A Thorn for a Rose

The first thing Doug woke up to, was the blaring sound of the alarm on his nightstand in his own room. He had spent almost two days asleep to catch up on some much needed rest. As he reached over he could see that it was almost eight o' clock in the morning. He hadn't missed breakfast but if he wanted to make it before the cafeteria stopped serving it, he knew he had best get a move on. Rolling out of bed he stretched his arms first, then his back, and finally his legs before dressing himself in a shirt and his long shorts.

'Wonder if they'll have biscuits and gravy this time. Omelets wouldn't be so bad either, I'm really looking forward to it now.' He thought as he strutted to the washroom to brush his teeth. Once he was done he washed his face and tussled out his hair before taking a hard look in the mirror.

'Seems as if I only have a certain amount of time before the world catches up to me. I need to obtain Hjálmarr's power as quickly as possible before I lose this opportunity. No matter how I'd like it to happen it is highly unlikely Beacon Academy will continue to stand throughout what is soon to come. And if for some strange reason it does.... I believe my presence here is only temporary, I can't get caught up in this normalcy. My path goes beyond this place and I refuse to be held back by a wanting of going through high school rather than reach the peak of what I'm capable of achieving.'

After drying his hands with a drying rag he decided to take a quick glance at the news on his scroll while taking a seat at a desk. 'What can checking up on what's happening in the world hurt?' On his screen was a news reporter who was asking officials on how they intend to improve security. The woman reporting the entire thing was a brunette with a professional air about her persona. She began to ask if they would employ Hunters to help keep order throughout the districts.

As they continued to play the political game one of them had brought up the fact that crime was on the increase and that it would quickly only get worse.

<'This is only going to worsen and part of the reason why is because governors and mayors have been too idle. We've seen this time and time again. Whole crime families riddle the underbelly of the business districts, gangs get their hands in organ trafficking as well as smuggling narcotics throughout the cities. And for the outskirts on the roads bandits lie in wait to hijack supply caravans.'>

'If only the people knew what was below the surface. The Mafia, the gangs, and the bandits all work together in order to make the most profit as well to stay well informed on what's going on.'

<'Congressman Epstein some would say the only reason as to why you're the only one willing to bring up these pressing issues, things that no one else has is due to an allegation stating where an incident has taken place where your nephew was brutally assaulted. Crippled to the point of being in a Coma by none other than the infamous killer and thief Schizo in fact. What do you have to say to those that think this problem is only getting recognition since it happened to someone in office?'> The female reporter took off the gloves and began to get into the dirt, which quite frankly took him by surprise.

'Looks like she's smarter than she seems. Either that or the script writer has some serious balls in order to make her read that off the teleprompter. Too bad I can't take the time to listen to his response though. If I waste too much time I won't be able to make it in time for breakfast.'

Taking into account the time, Doug reached down, grabbed his pair of military boots as well as his fingerless glove meant for his branded hand, and put them on. He never really bothered to tighten the laces since the strings were cut short and knotted at the tips. They fit snug but not to the point where he couldn't slip out of them. Standing up he made his way out but not before palming his room key and slipping it into one of his many cargo pockets, as well as wireless ear-pods in his ears. Connecting his scroll to the devices he put his music playlist on random shuffle.

Listening to the deep vocals as well as the wubb wubbz of the beat helped him get lost in the music. /AN: Was listening to 'DOOMSDAY // NIGHT LOVELL, LTE $uicide Boy$, BERZERK~SCARLXRD, ' from YouTube if any one of you wanna listen to the shuffle of songs that Doug is hearing on his walk while reading this chapter and possible future chapters/

Making it to the cafeteria he saw it wasn't as occupied as the last time he was here. Now that he thought about it there was supposed to be a morning exercise out in the forest with a few classes. He could recall one of the teachers discussing it with a student on the way back to his room yesterday. Taking a bite of eggs with cheese he felt a sense of unease ever so slightly behind his forehead. Discomfort was slowly eating at him and he couldn't understand why. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a few deep consistent breaths trying to deal with the unforeseen sensation. After a while the wave passed and he continued to eat his breakfast.

