Team SRDS (Stardust)

Chapter 7: SRDS-3

SRDS_3

Name: Diamond Jet

Semblance: Electromagnetism

Personality: Sarcastic, Jovial. Skilled at medium and close-quarters combat, as well as surprise attacks. Is virtually open to long-range attacks. Good pilot. Optimistic.

(Video of seven armed people in armour standing in a room, suddenly being disarmed, thrown against walls and punched by nothing. Finally, Diamond reveals himself once everyone is down).

"Diamond Jet vs Dove Bronzewing," Oobleck called out.

Diamond surveyed the arena. Ross had created numerous earthen walls during his fight. They served to barricade movement, which was a problem for Diamond, who was used to overwhelming enemies from multiple angles and having options to retreat/close the gap on his opponents. On the other hand, he had some cover to use his pistols, although his opponent had even more.

I could try climbing and attacking from above... no, that would take too much time and energy... I couldn't sustain it repeatedly. He could spot me and get me at that range; a Beacon student without a gun doesn't exist. Even if I cloak myself and he swings blind, there's a good chance I'll have to retreat, and that he'll hear me.

He looked behind him. There was little cover to fight from here. He could trace a straight line from his position to the edge of the arena.

Hmm...

Dove stood about 30 metres ahead of him, showing no intention of charging him. The nearest piece of cover in Dove's direction was a boulder about 15 metres away. He could make it if he leapt for it. From here began an arch of high earth that spiralled towards Dove. He had a plan. Not as straightforward as Sigbjorn or Ross, and it was a little risky, but it could work if he pulled it off correctly.

He's expecting me to come to him, huh? Well, here goes...

He pulled out both his pistols and ran straight in Dove's direction, opening fire. He didn't expect to get any shots in. He noticed that Dove had begun running for cover while simultaneously targeting him: his sword split down the middle to reveal a gun barrel.

Diamond heard three loud cracks in the distance as he leapt for the boulder. Two of them hit the boulder as he felt one bounce off of the Aura covering his left arm. He grimaced in pain as he examined his arm, and then studied his cover. Dove couldn't see him. Good. He'd have to maintain that for just a little longer. He checked his Aura. 85%. The bullets didn't have a lot of stopping power. He had all the Aura he needed.

As Diamond snuck through the structures, Dove yelled out, "What? Are you afraid? You should be since your aim back there was terrible."

"You're not so bad yourself, running all the way back here," came Diamond's voice from the rocks. "I can see you sweating in fear even though you're surrounded by all this cover."

Dove grinned. What an idiot, giving away his position like that. Dove gathered that Diamond was somewhere to his left, on the same level ground. Dove didn't want to risk being surprised in the closed space and instead decided to draw his opponent out.

"You're the one that's hiding, not me."

No response.

"Time's running out. You could just forfeit."

Silence.

Dove was beginning to get annoyed. "Come out here and fight like a real Huntsman!"

"Okay," Diamond's voice echoed from the top of the arch as he leapt towards Dove, firing both his pistols again. This time, the bullets did connect, dropping Dove's Aura to 75%.

Dove grimaced in pain, but slashed upward and caught Diamond's shin. As Diamond struggled to get up, Dove noticed that he had no melee weapon and charged.

Right then, Pyrrha squinted as she picked up on what looked like a heat haze. The kind one would see on a hot summer day. She saw it just behind Diamond and wondered if it was part of his semblance. Judging by their expressions, his teammates had seen it too.

The others seemed to be at a loss.

"Why'd he charge in without a melee weapon?" Weiss asked. "The least he could do is keep some distance between himself and Dove to use his guns effectively."

"You'll see soon enough," said Sigbjorn with a knowing smile.

Dove kept on jabbing and slashing using his sword. Unfortunately for him, Diamond seemed to be dodging everything he was dishing out, retreating to where he had come from. He continued enticing Dove using taunts, much to the latter's fury.

"I'm going to make you pay eventually!" Dove yelled.

"Welcome to the club," Diamond grunted as he avoided a slash, "they're having jackets made."

Keeping an eye on the Aura meters as he continued attacking, Dove came to a quick realisation and briefly paused.

"So, your Semblance is dodging, huh? That's why your Aura is going down."

Diamond shrugged wordlessly, prompting Dove to charge again.

"It won't work!"

"Why not?" Diamond said from behind the mirage. "You're not landing a single hit!"

Dove grinned. Diamond's Aura would run out eventually; already it was at 70%. But even before that, Dove would drive this idiot out of bounds.

Diamond came to this realization too late, as his back faced the very edge of the boundary marker and Dove cut off his escape routes. Dove grinned. He was almost at the edge of the boundary, cornering Diamond.

"You should've thought of that," Dove said, sheathing his sword and clenching his fists. He attempted to throw the final cut, but he saw the mirage disappear.

He didn't have time to process it though, as he felt a vice-like grip on his wrist that aligned his arm across his shoulder and flipped him across a hard object. He landed on the outer side of the marker with a loud, unpleasant thud.

"What the-"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Diamond appeared, kneeling on the other side of the marker line. "Morote Seoi Nage. Two-handed shoulder throw. It's Judo. Next time, pay attention to your opponent more, and try not to get too cocky."

"Dove Bronzewing is out of bounds, so the winner is Diamond Jet!"

"Uhh, what just happened?" Nora asked.

"It was a feint," Steele explained. "When Dove charged him with his sword, Diamond did indeed begin using his semblance. However, Dove guessed incorrectly: his semblance has little to do with reflexes. Diamond turned himself invisible while creating an illusion to draw Dove to his edge of the arena. From there, he used Dove's momentum against him to throw him out of bounds."

"That's really cool!" said Ruby.

"Was that the distortion behind him?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yep," Sigbjorn responded. "Sadly, it's impossible to bend light perfectly, but he does it well enough. You can't see it on a plain background and even otherwise you have to be looking for it. I'm impressed that you managed to see that. They don't put you on Pumpkin Pete's for nothing I see."

"Maintaining the illusion must have been difficult. The voice and footwork would have had to match up, otherwise, Dove could have suspected something," said Ren.

"He couldn't afford any contact either. His constructs aren't tangible like mine. Dove's sword could've passed straight through. But since it's an illusion, Diamond could make it dodge as fast as he could comprehend," Sigbjorn explained.

"See? I told you that you got this," Ross said with a grin as Diamond walked back up.

"Thanks," Diamond said with a grin. He then turned to Steele. "You ready?"

Steele sighed. "Well, I can't simply freeze the ground and make it too slippery to fight anymore, not with those earth walls. But I'll think of something or the other."

"Good luck," wished Jaune.

Steele smiled wryly, "I think my opponent will need that more than I."