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.

Rulebook

I looked up at him as I pulled myself from the rubble. Of to the side, I saw Finn shoot him a sullen glance as he straightened.

"Albus," He stated. "Still devouring fun wherever you find it, I see."

"Fionn," Albus replied in exactly the same tone. "Still making a mess of yourself, I see."

Finn made a disgusted noise as Albus turned away, seemingly dismissing him as he turned his attention my way.

"Jaune Arc," He said as I brushed myself clean of dust, floating back into the air. "I didn't intend to get involved, but given everything—"

He gestured around the room, which was now missing several walls, a ceiling, and most of a floor.

"I really have no choice," He continued. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped tearing apart the school on your first day."

I snorted, floating forward. As I did, I drew up the pieces of the wall I'd crashed through, calling upon Ereb's powers to restore it to its previous condition. As I floated over the broken floor, pieces leapt up from the tunnel below and slide back into place, reforming as I passed.

"I won't break anything I can't fix," I replied. "Finn and I are just having some fun to celebrate the new semester. We'll clean up after ourselves when we're done. Right, Finn?"

"Right," Finn said with a nod. "If by we, you mean you, because I have a class to sleep through right after this."

I tilted my head at him and smiled, sending him a quick Psychokinetic shove that barely rocked him. Albus, for his part, merely closed his eyes and sighed quietly.

"Be that as it may," He continued, keeping his tone reasonable. "I must insist you that you not fight in the cafeteria; you're disturbing the other students. If you truly must continue this, please take it elsewhere."

I looked at Finn who met my gaze evenly until I slowly raised an eyebrow. He closed his eyes with a snort and I smiled in response.

"That seems fair," I said before releasing a blast of Psychokinetic force right beneath his feet. I saw him try to dodge back but without teleportation, I had the advantage when it came to speed. The force of the blow smashed him straight through the ceiling and then through several tunnels above us, knocking him straight to the surface of Mistral. As he went, I felt something punch me in the heart again, sliding past most of my defenses to land a hit the moment I struck at the older student.

Brushing off the flash of pain, I followed his ascent and felt Finn vanish as I passed through the open ceiling. He flickered between the floors as he teleported towards the surface, using them as stepping stones to aim his next jump, and beat me to ground level by a fraction of a second. Ignoring him for a moment, I glanced up at Albus who was reaching the apex of his climb and helped him back to earth with another mental blast.

I waited for a moment to make sure but didn't take any damage this time, even when Albus crashed into the ground with an explosion of dirt and soil. Everything was silent for a long moment before I heard him heave a quiet sigh and rise from the ground.

"That," He said as he rose, frowning down at the dirt on his uniform as if it offended him personally. "Was pointlessly rude."

"Mm," I agreed with a smile. "But you wanted to play, too, right? I saw you watching Finn and I fight and you looked like you wanted in."

He tilted his head. Beneath us, I could feel the other students moving, trying to rush to the surface to continue watching the fight. I didn't mind talking for a bit, to give them time to arrive—this was supposed to be a show, after all.

"Perhaps," He allowed after a moment. "Even so, it costs nothing to be polite."

"Says the guy who attacked us both," Finn snorted, pounding a fist to his chest again.

He sniffed once, shooting Finn an annoyed look.

"I did nothing of the sort," He said. "You broke the rules and were punished, nothing more."

"Maybe," I said after a moment, making a show of mulling it over. "But you're the one who enforces the rules, aren't you?"

Albus' lips twitched up into a quick grin that vanished almost as soon as it came.

"Someone has to," He said. "You barbarians can hardly be trusted to police yourselves, after all."

"Ugh," Finn grunted. "Finn smack talky man with sword if he no stop being dick."

Albus gestured at his fellow senior.

"Case and point," He said. "Still, things had gotten out of hand. You chose to fight even when the rules forbid it…it's only natural that something bad happened."

"It's against the rules to fight in the cafeteria," I repeated before smiling. "When I attacked Finn, I got hit and when I escorted you to the surface, I got hit again. But the second time I hit you, nothing happened—because we weren't in the cafeteria anymore, right?"

