End Justifies the Means
"Well, this is it!" Selena grinned with a clear sense of acheivement." The other members of her team stared blankly at her. It wasnt the first room they'd wandered to in their unsuccessful search for their next class, but given the line of students outside accompanied by the teacher standing proudly in front of them, it was safe to assume they'd found the right place. Selena was pleased to see that the teacher that stood before them was much more proffesional than Foster. He was more mature just in appearence for a start, looking easily in his mid-fifties at least. The auburn hair that sat atop his head seemed strangely iconic, as though they'd seen it before. As they approached the class, the man's full attention turned to the members of Team Shield.
"Lars Berrardi." He said sternly, wasting no time in addressing his intentions. The forwardness of his approach surprised the entire team, but it was his directness towards Lars that had the young huntsman raising a brow. "I'm going to need you to come with me. The rest of you can attend your lecture." He continued without waiting for any kind of response. Rather than go around, the man opted to walk through the group, splitting Team Sheild in two. He didnt care to wait to ensure Lars was following behind. The summoned student shrugged in response to the confused looks of his teammates. With a sigh, he followed behind the aging teacher.
"Calling up the school's best students, I assume. Makes sense." Lars grinned. He gained nothing in response. The teacher simply continued to walk, and he simply continued to follow.
What the hell is he dragging me to? Lars contemplated, glaring at the back of the man's head.
After following the the teacher up multiple flights of stairs, the duo found themselves in front of the headmaster's office.
Professor Raphael Lans. Beacon Headmaster The sign on the door read. Now Lars had even more cause for concern. While it did support his original hypothesis, it was a little unnerving that the teacher seemed less than enthusiastic. Surely a headmaster meeting his best students for the first time would at least crack a smile.
They stepped inside the office, and the man immediately sat in the chair. He was the headmaster. Lars sighed at his realisation.
"Now Lars. From what I hear, you were one of the highest ranking students at Signal academy." He began with furrowed brows. Lars ignored the mans expression and grinned at the mention of his acheivements. "Your practical exam results were second to none. Almost perfect, in fact. Your written exam on the other hand..." He sighed. The seeming questioning of his abilities prompted a raised brow from Lars. "Now I have no doubts about your potential. What worries me, is how you're applying yourself. You seem to be taking it upon yourself to practice...outside of lessons." Again he furrowed his brows. Lars struggled to resist the urge to chuckle.
"Lemme, guess, I'm in trouble?" The student grinned. The headmaster squinted.
"No. You arent in trouble. I'm not your mother and I'm not your teacher. I'm not here to discipline you, I'm here to guide you. If it's a fight you want...as the headmaster of a combat school, it's a fight I have to give you. I'm prepared to offer you a fight with one of the most promising attendees of Beacon Academy." He placed his clasped hands on the desk and leaned forward. "On one condition..."
"Oh?" Lars suspended his excitement at the mention of some sort of conditions he had to adhere to.
"Commitment. Hard Work. Co-operation. That's all I ask. You'll get your fight now, but I expect those things from here on out. Is that understood?"
"When you say, one of the strongest.." Lars began to enquire. The headmaster sighed and made his way to the door. "You mean the second strongest, right?" Unfortunately, the student was left without an answer. Again, he followed.
After tackling another flight of stairs, they ended up in front of a locked door.
Elke stood in front of the locked door, and immediately locked eyes with Lars. He was left relatively unimpressed by the the girl that stood before him. She wasnt particularly tall or imposing. She definitely didnt look like she had anything to her at all. What did impress him though, was the large blade that she carried on her back. It was bigger than her. He was somewhat impressed, but she still wasnt convincing enough. He wanted someone better.
"Hey, teach. You sure
she's one of the strongest in school?"
Elke stared at the boy. "Instead of asking about it, how about you find out for yourself?"
Lars grinned. With a chuckle, he followed behind the duo, through the locked door. He'd give her a chance at least. If she didnt make the cut, he'd have to drop this school. She couldnt possibly be the best. The old man was probably giving him a bum deal. The professor stopped as the other two reached the centre of the room.
"I'm going to leave you two to it. In the mean time, I'll be getting myself some more tea." He chuckled, swilling what was left of his beverage in his mug.
