"Don't worry about them. I'm sure we'll draw a crowd this weekend. And it'll be a better show than this, won't it?" The words flowed smoothly past Zane's grin, confident in events to come.
"You wouldn't rather our date be a little more private?" Violett replied, her sly smile still clear across her face. "Not a complaint, per say. In fact, I'm rather curious to see how far you'll be able to go out in the open before nerves get the better of you. I'm certainly not convinced every bit of that confident attitude you flaunt is as steady as you'd like it to seem, but we'll find out soon, won't we?" she toyed.
The assembly hall was nearing the flirtatious pair, but Zane paid it no heed. Instead, Zane eyed Violett down, giving her another good look before locking on to her equally emerald-like eyes. "Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself? I'm sure you must be preoccupied with thoughts of what we'll do afterwards, but I was merely talking about dinner."
Violett bat her eyelashes, her coy smile growing ever more obvious. "So was I."
"I'm sure," Zane claimed, giving Violett a wink and a knowing smile.
Zane was the first one to arrive at the hall, and somehow it felt the need to feign some level of chivalry, so he decided to be a good escort and hold the door for Violett. "It's about time I take the lead and let you go first."
She laughed as she stepped through the door and into the bustling assembly hall. "The only time you'll be taking the lead, I can promise you."
After the announcement was made, Zane knew that he must separate from the lovely Violett, as he was one of the people that needed an ether weapon. He had heard of such weapons, and it just dawned on him that Violett's whip sword was most likely one of them. Zane glanced towards Violett, flashing the girl a mischievous half-smile and giving her a wanton look. "I'll see you later. Gotta go see a man about a gun."
"As long as you get that sorted before our date. I'd hate it to be cut short because you can't keep it up," she teased, sending him a playful wink before they parted ways and she vanished into the crowds, out of sight but most definitely not out of mind.
And just like that, Zane concluded his meeting with Violett and decided on the type of weapon he would pursue. The only other thing that he questioned was: what kind of gun would fit his stylish ways? Would it be the traditional revolver? No, it was old school. What about something like an assault rifle or a sub machine gun? No, it would be too clunky and not flashy enough. Then what kind of weapon would suit?
And then an epiphany rang through, making it quite clear what would be Zane's best weapon. His finger wouldn't suffice, but something compact would still do the trick. He needed some form of a modern semi-automatic handgun. Yes, that would do nicely for the extravagant youth. As his thoughts on the subject concluded, he had entered a line of students looking for the same thing he was: a weapon.
By the time Zane reached the front the line, a large man sitting at a table with boxes among boxes of weapons came into view. The man was massive and looked like every stereotypical cowboy ever made, ten-gallon hat and all. "You have any idea of whatcha want, boy?" said the cowboy. Zane was taken aback by the man's attitude, but allowed it on the grounds of being pressed for time.
"Yes, I'd like some form of handgun. And not a revolver." The cowboy turned around and sifted through the weapons, finding one that matched Zane's limited description. It was a traditional 9mm pistol. A standard issue gun, slightly modernistic, with a touch of classic flair. He'd have to have it customized later, but otherwise, "Perfe…" But before he could finish the thought, a new one occupied its space. "Could you remove the trigger? It seems like a trigger would only slow me down."
The cowboy raised one eyebrow to Zane, clearly perplexed at the request. "Sure, I can do that. Bit of an odd request, I'd say." But the cowboy took the gun back and did as asked, removing the trigger from the gun. In its place, a slot along the barrel where Zane could rest his finger was formed.
Immediately, Zane knew he needed to try the firearm's new mechanism out. He saw one of the test dummies on a large platform a fair distance away. Instead of backing up, and properly going through the line to test his weapon, Zane fired off an amplified version of his Light Beam. The shot rang true and collided with the test dummy's chest, piercing what would have been its lung.
"Nice shot, kid," the cowboy remarked.
"Nice gun," Zane replied. The cowboy handed Zane a holster for the weapon and off Zane went to find someone to test his new equipment on, the cowboy returning to hand over more equipment to other students. While looking for a victim, Zane attached the holster to his pants with the included belt, holstering the weapon just to get it out of the way.
Among the crowd, he saw another impressive lady, helping someone with their stance. She was beautiful, but unlike Violett, there was something distinctly wild about her. Her messy crimson hair spoke to Zane, and he knew he had to speak to her.
Wait a second. This was the brutal fighter Zane was watching less than half an hour ago. Took another student out in a single blow, and fast to boot. The lower half of her jeans were still torn from that fight, but she didn't seem to care in the least.
"Perfect."
If he was going to spar with anyone, it had to be her.
As he approached the fierce woman, he called out to her. "Miss, you wouldn't happen to be busy, would you?"
"I have time," she answered with a deadpan tone. She let the student with her go on their way, and turned to Zane to continue. "What's up?"
Zane was not amused with the girl's sass, but it was still an opportunity that he couldn't miss out on. "I was just wondering if you'd humor me with a sparring match. I saw your fight earlier, and I figured you'd be able to give me a run for my money." Zane simply smirked, certain that he could keep up with whatever the redhead could throw at him.
Her steel green eyes brightened up a bit when he made the offer, so the two took a moment to formally introduce themselves, and found an empty spot on the platform with sufficient space for them to move. While Zane drew the gun from his new holster, Shion didn't seem to have a weapon of her own.
