Chapter 1
Over the course of the midsummer weeks that had gone by with little activity in Beacon, Xavier had spent as much of his time as possible going over everything necessary for today to begin, from writing down short guides and reference material as best as he could remember, to scouring this world's internet for anything even remotely resembling the martial arts he himself had been taught. While names certainly differed, it seemed that Remnant's own martial arts had been founded for similar reasons as those of earth with escalating conflicts throughout history. This was refreshing in a way, a little too convenient perhaps that he could simply instruct his own spin on existing materials, maybe even patent some names should it come down to it? The thought had crossed his mind more than once throughout his time, but it wasn't one he acted on. Xavier sat alone in his classroom, his simple desk, provided by Ozpin, had several notebooks and binders of printed out diagrams stacked upon it in a somewhat disorganized fashion.
At this point, Xavier knew not much else could be done, though when the door to the classroom opened a bit earlier than expected, he was a bit surprised. When the Headmaster entered, he was even more surprised. Ozpin took a few steps into the class while looking around, and casually grabbed one of the notebooks from Xavier's desk. The older man silently poured over it momentarily before seeming to nod in satisfaction. He would then speak.
"When I gave you this task, I felt as though it was simple enough to fulfil in a timely fashion. I'm pleased to see that you've taken to it seriously, even though your course material is..."
Xavier would quickly fill the awkward pause with his own thoughts on the matter. "amateurish?"
Ozpin nodded. "I suppose that's one way to phrase it. Perhaps correct, but there are others." He gave a soft smile as he sipped his cocoa, Xavier got a chuckle from the observation.
"...so would you say i'm ready?" He asked nervously, and now it was Ozpin's turn to chuckle.
"We're a bit past being able to worry about that, wouldn't you say?" And he would simply leave the classroom, leaving Xavier more than a bit anxious about that interaction. Nevertheless, the old man was right. Before long the bell would ring...
Students of all types flooded into the classroom. Xavier recognized most as the first years he had been instructing before, but there were new faces as well. Almost a hundred students total filled the room, at a guess, the ones he didn't recognize were older, but they were all chattering. Thankfully this was the first class of the day, so the teams were very sleepy and relaxed, settling in for a long day of classes more than anything, so they were a bit easier to control. Easier being the key word, not easy. Xavier would check his glasses and wait for the proper time for class to start before giving a bit of a loud whistle. "...everyone? your attention please," He would stand from his desk, if it could be called that, and walk to the blackboard.
The gaze of most were upon him, though a handful were still whispering amongst themselves, and a few were even asleep... Including Blake. Nevertheless, Xavier cleared his throat and continued. "...some of you already know me, but for everyone else, my name is mr. mathis, i don't think i've earned professor yet," He gave a short pause to let any potential laughter come and go, fortunately there was some to be had as a girl wearing a tan turtleneck sweater, dark brown beret and sunglasses inside had a small chuckle, with the rest of her team (he assumed) giving amused looks amongst themselves. "...and i'm going to teach you how to fight without your weapons,"
"Aw boy..." Ruby hid her face a bit. Yang snickered at her little sister's reaction since both her and her Father had always always always been on Ruby's case about that topic. Xavier could hear a few curious murmurs, and so would address them.
"to answer the first few questions, 1. you may find yourself having to fight, and not kill someone, 2. you can turn the tables on an opponent if you have superior hand-to-hand skill to them, and 3. if you are disarmed and/or your aura is depleted, you will want to have something to fall back on..."
He looked over his body of students, looking towards Pyrrha first and foremost. "...some of you already know the benefits of this, i may call upon you for aid and examples, like miss xiao long or miss nikos," Yang proudly raised her fist in the air while Pyrrha sheepishly looked down with a light blush dotting her cheeks. "others, be prepared to learn, it may hurt, but once your technique is down, your life will be easier, trust me," The reaction was fairly tame as many seemed to have tuned out right from the start of his little speech. This... was pretty much what he expected. "it's early, everyone's waking up, leaders if you could make sure your teams are at least paying attention i'd appreciate it... we're going to skip the first lecture that i had planned since no one wants to bother this early in the morning, and instead, move onto something basic, i need five volunteers that are confident in their skills,"
That caused... quite a stir. Five? Teams were four members each... things were complicated, but two full teams raised their hands, with one having all but the leader lower their hands afterwards, giving him exactly 5 participants. He gave an amused clap and chuckled slightly. "excellent, leave your weapons at your desks and come on down here to the demonstration area," The so-called demonstration area was large enough for approximately a one-on-one engagement if neither participant were particularly agile. Xavier would have the volunteers line up and appraise them to see who should go first. "why don't we start with your names, i'd like to know my students a bit,"
The first voice came from the girl with the beret. She was tall and a bit broad for a girl her age, her dark brown hair fell lazily over one shoulder, though her outfit spoke of someone who refused to compromise between fashion and function. "Coco Adel. Second year. Leader of team CFVY." She lowered her glasses a bit as she spoke, her eyes were a simple, earthy brown but had an intensity behind them. She was trying to gauge Xavier, and he could see it.
