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.

Victory March

As I unleash the wave of destruction, Finn—somewhat predictably—teleports out of the way. More specifically, he teleports about thirty meters straight up and just as quickly vanishes again, treating disconnected points in space like they were stepping stones.

But that wasn't an option for Albus. Instead, he had no choice but to bear the brunt of the assault, crouching and lifting his hemispheric shield above him. The force of the blast is still enough to smash it—and him—about half a meter into the ground, but he bears the attack with nothing more than a grunt.

I didn't stop there, though. Reaching out with more of my power, I didn't bother trying to force my way through the shield, deeming it too annoying to bother when there were easier solutions. Most of the time, it was only a matter of additional power and focus to slid my will through physical matter—such as lifting a marble within a sealed jar—but things were more complicated when it came to things protected by Aura or powered by Dust. As a result, I couldn't simply slip through Albus's shield.

But, then, I didn't really need to. It was only a hemispheric shield, after all—and against me, noting but a complete defense was enough.

My projected will touched Albus's shield and spilt over it like a liquid rather than the usual solid blow. It slid across its surface and down its sides until it touched the ground, at which point it drove itself deep into the dirt on all sides of the shield. Pushing it deep into the ground, I then had the force turn and converge into a smooth platform about a tenth of a meter beneath his feet, incasing him on all sides. Maintaining that force cost me somewhat, but nothing I couldn't spare and I had him closed in, all I needed to do was focus on a different image.

Within the supposedly protective bubble of Albus's sphere, the ground exploded as a sudden forest of spears—invisible but for the disturbances they caused in the dirt and dust—erupted towards him from every direction. For my part, I felt each attack as if I were being stabbed, but it seemed like as fair trade as Albus, caught off-guard and not expecting an attack from below, was literally stabbed, forty-seven times from as many angles. Sure, his Aura prevented any of the attacks from penetrating, but it cost him for than it cost me, even if it did feel like someone was playing a literal game of tug-of-war with my heart. HP was no object to me, so long as at least one point remained.

Still, that was no reason to let up on him, now was it?

Pinned in place by the steady pressure of dozens of Psychokinetic spears, Albus still found the power to grunt as his feet began to rise from the ground. Pushing down on his shield from one direction, I also pushed up on the platform beneath him from the other, crushing him against his own shield. As he did, more Psychokinetic 'fluid' began to flow up the underside of his force field, and more spikes erupted from it, driving into him from every angle even as several, from both above and below, snaked around his arms, legs, and chest to try and keep him in place. Albus grit his teeth as he was tied down and slowly crushed, but when his mouth opened, it was only to release a snarl.

And then he began to glow, blue energy rising from his skin. I blinked at the familiar sight in surprise even as it rose into a cloud around him, pushing back or disrupting the spikes and bonds. I could the Dust in both his sword and shield aiding the process, but…without a doubt, that was something like my Aureola.

I couldn't deny I was a bit impressed. Not wholly surprised since all of the skills I possessed were, at least in theory, learnable by others, but…still. It wasn't something I'd expected.

With the forces that had entrapped him being momentarily kept at bay by his Aura, Albus shifted, careful to keep all of his limbs within the veil of blue light that surrounded him. Lifting his sword carefully, he slid it into a hatch on the side of his shield and the light within it flared brightly, doubling and redoubling, almost as if—

Almost as if it was the key to the ignition.

In a moment, the glow of the shield spread into the force field and it expanded into a full sphere, surface darkening until it was opaque, at least within the spectrum of visible light. In the process, it tore through my Psychokinesis and cut him off from my attacks completely.

Interesting. It seemed he'd been prepared for just such an occasion after all.

But…on the other hand, if all he could do was defend, then there was nothing to worry about. In most cases, against most opponents, it might have been a good strategy—maintain a solid defense and allow his opponents to run themselves into the ground with the damage they took trying to break through it. But, though the process felt like something was attempting to tear my organs out through my ribcage, the damage from his Semblance that wasn't enough to dissuade me. It just meant I'd have to do this the hard way.

Well, I suppose you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. That in mind, I reached out and snatched up the now rolling sphere, lifting it quickly into the sky. As I did, I rose a bit higher as well, until the lower edge of my Psychokinesis was level with the ground and the upper edge was high in the sky. I lifted the barrier to the latter, supporting it for a brief moment as I focused my power—and then I brought it down with all the force I could muster, casting it towards the earth like a meteor.

Naturally, that's when Finn chose to make his move. While I was focused on Albus and just as an edge of pain slipped past my defenses from the attack, he struck, lining his attack up so perfectly with the warning my Danger Sense gave me about the oncoming damage that I noticed a moment too late when it bleed into a wholly different warning.