When he was finished with his breakfast he took a long swig of his Almer Palmer, (tea and Lemonade mix) disposed of his tray then headed out to the courtyard. Sitting on the edge of the water fountain was Yang, who was not currently in her school uniform but her signature gear. On her forearms were the latest edition of gauntlets specialized for both close and mid distance combat. It didn't take her long to notice my presence as she looked up from tucking in her laces on her boots. Taking a seat across from her on a bench Doug leaned back with his arms outstretched on the rails, head back eyes closed. She didn't get up nor try to interrupt him as they both took their time to relax. As the final song in his playlist came to an end he took the ear buds out and stuffed them in their case in one of his pockets. As he leaned forward he gazed into her eyes. He knew today was the day. She had given up on trying to catch him by surprise years ago, it was never her style anyway. Now every time this day comes around she meets with him out in the open and battles him head on. He didn't dislike it though, if anything it made things more simple and could last even longer. They slowly stood and walked towards one another. Once they were at least six feet from one another they stopped. Yang broke the silence first,

"Same as last year, you left your weapons again? Giving me a handicap knowing it won't change anything." Her hand rested on her hip.

"I'd say it wouldn't be fair given what happened yesterday. I don't want to cut your arm off on accident simply because I'm a little upset." I cracked my spine by twisting my upper body.

"Oh man, please don't remind me when we were stuck in the landslide. You nearly took my head off that time." She massaged the back of her neck remembering the incident.

"My bad my bad.....What about you, got everything you think you need?" I pointed to her hair before stretching my legs.

"Oh, right. I still tend to forget that you can exploit me having my hair down." She took out a scrunchie and began to pull her hair back. "You know nobody else knows how to do that with me, not even dad. Heck he's been trying to do it ever since I told him so we could train just in case I met anyone else who could."

"You know if you wanted to train with me you could always just ask for that specific guidance. It's not like...." His voice strayed off as he saw her arms up, accentuating her chest as she tied her ponytail.

"We've already been over this. The extent in which you train is more hardcore than me or Rubes are able to take. I like not being admitted into the hospital every week thank you very much. How do I look?" She turned to the side so he could get a better visual.

"...Mh. It's good." He shook the bothersome thoughts out of his head.

"Do you mind helping me with this harness real quick. I can't seem to adjust it to be comfortable when it's off. It's behind my shoulders." She lowered her crop top jacket for him to see.

"Don't sweat the small stuff, s'the least I can do." He got behind her and started to loosen and tighten certain loops trying to keep his mind empty. "You could've had Ruby or Blake adjust these for you before coming here ya know."

"Can you really blame me? A lot of things easily slip my mind last night. I'm lucky enough to have brought my scrunchie."

'She's not lying that's for sure. I can feel her slightly shaking as we speak.' Doug thought as he finished the last loop. "No, I guess I can't. There you go, all ready from what I can tell."

"Thanks." She pulled her jacket back up heaving a heavy sigh. Turning to face him she realized how close they were. "....."

"...." Silence ensued as they stared at one another. Doug could see Yang's eyes sharpen the moment she turned to him. The very next moment after she wrapped her arms around his shoulders bringing him closer. The gesture threw him off for a moment before he reigned in his nervousness and anxiety.

"Are you ready?" She leaned her head forward.

"Haaaaah..." He closed his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers. "Yeah. Thanks Yang. I know you hate this."

"Heh, that's what big sisters are for. S'the least I can do." She stroked her fingers through his dreads ruffling them up. After a few more seconds she let go and backed away till there was once again six feet between them.

In an instant the tension in the air grew so thick you could cut it with a knife. A pressure of immense proportions rose on Yang's shoulders as Doug's eyes slowly opened. No longer did a look of uncertainty or anxiousness appear in his gaze, but a thousand yard stare. Nothing would faze him from what was about to ensue. His hands lay at his sides unmoving, his palms completely open.

All of a sudden Doug jerked his torso back."Phsheew!!!!Phsheew!!!!" A dust round was fired to where his left shoulder was earlier followed by a failed head shot imbedding themselves into the stone floor. Following up Yang rushed forward with a kick sent to his ankles. Backflipping over them he sent out a kick of his own to her chin where she had no choice but to shield with her arms successfully blocking the counter. At that point the two began to heavily engage one another in a battle of attrition attempting to strike one another at the joints and pressure points. Partway through Yang started to use her gauntlets functions to blast at Doug's legs and head to get damage to reach him. This drove him to put some distance between them and led to more sniper rounds to be shot his way.

As one of the rounds grazed his side Doug rushed into the fire that was Yang's blasts and grabbed hold of her wrist, flinging her into the base of the water fountain. Yang who was now soaked from head to toe stood with glowing red eyes clearly upset. She bolted forward with a right hook which got blocked but combo'd a knee to his side which connected, before sending a wailing flurry of jabs to his chest and head. Doug who was on the end of the assault ducked down, took hold of her thigh, lifted her up and slammed her into the pavement with his head square in the center of her chest.