"Fox Alistair. Second Year. Team CFVY." The next one up was a faunus, his foxlike ears and long ponytail bore a natural ginger color that contrasted with his dusky complexion in a unique way. He wore a sleeveless vest that Xavier could only assume was some form of dyed leather, red as it was, as well as fingerless gloves that matched the coloration of his top, and worn dark slacks that had several stitches.
"Um... Velvet Scarletina. Team CFVY. Oh, S-Second year." Another faunus, she seemed to tremble a bit when called upon, as if fighting the urge to hide behind her teammates. She was the shortest among them if one didn't count her rabbit ears. Velvet sported a rich brown for her eyes and flowing long hair of the same color, her outfit was one that contrasted with her leader in that it seemed to purely be functional over all else. She sported what seemed to be combat overalls with a thick sweater top and proper boots for harsh environments.
"Yatsuhashi Daichi. Second year. Member of Team CFVY." Lastly among the second years was a giant of a man that stood what Xavier could wager to be around 170 centimeters, he was as broad as he was tall with well developed muscle. The giant spoke rather plainly, softly even, for his appearance. His outfit showed quite a bit of muscle with the torn sleeves of his top, his pants were cut in a way that they wouldn't impede his movement, Xavier assumed he was a powerhouse that required wide stances to make the most of that trait.
"Cardin Winchester. Leader of Team CRDL." And finally was someone that Xavier was... less than excited to see. Cardin came prepared it seemed, wearing his ornamented armor and being cheered on by his cronies, Xavier had to consciously refrain from rolling his eyes.
"beautiful..." He took a slight breath and cleared his throat. "since this is our first day here, we're going through some basic demonstrations, don't suppose you're trained in kickboxing? or better yet, say, judo, krav maga?" It was a tad sarcastic as he spoke to Coco, though he caught himself, it may have been a little late.
Coco lifted an eyebrow at him as he spoke. Stepping up with a VERY gratuitous hip sway. "I studied Jatayu since I was a little girl, you... just made all of those words up." She laughed a little bit, but took an experienced stance when he invited her up. Xavier had seen the word, or something similar in his searches. It appeared to be Remnant's own version of Jiu Jitsu.
Xavier's mood changed rather quickly, cracking a smile as he took his own stance, his guard was high and poised to protect his face more than his body. "not made up, just what we say back home, now don't hold back, if anything you can try to make me look bad," He was hoping that he had everyone's attention, if he could be seen as a more fun instructor, or at least a showman, things may go smoother. She came in fast, swinging a left hook and missing, following through and spinning her whole body into a roundhouse cartwheel kick, aiming her right foot at his face. The first blow was dodged with practiced ease as he side stepped only as much as was required to avoid a direct impact, the kick, however, was a good start. It may have been a fraction of a second too late were it not for his own experience in dealing with feints. Xavier deflected with a harsh elbow before he grabbed her heel. "a kick like that is good for finishing a weakened foe, but it's a flashy move that uses energy, a more experienced opponent could easily counter like so, from there..." He let her go after that. "one could potentially dislocate or break your leg, low kicks are better than high for an opponent with their guard up"
"Hmph." Coco stepped back and flipped her hair a bit, she couldn't help but smile at the demonstration. "Alright."
Xavier chuckled a bit. "have anything else to show us? or are you passing the baton?" This time he spoke without a hint of sarcasm or animosity, in fact he seemed a bit hesitant to suggest it, wanting to see a bit more from her.
