18I'm back! Again. For like, the 3rd or 4th time. I left y'all on quite the cliff-hangar last time. Shorter chapter this time. Had some fun with this one. Also, I have a beta reader. Yay! Big thanks to Mr. Nuked Duck for all their help on this. So, I guess, without further ado...
Le Fight!
Chapter 7:
"Begin!"
Lux immediately pushed off with his right foot, thundering toward Pyrrha as she brought Akouo up to guard. Coming within striking distance, he brought his right fist around in a tight swing, white light coating his arms. Pyrrha angled the shield to the side to deflect the blow, only for Lux to flicker and disappear in a cloud of silver rose petals the second his fist touched it.
Blinking into existence, Lux reappeared behind Pyrrha, a foot coated in white light aimed at the back of her head.
Sensing the danger coming from behind her, Pyrrha dodged forward, narrowly avoiding the kick from Lux. Turning around as she came up from her roll, she saw Lux disappear again. Then, sensing danger from above, she dodged backward as Lux came crashing down in a two-legged stomp, the arena floor cracking under the force of the blow.
Looking to turn the tables, Pyrrha rushed forward, Akouo held before her with Milo kept hidden behind, ready to strike out at any time. Quickly closing the distance, Pyrrha thrust Milo forwards. Lux deflected the strike with his left hand, catching the blade on his vambrace and batting it aside.
Pyrrha quickly pulled Milo back before Lux could grab the blade. Keeping Akouo raised before her, she started circling Lux, who mirrored her movements, his fists held in front of him in a loose boxing stance. Suddenly, he rocketed forward, leaving cracks in the arena floor with each step.
Coming in close, Lux threw a straight. Pyrrha brought Akouo up to deflect the blow. However, she wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, and so readied herself to dodge forward. She was surprised when Lux didn't teleport, instead crashing his fist into the shield at full force, sending Pyrrha skidding back several feet.
He's strong, she thought needlessly. Her shield arm ached, and she could feel her Aura had lowered, though she didn't dare look at the monitors. Instead, she kept her focus on Lux, and Lux alone, ignoring the muttering of the other students.
She raised Akouo before her again, shifting Milo into its spear configuration and holding it out to the side. For some odd reason, they felt heavier. And were her eyes deceiving her, or was there less light surrounding Lux's hands?
Weiss stared down at the arena with wide eyes, doing her best to ignore the other students as she looked to the Aura monitors, seeing Lux's at one hundred percent. As for Pyrrha… her Aura had gone down a good five percent, even though she hadn't been hit directly.
Yang nudged her in the side with an elbow, a shit-eating grin on her face. "Something wrong, Weiss-cream?" She laughed. "Still think Pyrrha can beat Lux?"
Weiss' mouth was dry. "I… I think Pyrrha still has a chance," she stammered. She sighed a moment later. "You realize this is going to go viral, right?" She gestured to all the students who had their scrolls out, recording the fight.
Yang looked at them, then back to Weiss. "Okay? What's your point?" she asked. "Lux doesn't really care for fame or anything."
Weiss huffed, annoyed that Yang couldn't see her point. "Remember who he's fighting, Yang. He's fighting Pyrrha, a tournament fighter, who has thousands - if not hundreds of thousands - of fans. Fans that will lose their minds if Pyrrha loses. Many of them see her as unbeatable, and others talk about her as if she's a goddess. Lux is already bringing attention to himself just by pushing Pyrrha back on the defensive." She winced slightly as Lux threw another punch, driving Pyrrha back, who countered with an accelerated thrust from Milo, which scraped uselessly against Lux's arm as white light flared around it. "I can only imagine how much worse this is going to get."
Yang gave Weiss a quizzical look. "Weiss, what's your point? I told you, Lux doesn't care about fame. The opinions of some angry fans aren't going to bother him, either."
"Yang," said Weiss, her tone serious. "I'm not talking about opinions." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Death threats, Yang. Death threats."
Yang blinked. Then blinked again. She looked down to the arena, where Lux was blocking a series of swift blows from Pyrrha's spear, not even taking a hit to his Aura, which was still at a hundred percent. Then she looked back to Weiss, an eyebrow raised. "And your point?"
