Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
June 9, 2xxx - Izumi Pov.
"Taran!" Ruby said happily as she pointed to Tanya, Visha, and Jinx. The five of us were in one of the training rooms for the 'special' moment, just as Ruby put it.
And that "special" moment was that she had finally finished forging all three people's weapons. Or at least she did Tanya and Visha's, while helping with Jinx's, since Jinx seemed to add her own madness to her swords.
"So? Surprise me," I said playfully to Ruby, who was practically bouncing with excitement. Ruby nodded vigorously.
"First, we have Tanya and Visha! They both decided on a 3-way weapon! The First Form we have is the sword form! It's a double-edged short sword! Then there's the extended spear form! And finally, a semi-automatic rifle by default, but it can be switched to full-auto mode if you like!"
"They're both exactly the same except for the size! Well, they actually weigh the same and use the same amount of metal and all that. However, Tanya's folds down more to shorten its size, making it easier to handle. Except for the rifle shape! That's the same on both weapons! " Ruby said with a huge smile.
I could see Tanya's eye twitch slightly, and I laughed lightly.
"A rifle? Didn't they use a submachine gun? " I asked simply, Tanya nodded.
"I thought it would be nice to have the extra firepower and the longer range. Plus, it makes for better use of our quirk," Tanya said honestly, and I nodded.
"May I?" I asked Tanya, who had her weapon with her. Tanya simply nodded and handed me the weapon. I looked at it before waving my hand a few times. "Nice weight, good balance, pretty sturdy. As always, excellent work, Ruby." I said honestly. Ruby smiled brightly.
"Thanks! They wanted something familiar and mentioned those guns! And boom! I suddenly remembered a weapon I had seen at home during a tournament! " Ruby said excitedly.
" Pyrrha Nikos." I said simply. Ruby stopped as her eyes widened.
"You know Pyrrha?!" Ruby squealed excitedly. I just hummed softly.
"I saw some of her matches," I said honestly. Ruby seemed to bounce back from that news. "Do you mind if I try her out in a match?" I asked Tanya. She shook her head.
"Go ahead, I want to see what you can do with a MechaShift weapon since you taught us." Tanya said honestly. I hummed lightly and began examining the weapon. The weapon's shapeshifting was simple and intuitive, making it easy to adapt to. It was my first time using something like this.
"Ruby?" I asked as I walked away from the group.
"I'm going!" Ruby said excitedly, appearing in front of me with Crescent Rose in her hand.
Double-edged swords weren't really my specialty, but it wasn't as if I couldn't use them, and not just at the level of 'ignoring' one edge and using it as a katana. So I charged at Ruby.
Ruby seemed to take it in stride, so we traded a few blows before I started to get serious, using more force as I swung the sword and struck Ruby with a downward strike.
The sword suddenly transformed into a rifle shape; I fired, and it immediately reverted to its original spear form. Ruby's eyes widened slightly as she used Crescent Rose to shield herself from the shot, then clumsily moved her scythe to protect herself from the lance thrust.
The mecha shift changed again, and I fired twice more before turning it into a spear. Insect Breathing: Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon. I stabbed six times in succession, almost simultaneously, at Ruby's weak points. Ruby was able to protect herself from three attacks, but the other three connected with her body, knocking her back.
Insect Breathing was the only one dedicated almost exclusively to thrusting due to its combat style, making it particularly effective to use with a spear, especially when utilizing the greater force and distance that came with using a spear.
Before Ruby could regain her position, I swung the spear over my neck and rested it on my shoulder behind my neck as I released it from my grip while aiming at Ruby and pulled the trigger. The rifle barrel, when folded into a spear shape, was at the bottom of the spear, so the shot propelled the spear rapidly toward Ruby.
Ruby used the Crescent Rose blade to defend herself, causing the spear to bounce back at me. I immediately pulled the trigger once more, causing the spear to hit Ruby again, sending her stumbling backward. I grabbed the spear, twisting my entire body before catching it with my hand from the bottom while ducking.
The spear hit Ruby's leg, knocking her to the ground. I stood up and transformed the spear once more into a rifle and aimed at Ruby on the ground, but didn't fire.
"Bang." I said playfully as I mimed shooting her before taking a step back. I transformed the rifle back into the short sword. "It's a good weapon," I said simply as I checked the weapon one last time, glancing at Ruby, who was staring at me in disbelief.
" W-what, how!?" Ruby squealed incredulously on the ground, and I laughed lightly. "You! You used mecha shift weapons?! That was too smooth to have never used weapons like that! " Ruby accused me, I laughed lightly.