Coco's smile became sly as she pushed up her glasses. "I'll pass for now. Fox?" By now, not a soul was asleep, and most were fixated on the action in front of them. Especially the members of Team RWBY. Fox nodded silently, stepping into position on the mat and taking an odd stance... His left arm was kept almost behind his back as he squared up to Xavier, his footwork was solid, his leading foot pointed forward towards the opponent while his back foot was sideways. The two locked eyes and neither wanted to blink first. Xavier would speak first, however.
"now, this next bit i want to demonstrate comes from a discipline which primarily focuses on disabling an opponent through locking and dislocating joints, when applied with force it can be lethal, which is why these techniques take practice and control... mr alistair, if you'd please," It seemed he planned on teaching a counter. Fox gave a bit of an annoyed look, lunging forward with one fist down towards his opponent's stomach, the other arm moving in for his face after a split second, Fox had feigned a punch to surprise Xavier with his elbow.
Xavier’s stance didn't shift at all, but his left hand dived down to catch the first fist, hitting Fox's wrist to shift the momentum. However the second move was a well executed feint. Xavier was surprised, but adapted, and he caught the elbow in his other hand, managing to halt Fox's strike mere centimeters from his face. Xavier refused to give up any momentum, quickly shifting sideways a few steps to get behind Fox and pin his arm behind his back. "the greatest piece of footwork to keep in mind is always sidestepping, and if you manage to catch an opponent like this..." He gave a strike that didn't land, but was obviously aimed at the back of Fox's elbow. "you can break the arm at the joint with a flat strike, or, alternatively," He moved the hand under his arm and shifted his foot to where stepping anywhere but back would cause Fox to fall. "use your opponent's momentum to dislocate their shoulder, from here, bringing him to the ground would result in a debilitating direct impact... is everyone following?"
"Ngh!" Fox grunted, trying to kick back at Xavier and ending up losing his balance, falling forward... only for Xavier to lunge quickly, catching Fox with one hand on his chest, the other on Fox's shoulder.
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"...there we go, so tell me, what did you study before coming here?"
Fox hesitated a bit. "Self taught." he stood, gently straightening his clothes a little.
Xavier smiled and patted the young man on the shoulder. "you've got talent, i hope to expand on that," He scanned the class for a brief moment to gauge the reactions, and they seemed to be fairly positive. In particular, a few were taking notes, Yang was in the edge of her seat while Blake was huddled back in hers. Xavier smiled as he turned to the remaining 3. "next!" And that same smile went to Velvet. "miss- ...scarletina? am i saying that right?"
"Ah! u-um... p-pass." She stammered out quickly, Coco nodded a little bit. There were murmurs around the class now, especially from Team CRDL, who were snickering at some inside joke. Velvet was standing tensely and dipping her head. Coco would approach her teammate and place an arm around her shoulders.
"Yatsu will go."
"..." Xavier paused a moment. "if you're sure..." He sounded more disappointed than anything, but figured there was a reason. Rather than attempting to force the issue, especially since she had volunteered in the first place, he looked up at the biggest member of the team. "okay, i hope you don't mind, but this particular demonstration will be a little more one-sided"
Yatsuhashi nodded firmly. "I hope that's not a threat."
Xavier shook his head a bit. "i don't make idle threats mister daichi, and i hope i'm saying that right, judo is the martial art of leverage, created to allow a fighter to take on opponents with a significant physical advantage, please, if you would attack first,"
Yatsu complied wordlessly, shifting his stance to a wide horse stance, legs even with his shoulders as he bent the knees a bit to get more even with his opponent, and, leaning downward a bit, thrusted his fist forwards and upwards towards Xavier's chin. It was obvious he was playing along and making this an easy blow to counter. This time, there wasn't a complex series of movements, no multi-step process, Xavier simply got into a position to get Yatsuhashi's arm over his shoulder, took a step forward, and with a twist of the body, the bigger man went up, over Xavier's shoulder, and hit the ground flat on his back with a resounding thud. "...are you alright?"
"... Yeah." Yatsuhashi slowly stood up, nodding a bit. Having tried to note how Xavier's feet moved, assuming that was the secret. But he was very unused to flipping upside down like that, touching his head and shaking it a bit.
