you've got the complete opposite of Ruby's problem. You're too timid, cautious. You're practically a one woman army, seeing as you can call up those copies of yourself whenever you want. Use it. You could've easily overwhelmed me and lined-up Weiss for the kill."

Blake shook her head. "My Semblance doesn't work like that."

"Then figure out how it can ." I told her. "There's going to come a point where not standing your ground could lead to people getting hurt. You don't want to find out then that you should've gone for the throat rather than breaking right."

Blake grimaced a moment longer, then looked up at me. She nodded, and I could only hope some of what I'd said sunk in. I could see a lot of the similarities to how I'd been fighting recently and the way Blake fought. Nothing was foolproof, but I could see where she was getting it wrong.

But compared to Weiss, her issues were trivial. I looked to her, and made it clear she was next on the chopping block.

"… Well?" She asked. "What did I get wrong?"

"…hmm…" I hummed, trying to find the words.

She quirked an eyebrow at me, waiting.

"Your problem… isn't an easy one to pin down." I told her. "Because, technically … you're flawless."

Weiss's face brightened. "Oh?"

I sighed and began ticking off my fingers. "You're skilled, knowledgeable, fast, your Semblance is multifaceted, your weapon sucks but you make it work anyway-"

" Hey! "

"- You're quick thinking, aren't afraid to get hit, and have a level of resolve I'm genuinely willing to respect." I told her. "While your physical prowess is lacking, you've got enough going in almost every other area to compensate for it."

Weiss, though glaring at me, seemed to be growing more pleased as I rattled off what I thought. In most contexts, I would say that she had every right to be.

But it also made it painfully clear what her problem was.

"In short, you've polished your skills to the point where there's not much more room to go with them." I told her.

"Naturally." Weiss said, smirking. Then she remembered there was a point to this, not me just stoking her ego. "… So what's the problem?"

"It means you've peaked." I told her.

Weiss looked at me in confusion. "Peaked?"

"You've gotten as good as you can at this." I told her. "Using all of the skills that you have up until now, with all of the knowledge you've gained, this is as far as it goes. Your growth has plateaued."

Weiss's face fell, a worried light growing in her eyes. "But… But that can't be right! I'm still training-"

"And what have you learned?" I asked. "In the two weeks you've spent sparring with everyone, have you noticed any changes in yourself? In the way you fight?"

"W-Well…" She said, thinking. I didn't interrupt her, I let her think. I wanted her to determine for herself if I was right or not. It led to me watching as a dreadful, existential fear settled over her. The more she thought about it, the more she probably realized I wasn't overselling it. "I… I haven't, have I?"

"No. I'm sorry." I told her. "Given everything you have now, you've gone as far as you can."

Weiss frowned as I said it. If I didn't know better, I'd say she almost looked like she wanted to cry. But I knew Weiss, at least a little. She wasn't the crying type. Tears are wasted on situations that are in your power to change.

And she knew that.

So she took a deep breath, calming herself. Then she looked at me again.

"I'm not stopping." She said.

"Good." I answered, smirking. "Then listen good, because I know how to fix it."

Weiss nodded, paying close attention. Probably would've taken notes if she had a pen and paper.

"The thing about stagnation is that it's all about choice." I told her. "It means making the same choices over and over again, never changing them, or considering better ones. Things become routine because they're familiar, and few things are more familiar than stagnation. So, how do you break stagnation?"

"By making different choices." Weiss said, following.

"Exactly." I told her. "Lucky you, I can see what choices it is that's got you stuck."

She nodded, hands resting in front of her, one clasped over her wrist.

"The biggest one is in how you fight." I told her. "You rely too much on your weapon."

Her head tilted. "What do you mean?"

"Just that, you're using your weapon and not your mind." I told her. "A tool is a tool no matter its shape. It's not the hand that guides it, but the mind. The moment the mind stops telling it what to do, and just lets the hand do its work, you've lost. You'll make mistakes because the motions become familiar and routine. You'll rely on the weapon because you won't consider this is the time it won't be enough…" I sighed, thinking on the irony of it all. "You'll walk yourself into an early grave because you trusted a tool over your brain."

Weiss nodded, confused but listening intently.

"A tool can only be used well if the mind is present to use it." I shortened. "Your toothpick is a toothpick. It's a finely made toothpick, but a toothpick all the same."

"It's not a toothpick, it's a rapier." Weiss huffed.

"Didn't ask for its criminal record." I told her.

She must've been feeling really low, because that dumb joke actually got a chuckle out of her.

"If the fault isn't with your weapon, then where does it lie?" I asked. "What aren't you using?"

"If you're trying to tell me I don't think enough I'm going to be really offended." Weiss said.

I suppressed another chuckle. But she knew it'd gotten a rise out of me and gave a soft smile. She then pursed her lips thoughtfully, flexing those brain cells of hers. If she could come to the answer on her own, it would work all the better. All I was doing was giving her a push in the right direction.

After another moment of thought, she answered: "If it's not my weapon, and it's not my technique…" The light began to return to her eyes. "Is it my Semblance?"

"I don't know, is it?" I asked.

"It can't be… can it?" she asked. "My Semblance is hereditary. It's been passed through my family for decades, and I've been trained to use it since I was a child."

"Then wouldn't that be the most stagnant thing of all?" I asked. "Something you've had ingrained in you for so long you haven't even thought to question it?"

"…" The light exploded in Weiss's eyes.

