The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattles publishment at threads/rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-five.341621/. Anyway on with the show...err read.

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For a long moment, the classroom was silent. From Dr. Toxotes below to the students in the floors above, everyone looked stunned at how quickly the battle ended. I could feel the emotions spreading through the room, amazement and disbelief most prominent—but as the seconds wore on, I could feel it give way to curiosity, interest, and intrigue.

It wasn't surprising, really. In Mistral, strength was damn near everything, no matter the form—economic strength, political strength, mental strength, strength of will, and, of course, personal strength—and Adam had just proved he had strength in spades. We'd proven that to some extent by going through the Labyrinth with what had probably been record breaking speed, but it was unlikely many of the other students had heard about that beyond unconfirmed rumors.

This, though? This was something no one could deny. Adam's strength—and, thus, the strength of team JAME—had just been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt and now it was a fact that everyone was going to have to live with. I could see people realize that slowly and accept it, but already they were incorporating it into their plans. Some, those who'd intended to establish themselves as the new power among Haven's freshmen and student body, were beginning to see us as rivals with various degrees of despair. Others saw us as potential allies to work with to achieve their goals, and I could feel their focus as they filed us away to look into later. A few of those remaining even began to consider making themselves subordinate to us in Haven's power structure, whether for power or protection.

Good. Our opening move was already causing ripples, just as we'd intended. Those who intended to set themselves up as enemies would need to be dealt with, of course, but the scene before them was already making their resolve faster. Those who went digging would inevitably find out that I was the grandson of Jeanne Roma and that the Knossos family were tied to the Roma Family—but it was also possible that a few of them had old friends at Sanctum that might recognize Emerald and Mercury, maybe even remember something that wasn't in the records. It was unlikely, but it cost nothing to make others look for me. Regardless, what they found out about our team as a whole was likely to frighten them and make them even more interested in an alliance; with it came to living in Mistral, or even living on Remnant, sometimes scary friends were the best ones to have.

And those who approached us, asking to become our subordinates…well, there was plenty of room in the faction I was building—and it would be a faction soon. Even Dr. Toxotes was looking at us differently now, recognizing our power, if nothing else. He'd pass word on to the other faculty and soon it would be known that we were Haven's new rising stars. There'd be challenges to face accordingly, both from other freshmen teams and upperclassmen, but as we faced them down and overcame them, our power would grow.

Adam had done well, as I'd known he would on a mission. I'd briefed him on all the other teams that had formed during initiation, summarizing the information I'd gathered on them with a focus on how they acted and fought. It had been a lot of information, even boiled down to the barebones, but he'd taken it in silently the moment he understood that I was explaining something important. I wasn't sure if Adam had recognized team TEAL, but he'd made the right choice in taking them out fast, tearing them apart before the synergy that had allowed their team to finish third shown through.

In truth, they weren't bad once they had time to properly set things up. Ethan and Aaron had two very similar Semblances that allowed them to apply specific buffs to other people. Ethan improved accuracy, attack speed, and defense penetration while his brother improved the targets defensive and offensive abilities. They couldn't apply these buffs to themselves, but their power was significant; from what I'd seen, each of them tended to apply these buffs to both of their brother's at the onset of a fight, leading to some confusion as they seemingly traded powers. They even kept things mostly under wraps by each pretending that the power they were gifted with was their actual Semblance.

Laurence tied it all together with another buff-type power—but one that could only affect him. It made him bigger, faster, tougher, and stronger, increasing all his physical stats significantly with a number of physical changes. Better yet, it was possible for both of his brother's powers to target him and, while so supported, he was a force to be reckoned with inside of his weight class. Not enough to close the gap between him and Adam, but enough to stand out amongst the class, even on his own. His brothers had laid their power over him before the start of initiation and he'd torn through everything in his path until he'd met up with Toril and then his brothers. Given Toril's own superstrength…once TEAL got itself in order and learned to trust and work with one another, they'd likely be one of the stronger teams in the class. While they'd had no real hope of defeating Adam even so, they might have been able to turn it into a losing battle with Adam holding back his Semblance and best tricks, or at least last a while longer.