"Right," said Weiss, suddenly realizing why the blonde brawler was so unconcerned. She held a hand to her face. "Lux will be fine then, I guess. I'm concerned about Pyrrha as well, though. She won't be as uncaring as Lux. Even though her Aura has taken minimal damage, the fact that Lux managed to push her on the backfoot will have already shattered her image as 'The Invincible Girl.'" She sighed. "The press is going to have a field day with this."
"Why are you so concerned about this?" asked Yang.
"Yang, I'm sure you can see how big of a deal just the other students in this class are making it into. Imagine this on a global scale. For the press, this might as well be a scandal, and Lux will be at the center of it." She gestured to Ruby, who was watching the fight with rapt attention, then at Blake, who had put down her book in favor of watching the fight.
"They, along with us, will get sucked into it as well. You and Ruby more so since you two are his sisters." She looked Yang in the eyes. "How do you think Ruby will deal with it? What will happen when she hears the angry messages from fanatic Pyrrha Nikos fans?"
Yang looked down at her feet, her hands clenched. "She'd probably take it the hardest out of all of us." She took a deep breath, then let it out before looking back at Weiss. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, though. And we'll cross it as a team." She smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
Weiss nodded to her. "We'll cross it as a team, then," she said, a small smile coming to her face as well.
Pyrrha dodged a right hook from Lux, who used the momentum to spin, bringing his left leg up and around. Pyrrha brought Akouo up to deflect the kick, and yet again, the shield felt too heavy. She managed to get it up just in time to block the blow. It felt like her bones were rattling from the impact. She backpedaled to create space between her and Lux, who, for some reason, didn't follow after her.
What on Remnant is going on with them? she thought as she briefly glanced at her weapons. She couldn't see anything wrong with them, though. It's almost as if someone is pulling down on them. She focused on Lux, who stood there, waiting for her to do something. He gave away nothing, however, his expression calm and calculating. She glanced down at his hands, focusing on the faint white light that covered them.
An idea struck her suddenly, her curiosity getting the better of her. Rushing forward, Pyrrha bound Milo in her Semblance. Shifting Milo back into its sword form, Pyrrha feinted left, then swung the sword as hard as she could in a slash toward Lux's face, using her Semblance to accelerate the strike.
When Milo's edge was mere inches from Lux's face, it stopped, a familiar white light covering the entire weapon. Pyrrha's emerald gaze locked onto Lux's eyes, amusement evident in them.
"You figured it out, I see," he said as Pyrrha struggled to move her sword. "If you ever wondered how your opponents felt when you used your Semblance, you're probably feeling it right now." Pyrrha's eyes widened, but Lux continued before she could say anything. "Let's get this fight over with, shall we?"
Pyrrha watched as the white light surrounding her weapons flowed through the air, back to Lux's hands. The moment the light was gone from Milo and Akouo, Pyrrha could immediately feel their weight lighten up. Unwilling to give Lux any time to attack, Pyrrha shifted Milo back into its spear form; using a shot from the rifle at the butt of the shaft to speed up her thrust, she aimed for Lux's midsection.
The moment Milo's edge made contact with Lux, he disappeared. Pyrrha immediately started to roll forwards, feeling the displacement of air behind her head. A mistake, she realized, when Lux flickered back in front of her as soon as she started to roll, burying his knee into Pyrrha's gut, sending her flying backward through the air.
As Pyrrha attempted to right herself, Lux teleported in her path, his body sideways as he swung his right leg at her in an attempt to send her flying back the way she came. But, as Lux's leg came toward her, Pyrrha spun around to face him, using a shot from Milo to accelerate her spin, and threw Akouo at Lux like a frisbee.
"Exitium Inspiratione!"
As Lux's knee made contact with Akouo's edge, the white light surrounding his leg exploded outward. Akouo was flung back toward Pyrrha faster than she'd thrown it, hitting her in the gut. The force sent Pyrrha flying across the arena, before she slammed into the hard-light barrier that surrounded the ring. She fell to the floor with a pained groan, Akouo clattering on the arena floor beside her. She struggled as she tried to get up, using Milo to steady herself.
I haven't felt this much pain in a long time, she thought. I never had a chance against him, did I? She watched as Lux walked towards her, stone-faced, the white light of the Silver Eyes suffusing his left hand. The light dripped down to the ground before growing in length, forming small separations that linked together, creating a chain-like construct.
"Chain of Destiny," intoned Lux, his voice like the tolling of a bell to Pyrrha's ears. Moving it like a whip, Lux lashed the construct toward Pyrrha.
