Something To Prove [Open]

"Heh, I'm going to have fun with this guy. The normal assumption of me not being good for Close Combat..." Jigoku began thinking to himself knowing that seeing pistols on him automatically make people assume he's not suited for Close Combat, which is often a great mistake. Jigoku simply enjoyed taking a casual stroll over to the third sparring arena, it was placed 30 meters to the right of where the other two students were currently fighting. Jigoku simply went over towards the opposite end of the arena, as to let his opponent have somewhat easier access over to begin an immediate attack against him. Was that confidence, or was it a test for the man Jigoku was about to have a casual spar with. 

One might mistake Jigoku's initial actions as extremely arrogant, thinking that he's above the rest. The reality is, Jigoku is simply having fun with this action and wishes to apply his real life experience from Beacon Academy. Having literally only about a weeks worth of rest of Hunter Training in between graduation and finalizing his paperwork to attend Syne Academy, now would be a great opportunity for Jigoku to actually put his skills to the test. Assuming that the male student he just challenged had already walked to the opposite end, Jigoku spoke in a calm projected voice, one that did not show fear or hesitation to kill anybody. "I seem to have forgotten my manners, the name is Jigoku Mukōmizuna. Now come..." Jigoku said as he simply took a sideways fighting position and slightly extending his left arm. Using two fingers as to taunt his opponent to come towards him with all his strength, "Let's begin our fight."

"Richard Lionheart" he introduced himself before tossing the dummy's heads, one to his opponent's right, the other his left and the third landed just in front of the hooded man, all from nine to nine and a half meters from Richard. The fighting ring was fairly empty and a single light hung above them. He took in his opponent once again, the ears showed faunus heritage instantly rendering one of his plans less effective. He extended Keyll's chain. Judging by his opponent's taunt he was left handed, not that it made much difference. Guns meant bullets and if he got too close he wouldn't have time to dodge nor counter with his semblance. He began to spin one of his weapon's blades- and extending a good 1.3m of chain - at high speed, creating a large shields that would block a forward assault. Counting the weapon's blades his whole front was protected, with the exception of the leather base of his shoes. He began to slowly walk toward his opponent, knowing bullets would either be deflected off to his sides or caught in the chain's links, but at the same time it would put pressure on the man. His reaction would dictate Richard's course of action, the moment he gave anything away was the moment he lost.

"Hmm, a Close and Mid-Range fighter..." Jigoku thought to himself by seeing Richard, the man who introduced himself swinging around that weapon with practical ease. It was obvious that the fight would probably be a little more difficult than anticipated, but Jigoku has dealt with other weapons that are very similar if not exactly like it. "It just... takes a little... aiming... " Jigoku whispered to himself as he used his right hand to quick draw the Pistol and shoot with blinding speed right into the base of his exposed shoes, just at the bottom of the soles to show how amazing of a shot this man was.

"Make no mistake, I can easily snipe you with these pistols from this Range Lionheart." Jigoku said to Richard, seemingly respecting his ability with that weapon he wields. Jigoku would only be using one pistol as of now, as to actually toy with Richard at this moment and see his mental expression. A person who can keep his mentality in check despite a shot that accurate would be somebody praiseworthy in Jigoku's perspective. Taking aim, his marksmanship back over in Beacon Academy was unmatched and now Jigoku is wondering: "Is there somebody here who can actually deflect my bullets?" Thinking that to himself as he waited for the slightest gap to open and took one clear shot at Richards arm while calculating the slight gap.

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 48/50
Left Pistol: 50/50

Richard couldn't help but feel a smirk grow on his face. He's confident for a reason. He felt the bullet lodge itself into the centre of his boot's soul, pushing the leg back. He managed to retain his balance. There was a sudden flash of heat, just to his right. A bullet had ricochet off the chain and burst into flames. If he hadn't been stopped by the first the second would almost certainly have lodged into his arm. He raised his free arm to block, and felt a slight burn on the fingers that clutched the second blade as the embers swarmed to it. Knowing of his leather boot's flame resistance he paused and quickly put the thick toe to the ground, cutting off the oxygen and allowing the bullet to fall out.  He knew he couldn't let up, he kept the spinning going. He hated fire, fire had taken his home from him. But he had the advantage now. He knew of his adversary's weapon and its capability.

He reached under his scarf's collar and pulled a secreted vital of dust from which he pulled one of the five crystals. His faunus eyes would help him but he could never see this coming. He lined it all up, the smirk still plastered on his face. Like that he did it, using his semblance he switched places with the bulb in the hanging light above him. The bulb shattered to the ground where he had previously stood. In a single fluent movement he was atop the shade. He tossed the crystal directly between his opponent's legs, the earth dust would cause a sharp rock to protrude from the ground upon impact (like a baby mountain). As soon as he finished his throw he started to spin his chain again, due to his position though (Grabbing the light's cable with his left and his chain in his right, crouched down) there was no crack in his defence, no sole to shoot this time.