"Ack!" A slight groan could be heard escaping from Yang as her shoulder blades hit the ground. Her first response was to try and catch her breath the next was to anticipate a punch and sure enough it came aiming for her kidneys.

The strike caused her muscles to lock momentarily as she let out a yelp. As quickly as possible she wrapped her free leg around his, put his arm that was supporting from the ground under her armpit and pinned it as she leaned forward adjusting his head under her other arm. A makeshift choke hold she knew wouldn't probably hold but would give her at most seven seconds of respite to catch a breather. All the while Doug tucked his chin in as he continued to pound away at her ribcage. Seeing that it wasn't having much results he moved their weight to lift her off the ground as Yang's hold didn't let up. She knew what was about to happen and let go as she kicked away from him landing a yard from him. The distance didn't stay for long as Doug landed next to her attempting to drop kick where she rolled from a second before, trying to deter what he assumed had to have been Ruby sniping at him while in close proximity with Yang.

All the while a semi large crowd had gathered to watch what was going on standing close to the edges of the Quad by the gymnasium and the science building. Some who caught the beginning stages of the fight had either started recording or went to look for a professor to stop it. And boy oh boy was it one hell of a show. At this point Yang turned up the heat a few notches as she decided to push it to the limit. Her fists sped up as they struck with better precision and force keeping up with him landing critical hits that caused Doug to wince. The next round of ammo shot almost grazed his ear and he knew it was time to deal with the sniper sooner than later. So after his kick was countered by a leg of her own followed by a roundhouse to his chest sending him close enough towards the fountain, he dove headfirst palming quite a few broken pieces of stone varying in size. Tossing a few of them up while spinning on his back he launched them at her causing her to dodge some while trying to blast her gauntlets at most of them before they could do any damage. Not realizing she was creating a screen of dust clouds around her she was caught off guard as his arm came out of seemingly nowhere, taking hold of her collar and flinging her over his shoulder and into the cement. With that much force she bounced and he sent a left hook down into her gut making her to all but spit up stomach acid as the ground beneath her caved in.

Just as he was about to stomp Yang out, dodging slightly to the right avoiding a slash from a black 'Variant of a Chain Scythe' he sent a quick backhand strike to the attackers face while keeping his other arm underneath his elbow to intercept the knee that was bound to come as a reply. After swatting away the knee he wrapped his arm around the person's head and shoulder. Spinning over their back he sent three jabs to their collarbone, shoulder and finally their face, to which he was surprised to find that it belonged to Blake. Without hesitation he continued his barrage of jabs wearing down her joints before being blindsided by a blast from his side throwing him off balance before taking a uppercut to his temple and be double teamed while trying to grab his bearings.

As he brought up his guard to best counter his assailants, a bullet penetrated his non dominant leg from the opposite side of where he was originally being fired upon. That meant only one thing, either Ruby got to another building in record time or there was another sniper. Judging by the delay of the round being shot compared to the other one, he could safely assume there were more people involved this time around. Knowing this put more pressure on him. Deciding not to panic but instead have his mind go through multiple scenarios as he began to formulate a plan to deal with this situation, he clenched his fists then took hold of Yang's gauntlet. Dislodging a dust cartridge, ducking under one of Blakes shots at close quarters and standing between them both he slipped through their attacks. They separated for a brief second before trying to rush him in a pincer attack where Yang took the low ground and Blake would slice from up high. Finding his opportunity Doug slammed the cartridge into the ground creating a mini dust explosion to where he disappeared leaving the two to launch their attacks on each other.

"What the-!? Gaaah!"

"For the love of-!!"

Blake took the brunt of the blast while Yang blocked the blade end with one of her gauntlets damaging it.

"Dammit! I just did maintenance this morning. You still good to go?" Yang kept her head on a swivel searching for where Doug would pop out next.

"Kaf Kahk! Ptew!" Blake spat out smoke along with some speckles of blood from her bottom lip. "I can keep going. Where did he go to? It's like he vanished into thin air."

"He's still around here somewhere. Keep your eyes peeled."

"Right." Blake began to look around for hints of where he could have gone. Just then her gaze caught of a blur behind one of the pillars. "Heads up! Over there!" She took aim and sent six shots down her sights. What came past the pillar was an unsuspecting dove that just barely made it past all the rounds thrown in its direction.

"Jeez don't scare me like that." Yang let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding until now. 'I need to keep focus and make every second count; if I don't then it really is all over.'

"Wah! W-wh-what are you doing!?"

"Oh my go-Oooooah!"

"Kyah! W-w-wait a minAaaaaaah-!"