Unfortunately for them, I couldn't allow that. For the time being, it was better that we were seen as completely impossible to stand against or resist, even if that meant tearing them down right now. I knew the value of the appearance of strength and it was worth too much for me to throw away this opportunity. I'd extend an offer to them later, perhaps—a friendly one, even. They had potential and a useful power set if handled properly, and I had nothing against any of them. Things would likely be strained between our teams for some time, but it should be possible to smooth things over. It was just…

I intended to run this place.

"—Very good, Mr. Knossos," Dr. Toxotes said, breaking the silence at long last. To the man's credit, the strain in his voice was negligible and well hidden, I just had good ears and some Empathy. "You may return to your seat."

Adam grunted, raking a hand through his hair once before making his way towards the stairs, leaving the fallen team behind. The professor glanced at his back and then down at his fallen students before heaving a sigh and collecting them. As he scooped them up into his arms, a misty-white glow incased his hands, healing the minor injuries Adam had dealt. For his part, my friend made it about halfway up the stairs before tossing Crocea Mors at my head.

I caught it absently and nodded to him as if he'd passed me the salt at dinner, resting the sword across my lap.

"Well," Dr. T continued as if nothing had happened, clapping his hands again. "Who's next? I need more volunteers."

I raised my hand. Surprisingly, no one else did.

The professor let several seconds go by in silence, waiting for someone else to do…anything, really. When no one did, he glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Arc," He stated, the information on our team still on his scroll. "Would I be correct in assuming you would also like to challenge a team?"

"No, sir," I answered at once. "If possible, I'd like to fight the rest of the class."

There was another explosion of whispers throughout the classroom as Dr. T closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them tiredly.

"Please," He said. "Explain."

I looked around as if I wasn't sure what there was to explain before shrugging.

"Me," I answered, pointing to myself before gesturing around the room. "Versus every team in the room."

"I…hope you aren't doing this out of some need to prove yourself after your teammate's performance, Mr. Arc," Dr. T replied after a moment. "Because I've had several students attempt such things in the past and it rarely ended well."

"No need to worry about that, sir," I answered cheerfully before pausing. "Well, actually, I suppose it's sort of an attempt to prove myself, but it's not because of Adam. He already knows I'm the strongest person in the room—"

Adam grunted in annoyance and crossed his arms but didn't deny it.

"It's just…a lot of other people probably aren't so sure," I continued, shrugging helplessly. "And there's probably a lot of people worried about being the strongest—but see, the position is taken and, well, it'll probably be easier for everyone here if I just prove it right now. And if everyone just fights me all at once, it'll go faster, see? And that way, hopefully there won't any misunderstandings."

The room fell silent again, as if no one could believe what I was saying. Even the professor looked a little stunned by my gall.

"That's…" He paused for a moment to regain himself. "That's a rather rude thing to say to of your fellow classmates, even if it was true. If it's not, it's horrifically arrogant as well."

"I apologize, sir," I answered, inclining my head. "If you wish, I could fight you instead, to make up for it. You could put me in my place, as it were."

Dr. Toxotes looked at me for a long moment, speechless, before turning his head away. After another long moment, he turned back to me, disbelief still written on his face.

"Are you…challenging me to a fight?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes, sir," I replied. "If you're willing, I would appreciate the opportunity."

"And you think you can win?" He asked, surprise giving way to confusion and disbelief.

"I do, sir," I stated. "May I have a chance to prove it?"

"You…you're…" Dr. T stopped for a moment to gaze at the floor before lifting his gaze to meet mine. "Assuming, for a moment, that you were correct, you realize that the destruction such a fight would cause would be tremendous, don't you?"

"I'm good at cleaning up messes, sir," I answered. "I'm will to take responsibility for any damages."

"Oh, well, in that case," He said, still shaking his head in disbelief before letting his gaze wander to Adam and then to the scroll in his hands. He'd seen what my friend had done. He'd seen how easily we'd passed the test. Some part of him couldn't help but wonder if I was actually serious—so in the end, he lifted his head again. "Okay, I'll tell you what. As a teacher and a Hunter, I know the value of trust—and how can I expect any of you to trust me if I don't extend some trust to you. So I'll give you a chance to prove yourself, Mr. Arc. Hit me once and we'll see what you're capable of."

This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow, even as I let off the gas of several of my more energy intensive skills. Feeling my power swiftly return, I rose from my seat.

"Just to make sure," I mused, smiling slightly. "That's not a joke, is it?"

"I joke with my students," He answered. "Not about them."