Hp125
Aura 160

"Hare hare," Jigoku stated to Richard as he saw him take some of the Damage while retaining his position at the same spot. Of course, not all people could survive something like that, despite being very capable with a weapon similar to the one Richard is wielding currently. However, something very interesting actually happened after the bullet came into slight contact: Richard gave off the expression that there was a distinct hatred towards Fire users in general, and the way he was fighting gave the impression that his weapon only supported his real method.

"I think I'm beginning to understand how you fight... Richard Lion-" Jigoku thought to himself as he began piecing everything together. What Richard did next sealed his assumptions straight on the mark, though even Jigoku couldn't 100% dodge the next attack. Richard just looked up and disappeared, hearing the Light Bulb crash into the ground, he looked up as well only to see Richard up where the Light Bulb once was. At the same time, Jigoku noticed, a green powder-like substance dropping down with decent speed, thus pausing his thought process. "Crap! Seriously?" Thinking quickly on his feet, Jigoku immediately followed his instincts and jumped as far to the right as he possibly could.

The legs boosted with Lynx Faunus DNA seemed to help with the jump, as what seemed to be a Baby Mountain appeared from the ground and scrapped Jigoku's leg. The damage wasn't very much, but Jigoku knew he couldn't let up either. His assumptions were correct, though the teleportation caught Jigoku off-guard slightly, it just added into his final thesis: "Teleport with objects in or around the Arena, and drop Vials of Dust to create attacks most humans cannot dodge." Jigoku thought to himself taking into account that he himself was a Lynx Faunus and that may have just saved him from losing the fight. "Interesting fighting style you have Lionheart... do you think that throwing dust crystals between my legs while teleporting around like a wimp will save you?" Jigoku stated with a mocking yet icy calm tone, it could give off that Jigoku was slightly annoyed at the choice of fighting style. But also, respected it at the same time due to him being able to utilize his Semblance practically to it's fullest potential.

Looking at the spot where Richard would be perched upon, spinning his little toy like he was attempting to get into Jigoku's mind. It just didn't seem like Jigoku would have it much easier than the he originally anticipated. Though while Jigoku was looking at that male student perched on top, he noticed that there was a lining holding the lamp up there. "Now we're talking, you wanna play that way. Go right ahead, I'll predict where you're going next." Jigoku thought with a calculating attitude, somewhat mad one could say while smirking devilishly. He took his Left Pistol this time and shot two bullets angled off of Richard's spot and spinning defense, this would cause Richard to more than likely smirk and taunt as the real objective was the burn down the lining and force Richard into using his Semblance again.


Ammo:
Right Pistol: 48/50
Left Pistol: 48/50

Afterwards, looking around the Arena, Jigoku noticed there really wasn't much to utilize around the premises. Lest Richard decided to use the crates and barrels directly at the west of the Arena, and Jigoku counted Six in total just waiting to be shot at. This was an opportunity Jigoku siezed immediately, while the lamp was falling down and Richard would be forced to use his Semblance to stop a dastardly fall, he shot three bullets from each gun at the six barrels. Thus potentially forcing Richard to use even more of his Aura just to avoid being hit by the Dust Bullets.

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 45/50
Left Pistol: 45/50

Aura 140|155 HP

Richard paid no heed as the bullets flew by, figuring his opponent was probably in shock.Maybe he's not all I tho- But the sudden fall did, falling fast toward the ground his eyes darted for something to switch with, he quickly took note of where and how the ground had burst following his dust. However his eyes were immediately drawn to the three heads he had left one of which was just a few steps behind the man after he'd jumped. Gripping both blades on his right he switched with the head, his opponent's reaction had shown he knew of Richard's semblance while Richard knew nothing of his. Both blades in parallel he ran straight at his opponents back, his footfalls silent as he had learned in the forest, timing his slash with the dropping of the dummy's head. As he slashed, half the playing card flew out near his opponent. The more he had to use the more he could set up. He had a mental list of all the items in the room, those he could manipulate easily and those he could not.

Every time blocked a bullet he gained more he could use. Jumping back he cut the pointed top of the mini mountain and kicked it away to the left. He climbed atop the rock and extended the chain, from here he needn't worry about catching the ground with the blade. He spun the right blade faster than previously and stood side on making his visible side smaller. From here his entire body was masked by the spinning chain. He then tried something he'd only just practiced. Extending the other end he threw it straight at his opponent, over his chain shield in a whip like manner, akin to a scorpion's tail over it's claws. He yawned, "If you weren't a faunus you'd have lost by now."

