Yang just rolled her shoulders, gauntlets clanking as they primed. "C'mon, Blake. You said you needed to build me up, right? Guess we just got a few punching bags delivered."
The first Deathstalker screeched—a horrible metallic shriek that scraped through the air. Its tail curled, glowing red with rune energy.
"Move!" Blake shouted.
A projectile blast screamed through the space they'd been standing in a heartbeat earlier, shattering half the rooftop behind them into dust. The shockwave blew Blake's hair across her face.
Yang whistled. "Simulation my ass, that would've stung."
Below, Ruby and Weiss had already noticed the chaos.
Weiss was shouting something, her voice muffled under the roar of collapsing structures. "Ruby! Did you seriously configure Rank 1 Deathstalkers here?!"
Ruby winced mid-leap as she blurred along an ice bridge Weiss had conjured earlier. "Uh—funny story?"
Weiss's eyes widened, tone sharpening. "Ruby!"
"Okay, okay!" Ruby said quickly, landing beside her. "I thought rank 0's were a little too weak to serve as obstacles... so I may... might have made them rank 1?"
Weiss's sighed in frustration. "Seriously?!"
Ruby winced, shrinking slightly. "It sounded fun at the time?"
A thunderous crack split the air. Across the street, Blake barely dodged another Deathstalker's strike—except this one wasn't a tail shot. Its claw extended, a shimmering red energy projection snapping forward like a whip and slicing straight through a simulated building. The upper half of the structure sheared off cleanly, crashing into the next block.
Blake landed hard on a ledge, eyes wide. "That's not a tail rune."
Yang blinked. "Wait, did that thing just—?"
"Use projection claws," Blake finished grimly, katana raised. "That's a very rare rune skill that Deathstalkers are supposed to have..."
Ruby, hearing that from down below, gave an awkward little laugh. "Ahaha—random rune sets are good for training variety! Right?"
Weiss didn't even look at her. "If we win this, you are never setting parameters again."
One of the Deathstalkers turned its glowing eyes toward them, tail rearing back. Weiss barely had time to conjure an ice wall before three red energy stingers slammed into it, shattering it like glass.
"Ruby!"
Ruby blurred forward, rifle out. She flipped midair, pulling the trigger. Bullets ripped across the field and punching against the Deathstalker's armor. It didn't slow.
Ruby landed, reloaded, and said, "Okay, that's new armor coding. Weiss?"
"Working on it!" Weiss snapped, thrusting her rapier into the ground. A circle of ice flared beneath her boots—runic aura interlocking—and from the street erupted a massive spear of ice. It punched through the Deathstalker's front legs, pinning it.
Yang landed next to them in a thunderous impact, shaking the asphalt. "You guys getting all the fun down here?"
Weiss pointed her rapier at the nearest Deathstalker. "Be my guest."
Yang cracked her knuckles. "Gladly."
She surged forward, the street fracturing with every step. A volley of tail shots screamed toward her, but she met them head-on, gauntlets glowing gold. Each blast that hit her only made the glow brighter—each impact feeding into the kinetic charge that pulsed through her.
"C'mon, one more!" she taunted, leaping up just as another blast fired. She caught it with her palm midair, twisted, and threw the stored energy back like a fastball. The counter-shot slammed into the Deathstalker's head, blowing half its faceplate apart in a burst of sparks and blue simulation fragments.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, twirling her scythe. "Left!"
Yang turned just in time to see the second Deathstalker leap off a nearby rooftop—its claws raised high, both glowing.
"Shit. When did that one climb the building?"
Blake appeared in front of her, slashing upward in a blur. A shadow of herself followed the movement, her Phantomclone intercepting the first claw strike. The shadow shattered instantly, but it bought Blake enough time to roll under the second and slice at the creature's leg.
It howled and stumbled, its leg flickering into polygons where the hit registered.
"Nice one!" Yang said, already slamming an uppercut into its jaw.
"Focus!" Blake barked, darting aside. "Don't get overconfident!"
Yang grinned. "I'm not overconfident, I'm just warming up!"
A new sound sliced through the chaos—something sharper and higher-pitched.
Weiss turned, eyes narrowing. "The third one!"
