Elke Tegeler

Niklas Brudheim​

The Unmovable

Niklas sat at his desk, eagerly scribbling down any useful notes from professor Sylvester's lecture as he could in big blocky letters. Handwriting really wasn't something Niklas was proficient in. He liked things to be more robust, and a pen didn't allow for any smashing or exploding. Luckily, the class he was currently in counteracted that. Explosion and Detonation 101, thought by a man whose desk reflected his area of expertise fairly well, and his haircut did so even more. Professor Sylvester was a fat man, but it was clear underneath the fat, a big set of muscles was hidden. His light blue hair pointed to all sides, except to the top, where it was contrasted by the reflecting glaze of a bald head. He wore a pair of glasses of which Niklas was sure the model would be called 'jam jar'.

The excitement the man had for blowing stuff up drew Niklas into the lesson. The way he described something just getting torn to shreds by the kinetic energy was so life like, that Niklas felt as if it was happening in front of him. In all honesty, it got Niklas aching to get in a physical class. There just wasn't as much satisfaction to be gotten from seeing an explosion in your mind's eye as seeing one in your literal eye, as you could feel the heat scorching your skin in a way that was very pleasant.

"Now, I guess, no, no, no, wait, I know that all of us love the power and the kick of a good explosion, but the start of every year always begins with drawing people in. And, once you've got them-" Sylvester slammed his hand shut "-You gotta teach them about safety. If there is one thing I care more about than the art of blowing stuff up real good, it's the art of blowing stuff up real safe…"

Niklas sighed, and the pace of his note taking drastically dropped. If there was one thing he didn't care about, it was blowing stuff up safely. The great thing about being a Brudheim was that he didn't have to care about safety. It would all be taken care off by the family heritage.

Still, Niklas didn't slack. He still tried to pick up as much of Sylvester's words as possible. It would return on a test, and Niklas was not planning on letting any test fail. People might call him a barbarian, but he took education just as seriously as smashing grimm to pieces. In all honesty, that was mainly because of the fact that without bad grades, you'd get out of the academy earlier, and you'd get to smash grimm to pieces for real.

"One thing to take in consideration when creating explosions is personal durability," professor Sylvester continued, "I for one, am not really capable of dealing with my own explosions."

"That explains the haircut," someone said in the back, and it was answered by a deep tumbling belly laugh by the teacher. As the professor started to dive into the topic Niklas knew most about, being immune to your own detonation, Niklas' eyes started to check out the room. It was a fairly diverse crowd, some people tall and lanky, some being as perfectly round as your typical cartoon bomb. One figure drew Niklas' attention, however. A boy in all black, with hair as dark as his fashion sense right down to his eyes. There was something off about him, and it took Niklas a second of three to realize it. Underneath the shirt, it seemed there was more bone than a normal human should have, as if the kid had extrusions on his back. When the kid noticed Niklas was looking, it seemed to disappear, as if it retracted at the speed of sound. Oh, you filthy animal, Niklas thought.

​

After getting the tour of the school, Sal returns to the mess hall to indulge his appetite. He quickly finishes off a tray of fish sandwiches, and is about to head for the tray of whole fried chickens, when an announcement is made calling all students to orientation. He grabs a couple chickens to snack on before he is escorted out of the dining area. By the looks he is given, he might not be welcome in there anymore.

Orientation itself is about what Sal expected. A general welcome and course outline. He's a little surprised that teams have already formed, considering he hasn't met anybody else yet. Of course, he hasn't made any effort to meet anyone, either. He makes his way over to the bulletin board, where names and photos of the teams have been posted. Being one of the largest students, he is easy to spot, so he merely glances around, waiting for his teammates to find him.

That doesn't take long, as he's soon approached by a tall (though still far shorter than Sal) dog-eared girl in a gaudy armored trenchcoat who matches one of the posted pictures. She holds out her hand in greeting. "It looks like we're going to be teammates, Salazar. You look quite strong! I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you."

Sal glances down at the girl, gripping her hand with his mechanical right hand and giving a firm handshake. "Likewise..." He looks back at the board to remember her name. "Brooke. My friends call me Sal. You can, too." He looks her over appreciatively. Her coat is much fancier than his, but they share the longcoat style, and she wears gauntlets like him. Although, he doubts hers are prosthetics like his. "We are gonna get along swimmingly."