'Shoot! He was waiting in the crowd!' Yang had paid no heed to her surroundings as far as groups of people. As the two turned around to witness the commotion they came face to face with their fellow students being hurled at them with complete ferocity and the utmost violence.

Yang who was closer kicked the two poor boys slightly off trajectory towards the grassy patch of grass, while Blake summersaulted over the brunette girl as she landed in a nearby tree. The crowd was taken aback as they watched the boy who they originally figured to be somewhat weakened after being shot, spontaneously appear and ruthlessly beam his peers at his opponents. It was so random and bizarre that none of them could react let alone comprehend exactly what was going on until they themselves were chosen to be cannon fodder ammunition.

After the eighth person however it was pointless because Doug had accomplished what he set out to do. Both Yang and Blake had charged into the mob of onlookers to chase him. The change of setting for the battle made everything chaotic as he wove in and between students with the two on his tail. Blake had cut him off from the front and dodged his jab with her makeshift ribbon-chain intending to tie him up. With enough force he reeled his bound arm behind him, pulling her off balance and sending a Downward roundhouse kick to her neck before flinging her to a Yang that was two seconds from reaching them.

As far as the crowd was concerned, they tried to scatter in every which way however it seemingly made things worse. When they ran one way, the battle would immediately be there to have them turn in a new direction to where again without fail it'd rinse and repeat.

When Yang saw Blake thrust her way she vaulted over her setting up to blast on her next strike. Doug seeing this nabbed the nearest person and made use of his meat shields.

"Dammit!" She pulled back her fists and tried to flow around the girl he hid behind. The girls face was contorted in fear as tears welled up in her eyes seeing Yang's glare pointed directly at her. Using the non resistance of his shield Doug maneuvered his way as well as positioned her to weave around Yang while at the same time keeping an eye out for the snipers fire. Taking into account that the others would disperse he immediately dove again into the crowd near Blake who was making sure the person she impacted with was alright.

"Thanks, are you hurt....!!!!?" The boy taking her hand to stand abruptly shoved her out the way as he mitigated an elbow strike with his cupped palms.

Doug didn't intend to hit him but he couldn't be sure if he was in on the attack so he wasn't taking any chances of avoiding him. He had copper tinted hair coupled with skin two tones darker than Doug. With at least six feet in height he carried bladed bracers on each arm.

Deciding to stay up on the offensive scissor kicking Blake along with the new guy before knuckle punching first the guy in the thigh and Blake in the neck and then the weirdest thing happened. She vanished into dark shadow pieces before being replaced by another slicing at his face. 'Neo's semblance? No, can't be.' Clapping his hands together he caught her blade but was left open on his side to which he took a hook to the ribs and a roundhouse to his chin by a Yang that was quite literally burning. What followed was an onslaught of attacks from five separate directions that had broken his guard and found their marks all over his torso, arms, legs and face. It soon got so bad that those left recording from a safe distance behind cover tore their eyes from their screens making sure they had the perfect shot to the actual beatdown the five were inflicting on the boy.

"WHY! WON'T HE! GO! DOWN!?"

"LESS TALKY MORE FIGHTY BLAKE!"

"MY NAMES FOX ALISTAIR BY THE WAY!"

"NOBODY CARES!"

"NO ONE CARES!"

"WELL THE AUTHOR GOT TIRED OF REFERRING TO ME AS OTHER GUY! YOU'D THINK HE'D CARE!"

(A/N: He's completely right this makes things way more convenient but that's breaking the fourth wall. Didn't think you'd be doing that this early. *Scratches cheek with sweat-drop*)

Fox feeling pretty impatient sent major blows to Doug's chest and gut sending him across the yard into the adjacent building wall causing it to collapse on top of him.

"Phew, now that he's down I'm gonna go call a teacher to get him under control. They'll know what to do with him." Fox was turning to leave but was stopped by Yang's grip on his shoulder.

"We can't have them butt in. It'll only be more of a misunderstanding. We'll take care of this, just go."

"What are you talking about, we need someone who can handle him or else more people will get involved."-[

23.+62.

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1240

A\N: Sorry my dog jumped on my keyboard asking for walkies. I think I'll keep his typing in here to commemorate his try at being a writer. Who am I to get in the way of his dreams and aspirations :P. Anyway continuing on.

At hearing that everyone that wanted to leave evacuated the area like their life depended on it.

"Look you don't get what's going on! Just get out of here while you still can before-!" Yang took her eyes off of the hole in the wall for one moment to yell some sense into Fox when a brick shot out and caught him straight in the face exploding upon impact. The force behind it made his head reel back as well as sending him on his back.

