Weiss waved for them to be quiet as they approached the sounds of battle. Lima recognized a voice as Teak called something out, and a response from a voice that had to be Ren came straight after it.

“We can’t!” Nora whispered, horrified, “It’s Ren!”

“Nora,” Wiess hissed, “You cannot be serious—”

“I can’t do it!” Nora wailed before Flora muffled the girl’s mouth with her hand.

Lima saw a flash of blonde hair pass between two trees and then another flash of red. Yang fighting Pyrrha was probably the best-case scenario for their team, and if they wore each other down first, they could swoop in afterwards to take down the winner.

“Lima,” Weiss spluttered, “Help me.”

Lima sighed.

“Nora, how do you think Ren is going to feel,” Lima said quietly, “If you refuse to treat him like the king he is?”

Flora yelped as Nora bit down on her fingers to free herself.

“I don’t want to hurt him—” Nora said passionately.

“You’ll be hurting him mentally and emotionally if you refuse to see him as a warrior,” Lima rebuffed, “He is your teammate, and your friend—Ren knows exactly what you’re capable of, and he’s out there giving it his all. He’s putting it all on the line because he expects you to be at the finish line waiting for him as the final challenge, waiting for you to meet him on the field of battle as an equal.”

Nora stared at him with wide eyes.

“Now, are you going to disrespect your friend by refusing to meet him with that same level of energy?” Lima said seriously.

Nora shook her head silently, fists clenched tightly at her side, eyes blazing.

“Then get out there and kick Ren’s ass,” Lima said firmly.

Nora shouted out a battle cry that sounded suspiciously like Ren’s name before she leapt from the branch in the direction of the fight.

“Some speech,” Flora said, impressed.

“That was helping?” Weiss said voice strained. “What happened to our ambush?”

“You either get an ambush or a Nora—but not both,” Lima said, grinning. “Yang is fighting Pyrrha—what’s the plan, Weiss?”

“What’s the point of a plan if everyone just does what they want anyway?” Weiss complained, “Let Yang and Pyrrha slow each other down; let’s focus on thinning the herd first. Teams of two, Flora and Nora, get Ren. Lima—we’re going after Savanna.”

“Wish me luck!” Flora said warmly, dropping down to the ground and dashing towards the battle.

“Savanna, that’s the tall girl with the double-bladed staff?” Lima wondered, remembering her from the other combat scenario.

“Yes,” Weiss said, dropping down. “If her opponent is losing, I’ll go after them first, and once they are both done, we’ll go help the others.”

Lima followed her through the trees, catching flashes of several of the other combatants. Dove was heading towards where Nora was chasing Ren, and Flora was angling to block him. Savanna chased Teak as the boy scrambled through the forest, keeping as many trees between him and the much taller girl as possible.

The teams were clearly lopsided, with his best guess being that Yang had Savanna on her team, while Pyrrha had Teak, Ren, and Dove. Weiss sped up, and Teak managed to throw himself out of the way of her lunge, sliding on his knees across the leaves.

Lima turned, heading for Savanna, and the tall girl angled to force him into a chase that took them away from the other two. He was instantly wary of a trap, but he couldn’t see anybody nearby that might assist her.

It was possible that she had set up an actual physical trap in the forest somehow, but he didn’t think they’d had enough time for something like that—Savanna twisted one of her feet on the next step, turning her sprint into a slide over the loose leaves and sending them spraying up away from her, she rode the slide until she had rotated fully to face him and then pushed back towards him.

Lima went low, planting a hand on the floor and flicking his leg up at her face as she came into range. His foot crashed into her raised guard, strangely enough, her arms deflected upwards without much resistance, but she’d already pulled her head back out of the way.

Savanna twisted low as his strike broke through, and then her hand lanced outwards, reaching for his hair while her knee came around with all of her built-up momenta.

Lima rode his own momentum backward, using his hand on the ground to push himself out of her reach—Despite his speed, he felt her fingertips brush along his hair. She was taller than he was, and her range advantage was very much a threat.