There are two other members of their team, but Sal doesn't particularly care about them at the moment. Brooke is his primary partner, and she's here now. "The goat man said to drop off our stuff before our first class, but we don't exactly have rooms." He looks down at himself, checking his jacket pockets. "And I don't have any stuff. You have a place to go after class?"

"Yeah, I was planning on heading back to my workshop when school was done. War is coming, and I need to figure out a way to weaponize my Semblance before it does. Because..." She pauses and holds out her hand, and a small orb of light forms over it. "Light isn't exactly very lethal on its own." She closes her hand into a fist and the ball of light disappears. "Though fortunately my MADT can kill things just fine." She pats the machine gun on her back a couple times. "What about you?"

"You named your gun Matt?" Sal tilts his head slightly, looking at her gun in confusion. "I know some people can get attached to their weapons, but I've never seen anyone give one a name."

"M.A.D.T., short for Multi-Action Dust tool."

"As for after class, I don't have a workshop, so I usually just go hunting. If I find Grimm, I get a fight. If I find animals, I get food." He grins wickedly. "And if I find humans, I get food, a fight, and their stuff." He chuckles darkly. "But the workshop sounds fun. We can go there and work on your tech, then we go out and test it later."

Brooke listens to Sal quietly, but when he makes his comment about humans she gives him a wide grin of her own. "I like the way you think, Sal! Find me at the school gate after class if you want to tag along to the workshop, you're welcome there anytime." She glances at his arm. "I can probably do maintenance on that gauntlet of yours if you ever need it, too. Though I'd feel bad pulling you away from a good hunt."

Sal knew he would like this girl. He looks at his "gauntlet", honestly considering her offer of maintenance. It will have to wait until later, though, and he's reluctant to part with it for any length of time. "It's a date, then. Let's go sit through whatever boring lecture they're holding, and we can go. Always a pleasure to see new tech."

He pauses, a stray thought coming up from the back of his mind. "We should probably find our other teammates, too." He glances over at the board. "A monkey and a rabbit. We'll meet up with them in class."

"A date, huh? Where we goin'?" interrupts a voice that definitely didn't belong to Brooke. It was a low, masculine voice that slurred it's words a little. Brooke turns to look at the new arrival who'd somehow managed to avoid her sharp senses only to suddenly have him put his arm around her shoulders. In a panic, Brooke shoves him aside, rather hard at that. He didn't seem to resist, and he catches his footing in the next instant. He then stretches his other arm and puts his hand on Sal's shoulder while still looking at Brooke. "Whoa, chill brah. We're teamies, remember?" He pats Sal's shoulder a couple times at that last word.

Sal rolls his shoulder to dislodge Reese's hand. A low growl bubbles up from his chest as he looks at the monkey, more from annoyance than anger.

Brooke glares at him a moment before glancing back at the team listings board. The older-looking boy takes a step back and holds out both hands, palm-up. "Name's Reese. Nice to meetcha, bros."

With some hesitation, Brooke lifts her own hand, unsure of how to respond. "Well..." The word slips out in her normal voice, and she quickly clears her throat before continuing again in her tough girl voice. "My name is Brooke, not 'Brah'. Though you seem to have some skill, at least. Welcome to the team, Reese." She ignores whatever he was doing with his hands and holds out her own for a shake, which he accepts with a sigh. He then looks to Sal, other hand still outstretched.

Sal recognizes the name and face, and he holds up his gauntleted fist. "Likewise. I'm Salazar." He offers his fist, going for a fist bump rather than a handshake. Reese accepts eagerly, nodding his head in approval as he bumps his fist against Sal's. "Now we're just missing one member."

"Um, actually... I'm standing right behind you." A quiet voice speaks up from behind Sal. A short boy wearing blue clothes stands there, although the others aren't sure when he arrived. The boy is barely five feet tall, and that's including his large bunny ears. He scuffs his foot on the ground, hands in his pockets. "I saw the board, and you're not exactly hard to spot. I'm Oswald, the fourth member of Team BROS. You can call me Ozzy if you'd like..."

"Awright Ozzy!" cheers Reese as he walks over to Oswald. He puts his arm over the boy's shoulders as he had with Brooke and says, "I like you, you seem like a cool dude." He then turns over to the others, adding, "Not that you guys aren't cool, too."

Oswald stiffens up as Reese wraps an arm around his shoulders, but otherwise doesn't seem to mind.

Brooke's reaction is a bit different, a frown appearing on her face. "How old are you, Oswald?" Before he can answer, she seems to reconsider. "No, no. I guess if you're skilled that doesn't really matter. Welcome to the team, Oswald." She sets aside the issue and reaches out for a handshake, but her face makes it clear that she isn't any more comfortable with it than before.