Aura 150
Hp 125

Jigoku honestly didn't realize the fact Richard brought those heads to the Arena were for a bigger purpose, it was only after that his calculations were actually off that he had only realized the heads were there for his Semblance. "Crap! How'd I not realize that sooner!" Thinking this to himself, Jigoku was more or less actually lost as how to actually combat Richard now. The heads would be going all over the place if Richard kept on using his Semblance. Then something hit Jigoku in the head as half of the card he threw at Richard just before the fight flew past him, instinctively grabbing it while putting his left pistol away he could only think, "Tch, he's using the items around the Arena to actually move around effortlessly... he can be offensive if he has the Materials only." Jigoku was grazed by a blade after catching the card, apparently he would have suffered some fatal damage if it wasn't for the unnecessary movement of grabbing the half card in the air just now, "Now I'm getting distracted... that's not really... normal of me."
Aura 110|140 HP

Jigoku could only imagine what would happen if Richard didn't have any of these set up from earlier. Not noticing that Richard that Richard had planned out a supposed assassination tactic, Jigoku looked back to only realize that his opponent was on the peak of the Baby Mountain that rose earlier from the Dust. The swirling of Richard's weapon was very fast, Jigoku somehow began praising his technique in the back of his mind yet somehow... he just didn't want to lose. Jigoku had something to prove, and that was that a Graduate Student from Beacon cannot lose to some wannabe Hunter in a friendly spar. "You're starting to remind me too much about... him." Jigoku thought angrily.

He did the unthinkable, while the the blade was coming towards Jigoku... without a care in the world he casually walked towards that Blade. Jigoku's eyes began to change from Amber to an Icy Snow White, kind of a side effect from his Semblance: Akuma Shōheki, a barrier just appeared in front of his persona while walking towards Richard without a care in the entire world. Jigoku's aura flared violently in a Fresh Blood Red hue (using Triple the Normal Aura usage for his Semblance), like there was a hatred towards Richard... no rather a hatred towards a possible memory of Kurai Kumoi: Jigoku's former best friend, and deceased enemy whom he killed with his own Pistols. Jigoku didn't even care about the fact Richard had yawned, he just blanked the words out because it had no meaning to him whatsoever.
Aura 110|140 HP

"You know... you're starting to just piss me off... Lionheart." Jigoku said with a deathly calm tone, hatred could be heard in it. As if Jigoku just blantely had enough of Richard, whom reminded him just too much of Kurai. The anger in Jigoku's eyes showed explicitly, it was almost as if he were going to let his Lynx Faunus Instincts just take over. The first thing Jigoku immediately did, was aim towards Richard with his Right Pistol, and took out the Left Pistol before he did anything else. Immediately after taking the Left Pistol out, he shot at Richard with the Right Pistol and took a Gamble for this bullet: Shooting the least expected location, which is two meters directly in front of his persona.

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 44/50
Left Pistol: 44/50

Richard easily retrieved the blade. His opponent had revealed his semblance a grave-

Richard saw the anger in the man's eyes. Clearly this had evolved into more than a mere sparing match. The man looked angry, but Richard wouldn't back down. He had him on the ropes, this was a sign. He kept a straight face as the man approached, he wasn't quite the cocky joker he'd expected. Part of him was glad, the other half curious of the man's anger. As a bullet flew toward him it nicked his left cheek, the wound instantly cauterising due to the flames. "More fire" he spat as the wound sizzled. The rest of the bullet flew past him and into the wall. The anger had obviously affected his mental state. Getting this close to Richard was a terrible idea armed as the man was, unless he planned to use his semblance again, maybe even to counter... he really wanted away from that fire.

Counting on this and trusting his instincts Richard pulled another crystal from the vital and threw it at the man's feet, bowling it under his chain shield. He jumped back, no longer spinning the chain. He'd have to use a new tactic. He made it to a wall and crouched, coiling the chain around his arms with their sickle blades in his hands. He could either unleash a flurry of slashes or go for a choke hold with the chain and knock him down. The instant he heard a shot he'd switch with one of the objects scattered throughout the room. Likely either the top of the baby mountain, another dummy head or maybe even the crates and barrels in the room. They would likely make for good cover. He'd have to be quick to avoid damage.