"to keep it simple, your strength is in your legs, a low stance, and taking your opponent's feet out from under them are the keys to success, but overthinking and hesitation will injure you more than them, next!" Xavier knew that wasn't exactly a proper demonstration of the principal he just preached, given that it was essentially a show of raw strength and momentum. However, there weren't many that saw just how it had been done. Today was more about spectacle and demonstration, and so, Xavier called to the one boy that wasn't a member of the same team. "you look like the type that will benefit from this especially,"
Cardin actively rolled his eyes. "Yeah, doubt it." He laughed a little bit, glancing over Xavier's shoulder at his cheering team, waving at them a bit, and making a big expression, laughing at one of them. "Duuude, you can't do that!" Xavier's attention quickly turned, only for Cardin to attempt to sucker punch him. A big right hand aiming straight for Xavier's chin.
He only barely managed to avoid the quick jab, only just catching the movement of the shoulder in the corner of his eye. From there, Xavier grabbed hold of Cardin's wrist. "cheap trick, ready for mine?" This time around, the move he used was a hold, stepping behind and getting the man into a full nelson. "i'm sure most of you are familiar with some kind of wrestling, while there are several kinds, this is the art of disabling your opponent through breaking bone, though without proper restraint, it's incredibly easy to, say, wrench a shoulder from its socket" He would apply more pressure, but not enough to actually go through with that threat. He would push upward before raising both knees up and into Cardin's back, causing the bigger man to drop to his knees. "ooooor cause severe damage to the spine and neck!"
"Guh!" Cardin winced, seeing red at this humiliation. He was stronger than anticipated, grabbing Xavier by the head with both hands and lifting him into the air. Xavier managed to cling around Cardin's shoulders in a very, very strange position to an outsider known as the fireman's carry, almost wearing the other man like a scarf... Cardin attempted to brute force the situation, pulling Xavier up and grabbing his hips as he leaned over the other way, going into a makeshift piledriver.
Xavier, however, had an advantage in mobility if nothing else. He would position his legs in a way to catch himself, wrapping around the bigger man's torso. The surprise of having his groin so near Cardin's face caused the larger man to seize up, which gave Xavier the opportunity to grab onto Cardin's thighs and then make his opponent trip forward while still holding him. With their positions now reversed, Cardin was struggling to break free of Xavier's grasp as his shoulders were firmly pinned to the sparring mat. "now the full nelson hold, useful for disabling an opponent of similar size, does not give you an advantage of leverage, so while he managed to get a decent reversal, the technique i have just demonstrated is another way to trip up a larger opponent, in this case it's called a schoolboy, is everyone paying attention?"
Cardin struggled to get free this time, raising his hand to tap the ground in surrender, before something hard and heavy randomly struck Xavier in the back of the head, just barely, though... A blue mist appeared around his head, whatever it was, the heavy thud of the object hitting the ground certainly caught his attention. Xavier would let go of Cardin, whose breathing was heavy as he lay on the ground with a shocked expression. Xavier rose to his feet, only to see the object that hit him was the handle end of Cardin's mace, thrown by Russel Thrush, his lackey, and rotated midair to the non-lethal end by Pyrrha Nikos, who was now standing with her hand obviously outstretched towards the weapon, which dropped to the ground behind Xavier when she lowered her arm. Once Cardin sat back up, the two glared at each other with a deep tension in the air...
It took some restraint to not laugh at the whole situation, especially as one could hear a pin drop from the silence that permeated the class. Xavier, however, cleared his throat and suddenly had all eyes on him. "you volunteered for a demonstration, while a leader should look strong, another lesson is to accept your defeat with grace and move on..." He sighed as he stretched, popping his back before casting a harsh glare at the members of Team CRDL. "you, who threw that, you are dismissed and will report to the headmaster for disciplinary action, am i understood?" Russel would hang his head as he left, and Xavier's attention would turn to Pyrrha. "miss nikos, thank you,"
"You're welcome, Professor." She sat down, brushing skirt down a bit as Nora went quietly apeshit over how cool she was. However, as Cardin rose to his feet, he would give a gesture to Russel that made him pause.
"...It's ...My fault teach, I'll go with him." Xavier briefly considered saying 'no' as this may have just been an excuse to disappear for a time, but decided to allow it, giving a curt nod as the two would leave the room, Cardin draping an arm over his subordinate's shoulders.