"I'm seventeen..." he mutters under his breath as Brooke approaches. He seems to notice her discomfort, and keeps the handshake quick.

"Great! The gang's all here." Sal steps in to diffuse the awkward situation. "What's on our agenda for today?"

Suddenly the chatter of the students is pierced by a loud, booming voice that is practically a roar. It was a lion Faunus teacher, announcing that it was time for them all to go to class. It seems that the students are to be divided into two groups for their first class, with some being asked to go with a woman known as Professor Azure, and the others with the lion man.

Brooke looks at the board and informs the others, "We're team six, so we're with the lion. Let's not keep him waiting." She takes the lead, heading toward the teacher in a long, confident stride.

Sal grins as Brooke takes charge, liking her bold attitude. He follows after her, pushing past another student. Reese shrugs and follows after them, his arm still around Oswald's shoulders, who goes along quietly.

---

Class begins in the large amphitheater without any interruptions, with Brooke and Sal being seated towards the back and the other two closer to the front. The lion man introduces himself as professor Corryn and begins the lesson, starting with class expectations before moving on to basics of the Grimm body such as their masks and lack of an aura.

Sal growls when the professor mentions their lack of aura. "Nothing to drain, but they still go down, you hit 'em hard enough." He mutters to Brooke. She nods silently in agreement while taking notes, only half-listening to her teammate.

Occasionally a girl named Mira would get the professor on a tangent, but he makes sure to get back on track promptly each time. Brooke is glad to see someone so eager to learn. On the other end of the spectrum is Reese, who appears entirely too relaxed in his seat. He appears to be lazily writing something with one hand, but on closer inspection it appears to be only a doodle. Sitting next to him is Oswald, who apparently doesn't even have a notebook. He just listens intently, his large ears twitching at every sound behind him.

"With that in mind," continues the professor. "It's extremely important that you stay calm when fighting Grimm. A lot of rookies panic when they finally see real combat, and that fear is like catnip to those monsters, bringing any of the things close enough to notice running right for 'em. Things like hate and anger aren't any better." This earns a small scoff from Sal, but he doesn't speak up to contradict the professor.

Professor Corryn goes on to give some advice for staying calm in battle, eventually bringing up the low intelligence of the average Grimm. "Unless it's a bigger, older Grimm, you can't expect one to have very much concern for self preservation. Your typical Beowolf will just lunge right at you over and over until one of you is dead. So if you can manage to keep your head on straight, you usually have the advantage anyway."

Having no trouble with her emotional state in battle, Brooke's mind begins to drift to her recent projects, thinking of ways to improve her gear's efficiency and ways to get newer creations working in the first place. Without realizing it, she stops filling her notebook with actual notes and begins filling it with diagrams of weapons and armor. A small smile finds its way to her face.

While the professor talks about controlling emotions and keeping your head straight, Sal flips through his textbook, more interested in learning about Grimm than learning about himself. A low growl comes from him, but it's his stomach this time. "Talk, talk, talk..." he mutters to himself, not even paying attention anymore. "Either teach us something practical or let me go find lunch..."
​

"I'm at the top of the world! I'm sailing the skies!" loud singing could be heard outside of the dorms. Followed by loud knocking. What is that? Loth asked to himself as he arrived at the dorms. He opened the door as the singing grew louder... Too loud for his taste. The bathroom door abruptly swung open. A man covered only with a towel leaped out.

"AND HERE I AMMMMMM" He finished singing and he fell on his knees as he raised his right arm and rested his left arm on his chest, and humming for a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Loth watched the whole scene, thunderstruck. The boy was so focused he didn't even notice Loth's presence. He stayed on his knees for a while.

Loth felt awkward standing there, staring at a man, dressed only in a towel who seemed to be completely absent-minded. "... E-excuse me?" He spoke very low; Unsure of what to do. Alexandria and Alice opened the door and looked in. "I think we have the wrong dorm" Alice said, before slamming the door shut. Alexandria walked up to him and slapped him in the face. She shook her head and walked out of the room.

Loth was even more amazed, too many things had happened in less than two minutes. He shook his head slightly as usual, stood firmly and said, "You must be Leon..."

Alexandria opened the door slightly and exclaimed: "Let us know when you have some clothes on."