"It's my first time using that kind of weapon," I said honestly. "By the way, it was also my first time using a spear. It certainly was a curious experience," I said simply as I returned the weapon to its short sword form and handed it to Tanya, who had a flat look on her face.
"First time? Damn, monster." Jinx said dryly.
"I wouldn't use those words, but the sentiment is the same," Tanya said tersely as she grabbed the gun. Her eyes glittered slightly.
"I think it was amazing!" Visha laughed affably.
"Of course, it was amazing! If you can use a mecha shift weapon like that, why not use more weapons like that?! I could make you three weapons to your liking! " Ruby said excitedly and almost outrageously. I snorted.
"No need. I like my swords." I said honestly, Ruby wrinkled her nose and pouted.
"I guess 'old' suits you." Ruby said childishly, I rolled my eyes while laughing lightly.
"So, what are your weapons?" I asked in Jinx's direction.
"Finally!" Jinx said excitedly as she presented her swords. The weapons Jinx displayed were purely Jinx. There was no other way to describe them. It was two serrated katana, just as it should be for practicing Beast Breathing. But the blades had completely changed color. One of them was neon blue, and the other neon pink.
Near the tip of the blade, there was what appeared to be a carving that reminded me of a shark's eye.
Finally, there was the hilt. Whatever Jinx and Ruby had built, there could barely be called a hilt. There was a place to grip the sword, but it was cluttered with so much stuff that it would seem terribly awkward to use.
I grabbed both swords and examined them more closely. I swung them around a couple of times, and I had to admit, the grip, weight, and balance were pretty good. The swords were thicker than I expected, and… why the hell does it look like a double-toothed saw? I looked closer, and yes, it definitely has two rows of teeth.
"Pull the trigger! The trigger! " Ruby said excitedly.
"No, wait! It has to be a fight! " Jinx said also excitedly.
"I will!" Ruby said happily and grabbed Crescent Rose firmly once more. Jinx looked at me expectantly as well. I looked at the grip and easily found the trigger, yet I didn't press it yet.
I lunged at Ruby, exchanging a few light blows, which Ruby easily defended against. For having so many things packed into the sword, it was pretty balanced. After a few more exchanges to continue testing the sword, I finally pressed the trigger on the blue sword. I blinked as what looked like a small slot machine wheel mounted on it began to spin.
I paled slightly as I recognized the mechanism in place, quickly pointing the weapon at an empty spot as the slot machine began to stop. Jinx's hand drawings appeared, and immediately, the sword started to roar and vibrate slightly. I blinked a few times.
"Why the hell did it turn into a chainsaw?" I asked incredulously as I watched the two rows of teeth vibrate and move rapidly.
"The question is, why not?" Jinx asked with a wide, deranged grin. I sighed. Yes, of course she would.
"The other one! The other one!! " Ruby exclaimed happily. I resigned myself and pulled the trigger of the pink sword. This time, I aimed at Ruby. Ruby smiled expectantly. When the slot finished, the katana blade shot out at high speed, and Ruby blocked the rocket blade with Crescent Rose.
Luckily, the blade seemed to be connected by a steel cable, which began to retract. Instead of returning to its katana form, the blade split in two, neither horizontally nor vertically. Still, where the edge and the double serration of the blade met, it split in two, leaving two single-serrated blades Retracted into the hilt. Still, the second one settled in and even pressed against the tip of the blade, creating a more permanent blade, but twice as long. But it didn't stop there; for some reason, it began to separate into segments while still connected by the cable.
Now, I no longer had a katana; in fact, I now had something closer to a whip. I blinked several times as I stared at the segmented sword on the ground.
"I... why?" I couldn't help but ask again. Jinx just smiled widely at me. I sighed, but still launched myself at Ruby once more.
It wasn't something I used often, but I certainly wasn't out of practice. Love Breathing: First Form: Shivers of First Love, Ruby's eyes widened slightly as she tried to defend herself from a sword whip, I got behind her.
Beast Breathing: Second Fang: Slice. I swung the chainsaw katana and attacked Ruby from behind, Ruby narrowly disappeared with her quirk and I hit the trigger once more on the blue sword. The chainsaw stopped as the slot machine began to spin again. I lunged at Ruby and began attacking her with the pink whip sword while pointing the blue one in her direction.
To my surprise, as I finished the slot, a small beam shot out in Ruby's direction. A beam like Zapper, it was strong enough to simply stun. Ruby was able to dodge it once more. I looked at the katana and saw that it was now slightly electrified.