He came back to his feet and jaunted a step backward to escape her follow-up kick, slicing through the air where his head had been, and then dipped to the side as she slid forwards, bouncing upwards with her knee pointed forward.

His evasion put him to her left side, in a flanking position—he saw her eyes widening as his hand landed palm first against her belly. He flexed his semblance, feeling his aura surge down his arm, through his hand, and then Savanna crashed back first into the ground, legs and arms trailing behind her in the air.

Her Aura flashed, and the leaves beneath her burst upwards, filling the air—Lima caught sight of something pushing through them towards him, completely invisible to his sight before a fist crashed into his cheek.

Lima tumbled across the forest floor before sliding to a stop.

“Claire,” Lima said, grinning. “That was sneaky.”

Claire didn’t respond, but he could see where the leaves were diverted off their natural path to the ground, blocked by her invisible body and leaving a human shape in the air.

“Thanks,” Savanna coughed out, completely winded by the hit.

Lima watched her struggle up to her knees before she managed to push herself to her feet once more. Her prodigious height was now reduced as she remained partially slumped over, holding her belly.

“Ugh,” Savanna mumbled. “Bang like a cannon, huh? I think I get it.”

Lima snickered at the reminder of the stupid comment he’d made way back when.

This wasn’t the best situation he’d ever been in—that hit from Claire had dropped him further down, leaving him at about 60% Aura. All these sneakies running around hitting him out of nowhere—First Blake, then Jaune, and now Claire.

Who the hell was going to gank him next?

Both his and his opponent’s scrolls chimed simultaneously, and he glanced down to check the cause; Flora had just been eliminated—shit.

“Idiot,” Claire snickered. “Dove got another one; I think we might actually win this—”

Lima shot forward without waiting for her to finish.

Savanna hadn’t quite recovered her breathe but managed to deflect his first strike; his second one broke through the inside of her guard with a last-minute adjustment, leaving the punch headed straight for her right breast. Savanna managed to sway enough that it hit her shoulder before glancing upwards—the strike felt strangely weak like the impact had somehow been reduced.

Lima dropped low, slapping his palm flat against the ground and sending a burst of his semblance flooding the area; Leaves rocketed upwards once more, filling the air entirely, and he dove to the side as Claire’s invisible body passed through the leaves in his direction. He stopped on a dime, using his semblance to push him back towards them, and crashed bodily into the invisible girl.

He heard all three of their scrolls chime a second time but couldn’t take the time to check it.

Claire yelped, not at all ready for his immediate counter-attack or his grip on her hair. He pulled hard, swinging her up off the ground, and tossing her back at Savanna. Unable to see her invisible teammate, she took the impact head-on, and the two of them crashed into the ground.

Savanna’s Aura broke, and she let out a groan—Claire flickered back into visibility, laying directly on top of her, and then Lima planted his foot directly on her back, pressing her down onto the taller girl, and pinning them both to the dirt.

“Oh, come on,” Savanna wheezed, staring up at him. “That’s twice now—how do I keep losing to you?”

“Sorry,” Lima said, scratching his cheek. “You guys give up then?”

“We give up,” Claire huffed. “You can get off now.”

The scroll beeped, signifying their defeat, and Lima removed his foot, allowing Claire to roll over onto her back and off the taller girl.

“That thing you did when you hit me, that was your semblance?” Savanna asked, sitting up, still holding her stomach.

“Yeah,” Lima admitted, feeling a bit bad. “I was wondering when you were going to use yours.”

Savanna looked away, an uncomfortable look flashing across her face.

“I was using it the entire time,” Savanna muttered. “It reduces friction between me and anything that I’m touching.”

“Oh—That’s why you were deflecting everything so easily,” Lima said suddenly, as an understanding cut through him. “Damn, that’s really cool; I almost pulled a Teak for a minute there; lucky you used it when you did.”

Savanna tilted her head, eyeing him with a raised eyebrow.