With the teacher gone, the two students squared off.
"You better be as good as the professor said you are. I dont like wastin' my time with chumps who dont make the cut." Lars began, rolling his shoulders
Elke said nothing, instead corrected her balance and took a fighting stance. She did not draw her sword.
"Nothing else to say?" Lars jibed confidently. "And here I thought your trashtalk was gonna be somewhat entertaining. You started off well at least." He finished with a condescending sigh.
"And I'll finish you well too." Elke cut in. She noted the greaves Lars wore, and decided it would be better to let him come to her, rather than the other way around. She felt her Aura would be strong enough to take whatever power they could push out, but he could manoeuvre himself around her if she wasn't careful, and that would put her in an awkward spot.
Lars grinned. Satisfied with the verbal response, the young huntsman wasted no time in charging at his opponent. He leapt at her, edging to the right slightly to hit the girl with a bicycle kick. Elke's mouth curled with a smile, as she raised her arm to stop the kick. She felt her Aura temble slightly, but she could take the force of the kick with relative ease. Using the impact from the girl's parry, Lars fired a shot, flinging himself up into the air. After a few flips to orientate himself, he glared down at her, while still in midair.
Bitch doesnt know what she's up against. He grinned. Suddenly, with a burst of speed; he plummeted down at her, crashing full force with his heel aimed for her head.
Covering her head with her arms, Elke attmepted to block the attack, being pushed into a crouch from the force. She pushed Lars away, standing tall once again and regaining her stance.
"Is that all? You talk big, but you ain't got much to show for yourself." She sneered. She so badly wanted to draw her sword and slice the boy's arm off, but remembered what she'd been instructed to do and restrained herself.
Again, her stupidity made Lars grin. Did she actually think he was going full force?
"Do you know who I am, kid? Listen, I know toddlers bigger than you, and you're runnin' your mouth about talkin big?" With an extension of his leg, Lars fired a straight shot from the right foot of his plasma grinders. He only needed to play around with her for now.
"Of course I know who you are," Elke said, dodging the bullets. "Else I wouldn't be here. You're pathetic, you know? You have a lot of potential, yet here you are picking unnecessary fights." She growled but held her position, really wanting to let loose.
"Oh, you do? I'm glad you've been educated then. See the thing is, I'm the best at this school, and from what I hear, you're the second. Now I don't usually pride myself on takin' down kids, but the professor set me up against you, sooo..." He shrugged. "If it's proof you want, why is it that you've heard of me, but I havent heard of you?"
Elke ignored his taunts. She was gonna snap if she had to listen to his shit much longer. She unstrapped her sword and laid it down. It was scratching her back a little. She stood up straight and looked the boy straight in the eyes once more. At least she only boasted when she knew it was warranted, and could back up her words. This kid had
no idea. Elke calmed herself and focused her mind on her Aura, keeping it steady and reinforcing the points Lars had so far been targeting.
Lars squinted. She was no fun. There was nothing he found more annoying than a 'straight to the point' mentality in a fight. Why not just let it drag on a little. Even worse was the fact she was being far from proactive. This conservative bullshit was mindnumbing. He'd have to drag some initiative out of her. He charged at her again, this time going for a low sweep.
Elke jumped over the attack easily, landing once again ready for the next attack. She looked down on Lars, waiting for him to give her some kind of challenge.
"Predictable." Lars grinned, springboarding off of his hands and firing point blank shots towards Elke.
Elke ducked under them, already having predicted the moves Lars would make.
He was the predictable one.
Having already kipped up in the same motion as that which he fired his shots, Lars again charged at Elke with another kick, giving her little time to recover.
She held her arm up, once again blocking the kick.
The same move twice? Lame. She thought to herself. She grabbed his leg and swung him around, throwing him away from her as she stood up and regained her posture.
Scraping his greaves off the ground, Lars was able to kill his momentum, and regain his footing. He stood up straight, and clenched his fist. Frustration was begining to build. While he was still only testing her out, what fun was it if she wasn't going to attack? He raised his leg, and fired a flurry of shots at her, all coming at the girl from different angles.