"I suppose you probably don't even need to practice with a weapon for a friendly little match like this, right?" Given that her specialty seemed to be kicking, what would she have even used?
Shion, one arm held out to the side, let her new opponent know, "I'll make an exception just for you."
Particles of energy circled around the limb, until it obscured her entire forearm. It began to solidify into a muddy brown material, like a glove, but on her fingers the energy stretched further. One finally reached the tip, then another, and once the entire hand finished forming she was wielding claws six inches long.
Shion proved her speed as she did half an hour ago, moving too quickly for Zane's eyes to keep up, and closing the fifteen-foot gap between them in a second.
What was the word he was looking for? "Fear?" Perhaps not 100% accurate, but it would have to do.
Before she made contact, Zane's body converted itself into pure light. Time slowed to a crawl. He was seeing in monochrome. Her fist was inches away from his chest. Zane moved.
When he reassembled himself, he was ten feet in the air, and Shion's body passed through the point where he was an instant ago.
Got her disoriented. That's good. He could still think on his feet. Zane aimed his gun and took a shot, nailing his target in the back of the leg. It was the same leg that had taken an explosion at point blank fighting one of the upperclassmen. \She started bleeding, and the fading bullet startled her, but it didn't seem to do nearly as much damage as he'd expected or hoped. Something blocked most of the impact, but he could barely see what it was.
She turned to face him, and moved again as he fell. Zane wasn't even allowed to blink before he had to pull off his disappearing act a second time. He couldn't do it much more without dealing more damage to himself than Shion would inflict.
When he got another look at her, it wasn't just one arm. All four limbs had that same armor she'd initially summoned. She created them in transit? Hell, the greaves looked like they were ripped straight off a monster's legs, massive talons propping up the soles of her feet. Was she even a mage? Or was she one of the things they were supposed to kill?
Zane tried to take another potshot while he had the chance, but he wasn't given one. Shion turned herself in the air, launching herself downward and deflecting Zane's hardlight bullet with one of her gloves.
She stopped immediately in front of him, kneeled down and facing the wrong way, the wind from her landing blowing Zane's hair back. Her elbow upturned for his chest, Zane tried to use his Vector Shift again, but he was slowing down. He was knocked skyward, the air being punched out of his lungs. He had to Shift before she could follow him. He returned to the ground, hand clutching his ribs. Nothing broken, but it was a focused jab. He could barely breathe, and his vision was blurred.
Worse, he had to take whatever else she had head on. With a swipe of the hand toting his gun, four massive and ornate blades of solid light materialized in a halo around him. She evidently thought little of it, but Zane worked quite a lot on this spell. When she got close enough to punch him again, one blade held back her fist, and another swung, colliding with her gauntlet and sending her flying herself.
"You like?"
"Pretty," she responded as she brushed some dust off of her arms. "Hope they don't dent easily. You play CB?"
"Something like that." He'd been playing a phone game called Courageous Border for a few years now. Loved some of the weapon designs, and modeled his Blade Storm after them. Was nice to know there were some players at Vale, but why did it have to be this monster of a woman?
Zane saw the chance to go on the offensive. He took it. Two blades flew out for her, ready to pin her back and call the match his, but just in case he kept the other two at his side. He wasn't an idiot.
However, he was tired. The past hour had taken its toll on his body, his Vector Shift was failing him, and he was in an excess of pain from being punched only once. Violett's sword had nothing on this. Just before his bladed guard could keep Shion from making contact, the tips of her claws left thin trails of wind gently streaming against his collar. They were an inch away, and his swords were an inch further.
She was steady, a grin gracing one side of her face.
"I submit," he conceded, dispelling his magical swords. In answer, Shion retracted her hand and stepped back. Getting rid of her beastlike armor took away the few inches it gave her height, and she looked so much less intimidating without that battle-ready aura. Dare he say, attractive.
Despite his weakness, Zane at least recognized the gap in talent and experience that Shion had over him. After all, she was effortlessly keeping up with him after having fought earlier for herself, and if there was one thing he knew he was gifted at, it was his speed. Even if he lagged, Zane figured most all of the students would be hard pressed to keep up with him, but Shion read him like an open book after his first Shift.
"I'd say I'm impressed, but something tells me you get that a lot." Zane paused to catch his breath. "So, for something a little different, I want a rematch in a couple days, out somewhere we don't have to hold back. I'll show you that what you saw here today isn't even a fraction of what I can do."
"If I said I wasn't going easy on you, either, I'd be lying. Hope you can still put up a good fight at your best." Dismissive as she was, Zane felt an accord with Shion—someone who wouldn't give him any slack, and challenge him the way he wants. (Well, one of the ways he wants.)
Another moment to stare each other down, and the two shook hands in agreement for a much more painful fight to come. The redhead smiled, and a glimmer in her eyes made Zane feel an unnatural... What was the word? "Terror?" Not 100% accurate, but it would have to do.
He had the choice of going to the nurse, but he let his ego get to him. Zane looked to Shion sitting on the sidelines, a gust of clean air washing over her and apparently making it easier for the wound on her leg to close. She was concentrating rather heavily on the task; perhaps healing was considerably more difficult than combat magic. Zane joined her, sitting by and watching the other students practice in stoic silence as he let his body adjust to the pain in his chest (and the pain in his pride). He didn't feel like anything was broken, thankfully, so he could recover in peace.
