With my words hanging in the hall, not a single one of them could come up with a reason.
"So, it seems you don't have to worry, right?"I asked, staring at each of them.
James, on the other hand, leaned forward and clasped his hands, giving a subtle nod of approval.
"O-of course not, Atlas has the most advanced military technology in all of Remnant." Shouted the man.
"Oh, good, I thought you were compensating for something," I said with a smile. A cough sounded, and we all turned to one of the council members.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, but the woman waved off my question, trying and failing to hide her laughter.
"N-no, I just choked on the air." She said, while the man who stuttered blushed red at my comment.
Even Blake and Sienna had to hide their mouths to stop themselves from laughing. "Continuing where we left off, you can rest assured that we won't grow our territory."
"T-that is wonderful to hear." Said the man and then sat down. "What about resources? We could perhaps create a deal for both parties, no?"
I hummed at their offer; it was a tempting deal, but that is a discussion for another time. "Although the idea is in good faith, you seem to be forgetting why we're here."
"I have to agree with him; if we're going to discuss trade, we will speak with the leader of Menagerie." James spoke up, glaring at the council member.
"Right, apologies." He said before staying silent.
"Now, is there another matter that concerns you?" I asked, and a third member of the council raised their hand.
"Yes, recently we've noticed that you started to improve financially. Care to explain why?" Ah, finally, a good question.
"Simple, we have the aquatic faunus collecting clams. Once a certain amount of time has passed, we have them collect the pearls." I said, pointing to one of the councilwomen.
"And I see you have a fine sense of jewelry." The woman was surprised and hid it with her hands.
"I-I must say, I didn't expect a natural pearl to be made; it is beautiful." She said with a strained voice. I only offered a kind nod with a warm smile.
"You're welcome, now then, I think our discussion is done? Or is there another matter you wish to discuss?" No one said anything, not like they could.
I was about to stand and give my final words, but the man from before stood up and wore a forced smile. "Might I suggest a friendly spar?"
Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked at him in surprise. 'Well now, I thought it would have been boring, but I guess I was wrong.'
'Same here, guess he has more courage, or his pride was bruised.' Said gramps, while Kairai chuckled.
'Well now, I for one am interested, accept it, we can put them in their place.' She said with little care.
As I snuck a glance at both Blake and Sienna, they both rolled their eyes. "I accept, I hope this doesn't strain our relationship." I said and narrowed my eyes.
"Not at all, shall we?" he asked and the three of us, including the rest of the council followed him.
"Aiko, are you just going to mess with them?" Blake whispered as we walked.
"Yup, there's nothing wrong with making their day go from bad to worse." I said and glanced at Sienna, who barely showed a reaction.
After walking for a few more minutes, we soon arrived at an open area. And it was larger than the last one when we fought against the axe ops.
"Impressive, I'm guessing you have the soldiers go through multiple training regimens." The man who recommended the spar puffed his chest with pride.
"But of course, General Ironwood supervises the training himself." As I glanced towards James, he didn't react, but his subtle nod confirmed it.
"Well, now, I hope he can give me a few pointers when it comes to a spar." I said with a smile. "So, who will I be facing?"
As I asked, Sienna soon pulled out a briefcase, handing it to me. "You will be facing one of our top soldiers, Winter Schnee." The second he said that, I was surprised.
"Winter, it's wonderful to see you again, I said with a smile. catching the entire Atlas council, except James and my group, by surprise.
"It is nice to see you as well." However, her voice didn't carry the feelings she wanted to convey.
It felt more professional, as if she were greeting me as a co-worker. Though, I didn't blame her.
"May the best fighter win." I extended my hand, only for it to be ignored, leaving me standing.
'Ha, you got played!' Gramps shouted and let out a laugh. While my mother and Kairai giggled.
'You didn't tell me on purpose.' I said, while my face still held the warm smile. Sneaking a glance, most of the council members sneered.
'I'm definitely going to piss them off.' I thought while following Winter down to the arena. As we arrived and faced each other, Winter glanced at the briefcase.
"I'm confused to see why you chose that as your weapon, but, I'll have my answer as we fight." As we arrived, I made my way opposite her and spun around.
"So, how should we start?" Hearing my question, Winter turned to the observation hall.
"Sir, please give us a signal." She said to James, who nodded and raised his hand high.
We both stared, waiting for him to drop his arm. Tensions rose as we waited, and the second he dropped it, Winter made the first move.
Yet, I only glanced at her, watching her take one step after another. Her sword was already in front, ready to stab me.
Instead of dodging, I shifted. Using the handle of the briefcase, I hooked her sword and guided her away.
As time flowed back to normal, Winter stumbled at the unorthodox parry. Yet, she didn't stop, she dug her foot and rushed towards me again.
Yet, instead of using the handle, I used the entire briefcase to push her to the side. Each strike she gave, an overhand swing, underhand, left, right, and even diagonal strikes were parried.
What's worse, I barely moved an inch. The only times I moved were when I had to keep her in my sight.
Seeing that swinging her sword wasn't going to work, she rushes at me once again and tries to grab my arm.
Only for it to be smacked away by my foot. "Oh, so close, yet so far." I said with a smile, yet I jumped at the last second to avoid getting swept off my feet.
'Is it just me, or was she testing me?' I asked, as I landed with no problem.
'She's testing you.' Said gramps. 'Luckily, she's trying to give you some face to make it look like you can stand.'
'Guess even she has a silent grudge against the council.' I let out a mental sigh and decided to provoke her.