Albus' smile returned after a moment, spreading slowly across his face.

"It usually takes people long to figure that out," He said. "Jaune Arc…I must say, you're an interesting guy."

"Thanks," I answered. "I want to punch you, too."

At that he chuckled and dropped a hand to his blade, tapping a finger lightly against the steel. As he did, I looked him over again, scanning him carefully as I did.

That fact of the matter was that Albus was the strongest normal student at Haven—if you could call anyone here normal. He had the highest level after Cinder and I, and the two of us were only here for our own reasons. Even for level eighty-four, his stats were high, and he was undoubtedly the third strongest student at Haven right now, as well the leader of what was probably the largest faction.

Even so, it was his Semblance that had first caught my eye. While not unheard of, Semblances that could ignore an opponent's defenses at range and strike at them directly were exceedingly rare—and that wasn't the only reason it was odd. It worked more like a barrier than anything else, affecting everything within a defined area in a simple way. He declared a rule and anyone who broke it was automatically and immediately punished. According to what I'd Observed, there were limits to what he could declare, primarily in how specific they could be, but otherwise he could declare whatever he wanted, even declaring rules that specifically struck at his enemies. For example, while he couldn't make 'being Jaune Arc' illegal, he could probably forbid the use of Psychokinesis to make me rack up damage. In fact…

"How'd he beat you, Finn," I asked, glancing his way with a smile. "Did he make teleportation illegal?"

"Smack dick with sword," Finn repeated a tad sullenly. "Smack dick in the dick with sword."

Albus smirked at that and gave Finn an arch look and I couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

Yeah, as powers went, that was a pretty good one; it was easy to see why his level was so high. But…powers like that, which could blow straight past most defenses, usually came with a price and I was pretty sure I knew what this one's was.

"Well, rules are important," I mused. "Like you said, it's only natural for those who break them to be punished. But, you know, it sort of makes me wonder what would happen if you broke the rules."

"Ah," Albus shrugged, but his smile widened. "Who knows? I've always been a model student."

"Well, luckily, it only takes one to start a fight." I replied, cracking my neck.

"Oh?" He said, making a show of pondering that for a moment as more students gathered around us. As he did, his Aura flashed invisibly, coloring the earth and air around us with shades of blue. "You know…it's not very nice to attack your elders."

I snorted as Finn groaned. From his reaction, it seemed safe to assume that Albus was older then him and even with my Accelerated lifestyle, both of them were older than me. As such, Albus was free to attack both of us, Finn would take damage from attacking Albus, and I'd get hurt every time I attacked either of them.

Oh, well. I'd challenged Finn already, but if this was a challenge to see which of us could take a bigger ass-kicking, I wasn't worried. Maybe if they brought their factions along, too, but even if I took damage every time I attacked, I'd manage. This chat had given me time to recover my Aura and heal all the damage I'd taken, anyway.

"I'll take that under advisement," I told him dryly even as the Aura in the room finished shifting to accommodate the new rule. "Shall we begin?"

"I don't like it," Finn said. "This fights kind of rigged against you, now."

"He's using his power to his advantage, same as I am; seems fair enough to me," I answered. "As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't change anything—I'll take you both on and still win."

"I'd appreciate it if you don't lump me in with the likes of Fionn," Albus replied. "You'll find that I'm better than him in literally every way."

"Asshole, that's my line," Finn growled, lifting his sword again.

In response, Albus drew his own. Light glowed along the broadsword and its guard, shining blue in the light even as the blade began to shift. It didn't change shape, but several channels and hatches opened along its length and the sword began to glow with the light of Dust. As it did, he drew the sheath as well, flipping it once and catching it as it began to unfold into a wide shield with a large blue lens at its center, revealing more Dust even as it was fed into the circuits along the shield. After a moment, a hemisphere of transparent blue light sprang up around him in a protective force field.

Albus gave Finn another superior look and focused on me again. I didn't glance at his weapons, but it was a bit of a near thing.