"I appreciate that, sir," I answered as I glanced up at the ceiling, quietly checking the rooms and tunnels around us to make sure no one would be caught in the crossfire. "I can understand how it might take people awhile to take me seriously, so I'll return the favor be taking you seriously, sir."

Confirming that they were clear, I glanced back down at the professor, who was starting to grow on me, and smiled again.

And then I dumped ten thousand MP into a Psychokinetic strike.

The reaction was almost instantaneous and wasn't limited to Dr. Toxotes. As I dropped my gaze from the ceiling to the professor, I brought down the fullness of my gathered power like a giant's hammer and the room shattered. Massive fissures exploded across the stadium below before spreading up the rows of the auditorium, tearing apart the stairways with massive, gaping cracks. At the center of the assault, the professor—as the target of the attack—promptly accelerated downwards, piercing through the stone floor like a bullet. Without slowing down, he crashed into the tunnels below use, crashed through the ceiling and floor, and then repeated the process several times as he raced down the Labyrinth with speed enough to heat the very air around him.

Seen through my eyes, it was a spectacle. In my field of slowed time, I could see the cracks spread through stone with great speed, spitting up puffs of dust and dirt in the process. I could see the air vibrate with sound, heat with energy, and get sucked downwards in the professor's wake. And I was able to watch as the combination of forces finally made the floor give way and fall, pulling down everyone it was supporting in the process. Caught off-guard, several people screamed—more in surprise than fear as things happened to fast to realize what was truly happening—as they fell, rubble crashing down upon the tunnel below us and shattering it as well, and then the tunnel below that. In moments, everyone in the class was laying atop a field of rubble far below the classroom.

Everyone, that is, except me. As the floor fell out from beneath my feet, I didn't so much as change position, hovering in place with my Vimana. As the room crumbled around me, I watched carefully, relying on Ereb and Crocea Mors to reinforce and protect the areas that I deemed hard to replace. Between their Aura and the position at the top of the collapse, my classmates faced little risk in the fall, but I tracked their descent carefully to make sure nothing happened to them, catching them as they fell to halt each of them a moment before their hit the ground, as well as catch anything that might fall upon them. I held them all aloft for a moment to make it clear that someone was doing something and then gently set each of them down before beginning to lower myself.

As I did, the rubble began to shift and flow, rising as I descended. I reorganized it in the rooms above me, leaving the gaping hole that had once been the floor open so they could see. Pieces came together above me, cracks fading at my Elemental's touch as they did, and by the time I'd lowered myself through the classroom's floor, it was mostly fixed above me. I continued the process as I slowly floated down, mending the tunnels as I went before stopping just above the floor my classmates were now standing upon, feet about half a meter off the ground. None of them said a word as I paused, most of them staring at me in terrified awe, and for the sake of showmanship, I gave them a moment to gawk.

Adam, one of the few who wasn't staring at me, just rolled his eyes, pulled out his scroll, and started browsing the internet. I flicked him in the nose with an invisible hand as punishment before continuing with my work, tearing the hole Dr. T's passage had made wider on each floor. The other students staggered back a step before approaching again, staring down into the depths of the Labyrinth as they followed by gaze.

Somewhere far beneath us, rubble shifted as Kaus Toxotes rose with a slight stagger, resting a hand against the tunnel wall even as dim white light, almost like starlight, flickered around him. He was stunned and reeling, down a fair amount of Aura, and wondering what the hell had just happened, but was otherwise fine, just as I'd know he'd be.

With a theatrical gesture, I waved my hand downwards in a half-circle before bringing it up again. As I did, Dr. Toxotes twitched once as he began to rise, Aura letting out sparks in every direction before he realized what was happening and stopped fighting as I lifted him back the way he'd come. He rose the saw way I'd fallen, the destruction his passage had caused smooth as he ascended until he stood eye to eye with me.

Slowly, he gave me a nod of acknowledgement and began to glow with the color of his Aura before floating back under…not quite his own power, but under his own will to land on the ground. His Semblance was one of the rare types that interacted directly with the Aura of others, primarily in a positive way. He couldn't drain Aura or negate it or anything like that, but he was capable of making adjustments—supplementing the power of an attack with his own, giving attacks more power or range, making something that could normally only target a single person affect several, or even improve the user's control of their own power. It was also possible, however, for him to make minute adjustments to something's breadth and accuracy. Not enough to reverse an attack or deflect it after it had already hit, but enough to defuse the power over a larger area or shift the force of the blow slightly at the last second. Since he could channel that power through a weapon, such as his favored bow and arrow…well, even positive reinforcement can bring a person down if done properly. Coupled with his ability to improve the natural defensive and healing abilities of Aura and he'd apparently gone quite a ways and even getting knocked down into the water table had only stunned him.