"Is that all you can do?" I asked while looking bored. "I thought I'd be facing an elite soldier." This caused her brow to twitch at my words.
"I apologize, it seems I've underestimated you." She said as she stood up. "I'll take this seriously now." Her face then turned serious and she began to attack rapidly.
'Oh boy, you done it now brat.' Winter's attacks became more focused, she would add a punch or a kick to throw me off, yet, I was keeping up with her with ease.
It may sound arrogant, but I've been trained by my mother, grandfather, and great-grandmother.
Yet, I still had to act I was struggling. A few of her strikes barely grazed me, and a few cuts appeared.
"When are you going to use your weapon?" She asked as she threw a kick, yet, I blocked it with the briefcase.
"Right now." I grinned and threw it in the air. As everyone focused on it. It soon began to shift and morph until it copied Winter's weapon.
The Council of Atlas stared in shock at what had just happened, while James himself placed his hands on the glass.
'How… how is this possible?' He thought while staring at me, what he saw was no longer Aiko.
Instead, he saw two Winnters facing one another. When in reality, I was copying Winter's entire personality.
Even Winter herself looked at me with shock. "If you are done gawking, prepare yourself!" I shouted and rushed forward.
As I attacked, it was similar, no, it was a perfect imitation of Winter's fighting style. Every thrust, every slash, every kick, and punch was the same.
Winter herself could barely block my, well, her attacks. She never thought she would see herself fighting herself.
Yet, she soon came out of her stupor and began to fight back. It was difficult at first, both of us clashed at the same speed with the same amount of strength.
"I expected more from the strongest soldier, I'm disappointed." I said with the same old tone.
Hearing this, I could see her mask slowly breaking. Her arms lightly trembled, and her hand clenched tighter.
"I will make you eat those words." She said before stabbing her sword into the ground and a large circle appeared behind her.
'Good, she's mad.' Said Kairai. 'Make her dance to your tune.' She giggled before going silent.
As the circle grew larger, multiple figures flew out and rushed towards me. I widened my eyes in surprise and dove to the side.
Looking at what has passed me, I saw multiple nevermores. And I was surprised at the amount she could summon.
'Guess she's the strongest for a reason.' I thought to myself. The sword I had held then shifted back into the briefcase.
"Looks like I struck a nerve ice queen."I said while laughing. Seeing that I showed no care, it was enough for her to lose focus, causing the circle to break.
I took the chance to rush at her, swinging the briefcase towards her torso. But before it could land, I noticed a large glowing circle underneath me.
'It was at this moment that I knew, I fucked up.' I joked in my mind, yet, I made no effort to dodge.
I took the hit and saw the ceiling getting closer. Yet, I didn't panic, I then flipped through the air and soon felt time slow down once again.
Soon, my eyes landed on Blake and we stared at each other. As I slowly fell back down, I smiled at her.
The second she saw me smile, her eyes barely widened, yet, I was already falling. The second I landed, my mouth moved.
POV WINTER
I didn't expect him to grow to a dangerous degree. Yet, I knew that somewhere in my mind hoped he didn't grow.
He was capable of imitating me, mimicking my attacks with ease. And his choice of weaponry, what kind of technology does he have for it to change forms?
Yet, I wasn't given time to think. Because the second he landed on his feet, I felt the air change.
What's worse, his head remained bowed as he straightened himself. The next second, the briefcase changed once again.
Nine rings soon landed on the ground, embedding themselves through steel. I couldn't do anything but react by splitting my sword in two.
"Whoa, now, didn't expect your sword to do that." he said before lifting one of the rings with his foot before sending it towards me.
'Fast!' I thought and barely parried it away, yet, I didn't stand in place for long. The rest of the rings soon flew by, and I thought I was safe.
But I was wrong, behind me, I saw the rings. I summoned a glyph, spawning a boarbatusk to defend myself.
Yet, the second the ring made contact with my summon, it cut it clean in half. "Apologies, but the best you can do is either dodge or parry."
I had no choice, no matter what I summoned, whether it be an Ursa or a boarbatusk, those rings cut them with ease.
I was cornered, the rings then floated around me, and Aiko stood where he had landed. Both hands in his pocket, a calm smile dawned on his face.
"I think this has gone far enough, wouldn't you agree?" Taking one last look around me, I knew I had lost.
I could only sigh and store my sword away and stare at him. "I admit defeat." was all I said.
The rings then flew back towards him, and all nine of them began to form the briefcase. "A good spar, let's hope the council didn't make any bets."
He said before turning away with the briefcase hanging behind him. The second he was out of my sight, I felt as if a large weight had been lifted.
"That boy is a monster." I said and soon forced myself to stand, making my way back to where the general was.
By the time I had arrived, only the general could be seen. "Operator Schnee, you did well."
"But sir, I lost." I was about to continue, but he stopped me.
"Winter, the reason for the spar was to save face. They wanted to show their superiority through might." He said while looking at the damaged arena.
"The fact that Aiko was able to beat you, shows that his people show potential." He stated.
"And seeing what had happened caused the others to have their pride bruised, so I'll take that as a win." Yet, I could see that his fist was also clenched.
"It seems they were able to remind us that we're not the only ones with an army." I said aloud.
(A/N) HEY HEY, it's been a while since I uploaded this story, and I have to admit, it feels refreshing.
Anyways just made a new series, though, I have no idea if it'll take off. For now, send them power stones to show support!