As soon as the construct made contact with her, it started wrapping around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Weakly, she struggled against the bindings. Then, Lux pulled on the chain, bringing Pyrrha flying towards him. Milo fell from her hands, clattering against the floor. As Pyrrha came closer, the construct of power disintegrated, the energy flowing into Lux's right fist. Lux stepped forward, punching straight, burying his fist into Pyrrha's midsection. She folded around Lux's fist, immediately blacking out.
The sound of her Aura shattering was almost deafening as she was sent sailing back through the air. Teleporting into her path, Lux caught Pyrrha in his arms, making sure to lay her down gently on the arena floor.
Goodwitch closed her eyes and sighed, then stepped forward. "The winner of the match, by both Aura depletion and knockout, is Lux Rose." The students remained silent, even while those who had been recording the fight continued to do so. Then, looking to the rest of Team JNPR, she settled her gaze on Jaune. "Mr. Arc. Please help Mr. Rose carry Miss Nikos to the infirmary.
Jaune did as he was told, walking down to the arena, and helped Lux carry Pyrrha out of the classroom, though Goodwitch stopped them before they could leave.
"I feel it should be obvious. However, I will still say it," she said, focusing her attention on Lux. "Do not use such force in matches from here on. Am I understood?" She received a silent nod from Lux. "Good." Turning back to the students as Lux and Jaune left, she drew out her weapon. "Now, we have enough time for one more match. Please be patient as I fix the arena floor.
Jaune looked down at Pyrrha's face as she slept in the infirmary bed. She looked peaceful, a slight furrow to her brows indicating that not all was right. But she wasn't fitful. There were no bruises visible on her skin, though the nurse had told them there was a large bruise over her stomach. Almost surprising, given that she'd just been thoroughly beaten. It had already been around ten minutes since he and Lux had gotten Pyrrha to the infirmary, and had been told not to leave until she woke up.
Jaune tried -but failed- not to look at Lux, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the infirmary bed, his eyes closed. He still didn't understand everything Lux had done, though he knew it had to do with the Silver Eyes he'd heard them talk about.
"Are you going to say something?" asked Lux, his eyes still closed, surprising Jaune. "Or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"
"S-sorry," stammered Jaune, who quickly looked back down at Pyrrha.
"If you have something to say, then say it," said Lux, finally opening his eyes to look at Jaune as he crossed his arms. "I'm not going to take any offense."
Jaune hesitated for a moment, then looked Lux in the eyes. "You knocked her out," he stated. "Why?"
Lux stared at Jaune for a few seconds, then sighed, looking down at Pyrrha. "You'll have to be a little more specific. If you're asking if I did it for my own enjoyment, then you can rest assured I didn't."
"No, that's not it," denied Jaune, shaking his head. "I just want to know why you did it. You didn't have to knock her out."
Lux stayed silent for a moment, then spoke. "Did you watch the fight the whole time?" he asked.
Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I watched the whole thing."
"Then you didn't see the rest of the students recording the fight, did you?" asked Lux.
Jaune's eyes widened, shaking his head a moment later. "So I'm willing to bet it's already spread pretty far by now. And since she's well known and a celebrity, it's going to get a pretty big reaction."
Jaune's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Were you… trying to humiliate her or something?" he asked, frustration creeping into his voice as he clenched his fists.
Lux let out a chuckle. "No, I wasn't," he replied. "Relax, Jaune. I don't mean any harm to anyone in any way." He laughed again. "Well, except for my enemies. No, all I wanted to do was show people that, no matter how strong or invincible someone might seem, they aren't. Everyone is fallible. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has weaknesses. And, at some point, everyone falls to something. Pyrrha's no different. She may be strong, but I'm stronger."
Jaune wasn't sure what to say.
Which was why he was relieved when Pyrrha started to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, and began scanning her surroundings, before her gaze crossed Lux, then settled on Jaune.
"H-How long have I been out?" she asked.
"About ten minutes," answered Jaune. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel… sore," replied Pyrrha, bringing a hand to lightly rest over her stomach.
"Sorry about that," said Lux, shifting awkwardly as Pyrrha turned her head to look at him. "I know you probably don't appreciate me knocking you around so hard." He scratched the back of his neck. "But, well…" He shrugged. "I had to make a point."
Pyrrha chuckled lightly, a tired smile coming to her face. "It's fine," she said. "Honestly, I haven't been crushed that badly in years. It's almost.. refreshing, in an odd way."