"Wow," Adam whispered amongst the crowd of students, undoubtedly knowing I would hear. "It's like yours, except better."

"It just has more lasers," I replied through Levant, defending Crocea Mors' honor.

"Yes," He acknowledged. "Hence, better."

Snorting off the jab, I focused on my opponents, as well as the crowd surrounding us. The display we'd made thus far had ensured that damn near everyone was gathered in the hopes of seeing us beat the shit out of one another, which was just the way I liked it. Even so, I glanced over the assembled groups with my senses, making sure everyone who was supposed to be present was there, and felt the world slow as I focused.

In the back, I saw the teachers, including my sister, ready to step in at a moment's notice if something went wrong but completely willing to let us beat the tar out of one another until then. Several of them were adding to their notes, writing down details about both our combat abilities and how we interacted. As they shifted through their files, I caught glimpses of several folders about various teams and groups and made a not to look over some shoulders when they started looking through them. For now, though, I was happy to let them watch, to make this a touch more official.

This was, after all, for the sake of the students. Having streamed out of the tunnels below, they stood in crowds to watch us fight—to watch me fight two of the most powerful seniors. Whereas in the cafeteria they'd been gathered into groups, the rush to the surface had shattered such boundaries and caused the factions to mix. Loyalties were set aside as they whispered among each other, younger students asking questions even as older students shared stories of previous fights. Through it all, gossips of all ages spread rumors of rivalries, powers, friendships, and more, most of them obviously false but enough to catch attention. There were even a few people taking bets and, despite his words, I noticed that Adam had bet on me.

All of the factions were in attendance, however, even as they mixed into the crowds. I saw the Atreus brothers beside each other, all three Alexandrians off to the side, and Roland watching with pursed lips beside his friend. Finn and Albus both had a bunch of friends in attendance, from Albus's right-hand man Delwyn Emrys to Lonan Dermot who silently watched over Finn. A crowd of powerful juniors and seniors was gathered around each, some cheering while others looked on in silence, but none of them interfered. This was, apparently, our fight and they seemed content to watch like everyone else.

Good. Hearing about my power was one thing, but some things you just had to see for yourself.

But, of course, the one I focused on the most was the guest of honor. Cinder was watching silently, allowing events to unfold without her input but not, I noted, without her attention. She was waiting for something, though she didn't speak to anyone and waited off to the side. Occasionally, I noticed students cast glances her way, apparently wondering what she would do about this, but none of them approached and made no move to interfere. Was she just gathering information or was she planning something. If it was the former, I didn't much mind because I had deep pockets when it came to tricks. But I was hoping for the latter, just to see how she'd respond to everything that was happening. If I was lucky, it might reveal something. If I wasn't, well, it would scratch a few things off the list and there'd be other chances. Whatever happened, I'd make do with what I had.

Everyone was in place, all eyes were on me; all I had to do now was win. Or rather, because I hadn't doubted my victory for even a moment, decide how to win. While there was a great deal to be said for holding back—both in keeping things from one's enemies and later being able to reveal that you'd triumphed with only a fractions of your true strength—there was also something to be said for putting on a show and making an impression. And with an audience like this, I wouldn't mind revealing a few more tricks, should the situation call for it; I certainly had enough to spare and a fair number of ways to justify it.

One of the reasons I'd chosen to pretend I was a Psychokinetic was because of its versatility. Why was I so tough? I had a Psychokinetic shell around me at all times. How was I so fast and strong? I increased my physical abilities with the help of my mind. How was I able to fly? I levitated myself. The list went on and on when it came to explaining things away—and it wasn't just the subtle stuff, either. The nature of Dust was such that, in the proper hands, one's Semblance could be changed to match the situation, at least within certain limits. In the same way that one's Aura could be converted into the proper element, the unique expression of that Aura could be colored or changed.