The problem with that attack, is that Lars was stationary. Elke's semblance allowed her to track the paths of the bullets, to easily dodge them. But she couldn't do this all day. She was tired, and annoyed by the lack of entertainment this fight was giving her. Closing ground on Lars, she headed towards his right, making it much harder for him to keep the barrage of bullets flying towards her. She got close and slammed an elbow into Lars' side.
Losing his balance, Lars had to gain some space before he could risk trying to reorientate himself. He pushed himself away, making an effort to protect the pained rib.
Elke stopped and let Lars recover. That attack had felt good, but it didn't do good to get carried away now. She had to calm herself and- Fuck it. She ran at him again, looking score another hit whilst he was down.
Lars had a conundrum. On one hand, the girl was finally giving him some entertainment, and he could finally bring some tempo into the battle by knocking her back; On the other, waiting for him to attack was working for her, so if he made her regret becoming the aggresor, would she be boring again? It was worth a shot. Maybe just give her a warning. He swung his foot as she came closer. His kick missed her head, but what he did catch was that stupid bow sitting untouched on top of it.
Elke had tried to duck underneath Lars' attack, but hadn't ducked enough. Instead of just dodging the attack, Elke felt her bow slide off her head. She gasped, before anger filled her and threw an extremely heavy punch straight into Lars' chest.
Lars flew a few feet away before rolling across the floor, winded. He staggered, as he tried to quickly return to his feet.
I couldve sworn I at least hit that damn bow. He squinted, at the two triangular shapes pertruding from the girls head. Once his eyes managed to gain their focus, they almost instinctively widened the moment he realised what he was actually seeing.
Where those...cat ears? He squinted. He stared at her, unsure how to react.
"Y-you're...a faunus?" He wheezed, still unable to fully beleive what he was seeing, but more concerned with the pain still bleeting in his chest.
Elke shot up. She grabbed her bow and stormed over to Lars, picking him up by his collar, although not off the floor. Elke was too short for that.
"Yes, I am a Faunus. A very well hidden secret of mine, and you're not gonna spoil that." Elke pushed the boy backwards a little, before turning to punch him in the face. Tears filled her eyes, and the thought of being found out made the punch harder than she would have liked. Punching faces hurt.
Lars picked himself up, his head hanging after taking the punch to the face. His light chuckling quickly turned to uncaring laughter. The situation the girl found herself in was priceless.
"Is this what the professor signed me up for?" He laughed. "He's got me fighting the school pet? This is rich."
Elke was riled by Lars. But force didn't seem to make him back down, and after that punch she didn't really feel like doing
anything. This was bad, soon she'd be found out and hunted by the whole school. Worst case, she'd be running from an entire city. She walked over to he sword and picked it up, slowly turning to face Lars after.
"I won't go back into hiding. Not because of you." She wandered towards Lars, very threateningly.
"Hiding?" Lars raised a brow. "Man, you're as angsty they come, aren't ya?" He spat out the blood that had collected in his mouth, before doing his best to air out his tainted tongue. "I don't see what fun telling everyone would be. You put yourself in this mess, you can get yourself out of it." He shrugged. He swilled around the remaining blood in his mouth and spit again. "Bitch." He groaned, doing his best to rid himself of the metallic taste.
Elke stopped. She felt her eyes widen a little as she looked at the boy in front of her.
"You won't tell anyone? How can I be sure?"
Lars rolled his eyes.
"Like I said, I'm all about havin' a good time, and seeing you get mauled on your first day just isnt as interesting as watching you try to hide those cute little kitty cat ears of yours." He mocked. "One other thing though..." He began, straightening his face. "I got high standards. I want nothin' less than the best, and I gotta admit, you're strong. In other words, forget all those other, I want you as a regular sparring partner, you got that?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake.
"Not happening. I have my own schedule to run. Besides, you're not the kind of person I would waste my time pandering to. I appreciate you not telling anyone about me though, regardless of your reasons, so... Thanks." Elke felt her cheeks get hot, she never thanked anyone. "I am gonna go now. If you feel the need to get your ass handed to you... Find someone else next time yeah? I think I hurt your ego too much." She winked and walked off.
"Fine!" Lars groaned, almost throwing a tantrum. "Good luck surviving then, I guess. Just have to find someone stronger to fight." He sighed, walking towards the exit.