He must have been planning this for a while, a part of me mused while the rest of me felt like it was simultaneously being ripped into a million pieces and crushed into a space that was far too small. All those attack from before had been testing my awareness. It wasn't impossible that other Hunters were sensitive enough to threats that they'd managed to dodge his attacks, so it wasn't hard to imagine that he'd been faced with similar problems before. He'd been measuring how fast I was able to respond to danger so he'd be able to time his own attacks to match. After all, my Danger Sense didn't inform me of the nature of the threat, merely its presence; it was up to me to take care of the rest. As he'd proven, it was possible to hide threats amongst each other.

Of course, that was easier said than done, especially against me. It would need to be an attack that get past all of the targets senses and defenses and, more than that, the attacker would need to be able to accurately measure a lot of complex things on the fly. It was like…like timing an attack to the exact moment your opponent blinked. In a gunfight. From a hundred meters away.

I guess you get to be one of the top seniors at Haven by collecting bottle caps, I thought as I collided with the ground hard enough to bounce—which, honestly, was the least painful part of being telefragged, brief as the experience was, because it fucking hurt. It wasn't just a matter of being thrown away, because that's not what happens. When Finn appeared in the same space as you, it should, logically, blow you to pieces—and it tries too. It's just that your Aura kicks in at the last second and squeezes all the pieces together before they can fly apart, literally forcing you to retain shape, and then you get blown away as the alternative to being blown apart, pushed aside as fast as Finn appeared in your place. I wouldn't have been surprised if most of his opponents went down from the sheer pair of the experience—and for those that didn't, well, the cost to one's Aura wasn't particularly kind, either.

Luckily, I was used to pain—and it was only momentary besides. The Gamer's Body was a hell of drug.

"Ah," I said, shaking my head as I lifted myself to my feet with a thought. In the middle of a deep crater, I saw Albus's shield flicker several times before going out, but the older boy simply groaned and slowly stumbled to his feet. "Were you worried about Albus, Finn? You didn't seem to like each other much, but…hm. Are you two the type that are really close despite how much you argue? I've got a friend like that."

"Hardly," Finn snorted, but I didn't think it was entirely true. "I was just starting to feel forgotten."

"Poor baby," I replied, working my jaw for a moment before smiling. "Well, never fear—you've got my attention now, so if you want your ass kicked that bad, I'm happy to oblige."

"Very kind," He answered with a smirk. "But are you sure you can? All those attacks must be getting to you by now."

He wasn't completely wrong. Even for me, all those hits from Albus and a telefrag on top was enough to start making me feel it, especially when added to the Psychokinesis I'd been throwing around, my Acceleration, and my other skills. My HP and MP had both dropped a fair bit—nothing another ten or fifteen seconds wouldn't fix, of course, but enough to make my notice. I wouldn't have cared a minute ago, but Finn had just proven he could get past my Danger Sense in the right circumstances and Albus's Semblance was provided. It was enough to make me consider the possibility of getting hit by a few more and adjust my buffer accordingly. As it stood, it might be worth it to show a little concern and do something about it.

Luckily, I made a point of being prepared.

Patientia (Passive) LV1 EXP: 98.71%

The calm forbearance that outlasts the self-devouring flames of Wrath; the steady endurance that leads one to finding hope. This ability represents the quality of one's Aura that allows it to retain and recall specific pattern. By using this skill, another skill may be precast and then drawn upon at a later time, paying the full cost to give the technique form in ones Aura. The resulting skill is in all ways like it would be had it been cast normally, with the except of charged skills, in which case the ability may cast with whatever charge has been prepared beforehand.

Max Number of Precast Skills: 1.

Sighing slowly, I smiled at Finn.

"Who, me?" I asked as the heal I kept prepared took effect, restoring both my HP and MP thanks to the Dust Crystal I'd burned days ago. "Nah, I feel great. You?"

Patientia was my contingency—my one free shot. Because of how it worked, I could effectively cast one of my skills for free in a time of need. Thus far, I hadn't been able to find any particular limit on the type of skill, either; I could stock anything from barriers, to attacks, to, of course, healing techniques. I could even pre-prepare something as big as Lux Aeterna and start a fight by unleashing a blast of pure devastation for free. As skills went, it was a simple one, but no less powerful for that fact, and its versatility was immense. Perhaps more than that, it was a skill that got more powerful as I learned other skills, with which to make use of it.

With the condition that I could only use one skill.

At least for now. Given that its profile had said 'Max Number of Precast Skills', I was confident that the number would increase over time, which would make it even better. Even just having two such skills stored opened up a vast array of options, and if I could have even more, so much the better. But for the moment, I had to make do with just one and had to make my decisions based on that.