“Teak’s your teammate, right?” Savanna said curiously, “What does ‘pulling a Teak’ mean? Is that another sex joke?”

Claire started laughing, and he knew that she would be bringing that one up later.

“Uh, definitely not—Never met the guy. Claire, I’ll leave this in your capable hands.” Lima said quickly, “Peace losers!”

He dashed away from them, missing Claire’s reply and heading back towards where he’d left Weiss. A glance at his scroll revealed that the second elimination had been Nora, and Weiss’s Aura was now just above the critical threshold.

Lima snapped his head to the side as he caught sight of a white flicker and caught hold of a tree, slingshotting himself back towards it. He came to a stop beside a panting Weiss and raised his eyebrow at the equally exhausted Teak.

“Finally,” Weiss huffed, “Yang and Pyrrha came back to save their teammates, Nora and Flora are done, but Ren and Dove are out as well—”

“Teak!” Pyrrha called, landing next to him and sliding to a stop.

“Pyrrha,” Teak managed to smile.

Lima took note that she looked worn down, and her hair was now free from her ponytail, hanging in a messy curtain of red against her back. Yang charged out of the tree seconds later, her hair absolutely filled with sticks and leaves; she caught sight of Weiss and Lima before stopping, leaving the three groups at a three-way stand-off.

“Hey, Weiss!” Yang said cheerfully, cracking her knuckles. “Let’s get this party started.”

“Teak,” Pyrrha said quietly, falling into a stance. “I’ll handle the front; watch my back and look for openings.”

“Phrasing,” Lima snickered.

“Wait,” Teak said quietly, looking around. “Lima, how many points do you have?”

“Four,” Lima answered, flapping his hand.

Teak’s unspoken idea was obvious given the context, and he quickly did the mental math to figure out how many points they would need. Teak looked to Yang, and she raised an eyebrow before checking her scroll.

“Two points,” Yang said easily.

“We have two points as well.” Teak explained. “If we were to all team up, we could avoid fighting anymore. If Yang joined Lima and Weiss’s team, it would cost two points. Then an additional three points for Pyrrha, and then the last four points for me.”

“We would need a total of nine points for that to work,” Weiss said quietly, “We only have a total of eight points all up.”

Teak looked crestfallen.

“It was a good idea, Teak, but Goodwitch is probably going to kick my ass for not immediately attacking you all,” Lima admitted, knowing she was likely watching. “I also promised Weiss the victory here, so I’m going to have to start kicking asses now—sorry guys.”

Lima took a step forward, and everybody tensed in preparation—he stopped, looking down at where Weiss had snagged his sleeve.

“No,” Weiss said sternly, before taking a deep breath, “I’m surrendering to Yang.”

“Huh?” Lima said, confused.

“Whoa now!” Yang said, startled, glancing down as her scroll beeped. “Weiss—seriously?”

“I’m one glancing hit away from losing via aura threshold, and given the opposition here, I won’t be able to avoid it,” Weiss sighed, “This way, you can all group up, and you’ll have more than enough points now—sorry, Lima.”

“That is an incredibly selfless decision,” Pyrrha said warmly, “Thank you, Weiss.”

“Weiss…” Lima said dangerously, reaching over and planting his hand firmly on her head. “I knew you were a big softy all along—I’m sorry I called you an old nanner!”

Weiss squawked in indignation as he began to muss her still mostly neat hair up.

“Lima.” Teak said reproachfully. “You’re messing her hair up.”

Lima yelped as Weiss managed to sneak in a rib punch—he disengaged, noting that Yang was watching him warily like he might come after her own hair next.

“Idiot,” Weiss mumbled, patting her hair down.

Lima pulled his scroll out, sending an invitation to the team ‘Silver & Gold’ and one to ‘Sleeping Forest.’ Pyrrha, the leader of Sleeping Forest, accepted the invitation first, followed by Silver and Gold, led by Yang.

The two teams were merged into his own, and everyone’s scrolls beeped, confirming the final remaining team—The Lima-Weiss Coalition had won the day.