"Now, we can't have that can we? The fun part is just getting started." Doug stepped up from the stack of fallen rubble. His shirt was barley existent with it being tattered almost falling off his right shoulder. Blood dripped from cuts on his side and face, a few rifle-shot wounds peppered his arm, more than enough fist sized burns crawled over his chest, his left arm hung limp by his side as he leaned against the opening likely due to it being dislocated.

"You've gotta be kidding me. He can't seriously think he can face us like that." Blake stood in front of Yang who was currently helping fox get his bearings.

Taking a step out from the wall Doug punched out on a loose piece cutting between the trajectory of his face and the next round that was fired.

"Not gonna lie, that sniper is starting to piss me off." In less than a moment he vanished from where he stood causing an afterimage to phase out from the pile of debris in the wall only to appear right below Blakes face.

"?!" As she was caught off guard she brought up her knee aiming for his chest, however her attack was easily blocked and countered with an elbow to her chin. Yang who tried to assist with a blast from a left hook caught a heel to her collarbone as he hit her with a handplant roundhouse kick sending her in an arc into the ground with his foot on her neck.

Fox who was clearly upset at being hit with a brick, came in with a axe kick connecting with Dougs extended shoulder as the ground fractured from the pressure.

Krrrk! " Mph! Why thank you." A smirked crept to his face as he clenched his fist, his arm now popped back in its socket. Combo slamming it into Fox's chest, he took hold of his torso before sending him into a brutal suplex.

"Guhak!!"

Rolling to the side Doug intercepted Blakes Ribbon by slipping to one side, reaching behind him plucking the Scythe Pistol from thin air, popping off two rounds each in opposite directions before cutting the tether. Blake getting a bad premonition fired her dust rounds with the pistol she had left at him.

If he decided to stay stationary they probably would have found their mark, however this was the real world. Only amateurs freeze in these type of situations and Doug knew better than to stay still. Weaving from side to side as well as quick stepping to her blind spots he stayed out of the line of fire.

Once she fired her last round, he began to leisurely walk over to her. Just as they were barely within arms reach of one another he asked just above a whisper.

"How many?"

If one were to pay close enough attention they would see the slightest twitch of the bow on top of her head. "What?" Her eyebrows creased in confusion as she took a defensive stance.

"How many of you are there here to challenge me?" He gazed over to where Yang was laying to see her condition. She was currently stirring from being unconscious.

"...You think by you asking me, I'd simply tell you?"

"You're right. That's my bad, I didn't say please. How did I forget that?" He knocked on the side of his tilted forehead sticking a tongue out.

"I must say for putting our entire lives on the line, you sure treat this pretty lightly."

"Well for the most part its not my responsibility to put your life in danger but vice versa. Now, I do realize in order for you to come at me with everything you have there must be a certain stimulus. A push back for lack of better words for you to want to defend yourselves and kill me," At this point he started circling around Blake keeping his head on a swivel at every little movement around him. " Because lets face it, I doubt you could set it in your minds to up and decide to try and murder another sentient being. As a whole people are frankly too illogical for such a thing." Coming to a stop at the original spot he once stood, he turned his sights at Blake. "However anyone can take countless lives if that one can delude themselves and others into believing its in the sake of sustaining their own" She stiffened as he raised the pistol aimed at her face. "Or better yet, to save another." At that time a locker fell next to them kicking up a considerable amount of dirt and debris.

"Kahf Kahf! You know if you wanted a distraction you could have went with maybe a flashbang. Not that I'm complaining, just a suggestion." Doug lowered his arm from around his nose and mouth. Using his ears rather than his eyes he focused on any noise depicting movement.

KerClack

In less than a quarter of a second his mind deducted that was the sound of the locker closing. 'But why go out of the way to close it? Quite simple actually. It's a diversion to hide the true location she's hiding. If she's as good as I believe she'd put that torn tether to good use. Ack! thats a small tongue twister. I'll take a guess as to think the locker was faced this way so that means she should be in this direction and Judging the ribbon was about yea (pronounced yay) long, she'd be....here!' Taking a lowered shot into the cloud of dirt he heard a muffled whimper along with a thudded slide.

Jogging over he could see it wasn't who he expected it to be. "You're also taking part huh?" He placed one hand on his side as the other tapped the gun against his thigh. "Well I guess if I really think about it, I should have known. You didn't come off as being the sharpest tool in the shed." As he looked at the face planted Nora he saw her dropped war-hammer. Picking it up he turned his sights over to a cluster of moving shadows to which he guessed were the persons meant to face off against him. Well, minus the one he shot in the shins. 'This gives me an idea.' A crazed smile found its way onto his face.