Needless to say, I'd planned for the worst. Harder to be disappointed that way, after all, and it helped improve my life expectancy. I'd asked myself what I'd need most in an emergency and chosen what I'd thought most important. And while something as powerful as Lux Aeterna was a bit tempting in its own right, tremendous as the damage was, it wasn't something I couldn't match with enough Magic Missiles. It might take dozens or hundreds of them to do it, but if it was just a matter of wearing down a powerful opponent, that wasn't an issue—and, more importantly, it wasn't an emergency. When I asked myself what was, the answer I came to was simple.

My HP or MP getting dangerously low at a very bad time. That was an emergency. When I thought about what was most likely to save my life, a conveniently timed full restore seemed like the best bet—and so I'd made a point to keep one on hand for when I was having an unusually shitty day.

Which this…really wasn't. Honestly, this wasn't even a bad day, all things considered; hell, I was having fun right now. Still, I wasn't particularly worried about using it in this fight; while something bad could theoretically happen at any time, this was a fairly controlled setting and wasn't all that serious—not just for me, but for any of the parties involved. While victory was important, we weren't exactly fighting for our lives here, and if anything happened there were a horde of teachers and students alike to get involved and buy me a few seconds to heal manually. I could afford it and it was convenient.

Besides, I didn't want my life to be like, oh, pretty much every game I ever play in my entire life, where I aggressively saved every potion I acquired for the final boss—at which point, naturally, I proceeded to aggressively not use them against the final boss, making it entirely pointless. I had the power. I had the items. I didn't like the idea of wasting either, but I didn't need to be stingy. I could always withdraw to a safe place and prep another one right after this, anyway.

As such, I cheerfully rigged this situation as heavily as physically possible, snuffing out their last, dim hopes of victory even as I thought my way through the puzzle I'd been presented.

Finn's plan was a good one, all told, and it didn't leave me any good options. If I attacked him, he'd dodge at the last second and I'd take damage for making the attempt. If I attacked Albus, I'd take damage and leave myself open for another telefrag. Given how painful those were, Albus wasn't a very tempting target, but so long as he remained on the field, I would be taking pretty much constant damage. Attacking both at the same time was possible, but not only did it mean I'd be burning energy and taking damage faster, but it didn't change the issue with the telefragging. I could Shed aside every time I sensed a threat instead of relying solely on my flawed Danger Sense, but that would get expensive really, really fast—I regained MP at a ridiculous pace, but I could burn it all in a second if I tried. With the way I took an attack every time I dealt one, I'd drain fast, and it wasn't like I could wait for Finn to vanish before trying to get out of the way.

I nearly sighed. Originally, I'd planned to use Finn's annoyance at Albus against the both of them, but evidently the senior was too smart for that—he'd recognized me as the bigger threat and had put his feelings aside in order to help bring me down. It was a smart attitude, especially for a Hunter, but an annoying one in an enemy; I preferred my opponents stupid and quarrelsome, thank you very much, because if they would all just kill each other, it'd save me the trouble. Alas, it didn't seem like the Grimm would oblige me there, so I suppose it wasn't that surprising that Albus and Finn wouldn't either; if they had, they wouldn't have made it this far. As a result, though, no matter what I chose to do, I'd go through a lot of pain to do it.

Oh, well. It's not like I didn't hurt myself worse than this on a daily basis.

I attacked Finn first, sending a light blow this way, because I knew he'd avoid it anyway. Within the bounds of Albus' Semblance, most people would have hit as hard as they could to make each blow count, but there was no point in doing that with attacks that were just going to miss anyway. The same moment I felt a sign of danger, I Shed a skin and moved straight back, releasing a blast of Psychokinetic force at my own afterimage as I did. Finn appeared in its place just in time to catch a fraction of the force and spin back, but he vanished before hitting anything. I was already on the move, flashing away and leaving behind seemings of myself in my place. He appeared overlapping me once more just to be forced to dodge another attack, but then he kept pace with me, teleporting to match my sheer speed.

We blurred from one side of the field to the other and then back again, fighting in-between points rather than along lines of battle. Even so, neither of use drew truly close to one another until I made to go back and then changed things up mid-turn. Making a guess from how he'd moved before, I added another dimension to the game again and when up at an angle to land on a Psychokinetic platform before diving straight down and hovering silently back along the grass.

When Finn appeared, I was behind him, dancing into a blind spot. He paused for an instant, taking a moment to figure out what had happened and wonder how he'd lost me—but it was enough. If I'd attacked him, he'd have sensed the threat, if not the precise location of the attack, and vanish before it hit, so I didn't bother.