Lux's eyes widened slightly. "Really?" he asked. He smiled a second later. "Should we be worried about you being a masochist?"
Pyrrha laughed again, though it cut off as she winced in pain, holding her hand to her stomach.
Jaune leaned forward, his brows furrowing in concern. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Do you need me to go get the nurse?"
"I…" she hesitated, taking several breaths before continuing. "I think I'll be okay, Jaune." She gave him a warm smile, which seemed to calm him down. Pausing to think for a moment, Pyrrha turned to Lux, her eyes meeting his. "There was something I was wondering about, though…." She looked back at Jaune. "Would you mind stepping out for a moment?"
Jaune looked at Pyrrha, then to Lux, then back at Pyrrha. "Yeah, sure," he said, a small frown on his face as he stood up, mumbling to himself while he walked to the door.
Pyrrha waited until Jaune had left the infirmary room, closing the door behind him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked back at Lux. "You know, don't you?" she asked, though it was more of a statement.
Lux stayed silent for a few moments. Then finally, he spoke. "Yeah, I know about your Semblance," he said. "It's Polarity."
Pyrrha drew a long, shaky breath, then let it out slowly, a nervous look in her eyes. "How…" She hesitated, swallowing thickly. "How do you know? I had my suspicions from what you said in the arena, but… I wasn't sure."
Lux shrugged. "I watched some old fights," he lied. "It was pretty easy to tell when I saw how you would throw Akouo. Basic physics says it should slow down when it bounces off a surface, not speed up." He smirked at her. "Though, to your credit, you were pretty subtle, slightly altering the course of your opponents' strikes. I can only imagine how confused they were when a strike that should have hit missed by an inch."
Pyrrha stared up at the ceiling, unsure of what to say. She was silent for a few moments, before finally finding her words. "You're… You're not mad?" she asked, looking back at Lux.
"Should I be?" asked Lux, raising an eyebrow.
A complicated look came over Pyrrha's face. "I mean… Most people would claim that it's cheating. They think I'm winning under my own power. Wouldn't it shatter the illusion?"
Lux blinked. Then blinked again. "How is that cheating?" he asked, his expression serious. "It's no more a cheat than mine or anyone else's Semblance. For someone to come along and say that you using your Semblance is cheating, while everyone else gets to use theirs, is just fucking stupid. And to say that you aren't winning under your own power? That's bullshit as well. Your Semblance is a part of you, just as mine is a part of me."
Pyrrha stared at Lux, a shocked expression on her face. A few seconds later, she giggled. Then snorted, before laughing loudly, ignoring the pain. All the while, Lux looked on with an amused expression. It took nearly half a minute before Pyrrha was able to pull herself together.
"Something funny?" asked Lux with a smirk, raising an eyebrow.
"I-I j-just wasn't expecting t-that," answered Pyrrha, still trying to keep her laughter under control. "I was somewhat expecting you to be the same as all those other people."
Lux snorted, rolling his eyes. "Not everyone is going to be the same. Especially not us," he said. "Not me, not Ruby, Yang, Blake, or -hopefully- not Weiss. Not even Ren or Nora." He glanced towards the door, before looking back to Pyrrha. "And definitely not Jaune."
Nodding her head, Pyrrha smiled knowingly as a slight blush dusted her cheeks.
Yang and Weiss watched as the second -and final- match came to an end. Goodwitch had decided to pit Cardin Winchester against Nora. An unfortunate matchup for Cardin, who was being thrashed around by Nora. He'd started off with taunts, though Nora didn't rise to them. While not as violent as Lux and Pyrrha's 'match', the difference in strength was still obvious, Nora being victorious in the end with Cardin's Aura in the red.
"Remember," said Goodwitch, addressing the students. "While you may have been accepted into this school, do not slack on your training. There is always room for improvement, no matter how proficient you may be. On another note, the matches early on in this class will be decided by myself. However, as we draw closer to the Vytal Festival, the matches will be chosen by a roulette. That is all. You are dismissed."
As everyone began to gather their items, Ruby looked over to Ren, who was listening to Nora talk about the match. "So, are you guys gonna go check on Pyrrha first?" asked Ruby.
"We are," answered Ren.
"Did you guys wanna come with us?" asked Nora.
"We were planning on going back to our dorm before dinner," said Yang.
"Could you tell her we hope she gets better?" asked Ruby shyly.