"Aaaahahaooowwww! Owowowow! That huhuhuuurrrrt!" Nora who just finished massaging her leg from the fetal position looked up to see the one who caused her so much discomfort. "That's no fair! You took her weapon to hit me!" She sat up leapfrog style with tears threatening to fall at the corners of her eyes. "Aaaack! You even stole mine!" She pointed at Doug, accusing him as he held her war-hammer on his shoulder.

Silently looking at Blakes gun, her hammer in his hand and Nora herself a few times he tossed the pistol to her.

"I don't wanna trade I want Magnhild back!" She shook her balled fists up and down as she threw a temper tantrum.

As everything settled Doug could see Yang, Fox, Blake, Ren, Weiss, and Ruby all standing together prepared to face off with him.

"If you want it back you'll need to take it from me. That is, if you even can." Doug began to test swing with it as if it was a baseball bat a few times to get used to the feel. Once he felt satisfied with the weight distribution he twirled it over his back smashing it into the ground beside himself resting the mallet face down with the spike aimed at the group. "I suggest if you're not ready to join them without it then you should sit this round out." Looking over his shoulder he could see Nora standing up with an exaggerated pout puffing up her cheeks.

Without responding to his obvious provocation she effortlessly leapt with a single bound somersaulting over Doug's head and joined the ragtag team at least thirty feet away handing Blake her empty pistol back. He could see them mutter to each other as he approached them.

"Have you finished your planning stages yet? I do find this rather interesting by the way. Having them take part on such short notice must have not been an easy task." He reared the hammer back ready to receive them all at once.

"You sure are talkative this time Dougie" Ruby grinned at him looking to her right. "Are you nervous on making a bad impression with you-know-who?"

"...."

"..."

"...."

Everyone didn't say a word as Doug stared daggers at Ruby.

"I'm going to hit you extra hard."

"Eh?! Not fair!"

"Life's not fair."

"Meanie! Buhhh" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Blehhhh" He stuck his back at her.

"Are you two done?" Yang asked clearly done with their quirkiness.

"Yeah, come at me whenever." Doug winked over at Weiss causing her to shake in anger.

Almost immediately they all rushed him with Ruby leading the charge as she used her semblance to clash against him with her Crescent Rose scythe. Tilting the handle of the hammer he was able to redirect her trajectory just in time to catch the powerhouse duo, Yang and Nora. Pulling the trigger while swinging the spike at them he explosively sent them both flying cracking both their auras. Following up Fox came in close mainly trying to use his bracer blades to cut off Dougs fingers while Ren provided backup to areas he couldn't exploit, mainly with kicks and gunfire.

When Fox came in Hulk-smash style Doug slipped to the side encountering Ren. Letting go of the handle he kicked it forward to which he was surprised to see it was kicked back. With a simple twirl the mallet rushed downwards to Ren's crossed arms causing him to kneel. With the leverage Doug flipped his legs over his head as Fox sent a strike from behind. Twisting in the air he scissor kicked aiming for his head. Connecting he wrapped it around his neck throwing the blind boy into Ren. Ruby who was coming around again fired a few shotgun shells to which Doug hit with the hammer towards the incoming Yang. Dodging the ricochet with a slide Blake and Nora vaulted over and all three was on him doing their best to overwhelm him.

"I thought you said you wore him out!" Nora shouted as she blocked a backfist to the face.

"If you coulda did a better job with him fresh out the gates you should have volunteered to wear him down instead!" Yang took hold of his extended arm and put him in a makeshift armbar.

Fox who had gotten under Doug's line of sight palm struck the weapon from his hands back towards Nora as he kneed him in the gut. Ren who crept from behind set him in a tight rear naked choke hold.

"Kahaha! Back to where you belong!" A toothy grin plastered her face as she slammed the hammer down on his head.

Weiss who was standing back prepping her glyph with Blake out front covering for her shouted out "Clear the way!" As the others hurriedly backed off, Weiss with a swipe of her rapier summoned a combination of lightning and ice out from the sky striking Doug down.

"I didn't think about this till now but how do we explain the broken walls, fountain, and crosswalks to the school?" Ruby asked out loud.

Everyone now instead of looking at the aftermath of the Dust blast all turned to Weiss.

"...What?"

"Well your family is the wealthiest so I think it'd be fair for you to front the bill." Blake crossed her arms.

Doug who was just hit with literal lightning felt his muscles tensing as well as his skin frosted over struggled to stand. With a fading consciousness he lifted his torso as he dragged his legs to support him.