I lunged at Ruby again and pulled the trigger on the pink sword. The whip retracted and quickly reverted back to a regular katana. Or, well, normal enough. I pointed the pink katana, sending a burst of flame hurtling in Ruby's direction. This time, Ruby couldn't dodge the wide attack, so she used her aura to receive and protect herself from the fire.
Once the flames died down as it retreated, the sword remained on fire. Now I had one electrified sword and the other a flaming sword. I wasn't entirely sure if it would be of any use, to be honest. But I had to admit. It looked cool.
" Okay, I admit it, it's great." I said with a small smile.
"Ha! I knew I'd beat you! " Jinx cheered. I just laughed lightly and shook my head. I walked over to her.
"Aren't they amazing?!" Ruby squealed as she appeared next to me with a bit of soot on her cheeks.
"They are. How many 'modes' do these things have?" I asked curiously.
"About 6 each?" Jinx said nonchalantly. My eyes widened slightly.
"How the hell did you fit so much stuff into one sword?" I asked incredulously. Ruby and Jinx looked at me widely.
"Secret!" they both said at the same time. I snorted as I handed the swords to Jinx. She took them one by one and touched the trigger so that all the mechanisms turned off.
"By the way, I thought you might have attached some kind of gun or something." I said. Jinx smirked at me, raised one of the swords, and pointed it in an empty direction, pressed another trigger I hadn't noticed, and the gun fired from the tip of the katana. But what fired wasn't a bullet; but rather, it looked like a small, super-fast fireball.
"Dust batteries, turns out, UA gives them out like candy. So the whole mechanism and ammo, they run on that. I can shoot and use the different modes for hours before I have to recharge them!" Jinx said, and I nodded, looking at her in surprise.
"It really is an excellent weapon." I said honestly. Jinx smiled broadly.
"I know," she said shamelessly. I rolled my eyes.
"Good. Now that you have a weapon, however unconventional it may be, we can begin serious training. I'll need to modify your fighting style to accommodate the changes to your weapon. With so many modes, it'll be a little more complicated, but nothing that can't be achieved." I said. Jinx nodded with a huge smile.
"By the way! The blue sword is Fishbones, and the pink one is Pow-pow! " Jinx said happily. I blinked.
"Aren't those the names of your other weapons?" I asked in confusion. Jinx nodded and shrugged.
" Yes, but I can't use them, and I don't like going without them. I used pieces of both and forged them into swords." Jinx said simply. I blinked.
"I mean, isn't that a bit of a waste? One was a rocket launcher." I pointed out in confusion. Jinx smiled at me widely and derangedly.
"And who says it's not still one?" Jinx asked, a touch feral. I shuddered slightly. I really, really hope she doesn't have a damn missile on one of those swords. I don't know how the hell they'd get ammo in there, but it looked like Jinx would be able to do it.
"Very well! I think we need to make adjustments to your training plans. Let's begin! " I chirped, and my smile only grew when I heard moans of pain from the three of them.
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Once they finally left, I headed to my room. I still had to do my solo workout; there was something I really wanted to accomplish. I was there for half an hour until I heard the girls enter the room.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked as she looked at me. The rest of the girls entered at the same time. I was sitting in the lotus position with my rabbit sitting in front of me.
"I'm trying to teach my rabbit total concentration breathing," I said simply and took a deep breath. Rabbit Escape mimicked me as best he could.
"...why?" Taylor asked, confused. I hummed softly.
"Well, I found out that rabbits can attack, but well… they're rabbits. There's really not much they can do. So I decided to see if I could improve it with Total Concentration Breathing." I said simply as I took one more breath.
" Any progress?" Azula asked amusedly.
"Unfortunately not," I said with a sigh. "Even so, I won't give up," I said firmly. "By the way, Ruby, do you want to make me little swords for the rabbits?" I asked distractedly. Ruby looked excited.
"You're not going to give your rabbits swords," Taylor said tersely. I snorted.
"Yes, I will. Like I said, if I have rabbits, I want them to be lethal. Let's say I'm aiming to have an army of Caerbannog rabbits ." I said with shining eyes.
"Izumi, no!" Taylor exclaimed in panic.
"Izumi, yes!" Ruby said with a big, crazed grin. Of course, those two would recognize the name.
"I want to know what one of those rabbits is?" Azula asked playfully. Ruby smiled widely and picked up her scroll. Taylor massaged her temple tiredly, and I breathed deeply as my rabbit continued to imitate me. Yeah, a good day.