"Hey man! Yes, that's me, and you must be Loth." He stood, and stretched his hand towards Loth. "Nice to meet you!" Leon said with a big smile and his eyes closed.

A shy smile crept upon Loth's face. As awkward as the situation was, he felt a weird comfort. He thought this person could be his friend. They shook hands and Leon began to put on some clothes before Alexandria comes in again.

"So, is everyone decent now?" Alexandria asked, peeking through a crack in the door. Loth nodded. Alexandria motioned to Alice and the two entered the room. Alexandria walked up to Loth and reached out her hand, he grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. How do you do? My name is Alexiandria... but most people just call me Alex." She scratched the back of her head and, after a brief pause, turned to her friend. "This is Alice." Alice shyly nodded and turned away from Loth. Alexandria smiled and patted her on the back. "Don't be so shy!" she said. "O-okay..." She replied, staring at her feet. "We used to be close friends back in high school," Alexandria.

"Hello, this is Leon. We just met" Loth said and tried to hide a smile. Meanwhile Leon was sitting on the couch, playing with his semblance; numerous sparks came out of his fingertips. "Hey! Nice to meet you, I'm Leon. Sorry for our previous incident" he chuckled and gave a big smile. Something tells me it's going to be difficult to get along with him... Alexandria thought to herself.

Alice and Alexandria had particular personalities. Though, Loth didn't notice this. Loth can be really shallow when it comes to people. However, he had noticed Alex's rejection of Leon. I hope this won't be a problem in the future he thought to himself. Concern written on his face.

"We still have a few minutes until class, if you're not ready I'd advise you get to it. I've heard that the teacher is strict." Loth said while he was checking his backpack.

Alexandria and Alice walked up towards the door. "We're going to go for a walk." Alexandria said as they exited the room. "You two can spend your time however you want; just don't be late for class."

Salazar Jones

Sal was glad when Professor Leo's class finally ended. He had a few minutes to kill before his next class, so he decided to check out the mess hall again, see if any food was left from breakfast. Or, if there wasn't, if there was any lunch yet. Alas, the hall was empty, the kitchen locked, and the only person around was a ferret-faced janitor hauling an empty trash can. Denied even the table scraps, Sal found himself in an increasingly grumpy mood as he trudged to his next class. Luckily, it was combat class, so at least he'd get to punch something.

As he approached the door, he heard voices close by, distracting him from getting to class on time. The first voice was female, but a little rough and scratchy. "What'd I tell ya? Fastest runner in all Menagerie!"

Sal stopped to listen, hearing a much deeper voice reply. "Never doubted you for a second! Now, looks like you lost, eh? And I remember there being a bet involved, so you'd better pay up!"

"But I didn't bet anything. She said 'Hey, wanna race? It'll be fun!'" Sal tilted his head in confusion. The third voice sounded awfully familiar, although it was quiet and hard to hear, so he followed the voices to the back of the building, where a door was propped open.

"Then I said I bet I can get to class before you, and you said okay." "And she made it here before you, so you lost the bet!" Sal stepped outside, and sure enough, the quiet voice belonged to his teammate, Oswald. The little bunny boy was cornered by a white-haired girl who was filing her nails (specifically, filing the claws to wicked points), and quite possibly the fattest student Sal had ever seen. He couldn't even tell what kind of animal the guy was.

To his credit, Ozzy didn't look threatened. He just looked tired, like he just wanted this conversation to be over. "I don't even have any money to give you. So, even if I did lose a bet, which I didn't, I couldn't pay it." This just seemed to upset the fat man, who lunged forward surprisingly quickly and grabbed Oswald by the ears. "Listen, you little runt, we own this school now! So you better start showing the proper respect, eh?"

Sal growled as he stepped forward, surprising the others. "Let go of the bunny, Two-Ton." The fat man stepped back in surprise, letting go of Oswald. The girl puts away her nail file, rolling her eyes at Sal. "Easy, Big Green. You can have him when we're done with him." Sal ignored her as Ozzy came over to him.

"What are you doing, Ozzy? Making friends?" "Not exactly. I thought she just wanted some friendly competition, and it was kind of fun, but now they're twisting my words around, and that guy's kind of being an asshole about it." "You what?!" "I think their egos are kind of inflated, and they probably wanted to make an example of me because I'm small and weak, and I wouldn't put up much of a fight. Sorry to drag you into this. Let's just get to combat class."