'Damn that hurt like hell. She sure didn't hold back at all. I gotta remember to deal with her later or else things will get out of hand quickly. Doesn't help I never dealt with this before but I guess what's done is done.' Once he was up he flexed his back to dissipate the tight feeling from his shoulders as well as his sides. 'Now I think it's about time I start to put some real effort or else I might just as well lay down and let them win.' When he gazed down at his chest he could see the traces from where he was struck, the rest of his shirt blown to shreds. When he turned his attention over to Yang and co. he noticed another little detail. Even though he could see them moving their mouths and gesturing over at him he couldn't hear a thing. Snapping his fingers by the side of his head he realized he may be temporarily deaf. Lightly brushing his lobes he felt something wet. When he brought them before his eyes he saw they were bleeding. 'My ears are blown to hell.....Fuck!'

Scanning the group he quickly locked his sights on Weiss. *BADUMP!* She was seemingly in a argument with Blake as Ren tried to deescalate the situation. Ruby who noticed Doug's actions nudged Weiss. When she had been informed her of what was going on she returned his gaze with confusion at first and then smirked clearly amused at his predicament. *BADUMP BADUMP!* That ticked him off. *BADUMP BADUMP!* Clenching his fist Doug could feel heat swell in his bloodstream as he took a deep breath in his nostrils only to exhale steam out his mouth. *BADUMP BADUMP BADUMP!* He could feel something crawling up his arm and across his chest but he didn't take his sight away to check. Yang who saw this had shouted something but he not only couldn't hear but if he could he wouldn't care let alone pay heed to it. All that he saw was Weiss's smug face. Then the strangest thing happened, one moment he was a good distance away from her, the next he had her neck in the palm of one hand standing with one foot on top of Nora's chest with the other hand holding a passed out Fox (whose legs were dragging) by the scruff of his vest behind him. They were now in a library in between a table that was crushed in half with the noon-time sun shining through a hole in the roof. Weiss' whole body was covered in welts and her clothes were tattered beyond repair. One of her boots were gone while her hair that was previously in a ponytail was now down as if someone yanked it free.

"Ghak! I-I swear!" Weiss's hands were slipping from his wrist as her legs spasmed and jerked trying to find somewhere to stand.

The first thing Doug noticed was that he could hear once again. It's good he's not permanently deaf or else it'd be a real headache dealing with everyday circumstances. He'd either be dependent on someone to show him what was going on or he'd have to figure a way out to restore his hearing. And both would be time consuming beyond what he was willing to deal with.

'But what's with her swearing?' Turning to his right he saw Ruby with her hands pulling on the arm strangling Weiss. With tears in her eyes she pleaded with him to let her go.

"She yields! Dougie! We! Yield!" Seeing that he must have blacked out he complied by releasing both Fox and Weiss.

After they fell to the ground he could see the damage that was done. As he lifted his foot off of Nora he could hear her heave for a breath of air. Looking down at his hands he could see his leather glove was now torn showing the brand out for anyone to see. Ruby who was too busy trying to tend to Weiss likely didn't see it. 'Or too high-strung to care at this point.'

After making sure no one else was around he stuffed both hands in his pockets (well what was left of them anyway) and made his way out of the building. Luckily there wasn't many students or staff on duty in this building. When he was outside he could see the extent of which he and the others let loose. An entire breezeway was collapsed along with four other buildings partially damaged with multiple walls destroyed and even a crater deep enough to see the electrical pipes underneath the pavement.

'What the heck was that? This is getting out of hand. I already have enough on my plate, and the last thing I need is unknown variables thrown my way for me to deal with later. I clearly said something during that fight, thing is what did I tell her?' His mind wandered. It didn't help that he couldn't even outright ask her or something else could happen due to his meddling. 'Plus Rubes is going to be overly protective of all of them from me for the moment.'

When the ones who witnessed everything caught sight of him they would give him a wide berth as they stared. It was a level further than when he would first walk through buildings, or past a large populated area. Turning a corner he ran into Jaune and Pyrrha who were all but full on sprinting down the walkway. To be precise Jaune was the one that ran into him, only to fall on his ass while Pyrrha stopped short seeing the state Doug was in. It wasn't hard for her to put two and two together.

"We heard that there was someone attacking random students and came to provide assistance. You're injured! Do you need help getting to the nurse?! Is there anyone else in danger that needs help!?" She bombarded him with questions as she placed a hand on his shoulder inspecting him closer.

Slowly brushing her hand off he heaved a sigh. "I don't really do nurses anymore. If I want an ice pack I can manage that on my own. And you'll probably need help soon as well."