Which had been the point. An attack he couldn't dodge or even really see coming with enough force to amaze him but not truly harm. Had things been different—had this been a real fight and he an actual enemy—I wouldn't have hit him that way. While any attack with ten thousand MP behind it was certain to be devastating, such methods weren't the best choice against someone like him and I had access to more efficient methods that would probably have gotten better results. Had I been fighting for my life, I'd had slipped under an illusion and taken to the air with Vimana to avoid his arrows, and while I'd have still attacked with Psychokinesis, it would have been a random, directionless assault, invisible attacks from angle that gave no indication of my actual position. Rather than a single, enormous attack, I'd have torn at him from every angle with my maxed out and inexpensive Magic Missiles while randomly changing the battlefield with my Elementals and alterations in gravity and so on, all while I withdrew to a distance that was safely beyond my opponent's reach, whether it was a meter away or a kilometer away. Once I had him in a position where he had no real chance of hitting me but from which I could assault him at my leisure, it was logically only a matter of time until he fell, regardless of what adjustments he made.

That's rather the point of ranged combat, after all. If you could hit your opponent and they couldn't hit you back, it generally meant you won. Granted, the fight might have taken a little while longer then it potentially needed to as he tweaked my aim, but by staying out of sight, out of reach, and by keeping up a constant stream of cheap but lethal attacks, I'd have worn him down by sheer attrition with little danger to myself. Naturally, I had access to alternative methods, if the situation demanded it; if the risk to others was a concern, I could remain close enough to shield them or even use Naraka to change locations, depending on what secrets I was keeping. If time was an issue, I had faster ways to win fights; with my Psychokinesis, I no longer needed to worry about the fact that many of my attacks occupied my hands, which meant I could freely wade into battle with the White Tiger style and rip my opponent to pieces with a physical and magical assault, unleashing my full power—in fact, that was my most powerful method of attack, limited only by the fact that it might tie my identities together. But on the whole, it would be wisest to keep a distance and be cautious with an opponent that had so much experience.

Regardless, I'd been completely sincere when I'd said I was sure I could defeat him in battle. I knew he was strong, experienced, and talented—to be as old and high leveled as he was, he had to be—and it was quite possible that he could push me further than I might expect even from all the information I'd gathered through Observation. But if I really, truly had to…I'd win. Even limited to the powers I could safely use in a school setting, without endangering my identity or the lives of those around me, I was fairly confident I could defeat him in a real battle, or I wouldn't have made the offer; I tried to avoid picking fights I didn't know I could win. But the methods I'd have used? They wouldn't have looked anything like this. It cost too much for too little, even if it was a devastating blow. As tactics went, expending nearly two-thirds of my power in an opening move when I was fairly certain it would neither kill nor incapacitate my opponent…well, it wasn't one I favored. I had nothing against taking down an enemy quickly, but I preferred it when they were actually taken down. I mean, at the very least, I'd have focused my power into a smaller area.

When it came to making an impression, however…it worked just fine.

"I'm not going to lie, Mr. Arc," He said after a moment's silence, looking at me in a new light and sounding fairly impressed. "I didn't see that coming."

I smiled widely at the words, inclining my head in thanks.

"And I see you've already cleaned up after yourself, too," He noted, looked around and nodding in satisfaction.

"I told you I would, sir," I answered.

"You did," He admitted. "And it's good to see that you are a man of your word. It seems were a few floors down, however."

"The floor collapsed," I stated with a shrug. I caught everyone but didn't feel like carrying them while I made repairs.

"Fair enough," He allowed. "But as we're no longer in the classroom and as I seem to have come down with something of a headache, why don't we call it a day? Class dismissed."

I nodded and turned away, nodding towards Adam to follow. None of my classmates moved, seeming to wait on me.

"Oh, and Mr. Arc," Dr. T said as I began to walk away, catching my attention. "Stop by my office, sometime; I'd like to speak to you at some point."

"Yes, sir," I answered with a smile.