"Sure!" replied Nora.
Ren nodded along as they all walked toward the doors, Yang grabbing Lux's equipment along the way.
"See you guys at the cafeteria later?" asked Ruby.
"Possibly," replied Ren.
Ruby nodded back to Ren. When they finally exited the building, they went their separate ways. While Ruby skipped ahead, Yang trailed behind by a few feet, motioning for Weiss to do the same.
"What is it?" asked Weiss as she strode alongside Yang.
"What happens now?" asked Yang, sighing when Weiss only answered with a raised eyebrow.
"Now that Lux has actually beaten Pyrrha, what happens? I know you said Lux was already putting himself into the spotlight by pushing Pyrrha back, so now what? How much worse will things be?"
Weiss let out a small snort. "Like I said before, Pyrrha's image as 'The Invincible Girl' will be shattered. Fans will be angry, with some likely coming up with conspiracy theories. The news media will lap it all up and milk it for as long as they can. If it gets bad enough, Pyrrha's sponsors might even begin to question if they should keep sponsoring her." She looked down for a moment, before looking back up, a small, almost silent sigh escaping her lips. "If it were a closer fight, it might not be as bad. However, since Lux not only knocked Pyrrha around, but knocked her unconscious, it's going to be worse."
Yang sighed, looking at the ground, then looked back up at Weiss. "No way around this, huh?" she asked.
"Unfortunately not," answered Weiss as she shook her head. She looked back at Yang a moment later. "I'm surprised. I thought you might have a more… relaxed attitude."
Yang let out a small chuckle. "Lux always told us we needed to be prepared, no matter what the situation." She laughed again. "It's like his motto."
"It's a good mentality to have," stated Weiss, nodding her head, the slightest smile working its way onto her face.
Closing the door behind him, Lux noticed Jaune leaning against the wall. Lux gave him a smile, offering his fist. "Hey. See you guys later."
Jaune blinked in surprise, but brought a fist up to bump Lux's. "Y-yeah. See you later."
Lux nodded and walked away, making his way through the infirmary hallways. He and Pyrrha had talked a little more after their initial conversation. She hadn't seemed very bothered by the fact that he'd thoroughly beaten her. He supposed that was a good thing. Pyrrha could make his life a lot harder if she really wanted to, considering her fame. She wasn't that kind of person, thankfully. Granted, he was expecting her fans to have a bad reaction regardless.
He wasn't blind. Lux knew he would be put into the spotlight of the media. He had planned on it, as well as the reaction of the general populace. After all, there were certain people who needed to hear about him. Particularly a certain thief and his 'boss'.
As Lux exited the infirmary building, he heard his scroll beep. Pulling it out and looking down at it, he saw a message from Yang, letting him know that class was over and where they were headed.
I might as well stop by the dorm to drop off my vambraces, he thought as he started walking in that general direction. It was only a few minutes before he got there, though the sky had started to take on an orange hue. As he climbed the stairs to their floor he checked the bigger news channels in Vale with his scroll. While there wasn't anything about his fight against Pyrrha yet, he knew they would be jumping on it soon enough.
He reached the dorm room a moment later. As soon as he entered the room, he could immediately feel four sets of eyes focus on him. Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake each were sitting in their beds, patiently waiting.
"Hey," said Lux with a smile. "How'd the rest of class go?"
"It went well," replied Weiss, who was looking at her Scroll.
"Goodwitch matched Nora up against some arrogant guy named Cardin," said Yang, a smirk on her face. "He didn't last very long."
"Cardin, huh?" said Lux. "Sounds about right. I'm pretty sure he's racist." He took subtle note of how Blake stiffened up. "At least, that's what I heard."
Yang let out a laugh. "That makes it even better."
"How's Pyrrha?" asked Ruby, concern on her face.
Lux looked up at Ruby with a reassuring smile. "She's alright. She'll be sore for a bit, but it's nothing that time won't fix."
"Good," said Weiss, who finally looked up from her Scroll, nailing Lux with a glare. "You do realize there's going to be backlash from this, right?"
"Yup!" replied Lux, starting towards his bed, where his cloak and weapons case were laid out. Picking up the cloak and putting it on, he turned to look back at Weiss. "Trust me, I know. But right now, I'm not too worried about it. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it when it comes. Besides, I'm confident I can handle whatever comes my way." He gave a savage grin as he turned away.