Oswald turned to go back inside, but the fat man once again surprised them, running forward and doing a flip through the air, landing in front of the door with a scowl on his face and a baseball bat in his hands. "Neither of you is going anywhere, eh?!" Sal and Ozzy shared a confused glance, when a whirring sound behind them caught their attention. The girl had pulled out a three-barreled assault rifle, the barrels spinning to create the sound. "You want combat class? Come and get schooled!"

"No! Use your brain, Rae! If you shoot, someone'll hear it and come investigate! You don't want to break up the party, do you?" The girl pouted for a second, but relented, strapping the gun to her back. "Fine. Have it your way, Karl. But I call dibs on the rabbit." She cracked her knuckles, the pair of them flanking Sal and Ozzy. Ozzy's hands started glowing green, and his clothes glowed brown for a moment before rough bark started growing out of them, forming armor around him. Sal merely grinned maniacally, excited to finally get in a fight. "Stick close, Ozzy..." He removed his coat, tossing it to the side. "The hunt has begun!"

Sal rushed forward, bringing his right arm up to block. Sure enough, Karl took advantage of Sal's reckless charge and swung his bat, but Sal caught the weapon on his metal arm and followed with a left jab. Karl proved surprisingly agile for a fat guy, leaning back and dodging Sal's punch. "Nice try, but I was fighting in the pits long before I came to this school!"

Sal growled, leaping forward to tackle Karl, but the fat man swung his bat and struck Sal on top of the head. Sal didn't even flinch, picking Karl up and tossing him over his shoulder. He was momentarily surprised at how light Karl was, but got distracted by the girl, Rae, darting past him. Without her gun, she seemed forced to rely on her claws and her speed. Ozzy was countering both by fighting defensively, using his Semblance to grow sharp thorns on his armor, and using his own speed. She managed to get a hold of him by the ankle, where he had no armor, and pull him off his feet.

Sal raised his fist, his hands glowing a sickly green, firing off his Grappling Hand with a soft *WHUMP*. His fist connected with Rae's back, knocking her off her feet. She rolled back to her feet, ignoring Oswald and charging at Sal. She moved slower than she had been just a moment ago, allowing Sal to actually keep up with her. "Interesting! A speed boost Semblance! Delicious..."

Preoccupied with Rae, Sal forgot to keep track of Karl, and the fat man jumped on him from behind, getting his bat against Sal's throat. Sal managed to suck in a quick breath, and with his large lung capacity, he could hold his breath for several minutes. Karl's Semblance kicks in, and his weight seemed to drastically increase, dragging Sal to his knees. Rae slashed Sal across the chest, but her claws were unable to pierce his skin. She pulled back for another slash, when the loud boom of a shotgun echoed across the field. Rae was sent staggering, having caught the worst of the blast. Oswald pumped the action on his shovel, ejecting the old shell and loading another one into the chamber.

Sal used the distraction to grab hold of Karl, his hands glowing as he drained the power of Karl's Semblance. Sal surged to his feet, dragging Karl with him before falling back and pinning the fat man beneath him. The whir of Rae's rifle spinning up caught everyone's attention, and Oswald panicked slightly seeing her aim the gun at him. "You shot first! Guns are fair game now, rabbit!" She pulled the trigger, but taunting Oswald gave Sal a chance to dive forward and shield Ozzy with his body. The rifle put out an impressive number of bullets, which produced sparks as they impacted the thick scales on Sal's back. After a few agonizing seconds, Rae ran out of ammo, and Karl managed to climb back to his feet. "Come on, time to go! Everyone in the bloody school will have that racket, eh?"

Sal staggered to his feet, letting out a roar of pain and fury. Rae slapped a new magazine into her gun, but before she could spin up the barrels, a voice cut across the field. "That will be quite enough, students!" Everyone turned to face the newcomer, finding the harsh red eyes of Professor Langley glaring at them. "You have all displayed an astounding lack of teamwork, disrupted my class and others, and worst of all are all tardy! If you want to fight, do it on your own time or in class! Now move!"

The four combatants looked at each other in a mix of anger, confusion, and embarrassment before following the Professor's orders. Oswald's armor collapsed into dust around him, and he was the only one of the four capable of moving normally, being the only one to avoid damage during the fight. "Thanks for coming to help, Salazar. Sorry I didn't think of using my gun sooner." Sal gently clapped him on the shoulder, pushing him toward the door. "You wanna apologize? Buy me lunch later. And my friends call me Sal."

"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.

image by http://pokemontrainern1.deviantart.com/

Black Gil

Intangibility

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