"now, ...i realize these demonstrations have been sporadic, and did not teach overly much to the uninitiated, however, these are merely examples of what you will learn, and i will not tolerate that kind of behavior, ...my goal as an instructor here is not to humiliate or frustrate you all, but to hopefully have every single one of you capable of beating me," He looked to Nora and Ren and added: "without a weapon," The two smiled, with Ren's being more subtle and smug while Nora positively beamed.
It seemed to those in attendance that Xavier was getting ready to wrap up this part of class, and so, with an encouraging look from Coco, the rabbit faunus would step forward. "Um, professor? I'm ready for my turn now, if there's time." Velvet would manage to say nervously.
He seemed surprised, but nodded. "...are you sure? there's no shame in not wanting to do this,"
"Yes, I'm ready. Although... I hope it's okay if I try defense." She took... no stance, standing there like a schoolgirl.
"actually- ...okay, sure," He took a moment to focus, and a deep breath as he attempted to manage his strength. Despite the obvious nature of combat demonstrations, he didn't actually want to hurt Velvet. He made sure that he wouldn't strike harder or faster than maybe twice what the average human could do. "...this last martial art is a particularly aggressive form of kickboxing where the elbows, knees, and shins are meant to deliver quick and decisive blows, i am going to throw a few basic blows your way, are you ready?"
Velvet didn't move aside from a brief nod of the head, just simply standing there, smiling a bit. "Yes, I'm ready." The entire team gave knowing glances to each other, Coco was smiling BIG.
"okay, everyone observe the technique, and how she plans to counter it," He began with a high-guard stance, his fists bent down as his dominant leg was a bit raised. He swiftly attempted a low kick towards the knee, followed by leaning into an elbow strike aimed at the shorter girl's face. He had planned on stopping short, but that would quickly prove unnecessary as Velvet suddenly spread her legs a bit, returning his kick with one of her own before reaching down and grabbing his heel just as he had done to Coco, lifting his leg up to match where hers was naturally... Her semblance activated to help her.
Xavier recognized his own technique and twisted his leg to attempt to escape the hold, his other leg rising for a swiping kick, something she hadn't seen. Velvet would quickly duck and let Xavier's heel go, sending him back to the mat. The other members of Team CVFY were holding in their laughter as best as they could at the entire display as Xavier attempted to get back to his feet. He was... Smiling. "...very impressive, i can tell you'll be one of my more advanced students," He turned to the others. "as you can see, a low kick when extended has the same weakness as the roundhouse, an opponent who can see it coming can catch you completely off guard, well done,"
"Scared, Professor?" Coco egged him on a little, causing Velvet to blush.
"C-coco, please..!"
He laughed a bit. "not yet, but when we get later into the year i'll probably be shaking," He looked around at the general reactions of the students. Once again, they were a captive audience . Some seemed more amused than anything while others were scared. The remaining members of Team CRDL especially. The mood, however,.was very positive all around as many were quietly cheering the two on before Xavier spoke again. "...something to keep in mind is the hardest points of your body are best used against soft targets, joints, the sternum, the neck, and the face, if you can't see, breathe, or move, you can't fight," He demonstrated each point as he spoke, pointing to or touching the various parts of his body before he turned back to Coco. "and have i earned the professor distinction in your eyes, miss adel?"
"Naturally." She smiled a bit, Velvet quickly moving back behind her.
Xavier would turn to address the class, before checking his glasses to see that time was running out. Things certainly flew by from how fun this was. "if you've been taking notes, don't worry about that, soon enough you'll all be able to do the moves you're taught without thinking, especially when we can take this outside for team sparring practice, but that isn't today, today was an effective showcase, does everyone feel like they've learned something?" The remaining two members of Cardin's team were the first hands in the air. But other than that, everyone would one by one raise a hand. "fantastic!" And that was the bell. "everyone is dismissed, try to wake up a bit more next time folks and i'll see you all tomorrow,"
There was plenty of chatter that filled the class from there, excited students seeming to have shaken off the fatigue and discussing what may happen from here. Velvet would be the last one to leave, managing to give a nervous goodbye. "Th-thank you, professor!" She bowed firmly, smiling bright at him before running off, away from the direction the rest of her team went. This was a feeling of satisfaction that Xavier wasn't familiar with, but it was a welcome one for sure.