It was leaping from skyscraper to skyscaper like an enormous spider, its claws embedding into glass and steel. Its tail glowed—and this time, instead of firing stinger energy bolts, it fired stinger energy blades. Thin, spinning crimson disks of compressed energy, arcing like shuriken.
"When did that even become an option for Deathstalkers! It shouldn't—" Weiss ducked as one sliced past her cheek, close enough to leave a burn. "Ruby! Change the parameters!"
Ruby yelped, dodging another spinning blade. "I can't! If we do, the simulation will reset, remember?!"
"Then fix it!"
Ruby groaned, spinning her scythe around to deflect an incoming blade. "I can't fix it while it's trying to murder us!"
"Excuses!" Weiss shouted, launching a flurry of ice shards.
Yang and Blake had regrouped. Blake's breathing was shallow; creating so many phantoms had taxed her aura. Yang looked back at her and said, "Hey, I'm still not fully charged. Wanna hit me a few times while we're at it?"
Blake shot her a flat look even while slashing another claw off a Deathstalker. "You're ridiculous."
Yang winked. "Ridiculously effective."
"Fine," Blake muttered. "Hold still."
Yang planted her boots. Blake drew in a breath, clones gathering around her, and struck—once, twice, three times in rapid succession. The blows echoed like thunder, slamming kinetic energy into Yang's gauntlets and armor.
By the time Blake stopped, Yang's body was glowing faintly gold-white, like molten metal under her skin.
Yang grinned wide. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
Blake exhaled, stepping back. "Now make it count."
Yang launched herself skyward, a shockwave trailing behind her. She twisted midair, reorienting toward the two Deathstalkers below—and then she detonated.
The kinetic energy burst downward in a massive concussive wave.
The street below exploded outward. Buildings collapsed in perfect simulation physics, ice walls shattering into mist, holographic debris scattering everywhere. The Deathstalkers screamed, bodies flickering from damage overload before shattering into polygonal dust.
Ruby and Weiss barely had time to duck behind a half-fallen construct.
When the noise finally faded, half of the simulated buildings were just—gone. Only smoke, rubble, and the faint hum of energy remained.
Ruby peeked out from behind the cover, wide-eyed. "...Wow."
Weiss slowly turned to her, voice dangerously calm. "See, this was your fault."
Ruby raised her hand sheepishly. "In my defense… uh... I have no defense?"
Yang landed a moment later, cracking her neck with a satisfying pop. "Ball's gone too," she said, surveying the ruined field that looked more like a crater than a cityscape. "Pretty sure that counts as a win for us."
Blake dropped down beside her, boots clicking softly against fractured concrete that flickered with simulation static. "Actually…" she murmured, brushing a strand of black hair from her cheek. "I dropped the ball as well... and I think it was crushed when your explosion hit. So technically—" she lifted a brow, "—it's a tie."
Yang stared at her. "Aw, seriously?"
Blake gave a half-smile, shrugging one shoulder. "Unless you want to count mutual destruction as victory conditions."
Yang threw her arms up dramatically. "Aw, come on! That was a perfect finisher! Big explosion, epic landing, ice serpents turning into shrapnel—"
Ruby hopped down from the fractured remnants of a simulated skyscraper, Scythe folded neatly over her shoulder. "—and total property damage exceeding three million lien?" she teased. "Yeah, ten outta ten, Yang. Textbook awakened prowess."
Yang turned to Ruby, hands on hips. "Hey! I call it dramatic impact."
"Dramatic impact?" Weiss repeated, arching an eyebrow. "You turned half the arena into a wasteland. I thought this was training, not a demolition derby."
Ruby grinned sheepishly. "Heh… technically, both?"
Weiss shot her a flat look. "You and your 'technically.'" She crossed her arms and exhaled through her nose, the picture of long-suffering elegance. "Honestly, I still don't understand why the simulation allowed that much explosive feedback."
Yang chuckled. "Because I'm awesome?"
Weiss glared. "Because someone," she jabbed a finger in Ruby's direction, "set the Grimm modifiers to randomized skills. That's why that Deathstalker decided to slice through a building instead of firing stinger projectiles!"
Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, laughing nervously. "Oh… uh, right. About that—"
"You what?" Weiss snapped.
"I thought it'd be fun!" Ruby said quickly, her words tumbling over each other. "You know, a little spice! Shake things up! Make it more unpredictable?"