Hp 120/Aura 150

Jigoku was just blinded by rage, it wasn't his fault either. Nor was it Richard's fault, and Jigoku knew that it was starting to affect his mental game when it was about this simple sparring match. He didn't want it to go into a matter of Life and Death like it did three weeks ago, before Jigoku could stop for just a moment a sigh out all of that anger, another green crystal was rolled under his feet. This time however, Jigoku was much more prepared for something like that... he jumped up high into the air while putting away his left Pistol once more and unloading one shell from his gun. Taking off the Shell, due to the anger yet somehow kept his mental game intact in terms of calculations, Jigoku uncapped the Shell and threw it down on the crystal.

This caused a pretty devastating explosion that reached just under Jigoku and essentially a meter away from Richard. The explosion literally blew away all of the objects from the Arena, save for the already planted Baby Mountain that this time, Jigoku took advantage of. Landing on it with ease, he looked coldly at Richard then let out a long sigh. "Sorry about just early... I'd rather talk about what just happened after we're done with our little spar. Sound good?" Jigoku told Richard with such a carefree tone, it was just like he had his own little moment of being Bi-Polar. Though while saying that, he took out his Pistols once more and aimed that at Richard, Jigoku was only six meters in front of his opponent.

"I think this spar should finish after this exchange... " Jigoku thought to himself as he smirked slyly at Richard, a childish smirk that resembled all calmness in the world. That carefree attitude is exactly what gives Jigoku the ability to be unpredictable, he could do just about anything. Though not the strongest around here, Jigoku is definitely not afraid to actually pull a sweep on somebody to force a Dust Bullet down their throat or to their chest. Then, another action that most gun users will never do, Jigoku starting running down from the Baby Mountain and using that momentum to take his chance at charging Richard.

Jigoku's right foot dug into the Baby Mountain and let loose a speed that Richard may even have a hard time keeping up with. At the same, Jigoku flared up his aura to four times the amount he normally would use since it'd be the last exchange, his eyes were once agian changed from Amber to Snow White. Though that sly smirk never seemed to leave his face, as if Jigoku was now fully enjoying this spar to the fullest. Finally, his marksmanship at the level of Sharp Shooter came into play: those two guns were fired rapidly to the point it felt as if Jigoku were shooting an Assault Rifle. A spray pattern unleashed on Richard, in a giant circle that spanned about three meters radius and using up literally about thirty bullets per gun at that moment just to see Richard's true prowess without anything to back himself up on for Semblance usage.
Aura 70|140 HP

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 14/50
Left Pistol: 14/50

It's possible that Richard could block a large portion if not the majority of those Dust Bullets should he go back into spinning his weapon as a shield again. Though, what would happen to the area around Richard, and also around Jigoku as well?

He felt a smirk grow on his face, "Don't worry it won't be long till we're done" he knew this would take concentration but this was all or nothing. The first shot struck his right arm the second grazed his left shoulder the third just missed his ear. The fourth grazed his hair. The fifth struck his right arm again. He hadn't tried this before but this was all or nothing. For once in his life he wasn't tired, the blood was pumping and adrenaline was lowing through him. He was almost laughing, most fun he'd had since his arrival, probably even before that. Having picked his target he switched... with the second last bullet to fly from Jigoku's left gun. The last grazed the side of his stomach. He'd switched places with moving object before but this was nigh impossible for him, he'd had to be sure the bullet was coming, he was lucky it was the second last otherwise he'd be ripped to shreds at close range. Jumping forward, shot and injured he slashed with his left blade frantically, having released the right the chain flailed wildly flicking at his opponent. Right, left, up, down, right, left, down. Manically slashing 7 times in total. "Checkmate." He grabbed the right blade and slashed straight at his opponent's scarf that annoyed him so, not even aiming for the boy, pushing the bullets out of his arm as he moved. Bumping the total up to 8. He lurched forward and ended up crouching one hand on his knee. He could still fight but honestly he didn't want to.

Hp 100/Aura 140

The unthinkable had just happened, no... more like the impossible just happened to Jigoku in this spar. Though Richard and Jigoku were having a blast in this friendly fight, he still couldn't believe that Richard pulled off an amazing feet and predicting literally when the second to last bullet would appear and also from which pistol. "I'll admit... you're on my level kid." Jigoku thought to himself, knowing that he did this action simply to test Richard's level in terms of combat. Though the Semblance was still active, Jigoku knew in the end that he would suffer the last two hits and that's where he could surprise Richard. And to prepare for it, he simply put away one of his pistols (the Left one).

The slashes barraged quickly on the barrier, and legitimately six slashes just bounced off the barrier like nothing happened, though that was when Jigoku's barrier dissipated. Two cruel slashes hit Jigoku hard, though, Jigoku didn't seem to mind those two slashes. Taking them as the blades hit his skin pretty hard and caused some moderate bleeding on his black shirt, "Checkmate." The boy said to Jigoku, though that just before Jigoku took advantage and swept Richard's foot just before crouching down, causing the balance to be lost and fall on the floor.