“Well done, all of you—today was a fantastic display of your growing skills,” Goodwitch said once they had all tracked their way back to the meeting area. “Complicated rules, team dynamics, weapon restrictions, and even sacrifices—you’ve all shown that even under great pressure, you can work to fulfil the objectives laid before you.”

Lima smiled when he caught sight of Weiss, ducking her head down but looking pleased with herself as Ruby, Blake, and Yang crowded around her.

“There were simultaneous fights occurring around the forest, so I will be reviewing the footage in more depth before I give each of you a more personalized breakdown,” Goodwitch said pleased, “Lastly, be advised that Combat Practical will be cancelled tomorrow, so you’ll have a free period at that time, your next class with me will be the 30th—Now, you are all looking quite dishevelled, so I suggest you retire to your quarters to clean up.”

The group began to disperse, moving across the field and back in the direction of Beacon proper, but Lima stayed where he was.

“Lima?” Teak said.

“You forget where Beacon is, idiot?” Lux smirked.

Lima gave her a deadpanned look.

“He has detention, remember?” Claire said, nudging her arm. “Sure you don’t want to clean up first?”

“Not if it means I need to go back out afterwards,” Lima admitted, “May as well get it out of the way now—I’ll see you guys later.”

“Do you want me to wait for you?” Teak asked, concerned.

“I’m not making you wait an hour, Teak,” Lima said, patting him on the shoulder. “Go on, get out of here—and watch out for these two; I won’t be there to protect you.”

Lux dropped her arm around the short boy’s shoulder and steered him back towards Beacon.

“The perfect time to strike!” Claire said seriously, moving to join them.

“Maybe Goodwitch will give me detention too?” Teak said worriedly, throwing a glance back over his shoulder. “Lima?”

“You reap what you sow, Teak,” Lima said sadly, “You reap what you sow.”

“I haven’t sown anything!” Teak squeaked.

Lima waved to them before turning towards where Goodwitch was standing and making his way over.

“Your detention doesn’t start for another ten minutes, Mr. Morta,” Goodwitch said, raising her eyes from the scroll.

“Thought I’d try and get out on good behaviour,” Lima confessed, “I can’t stay in the system forever, you know?”

“I’m afraid there is no such good behaviour clause,” Goodwitch said dryly. “You’ve only inflicted an additional ten minutes of punishment upon yourself.”

“Damn it all to heck,” Lima sighed. “Worth a try.”

Lima stared at the twin stacks of papers lying on the desk in next to a binder—the stack on Goodwitches desk was much smaller, but he doubted he could convince her to trade.

“Run me through this?” Lima asked, seating himself in front of it.

“In order to enter them into the system, they must first have all of the appropriate information,” Goodwitch said simply, “The mandatory sections are as follows; First Name, Last Name, Birthday, Contact Number, Guardian’s Contact Number, Year, Signature. Once they are filled, we can begin entering them in.”

Lima dragged one of the pages off the top and flipped open the binder. He spent a moment running over the sections, but everything was already filled out.

“If they are perfect, should I list something down?” Lima wondered.

“No,” Goodwitch said easily, “Place it in a separate pile.”

Lima placed it on the desk beside his own to avoid mixing them up and moved on to the next one— everything was listed except for the Year.

“How do you get the signature onto the system?” Lima wondered, listing the person’s name down in the binder as ‘Bloom, Sakura; Missing Year.’

“The signature is only for confirmation; it won’t be entered into the database.” Goodwitch said, “Needless to say, you will make sure each has one.”

“Gotcha, and the year—That’s the first year, the second year, and so on?” Lima clarified, “Not the current date year?”

“Correct, the year of study they are currently enrolled in.” Goodwitch nodded.

Lima pulled the next one down and stared at it—this one was missing the last name.

“There’s only like ten things to write down,” Lima said, alarmed. “How hard is it to fill out your name? It’s right at the top of the page!?”

The size of the task ahead of him was beginning to unveil itself to him.

“I ask myself this every single year,” Goodwitch sighed.