"What possibilities have you closed off without thinking?" I asked. "What can you do now that you have training? That you couldn't do then, when you didn't know better?" I placed a hand on her shoulder. "How far do you think you could go, if you put your mind to it?"

"I… I don't know." Weiss answered.

"Then you need to take what I'm about to tell you very seriously, Weiss." I told her. "Because I'm not saying it lightly given what I know present company to be capable of."

I saw my teammates look at me funny. I was probably about to make them a little irate too, but the truth hurts.

"Weiss." I said "You, are easily the most powerful person on this team."

Weiss's jaw fell open.

"Yo, what? " I heard Yang ask.

"No, I'm not lying." I said, giving Yang a brief look. "Weiss, having now fought you, even if it was a two-to-one I got to see what you could do. And if I could do even half of what you can, none of you could ever stand a chance at stopping me." I motioned briefly to our teammates, then to CFVY. "Everyone here can do something that is strong, and capable of amazing things." I then motioned back to her. "But you break physics . Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"It's not that hard." Weiss defended.

"Not to you it isn't!" I said. "What you do is amazing, and it's almost second nature to you!..." I took a moment, and calmed myself. "But I know, if I'd fought you solo, I'd have probably beaten you. Easily."

"Not that easy." Weiss said.

"Maybe. Maybe not." I told her, then sighed, rubbing my mask. "… You've got a lot of potential, Weiss. Your Semblance, what it lets you do, it's far more than just using a sword could ever hope to do."

Weiss's gaze fell. "It has its limits. There are things I can't do because it's not possible."

"Not possible, or just very hard?" I asked.

Weiss didn't answer, but the words were visibly taking up space in her head.

I put my other hand on her shoulder. "I can't give you the same kind of answer I gave Ruby or Blake. Your issue isn't something I can sum up for you like that. You've got power at your fingertips you've been trained your whole life to keep in check, use only as directed. You're a walking artillery unit waiting to happen, and you're afraid of it, whether you recognize that or not. The only thing you can do-"

"Is choose not to be, and figure out what that means." Weiss said, thoughtfully.

"And not be so reliant on your swordsmanship." I told her. "You're alright, but defaulting to it is an issue. Should kick whoever told you that was a good idea."

"That would be some of the best swordsmen in Atlas." Weiss answered.

"Of course it was, prideful bastards." I muttered. "Next they'll try cutting bullets out of the air."

Weiss smirked. Knowing this place, someone had probably already tried.

"Won't be easy, never is." I told her. "Growth is painful. You gotta be willing to get hurt if you wanna grow."

"…ok." Weiss said, voice solemn, perhaps with a slight tremble in it. She looked, and I gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't be too down, you're not the only person on this team with some growing to do. Though I do have a question." I said, looking back to Blake. "What was that thing you did with your swords? That's the first time I've seen something like that."

"Advanced Aura technique." Blake explained. "You extend your aura out through your weapon and it lashes out in a shockwave."

"… It can do that?" I asked, then backpedaled. "Wait, no, of course it can, you hit me with it."

"It's not easy to do either." Velvet added. "Fox is the only one on our team who can do it too, and it's because he's spent so much time working on it."

"…" I looked at Fox. "You can?"

He just smirked, then shrugged.

"It can be used to do all kinds of things with your weapons." Ruby said, motioning to Crescent Rose. "It just takes a lot of practice."

"…Huh. Magic is magic, go figure." I muttered, earning an odd look from Velvet. "Are there any other special things I need to know about? Can I turn invisible, or use my soul to start flying by learning to dodge air?"

"Now that's just stupid." Coco said, smirking.

"But you can use your aura to control how you fall." Velvet said. "It's good if you need to make a long drop, or control where you land."

"… Y'know I was half joking, right?" I asked. "You're saying I can turn my aura into a glider?"

Velvet blushed, then shrugged. "Kinda. It's one of the hardest things you can learn to do with your Aura. Outside of sword beams… or making things explode when you punch them."

"Making them- y'know what, it doesn't matter right now." I said, forcibly derailing that train of thought. "The point is, I guess there's still a lot I need to learn too. Feels weird, used to be I knew what my limits were. Now it feels more and more like I don't have any."

"Oh no, you still do." Coco smirked. "Trust me kid, it's going to suck when you finally find them."

"But we're here to make sure it's all good." Ruby smiled, tagging my arm. "We've all got some work to do, right?"

I huffed and nodded, though nowhere as put off by the prospect as I thought I'd be. "Suppose we do…" I looked down at my Pip-boy, realizing the time. "Juuuust not today. Time's up."

"Already?" Ruby asked.

"Time flies when you're having fun." I shrugged.

"Boo, I still wanted to go another round." Yang said, stretching.

"You'll have your chance." I assured her. Wasn't like I was going anywhere, yet.

We started to file out of the hall and back into the main arena at roughly the same time everyone else filed out. Despite my interruption, we'd at least each gotten a fairly decent spar in.

"So what was this all about anyway?" Coco asked, slowing her pace to match mine. "Seems kind of sudden, challenging your teammates to a fight like you did today."

"We got something we need to take care of tonight." I told her "I'm not expecting any trouble, but I wanted to know they'd be able to handle themselves. Plus, having a better idea of how they fight means I can help them in kind."

Coco nodded, smirking. "Softie."

"Practical." I corrected.

"So what's going on tonight?" Velvet asked, casually eavesdropping.

"Nothing big." I told her. "Just a night out in Vale."

Coco smirked. "I'm sure it won't be too crazy, right?"

"Naturally." I lied.