Jigoku then placed his left on Richard's chest, with enough pressure to keep him nailed to the ground but not enough to make him gasp for air. Covering Richard's eyes with the Left Hand that was free and clocked the Right Pistol. "Yeah, Checkmate sounds about right Richard." Jigoku said teasingly as he got off Richard and offered his free hand to help Richard up off the ground. "I'll admit, you're pretty damn good. Think we should stop now though, class starts soon doesn't it?" Jigoku said to Richard with a friendly tone, pretty much sealing the deal on making a new friend here at Syne Academy. Though one thing that Jigoku actually didn't like even though it was was inevitable, was the fact his scarf was sliced up and fell to the ground. "Awww man, now I need a new scarf." He said in a whining voice, but joking could heard in it as well.
Aura 70|110 HP

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 14/50
Left Pistol: 14/50

Richard snorted, he'd only won because he'd allowed him to. "I'll play you at real chess some time, kick your ass." He told him, taking the hand and pulling himself up. "Besides, I still had an ace up my sleeve, I could've taken you at will. I'll admit you had me on the ropes there though." he said flicking his wrist to put the ace in his palm, extending it to the taller man. However he wasn't a hundred percent sure that was the case. The man had far exceeded his expectations and almost pushed him to his limits. He had misjudged his adversary, thinking he was merely some kid who'd bought his way in. He slightly regretted that.

He checked his wounds, fortunately the dust's flames had cauterised them and he had a few other sets of boots to replace the damaged one. He was certain the wounds would quickly heal. He still hated the flames but the boy behind them had at least won his respect. He almost shouted out with glee when he noticed the scarf on the ground, "Don't, or get one with an actual use." He exemplified this by reducing Keyll down into its box and sticking it on its latch on his scarf's underside, completely hidden from view. "No teacher's gonna want to see us in class in this state, I'll probably take a nap or take in the city, but I agree we should probably head out."

Hp100/Aura 140

Jigoku didn't pay mind to the chess comment very much simply because as smart as he was, Jigoku was never really any good to play that game. Though, what Richard said about the ace up his sleeve, was very quite literal in fact. Richard pulled out the half ace card from his sleeve and gave it to Jigoku, when he saw that... it kinda made Jigoku think about how he was a little arrogant in this friendly spar. "Heh, I guess I miscalculated your prowess myself, I got used to it after a little while though." Jigoku commented to Richard's ace sentence.

Jigoku had some wounds on him that kind of seemed to gash out a little blood, though he didn't seem to care very much about it at this point. Though, Richard's little gleeful facial expresion slightly annoyed Jigoku simply because the objective was the take off his scarf and not injure Jigoku, he felt that was a sign indirect disrespect and arrogance right there even if it was a friendly spar. He glared at Richard for just a few seconds completely ignoring his comment regarding Jigoku's scarf. "Well, Watashi wa kinishinai (I don't care) if the teachers happen to see me like this. That'll just show them I'm not playing around when it comes to sparring and going straight to class after." Jigoku said to Richard after a slight pause regarding the comment about teachers and their current state.

Jigoku started to walk away from Richard since he saw that class was gonna begin in about half an hour. "I'll see you in class later, assuming we both have that Semblance Class in 30 Minutes." Jigoku said, getting a head start to the classroom and essentially arriving earlier than most students. Taking not a seat, but rather leaning back against the wall with one foot on it.
Aura 70|110 HP

Ammo:
Right Pistol: 14/50
Left Pistol: 14/50


[Exit]

That glare, evidently he was more protective of that scarf than I assumed, Richard thought to himself, well even if he gets a new one, as long as he keeps his opponents at a distance, it shouldn't matter. Richard groaned remembering the semblance class. It would take him about that long to clean up his wounds, never mind have a nap or read a good book. He couldn't let them blister. Hardly even enough time for something to eat. He yawned, arms behind his head. He took in the room around him, would he get in trouble for wrecking the floor? Maybe but it had been worth it, a test of his recently discovered dust aptitude. He'd get to class with five minutes to spare (post cleaning of his wounds), hopefully he'd be better prepared for what would likely be a tiring lecture. He began to make his way to the exit content in knowing he had found someone he could certainly count as a worthy opponent or maybe even a friend, the first he'd really had since his teacher. He let out another loud yawn as he left the training arena.

[Exit]

OOC: And this topic is finished :D

Sooo.....who locks it?