While Finn, for instance, would always be a teleporter, some red Dust might add an explosive element to his transitions. Adam might convert his gathered power into a different form of energy, with the proper help, whether it be heat, electricity, or even a controlled alteration of gravity. I couldn't do that in quite the same way other people could—my Semblance wasn't changed by such things—I could still change the aspect of my Aura with Dust and thereby alter my techniques.

But, more importantly, since almost no one knew the truth of my power, I could pretend to do so. No one would look at my oddly if I unleashed blasts of fire, not when red Dust could be purchased in so many stores. With something as broad as Psychokinesis, I could easy explain away my Elementals, at least to some extent. Some red Dust and suddenly I was a pyrokinetic. A little bit of blue and I could manipulate water. A lot of what I was able to do could be explained away by a little bit of Dust, real or imagined, and it might be helpful in this situation. Perhaps the use of her favored element would help get a rise out of Cinder?

The only problem was that I had no idea how Albus's Semblance would react to my Elemental with his current rule. I had no idea how it measured age, but however you wanted to slice it, all of my friends were far older then…pretty much everyone here put together. Many, many times over. Depending on how I used them and what constituted as an attack, it was possible—maybe even likely—that Albus and Finn would take damage from fighting them, which would immediately reveal that something was wrong, though they'd likely have no idea what.

Worse, not only would doing that give something away, but it wouldn't even be an effective tactic. It seemed to be fairly easy for Albus to change rules and if he started taking damage from the current one, he'd likely switch to something else. At best, I might get him with it once or twice, but while I didn't mind revealing my secrets for a good cause, this particular one wasn't worth telling just to be a momentary inconvenience, especially not when I could do that damage in other ways.

No, it seemed I'd be holding onto that card for a bit longer.

Maybe it was for the best, I thought; while having such powers wouldn't raise any eyebrows thanks to the existence of Dust, being 'forced' to use it might make me look weak. Though Albus was technically using Dust, it was only as part of the normal functioning of his weapon, and he and Finn were otherwise fighting solely on their own power. I didn't want to look like I was being pushed. Similarly, I could move beyond his range—although he might be able to increase the size of his barrier to some extent in response—that would make it seem like I was ruling away. I needed everyone to see me face his full power fearlessly and overcome it.

In the end, this wasn't just about winning it was about appearances—bragging rights, even. I couldn't have it said that it was a close game or that they pushed me hard or that they could have won if only they'd done things a bit differently; I needed to take everything they threw at me head-on, crush them anyway, and then walk away from it smelling like roses.

Even if that did mean not fighting as best I could or going through a needless amount of physical discomfort. The Gamer's Body would do most of the work on that front, anyway; no matter what happened, I could be sure I'd come out of this looking unharmed. Everything else…I'd just have to heal.

Which, of course, did not mean I couldn't do this intelligently. From the emotions I was picking up off of Finn, as well as the way he standing, I felt pretty certain that he would attack Albus at some point, despite the risks involved—and I was pretty sure Albus knew it, too. Lacking the healing abilities I possessed as well as my inherent magic resistance, that was going to take a fair bit out of both of them each time, even if it wouldn't put them out of the fight immediately. Given that, I could make Finn my secondary target, giving him a chance. I'd still strike at him, of course—I couldn't have this looking like we were ganging up on Albus, after all; I needed everyone to see me defeat both of them. But it would be smarter to focus on Albus early on and let Finn wear both of them down somewhat before taking him out.

After everything was done, I'd heal them both, try to make friends over our shared fight, and then work on solidifying my hold of the school. That would likely take a while, which was part of why I wanted to get this business out of the way as quickly as possible; while everyone would soon know of my power, it would take longer for them to get used to me being in charge. Doing this at the start of the school year, before anyone had time to fall into anything like a routine, would help, but it would still take everyone awhile to get used to everything, especially with what could happen.

And then, well, that'd depend on Cinder.

Mind made up, I slid out of the higher-state of Acceleration I'd slipped into while thinking and took three slow breaths to buy a few seconds to recover from it.

Then I took to the air and released a blast of force that turned the battlefield into a crater, ignoring the pain of rule breaking as I did.

It was time to end this.