But a moment of distraction was more than enough for Albus, who'd only just gotten to his feet and drawn his now dim sword. And I was all too happy to give him my best shot, now that I had no need to fear a telefrag—and, of course, how that his shield had been dealt with. I glanced at his HP, his stats, and did a few calculations before dumping a little over three thousand MP into an attack to end this quickly.

Albus slammed back into the ground, driving into it with such force that it shattered around him and drove him into a long, deep trench. Finn twitched once as the sound reached him, teleporting before he even finished doing so, and then the area around us shifted as Albus' power faded.

I didn't follow up just yet, deciding to play defensively until more of my power returned. For several seconds, I simply hovered, waiting patiently even as I saw Finn reappear. His teleportation was more efficient than my Shedding, but I both had more power and was able to regain it at a faster rate—to say nothing of the fact that he'd been in pretty much constant motion since the fight began. He was getting tired and I could see him searching my face for sighs of similar exhaustion.

I showed him nothing, waiting in silence.

Finn panted three times, grit his teeth and vanished, reappearing about ten centimeters in front of me, trying to shock me into attacking him and burning more energy. Instead, I continued to hover placidly, power returning with each passing moment. When he swung his sword, trying to conserve energy for the rest of the fight, I merely drifted back and let it flick by me. With a snort, he was suddenly behind me and I turned my body to hover parallel to the ground, letting the blade pass above me, before continuing the turn to hang upside-down as he stepped to the side and aimed a downward swing at me. I watched the sword cut into the grass a few inches from my eyes before rotating to the side and coming to my feet as he drew the blade from the dirt.

Finally, I put my feet on the ground as he came at me with a wide swing and simply…stepped into it. When I did, the gleaming steel of his blade was perhaps a centimeter from the side of my next, but I kept walking, moving in the direction of the strike such that it was always just a hair's breadth from my throat. I walked until the swing ended and the turned to face Finn, the world slowed around me.

The message was clear—he couldn't keep up with my speed. While teleporting, it was true that he was able to cover ground faster than I could, but within the bounds of normal space, there was no contest. I knew it and now he did to. The only chance he had was to pit his teleportation against my raw speed and win.

I saw him pause for a moment as that sank in, but then his lips pursed, he cracked his neck, and—

Sliding as I finished my enhanced movement, I attacked my afterimage again, but he vanished almost the moment he appeared, guessing my direction. Abruptly, I was being torn apart and crush and blown away, but I merely caught myself in the air and landed. He pursued and I evaded, sliding to the side this time, and then up, and then a random direction each time. I didn't set a pattern, didn't do anything he could guess at a glance, but flew through the battlefield, this time moving in three directions, and for a second there were enough of me—of my short-lived images—to fill a parade.

And then he stumbled, simple exhaustion catching up to him, and I was on him in an instant. The first attack managed to clip him before he teleported away, and three attacks later I caught him with a battering-ram to the chest. Shortly after, he began taking more hits, each taking away from his Aura and slowing him down even more. As he did, I began to catch him when he paused between teleports, blasting him back, knocking him down, and just generally smacking him around. It was over and we both knew it, but I didn't need to ask to know that he'd fight to the bitter end and so I would too.

So when he appeared in front of me, already moving with impossible speed, I was unsurprised. When the force of his charge blew me back and then fully across the battlefield, I could safely say I'd seen it coming. And when it ended, when I came to a stop with the point of his sword centimeters from my chest, held away only by the grip my hand had on the blade, I knew what it meant.

Glancing up at the sweaty face of the older boy, I met his eyes.

"I win," I said quietly, pushing back the blade and then plucking it from his weakened fingers. I let it fall to the side as I rose and it hit the dirt with a soft clang.

Finn panted for several seconds and then nodded, legs finally giving out on him.

"Aye," He said from the ground, lying on his back. "You win."

There was a beat of silence then—and then, someone began to applaude.

"Well done," Cinder said quietly, approaching at last.

XxXXxX

Jun 1, 2015

Shalist, DtPrince, rysworld and 409 others like this.

Doornag

Doornag

Night Custodian

TeaSpoon said: ↑

In this fight, the opponents got a few good smacks in too. He can be hurt. He can be beaten. How does that say, "I AM YOUR NEW GOD?"

A key factor to remember in regards to how others perceive Jaune: Gamer's Body. To anyone who's not him, it's impossible to tell whether or not any of your attacks are working. The smackdown with the Teacher a couple of chapters shows that Jaune can throw a punch. This fight hammers the point home, while letting the entire school see their strongest students throw everything they've got at him without them making so much as a scratch.