Behind his back, Weiss looked to Yang, who was looking back with a smirk that said 'I told you so'.
In a warehouse deep within the industrial district of Vale, Cinder reclined on the couch centered in the small space that was her living quarters. Looking around the room, she sighed quietly. As much as she hated the dull gray that surrounded her, she reminded herself that it was only temporary. In a few months, she and her underlings would be living comfortably in Beacon's dorms.
And speaking of underlings…
"Ma'am," came the voice of Emerald Sustrai, who stood in the doorway. She held up her Scroll. "I have something you might want to look at."
Cinder had to suppress an amused smile. So eager to please, she thought. So easy to manipulate. "Bring it here," she said as she poured a glass of red wine while Emerald brought the Scroll forward and laid on the table. Cinder picked it up, bringing the glass to her lips as she inspected the web article.
She took a sip… Then had to keep herself from choking on the drink as she stared at the image before her. There, in the photo, Pyrrha Nikos lay on the floor, visibly unconscious. But what really caught her attention was the figure next to the downed girl. A very familiar figure, with a very familiar face.
Cinder scanned through the article, reading questions and speculations about who the silver-eyed figure was. When she finally got to the bottom of the page, she found a video. Maybe this will give me some valuable intel, she thought.
As she watched the video, she took note of the Silver-Eyed boy's fighting style. Interesting, she thought to herself. So he has a teleportation Semblance. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. And with the way he uses it, he might actually be a threat. She purged the thought from her head a moment later and continued watching. As she did, she had to make an effort to keep her expression neutral. She almost lost her composure when she saw the chain construct.
Very powerful. Very powerful indeed. Though I will still crush him with the power of the Maiden. She took a sip of wine as the video ended, then handed the Scroll back to Emerald.
"Does this change anything?" asked Emerald.
"Dear Emerald," said Cinder, her lips pulling up into a sultry smirk. "Do have some faith. That boy has no idea what's coming his way. This changes nothing. Continue on as planned."
"Yes ma'am," said Emerald, nodding before she exited the room.
In Cinder's hand, the wine glass started to melt.
Lux pushed open the doors of the cafeteria, the rest of his team following behind him. Immediately, he could feel the gaze of the other students on him. Most of them looked away when his eyes passed over them, though some kept watching him as he made his way to get his food. He ignored the hushed whispers as he waited patiently, though it was impossible to not hear a few, given the number of people conversing.
"Did you hear-"
"-knocked out-"
"-beat the Invincible Girl-"
"-knocked her around-"
Lux chuckled silently to himself. News travels fast, he thought. No surprise there, really. Grabbing some food and setting it on his tray, he walked over to the table they'd 'claimed', and sat down. Weiss came next, sitting down beside him, followed by Ruby, Yang and Blake. Already he could feel Weiss' attention on him.
"It seems people are quickly learning of what happened," she said.
"To be honest, " started Lux, glancing at Weiss. "I kinda expected it to be this quick. Think about it. A complete nobody shows up out of nowhere, gets pitted against Pyrrha ;a three-time champion of the Mistral Regional tournament; and, against all odds, beats her. People are bound to talk. Especially people in our age group." He gave an indifferent shrug as he took a bite of his food.
"I'm still not sure if you really understand the magnitude of the situation," said Weiss, her eyes narrowing. "The press are going to be all over this. You'll most likely get requests for interviews."
Lux started to chuckle, which soon turned into full on laughter, causing a few looks from other tables. Even Weiss leaned away. Lux calmed down a moment later though, sending Weiss another sly smirk.
"I'm well aware of that, Weiss," he replied. "After all, I kinda planned on it."
"You have a plan?" said Weiss, an eyebrow raised skeptically. "How long has this plan been around?"
"Since a few hours ago," answered Lux, still smirking. "Right around the time Goodwitch decided to pit me against Pyrrha." He ignored the looks he got from the rest of the team, focusing on Weiss.
"What exactly does this plan entail?" asked Weiss.
Lux chuckled again, the smirk now seeming to be permanently affixed to his face. "You'll just have to find out, I guess."
"That does nothing to affirm my confidence," said Weiss, giving Lux a flat look. "The complete opposite, in fact."
"Well," started Lux, shrugging. "I guess that's just too damn bad. You'll just have to wait for the interview."
"Oh, I can hardly wait," remarked Weiss.