Yang whistled low. "Unpredictable's one word for it. Nearly getting bisected by a scorpion that fires energy claws is another."
Blake smirked faintly. "Admit it, you enjoyed it."
Yang shrugged. "...Okay yeah, that part was pretty awesome."
Weiss groaned and pressed a hand to her temple. "I swear, every training session turns into a circus act with you three."
Ruby stuck out her tongue. "Hey! It's not our fault you built an entire ice fortress just to hide a dodgeball."
Yang blinked and turned toward Weiss. "Wait, hold up. Where did you even hide your ball, Ice Queen?"
Weiss sniffed, brushing invisible dust off her sleeve. "If you must know, it was encased within the lower ice serpents. Perfectly safe and undetectable."
Yang's eyes widened. "In the ice? Like… underground?"
Weiss nodded primly. "Yes. Concealed beneath multiple layers of elemental shielding. A simple, elegant solution."
Blake tilted her head, lips curving into a knowing smile. "Told you," she murmured to Yang.
Yang nodded. "You're quite the counter strategist, aint'cha, Blake?"
Blake folded her arms. "I figured Weiss would hide it somewhere pristine and symmetrical. She couldn't resist."
Ruby giggled. "Yeah, that sounds like Weiss."
Weiss looked between them, scandalized. "Excuse me, my strategic placement was not predictable."
Yang laughed, clapping her hands together. "Oh, it totally was. You're like, the queen of predictable perfection. If there's a way to make something complicated and stylish, you'll find it."
Weiss huffed. "Style is not a crime."
Ruby leaned closer to Weiss with a mischievous grin. "Neither is overkill, apparently."
Yang slung an arm over Blake's shoulders. "Guess that means we're all even, huh? Half the city gone, both balls vaporized, and Weiss's pride a little cracked."
"Excuse me?" Weiss sputtered.
Ruby giggled. "She means metaphorically! Probably."
The simulation began to flicker around them. The massive frozen walls shimmered like glass before dissolving into motes of light. Crumbled buildings unraveled into geometric fragments, the illusion fading until the four girls stood once again on the clean white tiles of the Beacon training chamber.
Yang stretched with a satisfied groan, rolling her shoulders. "Well, that was fun."
Weiss crossed her arm with a sigh. "Whatever."
Ruby turned to her with an impish grin. "Come on, Weiss! You have to admit—it was kinda cool when Yang punched through that whole ice wall like boom! and the Deathstalkers were like pew pew! and—"
"It was chaos," Weiss interrupted sharply. "Uncontrolled, inefficient chaos."
Blake smiled softly. "You're not denying it was fun, though."
Weiss faltered, eyes flicking aside. "I—well—fun is subjective."
Yang laughed. "Translation: she liked it."
Ruby pumped a fist. "Team training success!"
Weiss groaned. "Please don't make that our new motto."
Yang struck a heroic pose. "Team causes controlled mayhem all the way!"
Ruby giggled uncontrollably. "Controlled mayhem! I like it!"
Blake muttered under her breath, "Not so controlled…"
Ruby twirled her Scythe back into compact form and leaned on it like a staff. "So, what do we call the score? Tie?"
Yang gave her a lopsided grin. "Guess so. Still gonna say my explosion was the real MVP, though."
Blake smirked. "You mean my dodges and hits that built up your charge were the real MVP."
Weiss raised a hand dryly. "Technically, without my ice there would have been nothing to explode."
Ruby gasped theatrically. "So everyone's the MVP!"
Yang groaned. "That's not how MVP works, Rubes."
Ruby shrugged, eyes twinkling. "It does now."
The group shared a moment of quiet laughter before Weiss straightened and brushed her hair back into place. "Next time," she said firmly, "we are disabling random Grimm skills."
"Aw, come on, Weiss—" Yang began.
"No." Weiss's voice was final. "No more randomized projectile claws or whatever those sword projectiles were."
Ruby pouted. "But it keeps things interesting!"
Yang grinned, leaning in. "And that's what makes it fun."
Blake sighed, shaking her head. "Remind me again why we're in the same squad?"
"Because I'm awesome," Yang replied instantly.
Blake smirked faintly. "Right..."
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AN: Advanced chapters are available on patreon