"Huh? What are you-?" She was in the middle of asking until Doug sent out a wheel kick that she intercepted with her shield: countering with a slash from her short-spear. Maneuvering his heel to tap the flat edge of her weapon he changed her trajectory at the same time as tucking his knee down as the top of his foot found the outside of her wrist.

Making a slight retreat further back she shook out her hand.

"Tch. It'd have been so simple if you had tried to flinch after being thrown off balance."

"Who are you and why are you attacking students?" She took an defensive stance with her spear behind her neck resting atop her raised shield ready to be thrust out at him.

"Oh please, let's just stop with this farce. I already know you were the other sniper. You got me a good few times and I did take it out on them but I still can't help but feel I owe you at least two licks." Standing parallel with Pyrrha he took a open stance making it difficult to be read.

From his blind side Jaune came at him with his sheathed blade upwards coming from low. Stepping forward he easily slipped past the sneak attack (if you can call loud stomping and screaming at the top of ones lungs sneaking) keeping his heel out causing him to trip on his face.

"Waaahh!" CRASH!! "Ow."

"How did you-?" Pyrrha

"Your spear also functions as a rifle. At the distance of which the rounds were fired from only a few expert marksman would be able to pull it off, especially against me no less, at a constant and consistent rate. From what I've researched up on I can literally guess the people able to actually hit me, not taking into account that I let you hit me but that's besides the point, and you are one of the few on that list."

"....You researched everyone here at Beacon in such a short amount of time? Is that what you've been doing this entire time while not attending classes?"

"Oh heavens no. That merely took me roughly 27 minutes to achieve."

"What?!" Jaune exclaimed out in disbelief. "All of them? Do you know how many people go here?"

"The ones that lack skill, strength, willpower, let alone endurance to even be a fraction of a threat are of little consequence. They didn't require my attention. No offense." Doug shrugged his shoulders as he eyed Pyrrha's form, trying to find a crack in her stance.

"Then why do I feel so offended?" Jaunes shoulders slumped as he held his sword like a complete amateur in front of himself.

"To be honest that was the easiest thing to do the second day I got here. No, I was preoccupied by other more.....pressing matters I'm afraid." His gaze found its way off to the side as his brows furrowed.

"Anyways, I suppose it's only fair if I forewarn you: the others have conceded. If you wish to do so as well I won't hold it against you and will hold off on my personal feelings of the matter till next time." With a smirk he held his arms out as if to welcome any attack.

Pyrrha stayed silent as she weighed out her options. Her focus wandered over to Jaune who was merely a few paces from Doug. At first glance it would seem obvious they should continue to double team against him, however it was clear to see her teammate was outmatched and unknowingly held as leverage against her. At her current distance Doug would easily be able to end Jaune before she could use her semblance to move him out of the way. So with a twirl of her spear as well as placing her shield on her back, she let down her guard.

"We concede this battle."

The smirk on his face melted away as a look of pure surprise replaced it.

"Huh?" Jaune who thought he most certainly would have to fight for his life was left dumbfounded. "But I thought.....w-what about the plan?!"

"I must admit I do not know how I should feel. I'm impressed for one: that a warrior is wise enough to know when to cut their losses. However, I honestly was hoping to experience a battle of a lifetime with someone on my level close to my age." Doug ran his fingers through his locks to the back of his neck lost in thought.

"Thank you and I'm sorry?" She tilted her head trying to find the best way to respond.

"This....is a first for me....I-I just don't know what to make of it." A confused but unsatisfied smile found its way onto his face. He knew he had essentially won although that wasn't the purpose of what he did this for. But it didn't feel as if he did at the same time. "Somehow...there's this feeling I may have actually made a mistake in offering a ceasefire."

"There are the mock battles that are allowed in the arena. There's nothing stopping us from sparring there." Pyrrha suggested folding her arms.

"...Can I ask you a question?" Doug finally looked up at her.

"Sure."

"Haven't you ever wanted to let loose against the ideal opponent that would give you a legitimate challenge? Someone who is quite surely your equal. One whom you could push your abilities to the limit with. No one keeping you from showing your true potential. To test to see if what you have been preparing for your whole life was worth it."

It was a honest question. He wasn't playing mind games with her like how he usually would to deceive someone else or to hide his intentions. She could see it in his eyes.

"There have been times I wanted to be acknowledged for my hard work. So in a way, yes, I suppose I have."

"Hm." With the exchange of words over, as well as intently searching for some unknown revelation in her eyes, Doug (after standing there silent for a long while) began to step forward. Pyrrha who was confused braced herself as he got closer until he simply walked passed her.

"Huh?" Taken aback she turned following behind him with her eyes.

Betraying her expectations however Doug kept walking.