"Aw, c'mon Weiss-cream," said Yang, ignoring the glare from Weiss. "Lux's plans usually go well." She grinned. "I have complete faith in him."
"Well, I was hoping this would happen a little later," commented Lux. "But this timing won't change too much. I can work with it."
"Rolling with the punches?" questioned Yang.
"Yep!" answered Lux. His attention was caught a second later by a head of brown hair. And beneath that, an arrogant face. A very familiar face. "Hey, is that the guy you mentioned earlier?" He pointed towards Cardin, causing Yang to look towards the boy.
"Yeah," replied Yang. "It is."
Lux let out a contemplative hum, before his eyes flashed.
"What are you doing now?" asked Weiss, eyebrows raised as she watched a mote of white light pool into his hand. "I hope you aren't starting something."
Lux let out a low chuckle. "Relax, it's just a warning shot." He held up his hand, fingers straight as the light formed a small ball no bigger than his thumb. Calmly, Lux took aim at Cardin's head. "You just need to act like you had nothing to do with it, and look surprised when he goes off." He released the ball, sending it speeding towards Cardin's face.
The small ball of light hit Cardin in the middle of his forehead a moment later, his head snapping back from the force and dazing him. He stumbled back before he managed to regain his senses.
"Who threw that?" yelled Cardin, a small trail of blood falling down his cheek, surprising many of the students nearby. "Who the hell threw that?" Someone behind Cardin started laughing, though it was cut short when the boy spun around and grabbed them by the shirt, pushing his face up against theirs. "You think this is funny, huh?"
"N-no," stuttered the unfortunate kid. "Not funny at all."
As caught up in the moment as Cardin was, he didn't notice the ball of light circling back around.
Cardin was knocked flat on the ground a moment later, the ball of light dissipating in the same instant. The boy let out a frustrated growl as he stood up and looked around. Finding nothing, he turned to the cafeteria doors and walked out.
Meanwhile, Weiss gave Lux a questioning look. "What exactly was the purpose of that?" she asked.
"He needs to learn that he's not the biggest fish, so to speak," answered Lux. "Obviously, it'll take more to get it through his thick skull."
Weiss quickly gave up on questioning Lux, as it was obvious she wouldn't be getting any more out of him. Though as the team continued to eat, Weiss still made the occasional glance at him.
Why does he have to be so confusing? she thought.
Come evening, Lux was lounging on his bed, freshly showered and looking at news articles on his Scroll. Already, there were quite a few articles, most of them containing clips of his fight against Pyrrha. While a few of the articles were bashing him for his stunt, some were bashing Pyrrha, with headlines like, "Invincible No Longer?". The rest, however, were being more cautious, simply posing questions instead.
There was one in particular that caught his eye, however. An article by Lisa Lavender. It was pretty standard for the most part, pointing out many of the same things as the other articles. What had caught his eye, however, was a paragraph more towards the bottom, where Lisa herself asked for an interview with Lux.
Lux immediately got out of his bed, turning to the rest of his team. "I'm going to go take a little walk again."
"Have fun," replied Yang, giving Lux a small he disappeared, leaving a cloud of rose petals to float down to the floor.
Weiss stared at the spot where Lux had stood. "Did he just…?"
"Yup," answered Yang. "I mean, can you blame him?"
"I… suppose not," replied Weiss, though it sounded more like a question.
Meanwhile, Lux made his way through the halls and up the stairway to the roof. Taking out his Scroll, Lux dialed the number he had seen on the article. It only rang a few times before someone answered the call. "Hi, is this Lisa Lavender?"
"It is. May I ask who's calling?"
"This is Lux Rose. About that interview…"
So, like I said before, shorter chapter. If I'm being honest, it'll probably be this way for the rest of the story, unless I can suddenly pull something out of my ass. I've quickly found out that I can't really keep up the same descriptive style as what I had in the first few chapters. But, hey, you can still do a lot with 5-6,000 words.
Now onto the planning phase. I probably won't be working on any new chapters for a little while. I'm hoping that planning this all out will help with some of the writer's block I've been having. So, yeah. Again, a big thanks to Mr. Nuked Duck, as well as Triscythe. I really feel like I don't give them enough credit. I'll be working with both of them to plan this whole thing out.
You know, I feel like I had a whole lot more to say, but, well, damn ADHD brain strikes again. Eh, if I remember it, I'll add it in as an edit.
For now though, this is Argentum Messorem, signing off.